The Panther Prints @

Entertainment

December 3, 1996

... AND STILL MORE MUSIC REVIEWS.......

Let’s start with the first single, “Diggin’ a Hole”, the bass just blows me away. And if you get the chance to refer to the review I did on Another White Male, you will under- stand how much] like the bass. The sound is full and totally hard driving. Delta blues sound so cool when the stereo system is turned up to ten, then it becomes rock and roll. The second track “Gone for Good” is terrific and appears to be more of an R&B influ- enced alterno rawk song than a what I thought a typical Big Sugar song should sound like. So sometimes it is hard to hear the words on this recording but it is easy to hear the guest appearance by Cape Breton’s own Ashley Maclsaac on the closing track “Tobacco Hand”. And listen up all you metal heads, I think I hear some Geezer Butler in the back- ground of the Sabbathly Black song “La Stalla”.

I have so many more good things to say but editor grrl will kill me. I will sum up by saying thatI was genuinely surprised by the great energy and sound of this album. Not a bad buy at all.

(aren

Matt Mooney

Booming Airplanes Yarn (Latitude Records)

Let me tell you that this new label based out of St John’s, Newfoundland is cer- tainly making a little headway on the indie circuit. They may never measure up to the influ- ence of Sonic Unyon, Squirtgun or Murderecords, but they are building a strong lineup for the future. Their next endeavour is Booming Airplanes, who come out the ever present Dartmouth scene, home of such maritime faves as Thruster, Trike and Johnny Favourite And The Swing Kings. However, don’t jump

to the conclusion that three guys and a girl are anything like typical Hali-area bands. They are not. They are smooth, melodic east coast folk pop. The opening track “Sil- ver Lining” is radio friendly and paints a picture of good songwriting and beautiful harmonies. The album never strays from the formula of mid tempo folk pop, but the use of strings, especially in “Spring” and the full acoustic guitar sound makes this more than acceptable. While the song “Obviously” states that, “I must admit I’ve never been too good with words”, you have to feel that the somewhat corny lyrical content is easily

excused by the great songwriting. I remember hearing that

they played in Charlottetown a little while ago and the audi- ence was small but polite; hopefully after some radio play this CDROM enhanced com- pact disc will get a listen to. It is a good disc to debut with. Nottoo much flash but enough potential to keep your ears keen on them.

faery

Matt Mooney

Pearl Jam No Code

(Epic)

The much anticipated, elaborately packaged, fourth album by grunge-gods Pearl Jam, comes at a time where the state of music is getting a little to hard to swallow. Po- seurs are appearing every- where; in other words, the Whitesnakes, and the Poisons of this world are being bought at Billboard chart volumes. I will not name any names, you know you are: POSEURS! I digress and discuss Pearl Jam, and boy am I glad to do it. Because this album features some great experimentation and some all out rock and roll. Perhaps Neil Young taught

them a thing or two about re- cording an album.

All right, so I still can’t tell what the heck gen-X spokesman Eddie Vedder is singing about, but for some reason that doesn’t really mat- ter at all. This record follows a similar path to Vitalogy, but adds a distinct amount of chunk and a progressive triple guitar onslaught. This could turn out to be their best album although I doubt very much that it will come close to sell- ing as many copies as Vs. or Ten. The song “Mankind” sounds like it was recorded on a crappy old 8 track and gives the texture of the song, much like the album, a raw sense of rock and roll. Thus that con- cludes my thesis that Pearl Jam learned something from Neil Young. Even the words “it’s all just inadvertent, imitation...it’s all across this nation”, may take a stab at the high budget, new age rawkers who try to ride on the coattails of other established artists.

This is a great album and will certainly not disap- point any Pearl Jam fans at all. The glory days of grunge may be gone, but these boys from the Mecca of grunge music, Seattle, stay on the path of musicians and explore more into the quality of recording good songs on top of creative aspects of music. They must be applauded simply for that. But this album must be ap- plauded as well.

favre

Matt Mooney

Nirvana From the Muddy Banks of the Wishtah

(DGC/MCA)

Let me take the oppor- tunity to inform you that there are hundreds of illegal boot- legged concerts, of the icons Nirvana, that are out in the

bother supporting an under- ground institution such as this one. Still, from the bootlegs that I have heard, this new live disc from Nirvana does not measure up to most of them. Oh the songs are great, it is Nirvana, but it only has 16 songs (hey, I want more) and the recording is not that prom- ising either.

Taking the positives into consideration, we have a great time line (Dec 5 1989 - Jan 5 1994) and we also have a good variety of songs, in- cluding the first ever Nirvana song, “Spank Thru”. This will be good enough for fans, and knowing all the fans out there, that will be good enough for the DGC label. But they could have done so much more. Despite the fact that I have never heard better versions of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “tourette’s”, Ihave frustrations directed at the lack of a good mixing stage in this record- ing. Some people like live albums to sound really live, but I like the energy of a live band playing, not necessarily the sound of the band itself. “Been A Son” and “Blew” add great pop integrity and become very likeable on stage. And yet, I suppose my disdain for this album has it’s roots in the amount of songs contributed to the album.

It’s a good price, and hopefully it will be the last Nirvana disc we really see, so I don’t think it is too big a deal to get involved in all of the ideologies surrounding the popularity of the band. How- ever, I will inform you all that if you want to hear a really great live album, and you like Nirvana, pick up Husker Du’s The Living End, it is a most gnarly record dude. Well, that’s all for me, check ya later Bill and Ted.

{**} Matt Mooney

public right now. They usu- |

ally cost around $30, so don’t

Vic Chesnutt . About To Choke Capitol Records, Inc.

I’ve heard a lot about this guy for over a year now, but it is just now that I finally get around to checking out his music. What can I say? I’m impressed. Actually, dumb- founded would be a better word. This guy is just amaz- ing. His songs are beautiful and tinged with folk elements. This Athens, Georgia native has been writing and record- ing songs for a decade now, and although I am sort of sad that it is only now that I have discovered his music, I’m happy that I finally have.

The album begins with the sparsely instrumented “Myrtle.” The song is sad and beautiful with accentuation on Chesnutt’s raspy voice. This song and the ones that follow it on the album are in the same vein as Halifax’s Al Tuck and Australia’s Richard Davies, so if you like their style, you will probably like Chesnuttas well.

Lyrically, Chesnutt writes in a poetic fashion and the quiet instrumentation of guitar, pianos, percussion, bass and other things simply backs up the quiet beauty that is evoked through his writing.

I haven’t heard any- thing so raw and emotional for a long time. Even the liner notes have a sad tone to them. I love this album.

Bay it: = =****1/2