:Waves:
Movies and Music To Consume

Film ——————————————

—————————————— DVD

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the
Black Pearl <PG-13>
Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush; Directed by Gore Verbinski)
The second of three films based on Walt Disney World attractions fares much better than the first, The Country Bears, and from the looks of the teaser trailer, amuses more than the upcoming third film (based on The Haunted Mansion). Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (or POTC: TCOTBP) stars Depp as a wisecracking, staggering pirate named Sparrow who swashes and buckles his way after the Black Pearl, a cursed pirate ship that he once helmed before a mutiny occurred. Joining him is Will Turner (Bloom), a not-so-mysterious boy whose past comes into play after his unrequited lady love is captured by the cursed pirates.

Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, it is perhaps needless to say that the film features oodles of explosions and lengthy action sequences with lovingly crafted sets and outlandish characters. The effects and set design are very good, but after two and a half hours the whole "normal pirate becomes skeletal soldier by the light of the moon" effect was a bit overused.

Bare bones on plot but heavy on humor and fun, Pirates benefits from assured direction and strong performances from Depp and Rush, as Barbossa, the new captain of the Pearl. Fans of the ride will recognize (and I dare say "delight at") some lines included in the film. This is harmless summer fun.

Tomb Raider 2: The Cradle of Life <PG-13>

(Angelina Jolie, Gerard Butler; Directed by Jan de Bont)
After an earth-shaking opening scene, Jolie's Lara Croft (Tomb Raider), super-sexy and swathed in a revealing bathing suit, jet skis onto the scene in The Cradle of Life, the sequel to the critically panned original Tomb Raider, a movie which I enjoyed. She joins some Greek friends (two utterly gorgeous guys and their father) in deep sea diving for an ancient temple supposedly housing the secret to Pandora's Box. Naturally, mayhem ensues, and viewers have the setup for the next big treasure find for Ms. Croft.

Circling the globe from the Mediterranean to Asia to Africa to the depths of the Cradle of Life (or a cheesy interpretation of such), the scenery once again provides an amazing backdrop to a series of well-choreographed fight and chase sequences. Boasting great outfits, a wealth of fabulous gadgets and some serious sex appeal, Croft seems a female Bond, and the film delivers as well as the last two or three Bond films did. Jolie speaks in a sexy faux-Brit accent, has a calm and collected attitude (even under pressure), handles her dual pistols well, and flirts and fights her way through the various trials.

Yes, the film objectifies Croft, but it also objectifies the handsome fellow she meets along the way. A sexy, frequently bare-chested Gerard Butler is sprung from a remote prison to advance the plot (something about Asian gangs; isn't it always?) and add some conflict to the proceedings. An aside: the accent is to die for.

Like most movies this summer, LCTR: TCOL is short on story but long on fun. The gizmos and vehicles are neat, the actions sequences are skillfully done, and the film's pace and tone are effective. After flops such as Speed 2: Cruise Control (ick) and The Haunting (<cough> "hack" <cough>), director Jan de Bont may be back on track.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines <R>
(Arnold Schwarzenegger, Claire Danes; Directed by Jonathon Mostow)
It's John Connor's voice we hear during the monologue in the first moments of Terminator 3, the third time-traveling killer robots from the future film, and immediately we miss the powerful voice of Sarah Connor, a ferocious yet vulnerable Linda Hamilton in the first two films. We also miss Brad Fiedel's techno-orchestral Terminator theme music, that industrial, clanking, intense murmur in the background that builds and recedes, burrowing into our skulls and psyches.

T3: Rise of the Machines is not the first two Terminator films, expertly crafted by director James Cameron and his talented FX teams. However, the film stands on its own as a well-constructed, somewhat hammy summer fluff movie experience. The movie's tone is less serious and more tongue-in-cheek than its predecessors, and the characters all seem to be "in on the joke" that the film isn't entirely necessary.

But it's fun. It's great to see Schwarzenegger sink his teeth into a character beloved by moviegoers for nearly 20 years. He plays the T-101, again sent back in time to protect John Connor and his future military cohorts who are struggling to win the war against machines in the future. John Connor (Nick Stahl) has an attractive, jaded Gen Y quality about him, and Danes makes the most of a mostly shrill veterinarian-turned-freedom fighter. The enemy Terminatrix, played with a sexy robotic-ness by newcomer Kristanna Loken, has even more advanced features than Robert Patrick's T-1000 in T2, but she can't quite manage his evil-eyed intensity. All models are robotic to begin with, so it isn't scary so much as like flipping on a runway fashion show. Loken has fun with the part, though, and she makes the most of her scenes.

