8 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday October 9, 2001
4
Bleed the Sky, Reveille; Elektra
Records
By Matthew Siegler
For the Daily
As popular music seems to be
shifting from teen pop to trash rock,
the band Reveille seems to have
chosen the right time to release a
CD. Bleed the Sky is the band's fol-
low up to their 1999 debut Laced.
While this CD is clearly more pol-
ished and a bit more musically
diverse then the debut, Bleed the Sky
is hardly a good album. The best
way to describe Reveille is a harder
version of Limp Bizkit mixed with a
little Deftenes (though nowhere near
their league), or as they like the
label their style of music, rapcore.
While musically not the worst
band on the planet, Reveille leaves a
lot to be desired lyrically. Songs of
pain, death, bleeding and the like
earn the coveted parental advisory
sticker on the front of the album, but
really just seem childish in the way
the lyrics are written. Songs like
"What You Got" and "Inside Out"
are standout tracks but sound exact-
ly like any Limp Bizkit song out
there. This is not helped by the fact
that lead singer Drew Simollardes
sounds very similar to Fred Durst
himself. In fact his voice and style
of singing are almost identical to
that of Durst's if he just screamed a
little more.
The album artwork has to be
noted for its "creativity." A picture
of an orange in the sky being ripped
open by surgical tools only to reveal
blood is a little too similar to the
movie poster for "Blood and
Donuts." Simply put, it's so tacky
that it is somewhat humorous, much
like the lyrics for the 13 tracks on
the album (and especially the hidden
track long after track 13).
The band is most known for play-
ing Woodstock 99 and touring with
the likes of Static-X, Godsmack,
Machinehead and Powerman 5000
before hitting Ozzfest this past sum-
mer. If all goes as planned, next for
them will be heavy airplay on MTV,
a full U.S. tour and maybe even a
stop on Total Request Live ... let's
hope not.
Grade: C-
I
I _
4
The Fallout, Default; TVT
Records
By Stacy Anderson
For the Daily
The Coast is Never Clear, Beu-
lah; Velocette Records
By Justin Mann
For the Daily
Straight out of Berkeley! Pop
.rockers Beulah are coming out with
their third album, attempting to out
do their 1999 release When Your
Heartstrings Break.
Maybe you have never heard of
them: But hey, neither had 1. After
listening to The Coast is Never
Clear, Beulah may gain a host of
new fans.
With a mix of flutes, trumpets,
horns, violins, the occasional guitar
and various other instruments this
band can put together some fantastic
melodies that complement the soft.
soothing voice of lead singer Miles
Kurosky.
For those people that enjoy flutes,
trumpets, horns and the like, but
can't deal with the fast pace of most
Ska bands this group is perfect for
you. The songs are slow paced, but
the lyrics of each are well thought
out, creative and flow wonderfully
with the background music.
The 12-track disc has one great
song after another, though I am not
so sure about the second track, "A
Good Man is Easy to Kill," in which
Beulah makes an effort to create a
song about a car crash into a peace-
ful, entertaining tune.
I can't seem to put my finger on
why, but for some reason that song
really troubled me.
The Coast is Never Clear is not
the type of album that is meant to
get you dancing around and mosh-
ing, but if you are just hoping to
relax after studying for midterms
then this collection of harmonies is
ideal.
Grade: B
Beautifulgarbage, Garbage;
I nterscope
By Japiya Burns
Daily Arts Writer
Shirley Manson has always front-
ed rock/electro/hipa-hop group
Garbage as a perennial hooker with
her heart on hold.
Alternating between harshness
and deep vulnerability, their music
developed over two albums, mani-
festing in 1998's Version 2.0 as
melodic, techno-tinged rock for the
broken-hearted and downtrodden.
On their latest effort, Beautiful-
garbage, the edges are either hard-
er, as on their guitar-bash of an
opener, "Shut Your Mouth," or soft-
er.
These softer sides sometimes
Did I miss something'? Was there
a Creed cloning sometime in the
last year that happened to pass me
by? I'm not sure how Canadian
"rockers" Default got away with
sounding exactly like Creed, but
when first listening to Creed front-
man Scott Stapp followed by the
vocals of Default's Dallas Smith
4
Remixed, Sarah Mclachlan;
Magada
By Japiya Burns
Daily Arts Writer
A remix album of Sarah McLach-
lan's hits would seem to be the perfect
antidote to her output of syrupy live
tracks over three Lilith Fair compila-
tions which culminated in her narcis-
sistic 14-track live album, Mirrorball.
Indeed, there are some pleasurable
moments - BT's transcending mix of
the otherwise-stale ballad "I Love
You," as wellas her club-hit collabo-
ration with Delerium, "Silence." Even
Madonna producer William Orbit
lends a remix of "Black."
But while Madonna made the tran-
sition to full-out techno artist believ-
ably, McLachlan's mixes often lack
the character and warmth of her origi-
nal compositions. While moments
such as "Sweet Surrender (DJ Tiesto
Mix)" provide brilliant transforma-
tion, it's all too often exactly you'd
fear most of a remix album: Beats
overcoming vocals, washing away
human qualities, monotonous and
heartless.
