Massive Attack “100th Window” Virgin
Records
This album is great. Except for that today is opposite day. Or
is it? Yes it is. Psych! Just kidding, it’s opposite day. By
which I mean that it’s not not opposite opposite day. Pretty
annoying, right? Well, that’s basically the same feeling
you’ll get listening to this utterly disappointing offering
from trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack in their first album since
1998. The ten interminably long tracks (not one runs shorter than
five minutes) feature little beyond uninspired, repetitive beats
and predictable atmospheric effects. During the five-year layoff
since their last record, Massive Attack seems to not have generated
a single new musical idea. Instead, they’ve attempted to keep
on flogging the dead horse of trip-hop, going over the same ground
again, rehashing ideas that were revolutionary the first time, but
now sound boring and derivative. Where there was once a dark,
dense, tension-filled atmosphere to their tracks, there’s now
only thin beats and production better suited to new-age garbage
like Enigma. I don’t want to waste any more of your time
talking about this insipid, monotonous release. Instead I’ll
use the space I have left to urge you not to be discouraged by this
album, and instead go check out Massive Attack’s earlier
catalogue. “Blue Lines,” “Protection” and
“Mezzanine” are all spirited, innovative and richly
rewarding records that frankly, everyone should own. Even on
opposite day. -Dan Crossen
Unwritten Law “Music in High Places” Lava
Records
The best thing you could possibly say about this SoCal quintet
is that it’s not quite as deplorably predictable as most of
its quasi-punk, Warped Tourin’ brethren. The bulk of this
pack of bands was spawned from the dirty underbelly of a
“punk revivalism” that captured the angsty hearts of
youth roaming Vans skateparks all over. Well, the ’90s are
over and not much has changed. The Warped Tour marches onward, NOFX
still charms with its trademark toilet humor, and Unwritten Law is
just a slight step ahead of the pack. “Music in High
Places,” an all acoustic album of previously released
material, shows the band never was skate punk as much as it was
standard power pop. Recorded in Yellowstone National Park for
MTV’s program “Music in High Places,” the five
members make a gutsy move by unplugging their instruments and
letting their songwriting stand on its own merits. What’s
left after all the bells and whistles are stripped away? Not
surprisingly, not much. Creativity and originality aren’t
requisites for the genre that this band caters to, neither are
strong lyrics. Nevertheless, the sound they conjure is surprisingly
organic and exquisite, and songs like “Before I Go,”
and “Cailin” roll along with a sincere sense of
earnestness, which could be called the band’s most endearing
characteristic. Since it’s not lost from the transition from
electric to acoustic, it looks like the band has some substance to
show off. -Andrew Lee