Despite advanced word that he was wrecking the series, director Jonathon Mostow (U-571 and Breakdown) again shows a mastery with intense chase sequences and solid pacing. Overall, though, brawny action takes over where brainy dialogue once reigned in the films, and we essentially get one long action sequence punctuated by short, silent periods of dialogue. There is little character development, but I was surprised at times to find the film thinking about the previous mythology and trying to build off of it with some cleverness. Besides, it is sometimes enough simply to be entertained and not feel "talked down to" by a film.

Was Terminator 3 necessary? No. Was it inevitable? Definitely. Like the war in this film, movie sequels are inescapable. But when they're done skillfully, as T3 is, we can at least relish in what once was and hope for greater things in the future.

28 Days Later <R>
(Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris; Directed by Danny Boyle)
No, this isn't a sequel to the Sandra Bullock rehab film. From the director who brought moviegoers "Trainspotting" in all its gory glory and "The Beach" in all its overwrought themes comes 28 Days Later, which according to the ads, reinvents zombie horror films. With a tight 112-minute run time, sticky visuals, some sharp dialogue, and an engrossing if not entirely unique concept, the film actually comes damn close to fulfilling its promise. We open with a group of animal rights activists breaking into a laboratory to free test monkeys. After hearing that they're infected with a "rage," they proceed with their liberation, only to end up unleashing a virus of untold devastation on the UK. Flash forward to, you guessed it, 28 days later. Jim (Murphy) awakens in a deserted hospital. He staggers outside only to discover a deserted London. These eerily quiet and powerful scenes (not a sole person in Piccadilly Square?) lead Jim to a church where he first encounters the rage "infected," a salivating, screeching lot who seek only to injure and lash out and, subsequently, pass on the blood-spread disease, which takes hold of its victims in 10-20 seconds we soon learn. Jim falls in with a couple of nomads and learns that all communications are down, and perhaps a few uninfected humans are scattered across the city. It's assumed that cases of rage have sprung up in Paris, New York and other major cities worldwide.

I won't spoil any more of the plot. Jim searches for a way to escape London and the ravages of the rage, and along the way meets some unique characters in some stock-film situations. A choppy, ADD editing style, grainy digital film, and effective use of a sparse soundtrack make the film a visual/auditory feast, and I liked how the "zombies" are not the shuffling, moaning amblers we've seen before. It tends to be a bit too gory in places, and it doesn't always live up to its potential, but 28 Days leaves enough haunting visuals behind to make for some seriously sleepless nights. Horror fans should catch it.

The Matrix Reloaded <R> 1/2
(Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss; Directed by Larry & Andy Wachowski)
The first striking thing about The Matrix Reloaded, the hotly anticipated sequel to 1999’s The Matrix, is that Keanu Reeves once again turns in an understated, almost commendable performance. His delightful cluelessness was a strength of the first film, wherein mentor Morpheus (Fishburne) frees and tutors Reeves’ Neo in the ways of The One.

Neo isn’t much more sure of himself in Reloaded, though his powers are quite formidable compared to the first. After a sensational opening sequence, the film detours to Zion, the last human city, for a rave party, some pasty waif-sex with Neo and girlfriend Trinity (Moss), and a ridiculously contrived and not-entirely rousing speech by Morpheus. Fishburne, the powerful core of the first film’s mythology and humanity, finds his talents squandered throughout most of his dialogue in this film. He basically stands around and rehashes his beliefs.

Freshly sexed and recharged, the group plugs back into the Matrix, and the film finds a story. Well, it isn’t really a linear story so much as a series of action scenes pieced together with some philosophical discussions both riveting and overcomplicated. An army of 250,000 sentinels (killing machines) is burrowing its way to Zion, and Neo and the gang must infiltrate the mainframe inside the Matrix to stop them.

First they await word from the Oracle, which eventually sets up the film’s finest moments, with Neo verbally sparring with the beautifully written Oracle character (the late Gloria Foster) and then physically sparring with a reborn Agent Smith, played with biting humor by Hugo Weaving. The Oracle steers them toward the Keymaker, a man who can help Neo reach the mainframe.

Merovingian, a snooty Frenchman populating a largely unnecessary series of scenes, holds the Keymaker. His twin henchman have one of the neatest abilities in the film, and a 20-minute highway action sequence involving Morpheus, Trinity, the Keymaker, the twins, agents and rush hour freeway traffic teeters between a breathtaking, exhilarating thrill and a somewhat disappointing, pasted-on visual experience.

The first Matrix basically reinvented the action film, so it isn’t fair to expect the same of the sequels. Some of the “virtual cinematography” and mostly-digital scenes look as though they were rushed to finished product, and though advanced word said the Wachowski's had all but abandoned the ‘bullet time’ effects (at this point overdone and unimpressive), they appear quite frequently in this sequel. However, the effects in certain sequences appear shoddy only because they look so good in others. The sentinels and wasteland of the Real World are inspired, and Agent Smith’s ‘virus’ effect is handled expertly. The flying effect is obviously blue-screened but still a sight to behold, and I like the digitized view that Neo has inside the Matrix.

