March 18 2002

= t
The Beatnuts
Classic Nuts Vol.1
Loud 2002

Classic Nuts Vol 1 is a rari-
ty amongst the slough of
greatest hits albums out there.
Unlike many other greatest
hits albums out there, this one
is jam packed with... (guess
what _folks?).... GREAT
MUSIC... oh yes indeedy!
There is not one skip button
pushing, filler track amongst
the whole entirety of this won-
derful album, just pure
Beatnuts magic.

For those not in-the-know,
The Beatnuts is a production-
turn rap crew whose primary
musical focus is on creating
some of the most energetic,
boisterous and playful hip-hop
on this side of Biz Markie.
Concentrating on using their
own unique beats (hello P.
Diddy... can you take a hint?)
and crowd pleasingly exciting
braggadocio microphone
checking lyrics. The nuts
never fail to bob heads and
move crowds. So effective is
The Beatnuts’ formula that
over the past three years it
has become next to impossi-
ble to find any decent mix-
tape which doesn’t contain
traces of the ‘Nuts.

If you’re willing to sacrifice
deep lyrics for ass moving
beats reminiscent of the 80's
theme song to Sesame Street,
! suggest you go for this
album. Oh heck...Just get the
album!!! (Everybody needs to
shake their ass once in a
while)

EDITOR’S
READERS:

On the behalf of Over the
Edge | would like to apologise

NOTICE TO

for the following review to the
population of our readers not
born with asses. Upon reading
this review we contacted the
Assless Persons Association

of Canada (APAC) and noti-
fied our reviewers error in
judgement. In order to ratify
the injustice of excluding the

» Menaevat Bat

=

assless population we recom- . | xem

mend that those not in pos-
session of an ass shake their
fingers to The Beatnuts, or
better yet, boobies! (boobies
are good!)

—Ken

Bela Fleck & the Flecktones
Live at the Quick
Columbia 2002

If you enjoy the improvisa-
tional mastery of Medeski,
Martin, and Wood you will
enjoy Bela Fleck. Referred to
on the album as “Manhatten’s
Jed Clampet,” he manages to
mix together, with his friends,
a mix of improvisational jazz,
blue grass, and multicultural-
ism. One song in particular
starts as a _ rendition of

“Amazing Grace” with natural-

harmonics on a bass guitar
and quickly moves on to a
funk rendition.

As if that is not cool
enough, Bela himself plays a
banjo. That may seem like it
would suck but his ability is
exceptional and his ingenuity
is astounding. To give you an
impression of his scope on the
banjo, in one song he plays
solo “Prelude from Bach violin
partitia #3,” and it is jaw drop-
ping. You never expect to be
awed by a banjo. This live
album is well worth listening to
if you are the type with a mind
open to new experience.

—Destrudo

Medizeval Bzebes.
The Rose
2002 Nettwerk

Most people would believe

that medizeval music died with
the Middle Ages, but not the
nine talented ladies that make
up the Medizval Beebes.
What started out as random
evenings of singing mediaeval
songs for fun has turned into
an enterprise, spawning 4
hugely successful CD’s. The
lyrical content of their music
comes from various poems
and stories from the era, and
the songs are sung in various
languages, such as Middle
English, and are then set to
original Medizeval-style music.
The Rose is a masterful
mix of old-style artistic content
and modern interpretation.
The music ranges from
sprightly dancing tunes to
darker, more thought-provok-
ing songs. There is the tale of
the gardener who took in a
snake, who bit him for his
kindness; the amusing tale of
a old man’s visit to boudoir;
and a section from Canto 5 of
Dante’s Inferno. This album
provides relief from the hum-
drum of modern music, with
great variety, amazing vocals,
and interesting instrumenta-
tion that should not be forgot-
ten. The only problem is the
seventeen minutes of silence
in the last track, but this is
easily dealt with by the “skip
track” function that is found on
most CD players. If you are
looking for a_ transporting
musical experience, | would
say that this is definitely it.
—Dana

af

Dimmu Borgir
Puritanical Euphoric
Misanthropia
Nuclear Blast 2001

Dimmu Borgir are undoubt-
edly one of the most well
known black metal bands to
have formed during the 90’s.
(Dimmu Borgir take their
name from an unusual lava
field in Iceland. It roughly
translates to english as dark
castle, or foggy fort.)

They have been releasing
albums since the early 90’s,
and with each release their
popularity continues to rise
around the world. Dimmu
Borgir’s latest effort
Puritanical Euphoric
Misanthropia marks a new
level of sophistication and
heaviness for the group.

Puritanical Euphoric
Misanthropia starts off with
the track Fear and Wonder
which is a beautiful orchestral
piece that introduces a melod-
ic theme that is incorporated
through the whole album.
Most of the album follows the
Dimmu Borgir tradition of
heavy speedy metal filled with
grinding guitars and the occa-

‘sional bit of tastefully incorpo-

rated keyboards, but one song
surpassed my expectations.
Track 6, “Puritania” mixes
black metal with industrial
touches, which makes for an
excellent, intriguing and sur-
prisingly catchy song.

Overall, Puritanical
Euphoric Misanthropia is an
album that really flexes
Dimmu Borgirs song writing
abilities, with great results. If
you like black metal you
should own this album. .

—Kathleen

Over The Edge P

ij

Phantom Planet
The Guest
2002 Epic/Sony

In the four years since
Phantom Planet's last release
Phantom Planet Is Missing,
Phantom Planet has learned
the importance of growth, both
as a band and as individuals.
Between the various different
activities of the individual
members, and trying to com-
pete in the world music mar-
ket, Phantom Planet had had
plenty of opportunity to do
both. The result is a smart
blend of youthful energy and
musical talent that was well
worth the wait.

The Guest is a spirited
composition that deals with
such issues as that crush that
you just can’t talk to, the dis-
tressing world of the Wall
Street stock market, and the
crappy day when you just do
not want to get out of bed, or
deal with people in general.
The instrumental technique
displayed is excellent, lyrical
content is not boring or super-
ficial, and the variety of sound
is good enough to prevent the
instant boredom that is preva-
lent in most top forty music
today. The music itself ranges
from quiet piano and violin dri-
ven melodies to high energy,
harder alternative rock, and
the vocal range of Alexander
Greenwald is distinctive and
refreshing, completely lacking
in the angstfulness that has
been made fashionable lately.
In a stale market where
almost everything has already
been done, Phantom Planet’s
latest release is definitely a
breath of fresh air.

—Dana