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Industrial rock with way-cool rhythms. Wedding truculent punk/metal guitar to techno's relentless percussive pounding, the youthful quartet is definitively on the 21st-century tip. Jeff Turzo (keyboards, guitar) and David Reilly (ditto) are both Euro-classically trained pianists and expert purveyors of cutting-edge pop. Tunes like "Nothing" and "Waste of Time" may convey the now de rigueur cynicism of the blank generation, but the lyrical gnashing of teeth is as tough as Nine Inch Nails. "Drag Me Down," the bruising first track, is a metal-rave jam that lives up (?) to its fatalistic title. "No More Love" manages to be melodic and melancholic at the same time. MIDI samples, acerbic guitar and jackhammer percussion wage war against each other; it hardly matters who the winner is. Indeed, there can be no winner here, only embittered losers. (Nicky Baxter)
George Michael--updated with the already-outdated Caesar do-goatee-sideburns look--must have a lot of faith in the future of elevator music, because his new CD-single is worthy of air time in department stores and bank lobbies across the country. It's boring, boring, boring! Did I mention boring? Michael doesn't have the voice to be a balladeer. He isn't a good enough songwriter to make his lyrics meaningful. His best hope is shimmering pop music that allows him to hide behind a few well-crafted guitar hooks. When he slows it down on tracks like "Jesus to a Child" and "One More Try" with forgettable, uninspired pseudo-soul, it's not even suitable for the soundtrack of a Kate Jackson made-for-TV movie. (Gordon Young)
Go Van Gogh, an optimistic contemporary jazz band, uses dynamics, texture, tone and rhythm to produce cheerful, jazzy masterpieces. The violins, saxes, drums and bass blend into a colorful swirl of sound. Primary composer Connie Walkershaw writes creative, descriptive pieces that are technically and sonically beautiful--breezy tunes appropriate for Sunday driving and general fooling around. Each song showcases strong musicianship with brisk and spirited solos. Violinists Cat Taylor and Eva Eilenberg are dramatic and passionate. The saxophone solos are exceptional and syncopated; Jason Rainer, Jamison Smelt and Walkershaw shape melodic lines that drift seductively from opened city windows into dark night air. "Beautiful Beach," a musical portrait of beach boardwalks and summertime, digresses into a fun, frantic and chaotic noisiness. Like the painter that the band is named after, Go Van Gogh is striking and progressive. (Bernice Yeung)
It comes as no surprise that Canadian be-hop outfit Dream Warriors inked with Pendulum Records. The quartet's smooth, jazzy flow is somewhat akin to label mates Digable Planets. Their debut album, And Now the Legacy Begins, boasted a pair of jazzed-up gems: "Wash Your Face in My Sink" and "Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style." Though these joints perked up the ears of fans and pundits in Canada and the U.K., the album was never released here. With the backing of U.S.-based Pendulum, Subliminal Seduction ought to do much better. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have guest cameos by DP's Butterfly and Gangstarr's DJ Premier and Guru. But really, Dream Warriors don't need high-profile friends to make this disc bump. The lyrics melt deliciously into a sonic bath of sampled and live electric and acoustic bass and shimmering keyboards. "It's a Project Thing," maybe the album's phattest track, bounces to the groove of a Hammond B-3 organ and a perky trumpet loop. The beat poetics of "Adventures of Plastic Man" are better than the title suggests. Dream Warriors are a welcome invasion from the north. (NB)
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God Lives Underwater
God Lives Underwater
American
George Michael
Jesus to a Child
Dream Works
Go Van Gogh
Go Van Gogh
Accretion
Dream Warriors
Subliminal Seduction
Pendulum
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