Monday, July 28, 1997
Soundbites
Radiohead "OK Computer" (Capitol) Forget "electronica,"
Radiohead has given us the future of rock. "OK Computer," the
follow-up album to their 1995 beyond-its-time classic, "The Bends,"
is no doubt one of the most daring and revolutionary records to hit
alternative rock in the past few years.
Like its brilliant predecessor, "OK Computer" hits you after the
third or fourth listening, and hits you hard. Ignoring the 1997
standard of bouncy melodies and happy-go-lucky kitsch, Radiohead
surges towards the millenium with their brand of brooding
techno-angst and anthematic atmospheres.
Songs like the bass-heavy "Airbag" and the somber, Leonard
Cohen-esque "Exit Music (For a Film)" sound like refined "The
Bends" outtakes. "Paranoid Android" goes from mellow desperation to
crunching funk. "The Tourist" strums like a psychedelic country
song, while "No Surprises" brings us themes of slow deaths in a
lounge-rock fashion.
"OK Computer" is not an album full of singles, but more a
sum-of-all-its-parts piece. Exceptions to this notion is the
stand-out, beautifully haunting new single, "Let Down" ("shell
smashed/ juices flowing/ wings twitch/ legs are going/ don’t get
sentimental/ it always ends up drivel"), and the pop song
"Electioneering" (which sound like the ’90s version of the Smiths)
and bar room-ish "Karma Police."
Like U2 and the Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead takes on the future
with finely layered styles, emotional vocals (thanks to singer Thom
Yorke) and a technophile attitude. "OK Computer" sweeps you up in
its tumultuous currents, and somehow sustains a rapturous flow
between its many mood swings. Mike Prevatt A+
Prodigy "The Fat of the Land" (Maverick) Well, Prodigy has
landed here in the States and the hype has been met. "The Fat of
the Land," a bombastic juggernaut that pummels your ears for an
hour, has sold now over 400,000 copies in half a month, debuted at
No. 1 on the Billboard album charts and met all sorts of critical
praise and acclaim. The question remains … how will the normal,
pop-listening folk take it?
"The Fat of the Land" is an impressive record in that Prodigy
mastermind Liam Howlett shows off a musicianship and creativity few
electronic artists share. Given the mood, you are destined to shake
your ass. However, given the hoopla and the critical attention,
Prodigy has nothing over the Chemical Brothers or Underworld (who
did the brilliant "Born Slippy" from "Trainspotting"). Half the
album is overly repetitive. And much of it is unmelodic dance music
with a sporadic and sometimes annoying sonic blaring.
The other half, however, remains full of character and color.
"Breathe," their current radio hit, is Depeche Mode meets Rage
Against the Machine meets the Sex Pistols. Ironic, because frontman
Keith Flynt sounds dangerously like Johnny Rotten in songs like
"Serial Thrilla" and "Firestarter," a chaotic noisemaker that will
either compel you to dance violently or throw your stereo against
the wall.
Other songs like the punky "Fuel My Fire" (an L7 cover song) and
progressive "Climbatize" highlight what may go down to some as a
raging, uncompromising deviant of a record that, for better or
worse, could end up as influential as Nirvana’s "Nevermind." Turn
the volume up and numb your mind. Mike Prevatt B
Ron Sexsmith "Other Songs" (Interscope) It’s hard to believe
that Interscope Records, home of such noisemakers as Marilyn Manson
and Nine Inch Nails, is the label pushing this Canadian folkster. A
cross between Bruce Springsteen, 10,000 Maniacs and Neil Young,
Sexsmith’s melancholy yet articulate sound is one for the mellow
jet set. With "Other Songs," the follow-up to his critically
acclaimed, self-titled 1995 release, Sexsmith takes us on a journey
into his Normal Rockwell-gone-Morrissey world.
While his guitar playing and musical background are worth
swaying your head to the real treat, here is Sexsmith’s
imagery-heavy lyrical styles which tell stories almost as
interesting as Bob Dylan ever did.
"Strawberry Blonde" recalls a little girl disturbed within her
tortured childhood ("But the neighbors said her mother had lost her
will/ to gin and sleeping pills/ it was no life for a little
girl"). "Average Joe" is an unpretentious triumph of self-awareness
and love ("No, we don’t have much/ but this I know/ you’ve made a
king out of this Average Joe"). "Nothing Good" and "Pretty Little
Cemetery" also tell stories with such simple and vivid language,
music videos would never do the songs justice.
Once you’re done with the synthesized acrobatics of Prodigy and
the perky sugar-pop of Hanson, check out music that actually says
something worth pondering. Mike Prevatt B+
En Vogue "EV3" (Elektra) And then there were three  and it
was good.
Although this once happy harmonious quartet is down to a
threesome, En Vogue has managed to remain an untroubled trio for
their newest album, EV3.
A bit more bluesy than their first two characteristically
R&B records, these funky divas have ironically laid down new
lyrics of optimism and spunk. With an occasional swoon and wail in
the song "Too Gone, Too Long," the rest of the album remains full
of bold vocals about determined desire.
The song "Don’t Let Go," begins with a hip-swinging,
head-dropping intro full of syncopated drum beats and low jazzy
"aahs" balanced with a periodic light cymbal "ting" in the
background. The sounds blend right into a chorus of fearless
females bellowing "There’ll be some love-making, heart-breaking,
soul shaking/what’s it gonna be?"
The alluring song "Damn I Wanna Be Your Lover," is complete with
sexy, slinky and breathy oohs accompanied by heavy bass strumming
lazily behind, while the thick gospel-like grooves of "Don’t Let
Go" border on deep soul.
But the trio doesn’t stick with all the same smoky night club
creations as the boppy song "Right Direction" mixes it up with
light maraca shakes and finger-snapping high harmonies. More isn’t
necessarily merrier for this trio. Their numbers may have shrunk
but their vibrant voices still remain En Vogue. Nerissa Pacio A
RADIOHEAD
"OK Computer"