Page 4 DTH Omnibus
Thursday September 21, 1989
M U S II c -
mmmmmmmm
Album Charts
College Music Journal
1. Pogues
Peace and Love
2. Hoodoo Gurus
Magnum Cum Louder
3. Red Hot Chili Peppers
Mother's Milk
4. B-52s
Cosmic Thing
5. Pop Will Eat itself
This is the Day ...
6. The The
Mind Bomb
7. Pixies
Doolittle
8. Various Artists
777e Bridge
9. Stone Roses
Stone Roses
10. The Cure
Disintegration
WXYC
1. Red Hot Chili Peppers
Mother's Milk
2. Various Artists
The Bridge
3. Half Japanese
The Band that Would Be King
4. The Fluid
Roadmouth
5. Shellyanne Orphan
Century Flower
6. House of Large Sizes
One Big Cake
7. Various Artists
Mashing Up the Nation
8. Headless Horseman
Canl Help But Shake
9. Buffalo Tom
Buffalo Tom
10. Bad Brains
Quickness
tP(DTER SALE IWM
AM Posters Qf f I
special selection 50 oSS
September 18-24
one' week only
Downtown Chapel Hill
122 East Franklin Street
(next to Taco-Bell)
Ghetto rap beats
Boogie Down
Productions
Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop
RCA Records
oooo
The latest recording from Boogie
Down Productions (B.D.P.) is
a bold step away from the
dance sound in rap music. The al
bum, called Ghetto Music: The Blue'
print of Hip Hop, gets back to where
rap was born in the ghetto. It
shatters the stereotype of boastful,
juvenile rap music by concentrating
on harsh lyrics and social problems.
Boogie Down Productions is a 13
member rap group. Their focus is
created by lead rapper KRS-One.
KRS, homeless for seven years be
fore breaking into the music indus
try, calls himself a "metaphysician"
and a "teacher." He chooses topics
which are much more complex than
most common "I'm the greatest" rap
themes. Instead, he delivers his views
on everything from the basis for au
thority to world peace. Although
social commentary is not entirely new
to rap music, KRS lyrics explore the
issues with unusual intelligence.
Through his songs, KRS rebukes
people who just expect love and peace
to appear. Instead, he urges us to
take action to achieve these goals.
In "Jack of Spades" he describes a
hero named Jack who destroys stero
types and crime any way he can. The
idea that the ends justify the means
also appears in "World Peace". B.D.P.
sings (yes, sings), "If we really want
Bryan Tucker
Xi
world peace, and we want it right
now, we must makes up our minds to
take it." Sound like most rap?
KRS also tries to break down what
he calls a "wall of ignorance" be
tween blacks and whites. In "Why Is
That?", KRS-One argues that white
culture gradually distorts black role
models when he questions the as
sumption that Abraham and Moses
were white. Instead, he interprets
quotes from Genesis to mean that
they were black. "You Must Learn"
also focuses on black pride. KRS de
mands that more African history be
taught in schools and gives examples
of accomplishments by little-known
black inventors and scientists.
t Ghetto Music differs from standard
rap in its musical structure as well.
B.D.P. uses strong bass and modest,
repetitive riffs that complement KRS
One's discourses. Songs like "Bo! Bo!
Bo!" and "Breath Control" are very
rhythmic, but not so complex that
they distract from the lyrics. The re
sult is a stark, elementary sound,
similar to most rap, but with more
emphasis on the lyrics than on in
strumental prowess.
Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip
Hop is a socially conscious and
thought-provoking album. While it
won't appeal to fans of Tone-Loc,
B.D.P.'s ingenious sound makes this
album their best yet and its message
will apply to all. As KRS-One says
in the song "Ghetto Music," "You
pay for the hits, the advice is free."
