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Review by Gary C.W. Chun
gchun@starbulletin.com"Devil's Night" Ah, to be a high-profile white rapper.
D12 (Shady/Interscope)The fame of celebrity, the adulation of millions of suburban wannabes, the magnified marital and family problems, the run-ins with the law ... being Eminem, the self-proclaimed "American Psycho," is such a burden.
Take what happened just this past Thursday. In Pontiac, Mich., he received one year of probation for a weapons charge authorities say stemmed from a dispute with a rival Detroit rap group, the Insane Clown Posse.
That's two other white guys who perform in clown makeup, equally foul and incendiary as Eminem, only not half as talented.
Are these guys even worth Eminem's trouble? I guess in the sometimes inflammatory world of rap/hip-hop, where trash-talking and dissing one another can mean an all-out turf war, Eminem thought he was in his right when he pulled a supposedly unloaded 9 mm semiautomatic during an argument with associates (just "associates"?) of the Posse.
As part of his restitution, the presiding judge ordered the rapper to perform community service, something creative that would be, in her words, "impactful to young people."
Well I'm sure the "impact" won't be near the one created by the firebrand rapper and his black Detroit crew's album. They've got the No. 1 seller with "Devil's Night." Drawing its title from the infamous arson-filled Halloween ritual in the Motor City, it's the first release on Eminem's Interscope-distributed label. For all practical purposes, this represents his new album, featuring the seriously sick word- and thought-play of the rap crew he's proud to be part of.
And, guess what? The all-important marketing tool known as MTV initially banned the video of D12's first single, "Purple Pills," forcing the group to retitle and recut the video and lyrics.
The uncensored track itself is a song of stoned genius. "Pills" is a screwed-up, booty-beat song with a wack horn sound and drug-inspired raps that verge on nodding out.
D12, apart from Eminem, get their best shots in with the gutter freakiness of "Nasty Mind" and the ominous, near bass-and-drum sound of "Instigator." But it's Eminem who dominates the album, and with production help from Dr. Dre again, "Ain't Nothin' but Music," "Fight Music" and "Revelation" are prime tracks. The combat-ready "Fight Music" (and working title for Eminem's first movie) has a venomous rap by him, proudly proclaiming that this is "a sick song you can use to retaliate." "Revelation" is an outrageous update of, and quotes from, Pink Floyd's anti-authoritarian classic "Another Brick in the Wall."
Once again, when it comes to Eminem, there are moments of artistic brilliance nestled in his psychotic and mean-spirited raps. You're either a fan or his or not. "Devil's Night" won't sway anyone otherwise on either side.
This album isn't exactly new, although it's been re-released by Arista because of a current tour by Dido. "No Angel" has been bubbling along the edge of pop consciousness, and many have heard of her, or think they've heard her, or have heard her but didn't know it was her. Got that? She was notoriously sampled by Eminem, and her "Here with Me" is the theme song to the Fox show "Roswell." Dido’s new album is
a subtle work of beautyLISTEN UP
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Review by Burl Burlingame
bburlingame@starbulletin.com"No Angel"
Dido (Arista)But the proof is in the pressing. "No Angel" is a tremendous debut recording and has dominated the British airwaves like no other female artist since Alanis Morrissette. Dido's wry, witty lyricism can be fairly compared to Morrisette's, as well as her seething melancholy.
Dido's music is a kind of creamy, folksy funk with dub influences. The album hangs together as a single document, instead of a collection of songs -- the mark of either a real artist or a pushy producer. The credits show that Dido either produced or co-produced each track, so there you go. The arrangements are splendidly crafted, and the sound quality is pure ear candy.
Her composing structures can be fairly compared to those of Enya's. Unlike Enya or Morrisette, however, Dido's voice isn't a formidable instrument, not Morrissette's car-alarm timbre or Enya's aching crystal. Instead, Dido's voice is warm and personal, and cannily double-dubbed on choruses and the occasional push of the reverb button. She whispers in your ear instead of shouting in your face. She has a warmly intelligent human quality, like Sade or Jewel.
So many single-name female artists! They're still rare enough that they can get away with it, compared with, ahem, "male" artists. Her full name, by the way, is Dido Florian Cloud De Bounevialle Armstrong.
Get used to it. Dido is going to be around awhile.
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