to field voice. Nancy Kaspar's fluid dou- ble bass is a cross between Oregon's David Darling and Pentangle's Danny Thompson. Barbara Imhoffs concert harp (!) is the rhythmic engine that drives this band, with didgeridoo, ma- rimba, and hand drums playing impor- tant supporting roles. Even though in the last few years it's seemed as if every World Music band and their roadies have been playing the didg, aclose listen to Gathered on the Edge will reveal no jumped bandwagons—there's more It's A Beautiful Day here than Baka Beyond. The lyrics are definitely ... stoned, in that delicate early-hippie wind-chime/ The nephews of continue to emerge. This month its (above) and . jasmine-tea-reverie sort of way. From "Cuppa Tea": "Where has the water been /in my morning cup of tea /Did SON VOLT: Trace sand Dollar Car" isn't just arustbucket Warner Bros. 46010-2 (Cl)). Brian Paulson, Son Volt, trilobites swim /Was it the juice in Ap- prods.; Hans Buff, Steve McKinstry. mugs. AAD. TT: that leaves puddles of oil in the drive- ple's Eve /Where did it run under- 42:14 way —it's symbolic of the distance ground /Did it climb in acloud /Did it between the haves and the have -nota. silently flow or did it rush so loud...," Ever wonder what happened to that kid But it still beats walking most days. And etc. But there are also moments of clar- you knew in junior high, who was as "Radar Gun" drives home the point that ity and strength, as in "Nobody Knew smart as you, maybe smarter, but liked the difference between the cops and the the Time," released last year on the hanging out and daydreaming about bad guys is abadge and auniform. On Beasts' debut EP (see my March 1995 Corvettes and the kind of girls that date "Sunday Sports (In His Boxer Shorts)" review): "Throw another potato on the guys who drive Corvettes more than he and "Young Lovers in Town (In Four- fire /My hunger has no bounds tonight liked doing homework, and for that Wheel Drives)" Henneman cuts loose a /Sing me something you learned as a matter didn't like coming to school all little, but he never gets mean or mock- child /Sit abit closer to the firelight." that much, so all the teachers decided ing. After all, these are his people. The real interest here is twofold: in he was afuckup? Odds are he's trading The music is just as honest as the the long, modal instrumental excur- one-liners with the customers in the words. Part Jayhawks, part Jason and the sions, Maxym's mildly Middle-Eastern service department of aSaturn dealer- Scorchers, these guys are contenders for melismatics floating above; and in the ship, or maybe installing replacement the titles of world's greatest bar band. only true virtuosity found on this disc: windows. Or maybe, just maybe, he They've obviously dodged afew beer the silences. The Beasts are masters at grew up to be Brian Henneman. bottles in their day, and it shows. knowing which notes not to play. Their If America has asilent majority, the The liner notes proudly announce: choices of an atmospheric harp arpeg- Bottle Rockets and Brian Henneman "This CD contains analog tape hiss, sin- gio here, an isolated percussion stroke are its voice. Yeah, there's Roseanne, the gle-coil guitar hum, tube crackle, and there, or agently amplified acoustic gui- reigning poet laureate of white trash, truck noise that we found to be inspi- tar chord, are invariably musical, and but she's always been more interested in rational." somehow always evocative of wide- the cheap laugh than the big insight. I couldn't have put it better: the open spaces both inner and 'Suter. It And Bruce Springsteen, at his best, sound is clean but not too clean, dynam- doesn't hurt that the recording is lushly, strove to be the Walt Whitman of the ic as all get out, and, well, inspirational. sumptuously spacious. working man. Henneman is the Walker The irony of the rock biz is that Hen- Though alot of groups these days are Evans of the trailer park, of the corner neman got his little break by being the working similar turf, Idon't know of bar on Sunday afternoon, of the garage guitar tech for , formerly of any band that sounds quite like Beasts when you're dropping the transmission Uncle Tupelo. I'll say for the record that of Paradise. If you like Pentangle, for the third time this month. The Tweedy shouldn't even be allowed to Nightnoise, Freyda & Acoustic Atta- Brooklyn Side is an album filled with carry Henneman's amp. And the debut Tude, Shadowfax, Incredible String snapshots in crisp yet gritty black and record from Son Volt, the band led by Band, or any number of contemporary white. Little Pink Houses it ain't. Tweedy's former partner , acoustic or semiacoustic bands that flirt Henneman can sweat the details be- shows that Tweedy was the most with that most seductive and untrust- cause he's lived them. "Welfare Music" annoying thing about Uncle T too. worthy of muses, World Music, you'll contains the obligatory shot at Rush Trace is apleasant, no, ,gorgeous-sound- like Gathered on the Edge. It's music made Limbaugh, but it's not adiatribe. The ing record. It's beautifully recorded, for the joy of making music; we need to minutiae set it apart ("She buys cassette finely played , and there's a be reminded more often exactly what tapes in the bargain bin /loves Carlene certain homogeneity that's comforting that sounds like. —Richard Lehnert Carter and Loretta Lynn") while the at adistance. But pay more attention perfectly realized verse ("Welfare music! and you realize that nobody's home. Watch the baby dance") strikes apure Farrar still hasn't learned to write a THE BOTTLE ROCKETS: The Brooklyn Side balance between simple joys and shat- song ("There's abeach there known for TAG 96201-2 (CD). Eric "Roscoe" Ambel. prod.; Albert Caiati, mg. AAD. TT: 52:07 tered dreams. To Henneman, a"Thou- cancer waiting to happen"), and that's

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