NEW ALBUM 'Apothecary RX' utilizes eclectic musical sounds

The songs on Rux's sophomore album create vivid, poetic images of society.
By RASHOD D. OLLISON
THE BALTIMORE SUN
The voice awakens.
The deep moans rise languidly over steady, layered percussion as the bass throbs and meanders a bit. Then it all coalesces: the congas quicken, the keyboard lines zip over the rhythm and the voice -- a commanding baritone belonging to Carl Hancock Rux -- multiplies. He becomes a one-man choir, chanting: "No seventh son born of a seventh son ... I got a name!"
And from there, the music explodes and never lets up on "Apothecary RX," Rux's long-awaited sophomore album. It is, so far, the most sonically eclectic, lyrically rich CD released this year. But you probably won't hear it. Rux -- an accomplished dancer, poet, playwright, novelist, singer, actor -- defies the narrow categories of pop. He's not selling us sex or thug-isms. No cameos from Jay-Z, Missy Elliott or any other hot rapper appear on the record.
His songs explore history, personal redemption and different aspects of existing in a society that doesn't acknowledge your existence -- all distilled in vivid, poetic images. The music behind the words is wondrously kaleidoscopic. Certainly not the kind of stuff that gets an artist on the radio or MTV these days. "Apothecary RX" -- and Rux's art in general -- is indivisible.
"I wanted a seamless album," says the 34-year-old performer, who's calling from his home in Brooklyn. "I also wanted to reflect my musical tastes, which are eclectic. So sampling Tibetan monks to bluegrass banjos makes complete sense to me. I think we get too conditioned with categorizing the music and hearing the differences rather than collapsing the styles. There's a sameness in the different sounds."
Unique sound
Like his challenging contemporaries Cody ChestnuTT, Erykah Badu and the Roots, Rux is an original artist whose work folds in various sources of spiritual and intellectual inspiration. Jazz, hip-hop, avant garde rock, gospel, the blues -- the styles collide, twist and melt into one another on "Apothecary." And the results are often provocative, anchored by Rux's resonant vocals and probing lyrics.
In 1999, Epic/Sony put out Rux's debut, "Rux Revue," produced by the Dust Brothers, Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf. (It was actually his second album. His first, helmed by the great Nona Hendryx, was never released.) The major-label record didn't do much commercially. But it was named one of the top 10 alternative music CDs of '99 by The New York Times and introduced discerning music lovers to an uncompromising artist who flowed through musical and poetic expression with verve and imagination. "I was in awe of the producers on the first record and how they composed and came up with beats," says Rux, a native New Yorker. "I didn't know much about the studio then."
Business issues -- switching from Epic to Giant Step Records -- kept "Apothecary" on the shelf for five years. "All that time was good for me to tweak and rewrite the record, which I could have done forever," Rux says.
What he offers on "Apothecary RX" is meant to reach deep.
"An apothecary is the same thing as a pharmacy," Rux says. "When you put this record on, I wanted it to be like a room of herbs and poisons that represents our healing. Music has always helped us in our healing processes. We use it in dosages, like medicines."
As Rux's voice swells and soars over exotic beats and rhythms, the healing begins.