Sunday, August 11, 1996
Tim Booth and Angelo Badalamenti "Booth and the Bad Angel"
(Mercury) When combining the mystical sensuality of James’ frontman
and poet, Tim Booth, and the dark waters that comprise the mind of
composer Angelo Badalamenti ("Twin Peaks," "Wild at Heart"), you’d
be hard pressed to come up with anything remotely pedestrian.
"Booth and the Bad Angel" is the delicious proof, alternately
slices of pop heaven and brooding soundscapes that recall James’
recent projects with Brian Eno, the king of surreal pop. Booth’s
lower register rises from the subconscious, soothing as a massage
and balanced by the purity of his upper range. His lyrics, to which
Badalamenti added music, meander through his usual topics of lust,
love, precarious moods and spiritual journeys. Some of his
too-precious moments ("Please fall in love with me, Drift with me
upon an endless sea") are redeemed by a sincerity and understanding
that wash away the cliché and leave the lines fresh as though
uttered for the first time. The music parallels the mood of
spiritual free-falling, sometimes tender ("Fall in Love with Me"),
sometimes melancholic and detached ("Dance of the Bad Angels").
Both the vocals and the music exude a warm sensuality and a forlorn
sense of mystery simultaneously, "tragically beautiful," as
Badalamenti would describe it. They conjure the strange and
intensely personal universe only reachable by music, where such
opposites not only exist, but make natural bedfellows. K.F. A-
MC Lyte "Bad As I Wanna B" (eastwest) In a universe of
self-deprecating, ass-flaunting, "dream lover come rescue me"
women, MC Lyte’s self-confidence is heartening, even if she puts
down the mike to pat herself on the back. "Keep On, Keepin’ On" and
"Have You Ever" make it clear that MC Lyte can "rock the mike" like
no other, as the cliché goes, and goes and goes. Despite the
occasional clichéd power trip, most of the album steers clear
of trite "rap-isms" and is aggressively honest. The songs are
sparsely produced, without extraneous samples or bells and whistles
 just beats, raps and minimal accompaniment. Most tracks are
slower-paced and more mellow than the product of MC Lyte’s male
counterparts, and vary from minor-key foreboding prophecies, such
as "Zodiak," to light-hearted dance tunes like "Everyday," the
upcoming single. Though it’s not the call to arms some of its
lyrics claim it to be, "Bad As I Wanna B" is a positive, catchy,
confident album that’s well-suited to a club’s turntable, which is
enough. K.F. B
Sleeper "The it Girl" (Arista) zzzzzzzzzzzzzz … A "sleeper"
can be a surprise underground hit, as was Sleeper’s debut, "Smart."
With "The it Girl," however, the word takes on the more
conventional connotation. The album gives away its British status
by its opening track title ("Feeling Peaky" ??) and its insistence
on perpetuating British shoegazer dream pop ("My Bloody Valentine,
anyone from Manchester"). The first half of the album does muster a
bit of an edge, but come the eighth or ninth track, your eyelids
get heavy and you find yourself mumbling the lyrics to old Lush
songs. Even the tunes that do sport the all-American electric
guitar have that spacey film on the surface that smoothes their
bite into a flirtatious but innocuous nibble. Despite its matte
finish, the album is well-produced and infectious in a mid-80s
retro sort of way, especially "Nice Guy Eddie," which would have
fit perfectly on KROQ’s roster in 1986. Lyrically,
singer/songwriter /lyricist Louise Wener sheds her controversial,
media-hyped sex-tyrant image and does a bit of shoegazing herself.
Shy introspection and insecurity abound in the latter songs, though
her wit and knack for pulling out the bizarre phrase shines
throughout. K.F. B
Boston Pops Orchestra, John Williams "Summon the Heroes: The
Official Centennial Olympic Theme" (Sony Classical) If you found
yourself obsessively whistling the music that presaged every
commercial break during Olympics coverage, this is the album for
you. The well-filled disc contains an hour of music associated with
the Games, including John Williams’ aforementioned "Olympic
Fanfare," written for the ’84 Games in Los Angeles. Other
highlights include American composer Michael Torke’s "Javelin,"
written for this year’s Olympics, Shostakovich’s "Festive
Overture," which was the theme of the 1980 Moscow Games, and
Vangelis’ "Chariots of Fire" theme, featured at the 1984 Sarajevo
Winter Olympics. The disc also features first recordings of the
title track and Williams’ "The Olympic Spirit," written for
Seoul.
The Boston Pops are obviously at home under the guidance of
Williams, their former longtime director, playing the type of
communicative music in which they excel. Sony provides them with
first-class digital recording and appealing presentation. J.M.
A
Wynton Marsalis (trumpet), English Chamber Orchestra, Anthony
Newman "In Gabriel’s Garden" (Sony Classical) At first glance, this
disc looks enticing. It’s filled with some of the baroque era’s
most familiar trumpet tunes, including Mouret’s Rondeau (the theme
from "Masterpiece Theater," as a sticker on the disc’s front cover
proudly announces), Clarke’s "Prince of Denmark’s March" and
Purcell’s Rondeau from "Abdelazar," as well as Bach’s Brandenburg
Concerto No. 2. Marsalis performs each work expertly, decorating
repeated sections tastefully and clearly reaffirming his mastery of
the trumpet as a classical instrument.
Unfortunately, the disc has 32 tracks, and most don’t last
longer than three minutes. Almost all of them are introduced by an
overwhelming drum roll, only making the individual trumpet tunes
sound unrelentingly similar. The recording brings Marsalis very
much to the forefront. He buries most of the English Chamber
Orchestra under his sheer volume. Both his "London Concert" of
classical concerti and his "Baroque Duet" album provide better
introductions to Marsalis the classical trumpeter than this. J.M.
B-
Reviews by Kristin Fiore and John Mangum. Soundbites run every
other week and have been endorsed by both Dole and Clinton for
promoting family values.