High Bias aural fixations
September 1, 2002

PHIL ANGOTTI & THE IDEA
G. Elvis is Still Alive
(Jam)
Following up on his excellent Flower Bomb, Phil Angotti offers the eight-song EP G. Elvis is Still Alive. Surprise, surprise, it's another batch of near-perfect power pop gems. The Chicago resident seems to have memorable melodies leaking from his pores, and he has a variety of emotional moods to whom to marry them. He's most effective on melancholy folk-rockers like "You Never Know" and "It's An Autumn Thing" and plaintive balladry like "Down the Drain Dream," but he's perfectly suited to vigorous rockers like "Baby Beethoven" and the title track as well. He also has the huevos to cover the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby," proving once and for all that it can be adapted to standard rock instrumentation with little difficulty. Plus he recasts the Left Banke's lush baroque ballad "Walk Away Renee" as a peppy folk/pop tune. The only problem with G. Elvis is Still Alive is its brevity; a mere eight Angotti tracks only leaves you hungry for more. Michael Toland

For fans of: Swag, mid-period Beatles, Dwight Twilley

FANIA
Sopi
(Tinder)
African singer/songwriter Fania works with the gentler side of the Afro-Pop idiom. The Senegalese native concentrates more on dreamy, mostly acoustic melodies than on energetic polyrhythmic percussion on her debut album Sopi. As is usual for African pop music, traditional melodies and Woloff lyrics get dressed up in American funk and jazz influences, with Fania's breathy voice floating over the top. Alas, the results are less than compelling. There's nothing inherently wrong about this time-honored approach, and the baker's dozen tracks here are uniformly well-produced and performed. But songs like "Nana," "Diaraby" and "Yagou" (featuring guest vocals from Jamaican superstar Horace Andy), while unfailingly pleasant, don't remain in memory for longer than they play, and the rest of the record follows suit. Only the ethereal "Sawanwani," ironically a song longer on mood and atmosphere than hooks, really stands out from the pack. Sopi isn't a bad record per se, just terribly indistinct. Fania's work, at least at present, is best used as worldbeat background music. Michael Toland For fans of: Habib Koité, Baaba Maal, Geoffrey Oryema Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Habib Koité, Baaba Maal, Geoffrey Oryema

THE LACKLOVES
Starcitybaby
(Rainbow Quartz)
Lackloves frontman Mike Jarvis used to lead the much-beloved, if little-heard, Blowpops, and his new outfit is just as dedicated as his former to the delights of old-fashioned 60s pop hooks on Starcitybaby. Jarvis writes tunes like his record collection stops at 1967, but fans of that jangly, just-pre-psychedelia style will be thrilled by sweethearted tunes like "Down Deep," "Emily" and "Need To See You Tonight." But Jarvis and his pals don't just live in the summer of love—the tender "Do You Miss Me?" flows in the spirit of early 60s balladry while the rocking "Molasses Funk" cranks the guitars for a high-volume slice of modern power pop. There's not one iota of originality on this record, but that's not Jarvis' aim. The Lackloves just want to make music to smile at and sing along with, and on Starcitybaby they've succeeded nicely. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Flying Color, the Mockers, the Grip Weeds

LOS LOBOS
Good Morning Aztlan
(Mammoth)
It's easy to take Los Lobos for granted. The great Los Angeles rock band has nothing to prove to anybody, which means it's easy to assume that a new Lobos album is simply another quality release, to be picked up at some point, but not a priority. After all, you know what to expect, right? But you'll never get anywhere with that attitude, especially if it means you might overlook the band's terrific new album Good Morning Aztlan. Not that the group has ever gone through the motions, but on Aztlan Los Lobos sounds re-energized and more vital than ever. The combination of a new producer (John Leckie, who's worked with XTC, among others), a new label and an unusually strong batch of songs has the veteran quintet firing on all cylinders. The band offers its usual smorgasbord of musical riches, but somehow it's all better than ever. The Latino folk songs ("Malaque," "Luz de Mi Vida") shine luminously, the blues tunes ("The Big Ranch") smolder with power and the patented Lobos ballad ("What in the World") gently sways and shimmers. "Tony y Maria" is the kind of story song the band doesn't do nearly as often as it should, and the rock songs ("Done Gone Blue," "Get to This," the title track) simply rock harder than ever before. In addition to playing to its strengths, the band has a couple of new wrinkles. "The Word" and "Hearts of Stone" go whole-hog into Marvin Gaye-style soul music, an influence only hinted at in the past. "Maria Christina," meanwhile, starts out as a traditional cumbia, melodic and danceable, then adds an industrial-strength electric guitar solo to the mix. "Round & Round" even flirts with psychedelia. There's not a bad track on this record; every approach the group takes seems like one it was born to follow. If you're already a fan of East L.A.'s favorite sons, Good Morning Aztlan is a good place to pick back up on Los Lobos' multi-hued saga; if you're inexplicably a newbie, this is a stupendous place to start. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: the Band, Neil Young, Little Feat

