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Must Have CD's
by Scott Thill
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The summer is beginning to creep
across our embattled country, bringing with it a gripload of releases
you should be cranking up to 11 in order to sweat the days and nights
away. Which is not to say that there aren't some hushed efforts worth
your time in June, but who has time for that kind of sentimentalism when
the sun is shining so damn bright? For some reason, summers are almost
specifically designed for pop, rock and reggae, or their various permutations,
so if you're looking for someone to trumpet the new acoustic Springsteen
offering, you've come to the wrong place, my friends. Let's shred some
eardrums -- and share one desert-island disc while we're at it:
What started out as an impromptu jam between three producers -- one of
which, Butch Vig, helmed Nirvana's mega-hit 'Nevermind' – quickly
became a dance-rock colossus, making a star out of the seductive and stylish
Shirley Manson in the process. In fact, since Garbage emerged in the mid-'90s,
Manson has gone from a singer in the obscure band Angelfish to Garbage's
popular front-woman to cosmetics model without a hitch. But after shredding
eardrums and charming mall-rats worldwide with tough tracks like 'Stupid
Girl," Only Happy When It Rains' and 'Queer,' Garbage's subsequent
efforts 'Version 2.0' and 'Beautiful Garbage' found the band moving closer
to techno and farther from its distortion-drenched debut. But their new
effort 'Bleed Like Me' is a return to the six-string noise of the band's
pinnacle. Manson has always dealt in matters of the heart, so it's a no-brainer
that 'Bleed Like Me' would be packed with hot-button jams like 'Sex is
Not the Enemy,' 'Run Baby Run' and 'Why Do You Love Me.' Featuring some
of Garbage's most muscular work yet, 'Bleed Like Me' is a refreshing break
from the electro addiction most bands develop when they need to change
their sound.
You will be hard-pressed to find a more incendiary,
committed envelope-stretcher in the world of metal than System of a Down.
The Los Angeles-based band that traffics in wondrously riff-soaked rawk
has released one of two new efforts aimed at shattering nervous systems
worldwide. You read that right. Interested in forgoing industry convention
altogether, System is churning out a separated double-album of sorts in
2005, releasing its new discs, 'Mezmerize' and 'Hypnotize' months apart.
But you can bet that both efforts will feature the band's patented East-meets-West
sonic density found at length on their politically-minded self-titled
1998 debut and its 2001 follow-up 'Toxicity.' Judging from a recent 'SNL'
appearance and a ferocious new single called 'B.Y.O.B.' System of a Down's
newest moves will no doubt cement their status, along with fellow Angelinos
The Mars Volta, as metal's saving grace.
Although this is one of the finest desert-island discs
ever released, it is still somewhat of a secret to mainstream America.
Why? Simple: Os Mutantes were a Brazilian band from the 1960s. A double-whammy
of sorts, since Americans don't get too international when it comes to
music, especially if the band they're trying to get into turned down an
offer to reunite in 1993 by none other than Kurt Cobain. But thanks to
the Talking Heads' David Byrne and his world music label Luaka Bop, history-starved
music headz can listen up on one of the most underrated bands of all time.
Because Os Mutantes could do it all. Whether it is their irresistibly
danceable highbrow lit experiments like 'Bat Macumba' the Bowie-esque
psych-rock of 'Desculpe, Babe (I'm Sorry, Baby),' the freakout tropicalia
of 'Panis Et Circenses ('Bread and Circuses),' these Mutants were a nonpareil
talent. Except they never exploded in America, which means that they are
still that rarest of musical gifts: An under-the-radar find, the envy
of all eardrums.
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