REVIEW MUSIC
V ALBUMS
I Aaron Neville: Warm Yourileart (AaM) lncredibly. this is the otherwise prolific Neville Brother's first solo outing for 20 years. and it finds him renewing his musical affiliation with Linda Ronstadt. who co-produces. Opening with a rather pedestrian run through Randy Newman‘s ‘Louisiana 1927‘. which missesthe hope-via-despair magic of the original. young Nev then takes us through a disappointingly conceived — seeing as an Episcopal Choir and full Symphony Orchestra are at hand ~ set of standard covers. John lliatt‘s ‘It Feels Like Rain‘ is languidly rendered. blissfully avoiding the maudlin tweeness of Bacharach's ‘Don‘t Go Please Stay". a song that would drive any potential paramour onto the first night-bus. thus defeating its specified aim. And by the time we get to the wobbly-voiced trilling of ‘Ave Maria'. we‘re really in trouble. All a bit tired sounding. and certainly not worth breaking a twenty-year silence over. (Paul W. llullah) I Ta] Mahal: Like Never ' Belore (Private Music)! guess the title is intended to alert us to the more mainstream rock and funk vein singer and guitarist Taj Mahal mines on this varied set. but it is typical enough of his usual eclectic approach to black music styles. There is a nod or two to current fashion in a cut like ‘Squat 'That Rabbit.’ but most of the set falls comfortably into the blues-reggae-soul parameters he has traversed in the past. It‘s a strong release. though. with an all-star cast. including Hall and Oates on a couple of tracks. but don‘t let that put you off. (Kenny Mathieson) I Buddy Guy: Damn Right. I’ve GotThe Blues (Silvertone) This smacks of the big push for bluesman Buddy Guy. A straight down the line electric blues set aimed four-square at the Robert Cray fans. it teams the great Chicago guitarist with most of the guys who made a fortune ripping him off. includingJeff Beck. Mark Knopfler and Eric Clapton. Guy sticks to the traditional approach to the idiom. rather than the smoother. more soul and funk influenced version made fashionable by Cray. but
3 representingthatgigare
i already passed into legend as the epicentre ofthe
still manages to give a fresh twist to guitar runs you have heard a thousand times. (Kenny Mathieson)
I John Cale: Even Cowgirls ‘
Get The Blues (BOIR) When John Cale played the New York club CBGBsin December 1978. it had
New Wave. Judging by
these bootleg-quality selections. the former violist from a long-dead (and revered) art band i was himself not without impact on the hardened regulars. The four tracks
excellent; and when Judy
Nylon (‘vocals and l attitudc') startstosinga . wordless snatch of‘l Only Have Eyes For You'. as 9 though to herself. it‘sthe ' signal for the title track to ' begin a slow. tense climb to all-stops-pulled release. Side two. recorded there a year later. isn‘t as : consistent. but throws up
j ‘Don‘t Know Why She
(‘ame‘. a touching ;
moment that contrasts .
with (.‘ale'sterrifying accusatory form elsewhere. (Alastair A
Mabbott)
i VSINGLES ‘
I Elephant Noise: EP (RUB) There's a lot of palatable ' guitar-pop on the Edinburgh four-piece‘s debut slab. and hints at several directions they could profitably follow. but. Lord. I hope the intolerany sickly ‘This Song ls ()ur Friend‘ isn‘t the way they go after this. As for the rest. some might feel it getting bland in places. but ‘El’ makes ; me impatient to hear what ' Elephant Noise could do : oncethey really findtheir fect,(AM) : I Billy Bragg: Sexuality (Go! Discs) Bragg‘s first 1 single for three yearsis I co-writtcn with freelance axeman Johnny Marr. with freelance yodellcr Kirsty McC‘oll on backing vox. Replcte with twee middle-eight. this safe-sex ; advert is strangely pedestrian compared to the classic Bragg/Man shot. 86's Greetings To The New Brunette. A rather silly wide-trousered ‘Manchester Mix‘ tries to take Bragg out ofthe student bar and onto the dancefloor. Bad move. (PWH) I This Picture: Naked Rain i (Dedicated) Recently adopted by Batesy and played to death on his show. but resolutely less pappy than his patronage ; would imply. ‘Naked Rain‘ is a frenzied string ensemble melodrama. the majestic offspringofa Watery U2. Plenty of oh-it‘s-so-80s sincerity
and gravitas—a floundering fish out of today‘s pop water. but
nonetheless dignified. (CMcL)
I Fini Tribe: 101 (One Little Indian) The ‘Balearic' hit of the summer. as though anyone with an ounce of sense wouldn't avoid that tag like high-grade nuclear waste. lfthey don‘t mind me bringing their labelmates'l'he Shamen into this. ‘10] ‘ is Fini Tribe‘s own ‘l’ro-(ien'. in that it clicks. it's confident and it's got ‘hit' etched intoevery groove. Mixed by Andy Weatherall. with an El’of dramatically rearranged mixes by 808 State's (iraham Massey to follow.
vi 5” I The 25th 0i May: It’s All Righl (Arista) Breathless semi-raps over a scratching collage of biceps and riffs. More ‘l’ump L'p The Volume' than 'l’ump Up The Jam‘ in its place on the Dance Development Scale. Such reliance on the more primitive — primordial guitar breakstaking precedence over clever-clever keyboard flashcry — makes ‘lt‘s All Right‘ more likeablc than its techno-freak peers. The verdict: Brownie points through comparison. but even then the competition ain't much cop. (CMcL) I Pale Saints: Flesh Balloon (4A0) The title suggests a more visceral Pale Saints this time round. but rest assured Flesh Balloon is as fey as ever. The langorous epitome of this being the ‘Kinky Love‘ lead track (an old Nancy Sinatra standard. by all accounts). Featuring as it doesthe Karen Carpenter-esque vocal purity of Meriel Barham. said song is single-handedly reason enough to assuage our concerns about the Leeds lot‘s rather feckless slide of late. (CMcL) I Moose: Suzanne (Hut) Muted. neutered production does Moose no favours as they try to follow the success ofthcir debutlaek EP. The latter elicited much frothy spittle from slavering journalist types and why is only half a mystery. being as it was loud and proud. ‘Suzanne‘. alas. has none of its big brother‘s
cockiness and instead sees
Moose with heads resolutely cowed and with all pretensions to vitality and musical animation buried deep in a mumbling morass. (CMcL)
POOTPOIIOBHII
THE WORLD'S GREATEST CELLIST
MONDAY 29 JULY 1991 AT 8.00PM
Rostropovich
plays J.S.BACH
Suite No. 2 in D minor
Suite No. 3 in C major Suite No. 5 in C minor
THE GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL
£20.00, £17.50, £15.00, £12.50, £10.00 Box Office: 041-332 3123
Plus Special Guests
SE&CC GLASGOW MONDAW 15th JULY
ADDITIONAL SHOW DUE TO PUBUC DEMAND
TUESDAY 16th JULY 7.30 pm Tickets: £14.00, £12.00
Available from Just The Ticket and Lost in Music Glasgow, Virgin and Ripping Records Edinburgh, One Up Aberdeen, Up Records Ayr, Grouchos Dundee, Options Grangemouth, Sleeves Records Kirkcaldy, Record Market Paisley, Roadshow Music Stirling and all TOCT A agents (Subject to a booking fee). g
Credit Card bookings Tel: 031-557 6969 (Subject to £1 per ticket booking fee). F
Postal applications to INXS B/O, PO. Box 180, Head Post Office, Edinburgh. Cheques/PO’s made payable to TOCT A with 70p per ticket booking fee.
The List 28June- 11 July 1991 41