Monday, January 26, 1998
Soundbites
MUSIC
James Horner, "Titanic: Music From the Motion Picture" (Sony
Classical) The score to this hugely successful movie is further
testament that instrumental film soundtracks (like "Braveheart")
have been selling well the past few years. "Titanic" is currently
the best-selling album in the country. But the reason for its sales
might just be because it’s one of the best scores to come out in
quite some time. With its creative and soothing mesh of
orchestrations and lush Irish soundscapes, composer James Horner
has made one truly beautiful record.
Let us not forget that the main draw for most buyers is Celine
Dion’s "My Heart Will Go On," an exception to her often untolerable
schmaltz. Whether this song is appreciated solely for its memorable
presence in the movie or for Dion’s whispery vocals, the song
evokes a beautiful tragedy that is both heart-wrenching and
soaring.
Most of the songs on the album sound a little bit like each
other, with a few alterations here and there, like "Rose" and "Hard
to Starboard." But that’s typical of film scores. Irish chants by
the Enya-esque Sissel and various New Age-friendly instruments like
the bagpipes and French horns compliment what might just be your
typical dramatic film soundtrack, evidenced on the tender "Unable
to Stay, Unwilling to Leave." Other compositions, like "The
Sinking," use the power of horn sections to convey a sense of
looming suspense and excitement not unlike famed composer John
Williams. With the variety and quality provided on this hot selling
record, "Titanic" is every bit as stirring and moving as the movie.
Mike Prevatt A
Hum, "Downward is Heavenward" (RCA) The stargazers from
Champaign, Illinois, once championed the idea of leaving the earth
on the ambitiously titled, "You’d Prefer an Astronaut," their 1995
major label debut which included the popular single, "Stars." By
quietly selling 250,000 records on the backbone of that hit song,
they are now savoring that grand floating sensation somewhere above
heaven that certain NASA employees and smoke-shop patrons commonly
encounter.
Their current (fourth) space trek tinkers with abstraction and
escapism, star galaxies and Apollo missions. However, the
extra-terrestrial metaphors found on ‘Downward’ don’t have the
pretentious feel of Journey album covers or Sci-Fi Channel
programming. Instead, the band’s fascination with infinite space
makes for a boundless guitar soundscape not unlike U.K. dream pop
stalwarts Swervedriver, or even the early days of Lush. Like those
bands, Hum manufactures noise without the immediacy of punk or
metal. This is done by maintaining an intense rhythm, then layering
a duo of buzzing guitar melodies into an echoing Spector-esque wall
of sound.
Lead vocalist Matt Talbott is texture on the water. His minimal,
almost transparent voice is usually a soft layer that easily folds
atop his lead guitar, like on "Isle of the Cheetah," but can
descend to the bellows of a snarl as well, like on "Comin’ Home."
It is the instrumentation, however, that speaks of vast worlds. It
is there where you can move beyond the irritating droves of
third-wave ska, post grunge, boring techno, and girlie pop that
dominate our pathetic state of popular music. Not to say Hum has
created the perfect solution to industry problems; after the sixth
song we soon realize that what goes up must come down, and
unfortunately Hum wastes the last four songs longing to return to
earth. But make the trip, "Apollo" would sadly say, because, "If we
ignore the systems / They’ll just blink out and quickly go away."
Brendon Vandergast B
Denis Leary, "Lock ‘N Load" (A&M Records) It’s been a while
since Denis Leary has done anything worth mentioning. After
transforming MTV into a Cindy Crawford shrine with an arsenal of
witty banter, the chain-smoking comic retreated to bad formulated
movies. Leary finally returns to what he does best, stand-up comedy
and brutal social commentary, in "Lock ‘N Load."
In the span of an hour, Leary manages to stomp political
correctness out of the world we live in. He attacks everything from
the Pope to more mundane issues like women’s breasts with the
voracity and middle-class ideology that gets laughs every time. The
album is a combination of live excerpts from Leary’s HBO special of
the same name and a batch of studio "songs." By far the live
excerpts make the disc totally enjoyable. It captures Leary’s
frantically paced, neurotically laced ranting which is as much a
part of the act as the dialogue. There are a few standout studio
works, the most impressive being "A Reading From the Book of
Apple," which take jabs at petite diva Fiona Apple and her speech
at the ’97 MTV Music Awards.
Listening to Leary is a journey into his mind. A
meat-and-potatoes kind of guy, Leary is desperately trying to hold
on to the basic things in life: coffee, beer, and cigarettes. He
fights off the ever-complicated world by doing what he does best
… making fun of it. Trinh Bui B
Transister, "Transister" (Interscope) They describe their album
as "not perfect, but perfect is boring." Yeah. You keep telling
yourself that. Transister’s self-titled debut album is good in so
far as it sounds mainstream, but lacking any of the punch that
makes pop, well, poppy.
Their better songs, such as "Look Who’s Perfect Now" and
"Weather Boy," are unique because of their unconventional use of
instruments such as the cello and Indian flute, but those brief
moments of creativity are nowhere near enough. The songs include
both soft, mind-numbing flows and quirky guitar takes that are far
from impressive. Lead vocalist Kelly Hawkes has a clean, sugary
voice but never gives the listener reason to believe she has real
talent behind it. Limping, incessant beats fill a void of energy
that induces sleep rather than excitement.
"Stars Collide" is the one song where real chemistry and feeling
shine through and actually grab success with both hands. Stick to
that technique and you’ll have a hit. Transister seems to have
chosen the alternate route.
Transister adds another album to the pile of static pop bands
who think they’re creative because they add some electronic fuzz
and techno beats. You might be headed in the right direction, but
you’re still on the bandwagon. Michelle Zubiate C+
JAMES HORNER
"Titanic"