High Bias aural fixations
June 9, 2002

DOWN
Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow
(Elektra)
Down is an underground metal supergroup that manages to be more than the sum of its parts. Consisting of singer Phil Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown from Pantera, drummer/guitarist Jimmy Bower from Eyehategod, guitarist Pepper Keenan from Corrosion of Conformity and guitarist Kirk Windstein from Crowbar, Down lives up to and even surpasses its well-respected origins on its second album Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow. Keenan and Windstein rustle up a mighty roar with their six-strings, cross-pollinating thrash and doom, blending Southern rock pyrotechnics with stoner rock sludge. Bower and Brown rumble and thud, but always keep the rhythms moving, never lapsing into somnambulant plodding. The biggest surprise is Anselmo; fans familiar only with his hellish screams in Pantera will be shocked by his powerful, nuanced singing (yes, singing) here. Reflecting their Southern origins in Texas and Louisiana, aggressively heavy but melodic tunes like "Stained Glass Cross," "Ghosts Along the Mississippi" and "New Orleans is a Dying Whore" combine the personal and the iconographic in subtle ways previously unexplored in the music of the members' main projects. Meanwhile, "Learn From This Mistake" and the mostly acoustic "Where I'm Going" are the kind of soulful ballads Soundgarden used to crank out with regularity. Down also rocks its angst away with the snarling, catchy "Beautifully Depressed" and even pulls off a convincing blues with "Lies, I Don't Know What They Say, But..." The band is startlingly adept at pulling riffs out of some deep abscess of pain and misery, then making them soar. On Down II, you'll believe sludge can swing. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Clutch, Black Sabbath, Dixie Witch

EL GATO
We're Birds
(El Gato)
Though the quartet hails from Dallas, El Gato sounds as if it emerged from deep in the heart of the Colorado-based Elephant 6 collective on its debut album We're Birds. A model of what a tight, creative group can achieve on a low budget, the record shimmers with wispy psychedelic production and memorable indie rock melodies. Light distortion garnishes swirling arrangements of tunes that point to the middle ground between Pavement and the Beach Boys. The nearly pastoral pop of "Pianos on Crutches," "Three Moons Over San Elijo" and "Christmas in My City" will bring smiles to the faces of all but the most jaded of psychedeliphiles, while the propulsive "Lost in America (Part One)" and "Stained-Glass Windshield" bring the big rock hooks to the party. "Reso Silverleaf" and "Dolphin With Legs" are the required-by-law psychedelic epics/homages, and they're good ones, with dynamic arrangements, strong melodies and a sense of nodding to the past while existing in the future. Which isn't a bad way to sum up the appeal of El Gato. Michael Toland

For fans of: Olivia Tremor Control, HiFi Drowning, the Caribbean

RON MILES
Heaven
(Sterling Circle)
Like a lot of young jazzmen, trumpeter Ron Miles has been around a lot longer than you might think, playing with notables like Bill Frisell, Fred Hess, Ginger Baker and the Mercer Ellington Orchestra, and recording a series of solo albums throughout the 90s. His latest Heaven reunites him with Frisell for a starkly beautiful collection of acoustic duets. Miles has a soulful feel for jazz standards, as his playful, melodic takes on Thelonious Monk's "We See," Jelly Roll Morton's "King Porter Stomp" and Duke Ellington's title track make clear. But he's no traditionalist; he's just as comfortable with Hank Williams' "Your Cheatin' Heart" and Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall." (The song called "Coward of the County" is an original.) As such, Frisell is Miles' perfect accompanist, having been long exploring the terrain where jazz bleeds into other genres. Miles also composes fine originals, mostly in the ballad vein, that bring to mind Miles Davis in his more somber moments. Heaven is lovely stuff. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Charlie Haden, Cassandra Wilson, Dave Douglas

PLANET X
Live From Oz
(InsideOut)
Recorded in concert in Australia, Live From Oz presents the heavy fusion of Planet X at its most unrestrained. Keyboardist Derek Sherinian (ex-Dream Theater, Platypus and Alice Cooper), guitarist Tony MacAlpine (auteur of a dozen instrumental neoclassical rock albums) and drummer Virgil Donati, plus guest bassist Dave LaRue, use their collective prodigious techniques to flail the living heck out of a set of melodies that owe as much, if not more, to progressive metal than traditional jazz-fusion. No lame whiteboy funk here, just solid grooves over which Sherinian and MacAlpine can flash their chops. Unfortunately, that's about all there is. Both MacAlpine and Sherinian have shown inclinations toward melodic development in their other work, but here the song structures are just barebones frameworks for soloing. If either musician was a mind-boggler on the scale of Buckethead or a soulful melodicist like Eric Johnson, that would be OK, but, as good as both of them are, neither are so spectacular on their instruments that their dazzling displays distract from the lack of any real tunes. Plus, as a live album, the usual unaccompanied guitar, keyboard and (gag) drum solos are included, and they further drag the set down. The individual tracks blur into each other so much it almost seems like the album consists of one long composition. Fans of go-for-the-throat instrumental virtuosity may find Live From Oz to their liking, but the rest of humanity won't bother visiting Planet X. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Dream Theater, Jeff Beck, Steve Vai

