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The Time Lodgers
Rickenbacker rock may be passé in the States, but in Norway, it's all the rage. Okay, maybe not, but the Time Lodgers are one of the few bands interested in exhuming the spirit of '65. The group's maiden disc, Majors and Minors, is a rapturous return to the golden era when the Byrds' and the Beatles' soaring, chiming guitars helped make AM radio palatable to the burgeoning legions of rock enthusiasts. Although the music is guitar-based, it ain't heavy--trippy is more like it. Besides strummy 12-string guitar work, the album abounds with tweaky Haight-rock conceits. Songs like "Shakespeare's Baby" feature fisheye-lensed sitar, while "Mary of the Convent School" boasts Lava Lamp rock with washes of backward-looped guitar and vocal tricks. "All I Want to Do Is for You to Take Me Home" is a UK revision of midperiod Bob Dylan. But to these ears, the Time Lodgers way-back machinations work best when they revive the good-time sound of Mersey-beat boys like the early period Beatles and Gerry and the Pacemakers. "Well Well Well" and "Duffle Coat Girl," among others, are intoxicatingly sweet even as they deftly sidestep icky stickiness. Not exactly fab, Majors and Minors is nonetheless a pleasurable showcase for these Norwegians' goods. (Nicky Baxter)
Photo by Alison Wonderland
Cornershop
A slackers' best dive into the world-beat dumpster since Pavement's Slanted and Enchanted. The Singh brothers, from suburban Leicester, Britain's prototype for Stockton, sound like Pavement if Pavement had to worry about Paki-bashing. The single "6am Jullander Shere" is a looping mantra of slow psychedelic sitars, samples from Indian films, Punjabi toasting and cheesy space-aged washes. On "Wog," singer/talker Tjinder Singh turns the song title's racial epithet into an acronym: "This Western Oriental's Going full circle." David Byrne's done well by his Luaka Bop label to sign these British suburbanites who still have one ear to the Indian subcontinent. (Don Hines)
The Indestructible Beat of Palo Alto
Not to be confused with the Stoopid Ambidexterous Flow of Alviso or the Shredding Complexity That Is Saratoga, TIBOPA unveils Shallow Alto's hidden flava and quirkiness. Lounge, disco, elastic guitar, jumpy ska, Numan-esque electronics and a jealous-sounding (listen and you'll understand) trombone vie for attention in a 100 percent danceable mix. The crazed nuttiness of "Leopard Coat" grabs on and refuses to let go. "Lovechild Theme" and "The Holy Dance" could give Pizzicato Five a run in the fun department. (Todd S. Inoue)
Photo by Mark Humphries
Genius-Gza
Staten Island's Wu-Tang Clan ran things in '95. The outfit's domination was foretold on its debut effort, Enter the 36 Chambers. Back then, no one knew quite what to make of Wu Tang Clan. Featuring a rhyme-freaking front equally capable of rockin' the spot with wildly distinctive styles, the Clan clicked like Instamatics with fans fiending for something other than the same old same old. Solo, Method Man, Ol' Dirty Bastard and Raekwon the Chef kicked up even more dust. With Liquid Swords, it's Genius-Gza's turn to kick that homicidal script. "Cold World" is definitive death-row rap. Bumpin' to some fright-night keyboards and bone-chilling strings, he and Inspecta Deck trade verses like body blows. On the chorus, listen for a mournfully crooned snatch of Stevie Wonder's "Rocket Love" that willfully subverts Stevie's radio-ready joint into an end-of-the world lament. Liquid Swords is a compellingly visual affair. You may shrink from these seedy tales of fear and boasting, but you'll find it almost impossible not to bend an ear and feel the pain anyway. (NB)
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Majors and Minors
Rainbow Quartz
Woman's Gotta Have It
Luaka Bop
Cinematic Death Mambo
Self Released
Liquid Swords
Geffen