Christgau Consumer Guide
STEVE ARRINGTON'S HALL OF FAME "Positive Power" (Atlantic) Arrington’s bass does pop now, but whether you really get his funk depends on whether you connect with the way he turns the style’s loony-toon vocals into pear-shaped tones. Me, I jump only for the synthesized-kalimba hook of “Young And Ready,” and he chants that one.
Christgau Consumer Guide
ROBERT CHRISTGAU
BY
STEVE ARRINGTON'S HALL OF FAME "Positive Power"
(Atlantic)
Arrington’s bass does pop now, but whether you really get his funk depends on whether you connect with the way he turns the style’s loony-toon vocals into pear-shaped tones. Me, I jump only for the synthesized-kalimba hook of “Young And Ready,” and he chants that one. B
ASWAD "Live And Direct"
(Mango)
These black Brits’ considerable commercial success in their non-Ethiopian homeland guarantee no more than any other band’s commercial success; though they’re avowedly more roots, their songs for lovers (“Your Recipe”) and rhythmic extensions (“Soca Rumba”) are as serviceably undistinguished as those of Third World, a commercially successful band indeed. And I’m sure they could have made their U.S. introductions more winningly than with last year’s dub album followed by this live job. Inspirational Intro: “You know what live and direct mean? It mean live and direct.” C +
ELBOW BONES AND THE RACKETEERS "New York At Dawn"
(EMI America)