The Michigan Daily - Monday, October 10, 1994 - 11
RECORDS
Continued from page 9
For those of us who have never
heard Oakenfold live, these albums
will have to do. These albums capture
the club atmosphere that Oakenfold
frequents and the listener can almost
see him mixing. On the Music Unites
album, Oakenfold begins with aHousey
feeling and ends with a deep trance mix
that is mindboggling. It is not just the
music that is great, Oakenfold as DJ,
turns into composer as well through his
intricatemixing and engineering. Some
of the best mixing can be heard be-
tween the house anthem of "Future
Groove" byJoey Beltram and the world
music of Yothu Yindi's "Timeless
Land."
The Moonshine Records album is
just as wonderful, but has obviously
been made for a more American audi-
ence. Moonshine is known for taking
European DJs and introducing them to
the US, and this album will do just that
for Oakenfold. There are many tracks
on this album that are also on the Euro-
pean release, making it only necessary
to buy one of the two albums. If re-
mixed music by U2 and the Shamen
"interests you then the Moonshine
Records album is the one you should
own.
Because both albums are mixed by
Oakenfold, they are both incredible.
However, the album on Music Unites
is perhaps more experimental. Regard-
less, one can not go wrong with either
album. Pop one in and have an instant
dance party.
-Ben Ewy
Incognito
Positivity
Talkin' Loud/Verve/Forecast
Somethin' smooth for those late
nights and early mornings - some-
thing to relax you and inspire you ... As
if their time has come, Incognito has
easily incorporated the deep bass lines
and sampling flavor of the hip-hop/
jazz wave ever so slightly into their
grooves. Although vocally driven, the
album is almost never lacking in soul.
The tracks fit so well together that
despite its clearly commercial feel, it is
really difficult to find moments of fluff
on the album. If you don't like synthe-
sized jazz, you won't like this, but the
key choices about where to synthesize,
whereto sample and where to insert the
live breaks are invariably well made.
The voices, instrumentation and mix-
ing are all top notch. Check this out.
-Dustin E. Howes
Melvin Riley
Ghetto Love
MCA Records
1 Melvin Riley, perhaps best known
as lead singer for Ready for the World,
has returned, two pretty disappointing
albums later, attempting to finally make
it solo. "Ghetto Love" is the fruit of his
work, and what a ripe fruit it is.
"Ghetto Love" is a handsomely pro-
duced, 15-cut LP. Riley hasn't changed
much since his time with Ready for the
World, and throughout the CD, you
will hear sounds similar to those of the
group that wooed us not too long ago.
The CD does have a good mix of
fast and slow cuts as well as decent
variation amongdifferent songs. "Goin'
Thru A Thang" is one such faster-
paced song. "Whose Is It" and "I'm All
In" are good examples of slow, sensu-
ous melodies correlating perfectly with
the sex-laden lyrics which pour from
t Riley's lips throughout the song.
"Ghetto Love" has it's bad points,
like "Little Somethin' Somethin"'
which sticks out like sore thumb. How-
ever, the album's positives far outstrip
its negatives.
The LP's title track, "Ghetto Love"
aptly deserves its position as it is with-
out a doubt the musical summit of a
mountainously spectacular CD.
- Eugene Bowen
Mad Flava
from the ground unda
Priority Records
Here's something that should have
happened two years ago. With the suc-
cess of House of Pain, it would seen
inevitable that a slew of sound-a-likes
would come about. With screechy
samples and cut and dry lyrical flow,
Mad Flavasounds nice-and familiar.
The message is pretty much straight
forward braggadocio with a touch of
that blunt puffin', 40-drinkin' attitude
that sells so well. The music is slammin'
for most of the album; the beats are not
too fast and not too slow, and there is
Manu Dibango
Wakafrika
Giant Records
There's one thing I can say about
"Wakafrika." It has an amazing cover.
On it, Manu Dibango is posing. How-
ever, he is standing in such a way so
that he looks like the continent of Af-
rica. It is without a doubt the smoothest
pose I've ever seen.
Is the stuff on the CDs inside as
smooth as the pose on the outside?
Well ... not quite. "Wakafrika" does
have its moments.
