Friday September 17, 2004 arts. michigandaily.com artspage@michigandaily.com RTS 5 .. ... . .. . . SUMMER SOUNDS ThE SUMMER IN MUSIC SuMMfR ApATs IN REVIEW PART 6 of6 summer is usually big-bang time for the music industry: Traveling festivals, ubiquitous summer ams, and huge releases dominate the landscape. Looking back, however, this summer was a little, well, lame. Sure, there were some high points: indie rock made a mainstream comeback and hip-hop - despite a lack of strong singles - managed to release several excellent albums. The cancellation of the summer's most promising festival, as well as a lack of one truly fantastic album, made this summer feel a little too end- less for our liking. Enter the Wu The scattered forces of the Wu-Tang Clan have given their adoring fans a mixed bag of solo albums, and recently, they've been tipping the scales toward disappointing a lot more often. This summer, how- ever, saw the release of two stellar Wu solo albums: Ghostface's Pretty Toney Album and Masta Killa's No Said Date. Method Man's Tical0: The Pre- quel wasn't on the same level as his Wu-mates' releases, but it was still one of his most consistent works. Steeped in great beat-making and reinforced by three of the Wu's better lyricists, the Shao-Lin show hints of returning to its former dominance. Hot indies The summer has always been known for its killer singles: Last summer, after all, we got Beyonce's "Crazy In Love" and OutKast's "Hey Ya." In fact, the hot singles have been coming out of hip-hop for so long that it was a huge surprise this summer when the two best sum- mer staples came out of the indie underground. Modest Mouse's "Float On" and Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out" bounced out of their college-radio dungeons and into the mainstream buoyed by hyperactive basslines and anthemic choruses. Lollapalooza sputters There were huge amounts of optimism for the sum- mer's Lollapalooza festival. Jane's Addiction frontman Perry Farrel had revived his traveling culture show after a half-decade hiatus. But where he left off - with Metallica and mook-rock throwaways - wasn't nearly as important as where he ended up: with the summer's most promising lineup of underground bands. Headlin- , * Courtesy of Bad Boy If only prayer brought talent ... Ma$e's return not entirely 'Welcome' By Amos Barshad Daily Arts Writer FRES TCASE/Daiy Isaac Brock and diet. Not pictured: diet. ers like the Pixies and Morrissey were supported by indie faves like Broken Social Scene and The Walkmen. Weekend-long festivals - like Bonnaroo and Coachella - drew well, but Lollapalooza was forced to cancel due to extremely lagging ticket sales. Several of the bands - Modest Mouse and The Walkmen included - still managed to put together successful summer tours, but the cancellation of Lollapalooza put a damper on the entire summer concert scene. Summer soundtrack Of course, the summer is littered with huge releases. Here's what the Daily had to say: The Beastie Boys, To the 5 Boroughs To the 5 Boroughs works as both a classic Beastie Boys record and a bold political statement. Party tracks in the spirit of "Fight for Your Right to Party" and the Boys' trademark pop culture references are seamlessly juxtaposed with unabashedly liberal politics and nods to New York City. AC Newman, The Slow Wonder Here, the compositional savvy that made Newman's songwriting for The New Pornographers so gorgeous shows clearly. He still densely stacks instrumental lines, but instead of the synthesized layers in much of his pre- vious work, Newman plays it cool with a more pointillist approach, interlocking guitar and rhythm lines. The Streets, A Grand Don't Come for Free His thick accent and quirky rhymes make for a dis- tinctive style that often sounds more like spoken word than traditional rapping. But once patient listeners have cleared the hurdle of simply getting used to Skinner's style, they will be treated to one of the year's best records. Sonic Youth, Sonic Nurse Nurse is the most forgettable record Sonic Youth has ever made, yet while listening you'd swear it's the most captivating record of the year - or at least the month. !!!,Louden Up Now !!! pulls you into the darkness and heat of their sur- roundings just as much as they convey the bright lights and fast pace of the streets outside the dancehall. Lloyd Banks, The Hunger for More Banks's voice rumbles far beyond raspy and deep; it sounds like the man has a subwoofer next to his larynx. His flow spawns long verses packed with hissing threats and flashes of real storytelling. The Fiery Furnaces, Blueberry Boat Eleanor's sultry vocals cascade over Matthew's slinky guitar lines on the start-stop rhythms of "Straight Street," creating an astonishing combination of soulful conventionality and audacious invention. Wilco, A Ghost Is Born A Ghost is Born again finds Tweedy tweaking Wil- co's sound, scraping away the sonic blur of 2002's epic Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. What results is an organic record that proves, above all, that Wilco is human. - Compiled by the Daily Music Staff For those who had assumed that Mason Betha's return to the rap game after a self-imposed six-year exile meant he had rejected his pursuit of religion and was now ready to embrace all of hip- Ma$e hop's hedonism Welcome Back with open arms Bad Boy and an album full of church-bashing club bangers, you're in for a disappoint- ment. Ma$e, who rose to the top of the pop-rap charts as Diddy's wingman on hits like "Mo' Money, Mo' Problems" and on his own with "Feel So Good" during the late '90s, is indeed back in the game with his third album, Wel- come Back. Unfortunately, his time spent away from the mic has only served a purpose few thought was possible; the man is now lamer than ever. Imbued with a new sense of purpose and the word of the gospel, Ma$e is intent on slipping his after-school-special level message into his stale party songs. See, we too can be "living the vida without the loca" - dude, a Ricky Martin reference? Back when Puff and Ma$e were rocking shiny silver suits and walking away from explosions in slow motion, Ma$e's appeal and popularity were very specific. His slow drawl, omni- present toothy smile, clunky, mush- mouthed rhymes; they all contributed to his overall court jester of hip-hop personality. He made easily dismis- sible, borderline-enjoyable rap. He threw stacks of money into the camera, popped bottles of Cris' and incessantly repped his beloved Harlem. In short, he had the hip-hop handbook and was carefully following instructions. In that sense, Ma$e was difficult to criticize. Yet, in his new incarnation, Ma$e effectively dismisses any trace of charm left in his persona with his heavy handed sloganeering. Few peo- ple want to be preached at; almost no one wants that preaching to come from someone whose records are all bound for the cut-out bin at your local music store. "Keep It On" is the most heinous example of said offense; while Ma$e is dropping "uh huh, yeahs" over the beat, the cheesy, R&B hook is telling us that "We don't have to take our clothes off to have a good time, oh no / We can just chill and kick it all night." That's just straight up awful. The only value to be culled from this unbelievably unoriginal record is the lead single "Welcome Back." Over a breezy bass line and the theme song from "Welcome Back Kotter," Ma$e retains some of his past bravado as he makes sure the whole world knows he's, like, totally back. Otherwise, this album is difficult to listen to; weak rhymes about staying sober over the most bland, done-to-death beats is simply not a compelling combination. Ma$e puts it best himself when, on "Gotta Survive", he tells us, "As much as ya'll don't want to hear this, I can't do nuthin' by myself ... It's all through Him." You're right, man, we don't want to hear this.