Local, Pop, Rock, Alternative and Hip-Hop

LOCAL

"Scott Dreier" A

Scott Dreier

LML Music

Scott Dreier grew up in Carlsbad and graduated from Carlsbad High, but it's for his frequent theatrical performances as a singing nerd that he's best known in North County. At Vista's Moonlight Amphitheatre, the Poway Center for the Performing Arts, San Diego's Starlight Theatre and The Theatre in Old Town, Dreier has played dorky Smudge in "Forever Plaid," geeky Bud Frump in "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" and sad-sack Seymour in "Little Shop of Horrors."

So it's a nice surprise to hear Dreier shedding his inner geek in his self-titled debut CD, which he'll premiere in concert tonight at his Carlsbad alma mater. Dreier will perform songs from the CD at a benefit for Carlsbad High School, then he'll raise money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation at three concerts in San Diego.

There's barely a hint of Smudge, Bud or Seymour in this smoothly produced collection of 13 show tunes, pop songs, big-band numbers and standards. An exception is a "Little Shop" duet of "Suddenly Seymour" with TV star Katey Sagal. And Dreier's frequent "Plaid" castmates (David Humphrey, Kevin McMahon, Mark Perkins) join him in harmony for "She's in Love With Me."

With a background in musical theater, Dreier's presentation style tends a bit toward the dramatic, but his delivery is sweet, pitch-perfect, thoughtful, original and ear-pleasing. Among the album's most enjoyable songs are the haunting "Hushabye Mountain" from "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (sung as a tribute to Dreier's late grandmother) and the upbeat, jazzy Sammy Kahn/Jule Styne number "Put 'Em in a Box, Tie 'Em With a Ribbon." He's got a nice feel for swing in Irving Berlin's "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket" and gives a pop twist to Collin Raye's sentimental country ballad "Love, Me."

Although Dreier now makes his home in Long Beach, he thanks his North County mentors in the album's liner notes, including Monica Hall and James Shepard of Carlsbad, and Moonlight's Kathy Brombacher of Vista. There are also several suave and serious photos of Dreier that reflect his frequent recital work in Los Angeles and not his dweeby stage roles in San Diego.

Scott Dreier performs at 7 p.m. today; Carlsbad Cultural Arts Center, 3557 Monroe St., Carlsbad; $15, general; $10, students and seniors; (760) 331-5100, Ext. 5764. He also performs at 8 p.m. Saturday and 7:30 p.m. Monday and Wednesday at Sixth@Penn Theatre, 3704 Sixth Ave., San Diego; $10; call (619) 688-9210.

-- Pam Kragen

Staff Writer

B+

"Vega"

Starline Theorie

Azra Records

Based on their new CD, San Diego's Starline Theorie is a band more interested in exploring sounds than in creating a sound.

On some tracks, they come across as a Mideastern-groove world beat outfit. On others, they sound like an avant-garde jazz combo. Toward the end, a couple of tracks sound like melodic alt-rock.

And "Copenhagen" has a kind of Miles Davis meets Tangerine Dream feel to it, with Gilbert Castellanos' laconic trumpet laid over a meandering ambient instrumental.

What ties it all together is a thick but never dragging trance beat -- it gives everything a surreal feel and a touch of real magic.

-- Jim Trageser

Staff Writer

POP

A- "Kish Kash"

Basement Jaxx

Astralwerks

When mixmaster DJ dudes decide to make "songs" targeted to the radio rather than "tracks" for the dance floor, it's usually a recipe for a club-clearing bad mood.

Not so for Basement Jaxx, the British duo of Felix Burton and Simon Ratcliffe, whose third album employs guest vocalists from all over the pop-music spectrum in one radically wide-ranging mix.

How broad is the Jaxx palette? Well, 1980s new-wave siren Siouxsie Sioux brings punk playfulness to the grabby title cut. Justin Timberlake hiccups through the kinetic "Plug It In." Brit boy rapper Dizzee Rascal fires up "Lucky Star." And bass-playing funkstress Meshell Ndegeocello is soothing and sultry on "Right Here's the Spot" and "Feels Like Home."

Burton and Ratcliffe not only know how to get a party started -- and how to keep it going -- they also know how to construct pop tunes, such as the jittery "Hot & Cold" and the digital soul kiss-off "Good Luck," which features an emphatically agitated vocal from Lisa Kekaula of the Bellrays.

