CD Reviews

Selena

Selena, the Original

Motion Picture Soundtrack

(EMI)

When a singer is murdered or dies, that singer's label quickly finds songs stashed away and decides to make money off the name - without respect for the dead, but supposedly "for the fans." Remember the Beatles, Marvin Gaye and more recently, Tupac Shakur, all with posthumous relesases. Is it different when the release is for a biographical movie? Maybe, maybe not, only a studio head knows for sure.

Ethics aside, "Selena, the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" is now available. If you are expecting the tejano flavor usually found on other Selena albums, this is the wrong place to look. The soundtrack for the hit movie is filled with many of Selena's released and unreleased English songs. Also included are three live and invigorating concert medleys featuring classic disco tunes and some of Selena's greatest hits.

The album's sweet and melodic ballads are the type of material that would send divas Whitney, Mariah and Celine into a panic-stricken dive for their pint of Ben and Jerry's. The dance grooves could be turned into a work-out dance video, "Other Hispanic Music Besides the Macarena."

The last two tracks, performed by Pete Astudillo and Lil' Ray, two of the best tejano artists today, are tributes in honor of Selena and her music.

-Anthony R. Ashley

dEUS

In A Bar, Under The Sea

(Island)

dEUS is not your typical modern band. In fact, they're not really your typical anything. For one thing, they're from Belgium, not the first place most people would look for a new spin on rock music. For another, on their second album, "In A Bar, Under The Sea," they refuse to commit to any one style of music that would allow them to be described in simple terms.

Opening the record with a lamenting blues wail, they move on into rock-hop with the bizarre frantic rap of "Fell Off The Floor, Man." Then they're in the world of alterna-rock with "Opening Night," a catchy indie-pop number that recalls Pavement on their best day. Next, it's straight ahead into the jazzlands on "Theme From Turnpike," a song that uses a soulful horn section and Tom Waites-style vocals with only minimal guitars, reminiscent at times of Morphine (their current touring partners.)

The current European single "Little Arithmetic" is a happy little number you can snap your fingers to, and the rest of the album just goes on in the same fashion, never stopping long enough to give you the chance to pigeonhole the band.

dEUS spell their name in such an odd fashion because, as they say, "it looks more beautiful that way." And indeed, the members of this band definitely seem to have a strong aesthetic sense. For all the musical experimentation they do, they always know how each song will sound best, or be "more beautiful." "In A Bar, Under The Sea" has many happy moments, many sad ones, and many just plain strange ones, but every one of those moments is beautiful in its own way.

-Doug Levy

Grosse Pointe Blank

Original Soundtrack

(London)

Normally a movie soundtrack serves as a reminder of a film, as a device to recreate a certain feel that was originally created on screen. Well, I haven't seen "Grosse Pointe Blank" yet, but if the movie evokes the same mod this CD does, I'm sure I'll love it.

While I'm not sure what the story behind the film is, this soundtrack functions like a story itself, coming full circle by opening and closing with the Violent Femmes' "Blister In The Sun" and "Blister 2000" - leaving us with what we started with, only slightly altered, slightly evolved. And what comes in between these two tracks tells the rest of the tale. You won't really find any new material here, but that's not important.

What makes this disc so great is the way the songs seem as if they belong together, as if each track is the natural progression from the last. The Clash's "Rudie Can't Fail" segues into "Mirror In the Bathroom" by The English Beat, which then leads seamlessly into David Bowie and Queen's classic track "Under Pressure," a song so great that even Vanilla Ice was unable to taint it with his abuse. The Specials bring on a stomping horn-powered cover of reggae favorite "Pressure Drop," and even the (old school) Faith No More track "We Care A Lot" seems to belong right where it is. The only real question is why they chose to include Guns 'N' Roses' "Live and Let Die" instead of the much better original by Paul McCartney. Still, it's only a small gripe, while this disc is big fun.

-Doug Levy