Daily Staff Writer

“Bigger and Blacker”

Chris Rock

FOUR STARS

Chris Rock’s “Bigger and Blacker” is a comedy album with a little something for everyone.

Rock has it covered from the subtle and sublime to the just incredibly stupid.

“Bigger and Blacker” is 22 tracks of some of Rock’s better stand-up bits mixed with some new studio material.

Some of the tracks contain hidden wisdom about social inequality, hypocrisy and irony, while others are completely without merit.

One example of Rock’s insight into American fallacies is “Crazy White Kids,” where he talks about the Littleton shooting:

“They were all goin’ on about how they were picked on and nobody liked ’em and they didn’t have any friends. There were six of ’em! When I was in high school, I didn’t have six friends. I ain’t got six friends now!”

One of the lowest points is track 13, “Nerd & Fly Girl.” This track is nothing more than graphic sound effects of a nerd having sex with an attractive woman.

The “clever” twist is we can hear the thoughts of the two as the sexually inadequate nerd is about to ejaculate much sooner than he — or his partner — would like. The attractive girl thinks one thing and says another. Rock can do better.

Luckily most of the tracks are far superior.

Rock does a clever version of “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)” by Baz Lurhmann called “No Sex (In The Champagne Room).”

The clever advice Rock gives the GED class of 1999 is “Cornbread — ain’t nothin’ wrong with that! Take off that silly-ass hat! No matter what a stripper tells you, there’s no sex in the champagne room.”

Rock does a version of “Brown Sugar” with the chorus “White bitches — how come you look so good? White bitches — do things a sister never would, yeah!”

This track is one of several funny musical interludes placed between the standup and studio tracks.

As comedy albums go, this is a keeper you can listen to more than once before recycling.

—Greg Jerrett

“Live in Texas”

Lyle Lovett

FOUR STARS

Lyle Lovett’s new genre-defying CD, “Live in Texas,” is a fresh breeze of artistry in an industry of poseurs and glitzy glamour hounds.

“Live in Texas” is 14 tracks of pure gold ranging from twangy country ballads to big band swing and blues.

The album as a whole reflects Lovett’s origins in Texas, a state which contributed to American music this style of unique big band music in the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s.

Throughout the album, fans can be heard screaming with ecstatic delight but the sound quality is still high. In fact, the sound quality is much higher than one normally finds on live compilations.

The album opens up with “Penguins,” a soulful track that sounds like Earth Wind and Fire joined in for a jam session.

The track extolls the sensitive nature of penguins over substantive humans. It is Lovett’s tribute to his own sensitive nature, a nature which has set him apart from his country music origins and made him the unique artist he is today.

There is a playfulness on many of the tracks that makes listening to this CD fun. At times it feels like being at the concert with the adoring fans as Lovett plays up for the audience.

One gets a sense of Lovett’s stage presence as that of not simply a paid performer but as someone who loves his job and knows what the audience wants.

It is difficult to reconcile the quiet, mild-mannered Lovett one sees in interviews and on film with the live album where he sounds completely at home in front of huge crowds.

“That’s Right (You’re Not From Texas)” is classic old Texas big band jam that puts on display Lovett’s current obsession with singing about his home state. It has all the attitude and pomp one can except from proud Texans. “That’s right you’re not from Texas, Texas don’t want you anyway.”

For the Lyle Lovett fan, this live CD makes a nice addition to the collection. For the uninitiated, this CD will make a great introduction to a unique performer.

—Greg Jerrett