CHRISTGAU CONSUMER GUIDE
Not only do they sacrifice meaning to sensation, they happily exploit ersatz meaning as a sensation-heightening device. So fine, don’t trust them. Only since when is music supposed to be trustworthy? Just note that deprived of genius Trevor Horn these mad studio pros have to go with what they know, subjecting their sound-effects music to hook and beat when no grandiose electronic joke comes to mind.
CHRISTGAU CONSUMER GUIDE
ROBERT CHRISTGAU
THE ART OF NOISE “In Visible Silence”
(Chrysalis)
Not only do they sacrifice meaning to sensation, they happily exploit ersatz meaning as a sensation-heightening device. So fine, don’t trust them. Only since when is music supposed to be trustworthy? Just note that deprived of genius Trevor Horn these mad studio pros have to go with what they know, subjecting their sound-effects music to hook and beat when no grandiose electronic joke comes to mind. And a good thing, too—not since the glory days of the Penguin Cafe have instrumentalists confounded the arty and the trivial and had fun at the same time. A-
THE BEAT FARMERS “Van Go”
(Curb)
Except for the deadpan “Gun Sale At The Church’’ and maybe the Johnny Cash schtick, their country-rock is now proudly generic. In a world of lame concepts, this approach is jake with me, and if their sharpest song is by Neil Young, well, they didn’t write the flattest one either. B
“BIRDLAND” WITH LESTER BANGS (Add On)