Overall, the performances are on-target, and I liked the shifts in tone despite the pacing. A late conversation reveals certain “truths” to Neo and the audience, yet they are clothed in such convoluted language that I think I missed most of the message, and the final scenes, while not providing an ending, promise more twists and turns in the story to come. I eagerly await The Matrix Revolutions, the final film in the trilogy, come November.

X2: X-Men United <PG-13> 1/2
(Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen; Directed by Bryan Singer)
X2 is a worthy sequel to the critic- and fan-beloved original X-Men (2000). Once again plotted and directed by whiz kid Bryan Singer, the film picks up where the first left off. A mutant’s attempt to assassinate the U.S. president brings executive powers to scientist/ex-military mutant-hater William Stryker and renewed interest in a Mutant Registration Act. Facing a powerful new enemy, mutants of all factions and ideologies must reluctantly unite.

The film is about as busy as the first, swarming with characters and dotted with a few more action sequences to propel the experience along. It also manages to throw “coming out” scenes and more character development into the action mix. Jackman’s Wolverine — whose history with Stryker is uncertain — delves further into his past, Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) fears and doubts her powers, and the Wolverine-Jean-Cyclops love triangle pops back up in a scene or two. Alan Cumming is touching and understated as the devilish and devout Nightcrawler, and Halle Berry’s amazing cleavage returns as Storm. Rebecca Romijn-Stamos’ blue-skinned metamorph Mystique sees more action in this film, and McKellen’s anti-human Magneto spouts a saucy line or two. Mutants such as Iceman, Pyro, Rogue, Colossus and That Girl Who Walks through Walls and Falls Through Floors (you know the one), make a larger impression in X2 — the sequels are already steeped to include some powerful new allies and enemies.

I liked the special effects, especially a stunning opening sequence, and the performances seem stronger than in the first (even Berry isn’t quite as wooden this time). I also liked how the film took more time to flesh out the story and humanity of the characters. X2 is a film for fans and non-fans of the X universe, for those who enjoy a bit more emotion in their action films. This looks to be a promising film franchise.

Equilibrium <R>
Film: DVD:
(Christian Bale, Taye Diggs; Directed by Kurt Wimmer)
In a future world, post World War III, the human race conquers war, violence and negativity by suppressing emotions using a psychological drug called Prozium and by outlawing emotional stimulants, including music, art and books.

Bale brings grit and levity to his character John Preston, a Grammaton Cleric/law enforcer who is among the best of his kind. Missing a dose of Prozium and encountering a young "sense offender," Preston gets a feel for the "other side" and hesitates to let go of it.

The performances are spot on — Bale as the top gun suddenly thrust into unfamiliar territory, Diggs as the opportunistic young protige cleric, and Emily Watson as the sense offender woman who (along with a particularly adorable puppy) ushers forth emotion in our lead character.

The film features some great dialogue punctuated by some intense action sequences. Comparisons to The Matrix are inevitable, but these scenes have a character of their own, combining mathematically precise gunplay and martial arts. I would like to have a bit more character development, but the film does a wonderful job of painting pictures of the various characters, including Father, the leader in this drug-induced dystopian society.

As expected, the sound and picture quality on the Equilibrium DVD are top notch. Not many extra features are included, but the "Finding Equilibrium" behind the scenes featurette and commentary from director Wimmer and producer Lucas Foster provide some insight into the production.

Solaris <PG-13>
Film: DVD: 1/2
(George Clooney, Jeremy Davies; Directed by Steven Soderbergh)
A remake of the 1972 Russian film and taken from the novel by Stanislaw Lem, director Steven Soderbergh's Solaris is a masterful and brainy, quiet science fiction film based on mood and character, not action sequences. Indeed, fans of fast-paced action sci fi need not apply; Solaris plods along with the pace of a psychological drama. Its space shots are simple and beautiful, interwoven with a minimalist score from Traffic composer Cliff Martinez; they do not bulldoze over audiences with useless special FX and pointless chase scenes.

The film is a quiet, meditative look at space, time, memory and the human condition. Clooney stars as troubled psychologist Chris Kelvin, who receives an urgent message from a friend on a space shuttle studying a mysterious planet called Solaris. The cryptic message finds Kelvin on a ship headed for the Solaris orbital. What he finds on the ship drives the film's emotional core. Determined to solve the mystery of the planet and its effects, Kelvin finds himself absorbed by Solaris' power and beauty and mystery.

Like life itself, the film's final moments offer partial resolutions clouded by perception and revelation. Taken as a whole, the film feels like a fully realized experience — visuals, dialogue, set design , performances and especially music are tightly woven into an overwhelming mood piece designed for lovers of human interest stories set in a sci fi realm.

