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Luscious Jackson – Fever In Fever Out (1996) Grand Royal/Capitol Records

Fever In Fever Out, Luscious Jackson’s second album came out between my junior and senior year of high school. That summer, the lead single “Naked Eye,” introduced the country to the band as it climbed both the Top 40 and Modern Rock charts, helping them move from its cult status to broader popularity. An all-girl band on the Beastie Boys’ imprint Grand Royal Records, Luscious Jackson enjoyed a mostly East-Coast following and were frequently referenced by your favorite uber-cool rock star when asked who they were listening to. Their second single, “Under Your Skin,” was what really pushed them fully into the mainstream for being, in my opinion, an even better song than “Naked Eye.” To me, it’s more soulful, with more lyrical and musical layers than the previous single.

However, it wasn’t until my first year of college that I got to hear the entire album, thanks to the vast music library at KRNL, my college’s student-run radio station where I deejayed. I thought the two songs with a slight R&B/funk tinge were just flukes and the rest of the album would be a man-hating hootenanny, as many of their contemporaries’ albums were at the time. Fever In Fever Out was anything but and I welcomed that. The influence of soul and real R&B is infused in every song with rock that truly made this album and the band unique and fresh. Besides the two singles, “Why Do I Lie?” became a song on my personal soundtrack. Its meaning and melody still tug at me to this day. It, to me, is almost a manifesto to the condition of being human; that we are faulty beings prone to do things to spare others from seeing just who and all we are. Truer words have never been spoken and similar gems are all over this album. Fever In Fever Out ranks as one of my all-time favorite albums and it all began with a guitar and some artful record scratching.

PON DE REPLAY

♪ Naked Eye

♪ Under Your Skin

♪ Why Do I Lie?

♪ Electric

♪ Stardust

SKIP IT

♪ Door

♪ Parade

Liz Phair – Whip-Smart (1995) Matador Records

I was very much into Liz Phair’s music when I was in high school. After hearing her official debut Exile in Guyville, I was definitely impressed not just by her guitar chops (the girl can shred), but the sexual frankness of her lyrics. Granted at 13 or 14 years old, I had no real idea what she meant, but I was a fan just the same. So when her highly anticipated sophomore album Whip-Smart was released, I begged my parents for the money to buy it and a ride to the mall. I don’t remember if they caved or if I spent birthday money to get it but I definitely remember having to borrow a friend’s copy on cassette (!). I ended up dubbing it before I actually bought the CD. On Whip-Smart, Phair goes two-for-two as far as the quality of her debut and this album. Her fan-base grew exponentially as I saw a few of my guy friends rocking this, blasting “Supernova” down the school’s driveway. And all this before she got a major deal.

Whip-Smart continues the themes of Exile in Guyville but with tighter song construction and lyrics. Though the vocal might leave something to be desired by some, I always thought it gave a dose of reality to her songs. She deftly mixes that lo-fi indie sound with some poppiness and it definitely works here. With songs like “Whip-Smart” or “Cinco de Mayo,” you can’t help but sing along. Though I don’t listen to this album with the same level of…enthusiasm as I did when I was in the 10^th grade, I think Whip-Smart still holds up all these years later. Suffice it to say it’s also hard to believe this Liz Phair is the one most people (read: rock snobs) now use as a mean punchline. I wonder what happened also but unfortunately, that is the nature of the music business. Whip-Smart should be held up as an example of what wannabe rock goddesses should be aiming for.

PON DE REPLAY

♪ Chopsticks

♪ Supernova

♪ Support System

♪ Cinco de Mayo

♪ Whip-Smart

SKIP IT

♪ Shane

♪ Alice Springs

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Interpol – Turn on the Bright Lights (2002) Matador Records

I discovered Interpol’s music through numerous recommendations from friends. My breaking point was having two instant-message conversations with two different people raving about the band’s sophomore album, Antics. So I bought that record, heard it and loved it and wanted to go back into their earlier work, as is my custom when I hear new to me bands and artists. Their debut, Turn on the Bright Lights, is my favorite debut by anyone and has come to mean so much to me for many reasons.

I remember when I really got into this record. I was listening to it, along with Antics on repeat while I was at home recovering from oral surgery. I was in the middle of a significant change in my life and the tipping point was being dumped again, for no reason, again. I realized in that relationship, things were not as I apparently thought, as I didn’t hear a peep from this person the whole two weeks I couldn’t talk. I wanted to know why this was happening again; the answer I arrived at was that I didn’t really understand the mind of a man. One thing I learned is that a man will never say what he’s really thinking to your face. The silence I’d experienced with this guy and other guys was a stone wall I had stopped trying to climb over.

