The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 65

3 REVIEWS MOVIES, MUSIC AND THEATER nipulated for maximum commercial appeal and ended up being watered-down and practically worthless. Still, David E. Kelley managed to find "Searchin' My Soul" on one of those records and chose it to be the theme song of his latest hit show. If you've been watching "Ally McBeal," you'll know that each episode features snippets of two or three songs and that they generally reflect the psychological action of the story. By now, Shepard has recorded enough of these tunes to compile several albums, including the "Ally McBeal Christmas Collection," so starting with a single disc is a bit frustrating.

There are several great songs Belong to Me," "The End of the World," "Neighborhood," "I Only Want to Be With You," "Ask the Lonely" and "Walk Away but with so much to choose from, it's a shame the producers didn't create a more consistent package. While none of the tracks are out-right duds, the program is a bit uneven. Still, the bases have been covered. While the best of the set are the soulful, bluesy ballads, they are contrasted with old girl group tunes like "It's in His Kiss (The Shoop Shoop Song)" and "Tell Him." Four other songs, including the show's theme song, were penned by Shepard; but while they have their moments, they don't really stand up to Lieber and Stoller, for instance. success! By all accounts, and in spite of a power outage that caused the cancellation of two headlining acts on the last day, Initial Records' was a resounding success.

The crowd was well-composed. The schedule was firm. And Andy Rich, the label's owner, estimated overall attendance at about 3,500, suggesting that the likelihood of another is high. "Everyone was pretty understanding (about the power Rich said. "It was completely out of anyone's control." While no refunds were offered, Rich quickly pointed out that five of the scheduled seven bands did play, which, with tickets priced at $8, was still a bargain.

Ultimately, only a handful of patrons who had paid immediately before the power went out received refunds. Two of the bands scheduled for Saturday didn't appear, but the reasons for their absence (one group broke up, another broke down in Pennsylvania) were sufficient to prevent rioting, and Rich was sharp enough to have one of Friday's bands play again on Saturday to fill out the bill. The kids will get another chance to see one of the label's local stalwarts today, when The Enkindels play a free set at ear X-tacy on Bardstown Road at 7 p.m. The band will be celebrating the release of its second full-length album, "Buzzclip 2000." Pam Tommy have company Perry Farrell is the latest rock star OPENINGS AND PERFORMANCES Dance, baby, dance By PAUL CURRY Special to The Courier-Journal "SONGS FROM 'ALLY MCBEAL' Vonda Shepard (Sony) Formats: cassette, CD TV program is so special. Her readings of classic contemporary pop songs and her appearances as the featured entertainer in the gang's hangout hint at a particularly valuable perspective toward the love of music in general.

The show's producer would like to suggest that we can enhance our lives by creating our own soundtracks. Sure, this collection of songs "belongs" to Ally McBeal, the romanticallychallenged main character, but the themes are universal and some of the songs are so great that even the worst reading couldn't hurt them. Further, as the art of interpreting pop standards has fallen out of favor with the record-buying public, this little disc is a beautiful anomaly. Shepard's music career has been anything but enviable. She managed to get a couple of records released by a major label, but they were inappropriately ma- Vonda Shepard's consistent presence is one of the reasons why the "Ally Concert calendar Cincinnati: Tonight at Riverbend Music Center, Clay Walker, Mark Chesnutt, Regina-Regina (502-232- 6220).

Friday at Bogart's, Short Millie, Skallywagon; next Saturday, Savatage, Anthrophobia (513-872-8801). Indianapolis: Tuesday at Market Square Arena, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant (317-239-5151). Louisville: Thursday at Phoenix Hill Tavern, Junior Brown (502-361- 3100). Noblesville, Tonight at Deer Creek Music Center, Stevie Nicks, Boz Scaggs; Wednesday, Michael Bolton, Wynonna; Friday, Lynyrd Skynyrd; next Saturday, John Fogerty (502-361-3100). Ticket office Cincinnati: June 16 at Riverbend Music Center, Jonathan Butler, Kirk Whalum, Mark Antoine, Richard Elliot; June 18, Vince Gill, Restless; June 23, Chicago, Hall Oates (502-232-6220).

June 17 at Bogart's, Edwin McCain, Peter Droge (513-872-8801). Indianapolis: June 19 at Market Square Arena, Boyz II Men (317- 239-5151). Louisville: June 16 at Toy Tiger, Jerry Cantrell (502-361-3100); June 18 at Coyote's, Gary Allan (502-589- 3866). June 21 at the Brewery, Limp Bizkit, Incubus; June 24, Sister Hazel (502-361-3100). June 25 at Jim Porter's, Pamela Williams (502-452-9531).

June 27 at Mercury Paw, Mike Ireland and Holler, Drifting Luke (502-587-6999). Noblesville, June 20 at Deer Creek Music Center, Michael Crawford; June 21, Moody Blues; June 28, Chicago, Hall Oates (502-361-3100). Vonda Shepard is making it big with "Songs From 'Ally "Songs From 'Ally McBeal' is a fine that stands on its own, apart from its and beautiful effort, but let's hope that its producers will next compile an album TRACKS BULLETINS, BLASTS AND NEWS BITS fighting to keep dirty home movies out of your neighborhood video store, according to Entertainment Weekly, but it appears that the singer has been caught with his pants down more than once. On May 14, Farrell obtained a temporary restraining order restricting Web site Spy7 and its parent company, Fairchild Kirby, from disseminating: a "sex-andsyringe-filled" home video featuring the Jane's Addiction vocalist. Farrell's lawsuit contends that a tape "depicting him and his girlfriend at the time engaged in various explicit sexual and intimate relations" was "apparently stolen from the Plaintiff's home." In their response, Fairchild Kirby suggested that Farrell must be thinking about a different tape, because the tape they have shows him "being gratified by two women." Further, they claim Farrell signed a release.

Most recently, Farrell's attorney agreed that the tape in question is different from the one described in the suit, but added that the signature on the release "appears to be a forgery." Artist soon to be known as 'Little Prince'? Will Oldham, the artist formerly known as Palace, will be releasing two EPs, Music" and "Little Joya," on June 22. The geekier fans may shrug a sigh of relief or disgust as both were previously available as limited free bonus discs with the first 1,000 copies of the artist's two most recent albums, "Arise Therefore" and "Joya," respectively. Music," which consists of association with the TV show. It shouldn't be that difficult. eight tracks ranging from instrumental organ pieces to subtle acoustic numbers (one features the poetry of D.H.

Lawrence), was formerly titled "Songs Put Together for the Broken Giant." "Little Joya," on the other hand, has only three tracks, one of which is the title song from the "Joya" album. Fans will find both essential to the completion of their collections if they weren't lucky enough to score their copies the first time around. A press release announcing the imminent general availability of the two discs prods openly at the young Mr. Oldham's infamous name-shifting, dubbing him "Mr. Appalachia," "Sir No-Use-For-AnAmplifier" and "Bonnie 'Prince' Billy." Can the unpronounceable symbol be far behind? Out this week Grant Lee Buffalo's "Jubilee" is the band's first album without multi-instrumentalist Paul Kimble.

A variety of guests, including Michael Stipe, Robyn Hitchcock and Wallflowers' keyboardist Rami Jaffee, are on hand to take up the slack. Jesus and Mary Chain are back with its Sub Pop debut, "Munki," which features Mazzy Star vocalist Hope Sandoval on one track. Other new releases include John Fogerty's an 18-track live album, plus new studio efforts by Brandy, Madball, No Means No, Slayer, Throneberry and Tuatara. By Paul Curry, special to the Courier-Journal "Saturday, June 6, 1998 SCENE Page 5.