VA - 2000 - Stoned Immaculate: The Music Of The Doors

Essentially Elektra Records' tribute to a band that originally helped put them on the map, Stoned Immaculate: The Music of the Doors was assembled by producer Ralph Sall, with a heavy concentration on mainstream-oriented alternative rock. While some tracks are the straight-up covers typical of tribute albums, die-hard Doors fans have greater reasons to pay attention. The surviving band members appear on several tracks -- sometimes as a backing unit, sometimes as individual guest collaborators -- with frequently vital-sounding results. Echoing the Fatboy Slim "Bird of Prey" single (coincidence that this was released around the same time?), producer Sall also incorporates sampled Morrison vocals, usually over atmospheric, electronic-tinged backing tracks; this tactic also produces beyond-the-grave Morrison duets with John Lee Hooker and William S. Burroughs. However -- perhaps logically -- it's the band performances that have the most life to them, especially those involving the Stone Temple Pilots and Ian Astbury. Even though Stoned Immaculate occasionally suffers from typical tribute-album unevenness, it's overall a fitting testament to the Doors' legacy.

1 Break on Through (To the Other Side) Stone Temple Pilots 3:47
2 Riders on the Storm Creed 6:18
3 Light My Fire Train 3:43
4 Peace Frog Smash Mouth 3:02
5 L.A. Woman Days of the New 3:47
6 Love Me Two Times Aerosmith 3:20
7 Under Waterfall Doors 3:12
8 Wild Child Cult 3:22
9 Roadhouse Rap Morrison 1:03
10 Rock House Blues Hooker, Morrison 5:34
11 Is Everybody In? Burroughs 2:43
12 Hello I Love You Oleander 2:36
13 Touch Me Astbury, Cult 4:38
14 Children of Night Cervenka, Farrell 3:02
15 Love Her Madly Diddley 4:54
16 The Cosmic Movie Doors 3:03
17 The End Days Of The New 16:04

¡Aquí!

No Doubt - 2000 - Return Of Saturn

Return of Saturn is an almost defiantly mature record about two things: Stefani's exploration of a troubled romance and her own romantic ideals, plus a serious attempt by the group to not only keep new wave alive, but to make that adolescent music relevant to an older audience. It's a high concept, but Return of Saturn is filled with satisfying contradictions. It's melodic, but deceptively complex; it can seem frothy, but it's never frivolous. No Doubt's desire to expand the emotional template of new wave is the perfect match for Stefani's themes -- she may be writing about love, but she's not writing adolescent love songs. Fragments of her teenaged romantic fantasies remain, but she's writing as a woman in her late 20s. She's tired of being another "ex-girlfriend" -- she wants to fall in love, get married, and have a family. It's a subject that's surprisingly uncommon in pop music, which would alone make Return of Saturn an interesting album. What makes it a successful one is that the band delivers an aural equivalent of Stefani's lyrical themes. They also begin with their adolescent musical ideals, adding depth and detail to their pop-ska foundation. They balance their non-ironic love of new wave with contemporary production and a sensibility borrowed from classic rock: that albums are greater than the sum of their parts. Surprisingly, they pull it off -- it's a far stronger record than Tragic Kingdom, even if the catchiest numbers don't have the same swagger and punch as their previous hit singles. So be it. With Return of Saturn, No Doubt have made a terrific, layered record that exceeds any expectations set by Tragic Kingdom. Not only have they found their voice, they know what to do with it.

1 Ex-Girlfriend Dumont, Kanal, Stefani 3:32
2 Simple Kind of Life Stefani 4:16
3 Bathwater Dumont, Kanal, Stefani 4:02
4 Six Feet Under Kanal, Stefani 2:28
5 Magic's in the Makeup 4:21
6 Artificial Sweetener Dumont, Kanal, Stefani 3:54
7 Marry Me Kanal, Stefani 4:38
8 New Dumont, Stefani 4:26
9 Too Late Dumont, Kanal, Stefani 4:16
10 Comforting Lie Dumont, Kanal, Stefani 2:52
11 Suspension Without Suspense Stefani 4:10
12 Staring Problem Kanal, Stefani, Stefani 2:43
13 Home Now Dumont, Kanal, Stefani 4:34
14 Dark Blue Dumont, Kanal, Stefani 10:30

¡Aquí!