So I listened intently to Turn on the Bright Lights. I was surprised by not only what I’d picked up but how it spoke to the issues I was facing outside of that failed relationship. This record, despite the lazy comparison to every post-punk baritone that ever picked up a guitar and microphone, has a very masculine feel to me. The song, “NYC” put into words exactly how I felt about my own life. The refrain of “It’s up to me now/Turn on the bright lights…” was like an alarm bell in my brain that helped me push aside my fears and feelings of inadequacy I was experiencing at the time. Another fave, “Hands Away” is also evocative to me; in my mind’s eye I see winter and snowy passes, although the lyrics couldn’t have less to do with either image. Both “Untitled” and “The New” are on my list of all time favorite Interpol songs for their haunting and romantic tone.

From this album, I gleaned that Interpol’s music is romance without about 90% of the sap you hear dripping in other indie-rock ballads. I think that’s what appealed to me the most, along with the streak of authenticity that runs throughout the album. For once, I felt like I’d been let in.

PON DE REPLAY

♪ The entire album; absolutely no fail tracks at all.

Dizzee Rascal –Boy in Da Corner (2004) Matador Records

Rap and hip-hop from other countries is an iffy proposition once it lands in the US. Here, the market is already flooded with rappers in a myriad of sub-genres. There’s rap by geographic region (East Coast, West Coast, Midwest, Dirty South), by lyrical content (bling or glam-rap v. “conscience” rap), and even by whether a rapper is a commercial or underground/mixtape rapper.

But rapper from other countries, with the exception of Sir Slick Rick, have had limited appeal and commercial success state-side. Unfortunately, Dizzee Rascal falls into this category for me. I either can’t overcome the language barrier (even though he’s speaking English), I’m getting old, or both. Prior to writing this review, I can count on one hand how many times I’ve listened to Da Boy in Da Corner. One might ask why I purchased this album in the first place. Well, I will admit that I fell for the first single, “Fix Up Look Sharp.” It has everything I love in a rap song: a ganked beat (I think the sample is from the Steve Miller Band), catchy hook, and a wicked lyrical flow. So I copped it and was horrified by the rest of what I heard: Casiotone beats on the majority of songs and an incomprehensible mush-mouthed delivery so full of British slang, you need to keep a slang dictionary nearby. Other than Fix Up, there are a few gems in this rubbish. Proceed to the Pon De Replay and Skip It lists.

PON DE REPLAY

♪ I Luv U

♪ Fix Up, Look Sharp

♪ Wut U On

♪ Jezabel

♪ Cut ‘Em Off

SKIP IT

♪ The rest of this album, for real.

Bjork – Volta (2007) Atlantic Records

Just when you start wondering where Bjork is, she returns with something that’s puzzling, exciting and new. Volta, the follow-up to her all-vocal album Medulla, is no exception. This time around, she enlisted the producer/wizard Timbaland, who is best known for working with rappers and pop stars du jour than avant-garde musicians. His contributions are most prominent on the rousing opener, “Earth Intruders,” “Wanderlust,” and “Innocence.” Although at times these songs sound like too many cooks in the kitchen in terms of the production, they still work.

For Volta, Antony of Antony & The Johnsons guests on “Dull Flame of Desire” and “My Juvenile.” While “Dull Flame of Desire,” has grown on me with repeated listens, “My Juvenile,” has not connected with me the way other songs on Volta have. “Declare Independence” and “Hope” harken back to the political themes she touched on on Medulla but they contrast each other, much the same way political views draw us closer and polarize us all at once.

Bjork, with this album, comes full circle not just as a musician but as a visual/conceptual artist as well. When you see her, it’s the entire package of singer and visual artist in her packaging and videos.

The accompanying videos for this album, like many of her videos, are high concept and difficult to “get” if you’re just casually watching or listening. Many are quick to write Bjork off as weird and obtuse but she’s one of the most daring musicians out there today. Who really can say the same?

PON DE REPLAY

♪ Earth Intruders

♪ Wanderlust

♪ Dull Flame of Desire

♪ Innocence

♪ Vertebrae by Vertebrae

♪ I See Who You Are

SKIP IT

My Juvenile