The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, January 26, 1999 - 9 PAPERCLIP PEOPLE SHOW EVOLUTION OF FUNK 'Escape Mechamsm' creates sound collage 4.| Detroit's musical legacy continues. A quarter of a century ago in the slowly decaying landscape of Detroit, George Clinton transformed Motown's soul into something known as P-funk. Then, years later, Juan Atkins mixed technology with Parliament's futuristic funk to invent something he called Techno. Now at the dawn of the new millen- nium, another Detroit artist named Carl Craig has taken fantasy and technology to the next level of funk evolution with "4 My Peepz." This latest installment of music from The . perclip People is Detroit's finest musical moment in years. It's a shame few people realize the amount of amazing music currently being pro- duced in the Motor City. In the past year alone, the funky music of Detroit's finest artists has evolved beyond the dance floor. No longer just the sublime soundtrack to all-night dance parties in the forgot- ten depths of inner-city Detroit, this unique music has finally risen from the underground, invading the sound systems and minds of innocent listeners ross the world. Craig claims to be the channel through which The Paperclip People - Dr. Eich, Me, Son and Sche - communicate their latest sonic experiments. During the past decade, Craig . * has released his music under The Paperclip several monikers on his People record label Planet E with 4 My Peepz The Paperclip People being Planet E perhaps his most well known. Communications The music defies the confines Dalrsie r of genre classification. It pos- Jason Birchmeier sesses the intergalactic themes and mechanical sounds of techno and then adds the dance floor- friendly rhythms and disco motifs of house music. In addition to the music, Craig also performs live as The Paperclip People dressed in a lab coat, usually accompanied by three dressed-up mannequins at their own keyboards. "4 My Peepz" may be the album to finally ele- vate Craig and his Paperclip People project to *served levels of critical as well as commercial success. The songs carefully blend together the funkiest elements of his Detroit predecessors while still capturing an amazingly unique sound. The multiple layers of thumping bass and accompany- ing beats make it hard to sit still without some body part gyrating to the beat. In addition to the essential booty-shaking elements, the songs also include a variety of sampled high-end melodies to mirror the floor-shaking bass backdrop. The sum of these rhythms pulls the listener into a world of comput- erized bliss. The epic length of the songs on "4 My Peepz" also set it apart from most electronically produced funk currently being produced. Nearly every song on this album surpasses the 10-minute mark, with some lasting as long as 15 minutes. One would think that monotony may set in after awhile, but this never occurs due to the progressive nature of Craig's music. Every element of the densely lay- ered songs slowly modulates, fading in and out of the mix over the course of the song. Craig's complex song structures take time to develop into constructed compositions. The song "4 My Peepz (Shot)" builds over the course of sev- eral minutes before slowly deconstructing one drum loop and disco sample at a time. Then just as the song comes to a lull, the construction begins once again. This 12-minute song is followed imme- diately by a reprise titled "4 My Peepz (Stabbed)," which uses altered versions of the same beats and samples to reconstruct a minimal interpretation of the original, focusing more on psychedelia than intensity. Perhaps the best example of Craig's complex song structures appears on the song "Reach." The song opens with a sparse, repeating loop of rever- berating drumbeats. The spaces between the beats soon are filled with juxtaposing high-end beats, reminiscent of handclaps. These two series of beats slowly undergo a series of changes as reverb is added then taken away while the beats phase to an almost muted state before suddenly fading back. This intro becomes almost nauseating as the song evolves in a swirling fashion until about three and a half minutes into the song when a third layer of crisp beats enters. Here the song begins to get very dense, exploding with plenty of rhythm. Then halfway through the song, everything comes to a halt and a sampled synthesizer loop enters. This changes the entire flow of the song until slowly each of the original loops fade back in for a reprise of the intro. Though the album, lasting only 48 minutes, is a bit short, the superior quality of the music makes this album an instant classic. It may be a bit inac- cessible to those unfamiliar with this style of music (whatever it's called) since none of the songs can be described as simply or traditionally structured. In fact, the