T In the Park, the Tennents lee Festival
RECORD REVIEWS MUSIC
I The Orb: Pornrnes Fritz (island) Boldly going where no one could be bothered going before. the deep space-cadets give liquid voice to a chirruping. bubbling. wibbling. wobbling synthesised rnenagerie. lrnagine the Friday night conversational clutter at the bar in Star Wars. with all manner of extra- terrestrials discussing the extra-curricular attractions on their respective planets. They are speaking in tangled tongues. They are all drunk. too. Someone's playing the latest in fruit machine technology in the background. Dr Alex Patterson sits taping it all in the foreground. Not so much music. more a way of...um...er... something. Borrow. don't buy. (Craig McLean)
I Ken ishii: lnnerelements (8&8) Ken lshii reconstructs well- wom Western techno styles from a future- perfect Oriental perspective. Surfing with ease through the Detroit. Euro and Ambient monikers and motifs of techno heritage. Ishii reforms them. as fragments. within his own distinctive cultural framework. Resoluter Tokyo hi-tech. Innerelements fast- forwards the clipped. oblique harmonies of traditional Japanese music into a sharply defined silicon and steel age.
Crisp origami angularity i and soulful Detroit meanderings interplay delightfully on tracks such ' as ‘QF'. whilst ‘Sponge‘ ! squelches ultra-ironic a la l
Aphex. With a super-
modernist and minimalist
l sensibility. Imterelements
; catapaults Western techno
; onto the Tokyo
! information superhighway
3 and well into the 21st
i century. (Bethan Cole)
| I Bailter Space: Vortura
i (Flying Nun) One of New
Zealand‘s finest-ever
bands. the Bailter boys
i have turned in a very live-
i sounding — ie almost
i overpowering if it's
' played sufficiently loudly
' - album. Crossing into territories occupied by the
' likes of Sonic Youth and
; My Bloody Valentine. they work their riffs
! implacany and without
' let-up. But in tracks like
‘Process Paid'. they show
they know the value of a
good hook too. even if it
does have to shoulder its
way through thick.
claustrophobic clouds of
guitar. if there‘s a fault
with Vnrlura. it's that. like
the flooding rooms in
Delicatesen and Dead Calm. the field of sound is filled with so much guitar that there‘s only a narrow gasping space at the top for vocals. But they‘re mining a seam of real heaviness. (Alastair Mabbott)
I Jah Wobble’s Invaders or The Heart: Take Me To God (Island) in his mind. Jah Wobble is Peru. a road sign in Skelmersdale. a lavatory attendent in Hull . . . in short. everybody. And we are all him. And ifyou think that’s scarey — and anyone who’s followed the Life Of Wobble so far will doubtless agree that it is — prepare yourself for further shocks on this seventeen-track global excursion. From Baaba Maal to Gavin Friday. tablas to cowbells. everything but the kitchen sink has been pressed into service to bring Wobble's warped vision of (his) Universal Mind to life. Rhythmic and eclectic. Take Me To God is as daft as a brush and as playable as it is playful. (Alastair Mabbott)
Jah Wobble and Dolores O’Biordan
I The Boy Hargrove Quintet: With The Tenors (it Our Time (Verve) Having signed off from BMG with the recently released The Tokyo Sessions, the first fruits of the trumpeter‘s new contract pairs him (and his superb band) with several big name saxmen. including Joe Henderson. Branford Marsalis. Stanley Turrentine. Johnny Griffin. and the rapidly ascending Joshua Redman. The results are predictably polished and expressive. with Hargrove‘s virtuoso trumpet getting better and better with every disc. and the rest all doing exactly what is expected of them. Top drawer contemporary bop. and highly recommended.
I Diango Bates: Autumn Fires (And Green Shoots) (JMT) Django is undeniably an original voice on the European jazz scene. and for this second JMT release. he chooses to go back to
basics. He plays solo piano (acoustic. not electric). and mixes up a number of his own idiosyncratic compositions with distinctive reinterpretations of three classics. Autumn Leaves, Ellington‘s Solitude, and Coltrane‘s Giant Steps. Likely to thrill some (me included) and exasperate others (here and there. me included). but it demands to be heard.
I louis Stewart: Overdrive (HEP) This live trio set was recorded at
the Tron Tavern in Edinburgh last year. The lrish guitarist‘s supple. fluent technique and lucid harmonic sense are captured in full flight. with fine accompaniment from Ronnie Rae on bass and drummer Tony McLennan. The pick-up nature of the date — and the inclinations of the players — mean the material is all familiar, but none the worse for that. I Alan Barnes and Dave Newton: like Minds (Fret)
This duo set from two
highly-regarded British musicians who have collaborated in a number of settings is a more varied collection than Newton's recent. more reflective solo disc from Linn Records. and isjust as quietly enjoyable. vaes plays saxophone and Clarinets with equal verve. and spars brilliantly with the pianist in a series of inventive duos on largely classic jazz material.
I Keith Jarrett: At The Deer Head inn (ECM) Unusually. this is not one of Jan Erik Kongshaug’s pristine engineering jobs. but an informal club recording from I992. Jarrett is in relaxed mood on jazz and standard material. interacting beautifully with Gary Peacock’s lithe bass and Paul Motion‘s delicate lattice-work of percussion. The music moves along a different track from the steely
. brilliance of the pianist‘s
Standards Trio. but is equally rewarding. (Kenny Mathieson)
“An iconoclast’s imagehusting dream come to life.” TIME
John Zorn/Sofia Guhaidulina/ V itenryit Boreclti/Bon Byron. ' ",
an Office "
031-52 joo OPEN roam-e ' -sa1'
AND FROM 12 NOON ON PERFORMANCE
(e) st
EDINBURGH
EE/TIVAL
O m MUSIC presents
° 4
davi emv‘
sunday 11th sept. Playhouse Edinburgh 031-557 2590
wednesday 14th sept. Concert Hall Glasgow 041-227 5511
The List l—I4July l99443