MUSIC RECORD REVIEWS
Calvin Bush reviews the new rel. Sortoi. . .
A quick peek behind some of this week's headlines: ‘GLASGOW'S LIMBO LABEL FAILS TO RELEASE BAD RECORD’; This week sees the release of Ritmo de Vida‘s ultra-throbbing oscillating snake-biting ‘Taboo‘, and once again colostomy bags become de rigeur issue in clubs where Limbo records are played. Said label boss Billy Kiltoff: ‘Frankly. Calvin. I’m gutted. We went all the way to England, we signed up Coventry DJs Parks and Wilson and still get a bloody club stormer. I‘m at my wit's end.‘ ‘JUSTIN ROBERTSON IN FINI TRIBE FARCE‘: Manchester DJ and Balearic beat-maestro Justin ‘JR‘ Robertson stunned the world of dance music today by unleashing a tremendous remix of Peter Perfect‘s ‘Pitstop' for the Finiflex label — with not one of his trademark trumpets. Still. an inventive use of tinkling wind-chimes and a clattering clippety-clop hard-beat should more than compensate his biggest admirers: the brass section of The Coldstream Guards. ‘DESPERATE MARKETING PLOY HOUNDS ESTABLISHED ARTISTS’: It‘s the terrifying new scourge of the over-aged and over- rated. It‘s the double-pack CD con. This week. The The's ‘Slow Motion Replay' and Chrissie Hynde's Moodfoods project’s ‘Rainsong‘ both find themselves unwitting victims. ‘We reckon that if twice as many people don't buy guff like this. we’ll have twice the money not to spend on developing new talent like Rolf Harris and The Bluebells.‘ reasoned important person Maurice Oberpaid yesterday. ‘NEW ORDER — SAME OLD SOUND‘: ‘lt‘sjust not fair.‘ fumed New Order‘s Peter Hook yesterday as his hands ‘Regret’ single was issued with a host of club- friendly remixes. ‘We got Stephen Hague. Andy Weatherall and Boy‘s Own all involved. but it still sounds exactly like us.’ he snivelled. ‘That means a hit, publicity and interviews. Pah! Foiled again!‘ ‘The amber nectar of the Gods swished around a crystal-cut goblet ventured a clearly tired and emotional critic. B. Whacker, when pushed for a definition of ‘Regret' yesterday. The music business is 85 (per cent old rubbish).
_ ICE-T
Home Invasion (ilhyme Syndicate/Virgin)
Have you never ever felt the righteous wrath of the black man? Like the increasingly tiresome Spike lee, Ice-T reckons he’s the venom-fuelled scourge oi the (white man’s) public consciousness. If you ain’t down with what he’s saying, it’s either ’cos you don’t wanna understand, or, worse, ’cos you are quite simply a racist. It’s a perverse logic. It brings acclaim (usually from those too timid to resist), iurore, publicity and, oi course, sales. It is, essentially, a self- granted licence to say what the hell you want and damn those fascist do-
goody nay-savers.
‘Every fucking thing I write/ls gonna be analysed by somebody white’ (from ‘Ice M.F. T’). Wrong. irrespective oi colour, you don’t need to be further up the evolutionary ladder than a cerebrally-challenged sloth to ‘analyse’ ‘iiome lnvasion’. Talking about ‘a bitch who likes to lack me off and rub it on her chest’ (‘99 Problems’) is just the cancerous tip oi the lce(T)berg. ‘ilome lnvasion’, for all that it’s a partly great rap album musically, is utterly devoid oi anything more than ievered self- aggrandisement, tirades oi macho anger from the far side oi reason and an embittered sacrificing oi rational thought upon the bloodied altar oi lce’s misogynistic gangsta iantasies. Dare to resist. (Calvin Bush)
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ORCHESTRA
39 Stephs (Lochshore)
THE SKUOBHIE DUBH
Big brownie points to these Fliers for their spirited, authentic-sounding version oi ‘Foggy Mountain Breakdown’, the lightning-fingered banjo ’n’ fiddle spree that soundtracks the car chase in ‘Bonnie And Clyde’. This was written by Earl Scruggs, bluegrass master, who along with partner Lester Flatt, wrote the theme for ‘The Beverley Hillbillies’. How about a cover oi that, Dubhs? Anyway. ‘39 Stephs’, now more widely available than on its original pressing, proves that The Skuobhie Dubh Orchestra can do justice to such
a classic, such is their keen appreciation of the rattling rigours oi ‘hillbilly’ music. ‘llellle Keane’, ‘What’s Going On’ and ‘thtle Wonder’ zip along, irantically skiffling and shuffling. More mourniul, ‘Aftertaste’ and ‘Precious Bays’ have lonesome moothles and haunted accordions, lending ‘organic’ intimacy to singer/songwriter Kenny Anderson’s laments. lie doesn’t have the nasal calun twang ofi pat, his voice too often lacking the peaks and troughs to match the dips in his music. But he does have a fine ear for the true sounds oi Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi.
All this, and they didn’t even opt for the sucker punch oi the habitual ‘Duelling Banlos’ cover. (Craig McLean)
:- THE KBOllOS QUARTET
Goreckl Quartets/Short Stories (Elektra Nonesuch)
The first oi Gorecki’s quartets, the single-movement ‘Already it is Dusk’, has been out before, but now comes partnered with his second, ‘Ouasl una Fantasla’, in the wake oi the current interest in the Polish composer’s work generated by the success oi the ‘Symphony ll 3’ on disc, also from this label. Both are in the kind oi hali- meditatlve, haIi-declamatory style he now favours, and although more intractable, are recognisany oi the same stuff as the Symphony, unlike some of his earlier works.
‘Short Stories’ is an eclectic assemblage of music from anywhere and everywhere, as Kronos continue to back away at preconceptions of what is ‘strlng quartet repertoire’. The nine pieces include quartets by Cowell and Cubaidulina, Scott Johnston’s Belchlan ‘Sollloquy’, electronic noise from John Oswald, collaborations with guitarist Steven Mackay and Pakistani singer Pandit Prath llath, music by flow York avant-gardlsts Elliot Sharp (a throwaway rhythm exercise) and John Zorn, and they even have a go at Willie Dixon’s ‘Spooniul’. It doesn’t all work by any means, but that won’t stop them trying. llear before you buy. (Kenny Mathleson)
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30 The List 9—22 April 1993