"Biko," sung in honor of the late,
great Steven Biko of South Afrika, is
perhaps the best song on "Wakafrika."
It's an impressive (to say the least)
song which will have you humming the
refrain, "Oh, Biko," to yourself and
wondering where you heard it.
"Homeless" is abeautiful slow song
detailing a very sad, disturbing fact of
life for many, and the music of "Lady"
is the standard by which all jazz musi-
cians should be measured.
However, not all is rosy in
"Wakafrika." The song "Wakafrika"
sounds like asax-led remake of a James
Bond theme song. "Emma" had poten-
tial, but you can only go so far with a
song where all but about 15 of the
words are "Emma."
Overall, "Wakafrika" isn't a bad
CD (especially if you count the cover
picture). Do I recommend it. Yes, I do
... hesitantly.
-Eugene Bowen
Great White
Sail Away
Zoo Entertainment
Do you really need to hear why this
album is dreadful? I could merely say
sloppy wankaramaby a bunch of cocky
third-rate Bon Jovi wannabes, playing
for the studly dudes in their '84 red
Camaros, but that wouldn't be quite
enough.
All popular music travels in cycles
really. And by this, it doesn't only
mean that fads come and go and come
again. Every five years or so, there
happens to be one or maybe two inno-
vators who come along and say "every-
thing you're hearing on the radio right
now sucks -now eat this." Then they
deliver music that really is new, fresh
and exciting to listeners cherry ear-
drums.
Chuck Berry, The Rolling Stones,
Led Zeppelin, the Ramones, Black
Sabbath, the Sex Pistols, Napalm Death
and Nirvana are the major innovators
in popular rock and roll. These artists
set the trends that popular music fol-
lowed.
Once these innovators became
household names however, it never
fails that recordcompanies will vacuum
up any and all artists who resemble the
innovators. It also never fails that, from
the new crop, the majority will be wa-
tered-down, flaky garbage with half of
the soul of the innovators.
Great White is one of the groups
that sprouted in the '80s whose major
influence was the innovator of hard
rock, Led Zeppelin. To say that Great
White, Whitesnake, White Lion,
Cinderella, Poison, Warrant, Ratt and
Motley Crue were crappy, third-rate
Zepsters - devoid of any originality
or emotion or soul - would be an
understatement.
These days, with the innovator of
the current trend rock, Nirvana, dead
and buried, second-string "alternative"
groups like Candlebox, Stone Temple
Four years after their big hit, why doesn't Great White just sail away into the sunset?
Pilots and Collective Soul (three bands
that sound more like radio friendly
Pearl Jam than Nirvana an way) are the
popular rockers of the moment -just
as devoid of meaning as the Greatsnake
Crue.
So why is Great White still breath-
ing? Would someone please just take a
dull, rusty stake and drive it through
each band member's heart. But don't
stop there. There are way too many Z-
Rock grunge retread bands popping up
- annhilate them all. Death to hokey
music! But you know what? Without
the shit, there would be nothing to react
against.No new innovators wouldcome
out and say fuck that shit! Bad music is
a necessary evil. Except for Great White
- they're completely unnecessary.
- Matt Carlson
Joe Public
Easy Come, Easy Go
Columbia Records
When Joe Public came out in 1992
with their debut, self-entitled LP, and
when songs like "Live and Learn" and
"I Miss You" hit pretty big, it looked
like these guys were on their way up.
But, just as fast as popularity came for
these guys, it left. Joe Public was
doomed to go down in history as a
group that should have made it but
didn't.
Columbia Records didn't give up
on Joe Public, though, and now the
group is back with "Easy Come, Easy
Go" trying to gain the notoriety it de-
served, arguably, back in '92.
But, is this CD good enough to
warrant Joe Public's return? Nah.
"Easy Come, Easy Go" is a fair CD,
but it will almost certainly not propel
them to what little fame they had two
years ago, let alone place them among
musical successes.
The CD's title track is a nice song,
as is "This Time," but they're no Bill- :
board Top 10 contenders. Sadder still,
the other songs on this 10-cut CD are
even less notable.
See RECORDS, Page 12
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CONFUCIUS
"The first point of courtesy
must always be truth,'
EMERSON
"A zero dialer is a zeoide:
POLITENESSMAN
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