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PRINCE
Musicology
(NPG/Columbia/Sony)
With all the hype surrounding the “comeback” of
Prince, and the man once again packing stadiums, it’s
almost irrelevant whether or not his first album since 2001’s
Rainbow Children is a commercial success—and it probably
won’t be. Rather than update his sound a la Santana,
Prince opts to stick with the tried and true: sticky grooves
and soulful melodies make up the bulk of Musicology’s
12 songs. The title track is a nostalgic funk workout that
asks, “Don’t you miss the feeling music gave you
back in the day?” while “Cinnamon Girl” is
distinctly reminiscent of “Raspberry Beret” or “Little
Red Corvette.” There’s little here of the loose,
jazzy grooves of Rainbow Children, however, meaning it should
be welcomed by Prince purists. But on the other hand, it seems
unlikely to spawn any hits. Happily, there’s also none
of the religious preaching in evidence that marred his last
appearance in Tokyo.
ALANIS MORISSETTE
So-Called Chaos
(Maverick/Warner)
If the Canadian rock singer’s albums
have charted the ups and downs of her love life in sometimes
gruelingly intimate detail, then her latest finds her on an
upswing. In typical confessional style, the first single off
the album, “Everything,” portrays her with someone
who will stick with her through the ins and outs: “You
see all my light and you love my dark/You dig everything of
which I’m not ashamed/There’s not anything to which
you can’t relate/And you’re still here.” The
song is one of several uplifting and seemingly chart-friendly
pop-rockers that should give Morissette a high profile as
she embarks on a North American tour. There are also dabblings
with electronica, as on the catchy, trance-oriented opening
track “Eight Easy Steps” and the trip hop-influenced
“Doth I Protest Too Much,” but for the most part
Morissette sticks with her usual formula on an album that,
like the artist herself, seems to go from strength to strength.
SLY & ROBBIE
Version Born
(Play)
Most know of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare
as the rock-solid Riddim Twins rhythm section that powered
albums by reggae titans from Peter Tosh to Black Uhuru (not
to speak of Grace Jones and Bob Dylan). But they have also
long harbored an experimental streak, working with New York
producer Bill Laswell on a series of recordings beginning
with 1983’s electro outing Language Barrier. Version
Born follows in this vein, manifesting Sly and Robbie’s
diverse interests with songs that run from Arab atmospherics
to a cover of the Eurythmics’ “Here Comes the Rain
Again.” While sometimes cerebral, the amazing diversity
of sounds to be found on the album, along with the presence
of heavyweight guests including Black Thought from the Roots,
Tricky, N’Dea Davenport and Iranian singer Sussan Deyhim,
make it a consistently satisfying—and surprising—listen.
HOPPY KAMIYAMA
+ BILL LASWELL
A Navel City/No One Is There
(Creage/Yamaha)
Maverick Japanese producer and avant-garde
sound creator Hoppy Kamiyama along with veteran downtown New
York bassist/ producer Bill Laswell (the man is everywhere)
get top billing here, but equal credit should go to drummer
Kiyohiko Semba, whose explosive polyrhythms fuel much of the
improvisation on this album. Sounding like it was recorded
in one take during one of Laswell’s recent Japan visits,
A Navel City reflects the substantial skills of a trio of
musicians grounded in free jazz/post-rock esthetics. Laswell
lays down diaphanous bass lines that burble along underneath
the bleeps, squelches and squeaks of Kamiyama’s samplers
and synthesizers, while Semba’s drum lines threaten to
steal the show. In sum, a surprisingly accessible expression
of what is basically a challenging area of music.
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Iconic
(Elejam)
While the psychedelic trance party scene
may have lost its edge, by the indication of this new transnational
compilation, there is still a lot of talent out there producing
original and creative psychedelic techno. Teaming up with
Australian electronica imprint Psy-Harmonics, Japanese techno
label Elejam has released this compilation of tracks by mostly
domestic and Australian IDM producers, including some leading
lights of the scene. Mostly avoiding the clichés of
psy-trance, the album runs from the frenetic breakbeats of
Emmanuel Sartitsis and Ollie Olsen’s “Past Tense”
to the abstract effects of David Thrussell’s “Autocratic
Zeit Shift.” Domestic players are present in the form
of Boredoms leader Eye’s “Party Book,” which
features intricately looped gamelan samples, and Eiji Shibata’s
“Rip’n’Eiji,” with its storming electric
guitar breaks.
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