Randy Newman’s publicist is on the phone one more time apologizing for the delay: Newman wants to do the interview, she explains, but he’s locked in a room trying to finish his songs for the upcoming Disney film Toy Story. The first movie made completely with computer animation, it features…
Billy Pilgrim Bloom (Atlantic) Andrew Hyra and Kristian Bush, who compose the folk-pop duo Billy Pilgrim, started strumming their acoustic guitars together in Atlanta bars and coffeehouses and are partial to sweet harmonies, so it follows that some scribes have labeled them “the Indigo Boys.” But on Bloom, their second…
When divers come up from the depths of the ocean too quickly, they risk getting the bends, a painful and potentially fatal condition caused by having too much nitrogen in the blood. The Bends is also the title of the second album by the English quintet Radiohead, and it serves…
In 1986, I was in a band that played “Runaway.” Not the late Del Shannon’s early-Sixties teen-angst classic, with that crazy Musitron electric organ solo. No, this was the Bon Jovi song, their first hit, from the self-titled 1984 debut album. “Runaway” was a useful song for a band in…
Bruce Hornsby Hot House (RCA) Since making his baby-grand entrance on the music scene a decade ago, Bruce Hornsby has released a handful of softly melodic albums, most notably The Way It Is, which he recorded with his group, the Range — it earned them a 1986 Grammy Award as…
The Gipsy Kings were already busting the charts abroad with their Eurotrash favorite, “Bamboleo,” when they first hit the United States in 1988. Standing somewhat stiffly in identical black leather pants and patterned blouses, the six husky, dark-eyed members of two gypsy families from the south of France performed at…
The music that makes up John Coltrane: Heavyweight Champion — The Complete Atlantic Recordings, a six-CD boxed set just released on the Rhino imprint, was cut over the course of a relatively brief period of time. Coltrane, fresh from several years spent as a member of bands led by Miles…
Various Artists Spirit of ’73: Rock for Choice (550 Music/Epic) The concept: a grab bag of contempo women musicians turned loose on Seventies songs associated with women artists from that decade. The purpose: to raise consciousness regarding the need to protect a woman’s legal right to obtain an abortion. The…
The decorative theme of the Coconut Grove Recording Company’s offices might best be described as Indie Label Unkempt. Framed posters and photographs of the company’s handful of acts, as well as otherwise revered nonlabel artists such as Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix, line the walls (or remain propped against them…
Take it from an expert. “Anywhere you go in Florida, you can party,” says rapper Prince Rahiem. “Jacksonville.” He laughs. “Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg. . . It’s the atmosphere,” the Hollis (Queens), New York, transplant explains. “Miami, the South, is a very sensual place. The less you wear, the better…
Bloodhound Gang Use Your Fingers (Cheese Factory/Underdog/Columbia) You’ll find white rappers generally fall into two camps: Beastie Boys disciples and the House of Pain clique. In the former, honky hip-hop has nothing to do with the African-American experiences that gave birth to the rap form; rather, the genre has been…
Almost nine years ago at Washington, D.C.’s Warner Theater, a grand, ancient vaudeville house, British synth-rock quartet Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark — by then generally known as O.M.D. — stood on-stage beaming and looking somewhat bewildered at a house full of enthusiastic fans. At one point, bassist-principal singer Andy…
Rosario Siento (SDI) Since the Seventies, the children of flamenco masters have adopted the rhythms of their gypsy ancestors to create their own genre of contemporary Spanish music A flamenco-rock, -pop, and -jazz hybrids that nonpurists classify as “new flamenco.” The daughter of renowned Andalusian folklorist and Fifties movie star…
Being identical twins, Evi and Gin Weintraub of INHOUSE reach levels of vocal interplay that are out of the reach of singing duos with flimsier genetic ties. Technically, Evi’s a soprano and Gin’s an alto, but that makes little difference once they get going. Like the flight of two lovestruck…
Alison Moyet Singles (Columbia) Cyndi Lauper Twelve Deadly Cyns…and Then Some (Epic) Both tumbled somewhat improbably out of early-Eighties new wave. Both flashed brightly through their respective homeland’s cosmos, flared, and burned out. Both relied heavily on other writers’ songs. Both left behind one truly transcendent single. Both have new…
A year ago, at a concert thrown by and for Miami’s hip-hop habitues, a Bronx rapper by the name of Fat Joe clambered his way to the microphone and, drum tracks rattling in the background, hollered something to the effect of, “Y’all ready to party? Give it up!” This was…
Bob Marley and the Wailers Natural Mystic — The Legend Lives On (Tuff Gong/Island) Our thoughts might be many on the occasion of the release of Natural Mystic. We might marvel at the staying power of the Marley legacy. We might ponder the industry of those engaged in the mining…
A reporter has just informed Buffalo Tom bassist Chris Colbourne that his name appears under the image of the band’s drummer, Tom Maginnis — and vice versa — in Buffalo Tom’s brand-new record company photo. “Ohmygod!” Colbourne exclaims. “I hadn’t heard that before. That’s hilarious. That’s great. Poor Tom! He’ll…
Elvis Costello Kojak Variety (Warner Bros.) Robert Forster I Had a New York Girlfriend (Beggars Banquet) As a result of his huge rep as a songwriter, Elvis Costello’s talents as an interpreter of others’ work often has been overlooked. — pity, because in the past he adroitly has embodied songs…
Fireworks boom and crackle outside, smoke fills the streets, and bottle rockets emblematic of revolutionary bombs burst in the air. Inside, four young men — members of the band Orgasmic Bliss — are sitting in a sprawling Florida room. However, instead of partaking of the Fourth of July traditions of…
Sponge Rotting Pinata (Chaos/Sony) You’ve heard the jaunty title track (possibly the only song in pop history to use a pinata as a metaphor for a cowboy’s broken heart), the gripping “Plowed” (with its riveting “in a world of human wreckage” chorus), and the supercatchy “Molly” (“Sixteen candles down the…
The technology gremlins have been playing hob with Lycia. During a show in Philadelphia two and half weeks ago, the band’s keyboards, a critical ingredient in its dark, ethereal sound, winked in and out. Then, during the same set, without any apparent provocation, the drum machine, another critical ingredient, shifted…
