=============================================================[July 28, 1994]= __ | __ _ _ ___ | || ___ | __ __ (__ | | | \/ | ____) |___ || |___) |__ (__) | | ___) |___| | | | |___| |___) || |____ The Electronic Fanzine for Cool Folks Like You Editor: Scott F. Williams Internet: Scotty.Williams@launchpad.unc.edu a.k.a. "Pathojam" Managing Editor: Bob Gajarsky Internet: gajarsky@pilot.njin.net Contributing Martin Bate Writers: Debbie Boxer Sherman Charles Bob Gajarsky Tim Kennedy P. Nina Ramos David Shields Scott F. Williams Address all comments, subscription requests, etc. to gajarsky@pilot.njin.net ============================================================================== Consumable is published by Pathojammic Productions as a service to all who use computers to communicate. All articles in Consumable remain (C) copyright their author(s). Permission for re-publication in any form other than within this document must be sought from the Publisher. ============================================================================== .------------. | Contents |-. `------------' | `------------' Introduction by Bob Gajarsky NEW MUSIC SEMINAR (Part 1 of 2) by Bob Gajarsky Bands that made it happen. Echobelly Oasis XCNN WAR! (World Aid Relief!) Storyville New York Tour Date - July 28, Tramps REVIEW: Sausage - _Riddles Are Abound Tonight_ by Martin Bate REVIEW: Wu-Tang Clan - _Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers_ by Martin Bate REVIEW: Fun-Da-Mental - _Seize The Time_ by Martin Bate REVIEW: Soundtrack - _Forrest Gump_ by Bob Gajarsky REVIEW: L7 - _Hungry For Stink_ by Martin Bate ============================================================================== Howdy! We're back from the New Music Seminar with some information on three of the hot and upcoming bands on the street: Echobelly, Oasis and XCNN. As always, please feel free to drop us any questions, comments or whatever which you have. Thanks! - Bob ============================================================================== NEW MUSIC SEMINAR - or, How to see way too many bands. Echobelly is fronted by a woman of Indian descent who also happens to be a kick boxer. The band also consists of three young guitarists, dressed fashionably in conservative style suits and one drummer. Backdrop consisted of glittery tinsel, which seemed to contrast the loud feedback which resonated through some of the group's songs. Most noticable was a track called "Give Her A Gun", which could easily have been sung by Suede's Brett Anderson, backed by a Nirvana ("Come As You Are") / Killing Joke sounding guitar. The sound and image harked back to the early days of punk, a la Talking Heads, Blondie and others. In summary, the performance was good, but with only six songs, it's too early to make a guess on the group's future. -- The band being hyped as the new Suede (or new Smiths) out of England, Oasis, also played live. Despite being new to America, the band appeared to be lackluster and tired. Was it disgust at the primarily American audience not getting "into" the music? It's hard to say, although there were more than a few people wearing Oasis shirts, and a few people with English accents were present at the show. The show closed with a long version of the Beatles song, "I Am The Walrus". They've been recently signed here in the States (I believe to Sony, although I'm not positive - in the U.K., they are on Creation Records), in the hopes that the Manchester-type sound can catapult them to the top of the modern rock charts, a la the Stone Roses or Charlatans, in a time that is much more receptive to this format. A couple singles have been released in the U.K., including one which seems to take a bit from the 1970's song, "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing", used for a Coca Cola jingle ("I'd like to buy the world a coke..."), "Shakermaker". -- XCNN was one of the strongest surprises of the NMS. The London based band, which includes former Sisters of Mercy guitarist Tim Bricheno, played at Wetlands during the week long seminar. Frontman Dave Tomlinson has a swagger not unlike INXS' Michael Hutchence and a voice which rocks. The group rolled through their 10 song set with a mix of two (or three) guitars and one drummer, in an almost metal sound. Most of the songs sounded VERY similar to Faith No More or the Cult. One of the songs sampled from the Cult; it's weird to be in a club so small and KNOW that the sample is being fed into the soundsystem, almost from out of nowhere. There were other samples, too - one seemed to be from a 60's girl group, around the time of "Da Doo Ron Ron". The leadoff song of the concert seemed as if it adapted an identical, note