Steve Coleman and the Mystic Rhythm Society The Sign and the Seal (BMG)
Steve Coleman is a young jazz musician who understands that to see where you're going you got to know where you're coming from. Coleman visited Cuba to gain access to African musical and philosophical traditions long since obliterated in the Eurocentric USA. In particular, the vocal and percussive styles of the Abacua, Arara and Yoruba cultures are explored, alongside rumba and other Latin elements.
Atari Teenage Riot Burn, Berlin, Burn! (DHR/Grand Royal/Outside) Alec Empire's hardcore shoulder-chip gets jewel-boxed for kiddies seeking new angry slogans to marker onto their backpacks. And what could lyrics like "Press! Fuck you!" or "The industry pays you to suck their dicks!" be better for? Anyhow, as much as Empire "despises techno," he sure uses a hell of a lot of it--from gabber to rave breaks--to soup up his exclamation-point politics. DJ Hell meets D.R.I. and gets slightly obvious in the process. Or maybe I'm just missing the parody. 7.5/10 (Mireille Silcott) Mary J. Blige Share My World (Universal) Blige has returned on top, even without long-time producer, Sean "Puffy" Combs. And, despite the lineup of superstar producers--Babyface, Jam & Lewis and R. Kelly--this is very much Mary's project. She has injected a soulful depth that shines through on tracks like "Our Love" and "Seven Days" and swings in a kinder way on "I Can Love You" with female rapper Lil' Kim. Blige's rough edge is transforming into a more sophisticated urban chic. And the queen wears it well. 8.5/10 (Gerard Dee)
This is punkified so-o-oul power, people! Feel yourself go weak in the knees! Bare your naked self to the sultry sounds of Rock and Roll Music, 'cuz Brother Droid and his quakemakers deliver 12 songs of "Pussy Power," slither and sleaze. Whether greasy on "Get Around" or sizzling on "Crime," local boys Tricky Woo's stand-out shake appeal swears you'll be left trembling every time. Accept them into your life! 8/10 (Lorrie Edmonds)
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The odd excursion into rap is qualified by comparable exercises in African vocal traditions. Hats off to Coleman for his smart, genial sax stylings (the icing on this cake), but more so for his skills as a coordinator. A potential chaotic mess becomes instead a precisely crafted game of connect the dots. 9/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
Tricky Woo Rock and Roll Music Part One (SSG/Page)