the lyrics are, at times simplis-
tic, there is a passion behind
the lyrics that makes it almost
unnoticeable.

The music is fairly unobtru-
sive, and crosses many gen-
res in an odd attempt to bind
them together. Songs like
“Bottom Dollar Baby” and
“Betty, Betty (ride that hog)”
have an almost bluesy feel to
them, while songs like “Home”
and “Comeback” have a more
melodic sound with quite a
strong lyrical tendency.

The album is a vicarious roller
coaster, both for the singer
and the listener. There are the
typical songs concerning love
mixed in with a longing for
childhood palpable even for
the youngest listener.

Overall, it’s strong Canadian
music, with talent behind it.
---Stephanie

The Devlins
Consent
Nettwerk 2002

kkk

It has been almost two years
since the Dublin-based broth-
ers who front The Devilins fin-
ished their last gold-album
release, ‘Waiting’. This album,
Consent, was recorded in
their personal studio, an old
country house overlooking the
sea. Musical contributors
include Robert Bell (The Blue
Nile), American drummer Matt
Chamberlain (Fiona Apple,
Macy Gray), programmer Alan
Friedman (Depeche Mode)
and Waiting producer Pierre
Marchand.

The Devlins easily create a
cinematic atmosphere, which
by now, is familiar territory for
the band seeing as how their
songs continue to be chosen

for film and television sound-
tracks. The most recent ones
being Dawson’s Creek and
Six Feet Under.

The Devlins are a hard-core,
soft rock band, whose special-
ity seems to been keeping this
mood throughout, This CD is
thoroughly enjoyable, espe-
cially for those who want to
relax after a 3 hour lab.

—-Genevieve

Conjure One

Conjure One

Nettwerk 2002°

boo od

After many years of group
endeavors, Rys_ Fulber
explodes onto the solo scene.
His passion for music, long
nurtured, started in childhood
with the drums and quickly
spread to keyboard. Fulber’s
earlier efforts include both
Front Line Assembly and
Delirium; the sounds of which
are continued and expanded
upon in Conjure One. With a
multicultural approach the to
the album, Fulber succeeds in
creating an exotic, haunting
and enchanting sound. Not
only does he collaborate with
international musicians such
as Chemda, an Israeli vocal-
ist, and Argentinaian Marie-
Clair D’ubaldo, he also sam-
ples music from Turkey and
Cyprus. The music is reminis-
cent of Middle Eastern
melodies and vocals. Fulber
uses modern twists ranging
from the sound of rain to the
fabricated notes keyboard to
the talented voices of Poe and
the Tea Party’s Jeff Martin.
The product stretches the
boundaries of the industrial
genre. The CD as a whole is

very melodic and emotional.
The international flair incites
interest and the vocals are
reflective, if somewhat scarce.
Unfortunately the tracks tend
to be repetitive and rely on the
freshness of the foreign
approach to this genre.
Remarkable features include
‘Center of the Sun’ with its rich
layered effect, ‘Manic Star’ for
the thoughtful lyrics and
‘Premonition’ for its vocals.
Overall ‘Conjure One’ show-
cases the potential of elec-
tronic music. The ethnic vocals
and musical talent are an
example of another talented
Canadian.

—-Natalie

Indigo Girls

Become you

Sony 2002

kk

The indigo Girls, Amy
Elizabeth Ray and Emily Ann
Saliers, are both natives of
and high school graduates
from Atlanta, Georgia. For
their release, “Become You”,
the girls take a soulful and fold
driven approach. This record
is much more subdued and
introspective than their ‘97
release, Shaming of the Sun,
which had a rock feel to it. The
title track, “Become You”,
deals with some issues they
have regarding their confeder-
ate southern background. The
girls seem to have gained
quite a bit of understanding
about their lives, which they
demonstrate in their lyrical
ability. The vocals are nothing
short of amazing on this
record. They harmonise very
nicely on several of the tracks.
The girls experiment with a

variety of different sounds
including a jazzy night-club
sound, which | do not find par-
ticularly appealing and _ suit-
able to their style of music.
Overall, | enjoyed this record,
but | would have liked to hear
some more upbeat tracks in
typical Indigo Girls style.

—Philip

Das Ich

Antichrist

Metropolis 2002

kkkk

It has certainly been too long
since we last heard from Das
Ich.

“Antichrist” is their 13th
release and second for
Metropolis. This magic piece
of music is not likely to disap-
point anyone. On the other
hand, this album can open
some doors for a band still far
from real stardom.

Das Ich delivers nine state of
the art compositions in their
truly unique fashion. The

Over The Edge Page 9

album is ended with the 17

minute piece “Der Achte Tag’,
simply the opposite of pop.
Das Ich draws from centuries
of classic music and let the
sounds from conventional
instruments meet the technol-
ogy of today. The result is
nothing less of stunning. |
can’t help but wonder why so
many electronic music artists
are stuck with just machine
sounds, imitating their idols to
death.

Stefan Ackermann’s voice
delivers the poetic lyrics in
German in the usual impres-
sive manner. Again, from an
English speaking standpoint,
the totally German lyrics (a
legitimate thing, to be sure)
stand in contrast to how we
have been told the world
works (that everyone must
submit to the British/American
domination). There isn’t even
a token English track on this
CD, but you know what, I’m
glad.

Bruno Kramm showed us he
could sing and sing well. His
voice can be heard here as
well, even if it’s ever so briefly.
The well-crafted and multi-lay-
ered music is threatening,
dark, weird and extreme. But
at the same time we are actu-
ally talking about real song
structures, dance patterns
and a morbid groove. The end
result is also some really cool
kind of hi-tech pop. It’s previ-
ously unheard of, at least in
this world.

---Mike