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Mariah Carey Butterfly (Sony)
Julian Cope Interpreter (Cooking Vinyl/Koch) Is Julian Cope an artist, a head or, as he puts it in his "Address Drudion" in the liner notes, a "true Wazzack"? Those are among the few who care about our dear planet, says Saint Julian, but the world won't listen (who really remembers Autogeddon or 20 Mothers?). A Mythological Mind Map, quotes from John "MC5" Sinclair and Nelson Mandela and a wonderfully wacky anthem in "S.p.a.c.e.r.o.c.k. With Me"--this is Cope at his out-there-but-grounded best. 8/10 (Chris Yurkiw) Mission of Burma Signals, Calls, and Marches (Ace Of Hearts/Rykodisc) It's funny to see these ol' Boston art punks reissued on CD: makes you think you were somewhere important in 1982. Nonetheless, I wouldn't bother with later releases Vs. or The Horrible Truth About Burma, by which point the "importance" of the band outweighed any pleasure you'd reap from them. The debut contains all you need, including the recently canonized "That's When I Reach for My Revolver." The missing link between Pere Ubu and Sonic Youth. 8.5/10 (Chris Yurkiw) VariousThe Lawhouse Experience Vol. 1 (Lawhouse/Streetlife/Attic)
Aided and abetted by an all-star cast, producer Laylaw puts in his bid for West Coast compilation of the moment. The combined tracks create a mellow, continuous groove, with appearances from the Pharcyde, Rass Kass, Xzibit, Luniz, Dru Down and Ice Cube. This is a fair effort by the Lawhouse to assemble some big urban sounds with some big urban names, but it's a big urban shame that there's nothing that really hits on here. 4/10 (Scott C)
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Comedian Chris Rock recently compared the Spice Girls' appeal to heroin: people get hooked, but nobody wants to admit it. I suspect the same for Carey's allure. There's little to brag about here: poor saccharine pop, lacking emotional depth, sung with little vocal dexterity. But it'll probably sell a billion copies anyway. 6/10 (Gerard Dee)