Music
Short CD Reviews
William Shatner - Has Been (2004)
Shout!Factory
You've already seen the graffiti: "Shatner is God." And friends, God is not dead. God is back.
Absent the material plane since 1968's Transformed Man , which brought us covers of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "Mr. Tambourine Man," his celestial majesty returns for the sophomore effort Has Been . While Transformed Man paid homage to The Beatles, Shakespeare, and Dylan, Has Been sees Shatner stretching His creative muscles on original compositions.
Aided by producer Ben Folds and guest artists Aimee Mann, Brad Paisley, Joe Jackson and Adrian Belew, Shatner paints a world of broken yet hopeful dreams. With Aimee Mann, on "That's Me Trying," he tells the story of a failed father trying to reconcile with his daughter. It's the perfect counterpoint to his cover of "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," as an older, slightly wiser Shatner tries to if not atone, at least move forward. It's one of the most poignant pop songs in recent memory, reminding us that the past is past, and the future is all we have to live in. God, didn't the 60s tear us all apart? Answer: Yes.
Another highlight is Henry Rollins's appearance on "I Can't Get Behind That," a rollicking rant about the nagging details of life. A collection of Seinfeldian riffs delivered over a clearly improvised drum line, its proves once again that Shatner can laugh at his own perceived pomposity. The song concludes, "I can't get behind.a . fat..ass!" and Shatner makes that fat ass stand for everything wrong with the world. Everything He'd set right. if he were more than just an entertainer. Humility! Is there anything He can't do?
Tell your friends: SHATner.IS. back.
• Kari Limbo
String Quartet Tribute to Nirvana
(2003) Vitamin Records
I've often wondered what it must've been like for my parents' generation to have the life-shaping music of their youth repackaged and fed back to them as the background noise for car commercials and allergy medicine advertisements. What, for example, did it feel like to realize the opening chords of The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" no longer screamed world-weary rage, but now whispers, hollow and castrated, of the Nissan Pathfinder waiting to make your life complete? Did that, perhaps, redefine the word suck ?
Now, with String Tribute to Nirvana , I know.
Do you remember Smells Like Teen Spirit ? How much genuine angst and rage was in that song - how it blew away every fake hair-metal band from sea to shining sea? No? Listen to it again, then imagine Cobain's voice, yanked raw and bleeding from his lungs, as an emotionless, whiny violin line. That's String Quartet Tribute to Nirvana . In marketing parlance, it would seem, a "tribute" is when you get a nice bouquet of flowers and go to the grave of someone whose work you admire. Then you squat and drop a nice steaming turd on their headstone. "We're huge fans of your work!" Unnnnngh, plop! Wipe with the flowers.
Listening to this album is like watching some corporate Director of Marketing dig up your idol, dress him in lacy undergarments, and parade him around the country, charging a wooden nickel for a peek at "Jo-Jo, the Non-Threatening Dog-Face Boy." Pity, shame, disgust - words fail to describe what it's like to have your music exhumed and shambling around, bleached-white and soulless, meaningful only as a tasty nugget of mid-90's nostalgia now "enjoyed" by thirty-something former hipsters (probably ad executives) as they tool around in their Mini Coopers.
And here, God, I ask only for a bullet in the head of each and every one of them. Is that so much, Oh Lord? Bill their families for the ammunition if that is Your will. Amen.
- Mordechai X
Gang Gang Dance (LP)
Fusetron
How to record a Gang Gang Dance record:
Put a bunch of equipment /keyboards/microphones/noise-makers in a big room. Put four people in that room. Hold a séance. Bring forth the spirits of John Cage, John Coltrane and Steve Reich (even though the last one isn't dead). Turn off all the lights and press record. Tape results and slim the resulting 20-hour jam session into two 20 minute tracks and slap it on a CD. RELEASE! REPEAT!
I stand before you as a testament to the power of this album. I don't know exactly what is going on and I'm fine with that. Just don't figure on them breaking into a groove for too long. As soon as you start tapping your foot they will send you a curve and you'll just have to stop or feel like a fool. And that is their intent - to be a constantly evolving creature.
- Ian Flaco
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - The Doldrums
Paw Tracks
I bought this on a whim. And while it had it's moments, it didn't take a very long time before I decided that I didn't need to own this. I tenderly placed it in a padded envelope and sent it to some other unsuspecting fool. However, being the OCD music collector with a desire to own and listen to everything ever, I kept a copy for "The Archive." I'll be damned if I didn't keep going back to it.
- Ian Flaco |
