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Show Music Monday, June 4, 2007 fe^ i ; - H - i , - H - - i i — Bfil Ji ] Ji LJ 1 M l JI. ILJUy T --'• « twt:.••.'?$£ Albino rapper Brother AH focuses the angst of his childhood into his powerful music. A message for the masses V • \ • ••' •'.•* t '*x--«r<* s '*fr'y. Tim Armstrong A Poet's Life ' Epitaph/Hellcat Records Four out of five stars Chris Cornell Carry On Interscope Three out of five stars Brother All to bring hip-hop to its knees tonight in Salt Lake City Marilyn Manson Eat Me, Drink Me Interscope Three out of five stars Dan Fletcher • •• REDUX ASST. EDITOR The music-as-a-weapon metaphor has cliched itself to death—right beside love's red roses and death's cold hands. But imagine this: You're 15 years old, you've just moved to a new city and you have to explain to a war zone of bullies and brats that the recessive genes passed on to you by your parents caused a genetic malfunction that prevents your body from creating enough melanin to color your skin. In these very shoes, hip-hop became Brother Ali's primary weapon. And the battle raps he birthed above those cold Minnesota schoolyards still burn with the angst and alienation of his youth. Only now, Ali has transformed the taunts of childhood mockery into torrents of critical and popular applause. "People react to songs that I have I/about my own personal experience, even if they don't have the same experiences," Ali said—just days before ' jumping into his van for a month on the road in support of his latest release, The Undisputed Truth. Ali's skill shines less as a battle-rapper, hip-hop preacher or pop-hook crafter and more as a normal person speaking to a world of normal people through a medium that has mastered him as much as he has mastered it. His ascent began on the strength of a 2001 cassette demo, Rites of Passage. This combined with an impressive presence in the battle-rap circuit brought Ali into the Twin Cities' Rhymesayers Entertainment family— home to underground hip-hop celebrities Atmosphere. Ali's debut, Shadows on the Sun, was released in 2003 to a wave of critical acclaim. In the tradition of political rap forefathers Dilated Peoples, Ali's street-smart, yet globally conscious, wordplay spoke to the rhythmic soul and revolutionary spirit of its listeners. "I make what feels right to me," Ali said. "I don't write from the point of ••' Marilyn Manson's horror-heavy, industrial sludge has terrified parents for more than a decade now. But in its maturely macabre minimalism, Eat Me, Drink Me promises to secure the PTA pariah a lasting legacy of paternal nightmare. Absent are the static assaults of classic Manson singles "Beautiful People" and "Dope Show" and in their place float haunting atmospherics ("If I Was Your Vampire") and classic rock and roll jams ("Putting Holes in Happiness"). Don't be fooled by Eat Me, Drink Me's dancepop single "Heart-Shaped Glasses." Eat Me is. as close as Manson has come to conjuring the ghosts of his goth heritage. Tiger Army Music From Regions Beyond Epitaph/Hellcat Records Four out of five stars ••••* Tiger Army has been piecing together a hot rod of psychobilly soul and Misfits soullessness since it rose out of the Bay Area punk scene in the summer of '96. Music from Regions Beyond turns the key to this finely tuned beast, igniting each well-crafted component. "Hot Prowl" opens the record with mach speed, punk sing-alongs and front man Nick 13's haunting half-Danzig/halfMike Ness moan. Classic California punk shows up on the Social Distortionesque "Pain." And the Army's true colors shine through as rockabilly ballad "Where the Moss Grows Slowly" lays Music From Regions Beyond to rest. ••• •••• Chris Cornell is gifted. Soundgarden declared this. Countless collaborations and songwriting credits confirmed it. Audioslave may have forced some to question Cornell's taste— but never his skills. Carry On carries Cornell's weathered croon and sphere-scraping falsettos on to even firmer grounds—though his taste is still in question. "Disappearing Act" invokes the spirit of fatten friend Jeff Buckley as it swells from humble acoustics to symphony-backed anthem. "No Such Thing" is an honest rock jam that'll dust off many a Temple of the Dog record. But then comes a cover of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean." Why? A Poet's Life is the record Tim Armstrong has been waiting to write for 41 years. Poet's fuse was lit through Armstrong's skapunk trailblazing with '80s outfit Operation Ivy, burned through six punkepitomizing records with Rancid and received a final s toking blow from The Transplants' hip-hoprooted, reggae-punk revolution. Armstrong's radical, road-worn rasp recites its finest tales over some of the finest roots reggae ("Wake Up") and dancehall rhythm ("Into Action") this side of Jamaica. ftnri 1 Compiled by Dan Fletcher REDUX ASST. EDITOR (' J See HIP-HOP Page 8 > What: Brother Ali > Where:The Urban Lounge (241 S. 500 East) > When: Monday, June 4,9 p.m. > How much: $10 ($12 the day of) The Faint ushers in '80s night this week Trevor Hale Having just survived another brutal winter in the Midwest, The Faint is taking the opportunity to take its dance-party Break out the dancing shoes. Indie rock/synth-pop darlings beats back on the road to kill The Faint is coming back to In some time and try out new material. The Venue on June 6. And this time they promise to For fans in Salt Lake City, it show up. will be a welcome return. The Faint formed in Omaha, The Faint hasn't played Salt Neb., in 1994, briefly featuring a Lake City in more than four then-unknown Conor Oberst— years—but not for lack of tryof Bright Eyes fame. ing. Since The Faint's inception, its The Faint scheduled Salt Lake music has evolved to incorporate City as the first stop of its tour more dance-oriented sounds, late last October, but winter while retaining hints of the indie came early and the band descene it came from. cided a couple of weeks before The band is currently building the show that it was better to a studio where they plan to re- reschedule than risk driving cord their next effort. Keyboard- through a snowstorm. ist Jacob Thiele is optimistic "Poor planning on our part, about the studio space. trying to make that drive in the "Hopefully it'll be done by the dead of winter," Thiele said, retime we get back (from touring)," ferring to the stretch of I-80 beThiele said. tween Colorado ancj Salt Lake REDUX MACAZINE Dance-hall master The Faint will grace Salt Lake City's In the Venue this Wednesday while on tour before settling down to record a new album. City. "At least we cancelled it well enough in advance. The roads turned out to be closed anyway, and we would have had to cancel the day of." With the release of Danse Macabre (2003) and their latest album, Wet From Birth (2004), The Faint became both a hipster buzz-band and media darling. And like any indie band with a lot of hype, the big leagues came calling for The Faint. They briefly flirted with Rick Rubin's Island imprint American Recordings, but the hype quieted down about a year ago and Thiele isn't sure where The Faint's next record will land. "The future is uncertain," he said. "It's not easy to make a decision, but we talk about it a lot." Thiele remains tight-lipped about any recent label offers and whether The Faint plans to > What:The Faint > Where: In The Venue (579 W. 200 South) > When:Wednesday,June 6, 7 p.m. > How much: $15 remain with Saddle Creek in the future. He prefers to focus on thenupcoming tour. "We'll be playing some new songs and some old favorites," Thiele said. "And make sure they bring their dancing shoes." And Salt Lake's burgeoning hipster crowd wjll be ready to do just that—providing The Faint actually makes it this time. Lhale@ chronicle.utah.edu |