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THIS SHOWBIZ BABY, now grown up, has been creating quite the buzz since this album's release about a month ago. The daughter of the late L.A. producer/arranger Don Costa, Nikka's got her groove on in her breakout video and single, "Like A Feather." Coming on like a female version of Lenny Kravitz, the video shows the redhead at her slinkiest, letting her sexy funk flow like nobody's business. She's practically demanding your adulation. Let Nikka Costa do her
"Everybody Got Their Something"
thang all over you!
Nikka Costa (Virgin)
Review by Gary C.W. Chun
gchun@starbulletin.com
Costa's an aspiring soul mama, and the packaging helps push her case. Voice-wise, even though she's been belting out songs since she was 7, a few more years' life experience could do her good.With production help from Justin Stanley and Mark Ronson, Costa wears her funky little heart on her sleeve. Of course, with grooveful backing musicians like bassist Pino Palladino and The Roots' Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson confidently marking time on drums, how could she go wrong?
They ably support Costa's declarations of independence, "So Have I for You" and "Tug of War," and the you-hurt-me-baby-but-it-won't-last-long-'cause-I'm-too-damn-good! scenario as related in both "Nothing" and "Hope It Felt Good."
But she's at her best when she sings in a more manageable range, instead of shooting for the emotional stratosphere. The album's last three tracks, "Just Because," "Push & Pull" and the rainy-day reflections of "Corners of My Mind" proves she can deliver the goods without having to wail away.
These songs represent the contemporary "jingles" that dot our television landscape - the sound- tracks of 30-second mini-dramas that help make a car, a piece of clothing or a camera come to life - a memorable snippet worth storing if only briefly in our cluttered cultural psyche ... Can I sell you a
"As Seen On TV: Songs From Commercials"
tune or two?
Various artists (UTV)
Review by Gary C.W. Chun
gchun@starbulletin.com... Oh, for God's sake, this is just a marketable collection of tunes already being shilled on the tube! So is it worth the $18.98 plus shipping? Nah! But it's actually a decent compilation, sequenced with some unexpected forethought.
It starts off all sensitive, with the late British cult folkie Nick Drake and "Pink Moon," through Cat Stevens' "The Wind" and Badly Drawn Boy's "The Shining," to a great cover of the Cars' "All Mixed Up" by the overlooked Red House Painters, to the pop splendor of Evan Dando's Lemonheads and "Into Your Arms."
That segues well to a couple of pop gems (Dusty Springfield and her luscious rendition of "The Look of Love" and Sarah Vaughan's saucy "Whatever Lola Wants") and eases into the hip-hop/electronica portion with the Propellerheads' "History Repeating," featuring the diva splendor of Miss Shirley Bassey.
From there, it's Fatboy Slim's "Right Here Right Now" and "Little Fluffy Clouds" from The Orb. Kool Keith and Dan the Automator's goofy Handsome Boy Modeling School project is represented by the punchy "Rock N' Roll (Could Never Hip Hop Like This)." Things cool out a bit with Groove Armada's "I See You Baby" and a classic Marvin Gaye joint, "Got to Give It Up, Pt. 1."
We go out rocking with Trio's novelty hit "Da Da Da," the big-boomin' "Lust for Life" from Iggy Pop, a couple of prime glam and punk tunes, T. Rex's "20th Century Boy" and the Buzzcocks' "What Do I Get?" and finally, The Dandy Warhols' "Boys Better," "She Sells Sanctuary" from The Cult and Styx's "Mr. Roboto."
If you want this collection on the cheap, you could make your own mix tape or burn your own CD by compiling these tunes from your own or your friends' albums, even maybe off the Internet. Consider this a public service, free of charge!
Upon signing with Hypnotic Records, the first order of business for Matt Grim was to raid the label's prodigious vaults for new, previously unheard material to grace his first Hypnotic outing. The globe-trotting DJ, promoter and Honolulu underground icon handpicked every track on the album before feeding them into his Pioneer DJ 700S CD mixer (yes, real DJs can go digital, too) and working his magic. Dance to Grim’s trance
"Hypnotic Journey"
DJ Matthew Grim (Hypnotic)
By Shawn "Speedy" Lopes
slopes@starbulletin.comThe album resembles, to some degree, a set you might hear at one of Grim's live performances, with a definable beginning, middle and end. Most selections on this collection fall into the trance category and as with most trance mixes, the songs on "Hypnotic Journey" crescendo and decay incessantly.
To virgin ears, a mix of this sort can sound like little more than repetitive electronic babble, but to those sleep-deprived carousers who pride themselves on marathon raving 'til sun-up, "Hypnotic Journey" is an underground warehouse blowout preserved on compact disc.
The album opens with DJ Peebles' "Closer," an ominous house number that soon finds itself flowing into the ecstatic "Flying With Birds" by Shiva Ram, which in turn morphs into DJ Firehouse's funk-fortified "Point Blanc."
Most of the names here may not mean much to those outside the Hypnotic family, although local nightlifers may recognize Honolulu's DJ Spyhunter (one of the most downloaded local artists on mp3.com, according to the Web site's stats) on the album's track listing. "Friendship 7," a Spyhunter track, is among the album's finer moments. "I only picked songs that really moved me," said Grim recently. "They were all bad-ass, dude."
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