for note, interpretation of techno stars 2 Unlimited's "No Limit" - on guitar! The band's attitude, sound and ability to entertain are what draws the comparison to Faith No More, who have been known to play New Kids and Technotronic in a backhanded tip of the cap while having FUN. Their debut album, _Young, Stupid and White_ should hit stores on the 550 Music/Epic label in late September - we'll be reviewing it here in Consumable. And if it sounds as good as their performance, rock and roll fans will have a lot to shout about. -- There was a fashion show at the NMS as well. That will be covered in the next issue of Consumable, as it segues into a lengthy discussion of what *is* the role of the media? But, the major announcement to kick off the New Music Seminar was a declaration of WAR! WAR! has been declared in an unprecedented 24 hour concert designed to help benefit health and non-health related causes worldwide on Saturday, July 15, 1994. WAR!, or World Aid Relief!, is founded by Colin Medlock. Medlock, who has worked as an executive at Capitol-EMI music, has been employed in numerous areas of the music and entertainment industry. "People are growing tired of dogmas that mean less and less to increasingly intelligent humnans in a science and technology driven world," Medlock stated. "Electronic speed brings social and entertainment events like World Aid Relief! together to heighten human awareness." The goal of WAR! is simple: raise $200 million in the United States and an estimated $600 million in other countries participating in the event. All proceeds shall remain in the country in which they were raised; that is, if $225 million is raised in the United States, all that money shall stay inside the U.S. to help health and non-health organizations. The primary criteria for which organizations get helped are: 1) 25% or less of the donated dollar goes towards administrative and support costs; 2) the charities are recognized by the National Charities Information Bureau and/or other leading national watchdog organizations and 3) they are continuous programs that focus on crisis resolution as opposed to a temporary solution. The music for this event shall be hosted live from 18 concerts in 17 different countries. Participating countries include: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and the United States. Initial plans include for superstar recording acts as well as emerging young talent to play on the same stage before large paying audiences. The setup plans to be similar to 1985's Live Aid, in which people on both sides of the Atlantic were witness to a groundbreaking concert. -- Storyville, featuring Malford Milligan on lead vocals, will be playing one night in New York City at Tramps on Thursday, July 28, at 8:30 p.m. Based in Austin, Texas, Milligan's soulful bluesy voice complements the rock sound of his band. Members include two former members of Stevie Ray Vaughn's Double Trouble (Tommy Shannon on bass and Chris Layton on drums) and one member of John Mellencamp's touring entourage, David Grissom, on guitar. Tramps is located on 21st Street between 5th and 6th Avenues. The cover charge for the show is $7. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SAUSAGE - _Riddles are Abound Tonight_ (Interscope) Sausage sees Les Claypool re-united with the other two original members of Primus. That this project sounds quite a lot like Primus should therefore not come as a *great* surprise. (Primus' _Toys Go Winding Down_ even appears here in its original form) For the unitiated, the Primus (and Sausage) sound is a mixture of jazz, funk, metal, blues, bad drugs, children's nightmares, discordant nursery rhymes, melancholy musings, and manic babblings. Tom Waits and The Residents are heroes and as close as you'll get to reference points. Todd Huth (guitar and Claypool's friend and fishing companion) and Jay Lane (drums) are excellent musicians - easily comparable with their opposite numbers in Primus - and Claypool's acrobatic bass and cartoon nasal whine are firmly in effect. So what makes Sausage different from Primus, apart from the personnel ? Well, they *do* have a slightly different sound, although putting my finger on what makes them *not* Primus is not simple (especially when they *were* Primus, if you see what I mean). The overall sound is a little warmer and more rounded than Primus' minimal, angular approach. The songs tend to be more gently dischordant than jarring, and the band have a looser, less structured feel than Primus. The material on offer is excellent (after a few listens) and the songs are as brash, subtle and intelligent as usual, although the album pales a bit towards the end