"Kish Kash" is not quite as hyperkinetic as the Jaxx's "Remedy" and "Rooty" -- though it will aid in getting your booty moving in the club or on the StairMaster. But when it comes to pleasing club kids as well as open-eared pop fans of a more sedentary nature, it's a step forward.

-- Dan DeLuca

Knight Ridder/Tribune

C+ "Reloaded: Greatest Hits"

Tom Jones

Universal

Even if you don't take Jones seriously, you can't deny that the sexy singer knows how to keep reinventing himself. This CD includes six cuts from his 1999 European smash, "Reloaded," as well as some early hits, like "It's Not Unusual," "What's New Pussycat" "Delilah" and "Green Green Grass of Home." Among the new numbers, there's the soulful "Sometimes We Cry" with Van Morrison, an artful "Motherless Child" with Portishead, a dance version of the Talking Heads' "Burning Down the House" with the Cardigans, and a quirky "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Cerys Matthews of Catatonia. Some of the other newer cuts don't work, and he should dump Paul Anka's "She's a Lady." And "Thunderball" -- Madonna's latest abomination aside -- is one of the worst theme songs for a Bond film ever. But, hey, that's what the skip button is for.

-- Rob Lowman

Knight Ridder/Tribune

ROCK

A "Greatest Hits 2"

Bob Seger

Capitol

You may not have noticed, but Bob Seger just might be the biggest classic rocker without a boxed set. In a day when everyone from Kansas to Bryan Adams has been feted with such a sweeping career treatment, there's a glaring hole in the "S" section at the local record store -- the spot where Detroit's most successful rock artist should sit.

Since 1994, Segerphiles have made do with the 14-track "Greatest Hits," a perennial top seller despite a few glaring omissions. Capitol Records and the Seger camp have sought to rectify the imbalance with this 16-song second edition, a collection made even more notable by the inclusion of Seger's first new material in nearly a decade.

First, the familiar stuff: "Greatest Hits 2" isn't a compilation of leftover scraps; this is a legitimate hits collection. Fiery rock staples such as "Katmandu" and "Rock and Roll Never Forgets" bump elbows with such big Bob ballads as "Shame on the Moon" and "Fire Lake," songs so essential to the Seger canon you wonder why the earlier anthology wasn't a double disc in the first place.

The quest for historical completion means we do get a couple of iffies, including "Chances Are," a well-meaning but flaccid duet with country star Martina McBride, and "Shakedown," the synth-laden pop throwaway that oddly stands as Seger's only No. 1 hit. There's just a single track ("Manhattan") culled from 1995's "It's a Mystery," the biggest musical misstep in Seger's four-decade career.

But it's the stuff tucked on at the back that will send true-blue Seger devotees skipping to the end. "Satisfied," the first of two new cuts, is a gem of a tune, a hard-pumping rocker that finds Seger mercifully jettisoning the clinical vibe of his mid-'90s work and recapturing the soulful voice and backbeat that made his name. "Tomorrow," which closes the disc, manages to boost the energy even more, girded by the hottest, nastiest guitar lick Seger has put to tape in years.

The ostensible goal of this album is looking back and settling up with the past. For fans who have been restlessly awaiting something new from their man, however, "Greatest Hits 2" offers something entirely different: a hopeful glimpse ahead at an artist who's promising a full new album for 2004, and who now seems to remember what got him here in the first place.

-- Brian McCollum

Knight Ridder/Tribune

A "No Thanks! The '70s Punk Rebellion"

Various Artists

Rhino

Before punk became a market-led rite of passage for suburban kids and frat boys, the music, look and attitude revealed genuine wit and humor. But when thick-headed elements from Orange County (see Black Flag) and other parts of the globe joined the fray, a once-smart, arty movement curdled into a sloppy excuse for violence and venality. This well-sequenced four-disc package hits all the right notes -- from the opening manifestos of the Ramones ("Blitzkrieg Bop") and the Clash ("White Riot") through mighty moments from X-Ray Spex, Stiff Little Fingers, Magazine, Wire, Joy Division, Devo and the enduringly brilliant Gang of Four. (The Sex Pistols refused to be included; XTC also somehow missed the boat.) Unlike similar backward glances, "No Thanks! The '70s Punk Rebellion" isn't New York- or London-centric, suggesting that equally amazing singles came out of San Francisco and, to a lesser degree, Los Angeles. Whether you were there in the '70s or not, you'll agree this is a heartbreakingly wonderful collection.