RAJ
My Best Friend
(Big Rock)
Roger Len Smith, AKA Raj, spent a few years playing bass with world-class singer/songwriter Shawn Amos before spinning off to do his own thing. His debut album My Best Friend is a solid, diverse record showcasing his low-key rasp and melodic songs in a variety of settings. Funk ("[I Got So] Deep With You"), hard rock ("Sometimes It's Always a Struggle [With You]") and roots rock ("Everybody Needs a Good Backrub Now & Then") make their presences known, though Smith sticks mainly to a peppy folk rock groove. The upbeat "Up in the Heavens Today," the forlorn "Shipwrecked" and the epic "What She Really Wants to Do (Is Ride Horses)" flaunt hooks, taste and soul. Even if songs like "Days in the Darkness" and "Blue About You" are a bit too derivative of the band from which guest keyboardist Rami Jaffee comes (see "For fans of" below)—a minor problem not helped by being placed back-to-back in the track order—the obvious sincerity in Smith's delivery and the musicians' sure touch with this kind of material keeps the record on an even keel. Raj's album may be not become your best friend, but it will at least be pleasant company. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: the Wallflowers, Sheryl Crow, Mike Rosenthal

WAMMO
Faster Than the Speed of Suck
(Spanks-a-Lot)
The long-delayed follow-up to Austin spoken word psychotic Wammo's fiendishly excellent Fat Headed Stranger, Faster Than the Speed of Suck is nothing less than the first great comedic concept album of the new millennium. Within the framework of a couple taking a road trip from Austin to New Orleans looking for something good on the radio, Wammo, producer/instrumentalist Brian Beattie and guests gleefully rake the past 40 years of popular music over smoldering hot coals, with occasional pot shots at movies, commercials and anything else the conspirators believe deserves a paddlin'. Alternative rock ("Duran Sirhan"), Eurotrash pop ("I Like His Penis"), hardcore ("Happy Hardcore Mood"), "authentic" folk music ("Rolf," and that would be Rolf the Dancing Seal Boy), the lounge revival ("Introducing Jack Sabbath!" and "No Shroom At the Inn," AKA "Trippin' Over You"), electronica ("Hell is a Disco," which doubles as an attack on televangelists), AC/DC-style metal ("I Got Pimples"), even Tom Waits ("Nero Fiddles While Tom Waits") become grist for Wammo's parodic mill. Best of all is "Hick Hop," a country/rap hybrid originally recorded long before Kid Rock made the scene that is just as potent a send-up of the future Mr. Pamela Anderson as it is a prescient bit of comedy. But Wammo and his cohorts don't stop there. Goofball commercials ("Satan Cigs," "Wedgie Tightiewhitey's," "Super Fag," "the cereal shaped like human genitals that squirts milk directly into your mouth," the hysterically funny 80s B-movie pisstake/tribute "Dead Skaters Rule"), paisley self-help ("Doncha Wish?") and Wammo's beloved home base ("Charles Whitman's Sampler," an affectionate poke in the ribs of Austin) fill the space in between song parodies. Plus Wammo has finally found a home for his orphan spoken word piece "Doing Time On Isle 13." The jokes, jabs and one-liners come fast and furious, in the style of throwing everything up against the wall to see what sticks. Though recording was completed in 1999, the humor holds up spectacularly well—only the easy-target "Surf the Net" betrays any signs of mold. Due to Wammo's comedic instincts, mastery of various redneck voices and a sheer love of language, the record works 99% of the time, which is more than good enough for government work. Let's put it as simply as possible: Faster Than the Speed of Suck is brilliant, ambitious and very, very funny. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Bill Hicks, Negativland, the Firesign Theatre

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Are You Ready, Steve? A Tribute to Sweet
(Bullseye/Jam)
Since every band, concept album and one-shot recording artist has a tribute album, why not Sweet? After all, the early 70s British quintet was responsible for an irresistible series of glammy pop singles, and could arguably be called an unsung pioneer of power pop. So why not get a gaggle of independent power pop acts to cover 23 (!) Sweet songs? Well, one reason might be that most of the bands won't do anything but ape the originals. Admittedly, there's only so much you can do with simple two guitars/bass/drums arrangements, but most of these groups (the best-known of which, and even then only to the power pop underground, would be the Masticators, Jeremy and the Lolas) don't even bother to change tempos or effects pedals, opting instead for faithful renditions of the hits and misses, right down to similar vocal inflections. It's like listening to a Sweet greatest hits collection, which begs the question: why not just buy a Sweet comp? Admittedly, there are a couple of inspired readings, including Blue Cartoon's 60s-folk rockin' "Spotlight," Queer For Girls' industrial-tinged "No You Don't," Jeremy's shimmering ballad "Dream On" and Doug Powell's ELO-like "Love is Like Oxygen," which, if you're a Powell fan, may itself be worth the price of the disk. (Never mind Teekbeats' horribly out-of-tune "Stairway to the Stars.") And the melodies of these supposedly cheesy old songs hold up very well, so it's never less than a pleasant listen. But is that enough justification to purchase another tribute album to add to the sagging pile that you never listen to as it is? It's up to you. Michael Toland

For fans of: Sweet, glam rock, power pop

Copyright © 2002 High Bias