REVIEW: Various Artists, Music For Our Mother Ocean 3
(Surfdog/Hollywood)
- Andrew Duncan
"Hang ten surf doggy!" Sounds neat when the elderly lady from the Old Navy commercial elegantly blurts those words out while the Kens and Barbies dance about on the beach. Well oh gracious one, those times are gone when American coasts were filled with miles of clean, crystallized sand, the ocean water as blue as Sinatra's baby blues and an abundance of saltwater fish swimming freely without the worry of being wiped out from our technologically-advanced fishing boats.
Due to the overcrowding of Tropicana-clad people and decades of pollution, we have put the ocean in an unwilling position as the underdog. This is not news breaking information, as most are well aware of the earth's fragile environment. However, we are living in an age where people need to be given a reminder, and that is why artists continue to contribute to the Music for our Mother Ocean CD series.
The third installment in this series is well informative, giving updated statistics underlying the problems with ocean deterioration, and providing useful numbers to call for more information in conjunction with cause and effect.
Oh yes, and there are the artists who are involved. The CD has high tides with Brian Setzer teaming up with Brian Wilson to perform a startlingly vivid version of "Little Deuce Coupe." Also Beck, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Beastie Boys all contribute fascinating new songs composed especially for this album.
Unfortunately there are low tides as well. Sprung Monkey destroys a cover "Coconut," Allison Moorer performs a catastrophic version of the Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun," and Snoop Doggy Dog teams up with members of Rage Against the Machine to record an annoyingly long "Snoop Bounce."
But hey, it's all for a good cause, right?
