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The Forty Fives
Get It Together

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A bit retro - a lot rock from
the heart. This is the new and
ultimate cruising CD.
Memorable of days when
cars had lots of chrome and
big fins, Chuck Berry definite-
ly had his say in influencing
the free fun loving music on
the 13 track monster which is
“Get It Together”

This disc has everything
that you would expect a mod-
ern 50’s era to have.
Pounding beats, reverbing
guitars, vocals of the MC-5

type, and of course the
uniqueness of anything done
with the help of a Hammond
B3 organ.

Apparently The Forty Fives
spent the majority of 1999
stashed away in their tour van
trying to support their
release, bringing in shows
with such names as Andre
Williams, The Dickies, and
Pansy Division. They intend
to spend most of 2000 in the
same van, continuing to pro-
mote their worthy cause.

Remember the days of
cruising in the car because

j that’s what people do? This

is the smashing compilation

that rebukes the British

Invasion and brings back the
American rock ‘n roll which
has been “missing from the
universe for way too long,” as
previously perfectly put. Look

for this disc on the shelves

mid. April and roll down the
windows to let the world know
that rock ‘n roll is back to stay.
The more chrome present the
better.

-Kevin Milos

Ever since the first debut
of Plastic Volume 01 first
appeared in 1997, the series
of break beat cult techno cuts
and remixes has been one of
the most critically acclaimed
compilations of techno to hit
the streets in North America.
The cool thing is that we owe
it all to Vancouver's Nettwerk
Productions!

Amazingly enough, Volume
3 outdid even 1999’s Volume
02, this is a compilation which
pays attention to the quality
of the remix instead of the net
returns of CD sales. It’s the
best one yet.

Featuring some of the best
remixes from the past twelve

months including those of
Sasha, Delerium, Filter, BT,
Povi, and Moloko, these are
some of the few popular
remixes which are often an
improvement on the original
artist cuts. Also present are
Grammy nominees Sarah
McLachlan, Moby, Beth Orton
(Brit Award) and the ever pre-
sent DJ’s Tom and Ed
Chemical.

_ Mixers on the board include
the UK’s Matt Darey on
Delerium’s “Heaven’s Earth”
producing a fast paced house
trance which doesn’t break a
single beat, but keeps over-
lays smooth and mystifying
all the way through. BT takes

on Sarah McLachlan’s “I Love
You,” providing our ears with
their typical pounding beats
and electronic injections to
Sarah’s original sensuality.
Hybrid produces __ their
“Bodyshock remix” of Moby’s
“Bodyrock,” working with their
original harsh beats. The
Bodyshock remix is a pro-
gressive trance which polar-
izes the original feat, but mel-
lows it at the same time.
Unfortunately, Plastic
Volume 03 isn’t due for mass
release until March 28th, but
if you like wax, some of the
12” singles are out including a
“very limited edition of
Sarah’s and BT’s ‘| Love You’

and BT’s own ‘Dreaming’ -
which also includes their to-
be-released-in-May __ track
‘Movement in Still Life’.
according to our friends at
Nettwerk.

So you can’t afford your
own turntables and don’t
want to try to track down the
ever-rare LP’s_ yourself?
Plastic 03 offers one of the
best alternatives to having
your own set of 12” 33’s so
turn it up.

-Kevin Milos

Travis “What’s a wonderwall any-
The Man Who way?” exclaims lead Travis

¢ vocalist Fran Healy.
Independiente / Sony

After traveling extensively
with Oasis, this seems like a
funny thing for Brit band Travis
to say in the opening track of
“ |their much anticipated second
album “The Man Who.” Truth
is that although Travis is heav-
ily influenced by _ the
4 Gallagher brothers, they are
‘jlabeled, sometimes to their
‘disgust, as “cerebral art
school rockers” and “irre-
pressibly happy-go-lucky pop
freaks.” Not Oasis.

Reviews of Travis’ first
release “Good Feeling” wit-
tingly describes them as a
“schizophrenic band,” never

really in tune with themselves.

Perpetuating this theory,
Travis chose to name their
second disc after a Oliver
Sack’s book “The Man Who
Mistook His Wife For A Hat,’ a
compendium of schizophrenic
case studies. Maybe a little
bit ironic is the fact that this
time, Travis is more in tune
with themselves and _ their
music, contributing a “melodic
and atmospheric depth which
will undoubtedly set. Travis
apart from their contempo-
raries.” y

A neat feature of Travis is
their willingness to go to
extremes to create the
desired sound which they are
after. At one point the bank

tried to record “Slide Show’ in
a car while cruising around
the mean streets of St. John’s
Wood (London), to capture
that ever-elusive radio-in-traf-
fic effect. “Last Laugh of
Laughter” is full of French
passages which were trans-
lated by five Gallic hair-
dressers that Fran met while
on a vacation in Israel.

The result of Travis’ efforts
is a careful and calculated
sound which draws on a num-
ber of influences including the
sounds of Simon and
Garfunkel, Bowie, and the
Plastic Ono Band. Smooth
and emotional, Travis delivers
a meaningful melody like we
might see from a _ softer,

kinder Oasis.

For the most part, Travis is
more concerned with the
emotional effect of their music
than how close they get to the
limelight and glory. “We don’t
want to play that game,”
admits Fran, “When we all dis-
appear this music will still be
here.” A noble cause, but
unfortunate since it will not
inject their exposure into con-
temporary mainstream music,
limiting their-popular availabil-
ity to obtain a great contem-
porary CD.

-Kevin Milos