Music

CD Review Revue

Monsters in the Closet

(Battle Axe Records)

***While it remains to be seen whether Canada's Wild West is a region of untamed talent, Swollen Members are the hottest thing out of BC since Nelly Furtado. (She even stops by for a sexy cameo in "Breath" on Monsters in the Closet.) The hiphop group's latest project shows that, despite their Canadian pride, they still found plenty of backup from "down south," notably in Dilated People's "Evidence," and the collaboration brings authenticity, if not originality, to the production. The most surprising guest is definitely Sarah McLachlan, whose voice is sampled and woven into "Long Way Down," a thoughtful track reminiscent of Eminem's collaboration with Dido.

Monsters technically isn't new work, but rather a compilation of B-sides, unreleased cuts, and remixes that, despite boasting 20 tracks, is billed by the group as an "album in between albums." Though fans accustomed to the syrupy beats and lo-fi samples of Swollen's first two releases may be put off by the more synthed-out production of this collection, the flows of Mad Child and Prevail are no less gritty; their passion for creating images and exploring concepts remains just as strong. AARON JENKINS

LOOSE FUR

Loose Fur

(Drag City)

****This is quite a lineup: Wilco's Jeff Tweedy and Glenn Kotche, with Jim O'Rourke, a wildly talented musician who has released several great solo albums as well as being a regular collaborator with Sonic Youth. Together as Loose Fur, the trio has made an infectious album that nuzzles a hammy display of each member's abilities. Kotche handles the percussion (spare drumming and clanky noisemakers) as Tweedy and O'Rourke sing the songs (separate and together) and weave acoustic and electric guitar with keyboards, electric bass, and experimental manipulations. Lyrically, we're listening to the inner monologue of a lackadaisical loner who's probably grown tired of his own bad behavior; parenthetical lines containing intelligent revisions follow surface thoughts. The album ends on an up note, though, sticking to the happy-go-lucky style of the preceding songs but adding a hopeful bit of language that lends buoyancy to the album as a whole. To overanalyze Loose Fur is to ruin its structure and meaning. If you're a fan of Tweedy, O'Rourke, or Kotche, purchase the album and I doubt you'll be disappointed. Not a fan? If you're intrigued at all, take the chance. KATHLEEN WILSON

THE SEA AND CAKE

One Bedroom

(Thrill Jockey)

***Does anyone get really excited about lackadaisical post-rockers the Sea and Cake? One Bedroom, the Chicago quartet's sixth album, sounds a hell of a lot like their previous works, which are like a week of partly sunny 63-degree days in Luxembourg. Sure, the excellent playing, vibrant production (by drummer John McEntire), and varied menu (Neu!-ish Krautrock, English prog rock, laid-back funk, Bowie's "Sound & Vision") get toes tapping and heads nodding. But is that all we demand of music? Can we justifiably be annoyed that singer Sam Prekop hasn't once altered his delivery in nine years (that of an urbane aesthete exhaling non sequiturs like smoke rings)? Yes. Can we reasonably be irked by the polite-to-a-fault, competent noodling that often recalls late-period Steely Dan? Yes. And yet One Bedroom has enough moments of fluffy joy to make you forgive these tics and embrace your intense ambivalence about the Sea and Cake. DAVE SEGAL

PLASTIC MASTERY

In the Fall of Unearthly Angels

(Magic Marker)

****Pop songs are most perfect when they're imperfect; how better to create a feeling of exhilaration than with messy instrumentation, joyous sloppiness, a ramshackle attitude? It's pretty good when you sound so psyched to play music that you can barely play it. Of course, this sloppiness only works when the music is actually good to begin with. Based on their unfettered enthusiasm and ability to write a big, hooky melody, Plastic Mastery are one of the lucky bands that can employ this sound. With half-lagging acoustic guitars, a horn section, violins, drums, and layers and layers of euphoric, sometimes-screaming vocals, the Tallahassee six-piece makes a mini-orchestra of maniacally sassy yet intelligently written pop. They can play well, of course--slackers and crappy musicians could never hope to make tunes like these. It's just kinda chaotic, and in the best way possible. JULIANNE SHEPHERD

**** Long Island *** Fuzzy Navel ** Buttery Nipple * wine cooler

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