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April 05, 1995 - Image 11

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Publication:
The Michigan Daily, 1995-04-05

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The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, Apnl 5, 1995 - 11

RECORDS
4ontinued from page 10
killers: The gentle title song and the
frightening "Black-Eyed Dog."
There is not a track on this compi-
lation that is not the work of a genius,
even if a troubled genius. His other
four albums are just as strong, a re-
minder of just how great a musical
contributor we lost when he died of a
drug overdose at 26.
-- Dirk Schulze
Adina Howard
Do You Want a Ride?
EastWest Records
Twenty-year old Grand Rapids,
Michigan native Adina Howard has a
formula for success that is as simple
as they get. Sex sells, and she uses
that fact to its fullest. Blessed with an
Wmply sized gluteal area, Howard is
not afraid to show it off to its fullest.
Just skim her song titles; names like
"Let's Go To Da Sugar Shack," "My
Up and Down" and "You Got Me
Humpin"' more than hint at the fact
that this is no wholesome family re-
lease. Or, view her CD cover where
her backside is spread like a model on
a 2 Live Crew video, or look at the
*nside cover where she stuffs herself
into a pair of black leather pants so
tight they looked-tattooed on.
Is it really such a shocker that guys
would be attracted to her ... ah, mu-

single "Freak Like Me," which does
more to show off her piss-po' vocal
skillz than the most sarcastic music
reviewer ever could, is so popular?
However blessed Howard may be
below, she is nowhere near gifted in
the vocs department. But, this "short-
coming" doesn't stop her from releas-
ing the booty (no pun intended), 13-
cut "Do You Want a Ride?" But, her
popularity will in 'no way be perma-
nent. Howard has neither talent nor
the drive necessary to make it in the
music biz. She is out for one thing: To
make a quick buck selling her body
along with her heinously wack voice
like a street walker in Las Vegas -
exactly what she looks like on the
cover of her CD.
Howard calls herself "a '90s
woman." No, Adina, you're not a
woman. You are ajoke and a smack in
the face of every hard-working, up-
and-coming, true-to-herself female
artist out to make it legitimately: Us-
ing their voices, not their bodies, rely-
ing on their lyrical talents, not on their
oversized body parts squeezed into
undersized clothes.
- Eugene Bowen
Ike Turner
I Like Ike! - The Best of Ike
Turner
Rhino
Forget, for a moment, the vicious
portrait that "What's Love Got to Do
With It" ainted - before anything

else, Ike Turner was a musician, and
a ground-breaking one at that. Not
only was he a revolutionary R&B
guitarist and pianist, he was a con-
summate songwriter and a visionary
producer, label owner and talent scout.
During the '50s, he laid the ground
work forrock'n' roll with the various
bands he led. In fact, most critics call
"Rocket 88" -- a powerhouse blues
number fueled by a distorted guitar
- the first rock 'n' roll record. Al-
though Turner's name didn't appear
on the record (it was credited to singer
Jackie Breston), it was his band and
his arrangement. The song was ahuge
R&B smash and Turner spent much
of his career trying to top its success.
Of course, once he turned Anna
Mae Bullock into Tina Turner, Ike did
score a number of hits - and his early
work was forgotten by much of the
public. "I Like Ike - The Best of Ike
Turner" returns that early work to pub-
lic consciousness. Surprisingly, there
hasn't been a domestic collection of
this material in years, while Ike and
Tina's catalog has been repackaged
many times. Most of the songs on "I
Like Ike" aren't as strong as "Rocket
88," yet the sound of Turner's band is so
muscular and rocking, attempts to du-
plicate the single's success ("My Real
Gone Rocket") are easily forgivable.
From the ripping "Peg Leg Woman" to
the dirty country of "Steel Guitar Rag,"
the disc is filled with gems that confirm
Ike Turner's stature as a true R&B
giant
- Tom Erlewine
Nod's Atomic Dustbin
Brainbloodvolume
WORK Group
The new release by those energetic
young British lads, Ned's Atomic
Dustbin, is ... well, different. Ned's-
who released two extremely good, al-
though similar-sounding, albums fea-
turing their unique two-bass sound and
pop hooks - have seemingly taken a
sharp turn not only in instrumentation,
but songwriting.
The disc opens with the ear-shat-
tering single "All I Ask Of Myself Is
That I Hold Together," a tune that rips
and tears with the best of them, but
lacks any sort of the aforementioned
style. The track is a sign of the changes
in the band, but don't worry, it is also
easily the worst song on the album.
Ned's new style includes a solid gui-
tar sound, more samples, effects and
sequencing and a near-disappearance
of the melodic second bass that was
the band's trademark. Bassist Alex
has abandoned his four-string on many
of the tracks in favor of keyboards
and even (gasp!) a second guitar.
But, the disc gets better and better
from the second song on. "Floote," a

