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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1997)
BY CARRIE BELL Rating System Take home Multiple guess exam ww$ Essay test □ All of the above The Lighweights No one told The Light weights how pros handle fame. Instead of cool finesse, the boys bicker over the phone and exude no bad-boy bravado. Saxo phonist Tom Weber, 17, is almost too nervous to chat. The innocence is as refreshing as their music — a blend of funky bass lines, horns, rock sensibilities and a mad rapper. “We wanted to couple our interests in rap and ska," says drum mer Skully. “We started as a five-piece band, but added horns for flavor.” Interview finesse aside, the gang has the business mastered. They financed their demo, A Bit of Life. “We hit up local stores to carry the tape, and they’re available at shows,” says trumpeteer Matt Scheiner. The band (with bassist Joe Baptista, rapper Josh Kolenik, trombonist David Dominique and guitarist Mikal Britt) also knows how important a good live act is. "We have to prove we aren’t punk-ass kids,” Britt says. “Crowds quick ly realize we're serious about music. Then we go crazy on stage." The craziness is catch ing, with everything from campus gigs to a “ska mitzvah” scheduled. “We're hot little muffins in demand,” Skully says, adding that Scheiner has three groupies. “Yeah, but they’re all about 10,” Britt scoffs. For a demo, send $4 to: The Lightweights, 817 Linen Ave., Baldwin, NY 11510. Ani DiFranco Living In Clip Righteous Babe Ani DiFranco, high priestess of punk-folk, continually updates old-guard feminism with intimate vignettes disguised as songs. She plays “music for people, not pos terity.” So the only surprising thing about this live two-CD set is that it comes so late in her career. Two hours of recordings map her musical manna from the early days of “Anticipate” to the most current entries off Dilate. Living In Clip strips down the genius of DiFranco to its barest state, capturing versions and monologues. Her winsome blend of urban grit doesn’t suffer from overproduction or overcontemplation, often the downfall of studio projects. Like all concert LPs, annoying audience shrieks, flubs and instrument hum are included. But all is forgiven upon hearing a magnificent crescendo in an orchestral “Amazing Grace” or the powerfully eerie echo vibrating in “Both Hands.” The Chemical Brothers Dig Your Own Hole Astralwerks White Town Women In Technology EMI With everyone jumping on the techno bandwag on, it’s hard to decipher the superb from the schlock. The Chemical Brothers and White Town travel different paths to salvation in electronica. Dig Your Own Hole holds the unfortunate title of one of 1997’s most anticipated CDs. Fortunately England’s dynamic duo doesn’t let fans of studio wizardry down. The record is an hour-long fusillade of rave whistles, remix madness, hip hop samples and rock guitar squalor. Vocals by Beth Orton and Oasis’ Noel Gal lagher break up the noise before monotony sets in. Lovers of the Beastie Boys’ wordless excursions will find enough psychedelic breakbeats to sink their teeth into. A month ago, a sexually confused single called “Your Woman” stormed up alt-radio playlists. You didn’t really get it, but you could dance to it. Now White Town wants to charm disco biscuits with its full-length reincarnation of ’80s synth pleasure a la Bronski Beat, Erasure and Depeche Mode. Jyoti Mishra even croons in a unisex tone similar to Yaz’s Alison Moyet. Amidst the knob-turning and looped keyboards lies some actual guitar. Yet experiments with Mid dle-Eastern ambience and schmaltzy ballads can’t top the aural fixation the single induces. Spearhead Chocolate Supa Highway Capitol KRS-ONE I Got Next RADIO, RADIO 1. Pavement, Brighten the Comers, Matador 2. Built to Spill, Perfect from Now On, Warner Bros. 3. Helmet, Aftertaste, Interscope 4. Aphex Twin, Richard D. James, WARP/Sire 5. Wally Pleasant, Wally World, Miranda 6. Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Let’s Face It, Mercury 7. The Lunachicks, Pretty Ugly, Go-Kart 8. Clbo Matto, Super Relax, Warner Bros. 8. Various Artists, Violent World: Tribute to the Misfits, Caroline 10. David Bowie, Earthling, Virgin Chart based solely on college radio play. Contributing radio stations: KFSR, California State U„ Fresno: WNYU, New York U.; KWVA, U. of Oregon; KTRU, Rice U., Texas; KUOM, U. of Minnesota; KCMU, U. of Washing ton; WXJM, James Madison U., Va.; WWVU, West Vir ginia U.; KCSB, U. of California, Santa Barbara; KTEK, New Mexico Tech; KRU1, U. of Iowa; KJHK, U. of Kansas; KRNU, U. of Nebraska, Lincoln; WHRB, Harvard U.; WCBN, U. of Michigan; KALX, U. of California, Berkeley; WRUV, U. of Vermont; KCR, San Diego State U., Calif.; KBVR, Oregon Slate U. Get the groove on U.’s music page: http://www.umagazine.com/rocks Rap is in transition. Artists are trading in gats, girls and Gucci for peace, politics and relevance. For Spearhead and KRS-ONE, new albums are an evolution, not a departure. Hero of HiohoDrisv Michael Franti and Spearhead cruise down the Chocolate Supa Highway armed with skillful wordplay, funky bass and a conscience. Ras I Zulu’s reggae chants, Trina Simmons’ silky vocals and layered production fuse soul and technology without losing the one-love groove theory. San Francisco’s rhythm collective took time to hone their craft since the ‘94 debut, and it shows. Crossover confidence and talent climax on duets with Stephen Marley and Joan Osborne. Blastmaster KRS-ONE also uses nostalgic tricks to hit retro paydirt, although I Got Next is more in the emcee and gangsta vein. His freestyle assault is as vicious as ever, but the melody-based rhymes melt into boogie down productions. Next's rants are peppered up with guest appearances by Redman, Joe, DJ Muggs, Keva and Angie Martinez. Our Picks inaigo Girls Shaming of the Sun Epic Amy Ray and Emilv Saliers deliver yet another guitar frenzied, country-folk product embedded in sexual ambiguity. Despite an abundance of fast pieces, the duo doesn’t forsake any of the lyrical introspection or pristine harmonies. One step “Closer To Fine.” Adriana Evans Adriana Evans PMP/Loud/RCA The string and horn sections sur rounding Evans’ feathery vocals make it easy to mistake her for an airy sounding crooner of her parents’ gen eration, like Roberta Flack or Diana Ross. But she’s a bona fide ‘90s soul singer with electronic drums to prove it. The lilting, upbeat tunes take you back to happier times. Various Artists Kama Sutra Soundtrack TVT Prepare to be hypnotized by the pas sion of the sitar and sarangi and the powerful playing of India's most respected musicians. The tracks exude T desire and emotion rivaling Peter Gabriel’s Passion and provide a perfect setting for Mira Nair’s controversial film. The Hang Ups So We Go Restless This Minneapolis quartet dishes out some of the fiercest iiberpop this side of the Atlantic Ocean. The 12 tracks on their second effort will have you bobbing your head and humming the infectious melodies for days. Various Artists Love Jones Soundtrack Columbia Such erotic urban reverie is con tained here that you'll be left with the same desirable effect the movie title suggests. Slow jams by Maxwell, Xscape, Dionne Farris and Groove Theory flow into jazz fusion care of Cassandra Wilson, Duke Ellington and John Coltrane, putting everyone in the mood for love. Kinnie Starr Tidy Violet Inch Need a new pro-grrrl hero to throw adoration at since Ms. Love cleaned up her act for Hollywood? Try Canadian TV-hater and performance artist Kinnie Starr. The mixing is raw, the attitude tough and the final out put refreshing. The assistant editors think these CDs will give you a reason to get up in the morning.
