RECORD REVIEWS MUSIC
I The Velvet Underground: live MGMXGIII (Sire) I hate to say it. but I guess this is one of those cases where you just had to be there. The excitement. earlier this year. of witnessing these venerable warhorses going through their magnificent back catalogue was enough. at the time. Any more would have been a bonus. and most of us were happy with what we got. But in the cold light of day — ie this live album. compiled from the three Paris dates of their tour — what is most starkly defined are those things that were lacking: Innovation. Restlessness. Challenge. . You don't get that in an efficiently-played greatest hits set. even if Lou does play silly buggers with the words (out of boredom?) A celebration of The Velvet Underground this tour and album may have been. but not a continuation of its spirit. (Alastair Mabbott)
I Various: Judgment Night (Epic) The rock/rap explosion taken to its logical conclusion: team up to blow up - when popular music‘s most serrated cutting edges conjoin. the results are little short of explosive. Given the bullish self- stylings of all the acts featured. the Judgment Night soundtrack is surprisingly coherent.
even allowing the furiously thrashy Slayer and the snarlingly polemicising lce-T to pile through an Exploited medley —the whole thing. somehow. makes sense. Highlights: Living Colour and Run D.M.C.‘s ‘Me Myself & My Microphone‘. boasting the best riff; Teenage Fanclub and De La Soul. offerring the only mellow(ish) moment throughout with ‘Fallin“; and Sonic Youth and Cypress Hill. with the eery and sinister sibilance of ‘I Love You. Mary Jane‘. Honourable
mentions: Faith No More
and Boo-Yaa TRIBE. and Mudhoney and Sir Mix-A-Lot. Neither novelty nor uneasy
chimera. Judgment Night truly. thrillingly.
gel(ignite)s. (Craig
McLean)
I Saint Etienne: You
Heed A Mess (it Help To
Stand Alone (Heavenly)
: Mid-price corralling of
assorted singles. B-sides
i and trilling witterings that
was originally released as
companion freebie to re-
issued .S‘n 'lbugh. You know what to expect: gently twinkling paeans to
1 life‘s little foibles. fluffy
keyboards. and an
1 assortment of octane-high.
saccharine. thin vocals provided by a variety of
‘songbirds‘ (that was
: irony. okay?) before La
Cracknell was conscripted I full-time. Like too much
' fudge. the singles' (‘Who Do You Think You Are‘.
‘Kiss And Make Up'.
; imminent single ‘I Was _ Born On Christmas Day‘
not included here) — urgh. ; Pass the sickbag. One can only take so much irony.
: (Craig McLean)
j found in the albums chart. Anderson has tried to
immersed in with the
main track. ‘Mama Said‘.
isn‘t too far away from the ideas of Fermi and
Said‘ is sweetly
the sax solo has to be
‘Join Our Club‘) bite- sized gooeyness combines with the B-sides filler-ish feel to induce queasy nausea. And as for that
SECC Glasgow
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
(with Tim Burgess and
I Carleen Anderson: Dusky Sappho (Circa) Five tracks. 21 minutes and. strangely. only to be
This has to be the best soul release of the year.
