Thursday, May 4, 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Section B · Page 3
music
live
music calendar
Tonight:
One Man Show with The Ugly Boyfriend, Shawnee, Alex Brahl and Scott Martz, 8 p.m. at the Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St. $5, 18.20 $4, 21 and older
Tomorrow:
Local Outta Town, 10 p.m. at The Jazzahus, 926-1-2 Massachusetts St. 3, 21 and older.
Split Lip Rayfley and Rex Hobart,
8 p.m. at the Bottleneck, 737 New
Hampshire St. $6, 18-20, $5, 21
and older.
Bugs Backpacks $20 or buy of show
- Suga Daddies, 10 p.m. at The Jazzshus, 92/1-2 L Massachusetts St. $4, 21 and older.
Jurassic 5 and Dilated Peoples,
6:30 p.m. at the Granada, 1020
Massachusetts St. $18.50,
sale price: $19.00
Saturday:
Tap Root and Papa Roach, 6 p.m.
at the Bottleneck, 737 New
Hampshire St. $5, advanced ticket.
All ages.
Colobo and Shaking Tree, 10 p.m.
at the Bottleneck, 737 New
Hampshire St. $5, 18-20. $4, 21
and older.
AZ ONE, 10.p.m. at the Brown Bear Brewing Co., 729 Massachusetts St. $4, 21 and older.
The Floodplain Gang, 10 p.m. at The Jazhaus, 926-1/2 1 Massachusetts St. $4, 21 and older.
Monday:
Tuesday:
Open Mic featuring Wow and Flutter, 8 p.m. at the Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St, $1, 18-20 Free, 21 and older.
Celia, 10 p.m. at the Brown Bear Brewing Co., 729 Massachusetts St. $4, 21 and older.
Armored Saint, Karma to Burn and Full Power, 7 p.m. at the Granada, 1020 Massachusetts St. $10, all ages.
Medeski Martin & Wood, 8:30 p.m. at Liberty Hall, 644 Massachusetts St. $23, all ages.
Wednesday:
Kristie Stremel and Resident Clark,
8 p.m. at the Bottleneck, 737 New
Hampshire St. $5, 18-20, $4, 21
and older.
Big Smith, 10 p.m. at The Jazhawza, 926-1/2 Massachusetts St. $3, 21 and older.
Bloodhound Gang, Nerf Herder,
Dynamite Hack and Rx Bandits, 7
p.m. at Liberty Hall, 644
Massachusetts St. $16.50,
advanced tickets. $18, day of
show. All ages.
Thursday:
Kid Koala, Amon Tobin and Bullhog, 8 p.m. at the bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St. $10, advanced ticket. $10, day of show
Buried Treasure $10.00 or of show New World Gypsies, 10 p.m.at the Brown Bear Brewing Co., 729 Massachusetts St. $4, 21 and older.
Cypress Hill Skull & Bones
Buy it
No bones about it — the three members of Cypress Hill are kings of the stoned age. But on this, the trio's fifth album, DJ Muggs and vocalists B-Real and Sen Dog put down the bongs and take their distinct rap style to a new level.
Cypress Hill solidified its intensely loyal fan base with 1993's Black Sunday, which featured the smash hit "Insane in the Brain." The follow-up, 1995's Temples of Boom, was considerably darker, a theme that carried over to 1998's IV. The evolution continues, but on Skull & Bones, the group has toned down the pro-pot rhetoric and cranked up the violent imagery of inner-city street life.
Two factors set apart this effort from the group's other releases — it's a two-disc set, and the second disc sees the band replacing its background beats with real drums and crushing guitar riffs. The gimmick even plays into the group's first single, which has two versions: "(Rap) Superstar" and "(Rock) Superstar."
Skull, the rap disc, is considerably less bass-driven than previous Cypress Hill albums. The synthesizers are more evident than before, but that doesn't take away from deliciously funky tracks such as "Highlife" and "Certified Bomb." What's more surprising is that nasal vocalist B-Real is very, very outdone by his colleague Sen Dog, who shows more lyrical punch than in any previous Cypress Hill release.
Bones, the rock disc, sees the band entering new territory. Unfortunately, heavy metal interferes with the band's style, resulting in less-than-innovative tracks such as "Get Out of My Head." ("Rock") Superstar," however, rounds out the second disc nicely.
This is not the same group that made you act a little loco in 1993. Nonetheless, Skull & Bones still makes for some high times.
Sekou Sundiata
Chris Borniger
Harlem-born poet and English teacher Sekou Sundiata communicates his messages with immediacy and grace on his latest release A Long Story Short. Sundiata speaks his rhymes over hiphop, funk rhythms, but the formula for this album is not as simple as that. Vocal harmonies, mandolin, bass and bouzouki also accompany his poetry, providing a very rich delivery.
A Long Story Short
Buy it
- Melineh Kurdian
Fortunately for our listening ears, Righteous Babe Records saved this album from getting lost in the corporate shuffle. Ani Difranco, performer and founder of this label, has said that Sundiata was one of her greatest teachers of poetry. The similarities are evident as Sundiata's flow meanders through subjects such as the homecoming of Nelson Mandela and the jazz of John Coltrane and Charlie Parker. His voice, soft, urgent and powerful, is captivating as he claims that "People be droppin' revolution/ Like it was a pickup line/ You wouldn't use that word/ If you knew what it meant" on the track "Droppin' Revolution."
