Music reviews by mg draw
mgdraw@thebookla.com or mgdraw@pacbell.net
Review date: 11/15/01
for more reviews go to music reviews

Artist: CHARLES WEBSTER
Title: BORN ON THE 24TH. OF JULY
Label: Stantra Recordings/Peacefrog
Link: www.greengalactic.com
Root: UK-Downtempo
Presence, Furry Freaks only begin the list of pseudonyms behind which CHARLES WEBSTER has operated as one of the most prolific House producer of the last decade. BORN...retains all of the valor of previous productions, but the approach is decisively more on songwritting than beat construction. Sometimes R&B, sometimes alternative, featured vocalist include Del St-Joseph, Steve Edwards and Massive Attack's Sara Jay. The rhythms are slow, the mood sultry and the vibe intoxicating. In this beautiful after-hours soundtrack, CHARLES WEBSTER makes the connection and places heart and soul at the core of his music.

Artist: FAITHLESS
Title: OUTROSPECTION
Label: Arista
Link: www.arista.com /www.faithless.co.uk
Root: UK-Dance/Pop
Faithless' 3rd and most accomplished album to date, finds the collective (Rollo Alexander, Sister Bliss, Maxi Jazz and singer Dido) at the peak of their creative power and inspiration. While swooping power House anthems burst the threshold of all accepted rules in dance music, and atmospheric ballads reach the pinnacle of melancholy and sorrow, it is the deep influence of Soul that strikes at the core of every track, holding this eclectic and grandiose production together.

Artist: BEBEL GILBERTO
Title: TANTO TEMPO REMIXES
Label: Six Degrees
Link: www.sixdegreesrecords.com
Root: Brazil/Global-Bossa Nova/Electronica
After being released over a year ago, Bebel Gilberto's original album "Tuto Tempo" remains tightly lodged at the very top of Billboards World Music charts. In what amounts to a worldwide Bossa Nova phenomenon, Brazilian music in the last 5 years has
inspired a vast number of talented producers from Europe all the way to Asia. This collection of reconstructions and remixes by Peter Kruder(Kruder and Dorfmeister), Rae
and Christian, King Britt, Reiner Truby Trio, Da Lata, 4hero, and others, is not only impressive for the talent it gathers on one record, but also for transcending the original versions and elevating them to new grounds, while retaining all of Bebel's smooth tropical sensuality.

Artist: VARIOUS
Title: DUB SELECTOR
Label: Quango records
Link: www.quango.com
Root: Global-Dub Reggae
Another jewel compiled and conceived by Bruno Guez, DUB SELECTOR offers the deepest bass therapy around, as applied by artists such as St-Germain, Luciano, I:Cube, Boozoo Bajou and more. Paying tribute to the original dub scientists of the 70's, this new generation of groove masters deliver much needed positive vibrations on 12 superbly chosen tracks.

Artist: VARIOUS
Title: NUDE DIMENSIONS 3
Label: Naked Music/Astralwerks
Link: www.naked-music.com / www.astralwerks.com
Root: US-Deep House
House has always remained a constant in the world of dance music. It's latest incarnation, Deep House, emanates from the blossoming San Francisco music scene. The trademark Naked Music sound stands at the forefront of this movement, with
penetrating bass lines, grooves so smooth and vocals so sexy, that in many ways it feels that House is renewing it's ties with it's Disco past. What distinguishes Naked Music records from any other mixed compilations, is that they are equally enjoyable should you choose to dance or just listen to them.

Artist: VARIOUS
Title: LUSH LIFE ELECTRONICA
Label: Quango records
Link: www.quango.com
Root: Global-Ambient Electronica
For lack of commercial mass appeal, ambient Electronica has remained the underdog of the Electronica phenomenon. For those who shiver at the idea of ever buying a new age recording, or listening to the chant of whales underwater, there's much solace to be found in the sophisticated "LUSH LIFE ELECTRONICA". As the frenzy, and the noise of the outside quiet down, layers of beautiful atmospheric splendor take over, while the intricacy of a million quiet sounds and rhythms set the listener on an introspective journey that parallels our world, but makes it a gentler place.

Artist: TJ.REHMI
Title: INVISIBLE RAIN
Label: Shakti records
Link: www.shaktirecords.com / www.tjrehmi.com
Root: UK- Asian Fusion
In TJ.REHMI's language, "INVISIBLE RAIN" stands for the "hidden pain" of those who's suffering is left without a voice. In a style made popular by the likes of Talvin Singh and Thievery Corporation, this record is a fusion of asian sounds, where sitars , tablas and suffi chants mix with breakbeats and keyboard layers.
An honest musical commentary on a increasingly cold and lonely world, the sounds here are both haunting and uplifting, infusing the music with a sense of hope, leading men back to the warmth of their heart.

Artist: INTERFEARENCE
Title: TAKE THAT TRAIN
Label: Ubiquity Recordings
Link: www.ubiquityrecords.com / www.interfearence.com
Root: UK/Canada-World/Dance
The pairing of Paul Martin(Gilles Perterson's partner at Talking loud) and multi-instrumentist canadian born Tyrell, make for a very different kind of dance outfit. This tightly produced album is genre defying in every sense. House and Jazzy breaks abound, but are tightly laced with balearic latin and african sounds, forays at times into Drum and Bass territory, probes the depth of bass in every groove, flirts with psychedelia, and emerges in a style all of it's own, powerful and spirited. This album, as for any Ubiquity record, comes with a money back guaranty!

Artist: BEATLESS
Title: LIFE MIRRORS
Label: Ubiquity Recordings
Link: www.ubiquityrecords.com
Root: UK-Soul/World
BEATLESS(another Paul Martin project) first appeared on the music scene with "Latinaire", a single that kicked off the critically acclaimed "New Latinaires" series from Ubiquity. Their debut full length, "LIFE MIRRORS", sometimes clubby, sometimes sultry, brings about the future of soul. All one needs to imagine are names like Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, The Neville Brothers, and Sly and the family Stone processed through the pro-tools system of a west-end London studio. Featured on vocals is a pletora of amazing new singing and rapping talents, including Colonel Red, Quasimoto(aka Madlib,aka Yesterday's New Quintet), Nathan Haynes and more...

Local Spotlight
Artist: TWEAKER
Title: THE ATTRACTION TO ALL THINGS UNCERTAIN
Label: Six Degrees
Link: www.sixdegreesrecords.com
Root: US-genre defying ROCK
Aside from his solo work under the moniker TWEAKER, Los Angeles based musician Chris Vrenna is also known for eight years spent with Nine Inch Nails, as well as production work with U2, Smashing Pumpkins, Rob Zombie and Marylin Manson. Unique and visionary, this first solo effort surprises and astonishes in a tasteful collision of styles, with vocal contribution by David Sylvian(Japan), Craig Wedren(Shudder to Think) and Will Oldham. While rock has seemingly become a corporate affair made for MTV consumption, THE ATTRACTION TO ALL THINGS UNCERTAIN is a noteworthy stand-alone.