Laserset
Resumes
LASER PRINTERS
rushes possible open 7 days a week
on Franklin Street above Sadlack's
V, 967-6633
906 W. Franklin St., Chapel HID
CH 967-9053
981 Thursday
drivin' n cryin'
Vt Friday
The Sex Police
983 Saturday
Eight or Nine Feet
925 Monday
Cat Butt and L7
9196 Tuesday
Die Kreuzen
9H7 Wednesday
The Channel Cats
9199 Thursday
Cindy Lee Berryhiil
Advance tickets available
18 & over admitted
Russian Bon Jovi
Gorky Park
Gorky Park
MercuryPolygram
OO
Gorky Park is among the first
wave of Russian rock bands
that are currently finding new
listeners in the U.S. and elsewhere,
thanks to the increasingly tolerant
stance of Gorbachev on music and
other art forms. By now it might be
obvious to state that ten years ago a
Russian band would have had almost
no chance of being signed by a major
American record label. The government-sustained
but largely illusion
ary cultural gap between Soviet and
U.S. rock musicians, in addition to
the necessity for most Russian bands
to stay "underground," made such
transactions highly unlikely.
In the past few years, however,
peristroika, glasnost, and the persever
ance of Soviet musicians have led to
new opportunities and exciting pos
sibilities for aspiring Russian rock
ers. The simple fact that Gorky Park
has been signed to PolyGram Rec
ords and was able to record the LP in
America is reason enough to give
the band recognition.
Unfortunately, in this case what
the Russians have to offer to the rest
of the world is a band that sounds
like dozens of other Spandex-fixated,
teased-hair hard-rock groups. (See
Winger, Warrant, Whitesnake, et al.)
If one were to take the apparent so
cial conscience of White Lion and
blend in a touch of Bon Jovi's clever
POWERFUL IDEAS
Gurdjieff wrote that we are asleep. That
in order to wake up, we must work on
ourself. To do this requires self-study.
To study oneself requires self
observation. The study of oneself can
lead to higher states of consciousness.
This consciousness without thought. A
consciousness of oneself as well as the
world outskfe. Higher states of
consciousness can lead to a permanent
principle of consciousness that can
survive the death of the physical body.
Truly a quest for eternal life. ;
787-4658 Raleigh
Thomas T. Grey, M.A.
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Doug Edmunds
hooks and pinup looks, the result
would be a potent formula for mass
appeal ... or a band called Gorky
Park. I could be extremely cynical
and suggest that this is exactly why
Gorky Park was given an American
record deal: they fit the formula. This
may be truer than anyone involved
is willing to admit. Regardless, there
is music here that deserves to be
judged on its own terms.
The five members of the group all
exhibit a respectable amount of mu
sical ability and technique, creating
a well-balanced sound in which no
member really steals the show. Drum
mer "Little" Sasha Lvov and bassist
"Big" Sasha Minkov lay down solid,
uncomplicated foundations for gui
tarists Alexei Belov and Jan Ianenkov,
while vocalist Nikolai belts out the
melodies in typical hard-rock fash
ion. The songs, all sung in English
(as far as I could tell from the some
times muddy mix), range in style from
standard heavy-metal bombast
("Bang"), to standard heavy-metal
ballads ("Sometimes At Night"), with
only a few tunes breaking the mold
by adding a touch of funk.
Side two begins with the most
horrendous interpretation of the
Who's "My Generation" ever re
corded. They should have saved this
well-intentioned but poorly executed
tribute for rehearsals or live shows
where the visual spectacle can help
make up for aural shortcomings.
All in all this is a rather disap
pointing American vinyl debut tor
Gorky Park. But it's encouraging to
see an enthusiastic, hardworking
these guys are all veterans of Russia's
rock underground Soviet band get
such a big break. I'd rather have to
criticize a mediocre work by five
hopeful, long-oppressed Russian
musicians than have to listen to an
equally mediocre product from an
other bunch of obnoxious, self-obsessed
American rock 'n' roll buf
foons. One can only hope that we
continue to see an influx of Soviet
bands of all styles and approaches
and a willingness on the part of the
American public to investigate these
groups for themselves. Perhaps, given
the full freedom and resources nec
essary to explore their musical crea
tivity, bands like Gorky Park will
move away from imitating their west
ern influences and will start to carve
a niche for Russian rock'n'roll.
What The
Ratings Mean
O lame
OO just O.K.
OOO workable
OOOO quite good
OOOOO excellent
U