Ist - 2nd DECEMBER EANE "IRE steer clear of the ‘urban‘ ‘1‘" "‘3‘ 8"“ bcc“"‘c 2nd, 3rd, 6th, m and ten. to 29th orcmern
(excluding 25.]2.93l ENE SINGING KETTLE
Tickets £5.00, £7.00/Eb.OO
Young Disciples. but the
Marco, A second Acid 3" EICNOTS
Jazz version of ‘Mama memorable. although not 4“. DECEMBER "(Icon £12.50 as much as a stunning rendition of the Average White Band‘s seminal classic ‘Pick Up The Picces‘; the way she sings
5n: orcmorn StAtUS QUO mum £16.00, £14.00
6th DECEMBER MEATLOAE heard to be believed. The final track. ‘Ain‘t Givin‘ Up On You‘. has all the classic soul elements that Anita Baker would be proud of. Anderson‘s vocal beauty and thoughtful lyrics of female passion augur well for a full-blown LP release next spring. If it‘s as good as this. then I‘m going to reaffirm my belief in Heaven. (Philip Durward)
8th DECEMBER WET WET WET
IBtII DECEMBER I993 - I6 JANUARY I994 (except 2S.I2.93l BOBBY ROBERTS SUPER CHRISTMAS CIRCUS Prices: E70/bex £8 and E5 adults £5 and £3 children and OAPs
I7t|t DECEMBER I993 - Ibth JANUARY I994 (except 25.I2.93i
CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR CARNIVAL
I Carla Bley: Big Band Theory (Watt) There is a strong Scottish connection here. since this new disc includes ‘Birds Of Paradise’. the big band composition which Carla wrote as Composer-in- Residence at the Glasgow Jazz Festival in I992. This is a tightened-up version of the original. and comes with two more recent works. ‘On the Stage ln Cages‘ and ‘Fresh lmpression‘. plus a splendid arrangement of Mingus‘s ‘Goodbye Pork Pie Hat‘. Bley‘s is the most consistently absorbing of all the new wave of big bands working in contemporary idioms. and her imaginative charts are backed up by superb soloists. including Andy Sheppard and Wolfgang Puschnig on saxes. lung- bursting trombonist Gary Valente. and trumpeter Lew Soloff. Essential. I Stephane Grappelli and Martin Taylor: Reunion (linn Records) Guitarist Martin Taylor has been
' trying to work his way out
of the automatic linking of his name with the veteran violinist in the past few years. but this chance to record a duo disc in Nice (with one top-up in Glasgow) was too good to pass up. The results are remarkably pleasing. with Grappelli turning in some beautifully mellow. relaxed performances. buttressed by Taylor‘s unfailingly inventive. searching guitar work. Tunes include four of Martin‘s own compositions alongside familiar standards. and all are given an immensely musical treatment. with a lovely sound-balance into
: the bargain. A treat for the
I Cassandra Wilson:
. Blue Light "I" Dawn (Blue Note) A highly
unconventional but
extremely ear-catching set ; from this excellent young singer. She takes an eerie.
atmospheric approach to the blues-rooted material (including Robert Johnson‘s 'Hellhound On My Trail‘ and ‘Come On In My Kitchen‘). abetted by Brandon Ross‘s spectral guitar work. and
Admission - 70p Open I.45pm - IO.45pm
an engagingly original twist on more modern tunes like Joni Mitchell‘s ‘Black Crow‘ and Van Morrison‘s ‘Tupelo Honey‘. This one may need a little persevering with. but reveals a decidedly bold and original talent.
I Humphrey Lyttelton: Hear Me Talkin’ To Ya (Calligraphy Chris Barber: And His Hew Orleans Friends (Timeless) New releases from two doyens of the British jazz scene. both of whom are heading this way this month. Lyttleton takes his regular band through a crisp. swinging. deftly-arranged set of music from WC. Handy to Carla Bley. It also features an impromptu tribute to the late Al Fairweather with Stan Grieg in his best boogie-woogie mode. and is highly recommended. Barber teams up with members of the Preservation Hall Band of New Orleans in a decidedly low-key (and rather poorly recorded)
22nd DECEMBER GARY GLITTER Tickets £I5.00
m MARCH - on. merit HOLIDAY 0H ICE miter: £13.00, £11.00, £9.00
19th MARCH MEATLOAE
PERSONAL APPLICATIONS TO: IN! BOX OFFICE SECC GLASGOW
CREDIT cnno HOTLIHE 041-248 9999 on 041-227 55” I
concert tickets may be sublect to booking fee Enjoy session from l99l.
SECC (waif ’ although the trombonist
himselfis in fine fettle. REGIST RED TRADE MARK i (Kenny Mathieson) E
The List 3— lo December I‘M} 31