Mod soul meets '80s techno-pop
My Ever Changing Moods
Style Council
Geffen Records
__
Pity poor Paul Weller — it
seems everything he does
presently in Style Council gets
reflected through the bright
recollection of The Jam years.
The legacy of The Jam is con
siderable, but Weller's work
with Style Council contains only
the palest shadow of what was
once The Jam.
Things are indeed looking up
for “Dear Mr. Weller," as he is
known in the British music
press. He's jumped from a
longstanding relationship with
Polygram Records and has
released "My Ever Changing
Moods" on Geffen Records, a
subsidiary of the huge con
glomerate Warner's Com
munications. Weller and Style
Council cohort Mick Talbot are
currently on tour in America. It
is the first time Weller has
toured this country after a
number of disjointed and large
ly unsuccessful Jam tours. More
importantly, "My Ever Changing
Moods" has cracked the
American AM and AOR (album
oriented rock) FM radio sta
tions' playlists. That's
something The Jam never
managed during their career.
The LP "My Ever Changing
Moods" is a successful attempt
to discover a cohesiveness in
the diffuse styles occurring in
contemporary music and to
make an optimistic, perhaps
bouyant, statement of a healthy
future ahead. Weller's composi
tions run the gamut of popular
tastes, from jet-propelled elec
tronic funk, rap songs, Celtic
soul, to '50s-style torch songs
and (while we're in the '50s
mien) blue jazz a la Dave
Brubeck.
Weller has redone a number
of tracks previously released on
the Polygram label. In one in
stance, Weller betters the
original effort, in the other case,
he botches the job
magnificently.
Whatever possessed Weller to
re-record "The Paris Match"?
The original recording (on
Polygram's "a Paris" EP) with
Weller's tormented vocals (he
was playing the "miserable
bastard" again) was a haunting
lament on a failed affair and a
love that lingers unrequited.
The latter version of "The Paris
Match" is sung by Tracy Thorn
in a excruciatingly accurate
caricature of a torch-wielding
chanteuse. Listening to this
track, you can just picture Thorn
wearing a strapless red
sequined evening gown with
elbow-length black gloves while
leaning boozily on a shiny black
piano. She sounds as good as
she looks.
One can admire the form and
faithful adherence to the
chanteuse style in this version
of "The Paris Match." Yet, the
slurred phrasing and strange
dragging tempo (not to mention
those gawdawful wire brushes
on the snare drum) bring the
song dangerously close to
parody.
Where "The Paris Match"
stumbles, Weller's remake of
"Headstart for Happiness"
sprints with great spirit. With a
skeletal arrangement of guitar,
bass, drums and horns,
"Headstart for Happiness"
sounds as if it were done with a
lot of joy and a single take.
Weller's duet with D.C. Lee is
excellent.
There are weak points in "My
Ever Changing Moods" —
notably the '50s quasi-bebop
jazz ("like, dig it cat, the Bird
and the 'Trane would roll, like
over in their earthy cribs, cat")
and the vintage Brubeck.
Nonetheless, Weller scores
and scores big on tracks like the
scratchin' "Strength of Your
Nature," "Gospel," the fast
funk of "A Solid Bond in Your
Heart," the pure pop of "You're
the Best Thing" and the title cut
"My Ever Changing Moods."
Weller may just have got what
he's always desired and feared
—• a hit in America.
Nearly a Sin
One The Juggler
RCA Records
Comparisons are a cheesy
way to review an LP. However,
when the artists are newcomers,
comparisons help to convey the
sound and style of a group
listeners may not have had the
opportunity to hear.
"Nearly a Sin," One The Jug
gler's American debut LP, begs
favorable comparisons with
some of the biggest groups in
contemporary music. Not that
One The Juggler sounds like
this group, that group or all the
others. The opposite is true.
One The Juggler's style and
sound is unique, but still it con
tains strains of U2, Big Country,
R.E.M., The Alarm and some
Celtic soul. It must be stressed
that One The Juggler's sound
isn't derivative, but the ear can
detect the band's influences.
What is impressive about One
The Juggler is their "big guitar"
sound and the spare (if perhaps
completely absent) use of syn
thesizers. The result is a form of
classic three-chord rock'n'roll
Photo courtesy RCA Records
One The Juggler began as buskers in the London Underground.
with a difference. One The Jug
gler's sound is 1950s roots
rock'n'roll redefined into a
1980s context.