Ned's Atomic Dustbin has given up the ghost and gone ... quasi-technol Well, you know somebody had to do it.

nice little tune that includes a really
cool flute ditty mixed in underneath
the power chord crunch, takes the
album off in search of bigger and
better things. Though the thought of a
techno song on a Ned's Atomic
Dustbin album would scare even the
most devoted of fans "Premonition"
is quite pleasing, mainly due to the
beautiful acoustic guitar laid over the
synth drums and oozing bass line.
And how wonderfully oozing the
bass lines are! While Alex may be off
in la-la land with his keyboards and
sequencers, low-end bassist Mat has
been busy tightening his driving
sound. The conventional bass lines
here are better than ever, especially
on the higher-tech tracks like "Bore-
hole" and "Traffic." Another key
element to the album is the unwaver-
ing lyrical prowess of vocalist John.
His biting wit and youthful expres-
sion once again combine to make his
average-British-rock-singer voice
sound a lot more powerful than it is.
Whilethenew style might take long-
time fans a while to get used to and the
first single may sound a bit trendy,
"Brainbloodvolume" takes Ned's
Atomic Dustbin in adirection that might
not be so bad. The loss of the bass
harmonies is too bad, but there are also
many positive changes here to focus on.
The important thing is that, for the most
part, Ned's Atomic Dustbin is still do-
ing what they do best: Writing interest-
ing and enjoyable pop songs.
- Mark Carlson

Gastr Del Sol
Mirror Repair EP
Drag City
On "Mirror Repair," Gastr Del
Sol proves that their twisted brilliance
extends even further than their in-
credible second LP, "Crookt, Crackt
or Fly," had suggested. The five songs
here cover the entire spectrum of Gastr
Del Sol's method of song
deconstruction, utilizing acoustic and
electric guitars as well as pianos and
drums, all executed in the band's
frighteningly unique style of mixing
both melodic and anti-melodic ele-
ments with random and controlled
noise, usually on the same instru-
ment.
Every track on "Mirror Repair"
works brilliantly within this frame-
work, but certain songs show Gastr
Del Sol's expansion better than oth-
ers. "Eight Corners" showcases David
Grubbs' talent for chaining together
dissonant piano chords into a beauti-
fully coherent form, and "Mirror Re-
pair" combines the piano and acous-
tic guitar textures and melodies per-
fectly, with neither one taking full
control over the other.
"Dictionary of Handwriting," on
the other hand, starts with a warped,
false-starting electric guitar riff be-
fore roaring off into a twisted form
of indie-rock ecstasy, augmented by
percussionist John McEntire's ex-
plosive drum rolls. Grubbs' shy but
engaging lyrical style is also present

on a few of the tracks, but he also
knows when to let the music speak
for itself.
With "Mirror Repair," Gastr Del
Sol prove that they are neither indie-
rock heroes or self-indulgent experi-
mentalists or even technical wizards.
Instead, they've proven that theirstyle
of music has no limits, and that they
have the skill to expand their already
compelling sound to even greater
heights.
--Andy Dolan
Sincola
What the Nothinghead Said
Caroline
This two-guy, two-girl group has
been pegged to be The Next Big Thing,
but frankly, it's doubtful that will
happen. There's nothing much to this
group's sound that's worth remark-
ing on; a few flat female vocals here,
some awkward, wiry melodies there.
From thealbum'sopening track, "Hint
of the Titty" (I'm not making this up)
to its closer, the ironically titled
"Amazing," "What the Nothinghead
Said" serves up lukewarm punk-pop
and plenty of it. Like so many other
.music genres, indie punk-pop has
become inbred. So much of it differs
so little from band to band; jangly
and/or fuzzy guitars and flat vocals
are at an all-time high. And like too
many of their indie brethren, Sincola
are a bunch of nothingheads with little
to say.
- Heather Phares

It's One Of The Most Useful Credit Cards On The

Planet. Unless You've Stolen It.

Your MasterCardis stolen. You panic.You

get angry.You panic some more. Then you call and cancel it. Now the thief is

in p

)ssession of, oh, a
coas
/ to p

bout seven cents worth of stolen plastic. (Maybe he can use it as a
ter when he entertains at the hideout.) So relax. You only have

gay for stuff that you bought,

and you can even get a new card

rhP next lav*' It'll he accented at millions of locations, one of

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