Abuela Coca - 2000 - El Ritmo del Barrio

El ritmo del barrio
Walking
H20
Santa soledad
Templo
Para ver las estrellas
007
Nega
Quién lo diría
Ta'salao
Cable (mira dentro tuyo)
Cría cuervos

¡Aquí!

Faeth En Ztatik - 2000 - Flatline

I am human. I breathe filth and contamination. Phyisical greed spills out of my oil choked pores (razor scraped raw skin red) and suffocates reason (because I allow it to {for just one touch, for just another, just one more}) for satisfaction (is being addicted, is eating broken glass). A need to justify denying reproduction. Stimulation. Release. Lies. Betrayal. Abandonment. Stimulation. Release. Lies. Betrayal. AbandonmentStimulationReleaseLies. Enough. No more. Sickmachine. Malfunction-Pathetic. Delusion. Insecure. What do you want from me? Am I pretty? (stained-rag-stitch-cloth-painted-face-cracked-{rot}). obsessed with being beautiful. With feeling appreciated. needed. wanted. understood. loved. Human filth. We need nothing. We want everything. There is no basic necessity. We are unecessary. I am disease. Contagen incarnated. Consume. breathe sleep, breed and eat and breathe and sleep.., breed. needmachine. Consume. Spawnwaste. Hate down to chemical screaming instinct. Heartpoundchestplate. I am spineless. Ameboa. This is damnation. Hell is animal yearning. Constant. Tearing at the mind. Degradation. Don't touch me. (It's only natural afterall). I am made of lies. Selfdeceptionloathing deprivation. Not of sound mind and body. Touch me. Please don't touch me again. Kill my senses. No sighthearsmelltastetouch again. Don't make me cut it and burn it away. This is addiction. I am junksick. Fuck your drugs. I need an overdose. now. need. againagainagain. Never. Again. Always. Sick with need. Always. -not- beautiful. I refuse this programming with vehement failure consistant as digital transmissions (like it matters). I am thoughtless, algorithmic. There is nothing left. My mind is (echos of what once could have been). animalsurvivalmachine. beast. I am tired of pretending. Dig fingers beneath my skin. Coercion. Tear it out of me while I scream behind smiles. Love. (laughter) Love. Remove the thousand masks. We are damagemachines.

1 - Faeth en Ztatik - The Padded Cell (Neurosis Remix by Faeth en Ztatik)
2 - Wumpscut - Wreath of Barbs (Escaping the Flesh Remix by Faeth en Ztatik) (First Draft)
3 - Flatline (inspired by Maschinelike's "Flatline".)
4 - Maschine's Blut (Faeth en Ztatik vs Maschinelike)
5 - Red Shift
6 - Snake River Conspiracy - Lovesong (Unmasked Desperation Remix by Faeth en Ztatik)
7 - Mir (Vocals)
8 - Asymmetric Warfare(v0.2)
9 - Eventual Decay V3
10 - Scars
11 - Android Lust - Refuse (Remix/Cover by Faeth en Ztatik V5)
12 - Strange Time 2 (Shred 4)
13 - The Cure - Want (Cover by Faeth en Ztatik)

¡Aquí!

Abonizio, Adrián - 2000 - Todo Es Humo

01- Todo es humo
02- Amigos de lo ajeno
03- Vivir
04- Te hablo
05- El verbo corazón
06- Echesortu
07- La puerta
08- Te di, te di, te di
09- El soldado y la reina de las nieves
10- Club de almas
11- Familia de artistas
12- La villa de los milagros
13- Por esta vez
14- Y ahora
15- Dios y el Diablo en el taller

¡Aquí!

