best bets
Tin angel
Susan Werner,
7:30 p.m. today,
Plymouth Congregational
Church,
925 Vt.
Song & dance man
Gregory Hines,
8 p.m. Friday.
The Carlsen Center,
Johnson County Community
College,
12345 College Blvd..
Overland Park.
Ocean's 3
Victory at Sea,
9 p.m. Sunday,
The Replay Lounge,
946 Mass.
Real live woman
Trisha Yearwood, 8 p.m. Sunday, Starlight Theatre, 4600 Starlight Road Kansas City, Mo.
Horn dogs
Soul Manifesto.
9 p.m. today,
The Madrid Theatre,
3810 Main St.,
Kansas City, Mo.
music Mag
See more events, pages 24-30.
CD REVIEWS
Onward Crispin Glover "The Further and the Faster"
Comprised of members from Kansas City's alt-rock elite, Onward Crispin Glover has become one of the better known aspects of the recently resuscitated Missouri music scene. Singer-guitarist Bryon Huhmann (TV
Fifty,
Exit
159),
guitarist
Marty
Robertson (Ten
Thumb, El
Fontain),
drummer
Billy Johnson (Frogpond, Rocket Fuel is the Key) and bassist Kristin
Thompson make a formidable unit, crafting a sound that's equal parts power pop and emo. The catchy garage slop of "Weighttr" sets the stage for the playful sonic suckerpunches found on "Cherry." Even better is "Action," not a raucous party life shout-out as the title implies, but a deliriously catchy, sweetfully melodic damn-near-perfect number that's worth the price of admission alone. "Action" indicates where OCG could go, presuming it can keep its current lineup intact. Rather than relying on power and attitude to make its point – as it does for much of the album – the focus here is on conveying atmosphere and emotion, setting a tone the way a cinematographer might. "Laughing Dog" and "Hint" use a similar strategy, with slightly less-promising results. "Marshall, Will and Holly" follows a Get Up Kids blueprint with a bit too much devotion, and awayaways like "The Cut" are saved only by Johnson's riveting shotgun style. Surprisingly, what should be the worst moment of "Further" – the obligatory wacked-out, 22-minute hidden track – turns out to be one of its best. A single eerie mantra repeated ad nauseam (which "disappears" after two and 1/2 minutes, resurfacing 10 minutes later with a bunch of
added effects), the song seems custom-designed to annoy. Instead, it truly captivates, a final kernel of evidence supporting the theory that OCG has more up its musical sleeve than it might be letting on. With any luck, the band can stay together
long enough and gain the necessary confidence to continue following its muse wherever it may lead.
Mylin Brimm "Cherish Life"
Though indie bands often are worshipped for low-budget
productions and DYI ethics, there's another group of overlooked artists espousing similar values. Like their rock counterparts, these musicians can be found in bedroom and basement studios in nearly every county in the country. They also put out homemade
CDs, unable to afford the big budget studio sessions that even midlevel bands enjoy. Tri State Clicc is one such entity, three musicians in as many states who typically work
on tracks via the Internet. With an approach like that, it's no surprise the trio has built on audience online, using mp3.com's Web site as a sounding board for their wares. Ludicrously prolific, the Clicc has packed the site with tracks, both as solo artists and as a group. Last year the band compiled some of the more popular numbers for a CD, "Dead End Blues." Mixing the rapid-fire rapping of MCs Bilistic and Swoop over Mylin Brimm's soulful crooning, "Dead End" proved a highly
engaging start, and earlier this year, the trio returned with a follow-up, "Passion & Rage." On "Cherish Life," Brimm steps away from the Clicc's gritty urban storytelling for just over 40 minutes of straightforward soul. Though Brimm comfortably fits into the gaggle of neo-soul singers that have been around since Keith Sweat's first perspiration, there's not a single R&B novelty here - no insipid thong songs or booty calls. Brimm's forte is gospel-tinted balladry, and he keeps the tempos slow and the lights low throughout, crafting a mood that Usher and his ilk simply can't maintain for a whole album. Brimm wrote nearly all the songs on "Cherish," with Bilistic manning the mixing boards, as he does for most of the Tri State material. There's always a hint of melancholy in Bilistic and Brimm's collaborations, a faint air of sadness imbued even in their upbeat numbers. On numbers like "Shadows of Life," where Brimm duets with himself, the darkness is ominous and overt. On the title track, Bilistic throws in a couple uplifting verses, cropping up again near the end of 'Just to
Hear Your Voice Again,"
offering a welcome dose of energy, tethered with urban angst. The sultry D'Angeloesque grind of "Just Met" finds Brimm breaking form and trying on new musical hats,a strategy that works exquisitely here.At times though, Brimm's no-budget production is almost too much to bear. The cheesed out Casio horns of "Music & Me" overshadow what might've been an otherwise powerful statement. It would be interesting to hear how Brinnm would sound with a real band behind him. For now, fans of the most soulful singer on the Kansas University campus will have to dig into the computer grooves of his solo debut.
-reviewed by Geoff Harkness
THE MAG/LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2001-3