Monday, November 3, 1997
Soundbites
Various Artists "Trainspotting #2" (Capitol) Remember when the
soundtrack to "Dirty Dancing" in 1987 was so popular that RCA went
ahead and released "More Dirty Dancing"? Well, that’s what Capitol
Records, with the creators of one of the biggest foreign
independent movies ever released in the United States, did too.
About 15 months after the release of the highly successful
"Trainspotting" soundtrack comes the second offering of songs
either left out of the first installment or songs "inspired by" the
movie.
While not the mind-numbingly perfect compilation of drug-pop
that its predecessor was, "Trainspotting #2" comes real, real
close. Do you also remember watching "Trainspotting" and thinking,
"Man, this soundtrack would be so cool," and then you bought it,
only to find out a few great songs were missing? Well, those
left-out ditties are here, including "Dark and Long" by Underworld
(the eerie Renton-withdrawal-scene song), "Temptation" by Heaven 17
(the festive everyone-scores-in-the-club-but-Renton song) and
"Think About the Way" by Ice MC (the big-beat,
Renton-arrives-in-London song). Renton’s (Ewan McGregor) "Choose
Life" speech is put to music by PF Project; as well as the
classical piece, "Habanera," that played as our hero sank into the
toilet for his fix plays, courtesy of the opera "Carmen."
The second soundtrack also has remixes of songs on the first
album, including Iggy Pop’s "Nightclubbing," which proves some
songs weren’t ever meant to be remixed, and Underworld’s classic,
"Born Slippy." Then there are the songs the director and others
wanted to put in the movie, but couldn’t for some reason. Those
include David Bowie’s classic, "Golden Years," Joy Division’s dark
"Atmosphere" and Goldie’s "Inner City Life." A few performers from
the first "Trainspotting" album are invited back as well, such as
Sleeper ("Statuesque"), Primal Scream ("Come Together") and Iggy
Pop ("The Passenger").
The record represents "Trainspotting" almost as well as the
first album, but this welcome sequel stands on its own nicely as a
compilation of danceable British club music that spans over 20
years. Mike Prevatt A-
LL Cool J "Phenomenon" (Def Jam) An unshaven, buffed out,
tattoo-smattered, black leather-wearing LL Cool J doesn’t crack a
smile for his newest album’s CD fold-out. Flip open the literature
accompanying the parentally advised "Phenomenon" and you’ll see
he’s gone hard-core. But listen to the tracks and the image remains
just that – an image.
With the repetitive, heavily-rhythmical songs like "Phenomenon"
(surprisingly climbing the R&B/rap charts), "Nobody Can Freak
You" (featuring R&B crooner Keith Sweat) and the groaning "Hot,
Hot, Hot" (a teeny-bopper-esque song full of lyrics like "Baby boy
don’t stop, stop, stop / You keep me hot, hot, hot"), LL Cool J
only semi-successfully balances melodies with dense rap.
Despite the occasional stand-outs like "Don’t Be Late, Don’t
Come Too Soon," that soothes with the featured vocals of Janet
Jackson-esque Tamia, "Phenomenon" might best be left as club
stepping music – satisfactory enough to dance to but rarely
memorable.
The major downfall of most tracks including "Phenomenon" and "4,
3, 2, 1" (which manages to incorporate the necessary contrived
expletives to uphold the stubble-bearing image) is the tedious
background beats which fail to go beyond banal repetition. Most
songs don’t live up to the intricate rhythms expected in an age of
electronic mixers where beats blend and layer. Maybe for that very
reason, some might enjoy its simpler appeal. To each his own. In
the meantime, listeners might be waiting for LL’s real phenomenon
to happen. Nerissa Pacio C
Various Artists, "V Classic Volume 1" (Konkrete Jungle) How many
of you out there love a good drum and bass album? About four of
you, maybe five? Well, whatever. It isn’t like it’s the most
enthralling material ever to make its way onto the shelves of Penny
Lane.
However, Konkrete Jungle’s latest compilation of DJs, spinning
everything from jazz-infused beats to astral-sounding rain-forest
noises, sort of grows on you. You might be studying or typing away
on your ENP-701 laptop, and next thing you know, you think you hear
the phone ring. But it’s really just a strangely mixed piece off of
"V Classic Volume 1." Next time you hear it, you maybe think to
yourself, "No, that’s not my phone. It’s a noise not unlike my
phone, yet oddly more pleasing." So you continue to type away, that
much more content. And it also seems like the sort of album you
might want to drive to, by yourself, along the coast, eating up
highway at around three in the morning. That’s also a good feature
of the album. It has that
"I’m-on-a-mission-and-beyond-any-known-realm-of-chicness-ever-before-tread-upon"
kind of quality to it. So, if you were to buy "V Classic Volume 1,"
you probably would sort of dig it. Vanessa VanderZanden B
Marcy Playground, "Marcy Playground" (Capitol) Holy cow! Stop
everything! Call your friends, write to your grandparents! Another
indistinguishable alternative album has hit the market!
These New York-based rockers churn out video-friendly songs that
neither suck nor shine on their self-titled debut album. The first
single, a relaxed, Southern, classic-rocky cut called "Sex and
Candy," sounds like most of their tunes … like Crosby, Stills,
Nash & Young meets Everclear and Nirvana. Not bad, but the
rehashed sound bores the listener despite gifted musicianship and
decent songwriting. The middle seven songs lack soul, and don’t
pack any punch. "Sherry Fraser" features a guitar riff that belongs
on a commercial for VH-1, and "Cloak of Elevenkind" emulates "Puff
the Magic Dragon." A bizarre chunk of music tacked onto the end of
"The Shadow of Seattle" will convince everyone that their CDs must
be scratched.
The band flaunts a sense of humor in "Vampires of New York" and
especially "Dog and His Master," the grooviest and most interesting
cut on the album. All in all, Marcy Playground gives rock fans
little to get excited about, except maybe a bizarre drug theme
(with songs like "Poppies" and "Opium") which doesn’t seem to fit.
Jeremy Engel B-
VARIOUS ARTISTS
"Trainspotting #2"