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Roxette - Room Service (Virgin
Records)
**
The duo has finally
gone back to their roots- the typical weekend-pop that we knew of
Roxette. Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson have spent nearly five
years, writing and recording songs for this seventh album Room
Service. The first single The Centre Of The Heart (Is A Suburb
To The Brain) is a magnificent chill-out track with an equally
magnificent video directed by their longtime collaborator Jonas
Akerlund (Metallica, Prodigy, Madonna, U2). Fool and Real
Sugar are witty, rock-poppy affairs. It Takes You No Time To
Get Here, My World, My Love, My Life and Try finds
the duo in a pensive mood, applying their resonant vocals to heartfelt
melody. More tightly structured than their earlier albums, Room
Service has not only enough dizzy polyrhythms and craziness for
the free poppers but is also chock full of tunes, good humour and
certain grooviness. Somewhere between The Look and Crash
Boom Bang with lots of pop-oddness naturally, this is the Roxette
album you can recommend to your more staid friends without losing
them.
Manic Street Preachers
- Know Your Enemy (Sony Music)
****
The disappearance of
James in February 1995, took most of the band’s soul. In his
absence, the remaining band members Sean Moore, James Dean Bradfield
and Nicky Wire continued to record music, releasing Everything Must
Go (1996) and This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours (1999). But
those efforts offered a softened and sugary change, which was not
welcomed by many. But this Manic album — Know Your Enemy —
should keep everyone happy. The album is tight, driving and
non-stadium rock. The Preachers immediately find their footing with
the rollicking, opening anthem Found That Soul. When they stop
howling, shouting and lose the contempt, they are at their best. Found
That Soul keeps that energy up on such new-wave tracks as Dead
Martyrs, My Guernica and The Convalescent, not to
mention folkier pop tunes like Let Robeson Sing, His Last
Painting, Royal Correspondent and Epicentre. And
then there is Intravenous Agnostic tarting up barely understood
words as lyrical enigma, with chorus as: "Cosmetic-polemic/
Distinguished by relics/ Destructive aesthetics/ Intravenous agnostic/
Intravenous agnostic." Phew! Heavy stuff.
Dido - No Angel (BMG
Crescendo)
**
A feature of No Angel’s
Thank You sampler on Eminem’s Stan has already made
Dido a star. Sinead O’ Connor’s voice in Sarah McLachlan’s soul
with Alanis Morisette’s writing skills, mould together to form Dido.
Sculpted by techno-guru Youth and Rollo, No Angel does not fit
into one genre, but rather it diversifies into multiple genres to form
its own unique place in the music world. Dido’s music smoothly
blends electronic hip-hop with folk/acoustic music and the result, as
you will experience, is mind-blowing. The melancholy opener Here
With Me offers acoustic rhythm guitar, snare-looped tempo with
silk strings that instantly touches your soul. All You Want
spins a tale of a broken love with intense lyrics. My Lover’s
Gone is ethereal and misty, with loads of synthesised ocean sounds
and seagull cries. Unified by both Dido’s stunning vocals and
lyrical crispness, No Angel travels through various and diverse
styles ranging from the magnificence of Here With Me, the
gentle soulfulness of Thank You, the deep intensity of Honestly
OK to the lyrical wonder Don’t Think Of Me.
Album of the month
Talvin Singh - Ha (Universal)
Talvin Singh’s mega
success with OK and Anokha has not only helped British
Asians find a musical voice but has also helped to develop a new
musical revolution called Talvinism. His music is not just a part of
the clichéd east meets west generation, but it’s about expression,
vast imagination, wide space and a whole lotta attitude. Talvin Singh’s
debut album OK was a super success for its penultimate fusion
of eastern music, with an element of pop and electronic beats. The
term Tablatronix seems to be the key factor in his music. Importantly,
he remains a ruler, directing lush sounds, beats, machine hooks and
Indian flavours to follow his directions. Talvin once again burns the
floor with a groove-driven album, labelled with yet another widely
understood term in India Ha (yes). There is a sense of fluidity
here. The album progresses from a meanderingly tuneful start into some
free waters, making way on its own. There are some outstanding tracks
like Mustard Fields, Uphold, It’s Not Over and Silver
Flowers, while the headliner remains Abalonia for its
abstract vocals, lush soundscapes and innovative music. As gathered
from a meeting with the legend himself, Talvin is here neither to sell
nor to make a statement. Talvin is a part of a musical revolution with
just two words in the mind — innovate and create. And that is his
ultimate high.
— Saurabh
& Gaurav
The
Grrr…eat Music Zone Quiz
1. Name the
James Brown song that appeared on the soundtrack of Rocky IV.
2. Before going
solo, Erykah Badu was a part of which group?
3. What famous
cartoon did Sublime do a song on?
4. What is the
debut album by Nelly Furtado called?
5. Which noted
Spanish guitarist teamed up with B.B.King for his 1998 hit
album?
6. The band
Kula Shaker got its name from which song?
7. Name the
band that released an album titled Uncle Anesthesia
in 1991?
8. Which Greek
philosopher’s quote is written on the cover of Jewel’s Spirit
album?
9. With which
group did Brian May collaborate on the soundtrack of Mission
Impossible 2 ?
10. Aaron Hall’s
biggest hit single I Miss You has been culled from
which album?
Answers
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1. Livin’
In America
2. Erykah
Free
3. Hong Kong
Phooey
4. Whoa Nelly
!
5. Raimundo
Amador
|
6. The Cowboy
Stars
7. Screaming
Trees
8. Plotinus
9. Foo
Fighters
10. The Truth |
Top 10 singles |
1. All For
You Janet Jackson
2. Survivor
Destiny’s Child é
3. Lay My
Love On You Westlife
ê
4. Stutter
Joe (feat. Mystikal) é
5. Jaded Aerosmith
çè
6. Inner
Smile Texas ê
7. Again Lenny
Kravitz é
8. Thank
You Dido l
9. Love
Don’t Cost A Thing Jennifer Lopez
ê
10. Angel Shaggy
l
é Climbing
up ê Falling
down çè
Non-mover
l
New entry
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