9 -The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, January 25, 2000 DANGELO CASTS SPELL WITH 'VOODOO' Track is a'Scream' with singer-actor Arquette Let's rewind back to 1995. On the music scene, R&B was now several years into the "new jack swing" era that had produced such acts as Jodeci and Mary J. Blige. Due to similar and formulaic production motivated by profit (a R&B singer + a rapper = platinum), hip-hop and R&B began to sound similar. This marriage of genres hurt R&B to the extent of making it stag- nant. Singer after singer and group after group Teleased albums and, with some exceptions, few renained on the scene for very long. Enter D'Angelo. D'Angelo served as a direct slap in the face to what had become the R&B status quo. Unlike many of his peers, he wrote, produced and played the instruments (yes, real instruments) on most of the tracks on his debut release. "Brown Sugar." The heart-felt passion found in D'Angelo's music, voice and lyrics bridged a gap D'Angelo between hip-hop and R&B Voodoo while not compromising the Virgin Records integrity of the latter genre. He gained the respect of a Reviewed young audience that was not for the Daily only over a decade removed by W. Jacarl Melton from R&B luminaries such as Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder but also quickly forgetting artists like Prince. Also, D'Angelo opened the doors for new artists like Maxwell, Eryka Badu, and Detroit's own Davina. But where did he go? Four years passed and the only indications of D'Angelo's musical activities primarily came in the form of two duets and production on his love interest Angie Stone's 1999 album. The year 2000 begins with D Angelo's new album "Voodoo," which is released under much the same circumstances as "Brown Sugar." R&B is . rather stagnant. although not as bad as 1995, and is awaiting a breath of fresh air. Recruiting the musical talent of artists like ?uestlove of the Roots, Raphael Saadiq, Angie Stone and DJ Premier. D'Angelo looks to create the same love vibe found present on his previous effort. However, he seems also to reflect on issues ranging from greed to his fatherhood. On the track "Devil's Pie," D'Angelo sings over a patented DJ Premier beat about the greed he con- stantly sees in life but more specifically the music business. While the pie is something that is initially very attractive, obtaining it requires selling one's soul, an option D'Angelo would rather not exercise. He holds the view that "Time has come for most of us/2 choose in which God we trust," and, unfortu- nately, too many artists are choosing to take a piece of this pie. Many acts in the urban music realm have proven his analysis painfully true. "Left & Right" follows somewhat in the tradition of "Brown Sugar," as D'Angelo describes that ever- elusive woman who plays with his heart. He offers his assistance in helping her satisfy her "womanly needs" but it is not obvious if she is receptive or not. Method Man and Redman also bless this track by adding their own propositions, but they lack D'Angelo's smoothness. Displaying his more romantic side, D'Angelo pre- sents "Untitled (How Does It Feel)." This track, which features an attention-getting video, will most likely draw comparisons to his last album's "Lady" for its soulful expression of love. It is easy to compare D'Angelo's style to that of Prince. He manages to hit notes and present his lyrics in a manner that shows deep emotion and evokes similar feelings (along with gentle head nods and toe taps) in his listeners. The final of the album's 13-tracks, is entitled "Africa." Here, D'Angelo writes about the changes that have occurred in his life, most presumably from the birth of his children. The simplicity of the drum beat along with a children's lullaby quality to the song make for a track that is enjoyable yet provokes thoughts of how selective events can shape lives for- ever. Overall, "Voodoo" is a musically strong album. For some listeners, D'Angelo's singing style may be difficult to decipher. At times his speech is slurred and it is not always clear what he is saying. There is a reason, however. D'Angelo wants his audience to be active listeners, something much of today's "urban" music does not require. Actively listening can lead the listener to appreciate more the effort D'Angelo has put into this album and his unique artistry. After all, he has had to endure being dropped by his original label and constantly asked when this album (it has been in the works since 1998) would come out. The least the audi- ence can do is try to absorb all that he is doing. So once again, D'Angelo challenges his audience to grow and dare to groove to a style that goes against what has become the norm in R&B. Yes, it's true. There is a third "Scream" movie set for release next month, and in contrast to its plot, the movie's sound- track is largely original and entertaining. Instead of Neve and Courteny, the soundtrack stars Creed and 16 more of rock music's rising stars: ,Additionally, there is a special appearance by, well, David Arquette. For those of you sick of the massive media exposure that Creed has received over the past three years, this album is sure to add to that sentiment. The album's first single, "What if," is one of two songs included that were written and performed by the band. The second, "Is this the cnd,' was recorded specifically for the sound- track. Not only does the sound- track feature two Scream 3 tracks written and Original Sdtrk. performed by i Creed, the album Wind-Up Records was produced