Metroscape

July 26, 1999

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I don't go
shopping for causes
fashion 2000
Globe Shakes
Delhi underbelly
Khan Do
It's fun, right?

Go Calcutta
Go Mumbai

NOTES
The Music Review

Different Kinds of Love -- C Note (Sony Music; Rs125) It's the age of the boy bands. And they are all over the place, youthful and attractive, Backstreet Boys and Boyzone. But to dismiss this debutant quartet -- Andrew Rogers, Raul Molina, David Perez and Jose Martinez -- simply because they fall into that category of people who qualify only as cute would be unfair. Different Kind of Love, more than anything else, is an album of experimentation -- experimentation with bubblegum but an experiment nevertheless. So there is a pleasantly melodious Wait till I get home, and it's Spanish version, No dejo de Pensar; there's a dash of rap in Spanish fly; and a capella number with Tell me where it hurts. The tunes themselves don't grab immediate attention; most of them, to put it kindly, are monotonous: feels so good, for instance, doesn't feel so good. But yes, it's cute.

Body Language -- Boney James (Music Today; Rs 95). James is no pretty boy -- Kenny G takes care of that. His music isn't elevator and he plays sax with cool. But this isn't, equally, the edge of new jazz which thrives as much on innovation as mastery of instrument and rhythm. More like a mix between Spyrogyra and Passport, more pep than blues, more mellow than exuberance. It's pop jazz, backed by the major names in the business. If that's your hook, it's among the best. If it isn't, tough. Not everybody stocks Charlie Mingus.

Surrender -- Chemical Brothers (Virgin; Rs 125). In the business where one album and one hit guarantees Hall of Fame status, Chemical Brothers is a name to reckon with in electro-techno-rock-rave-psychedelia. We just made up this genre; we're just following this band, which made up music and a reputation as it went along into cult status. Surrender is Brit mega club to the core and the tracks span the mood as much as the music. Under the influence, Out of control, Orange wedge, Got glint?, the title track and Dream on are as much names of song tracks as statements of a generation. Oasis brat Noel Gallagher is there for Let forever be, and Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie is on board for Out of control. Hot.

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