sounds and rhythms of this music surpass the analytical ability of the average human's mind. At certain moments during the ecstatic peak of a particular song, sounds enter, fade and mutate so subtly that it's hard to differentiate one element from the other within the densely layered, pounding chaotic nature of the music. This is music for the body. Each of the songs on "4 My Peepz" craft audio landscapes full of emo- tion and feeling. The transcending attributes of the music combined with its unavoidable rhythms allow the listener to temporarily drift off into The Paperclip People's fantastical reality. Every band has underlying theories. about how to make music, whether they realize it or not. Escape Mechanism has chosen a dangerous theory to use. The self-titled debut boasts that it is a "sound collage." And here we reach a potential ethical problem: If you have taken the sounds from others, have you made music merely by combining the sounds? The music on s.%2' "Escape Mech- anism" is subdued and almost ambient, Escape although not exactly Mechanism quiet. Bass heavy Escape samples tend to- Mechanism wards the subdued; Reviewed by the music is not dis- Daily Arts Writer tinct from song to Ted Watts song. It is almost as if to stand out would mean stealing too much from a source. The voice samples therefore become the tags by which songs can be told apart, and the vague themes they present become the melodies that identify songs instead of the normal musical cues. "Digital Occasion" contains a sample that talks about the dichotomy; how lyrics become dominant when music is marginalized. It also talks about the use of the voice as an abstract instrument itself, illustrated by the occasional choir or cheer on the album. Seemingly identi- fiable voices (was that Springer?) work against that abstractness, carrying mean- ing separate from the sound itself. There are also less abstract samples; however. "Why Does the Light Fall?'" contains an identifiable snippet of dias logue from the film "2010." "Draining" has longer portions from a Sesame Street album and a zoned out Mr. Rogers monologue, with a rhythm track that sounds stolen from Siouxie and the Banshee's "Peekaboo" and a melody from a toy piano or a xylophone. The words keep the songs in line. Would Escape Mechanism be as creative if it sampled familiar materials? Maybe it would induce that creepy feeling you get listening to a Puff Daddy song. But until such time as the band is powerful enoug'r to pilfer stuff you've already heard, they sound pretty good. Gaze shakes the usual bubblegum-group style Imperial reteaches facts of life The next time someone uses the words "cute" "kiddie" and "girl pop" to describe Gaze, bust out the handcuffs and throw the offenders in the indie pop slammer. The little-known Vancouver trio has consistently been reduced to lit- tle more than an adorable girl group - a patronizing description of a band that deserves so much more than a conde- scending pat on the back. A souvenir shop of lost love, Gaze's "Mitsumeru" was a stellar debut stocked The 1950s teen guide "Facts of Love and Life for Feen-Agers" states, "The boy who recognizes his crush ione of his buddies can make honest efforts to 'ecome active in sports, mingle with the crowd, engage n *ial affairs where girls are..." rial Teen would get big, big laughs over such ockamamie - not only because it's absurd, but ecause the band loudly and proudly embraces male- male crushes. Three years ago, Imperial Teen released its first album, "Seasick" slipping sexually sub- Imperial versive lines into the perkiest Teen anthems. With boy-sung lyrical What Is Not To Love teases like "You kiss me like a London/Slash man, boy" and "The prince wants Reviewed by to be a queen," the music was so Daily Arts Writer infectious that surely even the Jimmy Draper homophobes sang along before realizing what they were saying. aside happy-go-lucky hooks, the songs tackled painful sues like suicide and homosexuality. This time out, these San Francisco co-eds ask "What Is Not To Love" - and with 11 new spit-shined gems under their belts, members Roddy Bottum, Lynn Perko, Will Schwartz and Jone Stebbins leave listeners with few complaints. While initially the band seems to fol- low the same rambunctious, mile-a-minute formula of its debut, subsequent listens to this follow-up suggest a new, slower-burning subtlety. First to sear themselves into the memory bank are the rockers that threaten to careen off the tracks. Hitting the pop jackpot, "Year of the Tan" and "Yoo Hoo" success- fully intertwine male and female vocals, creating chaot- ically fun songs that live up to the demands of the for- mer's chorus, "We gotta dance!" And after hearing the pop-perfect beats of "The Beginning" and "Lipstick," listeners won't ever accuse Imperial Teen - or its fans - of passing up a