ShareThis"UNIVERSAL MIND CONTROL," Common (G.O.O.D. Music/Geffen)
There's a casual, perfunctory air to Common's new "Universal Mind Control," the kind of atmosphere that might be expected of a busy, 36-year-old rapper/actor comfortable in his skin and surrounded by reliable cohorts as he knocks out his eighth release.
Common's investment in the project doesn't run deep -- with only 10 tracks, it barely meets the minimum standard for a hip-hop album -- and he delivers what fans would expect, eclectic and electronic-flavored rap created with the help of fellow Chicagoan (and pal) Kanye West plus longtime collaborators The Neptunes. Yet even if Common is going through the motions to some extent, "Universal Mind Control" satisfies without overwhelming.
Common -- star of such movies as "Wanted," "Smokin' Aces," "Street Kings" and the upcoming "Terminator Salvation" -- takes on reliable rap dispositions on "Universal Mind Control" via boasting and seducing. Plus there's an upbeat tone to the collection. It is presented with humor and joy, as in the sunny retro-soul-pop feel of "Make My Day" (featuring Cee-Lo) and the gleeful "Changes," which is inspired by Barack Obama.
Common's envelope-pushing team has almost gone full circle with this one, leaving over-stimulation behind to cycle back to a more minimalist hip-hop sound that ranges from the apt wobble of "Punch Drunk Love" (featuring West) to the fluttering closer "Everywhere."
For his part, Common's burgeoning acting talents come into play (even where his ordinary voice doesn't) as he shifts into the hard-driving warrior mode of "Gladiator" and the escalating confidence of "Sex 4 Suga," where he declares, "I'm gonna touch you where the sun don't shine!"
"Universal Mind Control" isn't high-concept or groundbreaking or even particularly focused. It's simply a solid mid-career release from an accomplished artist in good form. And its modest agenda is liberating.
Rating (five possible): 3-1/2
"I LOVE TECHNO 2008," various acts mixed by Boys Noize (Music Man)
Perhaps more than any other genre, techno music is like a drug. When it works correctly, its hypnotic energy is both calming and uplifting, and it also may cause excitability and euphoria (which could sometimes result in addiction). By contrast, techno can stir anxiety or irritability and leave users feeling detached. Then there are those who are simply unaffected by the bossy vibrations.
Those who are favorably impacted by this sonic medication will find themselves consumed by potentially new highs when they hear "I Love Techno 2008," a compilation of stirring sound mixed by Boys Noize, a/k/a Alexander Ridha -- an upstart, mid-20s German based in Berlin.
Ridha's continuous mix finds one way after another to prod and grab an audience. He employs requisite repetition, but not to excess, and he eschews the self-indulgent cooldowns that harpoon momentum on many such compilations.
There are moments on "I Love Techno 2008" that will cause fans of the genre to become infatuated -- different moments for different fans, of course. Some will acquiesce to the domination of elastic rhythms and aural Taser-like blasts early on. Others might be captivated later, like when Popof's "Electric Circus" transforms from playful, springy bleeps into a sinister steamroller driven by a looping siren effect reminiscent of the warning system before the spaceship detonated in "Alien." Still others might not be converted until late in the game, when a jungle-electro groove powers in on tribal drums.
Those as fond of techno as Ridha is are sure to fall for the aggressive attraction at some point on "I Love Techno 2008," and some might even temporarily wonder how they will ever listen to anything else. That's when the release isn't just good enough to love, it's good enough to marry.
Rating: 4
"EARTH GIFT," Kevin Locke (Ixtlan Recording Consortium)
As fascinating as ancient music is -- be it Third World, indigenous, whatever -- unenhanced field recordings of such music leave most listeners cold. So producers are charged with the task of conveying old sounds in modern contexts to make them more palatable.
As a result, American Indian music typically has been subjected to the indignities of the New Age genre -- an occasional flute or drum dovetailed with omnipresent floating synthesizers. That's serviceable background noise in a shop selling dream-catchers and crystals, but it's totally inadequate as a reflection of a culture.
With "Earth Gift," Lakota flute master Kevin Locke and producer Tom Wasinger attempt to capture an essence of American Indian music that respects its origins while taking enough liberties to keep the audience engaged. Locke melds the lore of several tribes and does a bit of revising and editing to create what he calls "animal songs," "thunder songs" and "eagle vision songs" -- each generalizing universal symbols of spiritualism and the natural world. For his part, Wasinger brings aboard a few non-culture-specific instruments, even creating some of his own, to sweeten the mix without interfering with Locke's work.
The sound is surreal and mostly acoustic, driven by Locke's flute, native drums and guest vocals by Doug Good Feather and Gracie RedShirt Tyon. Locke achieves evocative tones without the assistance of synthesizers, sending out soaring notes on such songs as "Thunder Horse, Born From the Clouds" and the title track and even using a double-barrel flute to dominate "What the Eagle Sees."
Wasinger's support is essential, providing energy shifts and polish via percussion and strings, though his zither on "Muskrat" and instrumental melange on "When Thunder Calls" somewhat blur the mission of cohesive atmosphere.
Yet neither Locke nor Wasinger pretends that "Earth Gift" is pure American Indian music. They merely offer an appealing approximation.
Rating: 4
(E-mail Chuck Campbell of The Knoxville News-Sentinel in Tennessee at Campbell(at)knews.com.)
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