One The Juggler began as a
pair of buskers, Rokko (lead
vocals, acoustic guitar) and
Lushi (bass guitar), playing for a
vastly indifferent crowd bustling
through London's
Underground stations. The
twosome added Linn Minchin
(lead guitar, vocals) and Travis
(drums, percussion) and started
to turn the heads of careless
crowds in the tube. Soon they
were above ground, playing the
clubs and attracting a large
following.
It's no wonder One The Jug
gler quickly rose from the
Underground; this group's
guitar sound is gutsy and huge,
their vocals strong and sharp,
their lyrics witty and sincere.
Tracks like "Passion Killer,"
"Junkie for Love" (a properly ap
pointed number in the vein of
Buzzcock's "Orgasm Addict")
and "Patience of a Saint" show
One The juggler's ability to play
danceable yet intelligent
rock'n'roll.
"Patience of a Saint" is an
amusing tune about tainted love
constrained at the very entrance
to fulfillment. This number ends
with what sounds very like a
public health official reminding
breathless youth: "Yes, I know
it's a bore and irritating. But you
could be responsible for one of
the thousands of outbreaks
every year. Keep it clean, keep it
cool and keep it covered."
These are words to live by.
"Nearly a Sin," for a debut LP,
contains some amazingly
polished and professional pro
duction work. Care of the craft,
the craft of music, is evident
from track 1 to track 14.
One The Juggler's debut LP
could be the best side to come
out so far this year. And
remember: Keep it clean, keep it
cool and keep it covered.
Cort Fernald
Coffee Cart has the comer on caffeine gourmets
LiuunMei lunee, iresmy roasieo ana
ground, is the hot new item on the cor
ner of 13th and Kincaid. The Coffee Cart
has been brewing up a two-way educa
tion since it took to the streets on March
26 this year.
Cart owner James Thornton says he
sees himself as "the person on the cor
ner educating some people so they know
what excellent coffee is."
And Thornton learns while he teaches.
"I'm finding there are a lot of different
types of people out there I never knew
existed.
"You pick up the strangest conversa
tions of people walking by or standing
there talking. When you're standing
there making a pot of coffee you just
can i neip out near n, inornton says.
In addition to receiving a street educa
tion, Thornton is learning to run a
business. An experienced team of
volunteer consultants, the Service Corps
of Retired Executives division of the
Smail Business Administration in
Portland, gave Thornton some initial tips
on investing the $7,000 it took to get
started.
Thornton says he swallowed about $20
in daily losses from giving away samples
the first week in business.
"The first thing I did was to start han
ding out samples so people could see
how good the coffee was. I spent a lot of
money doing it, but I thought it was the
thing to do," he says.
Ana wnue mormon is learning has to
allocate money, he is also learning to
allocate time.
"The thing that surprised me the most
about getting into this was the number of
hours," Thornton says.
Thornton's day begins at 6:15 a.m. and
goes on until 8 p.m. During that time, he
prepares his cart of coffee, pushes it
about a half mile from the commissary
where it's stored to the corner, and final
ly, returns to the commissary where he
reorganizes for the next day.
Thornton speculates the long hours
and high costs will eventually bring
payoffs to his Coffee Cart education.
"I'm making a lot less than I thought I
would," he says, "but I'm having a lot of
urn, ana i m getting there.
"I think I'm building the clientele for
the gourmet coffee industry as a whole
on the block."
The Coffee Cart sells regular gourmet
and decaf gourmet coffee, espresso and
espresso specialty drinks. All cups cost
between 50 cents and $1.50.
"I have a special every day so that peo
ple will get to try different things,"
Thornton says. "I try to drop the price
about 25 percent."
Along with the coffee, Thornton sells
chocolate-covered espresso beans, nuts
and candy. Iced sun tea, lemonade, Stash
tea and hot chocoate are also
alternatives.
Lori Steinhauer
r
15
1 FREE Soda
plus
$ OFF
any slice
Offer good Sat., Sun. &
Mon. of Memorial Day
Weekend
11:30-Midnight, Mon.-Fri.
3:30-Midnight, Weekends
1211 Alder on Campus
686-9598
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J?fttic
C A Fashionable Experience
1 S 0 I A ST I I I V E N T H A V I N l I
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