The DVD has amazing picture, sound and the usual roster of features. Commentary by Soderbergh and producer James Cameron, screenplay stills, theatrical trailers and a few "making of" specials all complement the viewing experience.

Adaptation <R> 1/2
(Nicholas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper; Directed by Spike Jonze)
From the team that created Being John Malkovich (Jonze and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman) comes Adaptation, a truly inexplicable film. Nicholas Cage stars as screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (and his twin brother Donald) who struggles to adapt Susan Orlean's bestselling book The Orchid Thief to film. In a stroke of parallelism made genius, Kaufman weaves his story into the narrative of the book, just as Orlean (Streep) placed herself in her narrative to tell her story. The movie shifts between Kaufman's adapting and Orlean's experiences in the Florida swamps with Laroche (Cooper in an inspired, Oscar-winning performance), a man who steals and breeds orchids using non-indictable members of the Seminole Native American tribe.

The story is only a part of the experience, however. Adaptation's writing and dialogue is alive with wit and subtle humor, with enough subtext and references to keep even the most attentive viewer busy. Cage, not typically a favorite of mine, gives a beautifully neurotic performance, and Streep invests Orlean with just the right amounts of intelligence, madness and sadness. Adaptation is one of a kind, a film with a story to tell — a story with no beginning, middle or ending, yet riveting and inventive until the end.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets <PG>
Film: 1/2 DVD:
(Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint; Directed by Chris Columbus)
Chris Columbus's stylish, superb direction of the two Harry Potter films to date has been phenomenal. The Chamber of Secrets finds Potter and friends Hermione and Ronald returning to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for a second year. Upon returning, the school finds itself under attack from an unseen menace that petrifies students and leaves threatening notes in blood on the stone castle walls. Who has opened the Chamber of Secrets, unleashing a chain of events that threatens to claim the life of a student? Is it Draco Malfoy? Harry himself? Has the dark wizard Valdemort returned to reclaim a physical body?

Again, we get powerful and assured performances from Radcliffe, Watson and Grint. Again, we get gobs of special effects wizardry, a sly whodunit mystery with a clever story and sparkling dialogue. Again, we get stunning supporting characters, especially Kenneth Branagh as celebrity wizard Gilderoy Lockhart and Alan Rickman as the slithering Severus Snape.

At two hours and 40 minutes, the movie strains attention spans, as did the original. Additionally, the ending featured a few too many happy reunions that could've been condensed a bit, but this doesn't detract from the overall experience. Secrets is the second in what promises to be a powerful series of films. I can't wait until 2004, when the third film is expected to be released.

The DVD for Secrets contains 19 extended and deleted scenes, fantastic sound, sharp visuals, and some unique DVD-ROM compatible games and exploratory elements. It's a definite must-buy for Potter fans.

The Bourne Identity <PG-13>
Film: 1/2 DVD:
(Matt Damon, Franka Potente; Directed by Doug Liman)
Directed with style and an ADD-inspired intensity, The Bourne Identity is nonetheless a heartstopping action adventure film with Matt Damon in his first starring action role. Breathtaking car chases, lightning fast martial arts and lots and lots of running take up a good bit of the film's 119 minutes. The premise (killing machine who finds himself the target of the agency he once worked for) has become cliché, and movies such as Bourne rarely stop or even slow down to develop characters. However, Damon fills the role well, physically and emotionally, and his supporting cast (including Run Lola Run's Potente and Adaptation's Chris Cooper) more than make up for any shortcomings in the script. The direction and pacing are assured, and style covers for any lack of substance in this film.

The DVD for The Bourne Identity has solid sound, crisp visuals and several bonus materials. The deleted scenes feature extended moments and an alternate ending (which really wasn't that different). More materials would have helped, but for action fans, this one is definitely worth a rental.

Minority Report <PG-13>
Film: DVD: 1/2
(Tom Cruise, Max von Sydow; Directed by Steven Spielberg)
Steven Spielberg's spectacular Minority Report was a breath of fresh air in Summer 2002's stale, overblown FX-travaganzas. It presented a bold, daring vision of a not-so-distant future that is frighteningly realistic and coincidentally poignant in this age of privacy versus right to know. Its plot is smart and well-paced, with believable characters and twists and an ending that doesn't underestimate the audience's intelligence.

Report is a visionary masterpiece, combining Spielberg's creepily detached, mechanical future in Artificial Intelligence with familiar landscapes and technology that isn't as alien. The film manages to balance action flick, thriller and human interest story without batting a lash. See this film for dazzling FX woven into a tight storyline. See it for wonderful performances from Cruise, von Sydow and the entire cast. See it to experience dialogue that is alive with wit instead of merely dragging viewers from one action scene to the next. See it to watch one of today's most gifted directors fall in love with style and substance, beautifully intertwined, all over again.

