6
Thursday, January 16, 2003
GZA Serves Spicy Lyrics, Stale Production
By Tacque Kirksey
Staff Writer ________
It’s funny how musical ground-break
ers can more or less disappear.
Meanwhile, mediocre pretenders and
usurpers stick
around longer than
should be possible
by cosmic law.
The first half of
the ’9os set the
stage for hip hop’s
immense commer
/jgy, §§H>
GZA
legend of the
Liquid Sword
cial success, both sonically and in terms
of scope. Yet the Wu-Tang Clan, one of
the foremost purveyors of that success,
has been largely lost in the undertow of
the last decade’s trends in rap.
At the helm of the Wu’s attack was
the GZA, or the Genius, who co-found
ed the group. As the collective began to
lose focus throughout the ’9os, he went
on to have the most consistent solo
career. His latest release, Legend of the
Liquid Sword, is a cinematic, conceptual
album fraught with the Wu’s übiquitous
Icy Songsmith Struggles With Sentiment, Ghost
By Brian Millikin
Staff Writer '
Joseph Arthur is one cool customer -
almost too cool.
The litde-known, critically acclaimed
songsmith makes a studio-sawy brand
of melancholic
pop. Overstuffed
with textures and
synthesizers, each
beeping and blip
ping soundscape
is more icily
Joseph Arthur
RedeupdonsSon
detached and slickly postmodern than
the next.
The sound of Arthur’s solid sopho
more album Redemption’s Son is nothing
short of stunning - each song is a thick
ly layered, electronic epic of emotion -
but it isn’t always enough. The produc
tion is often too cold and too distant for
the yearning and longing in the songs.
Sometimes the studio effects are too self
aware, too hip and contemporary for
IHr .. iw
1111,- ■
Bar & Dining room open every night at 5:30 pm.
610 West Franklin Street Chapel Hill, North Carolina 919-929-7643
m jpH
y I#.
- ? _ _ ‘'JjW ‘
OPKM HOUSC RECEPTION
SUNDAY, JANUARY 19TH, 2003
I tOO PM TO 3tOO PM
Come meet our Master chefs and local alumni and
learn how you ctfinrii your passion into a profession
in culinary arts or food and beverage management.
mwiKland
CULINARY INSTITUTE'
Montpelier and Eswx, Vermont
To rsiervc your space, contact us
Toil-free 877.213.6324 or admissions@neci.edu
srwwjieci.cdu
Stmtttn! Mooter, ACCSCT
m
411 W. FraafcßttSt, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
theme - hip hop as the stuff of epic.
“Auto Bio" leads off the record with
GZA’s booming flow chronicling his
career before and after the Wu-Tang uni
verse. The track’s spare instrumentation,
centered on string
swells and a slither
ing piano line, is
reminiscent of Wu’s
trademark sinister
sound.
The single
“Knock, Knock"
features tense yet
bouncy production
with the GZA tak
ing stabs at music,
business, politics
and the degree to
which they have
nrniiii
%
• Cj
**' Jr
tegeno •!... t iquid svooio
assimilated hip hop. A great deal of the
rapper’s lyrical energy on the album is
directed against his industry.
His longtime partners RZA and
Masta Killa make guest appearances on
“Fam (Members Only),” bringing their
word-twisting visual rhymes to the track.
their own good.
The result is something like Beck’s
classic Odelay on morphine - polished
cool and dreamily melodic. Some songs
are bathed in gende mechanical ambi-
ence, accompanied
by Arthur’s hushed
speak-singing drawl
or angel-voiced
falsetto. They are
wounded songs,
songs about con
fused love and
alienation - emo
tionally and quite
literally.
“I think aliens
abducted me,” he
croons in the superb
“I Would Rather
■ • Bp- guM-w
N : .m.
Hide.” There’s a painful, Neil Young
sadness to the lovely “Innocent World,”
and quiet, apprehensive love abounds in
songs like “Honey and the Moon.”
But that isn’t to say that all of
DIVERSIONS
This cut is evocative of the last Wu-Tang
Clan release, 2001’s Iron Flag.
Sound-wise, the album’s best song is
the title track. GZA boasts of his near
divine lyrical prowess over interlocking
loops of piping
synth sounds and
guitar licks as Allen
Anthony sings the
hook with a
smooth, Ronald
Isley-like flavor.
Overall, Legend of
the Liquid Sword
finds the GZA and
the • Wu-Tang mys
tique at a crossroads.