-- Fred Shuster

Los Angeles Daily News

ALTERNATIVE

B+ "Dear Catastrophe Waitress"

Belle & Sebastian

Rough Trade

Belle & Sebastian's fifth album, "Dear Catastrophe Waitress," is also the Scottish band's first to explore orchestrated pop arrangements via the intricate production of Trevor Horn. The best songs here, as usual, are the ones lead singer Stuart Murdoch sings, and his Nico-meets-Ray Davies vocals are again the highlight.

The new, full sound doesn't detract from the subject matter as the abrupt tempo changes of "Step Into My Office, Baby" only help to illuminate the lyrical plays on work and sex. The title track bridges the Velvet Underground and the Smiths, while "If She Wants Me" is infectious Jackson 5-fun, with organ fills and Murdoch cooing, "If I could do just one near perfect thing I'd be happy." "Lord Anthony" is an ode to the type of kids who show up in Dennis Cooper novels; a sample lyric: "Tasting blood again, at least it's not your own."

Ending on a high note, the brilliant, epic closer, "Stay Loose," doesn't quite know what it wants to be, playing hopscotch all over the landscape of rock history. "Dear Catastrophe Waitress" isn't as immediately essential as their first three albums, but exceptional nonetheless.

-- Jake O'Connell

Associated Press

A- "Chutes Too Narrow"

The Shins

Sub Pop

James Mercer writes brief, catchy songs that twist and turn in odd directions but somehow stay rooted in immediately appealing melodies. Like the best of Brian Wilson's work, Mercer's songs on "Chutes Too Narrow," the Shins' second album, seem simple and inevitable until you notice just how strange they are. And that's why they're brilliant.

"Have I left my home just to whine in this microphone?" sings Mercer, who abandoned Albuquerque for Portland, Ore., in the jaunty "Turn a Square." Although "Chutes' songs return to images of betrayal and break-ups, the bouncy melodies belie the lyrical bitterness.

"Chutes" mixes spare acoustic ditties (the mournful, majestic "Saint Simon") with jangly electric blasts (the zippy "Fighting in a Sack") while Mercer's strained voice negotiates tricky melodies. At just over 30 minutes, "Chutes" is compact, but it's complex and completely charming.

-- Steve Klinge

Knight Ridder/Tribune

HIP-HOP

A "Blood in My Eye"

Ja Rule

Def Jam

Maybe we shouldn't trust that olive branch rapper Ja Rule just extended to arch enemy 50 Cent. The MC talked about a truce with his fellow Queens, N.Y.-born nemesis in an interview with Louis Farrakhan recently on BET.

But on Rule's new album, "Blood in My Eye," he hauls out the big artillery. "Every n--- who ever said any jealous stuff about me is dead," he declares in the album's opening salvo.

Rule -- and members of his posse -- go on to rap sweet nothings such as "I'll go to jail for sending 50 to hell," "50 pull your skirt down" and "50 cent? / Is that what this is all about? / Two punk f-- quarters."

As put-downs go, these aren't exactly the stuff of Don Rickles -- or, more to the point, of Eminem, 50's benefactor, who could wipe the floor with Rule in terms of wit, invention and splatter.

But if Rule's words overshoot the bloody mark, his new music has a hardness and cool he hasn't mined since his first album, 1999's "Venni Vetti Vecci." Rule started by reinventing the mid-'90s signature gangsta style of Death Row Records. But his next three albums had more pop and R&B, increasing his popularity, but costing him street cred.

50 Cent exploited that by repeatedly putting down Rule as a faux gangsta on his debut CD, "Get Rich or Die Trying."

Now, Rule and his posse are answering back, not only with lines to 50 like "You ain't no gangsta / Sweet as duck sauce," but by matching those words to far less radio-friendly music.

Rule's fifth album obsesses on honed riffs and steely beats. You'll find none of the candied choruses or tender melodies of his hits, which paired his trademark bark with the golden tones of Ashanti.

Luckily, the new riffs roil with exciting menace. Everything sounds coiled and ripped. In the single "Clap Back," Rule offers a stoked club anthem, while in "The Crown" the beats hammer the raps home. The album benefits from its tight length. At just 45 minutes, it's practically an EP by hip-hop standards. But there's no fat.

-- Jim Farber

New York Daily News