As typical, the picture and sound are incredible. The muted tones and washed out colors are richly transferred, and the sound rumbles and purrs in all the right spots. The DVD has a surprising number of behind the scenes looks at the production of the film, as well as commentary from Cruise and Spielberg on what it was like to work together. Unless I missed an easter egg, a section on deleted scenes was curiously absent. I would like to have seen more extras on the DVD, but alas, the film itself is plenty.

— Music ———————————————————————————————

BT Emotional Technology (2003) 1/2
BT (born Brian Transeau) was 'discovered' during the early days of the trance/techno scene and went on to become a pioneer in the industry, crafting his own style of hybrid dance music to a worldwide audience. His first two full-length albums, Ima and ESCM, blended world music elements and charging trance beats, and dabbled in experimental guitar hooks and vocals, while his Movement in Still Life (2000) moved further out to embrace rap, trip hop and other styles.

For Emotional Technology, a more personal album according to the performer, he steps up as a more focused singer, producer and technology guru. Indeed, the six tracks featuring BT's vocals are the most powerful of the 13-track collection. "Simply Being Loved (Somnambulist)" is the first single from the album, and it features lush, interwoven instrumentation, a twittery breakbeat rhythm, and BT's now famous technique, the stuttering drum machine. It is on par with his most powerful work, including "Mercury and Solace" and "Dreaming." His voice, smoky and sensual and self-assured, portrays great conviction, and the lyrics are heartfelt. However, on some tracks his vocals are over-processed, as though he didn't trust himself enough to let his voice flow freely. On "Dark Heart Drowning," a drowsier rhythm pops in the background while a chorus of voices echo BT's dark vocal: "Violate me like an animal/Like you always do/While the Dark heart is dawning/And the sky is as black as you." This isn't your typical electronic fare.

Aside from the songs voiced by BT, the album's other tracks and collaborations basically do not work. Rose McGowan pops up (inexplicably) to mouth off with Some Other Guy (I forget his name and don't care much to look it up) and BT on "Superfabulous," and his fascination with hip hop resurfaces annoyingly on the opening thumper "Knowledge of Self," complete with trite lyric. Other forays into '80s electro and freestyle sound rehashed. Artists cannot seem to get the retro thing down pat. The '80s, for the most part, were better left there. If you can't grasp some technique and update it, don't bother re-treading.

In short, BT calls Emotional a further evolution in his musical development. A pianist capable of playing Chopin by age 6, BT's music doesn't seem to possess the lush layers and tremendous heart he puts into it. For all his musical exploration, his albums have become inconsistent at best.

John Digweed featuring Nick Muir
Stark Raving Mad 1/2
I have recently noticed a disturbing trend in dance music — the world's top DJs are releasing some unbelievably shoddy work. Paul Oakenfold has released an album of "original material" and several DJ mix collections the past few years, but nothing has topped his collections for the Global Underground series or his first Perfecto label outing, Another World. After releasing last year's luke-warmly received MMII, John Digweed's newest effort, a soundtrack for the (apparently indie) film Stark Raving Mad, does little to reclaim his reputation. The "mixes" here, if you can call them such, are slim or nonexistent. We get bare-bones, minimalist techno, electro pop, and quasi-ambient music elements loosely strung together with samples from the film. There are hardly any melodies, which might work fine if the rhythms and atmospheres were stronger, but this is material Digweed should've been spinning (and creating) in his earlier days. A few notable exceptions: The siren-like swirls and swishes of "Flood" and Deep Forest-y vocalizing and warm synths on "Rumble Fish" provide just the right pulse and mood to propel the first disc along just when it needs it, and the sultry female vocal on Evolution's "Walking on Fire" provides an enveloping, downtempo warmup to the second disc. The momentum picks up on the pounding second track "Lose Control," but the remainder of the disc never takes off. There are a few interesting tracks, but newcomers are better off sticking with Digweed's work with Sasha (any of the Northern Exposure or Communication mixes) or on the Global Underground series (Hong Kong and Los Angeles are incredible).

Groove Armada Love Box (2003)
Groove Armada has proven that retro music doesn’t have to be tacky, stale or trite (see Kylie Minogue). Members Tom Findlay and Andy Cato have polished and revised their sound to become one of the foremost electronic acts today. They embrace the essence and style of retro without carbon-copying the styles themselves. Love Box charges out of the gate with a rocking blues-inspired riff on the opener “Purple Haze.” From there, the album dives into a blend of tempos, melodies and genre hopping uncommon to most dance music. From the rocking beginnings, the album shifts to the soulful vocals of “Groove Is On,” “Remember” and “Think Twice” — all featuring ‘80s-‘90s crooner/rapper Neneh Cherry, in masterful form. The discotheque throwback “Easy” compliments the reggae-voiced house anthems “Final Shakedown” and “But I Feel Good.” Thrown in for good measure is “Hands of Time” and “Tuning In,” two truly retro songs with surprising R&B harmonies and heartfelt words. Bottom line: every song works. Love Box is a strong addition to Armada’s roster.