Some emcees
have become over
ly ambitious musi-
cally, letting the background noise over
shadow their flow. But a number of
artists from the Wu-Tang roster have fall
en into the opposite trap, consistently
lacingtheir well-honed lyrical skills with
predictable production.
This is Legend s major flaw - fans
Redemption’s Son is that subdued. Many
songs drown under fierce beds of synthe
sizers and heavy sound effects, becoming
something like pop of the apocalypse.
Arthur can growl as well as he can gush,
as in the angered
“Permission," even
if it doesn’t comple
ment him quite as
well.
The one thing
that Arthur con
nects with is his
hollow spirituality.
If there’s a ghost in
Arthur’s machines,
it’s the Holy Ghost.
His search for a
response from a
higher power is like
a chorus repeated through the album’s
entirety. “Dear Lord” might be the best
prayer song ever written -a rollicking,
electronic Shaker revival, complete with
gospel cooing and choir hand-clapping, a
23 steps
7i)V ilUJildiJiilj jJUiiJcl’j
lI.SI HH|9fiß
($3 cover)
Now with DARTS!
' •'<s::; -
3 Pool Tables * 2 Foosball Tables * Video Gaines * Over 65 Brands of Beer
13 Taps * 12 Televisions * 2 Big Screens
173 Vi L Franklin St (above Woody’s) • 919-968-1303
AN EVENING WITH
HOLLINS
iR n| p 1
February 12
Carolina Theatre of Durham
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE CAROLUS \ THEATRE BOX
r —- -| OFFICE AND MLisfessshar OUTLETS OR CHARGE
Get Tickets ri QQ.COM BY PHONE AT 919-834-6400. All dates, acts and tide: prices are
l ......... J subject lo change without notice. A service charge:is added to each
ticket. A Clear Channel Event.
familiar with the Wu and its offshoots
will find themselves in an all-too-famil
iar territory, sonically and thematically.
However, GZA is a rapper’s rapper,
and for those more interested in word
play than backing tracks, this album
won’t disappoint. Lyrically, he still cre
ates the verbal cinema of GZA’s Liquid
and Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx,
but with more emphasis on control as
opposed to sheer head-banging bravado.
The problem is thus -as innovators,
the GZA and the Wu-Tang collective
deserve their place in the progression of
contemporary hip hop. Yet numerous
pretenders and internal troubles have
diminished the Wu presence. Can the
Wu maintain its place in the pantheon of
rap as a younger generation of listeners
comes into its own?
Despite its lyrical potency, Legend of
the Liquid Sword and other less-than-rev
elatory albums make such a return to
prominence seem unlikely.
The Arts & Entertainment Editor can
be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.
repentant rock pastiche. Arthur finds his
music’s soul, and it’s in soul-searching.
He spends an awfully long time look
ing for it, too, as Redemption’s Son checks
in at an arduous 75 minutes. Brevity isn’t
one of Arthur’s gifts, and several songs
could easily be trimmed to make the
album more manageable.
A long record is sometimes a sign of
an artist’s lack of faith in his material, as if
he didn’t trust that the songs were strong
enough if not in a pack. That might be
true of Redemption’s Son, as a lot of
Arthur’s songs aren’t always as impres
sive as the instrumentation. The melodies
don’t always live up to the promise and
thrust of the production - the Christmas
tree not always as worthwhile as its orna
ments. He seems more comfortable with
a dial in his hand, not a pen.
And that might be fine by Arthur’s
standards. He might be too cool to care.
The Arts & Entertainment Editor can
be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.
Dreis Drowns in Pretensions;
Zumbido Combines Cultures
Tad Dreis
Solitaire for Tu>o
★★☆☆☆
Tad Dreis’ sophomore attempt
sounds like an alt-country response to
The Beades’ Rubber Soul with its sooth
ing guitars and earthy melodies.
The only problem with Solitaire for
Two is Dreis sometimes falls into trite
ness that ends up sounding like The
Beades playing on Fisher-Price instru
ments and deriving their lyrical inspira
tion from J. Lo.
But it is important to recognize that
there is clear talent in Dreis’ music -
the album just sounds as if it were
released prematurely. With a little more
work, all the songs could have been
given the same poppy playability as
“Back in a Few” and “Bureau de
Change,” the album’s only instantly
appealing songs.