Smith, Elliott - 2000 - Figure 8

Judging only by his earlier, bare-bones indie-label albums, it seemed highly unlikely that Elliott Smith would turn into the ambitious arranger and studio craftsman of his lushly textured Dreamworks debut, XO. A big part of that shift, of course, was the fact that Smith had major-label finances and equipment to work with for the first time; this allowed him to fuse his melancholy, slightly punky folk with the rich sonics of pop artists like the Beatles and Beach Boys. Smith continues in that direction for the follow-up, Figure 8, an even more sonically detailed effort laden with orchestrations and inventive production touches. With a couple of exceptions, the sound of Smith's melancholy has largely shifted from edgy to sighingly graceful, although his lyrics are as dark as ever. Even if the subject matter stays in familiar territory, though, the backing tracks are another matter -- a gorgeous, sweeping kaleidoscope of layered instruments and sonic textures. Smith fleshes his songs out with assurance and imagination, and that newfound sense of mastery is ultimately the record's real emphasis; there's seemingly a subtle new wrinkle to the sound of every track, and yet it's all easily recognizable as trademark Smith. Even if it is a very impressive statement overall, Figure 8 isn't quite the masterpiece it wants to be -- there's something about the pacing that just makes the record feel long (at over 52 minutes, it is the longest album in Smith's catalog), and it can sometimes float away from the listener's consciousness. Perhaps it's that Smith's songwriting does slip on occasion here, which means that those weaker tracks sink under the weight of arrangements they aren't equipped to support. Still, most of the songs do reveal their strengths with repeated plays, and it's worth the price of a few nondescript items to reap the rewards of the vast majority. Fans who miss the intimacy of his Kill Rock Stars records won't find much to rejoice about here, but overall, Figure 8 comes tantalizingly close to establishing Elliott Smith as the consummate pop craftsman he's bidding to become.

		1		Son of Sam	Smith	3:04
		2		Somebody That I Used to Know	Smith	2:09
		3		Junk Bond Trader	Smith	3:49
		4		Everything Reminds Me of Her	Smith	2:37
		5		Everything Means Nothing to Me	Smith	2:24
		6		LA	Smith	3:14
		7		In the Lost and Found (Honky Bach)/The Roost	Smith	4:32
		8		Stupidity Tries	Smith	4:23
		9		Easy Way Out	Smith	2:44
		10		Wouldn't Mama Be Proud?	Smith	3:25
		11		Color Bars	Smith	2:19
		12		Happiness/The Gondola Man	Smith	5:04
		13		Pretty Mary K	Smith	2:36
		14		I Better Be Quiet Now	Smith	3:35
		15		Can't Make a Sound	Smith	4:18
		16		Bye	Smith	1:53

¡Aquí!

Quinteto CEAMC - 2000 - Compositores del Siglo XX

¡Aquí!

Oldham, Will - 2000 - Guarapero: Lost Blues 2

Guarapero/Lost Blues 2 gathers seven years' worth of rarities from Will Oldham, including an unusual reading of D.H. Lawrence's poem The Risen Lord, with a clunky, cheesy drum machine in the background, as well as a radical reworking of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Every Mother's Son." Several of these songs come from BBC sessions, but the sound quality on tracks like "Gezundheit" and "Let the Wires Ring" suggests they were recorded on wax cylinder and transmitted by a crystal set, which, of course, only amplifies the songs' sparse, timeless feel. "The Spider's Dude Is Often There" and "For the Mekons Et Al" are among the most exuberant Palace songs on Guarapero, while Oldham tracks like "No More Rides" and "Sugarcane Juice Drinker" trace his development as a performer and songwriter. Due to the time span it covers, it's natural that Guarapero/Lost Blues 2 is a bit disjointed; nevertheless, it fills in the gaps for Oldham completists and is an entertaining, if scattered, look at some of his musical sketches over the years.

		1		Drinking Woman		2:29
		2		The Spider's Dude Is Often There		4:17
		3		Gezundheit		2:48
		4		Let the Wires Ring		5:20
		5		Big Balls		3:15
		6		For the Mekons et Al		5:36
		7		Stable Will		4:26
		8		Every Mother's Son		6:06
		9		No More Rides		5:06
		10		The Risen Lord	Lawrence	5:20
		11		Boy, Have You Cum		2:51
		12		Patience		3:10
		13		Take However Long You Want		3:55
		14		Sugarcane Juice Drinker		3:33
		15		Call Me a Liar		4:20
		16		O Lord Are You in Need?		3:03

¡Aquí!