Sasha Airdrawndagger (2002) 1/2
Fans of Sasha's DJ mix CDs, which blend tech-house and trance music into blaring, bouncy dance floor collections, may be surprised at his first full-length CD of original material. Airdrawndagger owes more to ambient pioneers and orchestral electronic artists than to the techno and trance styles that Sasha has helped popularize. The CD's gliding, surreal productions, low-key percussion sections and interlaced synth lines build and recede, each track flowing quietly into the next. Even when a club-worthy beat percolates to the surface from beneath the acid tones of "Immortal" or "Fundamental," no furious crescendo is ever reached. Sasha, producer Tom Hay, and collaborators Tom Holkenberg (a.k.a. Junkie XL) and James Holden have crafted delightful, spirited ambient electronic tunes occasionally punctuated by trip hop rhythms or pulsating beats. There isn't much variety here, and the music lacks the sweeping orchestral movements of more adept electronic artists such as Orbital, but Airdrawndagger bodes well for the DJ/producer's efforts in the future.

Paul Oakenfold Bunkka (2002) 1/2
Expanding his tranced-out dance sound to incorporate hip hop, breakbeat and vocal-based tech house, Paul Oakenfold's first CD of original recordings ranks below the international superstar DJ's compiled sets. Guest rapper Ice Cube lends the most notable effort to the 11-track collection on "Get Em Up," slinging such zingers as "In the book of life, there's only two women/Big ol' good ones and good ol' big ones." Other guest appearances from Perry Farrell, Nelly Furtado, Tricky and others don't fare as well. The album tends to be erratic, unfocused and fluid. Oakey layers rhythms and synths like the mad remixer he is known to be, but none of his ingredients truly congeals to a cohesive recording. Bunkka is an admirable first effort, but there's no heart to it, and hardcore Oakenfold fans will probably be the only ones to get much out of it.

Chemical Brothers Come With Us (2002)

Finally, a Chemical Brothers album I can sink my teeth into. Before Come With Us, the Brothers' latest CD, their most brilliant release was the 1998 DJ mix Brothers Gonna Work It Out, which blended funk, soul, hip hop, rap and bouncy trance-tronica into a feverish hour-plus collection of big-beat jams greater than anything in their personal oeuvre. However, Come With Us finds the Brothers honing their dance floor skills. The title track swerves and swishes, percolates and explodes like an electro masterpiece. "Galaxy Bounce" (featured in the film Tomb Raider) is a delightful floor stomper that could shake anyone's booty. "Star Guitar" and "Hoops" combine offbeat, thumping rhythms with house, soul and hip hop influences to create infectious bubblegum electronica, digestible to the masses. Indeed, there truly isn't a weak track in the 10-song set. Beth Orton lends her smoky vocals to the down-to-uptempo "The State We're In," and former Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft croons anthem-style on "The Test." Perhaps the biggest surprise is the baroque piano sampling "My Elastic Eye," a rousing wah-guitar piece that exhibits the Brothers' flare for mix-n-match electronic sound experiments.

—Modern Classics—

Everything But The Girl — Walking Wounded (1996)
One of the most profound CDs I have ever experienced, Everything but the Girl's Walking Wounded straddles the line between electronica and pop music, with lush, interwoven melodies, stuttering rhythms, monumental lyrics, and some of the smoothest, most inviting vocals ever to grace the musical form.

"I don't want excuses/I don't want your smiles/I don't want to feel like we're apart a thousand miles," vocalist Tracy Thorn sings on the album opener, "Before Today," and the floodgates open wide. The listener can immediately tell that they are in for something special — deft lyrics, flawless production and astounding vocals. What follows is eight beautifully constructed tracks and two dance floor-ready remixes. Thorn's lyrics are dead-on, somber and emotional without being depressing, and her voice of heartache and lack of fulfillment is enough to break hearts. "I wanted everything for a little while/Why shouldn't I?" she asks on "Wrong," another powerful track. The most powerful lyric has to be on the title track, however: "Out amongst the walking wounded/Every face on every bus/It's you and me and him and her/And nothing can replace the us I knew." Her words are simple, but the images are powerful, timeless; they speak to everyone on some level.

Musician/partner Ben Watt and producer Howie B.'s expert production backs her up. The stuttering breakbeats, lush synths and spacy atmospherics perfectly compliment Thorn's voice. The albums shifts from pop-tronica to downtempo to trip hop-ish rhythms, providing a pulsing urban backdrop to Thorn's images of heartache ("Good Cop Bad Cop"), regret ("Single") and indifference ("Big Deal").