Grade: C
seems almost flat compared to their live
shows. One element that is sorely
missed on Lovesick is the charming
soliloquies and spontaneous outpour-
ings of thbught from singer/drummer
Fred before each number, or as someone
else put it, "taking four minutes to intro-
duce a two-minute song."
That said, the album has many high-
lights, including "Drumtaut," an eerie
piece featuring spoken, lamenting
female vocals over a background of
dreamy shards of chords.
Lovesick's recording doesn't quite do
their true musical talents justice, but it
does serve as a nice reminder to do
yourself a favor and get your ass out to
one of their shows before they break up.
Lovesick's last show is Friday at the
Halfway Inn in Ann Arbor.
Grade: B+
(stage name much?), d6ja vu is the
only appropriate feeling that
ensues.
The Fallout, Default's debut
album, is pretty much a mistake
from the beginning. The CD opens
up with "Sick & Tired," a typical
modern rock anthem devoted to
being "... sick and tired of those
lies you tell me/you say those same
things to me over and over and
over." Yeah, over and over and over
pretty much describes the rest of
the CD. "Seize the Day" and "Slow
Me Down," two of the harder tracks
on the album, are angst ridden bal-
lads, gripping the audience with the
revelations that it's Default's turn to
"seize the day" and that "you can't
hold me down." Man, those two
years that Default has been around,
they have been so oppressed.
Perhaps Default should stick
with the slower, radio-friendly
tunes. Their first single off the
album, "Wasting My Time" (note
the irony) has a slow tempo and not
quite the same subject matter. It
may even result in the occasional
foot tapping, or even perhaps a
verse sung aloud, but that's about
it, for the song and the album.
Grade: D+
4
lean close to being limp Alanis
Morisette-style ballads as on the
weak "So Like a Rose" or actually
working, as on "Cup of Coffee."
The latter is an eerie choker
of a song reminiscent of Por-
tishead, upping the ante of
their former songs "Milk"
and "You Look So Fine:" "No
of course we can't be
friends/Not while I'm still
this obsessed."
Most of the electronics of :z
the past have disappeared in
favor of louder guitars, as
they rebel against the main-
stream pop of today and take
a posture similar to that of?
the now-defunct Smashing
Pumpkins.
If someone's going to take %'
up the mantle of the world's
greatest band, why shouldn't it be Lovesick, Lovesick;
them? Makoto Recordings
Grade: A-
By Sheila McClear
Daily Arts Writer
The Goodlife Album, Various
Artists; Fubu Records/Universal
Ann Arbor's favorite punk band since
Varsity is back with a self-titled album
that takes on the world in just nine songs
and 25 minutes. Heartfelt and full of
,unpolished emotion, Lovesick's songs
nearly burst with their own enthusiasm
- they're the musical version of shak-
ing up a Coke bottle and waiting for it to
explode.
Like many punk bands, Lovesick can-
not be fully experienced in a recording.
Their visceral and visual elements must
be experienced in order to fully appreci-
ate their music. While Lovesick approx-
imates their fast, punch-in-the-gut
punk/hardcore songs well enough, it
By David J. Kerastas
' For the Daily
4
1
A U T O M A
ALL
TI
O N
yT
In partnership
with the
TN Michigan
Economic
Development
Y Corporation
Since Run D.M.C. first began
rhyming about their sneakers, hip-hop
and fashion have become closer and
closer intertwined. And on The Goodfe
Album, the first release from Fubu
Records, the two have become nearly
indistinguishable. Ready to make its
mark on the music industry, Fubu has
immediately made use of its relations to
various hip-hop and R&B artists. to
assemble an impressive list of names for
this compilation. Some singles come
from the label's new sign-ons, all with
debut albums soon to come, and others
from more established artists with ties to
the clothing brand.
Goodlife features some new combina-
tions of MCs. "Goodlife," the album's
title track and biggest single unites Nas,
the ubiquitous Nate Dogg and .JS from
the 54th Platoon. LL Cool J joins
Ludacris, and Keith Murray on "Fatty
Girl," one of the album's more, to say
the most, interesting songs. Other tracks
that stand out are "Set it Off" by Dawn
Robinson, and "50 Ni**** Deep," on
which Drunken Master and Lola
Damone get more out of the words
"Bitch" and "Nigga" than was once
thought humanly possible. The central
theme for each song is the particular
artist's vision of the "good life."
Though the tracks contain the neces-
sary bounceability to earn significant
playtime in the clubs and on radio sta-
tions, they should have very little effect
on the memories of any real hip-hop
heads. Each artist's interpretation of the
"good life" is only a slightly different
version of playa-dom, illustrated with
unbelievable tales of extravagance and
hedonism that would even make Fubu's
CEO Carl Brown laugh. Some of the
verses sound so sloppily pieced together
that one must assume that these artists
were honing that the music videosi
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