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Duality
Lisa Gerrard & Pieter Bourke
(4AD/Warner Bros.)
Of related interest: Dead Can Dance, Arvo Pärt, Cocteau Twins Lisa Gerrard, Dead Can Dance's goddess of glossolalia, has a sublime voice that soars and dives like an angel flying through sunset clouds. DCD, however, in a move upsetting to fans of its moody past, recently abandoned its haunted castles for sunnier climes. Thank heaven, then, for Gerrard's solo work. Duality, her latest (with collaborator Pieter Bourke), actually recreates many moments from Dead Can Dance history. How much of a replay is it? Consider that the album's opener, "Shadow Magnet," is nearly identical to "Yulunga" (the opener from Into the Labyrinth), and the cathedral airiness of "The Unfolding" could easily slip onto Aion unnoticed. The only surprise is "The Human Game": Following a chiming yang ch'in intro, a gypsy disco beat bursts out, Bourke's keyboard slides into the James Bond theme and Gerrard sings real words (in English! Ooh!). Alas, the flat familiarity of Duality prevents it from ascending to the pantheon occupied by DCD, but who cares? Gerrard cultists (like me) will put it on that same altar, perhaps a bit lower and off to one side, but it's gonna stay and get played. Amen and then some. John Graham Adore
The Smashing Pumpkins
(Virgin)
Of related interest: The Cure's cryptic early-'80s albums, Fleetwood Mac He co-opted grunge with Gish and Siamese Dream and crafted the definitively grandiose statement of the alt-rock era with Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, a double CD that has sold 8 million copies in the United States alone. So what's a bald-headed, Zero T-shirt-wearing mad genius gonna do next? Billy Corgan's answer comes in the form of the Smashing Pumpkins' fourth proper album, Adore, a subdued song cycle about lives lived and loves lost in a sepia-toned world. The once-seething bloke who felt like a rat in a cage zeroes in on such ho-hum topics as monogamy ("Daphne Descends," "Pug"--about half the songs, actually), self-assessment ("Crestfallen") and loss ("Behold! The Night Mare"). Corgan's so sincere about all this that he scuttles his anthem-minded songwriting to convey an emotionality with crisply performed, mostly mid-tempo songs that favor acoustic guitar, piano and heaps of synthesized arrangements. Trouble is, Billy's vocal monotony comes across more clearly when he never breaks into the howls of past albums, so when he overenunciates "Who am I?" and repeats the question ad infinitum, the listener can't help but reply, "You're a whiny little twit." Corgan is too talented to be a twit, but his latest is a curious and soporific misstep. Richard Martin Resurgence
Various Artists
(Doppler Effect) Christian Sex Loops
Thine Eyes
(Doppler Effect)
Of related interest: Nine Inch Nails, Skinny Puppy, Download The indefatigable Chris "Jester" Christian continues his one-man quest to document the Northwest industrial scene with Resurgence, a comprehensive two-disc collection on his Beaverton label Doppler Effect. Many acts tread upon the oft-visited turf outside the Temple of Trent (Reznor, that is), but some are praiseworthy in their own right: Area88's professional production values and mutating background sounds position it as a strong crossover contender; Tension Factor's electric spasms prevent rigor mortis from setting in; Numantra goes on tribal trip; Fockewolfe and Nefarium inject some much-appreciated estrogen; and Tinty Music, Cult of One and Jester himself float out some evil ambience. Look no further for your synthetic listening needs. Perhaps the compilation's finest track is Thine Eyes' "Short but Crushable," a collage of playful samples, spurting analog synths and sputtering drum machines. Their full-length debut, Christian Sex Loops, stretches the standard higher. It's chock full of eccentric rhythms, warbling keyboard work and unexpected modulations; even with the occasional inadvisable vocal bits, Christian Sex Loops is one of the most rewarding electronic records you will hear this year. Thine Eyes may well become underground techno heroes--and remember, you read it here first. John Graham |
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