A sense of history and a pure, souful rhythm are well-balanced on A Long Story Short, an album for lovers of poetry and the art of sublime rhyme.
Led Zeppelin
The Latter Days
Buy it
If you are not familiar with Led Zeppelin and are looking for supreme musical satisfaction, go immediately to the music store of your choice and buy one of the Zepplin albums. Buy any of them. Heck, buy this one. Most anything you choose will be fresh blues-rock beauty to your ears.
— Melineh Kurdian
These pioneers of the heavy metal band mastered the art of writing songs that are just as mysterious as they are sexually explosive. The Latter Days, Volume Two of the Best of Led Zeppelin, is an appropriate panorama of their work, highlighting lesser and more well-known Zeppelin classics. Some might find such a two-volume set unnecessary being that the 4-disc box set released in 1990 was so complete. But it can also be said that any Zeppelin is good Zeppelin, and their compositions are just as vital now as they were more than twenty years ago.
Their true beauty is that they can encompass so many styles but never lose their musical focus. "Kashmir" has a middle eastern flavor with sultry strings and incessant percussion that still makes sense when set along side the rocking and rolling of "Nobody's Fault But Mine." Jimmy Page is easily one of the finest, most articulate guitarists that has ever lived. Furthermore, Robert
Plant plays the ideal front man with sass and a uniquely powerful voice. Led Zeppelin blends interpretations of blues, reggae and rock with inspired mysticism (Plant is an avid fan of Tolkien novels such as The Hobbit).
Led Zeppelin has made an indelible mark upon the music world. All you have to do is listen for a few minutes to know why.
Dilated Peoples
The Platform
Buy it
The Platform is the latest release from the L.A.-based rap trio Dilated Peoples. Going back to the basics of MCfng, the boys rap with a relaxed style that is easy to listen to.
The turntable lays down clean hip-hop beats and samples that do the trick, but are in no way ornate. "Drum patterns are primitive/ Evidence the derivative/ Of what the late eighties and nineties had to give," Iriscience admits in "The Last Line of Defense." So, that leaves the words to speak for themselves, and they do just that.
"Years in the Making" is a sort of autobiography, a testament of confidence without being arrogant. "I don't need jewels to shine/ Just bring the flow/ Besides I keep losin' all my rings at shows," one of them states, turning away from mainstream glitz and glamour. There's no hiding behind obscene, pointless stories.
Dilated Peoples makes no assumptions of absurd grandeur, but chooses rather to create rhymes that represent dignity and cleverness. While it seems to never find a true line of lyrical focus, The Platform is still a solid hip-hop album that should get a lot of attention when it is released May 23.
— Melineh Kurdian
John Oszajca From There To Here
Buy it
On this appealing debut disk, new face John Oszajca crafts 11 tracks blending a folkish pop sensibility with jangly guitars and samples.
The rocker-with-samples thing isn't new — Beck was doing it years ago — but Oszajca's songs are strong enough to survive the trendy production. "Where's Bob Dylan When You Need Him," (besides being a great title) is a witty tune, complete with Wyclef Jean cameo and Dylan sample.
"It Ain't So Bad" is wrapped up in swirling strings and "Bissexual Chick" is funny in a chauvinistic way. Most of the songs are memorable, and Oszajca's voice, while not exactly subtle, is tuneful and appropriate.
The singer obviously has a sly sense of humor, which unfortunately isn't used
that often. Producers Nic Jodoin and Chris Johnson obviously preferred the serious singer-songwriter approach. The result is an album that — while memorable and distinctive — isn't quite a single thought.
Oszajca has talent to spare, however, and From There to Here is entirely worth the hearing. Here's hoping the next album will be even better.
- Clay McCuistion
The Boondock Saints Release the Hounds
Burn it
In the mood for absolutely disposable, trite and awful hard rock? Then try the Boondock Saints, a new band led by independent filmmaker Troy Duffy.
To say this album has nothing to offer the discerning listener is to praise it far more than it deserves. Duffy's upcoming film starring Willem Dafoe also is called The Boondock Saints, raising the possibility this album is some sort of ghastly marketing plov.
To be fair, Release the Hounds is impeccably put together as a recording, and co-produced by the legendary Steely Dan guitarist Jeffrey "Skunk" Baxter. The guitars roar when they're supposed to, the vocals blend well, and the band harmonizes neatly. Talent is present.
But surface touches can't disguise an album without discernible inspiration, originality or heart. The hardest of rock sits uneasily by acoustic ballads. The slow songs — "Three Stones" in particular — are the only ones to show the barest trace of creative impulse. But they are so out of place that this reviewer kept expecting an announcer to break in and intone: "Every rocker has his soft side."
The album's asinine lyrics are the final straw. One example will suffice. The song "Metal Soul" features these poetic lines: "I heard your daddy raped you/ I heard your mom forsaken you/ You got problems, big problems."
Please — make it stop.
- Clay McCuistion