RECORD REVIEWS MUSIC
V ALBUMS
the Cranes‘ excellent Wings of Jov album instead, (Fiona Shepherd)
IJoe Temperley: Nightingale (HEP Records) Alastair Robertson‘s label continues to issue high-quality mainstream jazz. the latest ofwhich features the Lochgelly- born. New York-based baritone saxophonist. Stylistically. Temperley is influenced by bop to a greater degree than. say. Gerry Mulligan. but also has that clarity and light-but-full tone associated with the likesof Lester Young or Stan Getz. and any numberof the great swing players. The selection of standards (plus a solo version of ‘My Love ls Like a Red. Red Rose') is beautifully played by Te mperley and his trio. Brian Lemon. Dave Green and Martin Drew. In the same vein. HEP also have tenorman Spike Robinson‘s session A! Chesters out on CD. (Kenny Mathieson) I Jad Fair: I Like ltWhen You Smile (Paperhouse) Friend Of The Pastelslad Fair teams up again with Don Fleming (his partner in llalflapanese and guitarist for Gumball).J Mascis and a large supporting cast for a celebratory 22 tracks. If you haven't come across him before. Fair is probably the closest we've got to the kind of figure Jonathan Richman was fifteen years ago: a nerdy-voiced cult singer-songwriter who refuses to lose his optimism or his innocence and never strays far from the heart of rock'n‘roll. That is. assuming your idea of roek'n'roll encompasses Bo Diddley. Captain Beeihcart. The Velvet Underground. bubblegum pop and all points in between. (Alastair Mabbott) I Blues In The Mississippi Night (Ryltodisc) An essential artefact for any blues fan (or social historian). Blues In The .llississippi Night is a field recording made by the renowned archivist Alan Lomax of a chat between Big Bill Broonzy. Memphis Slim and Sonny Boy Williamson. Heard before. but never attributed to the participants due to their fear of reprisal from white Southerners. the conversation turns up some disturbing reminiscences from the bad old days in the early 20th century Delta. Some grainy songs are included as illustration to the oral history. but the album would work almost as well without them. thanks to the wit and warmth with which the speakers
recount their illuminating and eyebrow-raising tales. (Alastair Mabbott)
I Curve: Doppelganger (Anxious) Actually more of a listener-friendly patchwork monster in which. should you desire. you can have hours of picky fun spottingthe various torn snatches of independent rock's rich tapestry that have been cunnineg stitched together. albeit in an accomplished (soulless?) manner. for Curve's debut album: steely-edged Mary Chain-type guitar feedback here. breathy Valentine vocals there. smatterings of mock-horror Goth leftovers. even an attempt at Cocteaus-like am-bee-yawnce on the final track. ‘Sandpit‘. And while it all makes fora
i pleasantly
contemporaneous record. ultimately Curve are going to have to bend a whole lot more sinister in future ifthey're goingto succeed in convincing us that they’re not just indie wit/tout attitude — a post-modern Dollar for the alternative scene. if
you will. (Calvin Bush)
I Eden: Gateway To The Mysteries (Third Mind) On paper. Eden sound a
' treat.combining ' influences from a variety of generic. geographical
and historicalorigins—the
E same sonic archaeology
which the brilliant (‘auld Blast Orchestra execute to chilling effect. Lutesand
dulcimers weave medieval tapestries. pipesandflutes : evoke Andean mystique.
delicate strings produce mesmerising (‘eltic strains — this is what New Age
3 music could achieve ifits ‘ starting point wastexture
rather than ambience. But
O in practice Eden can't turn
their back on contemporary pop and. perhaps paradoxically. it's their attempts to weld truly otherworldly sounds to a modern framework
which eventually lets the
side down. That. and the fact that 70 minutes ofthis startling synthesis blunts its surprise edge. (Fiona Shepherd)
; I Butlan Tom: Let Me Come Over (Situation 2)
Sloughing offthe dead skin of]. Mascis's production torpor.
Buffalo Tom get seriously uppityontheirthird album. ‘Velvet Roof‘ has
already shredded its way to the top ofthe riff-o-meter. boasting
: more bloody guts than the
entire Birdbrat'n album put together. The rest of
Let Me Come Overseems
blanched in comparison to the single. as if that sucked in most oftheir churning spleen. Only ‘Mountains Of Your Head' gets really close. artfully mining the seams of full-tilt thrill that were once found in that
other great and mighty trio. Husker Du. Elsewhere. the passion runs smoother. layered around acoustic sensitivities. but still remaining true to their sturdy powerhouse of a well-spring. (Craig McLean)
V SINGLES
I Verve: All In The Mind (Hill) Broody. shaggable Wigan types. already highly flavoursome. Consider ‘All In The Mind‘s lazy. sprawling expanse and the advance scuttlebutt is easily understood. Clumsily put. this is The Stone Doors. those languid hypnotics and spacey echoes bridging the decades. With Morrison dead and the Roses as good as. Verve will be unstoppable. Remember: you read it here. oh. say. fourth? (CMcL)
I Hug: Mesmerised (Kitchenware) Kitchenware‘s answer to The Sugarcubes. perchance. what with that angel-voiced singer and devil-voiced rapping intrusion. Lurking in the background is a slashing see-saw guitar refrain. ever threatening to rip through and take over. The Voice. though. is Queen. carrying a shivery thrill ofa melody. (CMcL) I Forget-Me-Nots: Trouble (Sony Soho Square)Thc follow-up to the 2 Fay Wray EP has The Dubliners replacing Mitch Easter‘s garage sensibilites with Pete Smith‘s pop sheen in the production stakes. So the tone is breezy. the chorus immediate. and the thoughts of the ‘bubblegum' (whatever that means) of the Darling Buds. Or. to be more sophisticated. The Cranberries with a firecracker up their jacksies. lt‘s frothy. man. (CMcL)
I Shawn Christopher: Don't Lose The Magic (A092) Produced by Mike ‘llitman‘ Wilson and featuring remixes by David Morales and Todd Terry. this has that refreshing New York house feel. Instantly addictive piano groove. is more than capably accompanied by Miss Christopher‘s sophisticated vocals. (PO) I Urban Soul: Always (Cooltempo) So how do you follow up the number one club track of last year? Simple. you deliver a record ofsuch amazing depth that it just can't be ignored. Slightly more commercial than the now classic ‘Alright‘. thumping bass-driven house meets the lush vocals of Wanda Ramos. and the even lusher remixing hands of the clubbers' favourite. Sasha. (PO)
THE JESUS AND “ANY CHAIN PRESENTS
MELODY-MAKER]
SE&CC GLASGOW WEDNESDAY 25th MARCH
6.30pm
Tickets: £12.50
Available by Credit Cards Tel: 031 557 6969 (subject to £1.00 per ticket booking lee). Personal application irom Virgin Records Glasgow and Edinburgh, Ripping Records. Edinburgh, One-Up Records Aberdeen and all TOCTA outlets throughout Scotland.
edinburgh playhouse iune 29mm 8. 30mm ‘4
iuly him 3rdggtlol‘fl & 4mm Silva-161'?“
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O. CREW! CARDS 031-557 6969. POSTAL I own no (bl-5561212.
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The List 13 — 36 March W”: 31