Compilation and soundtrack (C) reviews


Chef Aid: The South Park Album

The album opens with the now-familiar South Park theme by Primus and then launches into a cool song, Nowhere to Run by Ozzy Osbourne, DMX, 'Ol Dirty Bastard and The Crystal Method. The guitar riff on this tune is great and matches the vocals (both sung and rapped) very well. Definitely a song that transcends genre boundaries.

Chocolate Salty Balls, Simultaneous, Tonight is Right for Love all by Chef and company are okay. Meatloaf rocks up the latter tune much to Chef's chagrin, but calms down once he is given a taco. Brad Logan by Rancid, along with It's a Rockin' World by Joe Strummer are decent punk rock fare. Cartman does a version Come Sail Away which is surprising for the detail paid to the original (in terms of the synthesiser interlude, etc.) by Styx. The ending rocks.

Kenny's Dead by Master P is amusing ("We've got to ride tonight - My little homey Kenny died tonight"). Bullet in Your Bubblegoose by Wyclef Jean, Wake up Wendy by Elton John are catchy and fun tunes. Hot Lava by Perry Farrell and D.V.D.A. reminds me of the early glory days of Perry Farrell---also a cool tune. Devo are a bit too rockish for my tastes, but Huboon Stomp grows on you.

Will They Die 4 You by Mase, Puffy, Lil' Kim and System of a Down, the noisy The Rainbow by Ween, Feel Like Makin' Love by Ned Gerblansky are not my favourite tracks on this release but they hold their own.

Primus reappear to do Mephisto and Kevin, a song about the creation of a genetic monstrosity known as "gopher boy", fairly inventive and novel. The most hilarious song on this album is Horny by Mousse T. Vs. Hot 'N' Juicy primarily for its initial dialogue. Here's an excerpt for your amusement where Sid Greenfield is trying to convince Matt Parker to put the song on The South Park Album:

Sid Greenfield: "This song is the best song ever written." Matt Parker: "How can you say that?" Sid Greenfield: "What did I say?" Matt Parker: "This is the best song ever written." Sid Greenfield: "I agree with you Matt, I agree with you right there."

The album ends with the rousing Mentally Dull by Vitro featuring the Cast of South Park. I highly recommend this album---a large number of tracks are high quality singles. Give it a chance. Let it get under your skin. I'm positive it'll invoke an extreme reaction from you. And you know why? Because I'm your guy.


CherryDisc Records Compilation

This is a compilation album of artists on CherryDisc Records. As is generally the case, it is hard to judge the worth of a band by hearing a single song. However a few gems stand out, one of them being Grither's Trickledown Justice (a song that must've simply grown on me as I've already reviewed the album it belongs to). Two other gems are Chevy Heston's Some Girls Have Been Here and In This Position You Must Be Ready. Both of these songs could be classified as bubblegum-pop, but everyone can use a bit of ear-candy once in a while. Otis' Smith and Wesson shows promise as well. The Deranger's Monkey Island is the standout track on this album (cool and catchy instrumental surf music) and I highly recommend checking their music out if everything sounds like it. Vision Thing's Dream Junkie is interesting, mostly for the fact that the vocalist is highly reminscent of Natalie Merchant. No one can accuse of CherryDisc of having a roster of bands that all sound alike.


Children of Mind/Body

This is an offshoot of the Mind/Body CD project by Steve Boswell, where people across the Internet vote on what songs get to be on this CD. However, the lack of peer review has negative effects, and this is somewhat prominent in this project. Perhaps it simply has to do with the fact that the contributors for the Mind/Body CD sent in their best submissions, but I thought the stuff on the original Mind/Body by the groups featured on this project is in general better than any of the stuff here. Still, this CD has a few gems. The first group that is featured is Shape Factor Moment, who is mostly Christian Fowler, and the music sounds much like some of the stuff by Pet Shop Boys. There is a lot more electronic noise here, and some of the sounds are pretty exotic. The continuity of the album is preserved when Fuzzboy enter the scene. Fuzzboy is Dan Bornstein, and the music reminds me of Kraftwerk. Again, there is a great deal of electronic noise (fuzzified somewhat), and some of it is pretty good. Circular Firing Squad is more in the vein of what I consider "industrial". The sounds are harsher and the melodies are less catchy than the previous songs. This is the stuff I really like. Ethering takes us back to the sound that most people associate with the word "industrial" today. All in all, it's a great collection of tunes. What appealed to me most was the way in which the compilation was done: this is way better than a compilation CD featuring one song by a single artist.


Cold Meat Industry Compilation: And Even the Wolves Hid their Teeth and Tongue Wherever Shelter was Given

Listening to this album is highly existential. The music here would make a great accompaniment for a horror soundtrack, but even on its own, the sheer forceful darkness is apparent throughout. The album liner notes says, "let our dreams become your nightmares!" But in this case, I share the same dreams, and from a musical perspective, there's something highly appealing about the noisy ambience projected throughout the songs in this album. All the artists seem to have this common thread uniting them, so listening to this album is an extremely singular experience. The artists featured here include Arcana, Raison d`être, Mortiis, Morthound and Deutsch Nepal (whose tracks are among my favourites). The noise appears to be mostly created through electronics, but there're some traditional instruments and an extensive use of samples in some cases. This amalgamation is dissonant in the case of some artists, but for the most part it is harmonic and melodious. There are some Celtic and Arabic influences evident in the music. I envision this as the kind of music you'd hear if you're walking alone in a cold damp night with the wind blowing and the lone car honking its horn in the distance. The songs in this compilation literally take you places, and not all of them are nice ones to be in, but they make your mind feel and your skin tingle. This isn't music you relax to---it is music you think to.


Crow (soundtrack)

This is a great collection of mainstream gothic metal tunes, including stuff by the Cure, Nine Inch Nails, Rollins Band, Helmet, and Rage against the Machine.


Music ram-blings || Ram Samudrala || me@ram.org