with 2 songs - 'Girls for Single Men' and 'Caution Should Be Used...' - sounding like good *ideas* rather than good *songs* and being a little over-indulgent and over-long. But on the whole, for those that like Primus its an obvious buy. For the unitiated, maybe the live "Suck on This", or "Sailing the Seas of Cheese" is the one you want. --- WU-TANG CLAN _Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)_ (RCA) Wu-Tang Clan are supposedly at the forefront of a new breed of rap called horrorcore, where hardcore's gritty realism is taken one step further into the realms of cartoon and horror-film violence. The moral majority will love them. In fact, Wu-Tang Clan are *sooooo* hard they don't use guns. Nope, these guys will fuck you up with their martial arts sword skills....... This album is being sworn up and down to be the best new rap album for ages by the press and paying public alike. So why am I not totally convinced ? Why, for the first few listens, do I feel like I'm witnessing the emperor's new clothes ? Well, perhaps because this album doesn't make the progress of the genuine past innovators in the genre, like Public Enemy's "Nation of Millions", and the debuts from De La Soul, and Cypress Hill. Maybe, its because a lot of this just sounds like *more* old-soul-and-funk- sampling, aggressive gangsta rap with hardcore beats. Its well above the average state of the art, sure - but nothing earth-shattering. The best stuff is where they actually *make* something of the martial arts image and bring in kung-fu film samples, oriental chimes and strings, nun-chak clicks as percussion, creepy pianos and boasts of their sword skills. On those tracks the hype is justified. Couple those with their more than adequate, though less original, compositions and you have a good album. The production is interesting, the bragging rhymes (with some nice touches of humour) and images of ghetto-life are all there, and the rappers flow well and hold the attention throughout. The horror-core tag seems a little misplaced though as, with a couple of exceptions, there doesn't seem to be much more grisly violence than in the majority of gangsta lyrics. So....a good album, but nothing incredibly ground-breaking. --- FUN-DA-MENTAL _Seize the Time_ (Beggars Banquet) The album opens with a vitriolic answerphone message a BNP/Combat 18 (UK fascist organisations) supporter left for the band, and illustrates exactly why this band exists and what fuels them. Fun-da-mental are "Aki Nawaz (Propaghandi) and David Watts (Impi D) and whoever else cares!". They are a product of the collision between western and eastern cultures - where hip-hop and dance beats and rapped vocals (everything from laid back monologues to aggressive rants) mold with Indian and Asian music, instrumentation, and percussion. To say this album sounds awesome, scary and beautiful is an understatement. To point out that *this* is an album which takes rap, (maybe even *music*), another step forward in nothing less than 90 minutes, is probably justified. Fun-da-mental exist to educate and instigate support against the right-wing organisations trying to gain a hold in the UK (and further) today. Their songs are cut with sampled speeches from politicians, leaders and everyday people, from both sides of the fence and (as someone somewhere else pointed out) bring this album close to Chuck D's (Public Enemy) vision of rap being used as a CNN news broadcast to disseminate information to youths everywhere. Yet the band are so much more than the 'rap' tag - they know when to back off and let the *music* talk. In addition, they often let the tracks relax into a flow, and grow and expand in a way that the best ambient and trance does. In particular, the centrepoint of the album is two non-rap pieces : 'Mother India' which is a soothing pro-woman monologue over a backing of sitars and dub bass; and 'Bubbleman' which is a hypnotic, repetitive babble over tribal drums. The album ends abruptly with the anxious ticking of a clock......... --- REVIEW: Soundtrack - _Forrest Gump_ (Epic) Once in a while, a movie comes along and tugs at the hearts of many generations. A good producer will sense this, in advance and try to produce music which goes with the feel of the film. It happened with _Dirty Dancing_ - cheezy pop, sure, but it worked. It happened with _The Big Chill_ - bringing a grapevine to a whole new generation, and, in effect, creating the California Raisins. Well, maybe it wasn't so good after all. The latest soundtrack to capitalize on this is _Forrest Gump_. Forrest, a person who we'd deem today as "slow", crosses time and runs across all sorts of famous people - Kennedy, Nixon and