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CABARET VILLE MAGAZINE. P196.

CDs REVIEWS

Tracy Chapman
Where You Live (Elektra) Even more bare-bones than usual, Tracy Chapman recorded her seventh solo album not in a studio, but in a San Francisco-area rehearsal space filled with trucked-in gear. The result: beautifully written songs in Chapman's signature simple and acoustic style. The memorable tracks are America and the album's first single, Change, which has Chapman posing a string of rhetorical questions. It's great in the way of her breakout hit 1988's Fast Car, but doesn't pull at the heart strings as much as it challenges the listener. America is a spirited and revolutionary track that brings out Chapman's mind for social justice. The song asks Americans to face their history with lyrics like, "The ghost of Columbus haunts this world. You're still conquering America." Chapman includes beautiful ballads like 3,000 Miles, which opens with haunting percussive beats that make you feel mile after mile after mile. The painful and seeking lyrics of Never Yours will almost bring tears and memories of personal lost loves. Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers guests on three tracks and Chapman is at her Grammy-winning best. She makes no tangent here. It's just Chapman's updated, intimate take on the world through her folk sound and intelligent, touching lyrics. -Reviewer: Caryn Rousseau

 

Bob Dylan , No Direction Home: The Soundtrack -- The Bootleg Series Vol. 7 (Columbia)

Bootlegs and outtakes are more marketable than ever these days -- and it doesn't hurt the effort if you happen to be Bob Dylan. For that reason alone, No Direction Home, marketed as part of Dylan's Bootleg Series, piques the interest. But the imminent arrival of a Dylan biopic of the same name by Martin Scorsese makes it even more interesting to take a walking tour of the master's career. The two-disc No Direction Home is a collage of Dylan alt-takes and live performances. It's an alternate-universe tour through the career of the former Robert Zimmerman -- and, by extension, the evolution of folk music through the 1960s. The most fascinating tune is the first -- a brief, muffled recording of a song called When I Got Troubles that sounds like a field recording from a folk-song collector. It's billed as "most likely the first original song (Dylan) ever recorded, and it comes across as exactly what it is -- a Minnesota high-school boy emulating the Delta Blues sound. Dylan's early professional recordings in this CD echo his sound on his canon of albums. The earliest ones sound like (or are about or by) Woody Guthrie; Dylan's This Land is Your Land, recorded live in New York City in 1961, was clearly the inspiration for Bruce Springsteen's version two decades later. By 1962, the truly unique Dylan emerges, and these tracks feel more sensory, more raw than their familiar counterparts. A 1963 demo of Don't Think Twice, It's Alright is more ethereal than the better-known version -- and more stripped down, if that's possible. An alternate take of Mr. Tambourine Man with Ramblin' Jack Elliott feels almost desperate, and a live version of A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall is deliberative and tentative, as if Dylan's feeling the lyrics more than he did in the well-known studio cut. By the time outtakes from Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde appear on Disc 2, Dylan's willingness to experiment from take to take has become obvious. Desolation Row has an intriguing electric riff behind its acoustic rhythm, while Ballad of a Thin Man, live in Scotland in 1966, is even funkier and more psychedelic than the familiar classic. For many artists, a release of outtakes is dull and unnecessary. For Bob Dylan, of course, it's a treasure chest -- and a glimpse into what bodes to be an unusual movie. Rating: 5 stars out of five.

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Made in China
Juliana Hatfield (Ye Olde Records)

Forget Juliana Hatfield the waif. Ditch that memory of her song Spin the Bottle, the one that seemed to emanate from the film Reality Bites. Forget the Massachusetts girl who made up a third of the Blake Babies. She's gone. And that's a good thing. Hatfield has eviscerated her past, exorcised her previous pure-pop lyrics and dumped the foundation of her previous recordings in the dustbin. On Made In China, her eighth LP, Hatfield emerges scarred and smarter, playing a collection of biting, angry but oh-so-melodic songs that herald the indifference of not fitting in and, frankly, not giving enough of a damn to even try. The 37-minute, 12-song disc is a collection of defiant yet personal songs and music that is more Husker Du than Blake Babies or Lemonheads. Lust, addiction, the hurt of betrayal and the sting of loneliness emanate from the songs, including standout singles Digital Penetration and Stay Awake, which could rip out the floor if the volume is high enough. Maybe it's being victimized by rants from critics jaded by her failure to be pop queen she was supposed to be. Or it could be the state of music today, where women are resorting to near striptease and selling sex rather than singles. It doesn't matter. Her rage, indifference and edginess are in full effect on Made in China, and her damnation has brought salvation. This is her best album ever. -Reviewer: Matt More

George Kahn, Compared To What? (Playing Records)

Over 25 years in Los Angeles as a composer and arranger, George’s music has appeared in Television Movies for BET, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Disney Animation, as well as major ad campaigns for Lexus and others. In 1998 George created Playing Records, and has produced four albums of original music that reflect the history and the ongoing evolution of jazz from the 50’s to the 21st Century. Over 275,000 music fans served on MP3.com, and counting! One of the "200 Best" albums at CDBABY.com But his new CD "Compared To What" brings him now to an international status, for his virtuosity sets a new standard for elegance and romance in contemporary Jazz. This man knows how to create a musical ambiance that transports the listener to a state of trance and sinfully beautiful daring thoughts. Kahn's CD is a monumental musical work, rich, elegant, with defying innovation and grace. In Kahn's musicality, do not expect to hear the morose notes of early Bourbon Street Jazz. His music is up-lifting imbibed with artistic luxury, finesse and elegant nonchalance. Jazz virtuosity at its best. Rating:  5 stars out of five.- Maximillien  de lafayette.

Vertically Challenged , Lady Sovereign (Chocolate Industries)

The buzz surrounding this British grime upstart is huge. She's tiny, going on massive. She has been signed by Jay-Z to release her full-length debut in the spring. Here, we get a big tease, in the form of some awesome, next-level U.K. hip-hop styles. Think Missy Elliott, M.I.A. and Eminem rolled into the body of a diminutive, teenaged white girl from Wembley. Hilarious sass, wicked wordplay and deliciously twisted, big-bass beats to move the dancefloor like nobody's business. Includes remixes by Adrock and Ghislain Poirier. Rating: 4 stars out of five.