TRACI LORDS
1,000 Fires
Radioactive
"DANCE MUSIC IS the future, and I have always believed in the future," says Traci Lords, actress and now recording artist. I don't know if I could have gone on if Traci didn't believe in the future. Her press kit is filled with big diamonds of wisdom like that, but the album is even better.The former underage porn star throbs to a start with "Control," a song written about the death of, who else, Kurt Cobain. As highly processed and tasty as a 7-Eleven cheeseburger, the song and all that follows should cost consumers, if there are any, as much as the grease sandwich.
URB Magazine editor Todd Roberts sums up the momentous occasion of Lords' recording debut with this gibberish: "Traci's future holds a ton of weight and (is) ultimately a big statement for women in dance music. A genre currently dominated by men, her inclusion may allow credible (female) voices to be heard." Urp.
--Michael Metzger
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Glad I'm A Girl
Houses In Motion
FIFTEEN FEMALE POP/alternative talents "explaining how the world makes them feel: lonely, angry, happy, horny or just plain sad." Dig the swampy strut of ex-Hellcats/Panther Burns diva Lorette Velvette, cracked-egg torch moans from Susan Voelz and a stripper's lament done country-blues style by Cheralee Dillon.Better yet, spot your local faves. Caitlin Von Schmidt: the melancholy, heartbeat thump of "Waiting For Rain"...Andrea Curtis-Olson: shimmering with a soft assertiveness on "Dream Of Me"... Tammy Allen: downcast sentiments, operatic voice and atmospheric music for "The Door." With three Tucsonans on one German disc, can the Ladies Of The Old Pueblo tour of Europe be far behind?
--Fred Mills
OBLIVIANS
Soul Food
Crypt
RAWER THAN A Brillo-scrubbed hemorrhoid, Memphis' Oblivians sound like the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion recorded in a bus station photo booth. They're pretty crude, lyrically, as well; song titles include such white trash sentimentality as "And Then I Fucked Her," "Nigger Rich" and "I'm Not A Sicko, There's A Plate In My Head." So you've been warned.Highlights include a pulse-pounding (and ivories-pounding) slab of slop-grunt blooze, Lightnin' Hopkins' "Viet Nam War Blues," and a chaotic, fuzzed-out version of Trio's "Ja Ja Ja" (translated, by the way). Fans of Billy Childish, Bassholes, '68 Comeback, and maybe even Tony Joe White, will love it.
--Fred Mills
