Eliot Wilder Reviews: July, 2001

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Penelope Houston
Loners, Stoners and Prison Brides

(Normal)

This live-in-the-studio unplugged trawl through Houston's songs past and present shows plainly just how far the former Avenger has come from her pink-haired punk days. Then again, maybe not. For although the sound here is acoustic, Loners, Stoners and Prison Brides is not lacking in fiery intensity, its songs peopled with difficult characters whose lives are painted in violent brushstrokes. As in the past, vengeance is the order of the day, in tunes like "Pale Green Girl," in which the pissed-off narrator flatly states: "She knows the way you pace the floor / she knows the way you fucked her dry / she knows your tapping on her door." Or in "Walnut," where the yearning protagonist declares: "All my life I've been waiting to / break out of the kitchen into the ether / So take my hand pull me up, wake me up / out of this fever, into the dreamer." The motif of expectancy and dashed hopes is prevalent from beginning to end, but it's especially manifest on "Everybody's Little Dreamer," which Penelope introduces by remarking: "Anybody's who's been following my career knows that I haven't exactly modeled myself into the perfect little pop star. And I'm sure that anybody's who's had a relationship with me knows that I haven't modeled myself into the perfect little girl, either." Although she lets out a brief laugh, you know she's not just being flippant. Like the album cover itself – an image of Penelope bearing an expression so filled with longing that she practically looks medieval – Loners, Stoners and Prison Brides is riddled with barely disguised pain and sexual frustration. But at its heart is Houston's tough optimism. Like a geode that's all bumpy on the outside but filled with unexpected lights and colors within.

(Only available through www.penelope.net)

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Fantastic Plastic Machine
Beautiful

(Emperor Norton)

Light and airy, like a welcome cool zephyr on a swampy summer afternoon, Fantastic Plastic Machine's Beautiful is aptly titled. While not totally abandoning his usual mating of Bacharach and breakbeats, on his third full-length release FPM's Tomoyuki Tanaka admits that he's interested this time in developing his sound into something more adult oriented. "Comparing my music to a girl," he says. "I used to like a 'cute' girl but now I prefer a 'beautiful' girl. It is more mature." Tanaka's idea of sophisticated? Why, the satin soul of that walrus of love, Barry White. Yeah, it's mostly a kitschy mishmash, but so what? It's a lot of fun, and the arrangements swing like a house (music) afire. Especially on tracks like the slippery "Paragon" and the wiggy "Love Is Psychedelic." What else? "On a Chair" rides an ethereal wave, all breathy "ahhs" and "oohs" and Philly strings over a chillin' hip-hop clop. Then there's a remake of Frankie Knuckles' classic "The Whistle Song." From start to finish, Fantastic Plastic Machine offers a continuous groove that seamlessly incorporates a world of music. In a funk? Become one of the Beautiful people.

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