MUSIC
v SINGLES V JAZZ assesses? Lift off
choice of covers on side two- Duke Ellington‘s ‘Solitude’ and Fred Neil’s ‘Dolphins' which reached Matt Johnson through Tim Buckley’s Sefrom'a- the first versions of other people’s songs in The The’s career. The experience might teach
interest a record company in a concept, the quartet recorded the tape on OAT (with the help oi lunding irom Loose Tubes) and went to EG Records with the iinlshed product, an inventive, multl-laceted contemporary iazz set which revealed Bailamy's on-going respect ior the tradition, but without
filifif‘g‘f'ffi‘fia; marking him down as a revivalist. punters“, ray defied, ‘Peopie talk a lot about the tradition hard cash for your in jazz,’ Baliamy says, ‘but as tar as i pronouncements. it helps can hear, it has always been a tradition to have a tune ofsome based on change. I think you have to
kind, even if it's not a very jolly one. The self-penned tracks on side one suffer from the usual drabness, Johnson himselfseeming the only one particularly interested in what’s going on. (AM)
I The Wendys: The Sun's Gonna Shine For Me Soon (Factory) As far as debuts go, this is as long-awaited as they get. However, The Wendys capany stave off the burden of anticipation with a confident trip
absorb at least the last 50 years oi that tradition, and in the right order, iiyou are really to understand the music, but the next step irom there is to develop your own music in an original way, because that is how you break new ground ioryourseil. In iact, I think it is the only way to break new ground these lain Bellamy dang Saxophonist lain Ballamy is now one at The band return to Scotland tor a the old hands amongst the precocious Scottish Jazz Network tour, having crop oi young jazzmen who emerged on already made their mark in the t ~ the British scene in the 80s. His biting Glasgow and Edinburgh jazz iestivals. saxophones always stood out amid the Ballamy’s iruitiul partnership with
MARC MARNIE
through late 80s bustle oi Loose Tubes' anarchic lellow-Tubes alumni Oiango Bates on indiedom. And yes, that textures, and added an equally piano lies at the heart oi their iertile does include the distinguished voice to Bill Bruiord’s and highly enjoyable music, Offi'fl‘jfi’fcd H ' ' ',' state oi the art iusion outiit Earthworks. augmented by a rhythm section oi
M d . Cfimpansogs it took several years ior Ballamy to baseman Steve Watts and drummer :ghcyess get together his iirst album as Martin France. (Kenny Mathieson) demented janglc of ’ bandleader, but Balloon Man, released lain Ballamy's Balloon Man play The previous Factory in late 1989 on Editions EG, proved to Merlin, Edinburgh on Thurs 7 and apprentices Northside. be worth the wait. Rather than trying to Henry Wood Hail, Glasgow on Fri 8.
But, as The Wendys say, the sun isn‘t beamingjust yet — there’s a cloud to their silver lining, a darker side to their groove, from the sustained ponderous intro to the strung-out heave of the chorus. Still, the future‘s so bright, they’ll have to wear shades. (FS)
Splashing along I
Some- thing blue
Paul W. Hullah casts an eye over Chris Isaak. the sublimely talented singer
One oi the simplest exercises in the music world is iinding between bands common strands which don’t rightly exist. So last year's glut oi emergent independent talent was herded together underthe dance banner. Inevitably, with so many bands being pulled in oil the sidelines, there came a point when the notion oi a ‘scene' dissolved.
When Ocean Colour Scene appeared, they were peripheral both geographically (they come lrom Solihull), and musically. Their
I The Charlatans: Over Rising EP (Dead Dead
ROCK 8t BLUES 32 LIGHT 35 JAZZ 35 FOLK 8t WORLD 37 CLASSICAL 38
500‘) Belicyc you me (to <0 particular distillation oi the 60s brew is .
Jfoclgcvnccfgi's'm p; and stunning harmonies than a ‘Wicked Game ’ brought g
death.and afterthe VJ “Shimab'e “33"1hel'd9huls'w'e' ‘ the charts a breath of air
fanfabulous some 3 ‘Sway', a highly addictive blend at Ocean Colour Scene. . '
Friendly, did we not have rhythm and reverb was more indicative have played, and write tunes based from anothér um? ’ and
:{right t: cripcct better? 3 0t 1‘99'0; dancg letishsthan it was Ot the around the same chord structures that a iOOkS SCt t0 lnh€rll ROy ? ere,t e ammond res O cean 0 OUT cene’s Olitiillt, million th r . ' ’
takfcs a back seat but I“ which is iar bazier— psychedelic, sense '3" :effi’hpigehngdgfi'i‘ee: In a Ofblson S coveted mantle'
_ Bile"? , , otherwise you’d be completely adriit. . i
go a“ the luscious hooks. > "to." lthink *8 '8 a stflledelic Unless you'd invented the art yourseii- Imagine a Phenomenon One man ;
.Om Rising. is entirely m band, counters vocalist Simon Fowler. and | elderly and a red guitar. Songs for the lost :
pedestrian (by Chafiatans i think a lot at our songs have a certain em in, a hand who have been and lonely. The dynamics of sadness ;
standards anyway). while : amount 0t musical intensity but, in together torjust over a year, they and resilience , steeped in enigma
‘Way Up There‘ merely a terms oi psychedelia, ldon’t think display a frightening maturity on stage and making it look easy.
demonstrates‘that we're singing about newspaper taxis.’ and on record, (can almost eeheumnh Bittersweet, smouldering ballads
However, the band don i choose to the overzealous journalist who claimed dovetailed into swinging country
second-ram Smn‘c £0565. deny the inevitable 60$ comparisons. they are ‘what The Beatles nearly rock n roll Interludes. The resonant.
Lamcmably this who": EP A tour-piece band with our line-up is were', because with Ocean Colour manly alto building up to the
just comes across “The bound to sound like things that have scene we easy to go overboard, (Fiona haunting, pained falsetto.
Charlatans proving how gone beiore. As soon as you start Shepherd) Vulnerable, but somehow assured
good they are at sounding playing guitar you’re going to play Ocean Colour scene play The Venue, and in control . . .
like Tthharlatans. (FS) chords whicha million otherpeople Edinburgh on Thurs 7, But that‘s enough about Roy
28 The List 22 February — 7 March 1991