Wounded is a work of amazing genius, expertly crafted and timeless in both its simplicity and power. Rarely is music so affecting.

Other Classics:

Orbital — In Sides (FFRR, 1996)
Sade — Love Deluxe (Sony, 1992)

Banco de Gaia 10 Years (2002) 1/2
Fans of Banco de Gaia's blend of trance rhythms, spacy electronica and world music elements rejoice: a 10-year retrospective has recently been released. Banco — brainchild of Toby Marks — makes powerful, complex, lushly-arranged music. The average song length on 10 Years probably exceeds seven minutes, and yet the patient listener is captivated by the movements and subtle craft of the music. The two CD collection is mixed not in chronological order, but to create the smoothest mood and rhythm and flow among the collection.

The gently pulsing rhythms and synths of "Heliopolis" build from background ambience on Disc 1, the stronger of the two, and then flow effortlessly into a series of powerful tracks built from shuffling percussion, unique sampling and haunting vocals. "Drippy" takes a leaky faucet sound and builds it into a jazzy horn-laden track with a strong dub bass line before blending into my favorite track, the 11 minute and 14 second "Last Train to Lhasa." From the simple sound of a simple locomotive steam engine — complete with melancholy whistle — erupts somber moans and chants, eventually breaking into a strong beat with layered instrumentation. There's a definite style at work on this collection: "Obsidian" also builds from the background, unleashing beautiful vocals from Jennifer Folk as the track proceeds.

Disc 2 has a slower, gentler rhythm to it, as "Desert Wind" rises to an barely-there beat amid subtle crooning and Middle Eastern instrumentation. Subsequent tracks such as "Celestine" (12:13) and "887 (Structure)" (14:02) percolate just beneath the surface. The ear expects an explosion of sound to happen, but only subdued elements flow in and out.

By disc's end, the listener recognizes they have heard something profound, something truly original, some of the best electronic works to come from the past 10 years. The mood tends to bog down toward the middle of disc 2, but fans of new age and spacy, ethereal electronica will find much pleasurable listening from this impressive collection.

Radiohead Hail to the Thief 1/2
Prog-rockers turned sonic pioneers, Radiohead have crafted brainy rock music for a cult-like following over several studio albums. The band's two previous CDs, Kid A and Amnesiac, blended dreamy Pink Floyd soundscapes, twittering Aphex Twin-inspired beats, and other electronic elements into their progressive rock, resulting in some incredible, if not exactly radio-friendly, listening. The albums focused more on textures, moods and ambience rather than lyrical relevance and vocal clarity — put simply, the music was the message. Hail to the Thief finds the five members exploring more melodic territory, even the return of a guitar hook or two. "2 + 2 = 5" opens the album with a guitar being plugged into an amp, and immediately the album takes on a more rhythmic tone than the sleepier, moodier Amnesiac. The song's blippy final moments lead into the electronic shuffling and keyboards of "Sit Down. Stand Up." The mood and tempo drop on "Sail to the Moon," the dreamy third track full of lush guitar and a dubby bass line, only to pick back up with a nearly dance-y electro-pulse on "Backdrifts." And so the album goes. For every hint of Radiohead past (the acoustic backbone of "Go to Sleep"), we hear plenty of new Radiohead (the manic, off-tempo blur of "The Gloaming"). And yet, for all its explorations, Hail is the group's most focused and intense effort since 1997's OK Computer. They have found the ideal blend of progressive rock bombast and sweeping electronic mood. Nowhere is this more evident than in the driving riffs of "Myxomytosis," a rock-tronic track whose vocal treatments and arrangement make for a totally unique experience. There's a feeling of mounting dread over the album's 14 tracks. Melancholy without being hopeless, the songs blend the electronic and the organic masterfully, weaving a tale of uncertainty, helplessness and a struggle to find one's place in the world. The CD recalls OK's happiness vs. technology over-arching theme, and Hail finds no answers in its searching, but as always, the great fun is in experiencing the search along with such talented explorers.

Massive Attack 100th Window (2003)
Pared down to (basically) its final member, this latest version of Massive Attack varies little from the mood-driven downtempo trip hop of previous albums. However, it's not as though the remaining member had no help. Sinead O'Connor lends a somber, soothing vocal to "What Your Soul Sings" and "Prayer for England," and Horace Andy lends his husky-whispering pipes to "Name Taken." Each song builds from dub atmospheres into inviting, mellow tunes. By the CD's end, the tunes have become a bit repetitive, but the pedigree here is unmistakable. Massive Attack, inventors of the Brixton Trip Hop style, now content to explore dance music's lower tempos and more somber moods, still have what it takes to create compelling, appealing mood pieces.