Unfortunately, a number of songs on
Solitaire for Two have weak elements that
foil their strengths. “I Said I,” the
album’s opening track, is indicative of
how Dreis’ songwriting sometimes lacks
cohesion.
The instrumentals found within are
simplistic, taking advantage of beauti
fully upbeat acoustic strumming and
minimal drumming. It’s the type of
music that saturates your car when
you’re driving around on sunny days
with your windows down, somewhat
like a sonic sunshine found in some
Wilco song.
But where Jeff Tweedy creates
abstract images that roam the listener’s
head, Dreis writes a Hallmark card
about missing a lover.
When Dreis sings “I miss you, even
though I’ll see you soon,” it seems like
anyone who can string together “Roses
are red/ Violets are blue” can be a
singer-songwriter.
The same kind of juvenile lyrics ruin
“Lottery of Love.” Dreis statically com
pares a lottery to someone’s attempts at
love, lyrically killing a wandering guitar.
Sadly, the album’s best songs are hid
den between bad tracks. Even though
everyone likes a good song, your smile’s
a little smaller after sifting through a pile
of crap to find it.
The swooping melody of “Good for
You” is infectious, but it follows “I Said
I.” The two songs’ instrumentals are so
similar that “Good for You’s” first
impression is shattered by its annoying
twin.
“T-Shirt” is the album’s best number
with its seductively dirty-blues swagger.
In the song, Dreis finally finds the grit
and depression in his voice that was
missing from the album.
If Dries would have found a bottle of
whiskey in which to soak his vocals, he
could have been able to save the lyri
cally weaker songs and- ultimately -
Jj— • . ■S”==!S-a l l ll I ll !l l " l l I"A
' Come try the largest Chinese Buffet in the Triangle!
mS sAvti
Mm $1 t With this coupon or UNC Student ID,
f * % get $1 OFF Dinner Buffet!
*
* v Dii-in Buffet Only 919-968-3488
' • oßer expires 1/23/03 University Square .--‘J
TriJay January yi
KV Sjymjfil/ffaff.H.tfC. (^\
OAx CO
j 962 1449 \
V
L —l iiarw . m — s L-J
8Y the CAROLINA UNION PERFORMING
Shf Sailij (Ear Hppl
the whole album.
By Kemp Baldwin
Radio Zumbido
Los UUimos Dias del AM
*★★★☆
Sometimes, an album is so strong
musically that the words simply don’t
matter.
Radio Zumbido’s release Los Ultimos
Dias del AM proves that even when
someone is singing in a foreign language
- or in this case, sampling - the effect
can be just as powerful, if not even more
so. #
Trippy, electronic and textured, del
AM mixes several different sounds, cul
tures and feelings into a multifaceted
and complex album that nevertheless is
refreshingly simple. The album doesn’t
try to change the way you look at the
world, comment on the situation in
Afghanistan or break your heart - it’s
just catchy music.
Juan Carlos Barrios (who makes up
all of Radio Zumbido) recreates the sen
sation of listening to low-budget AM
radio in rural Mexico, picking up an
eclectic mix of every imaginable genre.
Whether it is salsa, reggae, pop, psy
chedelica, bomba, rock, classical, fla
menco or jazz, Barrios weaves together
tracks out of trash, creating a tapestry of
tunes that washes over the listener.
Though the depth of songs can be
intimidating sometimes - the rolling
and roaring “Lo-Fi Chicken Bus” crush
es with its blaring trumpets stacked on
crackling samples - the album general
ly is an exercise in experimentation.
The purring “Radio Solola” and the
crisp guitar synth of “Livingston Buzz”
are reminiscent of DJ Shadow’s The
Private Press, but Barrios is different
because of what the album does as a
whole. Each track bleeds seamlessly into
the next, making skipping useless and
even naming the standout songs futile.
The tight structure and complexity,
plus the simple headbanging fun of “La
Rueda,” define the album as a whole,
but the sensual silkiness found on
“Caracol” makes it the best cut.
Though not the most energetic or
shocking electronic exploration, it is the
most daring. Barrios shows true talent
and bravado by layering ratding salsa
beats on top of hypnotic electronic
synth.
And while some of the tracks have
bass lines and snaps that could be
danceable, this is an album meant more
for the drive back home from the club
than under strobe lights and towers of
foam.
It’s techno for the quiet, contempla
tive type. Drum and bass for the worn
traveler. DJ Shadow for the seriously
stoned.
By Nick Parker