good, down-and-dirty boogie. After several listens, however, it's clear this album maps out new Imperial Teen territory, too. The band often opts for a mid-tempo pace that succeeds with a fuller, more fleshed-out sound. "Open Season" rambles pleasantly and seductively, and the seven-plus-minutes of the Sonic Youth-ish "Alone in the Grass" create and enticing invitation for a romp in a field. Demonstrated Gaze Shake the Pounce K Records Reviewed by Daily Arts Writer Jimmy Draper full of songs about broken hearts, failed romances and disappoint- ments. Its dead-on lyrics rarely missed the mark, and the trio's razor-sh arp insight and wit hit harder than a sucker punch. Yet the band's by that song's hot-and-heavy feedback frenzy, the band has clearly improved at crafting some mighty big turn- ons. "Sound counseling help is also needed by the boy who has been inducted into homosexual activities and has become deeply involved emotionally," states the same '50s romance guide. Debunking such sexual mis- conceptions, singer Will Schwartz mocks, "Why you gotta be so proud?/I'm the one with lipstick on" L+ suffers from sophomore jinx with 'Hempstead High' V: I There has always been room in the music industry for child prodigies. Year after year, record companies invest in developing the next young superstar, in hopes that they will achieve the immedi- ate success of a Brandy or Monica, and ultimately have the staying power of a Stevie Wonder. A couple of years ago, Kedar Entertainment made just such an investment in Long Island native A+. Executive producer Kedar Massenburg did everything in his power to make this a memorable second outing for A+. Some of Universal Records' biggest names are featured, and A+ more than holds his own when paired with them. In fact, the best songs of the album feature A+ combining forces with the Lost Boys and Canibus, among others. It becomes obvious Hempstead High Kedar/Universal Reviewed by Daily Arts Writer Quan Williams that he is at his best when he has another artist around to draw inspiration from. The rest of the album pales in comparison. "Gotta Have It" and "Parkside Gardens" are entertaining, but "Price of Fame" is tolerable at best, while "Uptop New York" and "Understand The Game" are both bland (don't be fooled by that "featuring Erykah Badu" line. It's a sam- ple). "Don't Make Me Wait" and "Enjoy Yourself" are the two most formulaic, corny, and boring songs on the album. Luckily for A+ there aren't many rap albums released in January, otherwise he would get lost in the shuffle of higher profile (and probably higher quality) hip- hop releases. Just like in his debut, A+ shows flashes of brilliance, but for the most part delivers an average package. disarmingly catchy pop jingles tended to camouflage the lyrics' emotional depth. This is not cutesy, junior high bub- blegum. Whether lecturing misogynist boys or stitching their hearts back onto their sleeves, the women of Gaze always bring a whip-smart maturity to their sing-songy verses and bouncy beats. On their second album, "Shake the Pounce," members Miko, Megan and Rose continue to play the same heartfelt music that made "Mitsumeru" so endearing. With conversational and matter-of- fact vocals, Gaze's keen knack for nar- ration gives the songs the feel of touch- ing, and often humorous, mini-stories. "Mr. Oh So Suave and Debonaire" chastises a sketchy boy, and "He Makes All The Girls Smile (With His Smile)" is even more engaging with its descrip- tions of dimples and piercing eyes - but it's not all adoration. "He pretends he doesn't notice just how cute he is, Miko coos before revealing a hint of bitterness. "We wait for it to come back to him for cosmic destiny/For him to meet his match one day and get kicked in the knee." "Shake the Pounce" could easily be a starter's kit for mending broken hearts, complete with how-to survival tips and advice. Not that it's an easy process, mind you. Miko's and Megan's timid and bittersweet voices often sound on the verge of tears, and on the plea for atten- tion "Noticed Me," Miko laments, "Silence always sounds so noisy to my ears ... I can hear my fears:', Despite the jangling rhythms and rhymes, "Shake the Pounce" doesn't fully live up to the immense potential promised on "Mitsumeru." A few gems sparkle and charm, but many songs sound like carbon copies of each other. Gaze has already proven it's got the goods, so it's a shame this album doesn't build on the debut's fantastic love letters and kiss-offs. Even still, fans of intimate pop music will happily make space on their record- shelves for Gaze. After all, even for a slight letdown of a follow-up, it's still difficult to resist a band that sings, "Let's get out the Twister again and get down on all fours." :.....t.......... ... . s :f< _. --' -,. .-:- ..-....v m ....: . ._I . _ ---wr'r. - .a:;:;:;r4 "::::::.... i ~ 5