Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock)
June 5, 2005 Sunday

ListenUp Mezmerize No down time on CD for System’s new noggin pounder

A- System of a Down Mezmerize American It takes 63 seconds for System
of a Down to hit its stride on Mezmerize. Long enough for Daron
Malakian to strum an acoustic guitar. Long enough to croon alongside
Serj Tankian and welcome us to “the soldier side” where “people all
grow up to die.”

Consider that your in-flight warning, because Mezmerize is gonna
pound your noggin for the next 35 minutes.

System of a Down doesn’t waste a moment of tape. There isn’t time.
Too many riffs to bash out. Too many Armenian folk melodies to
cuddle. Too many wars committed by presidents “dancing in the desert,
blowing up the sunshine.” Gotta keep it going, gotta keep it moving.
Can’t slow down. More coffee at Table 5, please. Even the song titles
behave like a channel flicker. Click: “Radio/Video.” Click: “Violent
Pornography.” Click: “Question!” The band is incapable of letting up.

Mezmerize is the first in a two-disc set. Its brother, Hypnotize, is
due in the fall. Ought to give us plenty of time to come down from
the caffeine rush of Part 1.

– JEREMY M. DOHERTY BMike Jones Who Is Mike Jones
Swishahouse/Asylum/Warner Bros.

There are several annoying components to the Mike Jones (who?!)
phenomenon. The incessant bellowing of his name and phone number, his
nasally tone and the fact he always conducts interviews with an
iced-out grill piece that’s far too big for him and makes him sound
stupid. But, after checking out his major label debut, there’s a lot
more to like than loathe about this Clutch City native.

Who Is Mike Jones is a quaint collection of modest rhymes and dreams
fulfilled. Mike Jones credits his late grandmother with encouraging
him to stay on his grind and never give up on his dreams of becoming
a hip-hop star. The first single, “Still Tippin” features Paul Wall
and Slim Thug and rumbled through the underground and eventually
found light on MTV and BET.

It’s nearly impossible not to lean back in your seat and smile as you
crank up tracks like the amusing “Cuttin” remix and the
soon-to-be-Dirty South rida anthem “What Ya Know About.” The final
cut is a tribute to Jones’ grandmother that wraps up this project
nicely.

– SHON MCPEACE B- Various artists American Idol Season 4 The
Showstoppers RCA Records What’s really good about AI’s newest
compilation? What you’d expect: Carrie Underwood, whose version of
Martina McBride’s “Independence Day” proves that the Idol can most
certainly be country. Bo Bice, whose version of Gavin DeGraw’s “I
Don’t Wanna Be” sounds far more authentic musically than the
original. Nadia Turner’s gorgeous and understated “You Don’t Have to
Say You Love Me.” Constantine Maroulis’ jazz club jam version of “My
Funny Valentine,” though I’m still pining for a recording of his
“Bohemian Rhapsody.”

What’s really bad? Anthony Federov’s “Everytime You Go Away” proves
that the intersection of rhythm, cadence and emotion that made this
Paul Young classic stick in the head still escapes Federov (and
please get this version out of my head). And if it wasn’t enough that
she managed to be annoying in the liner notes, Mikalah Gordon’s
studio version of “God Bless the Child” (which wasn’t terrible live)
proves that the young Gordon doesn’t grasp its meaning.

Everything else? Average to good, but not really showstopping.

– BRENDA LOOPE R A- Shelby Lynne Suit Yourself Capitol One of the
strengths of Shelby Lynne’s last record, 2003’s Identity Crisis, was
the stripped-down sound and simple arrangements that allowed her
haunting and emotional voice to shine. That album had a living room
intimacy, a feeling that continues on this even better set. The sound
is still warm, essentially acoustic and restrained. The band includes
musicians from the Wallflowers and Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers. The
mood shifts from the reflective melancholy of tracks such as “I Cry
Everyday” to the wonderful Johnny Cash-June Carter tribute “When
Johnny Met June” (written the day Cash died) and the wonderful “Go
With It,” which kicks the album off in high gear with
Americana-textured electric guitar. But that burst (and the short but
lively “You and We”) are additions to the soulful, almost
closing-time-inthe-jazz/blues club feel. Her version of Tony Joe
White’s “Rainy Night in Georgia” is a wonder.

– ELLIS WIDNE R