DaytonDailyNews.com

CD Reviews for September 17, 2004

MASE

Welcome Back
Hip-hop
Bad Boy/Fo' Reel
Review: B
Click to hear "Money Comes & Goes"

Mase has got to be the most interesting story in hip-hop in years. Mase was the first Nelly: the hip-pop rapper with posterboy good looks who made ladies swoon and dance clubs rock. He was huge by any standard, pop or hip-hop. Then one day Mase walked away from the game in order to find God. The move was shocking, and many wondered how real it was.

Four years and a ministry, a marriage and a new recording contract later, Mase is back. His new album, Welcome Back, is not only newsworthy because of Mase's ongoing personal saga, but for its quality. Welcome Back is a "welcome" blast of fun. For those who wondered if a clean, Christian Mase would work — it works just fine. He sounds great, and he's even better than he was a few years ago.

The irony of Mase's album is that it's actually needed. At a time when hip-hop is under attack from critics for its glorification of the thug aesthetic, this curse-word-free album may be the one that actually makes money. And that'll make things in the hip-hop industry change quicker than any protest.

— GREG SIMMS JR.

 

JASON MRAZ

Tonight, Not Again/ At The Eagles Ballroom
Pop
Elektra
Review: B+
Click to hear "Not So Unusual"

Jason Mraz's live CD/DVD Tonight, Not Again/At the Eagles Ballroom is a treat for fans of the guy, and it's a great intro for those of you who never heard his debut CD, Waiting For My Rocket to Come, which was released two years ago.

Mraz is as talented as he is quirky, and this live album displays that in all its offbeat splendor.

Mraz's radio hits are included in the LP. The Remedy (I Won't Worry) and You and I Both are clearly the songs on the album that the audience digs the most. But Mraz shines on the other selections. His performances on the cuts Absolutely Zero and Sleeping to Dream are excellent. The measure of a true star is live performance, and Mraz is a capable and gifted live performer. His crack band ain't too shabby, either.

This package also comes with a DVD, so you can see Mraz and his band perform. I don't know when Mraz will release a new album, but if you're a fan, this dual package should be an excellent fix until he puts out another album.

— GREG SIMMS JR.

 

BJORK

Medulla
Elecktronica
Elektra
Review: B- Click to hear "Oceania"

Bjork — that crazy little Icelandic girl known as the mother of electronica — is back, with the same intrigue and mind-blowing ingenuity as ever.

The musical compositions on Medúlla, her fifth studio album, range from pure genius to simply annoying.

The complexity of the project rests in layers of harmonic and dissonant vocal arrangements. Bjork's delving deeper into her haunting and exhilarating sound and vision.

The album swings from one extreme to the other — Show Me Forgiveness is a cappella, while Triumph of a Heart is a dance groove; Desired Constellation is suited for the trance lover, while Who Is It will appeal to the drum and bass fans. Bjork's sweet and ethereal on Vökuró, seductive on Oceania and tribal on Where is the Line.

Special guests include Rahzel from the Roots, Mike Patton of Faith No More and an Icelandic choir.

As always, listeners won't know what to make of the soundscape, because it's unlike anything heard before.

— LISA KNODEL

 

STEVE EARLE

The Revolution Starts ... Now
Rock
E-Squared/Artemis
Review: C+
Click to hear "Revolution Starts Now"

Steve Earle's main ingredients have long been urgently grungy roots rock and shaggy left-wing politics. These have often blended to fairly brilliant effect, as on 2003's Jerusalem, a post-9/11 study notable for its grasp of the complexities and varying points of view in that tragedy.

For fans of a certain political stripe — i.e, those who despise George Bush — his newest CD must have held some promise. The Revolution Starts ... Now is a raw, vicious attack on the president, his policies, his handlers and his war, and Earle's clever take on Michael Moore's territory has its moments.

The music has a tractor-chain power and an earthy depth as good as anything Earle's done. He scores lyrically on the Iraq war, portraying it as futile and evil.

He loses steam and points, however, on Condi, Condi — a reggae debasement of the national security adviser that is inappropriate, sexist and so childish that Earle undercuts many of his arguments and much of his hard-earned power. Just when he might've won a few converts.

— RON ROLLINS

   

BONEY JAMES

Pure
Jazz
Warner Bros.
Review: B+
Click to hear "Better With Time featuring Bilal"

Smooth saxman Boney James scores a solid hit with his 10th album Pure. Taking the reins as producer, James helped write all the songs and recruited some outstanding players and vocalists to bring the music to life. Among them, soul-jazz piano-great Joe Sample, hip-hop drummer Ahmir ?uestlove Thompson, as well as rising R&B singers Bilal, Dwele, Lauren Evans and Debi Nova.

James occasionally drives a bit too close to the bland "smooth" rut, but overall, this is a creative, entertaining mix that won't wear out.

Every one of the vocal tunes is a quality cut, much better than some of the lackluster songs thrown on CDs by smooth-jazz instrumentalists. Bilal sings a soulful Better With Time, and Nova electifies a driving Latin/hip-hop Appreciate, easily the most infectious tune of the set. James' tenor sax seems almost superfluous on the tune, but he shines on plenty of others. From the meditative, romantic 2:01 a.m., to the spirited, horn-driven Here She Comes, James writes, plays, produces and delivers a collection that makes your body want to move.

— KEN MCCALL

 

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