ROSCOE MITCHELL & THE NOTE FACTORY
Song For My Sister
(Pi)
ROSCOE MITCHELL & THE NOTE FACTORY Song For My Sister (Pi) http://www.pirecordings.com Twenty-odd years ago, Roscoe Mitchell was one of the principals in Chicago's legendary Art Ensemble of Chicago, a groundbreaking jazz band that vigorously reconnected free jazz with its African roots. Now on Song For My Sister with his Note Factory, Mitchell has left behind such hyphenated concepts and simply goes about making music in his own distinctive manner. The multi-reed man and his octet (which includes two drummer, two bassists, two pianists, a guitarist and a trumpeter) take the listener on a tour of jazz as seen through the eyes of a restless experimenter, with stops at free jazz ("When the Whistle Blows," "The Inside of a Star"), avant-garde percussion pieces ("The Megaplexian"), bass recorder-driven balladry ("this") and complex epics utilizing experimental composition and improvisation techniques ("Step One, Two, Three," "Wind Change"). As good an envelope-pusher as Mitchell is, though, he doesn't neglect straightahead jazz melody, as evidenced by "Count-Off" and the excellent title cut. Song For My Sister is a perfect portrait of where jazz is and where it can go. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Henry Threadgill, Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman

THE TELESCOPES
Third Wave
(Double Agent)
The Telescopes won the hearts of English pop fans in the early 90s with a short series of records that moved from noisy shoegazer to melodic psychedelia, but then the band went into hibernation for nearly a decade. Eight years after their last album, though, principals Stephen Lawrie and Jo Doran are back on Third Wave as a duo, using plenty of electronics to make up for their lack of members. Keyboards, flugelhorns and tape loops float along hazy, lazy melodies, with Lawrie's vocals filtered through vocoders or replaced with samples as often as not. Song-oriented cuts like "Winter #2" and "When Nemo Sank the Nautilus" are generally more compelling than science fiction-oriented soundscapes like "Moog Destroya" and "Tesla Death Ray," though fans of ambient instrumental music and Money Mark may be more taken with the latter (though the 'Scopes can't touch Mark's funky genius). Those expecting the old Telescopes sound will be disappointed; best to treat Third Wave as the work of a brand-new band. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Air, Slowdive's Pygmalion, Fantastic Plastic Machine

ZAO
Parade of Chaos
(Solid State)
Zao may come from the Christian music world, but this is no worship-oriented pop-gospel group. The band has made it its mission to bring its worldview to the universe in the most personalized and brutal manner possible, gaining respect across the board of metal and hardcore music fans. Issues of faith don't enter into it. If its latest album Parade of Chaos is any example, Zao makes just plain kick-ass extreme metal. Instrumentalists Jesse Smith and Scott Mellinger rip tortured melodies from their axes, putting death metal riffs and polyrhythmic timeshifts through an almost bewildering variety of moods and textures. Occasional electronics add an extra dimension to songs like "Suspense/Suspension" without coming across as gimmicky. Vocalist Dan Weyandt can hold his own with any death or black metal singer you'd care to name, as his shredded larynx rips into the lyrics with carnivorous gusto, but he's also capable of actual singing. The contrast works well, setting off light and dark in much the same way as secular bands Opeth and Borknagar. A cutting track like "Angel Without Wings" finds Weyandt growling "You're always there for me" as if it's a threat and crooning "You're my angel without wings" as if it's a promise. "Man in the Womb" flies into inner space on gossamer wings of atmospheric guitars, while "Free the Three" (a tribute to the West Memphis Three) and the title track go straight for the metalcore jugular. Rumor has it the band has ended its tumultuous relationship with the music industry by breaking up (again). If so, Parade of Chaos is a fine epitaph. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: the Entombed, the Haunted, Living Sacrifice

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