others. And, through his struggles, a soundtrack has emerged which captures the essence of American (not British - pure U.S. of A) rock from 1958's "Hound Dog" to 1978's "On The Road Again". Some would call it a ripoff to recycle the music of a past generation - "leave it to the K-Tel commercials". I'm not of that view. After all, Scott McKenzie's "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair)" is anthematic of the 1960's - peaceful, almost serene, and longing. Longing for the peace that Joan Baez, or Bob Dylan could bring. And for every "Land of 1000 Dances" or "I Can't Help Myself" is a Beach Boys "Sloop John B" or Jefferson Airplane "Volunteers", which didn't make it through the years as a classic, but can be thought of today as a reason WHY those bands were so revered. There's plenty of top 10 hits as well - a veritable who's who of the 1960's - with Simon and Garfunkle, CCR, the Doors and Aretha Franklin all represented with classic hits. The outlying years of the movie are the late 1950's and late 1970's, but there's no denying that the soundtrack is centered around those "classic rock" tracks that often get played on the 4th of July weekend. In conclusion, there's no surprises in the Gump soundtracks. People who ONLY listen to alternative music and nothing else shouldn't even consider purchasing this. But it stands to be THE major soundtrack of the summer - I was talking to a retailer who said that he had to reorder his entire supply after one day. That's just not common and this soundtrack, with its classic rock base, could well become _The Big Chill_ equivalent for the 1990s. Overwhelmingly recommended to fans of the late 1960's music. (Disc 1) Elvis Presley - Hound Dog; Duane Eddy - Rebel Rouser; Clarence "Frogman" Henry - (I Don't Know Why) But I Do; Rooftop Singers - Walk Right In; Wilson Pickett - Land of 1000 Dances; Joan Baez - Blowin' in the Wind; Credence Clearwater Revival - Fortunate Son; Four Tops - I Can't Help Myself; Aretha Franklin - Respect; Bob Dylan - Rainy Day Woman #12 and 35; Beach Boys - Sloop John B; Mamas and Papas - California Dreamin'; Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth; Jackie Deshannon - What the World Needs Now is Love; Doors - Break On Through; Simon & Garfunkel - Mrs. Robinson (Disc 2) Jefferson Airplane - Volunteers; Youngbloods - Let's Get Together; Scott McKenzie - San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers in your Hair); Byrds - Turn! Turn! Turn!; Fifth Dimension - Aquarius / Let the Sunshine In; Harry Nilsson - Everybody's Talkin'; Three Dog Night - Joy to the World; Supremes - Stoned Love; BJ Thomas - Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head; Randy Newman - Mr. President (Have Pity on the Working Man); Lynryd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama; Doobie Brothers - It Keeps You Running; Gladys Knight & The Pips - I've Got To Use My Imagination; Wille Nelson - On The Road Again; Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - Against The Wind; Alan Silvestri - Forrest Gump Suite -- L7 - _Hungry for Stink_ (Slash) If we forget L7's self titled debut (and God knows, *they* seem to!) then think about the following. This record moves away from the Butch Vig produced sheen of their previous major label debut and sounds like a step back to the days of the Sub Pop album that brought them to the public's attention. Remind you of anyone ? Not that I'm trying to compare L7 to 'that band', I just thought the coincidence was interesting! So, what we have here is a pleasantly frayed collection of two-chord droning punk songs (played at various tempos) with snotty vocals and 'fuck you!' hooklines. Even the first single, 'Andres', an apology to a guy who's "really nice" has the tone of a hate song! Everything on this record is frayed - the vocals, the guitars, the drums and even the ladies themselves judging by the lyrics to songs such as 'Qestioning My Sanity' and 'Stuck Here Again'. Its been a while since I heard guitars this dirty on a major label album - there's feedback all over the place, not for effect, but because there's so much fuzz piled on that something's got to give. Two of the stand outs : 'Shirley' is L7 meets 'Jesus Built My Hotrod', with Jennifer trading lines with samples from the film "Heart Like a Wheel", about the first female drag racer. "What's a girl like you doing here ?" "Winning." Nuff said. And when 'Riding With a Movie Star' brings toytown organ (courtesy of FNM's Roddy Bottum), a xylophone, bongos and hand claps in with the fuzz guitar, even the most jaded (yes you!) will crack a smile. So.......a great collection of frazzled punk rock. They would eat Green Day for breakfast. ---