Various Artists
The Killer in You: A Tribute to Smashing Pumpkins (2.5 stars)
Tribute albums, by definition, suck. If you're lucky, there are one or two tracks that strike the delicate balance between a boringly faithful rendition and an unrecognizable alteration that bears little relation to the original. The Killer in You, a tribute to '90s alt-rock titans the Smashing Pumpkins, mostly falls into the former category, with a who's-who of screamo and hard-core bands paying homage to Billy Corgan's songs by offering up straightforward covers that often even re-create Corgan's guitar and vocal style.
For an album full of aggressive, heavy bands, Killer is remarkably timid, and the only act to cut loose with their genre's trademark screaming is A Static Lullaby, whose take on "The Everlasting Gaze" nevertheless remains rather limp. Murder by Death get points for turning "We Only Come Out at Night" into a cello-drenched moody goth tune, but there doesn't seem to be any particular reason for it.
The best listens end up being the ones that play it safe but retain the essence of what made the songs good in the first place. 32 Leaves' "Zero" and Eighteen Visions' "Quiet" are serviceable and energetic, but that's about as good as this collection gets.
Tortoise & Bonnie "Prince" Billy
The Brave and the Bold (3 stars)
There's nothing particularly wrong with The Brave and the Bold. Its 10 cover renditions are pleasantly listenable, evidenced by my having had the disc on repeat for three days without bludgeoning my CD player.
But there's nothing particularly right about The Brave and the Bold, either. And that's disappointing given the project's dream pairing of Bonnie "Prince" Billy (a.k.a. Will Oldham) the creaky-voiced ex-Palace frontman who puts a distinctive stamp on everything he sings (see his takes on R. Kelly's "Ignition" and AC/DC's "Big Balls"), and Tortoise, chameleon-like instrumentalists equally adroit at sinister ambience and jazzy buoyancy.
Even the track list—uniting rock classics (Bruce Springsteen's "Thunder Road" and Elton John's "Daniel") with musical ephemera (Melanie's "(Some Say) I Got the Devil" and Lungfish's "Love Is Love")—appears to pave the way for total success. So why is the payoff so unfulfilling?
It could just be a case of unattainable expectations. Perhaps the weighty, humorless tone bogs down the undertaking. Or maybe, this strange batch of tunes simply wasn't intended to be messed with, regardless of who did the messing.
Various
Om: 10, A Decade of Future Music (3.5 stars)
One of San Francisco's most respected record labels looks back at its 10 years of history with this three-disc set. The CDs are titled House and Downtempo, two dics of new and previously unreleased tracks, and Classics, rereleases from the label's catalog. All told, it's a clear demonstration that from Day 1, the company was committed to diverse sounds.
Naturally, Om's first find and current star, Mark Farina, is featured—"Radio (Phil Weeks remix)," "Cali Spaces (Julius Papp mix)," "Dream Machine")—but other stable members get their chances to shine, too.
UK breakbeat group King Kooba makes appearances with new tracks on House, and jumping out of the mix on the same disc is Colette's "What Will She Do for Love (Kaskade's Mo Love Mix)." Downtempo is predictably cool, with Kaskade, one of San Francisco's most influential DJs (and Om's own A&R director), and his jazzy "Yeah Right." Seafoam brings in a great mix of percussive sounds on "Magnus Buchan," while Colossus seems to tap Miles Davis in "Inna City."
Blue Boy gets Classics off to a rousing start with his funky "Remember Me," followed by drum and bass duo Ming + FS' 1998 hit "Madhattan Bound" and hip-hoppers People Under the Stairs.
In all, an excellent introduction to a wide variety of sounds with something for everyone.