by'. Reviewed by the omnipresent Daily Arts Writer group as well. David Reamer Aside from Creed's musical contributions, the bands and songs com- prising the rest of the soundtrack were hand-picked by members of the band. The soundtrack features previously unreleased tracks from six other major rock bands as well. Some of the better new tracks are Finger Eleven's contribu- tion, "Suffocate,"and "So Real,"record- ed by demented disco rockers Static-X. Powerman 5000's arena anthem "Get on, Get off" heads the list of average origi- nal tracks, which includes songs from American Pearl, Incubus and Sevendust. One of the biggest surprises of the album is the track "Click Click" per- formed by Ear2000. The band is fronted by annoying commercial guy and "Scream" trilogy star Arquette, but unlike the actor, it doesn't suck. In the vein of obnoxious hip-hop/metal, a fair- ly popular genre these days, "Click Click" actually has a decent beat and catchy lyrics, and is on the whole more palatable than its originator. In addition to the new material on the album, the "Scream 3" soundtrack also features previously recorded tracks from such. notable bands as System of a Down, Coal Chambe, Fuel, Slipknot, Orgy and Staind. For the most part these tracks are some of their respective bands' better songs, while staying away from released sin- gles and radio hits. One of the most irritating songs on the album is. a "clean" version of Godsmack's "Tine Bomb," in which a certain word beginning with the letter "F" is edited out so often, the track sounds as if someone has placed a large scratch on the cd. Taken as a whole, the "Scream 3" soundtrack is an accurate representa- tion of who's hot on today's young hard rock scene, without relying too heavily on established acts or previously popu- lar songs. For it's new music alone, the album is worth a listen; as a sampler of modern rock, it lives up to its pred& cessors, featuring an equal mix of pop- ular bands and newcomers. And"of course, Mr. Arquette. Watchful' Amoeba too minute :The press release for this CD describes A:moeba's "Watchful" as "an introspective of f4ded memories." In some regard this statement is true, as after a listen to this release, it is quite forgettable. * * Amoeba is actually ambient music composer Robert Amoeba Rich's new moniker for a col- laborative project with gui- Watchful tarist Rick Davies. Rich, who Release Records has built a career on highly 'Reviewed by stylized mood setting albums, Daily Arts Writer somehow seems to not be at Adlin Rosi his best this time around. What "Watchful" has to offer is a collection of tunes that sometimes recall ther-ethereal songmanship of Dead Can Dance, Amber Asylum and sometimes the bland muzak ala "Pure Moods." Throughout this release Rich and Davies reach for thinking man's pop songs but generally fall a little short. What seems to be the problem is that there is a sig- nificant lack of memorable melodies and musical movements on most of these songs. Sure there are plen- ty of lush soundscapes and odd sounding guitars dashed generously throughout "Watchful," but without a strong melody line to hold the listener's attention the tapestry just is not able to make any point at all. Rich and Davies obviously spent a lot of effort on this release. eVident through this sound tapestry and the intricate nature of the arrangements. But, alas, the whole thing sounds like the musicians were enraptured more in the minute details that went into the process of making the music rather Enigma reflects discord, harony with 'Mirror' .,az . :5* ; I 't than paying attention to the actual music itself. Amoeba is unfortunately a disappointing addition to Rich's solid catalog of musical work. 'Sunday' Soundtrack fumbles the ball with crap rap, rock iven the diverse and enormous amount of music filling the back- ground of the film, the soundtrack for "Any Given Sunday" is a major disap- pointment. It really could have been a great album capable of bringing together an array of ecstatic electronic, rock and rap music. Unfortunately the profit-hungry executives at Atlantic records chose to ignore many of the better rap and rock Any Given Sunday Original Sdtrk. Atlantic Reviewed by Daily Arts Writer Jason Birchmeier songs in the film and decided it would be best for album sales if they didn't include any of the electronic music that gave the film such an intense edge. In fact, even with Atlantic's choice to market this soundtrack theme song, the R&B-flavored "Any Given Sunday" sung by actor Jamie Foxx, Common and Guru. Yet on the other hand this mellow song, with its relaxed tone and aura of pure soul, gets rudely juxtaposed by the hard rap of artists such as Mobb Deep and DMX and the aggressive rock of artists such as Godsmack and Kid Rock. It almost seems as though Atlantic is trying to market this album to both of the two very opposing markets of rap and heavy metal. While this is a poor idea to begin with, they do just as poor a job of bridging this wide gap. Kid Rock may be a white trash bigot from the trailer park with a rather talented ability to merge rapping with a hard rock Ted Nugent-mentality, but he is probably the last artist hip-hop fans would want to have featured on their album. Similarly, it's almost as diffi- cult to envision fans of Godsmack or Hole rocking out to Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott or Trick Daddy's contributions to this confused soundtrack. Atlantic would have been better off getting rid of the hard rock and focus- ing exclusively on R&B and hip-hop, no matter