Shakira
Fijación Oral, Vol. 1
Sony
Sure, sure, she’s as mainstream as they come, from her belly-shaking on MTV to her Pepsi endorsements. So why give Shakira the time of day in an alternative weekly? Here’s why: What gets lost in all the hype (and ridiculous music-pundit pronouncements that she’s “the Latin Britney”) is that Shakira is a talented, precocious, poetic singer/songwriter with an encyclopedic knowledge of rock, pop, folk and traditional Latin styles. She is, in fact, the polar-opposite of Britney. Which is what makes her pop-tart tendencies so subversive — like Madonna with more musical talent.
Shakira was still a teenager when she recorded her second album, 1996’s Dónde Están los Ladrones? It remains a classic of Latin pop that incorporates elements of country, fuzzy guitar rock and a dynamic fusion of Latin and Middle Eastern melodic touches that reflect her Colombian/Lebanese heritage. Her breakthrough CD — the one Americans know about — was the overproduced, overplayed Laundry Service, on which she sang ill-conceived English lyrics over mostly blanched-out pop and dance music. Even that album had some depth buried under the gooey production and one truly scary Celine Dion sound-alike.
So Shakira returns with another all-Spanish album, Fijación Oral, Vol. 1, a rare and fairly bold move after such huge success as a crossover English-language pop star. (She plans to release an all-English follow-up later this year.) Fijación has its quota of musical bombast, but it’s bombast produced by Rick Rubin, which means it’s at least clever. The songs run from whispered dreampop to vintage-sounding bossa nova, updated new wave to full-on reggaeton. While it’s stronger overall than Laundry Service, and as eclectic as ever, Fijación is unapologetically pop and lacks the early grit of Ladrones. Shakira has fully embraced her diva-dom, but it’s diva-dom with depth: She remains proudly Latina, serious about her songwriting and more musically ambitious than her image would have you believe. Ignore her at your own elitist peril.
Track to burn: “Obtener un S'”
Rating:
-Mark Kemp
Sleater-Kinney
The Woods
Sub Pop
A primal blast of feedback signals your entry into Sleater-Kinney’s The Woods, a savagely beautiful reminder that Hansel & Gretel are now dysfunctional adults, Little Red Riding Hood earns her keep as a leather-clad dominatrix and the Big Bad Wolf — Love, in this instance — devours us all in the end. A grim outlook, to be sure, but these Portland, Oregon-based heroines deliver the message with such zeal and commitment that The Woods stands as one of the most impressive blues-based, flat-out rawk records in years — indeed, a decade later there is a worthy bookend for that other primal howl from the Northwest, Nirvana’s Nevermind. What the women of Sleater-Kinney have done here is stripped down their sound — studio whiz Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips) doing a more-than-passable Steve Albini — to earthy blues filtered through raw rock and punk. We get liquefying bass lines, the fuzzed-out twin guitar assault of Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker, Janet Weiss’ primordial drum attack and Tucker’s apocalyptic wail, a cross between the Arch Duke of Dystopia, Johnny Lydon and vintage Zeppelin-era Robert Plant. This last is no random analogy; midway through the remarkable, 11-minute, blues-drenched “Let’s Call It Love,” Brownstein’s frantic refrain — “I’ve got a long time for love” — pays obvious homage to Plant’s blistering vocals on “Whole Lotta Love” from Led Zeppelin II. And the guitar onslaught that follows is as effective a Jimmy Page marathon solo, but more appealing for all its grind-it-till-you-find-it enthusiasm. Chicks can’t rock? Fuck that. The Woods is incontrovertible proof that this trio has balls to spare when it comes to rock & roll.
Track to burn: “Let’s Call It Love”
Rating:
1/2
-John Schacht
Ali Farka Toure
Red & Green
Nonesuch Records
Most American audiences know Mali guitarist Ali Farka Toure from Talking Timbuktu, his dazzling 1994 collaboration with Ry Cooder. Nonesuch digs deep into Toure’s catalog with Red & Green, the first CD release of two early Toure albums, Red (from 1984) and Green (from 1988). Listeners will immediately be struck by the similarities between Toure’s music and American Delta blues. While it’s no surprise that Toure is a fan of Delta blues (he once commented that the blues “is music that has been taken from” Africa), there’s so much that’s unique in Toure’s playing and singing that comparisons to American musicians don’t do him justice. His guitar playing rings with a distinctive, percussive tone that echoes blues stylings, while the calabash (gourd) and Toure’s singing (in six languages) imbue a purely African feel. This is beautiful, emotive music, finally available on CD. Track To Burn: “Timbindy”
Rating:
1/2
-Gene Hyde
This article appears in Jun 15-21, 2005.
