Word: vocalizings
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Both the soprano and bass parts contain a great deal of extremely demanding coloratura, vocal play and lengthy runs, reminiscent of the earliest tenor and bass airs in Part I of Handel's Messiah. These passages, like nearly all of the piece, were executed masterfully. Saffer in particular seemed the very bird described by her lines, "Sweet bird,.../ Most musical, most melancholy,/ Thee, chantress of the woods among,/ I woo to hear thy even song." Saffer's song floated through incredible trills and arpeggios which spanned several octaves without the slightest hint of effort. The choir, though little utilized...
...eight-song EP begins with the dense fury of "Come To Daddy, Pappy Mix," which contains only the lyrics "I want your soul/I will eat your soul." These are perhaps the least disturbing of the few vocal snippets on the album. All the vocals are presumably provided by James himself, but they are all altered to such a degree that he sounds alternately like a little child, a demonic killer and an old man. After the unsettling clamor of the first track, James provides a respite with "Flim," a soft, lilting instrumental which still manages to sound menacing. Perhaps...
...theme in Aphex Twin's work seems to be that we lose our humanity to machines or perhaps that machines are taking on their own humanity. This is a scary thought, and Aphex Twin's music mirrors that thought, even when it tries to sound comforting. The twisted, evil vocal distortions are the only human sounds in a world of machines--voices decrying our increasing lack of real human companionship. This is music for the next millennium indeed...
Never have they shied away from tackling more sober subjects, Brand New remains clear-eyed about both social injustice and sexual imprudence. "Imagine," an anti-racism track with a surprisingly earthy guest vocal from Sheryl Crow, stands too preciously beside its obvious ancestry in the namesake John Lennon tune to register very strongly. More effective is "The Clock Is Ticking," a rallying cry to abused women with an unaffected awareness of How Bad It Can Get: "You got kids, you got bills/You ain't got skills, you wanna take pills...
...producers, Salt 'N' Pepa do not yet have the stylistic daring of longtime helpmate Herby "Luvbug" Azor, often settling for a silky but mostly anonymous layering of vocals and synths. Salt, though, crafts a trio of bracing cuts to close the album. "Silly of You," a fairly tired "I-earn-the-dough" ego track, does boast an insinuating opium-den vibe; "The Clock Is Ticking" incorporates electric guitars and vocal distortions more freshly than any R&B since En Vogue's "Free Your Mind"; and "Hold On," the final track, makes the unlikely choice of Brandy's lightweight hit "Baby...