how misrepresentative this would be of the actual music found in the film. First of all, the rock songs are rather poor. Kid Rock's "Fuck That" may be rebellious and exploding with rude attitude, but it just doesn't belong. Similarly, Hole's "Be a Man" may share some thematic qualities with the thug mentality of DMX and Mobb Deep, but, again, it just doesn't belong on this album. The remaining rock tracks by Godsmack, P.O.D. and Overseer are forgettable for the most part. The rap songs featured on "Any Given Sunday" really aren't much bet- ter. though. LL Cool J's "Shut 'Em Down" shows the ever-changing artist abandoning his traditional approach in an attempt to rap quickly, like a mem- ber of Bone. It isn't very convincing, but it's a new sound for LL and has an interesting beat. DMX's contribution ends up as the best rap song on the album. It's too bad that the song, "My Niggas," has already been released on his "Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood" album that several million rap listeners already own. There is a certain hint of irony in Mobb Deep's "Never Goin' Back" that makes this album seem even more dis- appointing to anyone who has seen the film. The man responsible for this song's beats, Havoc, uses one of Mobv's most beautiful ambient tracks, "God Moving Over the Face of the Water," as the foundation for his song, Enigma, the group known to many Americans simply for their reverse- motion music video, "Return- to Innocence," has returned from a four year absence with its newest album, "The Screen Behind The Mirror." The new release, also known as "Enigma 4" to those keeping count, marks another evolution of the sound that made the band a success in the Easy Listening and New Age markets. Like Enigma's prior albums, "The Screen Behind The Mirror" is thematic, beginning with a futuristic-sounding recital of the properties of stars on the first track and carrying space-aged undertones throughout the rest of the album. Inspired by the new millennium, Enigma has created a record full of unanswered questions and revelations, tinged with a sense of impending doom. Filled with demands and backed by metallic instrumentation, the album is very much a commentary on where the future leads. Also like previous albums, "Screen" is a continuous album, with very little distinction between tracks. While most of the songs do hold up as I with popular artists rather than quality music, they still fail to assemble a quality compilation. On one hand the album features a fairly impressive simply adding some beats. Essentially, the finished product is two of New York's most infamous thug rappers rhyming overtop of Moby's spiritual elegy. The reason this song radiates irony isn't simply the blend of thug rapping and emotional ambiance but rather the fact that Atlantic didn't include a sin- gle song by Moby on this soundtrack. Along with other electronica artists such as Propellerheads and Prodigy, several of Moby's songs were used at some of the most key moments in the film. Yet the artistic genius of Moby gets snubbed in favor of marketable rappers who contribute lackluster songs that were probably outtakes from their last albums. If you enjoyed the music in the film, don't expect the soundtrack of "Any Given Sunday" to replicate the cine- matic experience. Even with its illogi- cal blend of rap and rock artists, this Engima The Screen Behind the Mirror Virgin Records Reviewed by Daily Arts Writer David Reamer individual pieces, the album must be listened to as a whole to be fully appreciated. Although Enigma has long been a favorite of New Age listen- ers, they have not received a great deal of main- This album relies on heavy bass, with solid beats emerging from the back- ground to set the tone of the music, while depending very little on discern- able vocals. "The Screen Behind The Mirror" also features some hefty electric guitar work, which is a bit unusual for the generally mellow group, but the riffs are tastefully inserted and serve to heighten the metallic taste of the album. A minority of the songs on the album, including "The Silence Must Be Heard," "Gravity of Love," and "Modern Crusaders" have recognizable lyrics, and even then, the backing vocals compete for dominance. The Gregorian chanting of previous records has been for the most part replaced by apocalyptic full choir ensembles. While the epic choral chants that permeate the record are very pleasing to the ear, they are not radio- friendly. "The Screen Behind The Mirror" is a success on many levels. Integrating musical harmony with mechanical dis-m cord, founder Michael Cretu has creat- ed an atmosphere of doubt and, at the same time, hope for the future. From an aesthetic standpoint, "Screen" is as much a pleasure to listen to as Enigma's prior works, which have been graced, with award after award by the music> community. This album is sure to fol- low in their footsteps, and elevate Enigma's status even further in the eyes of their peers and their listeners. Breaking Records Star System - Excellent *** -Good ** -Fair -'Poor No stars - Don't Bother - If you missed a week of Breaking Records, check out the Daily's archives online at michigandaily.corn stream radio play during their decade- long musical career. That is not likely to change with the release of "The Screen Behind The Mirror." Where Enigma's previous studio albums have been marked by tribal chanting and relaxing orchestrations, "The Screen Behind The Mirror" is much larger in sound and ambition. .°Do you have questions about Sexuality & - u 1