Randy rapper embraces his dirty mind

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"TASTEMAKER," Pittsburgh Slim (Def Jam)So what's a young rapper who repeatedly admits he's not a "tough guy" going to rap about?Sex, of course.Pittsburgh Slim -- a.k.a. Sied Chahrour -- fills "Tastemaker" with the kind of bumping sounds that'll get the gals out on the dance-floor and the testosterone-saturated lyrics that'll occur to those watching those gals move.The Los Angeles-based performer, a transplant from Pittsburgh, has already gotten a huge boost for the release with the electro-pop first single, "Girls Kiss Girls," thanks largely to a video featuring Penthouse model Krista Ayne. In the video, she helps him realize the traditional male fantasy of seeing a little playful girl-on-girl action. Ayne and another woman give "Slimmie" a webcam show, which prompts his humorously overanxious response: "Do it for real, girl, don't pretend ... Let me see! Let me see! Let me see!"And the rapper doesn't have his libido in high gear only for "Girls Kiss Girls." Sex is pretty much all he has on his mind on "Tastemaker," which is refreshingly honest, if a little juvenile.Although Pittsburgh Slim could be the would-be oversexed little brother of "Slim Shady" Eminem, for his cocky disposition as much as his scrappy frame, his sound has more in common with indie-electronica-rock performers like Peaches and Lords of Acid.Start to finish, the seven-track "Tastemaker" is club music, from the pounding opener, "Pittsburgh Slim," to the frenetic-percussion and clapping-beat closer, "Toy." The rapper's sex-charged restlessness is matched line for line by crackling, irrepressible rhythms.He may not have anything deeper to offer than "With so many pretty chicks, who can choose?" ("Superstar Extraordinaire") or "Little skirt, ain't nothin' underneath it/Every playboy wanna rock with you" ("Kiss and Tell"). But who doesn't have moments when their thoughts are more primal than profound?Rating (five possible): 4"LIVE EARTH -- THE CONCERTS FOR A CLIMATE IN CRISIS," various acts (Warner Bros.)Whatever it takes.That seems to be the theme of "Live Earth -- The Concerts for a Climate in Crisis," a single-CD/double-DVD package summarizing the "Live Earth" concerts from this past July.The folks behind the release are doing whatever it takes to sell the package, which in turn will theoretically implore listeners/viewers to do whatever it takes to do something to address the world's climate crisis.There's a tone of desperation to the compilation of songs and videos (plus short films and a documentary) as it spirals through varied artists with varied skills attempting to appeal to varied audiences. There's only modest artistic motive in the song selection, and "Live Earth" mostly feels like it was assembled at a marketing conference table.But whatever it takes, right?Madonna's "Hey You" opens the CD well enough with a jangly anthem she wrote for the event ("Open your heart, you've got to change," she sings), adding sweetness to her message with help from a children's choir. And to be fair, a few songs seem to have made the cut mainly because of their fine execution -- including vital rock tracks by Linkin Park ("Bleed It Out"), Foo Fighters ("Times Like These") and Chris Cornell ("Black Hole Sun"), plus a loose and lively "Intergalactic" by the Beastie Boys and an offbeat "Que Sera Sera" by Damien Rice and David Gray.Other tracks made it on the CD apparently because the artists are hot, even though James Blunt's "Wiseman," KT Tunstall's "Suddenly I See" and Corinne Bailey Rae and John Legend's "Mercy Mercy Me" are shakily rendered compared to the better songs.Then there are several "so what?" cuts -- Roger Waters' "Another Brick in the Wall Pt. II," Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive," Lenny Kravitz's "Are You Gonna Go My Way" -- that don't add much to the original studio versions. And The Police are flatly unremarkable with a muddy "Driven to Tears."The DVDs feature more than double the songs of the CD (including performances by Genesis, the Black Eyed Peas, Dave Matthews, Kelly Clarkson and Melissa Etheridge), but their format and prohibitive four-hour-combined running time make them less likely to generate the kind of repeated play the CD will get. Still, the DVDs will lure in a wider audience than the CD alone would, and, you know, whatever it takes ...Rating: 3-1/2"THE RUSALKA CYCLE: SONGS BETWEEN THE WORLDS," Kitka (Diaphonica)The women of the California-based vocal group Kitka use their powers for good and evil on "The Rusalka Cycle: Songs Between the Worlds." That's appropriate: The release, which keys to a theatrical production set to be presented in San Francisco in January, is inspired by spirits known in Slavic folklore as Rusalki.As the legend goes, the Rusalki were once women and girls who died untimely or unjust deaths. If not appeased, they might bring about environmental and personal disasters on the living.Eastern European towns have celebrated the spirits with annual spring festivals, yet those rituals have been dying out. So in an effort to bring attention to this fading cultural phenomenon, Kitka recruited Ukrainian performer Mariana Sadovska to create the score for "The Rusalka Cycle" and serve as the project's music director.The release opens with the eight-woman group blaring through a fairly rude "Awakening," their stark voices dovetailing through dissonance, eventually joined by a beat to create a warrior-like energy.The austerity of the opener is contrasted by the ginger chill of the a cappella ballad "River Rose," and from there, the remaining tracks continue the tug of war between chaos and calm. Instrumentation is rare and English lyrics are rarer, forcing most American listeners to merely absorb the emotional impact of these dynamic voices as they alternately mesmerize and repel, sometimes in unison and sometimes as opposing forces.It's an unusual listening experience, to be sure, but it isn't usually inaccessible -- Kitka's subdued vocals on "Farewell" and droning notes on "Transformation" are inescapably alluring, and the building sway of "Wave" and the preternatural pluck of closer "To the Lake" have mystical charm.Not many folks would tolerate a second listen of the inhuman shrillness of "Last Night" or the hysterical screams of "Sirens," but most of "The Rusalka Cycle" gets better as it gets more familiar.Rating: 3-1/2(Contact Chuck Campbell of The Knoxville News-Sentinel in Tennessee at www.knoxnews.com.)