Monday, October 27, 1997
Soundbites
MUSIC:
Olive, "Extra Virgin" (RCA) Do you ever dream of bouncing high
up and down those pure white, puffy clouds and simply lie afloat in
bliss? If so, the perfect soundtrack might just be the ambient-like
music of Olive.
With its drawn-out synthesized sounds, Olive incorporates
dreamy, romantic-mood music onto its album, "Extra Virgin."
However, after about five or six songs, all songs strangely begin
to conglomerate into one really long, drawn out piece. The only
aspect which saves the music from sounding dull are the poetic
lyrics written by keyboardist Tim Kellett.
"Falling" breaks the musical monotony with "Gentle as the
morning breeze/warm enough to sleep and dream/there is no doubt in
my mind/I’m falling (in love)."
The entire set-up for the CD does have a creative tinge to it.
The "Twin Peaks" – like, instrumental ("Muted"), and the two lined
"Killing" display different ways of pop songwriting. Also, the
cover of the CD, with it’s "drippy," water-spilled look,
complements some of the fluid-sounding songs like "Muted" and
"Blood Red Tears." The harmonic, happier sound of "Outlaw" also
stands out.
The beginning of each song actually does sound promising until
the musical phrase is interrupted by an awkward trumpet blurb or
dissonant key change into the minor. This bring down the music
quality.
However, the end of the album ends on a strong, positive note
with
"I Don’t Think So." With both witty words and musical beauty,
this song demonstrates that Olive, although the band at times has a
repetitive, drawn-out sound, still has a prospective future. Sandra
Kim B-
Portishead, "Portishead" (Go! Beat/London) Imagine the Doors
teaming up with jazz/hip-hop outfit Digable Planets and trip-hop
king Tricky. That’s about the best comparison to Portishead as
you’re gonna get. The English quartet, who won the Mercury Prize in
their native homeland with their masterpiece, trip-hop debut, have
released their sophomore, self-titled record.
Portishead serves up a creepy, late-night sound that thumps and
grooves like a slow rap sound minus the rhymes. It incorporates
styles ranging from jazz and hip-hop to electronic sampling and
even goth-rock. Portishead may be the Bernard Herrman of the ’90s,
as one could easily envision their gloomy, sinister songs scoring
old Alfred Hitchcock movies. Other songs sound like sultry yet
unnerving 007 songs.
Portishead excel at the more symphonic, in-your-face material,
like the trumpet-blaring "All Mine," the multi-layered "Seven
Months" and the faster "Elysium." Their dark sound, however, slows
down the rest of the album, sometimes to the point of boredom.
Most of the gloom-and-doom comes from the lyrics. "Only You,"
complete with record scratching, asks, "We suffer everyday/what is
it all?" The vocals, flawlessly crooned in desperation by Beth
Gibbons, give "Portishead" part of its haunting solitude.
Provided you’re in the mood, Portishead’s sci-fi, postmodern
lounge music is intriguing and soulful. It’s definitely not,
however, for the hyperactive, pop-happy crowd. Mike Prevatt B
Baby Bird "Ugly Beautiful" (Atlantic) Apparently nobody told
Baby Bird that Britpop (now nicknamed "shit-pop," and this doesn’t
include respectable bands like Pulp and Suede) died and was buried
a year ago. Even if he knew, his album, "Ugly Beautiful" was not
worth his effort in digging it up and trying to revitalize it.
With the exception of a few bright spots here and there (and we
do mean few), "Ugly Beautiful" lacks quality and drags horribly,
especially at an excruciating length of fifteen songs. Baby Bird
has an ’80s English/New Wave sound to his music, with a few synth
elements to it. The vocals sound like Ian McCulloch trying to
croon, and it’s more pathetic than it is sexy.
The lyrics are off-center and difficult to swallow, to say the
least. "Candy Girl" asks, "Are you Jesus without the nails/ are you
the berryman without the rails/ are you Paris without the
snails?"
Another display of pop marginality, "Jesus is My Girlfriend"
doesn’t shock or make a statement but actually disturbs ("Jesus
ain’t a man/she’s my girlfriend"). Perhaps Baby Bird needs to keep
his love affair with Christ to himself.
A few songs are worth listening to. The opener, "Goodnight,"
jangles melodically with that Smiths style. The easy-going radio
single (which hit it big in England last year), "You’re Gorgeous,"
is pleasantly like the Cardigans meet Gene. And even the end song,
"Baby Bird" is a decent pop song.
The rest of the album is a struggle, though. Baby Bird’s
kitsch-less lounge pop makes listening to the album all the way
through quite an accomplishment. Congratulations … now find a
used CD store that will take it back. Mike Prevatt C-
Save Ferris "It Means Everything" (Epic) Sticking to an
antiquated ska formula, Save Ferris manages to sound like the
million other Southern California ska bands lurking in garages all
over Orange County. Ironically, Save Ferris’ major label debut, "It
Means Everything," says absolutely nothing worthwhile about the
group.
These Dance Hall Crashers-sound-alikes pack 11 standard issue
ska tunes with horns, guitar chords and texture that can’t be
differentiated from fellow generic ska groups like Buck O’ Nine and
Reel Big Fish.
On tracks like "The World is New" and "Under 21," the melodies
lacks creative pop and leaves a "haven’t I heard this song before?"
feeling. It’s hard to describe the Save Ferris feel because Save
Ferris sounds like stereotypical ska. Forget the element of
surprise, Ferris completely takes it out of the album, everything
is done in a play-by-numbers fashion.
Fittingly, the lyrics churned out by guitarist/vocalist Brian
Mashburn are as passe as the music. Occasionally Mashburn digs
deeper than kindergarten-esque limericks and focus on high school
heartbreak.
Give credit to the Ferris gang for the enthusiasm and energy
that makes listening to the disc bearable. But it is hard to stay
excited for three- minute songs jammed to the brim with a whole lot
of nothing. Trinh Bui C-OLIVE
"Extra Virgin"