"Flavors" Volume I (Reprint - originally published in July, 2002)

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***THIS WEEK'S FLAVORS***

OTEP - "Sevas Tra" (Capitol, June, 2002)
Okay, Otep Shamaya makes Lita Ford or Doro Pesch sound like Debbie Gibson (notice I didn't say "look" - because frankly, Doro and Lita were pretty hot for metal grrls)... She's whiny like Chino Moreno (deftones), and then can growl better than Phil Anselmo... well, okay, almost... Current fave tracks - 1.)"Tortured" and 5.)"Sacrilege"

Five Pointe O - "Untitled" (2002, Roadrunner)
Yes, the title of the album is really "Untitled." More heavy goodness for your soul. A couple cool points... 1.) A grrl guitar player (and she effin' gets down in the video I saw)... 2.) a keyboard player... which kinda reminds me of Faith No More in small parts (but nothing closely resembling Mushroomhead or the like)... but not a lot of "singing," a lot of wailing and growling that has seemed to become more and more popular... the only guy that used to come close to the intensity of Phil Anselmo's shredding of vocal chords for a long time was FNM frontman Mike Patton (whose new band, Tomahawk, will be opening for TooL at the Huntington Civic Center on August 12)... PICK TRACK: 1.) "Double X minus" (whose opening scream sounds like he's telling you what he had for lunch - I swear he says, "Sub Gum Kung Pao!!!" ) sets the tone for the rest of the album rather nicely...

Killswitch Engage - "Alive or Just Breathing" (2002, Roadrunner)
Again, more morsels of metal (I hate that word) to help soothe you after a long day of courteous politeness... Again, more frantic shrieks of agony and disenchantment... but this guy actually has a pretty wicked singing voice, as well... bonus... PICK TRACKS: 4.) "My Last Serenade" and 5.) "Life to Lifeless"

"Music from the Motion Picture 'MAGNOLIA'" - Songs by Aimee Mann (1999, Warner/Reprise)
Yep, that's right, the girl with the spiky white hair and the rat tail thingie that was getting smacked around and raped by her mafia-capo-lookin' boyfriend in Til Tuesday's "Voices Carry" video back in the early days of that M Channel - she married Sean Penn's brother (musician Michael, not "possible clone" Chris) and went on and did other stuff... Like, write songs for this movie... (how adept of you, Tony)... Call it folky, call it poppy, call it good... PICK TRACKS: 1.) "One," (a remake of the Three Dog Night Song) 3.) "Build That Wall," 8.) "Wise Up," and 9.) "Save Me" (best song on the album)... Also featured on it are two songs from Supertramp, "Goodbye Stranger," and "Logical Song" (both of which are begging for a punk/heavy/ska update - are you listening
Matt Edwards? heheh)

John Coltrane - "A Love Supreme" (1964, reissued 2001)
Okay, if you'eve ever liked jazz music in your life, you should have heard this album by now... John Coltrane was one of the best jazz musicians, let alone saxomophone players that ever walked this planet... Joined by legendary pianist McCoy Tyner and equally as virtuous drummer Elvin Jones, this album is, simply put, a four song jazz masterpiece...

(from Jack LV Isles, All Music Guide - found online here )
"...'Acknowledgement' is the awakening of sorts... which yields to the second act, 'Resolution,' an amazingly beautiful piece about the fury of dedication to a new path of understanding. 'Pursuance' is a search for that understanding, and 'Psalm' is the enlightenment..."

Milkface - "Dirt in the Drinks" (1997)
Okay... This is my first bit of "local" flavor... and it's only technically even really local... it's one of my bestest friends in the whole friggin world's old band... "He" is Duncan Chaboudy and though while he's from here originally, the band was from Asheville, N.C. They were wicked beyond belief... Instrumental rock three piece, not like Karma to Burn or anything... definitely it's own thing... This was their first EP from the early days... They are since defunct, but it was good when it was there... I think you may be able to find some stuff still listed on MP3.com... but if not, I can always come off with a copy of it for ya along with some unreleased stuff of theirs...

HONORABLE MENTION: I wanted to talk about the Who's latest, the 2cd (+limited edition bonus CD) "Ultimate Collection" (I have been a pretty regular listener of the Who and Pete Townshend for what seems like several thousands of years), but I'm still in a bit of a funk over the untimely passing of bassist John Entwhistle... I respect Roger and Pete for wanting to continue the tour and stuff, and they even got one of THE MOST WICKED bass players EVER to join, Pino Palladino (most noteably of post-Waters Pink Floyd and David Gilmour solo project fame, among numerous others), alongside Zach "Don't Call Me Ringo's Son" Starkey omn drums, but still... I dunno... is it really still the Who? Was it even after Keith Moon died? hrmph...

Finally, in the "who else is gonna cash in on a reunion tour" department... It seems that the remaining living Doors could wait no longer to make some money off their legacy, and recruited none other than Cult head honcho Ian Astbury to join... An awesome choice, if I do say so, myself... and I just did... At least they didn't try to get Val Kilmer or something... heheh

Welp, until next time this is me saying, "Have a take... and don't suck..."
-tonus-