Gus Gus Attention (2002)
Gus Gus' latest disc, Attention, finds the band's overkill membership pared down to the bare minimum, with greater results. The album presents a more consistent roster of tunes than anything in Gus Gus' back catalog. The playful electro pop of "Unnecessary" starts things off on just the right note, then flows effortlessly into the seductive tones of "David." "Desire" and the title track offer pretty standard Gus Gus fare (complete with hushed Euro-styled vocals and warm synths), but "Dance you Down" ups the ante — and the tempo — to create an elegant, Euro-styled dance floor mood. The remainder of the disc toggles between dance-able rhythms that build and recede gracefully. The vocals are strong, the production crisp and clean, and the melodies are bright and airy. The CD is a pleasure to listen to. Ideal for pop music fans as a first foray into dance music.

Future Sound of London The Isness (2002)
The challenge with experimental electronica is, by stretching the boundaries of traditional “music,” bands run the risk of alienating future or potential fans, not to mention pushing the boundaries of taste itself. Such is the case with The Isness, the first new studio album from Future Sound of London in six years. Since helping jumpstart the trance music craze with their early hit single “Papua New Guinea,” FSOL (as we diehard fans call them) have morphed and contorted their electronic creations over the course of three important recordings. Life Forms (1994) blended computerized blips, pulsing beats, splintered melodies and digitized sounds from nature. The result was exhilarating listening, witnessing two artists rework our traditional concepts of music, beauty and nature. They followed this with ISDN (1995), a production broadcast live over British airways. ISDN blended samples from popular films and old recordings with similar digital effects and beat wizardry. Its moodier elements foreshadowed FSOL’s next recording, Dead Cities (1996). Every bit as dark as its title suggests, Cities blended warbled Kurt Cobain vocals, the echoing laughter of children, sirens and chaotic ambience, creepy fugue-ish melodies, and twittering beats into the duo’s most powerful recording to date. I followed their transitions through each phase, always intrigued by what sounds and places they will take us to next.

For The Isness, the duo has apparently studied the slow, plodding moods of Pink Floyd along with Middle Eastern instrumentation. That Isness is unique and experimental there is no doubt. However, unique and experimental aren’t the only factors in electronic music. For example, no group in my recent memory has mixed horn sections, sweeping orchestrations and sitars into one swirling mass. FSOL should have asked why no group had blended these instruments — they don’t sound so great together. Other songs blend vocals into the mix, but mostly we get spacy, ethereal atmospheres, slow and languorous beats (if we hear beats at all), wah-pedal guitar lines, and a whole lot of sitar. It makes for a one-sided, uneven recording with a singular mood — drowsy. That explains why I fell asleep during my reviews.

Underworld A Hundred Days Off (2002)
As formula as Underworld's music is at times (stark rhythm meets strong bass line meets swelling melodies), they have crafted a unique sound recognized by a worldwide fan base. The style is present throughout the band's entire catalog, but remaining members Karl Hyde and Rick Smith (DJ Darren Emerson left in 2000 for solo pursuits) know what works: Underworld's synth lines and beats are among the best in electronic music today. The duo isn't afraid to take a song to the limit, sometimes stretching a song to nine minutes or more for maximum effect. A Hundred Days Off finds Hyde and Smith exploring similar territory with a few surprising additions. Hyde's stream of consciousness lyrics are back, as are the thumping beats and dub-inspired bass lines. "Two Months Off," the first single from the CD, builds steadily, finally unleashing melodies that sound like sunshine itself. As Hyde sings "You bring light in to a dark place," there's more feeling behind it, like a man changed by what he's seen or experienced. "Twist" places a warm, jazzy piano line above shuffling percussion and the trademark Underworld bass-n-beat. The beat falls to a maddeningly slow pace on "Sola Sistim," as Hyde's low, soothing voice echoes somewhere in the background, and the beat picks up again as long-time Underworld guest vocalist Juanita breathes her lines on "Little Speaker." A bluesy guitar line sparkles on "Trim," and the dreamy riff on "Ess Gee" provides a relaxing respite before the album's tempo takes off again with the acidic bass lines and spacy synths of "Dinosaur Adventure 3D." Hundred's technical wizardry and flawless production further secure Underworld's place in the annals of electronica.

Aimee Mann Lost in Space (2002)
Mann returns with a 10-song set about lost love, drug abuse — your standard emotional songwriting territory. It's the same goods that populated and largely inspired the movie Magnolia and should've made her a household name by now. Lost in Space presents the same polished pop-folk-rock that Mann displayed on Bachelor No. 2. Crisp, clean vocals punctuate simple, guitar-and-a-mood songs. The melodies are catchy, the lyrics tight and effective, and the moods expertly crafted. Mann knows how to tweak the pop choruses for effect while throwing in scratchier textures and solos. She writes masterful pop songs, capable of expressing downer moods without being a downer herself. Pick this one up.

More to come soon!