Frank Zappa - The Yellow Shark
Barking Pumpkin
Mark Lanegan - Whiskey for the Holy Ghost
Ronny Jordan - The Quiet Revolution
Nick Heyward - From Monday to Sunday
Motorhead - Bastards
Penelope Houston "Take Care" b/w "Corpus Christi"
Sub Pop Records
Peter Case - Sings Like Hell
self-released
I heard it was only available in the L.A. area so I got a friend of mine to pick it up for me. You'd better make similar arrangements to get Sings Like Hell. Now whether you'll take that title as crummy or fucking brilliant is up to you. But I can tell you, being a professed Casehead, that this simple, acoustic CD captures the essence of Case's art and lays it naked on the table for you to deal with. Every nuance of hope, joy and despair in the lyrics benefits from the stark setting of this mostly-solo disc. He tackles a baker's dozen of blues and bluesy covers, from Blind Lemon Jefferson's "Matchbox Blues" (the basis for Carl Perkins' '50s rockabilly song), Jesse Winchester's "How 'Bout You," and the supremely rockin' "Walkin' Bum" by David Allan Coe. Records like this make it obvious why bozos like me place so much importance on music. Now then: call up your friend or relative in California and get her to get you this. (If you don't know anybody there, try Case's "fan club": Travelin' Light, 1223 Wilshire Blvd. #551, Santa Monica, CA 90403. Tell 'em the Free Press sent ya.)
4th & B'way
This jazz guitarist takes the smooth tone of Wes Montgomery and the finesse of George Benson and mutates it into something called acid jazz. That means jazzy tunes played over live hip-hop based drums and bass, sometimes with a rapper or a singer doing their thing on the top. Unlike Jordan's first CD, The Antidote, this one goes further than just acid jazz. There are more traditional jazz guitar pieces, like his cover of Montgomery's "Mr. Walker" and "The Morning After." Some of The Quiet Revolution comes off a bit too jazz/pop (read: GRP), but the variety's nice. Sometimes, after hearing a crunchy jazz/hip hop thing like "Season for Change," which features rapper Guru (who's Jazzmatazz is another winner in the AJ sweepstakes and features our Mr. Jordan on gui-fiddle), it's nice to mellow out.
Epic
I never expected this guy to amount to much more than being known as the man who sang "Love Plus One" in Haircut One Hundred. He's made a number of solo albums since then, the first great (and, I think, out of print) and the rest mediocre. But then, out of nowhere, comes this: From Monday to Sunday, a collection of pretty pop songs that, like those Elvis Costello produced in the early '80s, instantly grab your attention. Songs like "Kite," which sounds great on the radio (I think; I haven't yet heard it there) and is only one of many here that would. In "Caravan" Heyward makes sly references to The Jam, one of the first power pop bands, without aping that band's style, and with "How Do You Live Without Sunshine," he makes you wonder whatever happened to The Walker Bros. Heyward may be able to make you care about his songs without stirring up a lot of controversy, but that may be just what it takes to get it recognized. Either this masterpiece of pop will go unnoticed - Epic mistakenly released it right before Christmas - because of little press and a crowded market, or a miracle will happen on 54th Street and those people at Sony will lay off of hyping Billy Joel and Sleepless in Seattle soundtracks and put their weight behind something truly great.
ZYX Music
Y'know, you can't fault Motorhead. They birthed an entire nation of riff-happy scumbags who, the thing is, what I really mean, Motorhead still fucking Rocks! Man, y'know, in the "beat you like a redheaded stepchild" sense.
Iloki 7" 45
Silk Purse (from a Sow's Ear)
Normal GERMANY
Two of Penelope's favorites on one coolly packaged chunk of vinyl, including Alex Chilton's beautiful "Take Care" and a new, acoustic remake of the Avengers' "Corpus Christi." Penelope's take on her former band's punk classic is sublime, yet it doesn't lose any of the fury and meaning the original, electric version contained. An import-only CD that contains these two songs and eleven more, Silk Purse collects rare and previously unreleased material that Penelope's German label has released in a special limited edition. The recordings are great and give a good all-around view of Houston's work, and are a nice way to get by until her next release, which is being recorded even as you read. (Both available in limited quantities from id Records, P.O. Box 422163, San Francisco, CA 94142-2163.)
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Contents on this page were published in the February/March, 1994 edition of the Washington Free
Press.
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