Bare Wire
Delicatessen
Eristikos
------2 stars--------
Bare Wire's debut CD is one that easily escapes classification. Her voice evokes mental pictures of Tori Amos, but any such comparison just wouldn't hold up. Bare Wire is a conceptual artist, something different from the drudgery of the standard female singer-songwriter scene. Delicatessen is meant to be a collection of self-portraits, of songs with titles like "Versimilitude," "Tunnel Visionary," and "Airport" - songs that one by one paint a portrait of the artist that has written them. Her lyrics are high-pitched and unintelligible, and her tracks are markedly short. In fact, the 15-track album clocks in at just over a half-hour in length. Instrumentation sounds deliberately artificial, and the CD is laden with deep, sustained, reverberating cello notes that paint a sonic portrait of terror and confusion. Delicatessen is a decidedly odd album, but it does make surprisingly good background music for studying or being contemplatively alone. (RB)
DJ Skribble
Essential Dance 2000
Atlantic Records
------1 star------
Even if y7ou loved Cher's dance hit "Believe," it's probably not a good sign that there's a remix of it on Essential Dance 2000. What's truly incredible, though, is that DJ Skribble manages to drive the catchiness that made the song popular completely out of existence. Skribble wants popular appeal, and he aims at the lowest common denominator. He takes no risks (and so benefits nothing), remixing songs from well-known modern radio bands - among them Filter, Amber, Paula Cole, Vengaboys, and Moby - by simply adding extra beats and squeals. Some of his work is reminiscent of 1993 club wonder Haddaway. Don't remember that one? Of course not, but Haddaway was the artist behind "What Is Love" of Saturday Night Live and A Night At The Roxbury fame. If all that isn't enough to turn you off, that's fine. Go ahead and buy Essential Dance 2000. It was made with you in mind. (DS)
Sara Lee
Make It Beautiful
Righteous Babe Records
-----4 stars-----
Sara Lee begins her solo career with impeccable credentials, and she proves them well. She's recorded baselines for the B-52's, Indigo Girls, Ani DiFranco, and Fiona Apple. With so much exposure to great music, the listener hopes for great things - and Lee doesn't disappoint. Songs like "Grace" combine her obvious rhythmic inclinations and previously underused vocals into something both memorable and driven. All of the tracks beg to be danced to, but - short of a heavy drum-machine remix - none of them would ever work well at Axis. Rather, these are concert tunes, ones that make you want to move with the performer as the world jams around her. The lyrics are precise and clean, but that's one point where Lee can't take credit: guests like DiFranco and Indigo Girl Emily Saliers wrote them. No shame there, though - if you could get them to write vocals like this for you, don't pretend you wouldn't. (DS)
Various Artists
Listen.com Picks: Hip-Hop
Noiseland
-------3.5 stars---------
Apparently online music showcase Listen.com has heard the future of hip-hop, and it's promising. This recently released compilation of fifteen tracks from up-and-coming artists from around the world touts the diversity of the global hip-hop community. Take, for example. EnterpriZe's "What About Love?" The Virgin Islands trio artfully blends classic R&B sensibility with modern rap lyrics. While that number may be a throwback to the 70s, most tracks give a sonic glimpse ahead to the soundscape of the future. Handsome Boy Modeling School's "Rock 'N' Roll (Could Never Hip-Hop Like This)" and Meta 4's "Numb Niggazz" deliver traditional samples over digital techno beats. While the effort to show global unity in hip-hop is laudable, it doesn't always work. Malaysia's Teh Tarik Crew sounds like a rapping ESL class, and Tony Scalpels' British-accented ghetto rants are questionable. The message is clear, though: hip-hop culture has made it to all corners of the globe. (RB)
