RECORD REVIEWS MUSIC
I The Beautiful South: Carry On Up The Charts (Go! Discs) The singles you should know and own. ()nes about pencil cases. rheuniy-eyed romance. tabloid titillation. crows' feet and hate-hate relationships. l’aul lleaton hates the description. but here it is again: no otlter contemporary songwriter has his ability to be a bastard and poet at the same titne. The fact that he looks like an extra from Harry l'Infield's S/olix only adds to the splendour. Buy this record and tape it for your mum. pausing only to check that you‘ve got the Limited lfdition double-Cl) set with B-sitles and other stuff. Key song title: ‘l)anielle Steele (The linemy Within)‘. Key lyric: ‘Mv (iitv and l’tttt'lit'x cati only hope to match. the evil propaganda that her pen can despatch.’ (Craig McLean)
I Brutal: Bullshit, Attitude 8. Experience (Anoise Annoys) With heavy riffs and tnuch throat-shredding screaming from vocalist EB. Coltrane. the debut release frotn the new Central Scotland indie leans towards the industrial. but the overall sound is akin to that of toe-rags and ne’er-do- wells getting their mitts on guitars and samplers arid setting out to induce apoplexy in the posh folks. ()n the minus side. the sampled dialogue can get a bit wearing. antl the pantomime horror-punk of 'Tart' and ‘The lixperiment' is hopefully something they'll get out of their systems soon. The political lino-grunge ‘Jihad' is far better. with sinister. growling guitars underscoring swipes at various American Presidents. And the closing ‘Brutal: The Harbour ()f Fools‘ has a twisted anthemic quality. Brutal? lixceedingly. (Alastair Mabbott)
I Tom Jones: The Lead And How To Swing It (ZTT) There was a [)(N'IUI‘ W/to story once in which the immortal cosmic villain was so consumed by hatred he hadn't noticed that the body under his
armour had long since died and rotted away. ()ne gets the impression that Jones The Voice will outlive his corporeal form by virtue of his sheer bravado. ()n this album. he uses the wildly varied songs and production skills of Vince (‘larke. Youth. Hood. Teddy Riley. Jeff Lynne and The Wolfgang Press. taking every musical swerve in his stride. Who else is this adaptable'.’ (Alastair Mabbott)
I The Lost Soul Band: Hung like Jesus (69) A parallel obsession with sex and a vocal pastiche of Lou Reed seem to be the principal driving forces behind this disc from the current trio version of this Scottish outfit. The recording
studio has sapped a lot of 1' the energy which marked
them out in live settings. though. and the slightly portentous lyrics and gloomy. echoing guitar riffs don‘t really add up to mttch more than a revamping of old cliches too much of the time.
That's a shame. because
here and there they do
: sound like a band with
more to offer. but they
don't deliver this time
around. (Kenny Mathieson)
I Various: Big Noise — A Mambo Inn Compilation (Bykodisc) Brixton‘s Mambo Inn an lidinburgh Festival institution. A temple to intoxicating. hip-grinding global rhythms. And the club behind this exhilarating compilation ofcurrent and archive world grooves and jazzual gems. Check the celebratory freestyle piano of Airto Moriera's romantic ‘Samba l)e Flora' or Luther Barnes's gospel triumph ‘My God Can Do Anything'. Despite the Mambo lnn's image as a predominantly world and Latin- orientated night. Big Noise features moments of purist head-nodding nirvana like Jimmy McGriff‘s Hammond anthem ‘You're The ()ne'. as well as more standard Mambo cuts like Mambo Mania‘s ‘Mango Mango Mangue'. Varied and vibrant. (Bethan Cole)
I Sabres Of Paradise: Haunted Dancehall (Warp) Someone in Whitehall would probably place this in the class of repetitive beats. But this is well sophisticated stuff. proving once and for all that repetition need not mean monotony: gentle. atnbling melodies float clear round a shimmering bubble-built of beats. From the spartan rhytlnns of the opening track. ‘Bubble And Slide'. this just gets better and better until it scents the hot sensuality of ‘\\'ilmot'. reminiscent of a hot night in Tunisia. cannot be surpassed. But there are still another eight (racks to go and the excellence rating keeps on rising. Through broad. driving pulses. tense sweeps of melody and spacious soundscapes of urban imagery to the spectral plane of the title track. this haunted dancehall is jumping. Album of the year. (Thom l)ibdini.
I Silver Jews: Starlite Walker (Domino) first time around. you notice the gawky. tuneless singing. bttt listen again and this album snaps into foctts. It‘s not tuneless at all. just differently- harmonised. The deal with the Silver Jews. tit‘ .loos as they also refer to themselves. is that David Herman writes the songs atid gets his mates in to help with the playing. And the tnates are‘.’ Oh yes. they're in a band called Pavement. So there you have it: this is a wry l’aveinent-esque record. minus the grungey bits or skateboarding melodies. What‘s left is gentle jangle of de-fuzzed guitar and Herman‘s sing—an- extra-w (rd-in-every-line- just-like-Jonathan- Richman style of \ ocals. Absorbing stuff. (liddie Gibb)
I Grant McLennan: Horsebreaker Star
(Beggars Banquet) Anyone who heads to Athens. (JOUI'glll lo l'L‘L‘tH'tl an album isjust asking to have RliM mentioned in the reviews. attd anyone who releases a double is
just asking for it. period.
So first things first. the link with RliM's hometown isn't particularly illuminating.
; though McLeunan and
Michael Stipe share an
» ability to write aching
songs that evoke wide- open spaces. ()n Home/nutkt'r Slur. he's less poppy and more
country-tinged than of
old. particularly on the second disc. which is probably (ieorgia talking. As for the tenierity of putting out nearly 100 minutes of music in a oner: if you've got enough good songs. and he does. then why not'.’ (liddie Gibb)
From A USTRALIA
The Music ofABBA SEATS at
Guscow Rom Concm' Hm
SATURDAY 24th anemone 1994 TICKETS: GRCll BOXOFFICE HICKETCENTRE CANDLERIGGS 041-227 551 l
CHRIS BARBER'S JAZZ & BLUES BAND 40TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR
featuring
THE ORIGINAL [954 CHRIS BARBER JAZZ BAND THE [.ONNIE DONEGAN SKIFFLE GROUP AND CHRIS BARBER'S JAZZ AND BLUES BAND
at the Usher Hall, Lothian Road, Edinburgh
MONDAY 19th DECEMBER, 8pm Tickets £16, £14, £12 from the Box Office Tel 031-228 1155
m“ ElllESllEllll lllTEBlllllllllllll STADIUM "NE E Willll
TUESDAY 27th JUNE 1995
Gates: 2.00 pm First Band: 4.00 pm Tickets: £22.50 inc. VAT Reserved seating, £21.00tnc VAT Unreserved uncovered seatslStanding
Available as follows:
mgmcflg: 091 478 5555 / 7777 Subject to £1.50perbcket bookingfoe
091 233 0444 (24 hours) Svtbiect to £2.00 per ticket booking fee
By postal application to: G.I.S. Events 80x Office (81), PO Box 18, Gateshead NE81EA Make cheques/PO payable to Gateshead MBC including 75p per ticketboolting fee and an SAE.
Personal Application:
(Subject to £1 per ticket cash cheque, {1 50 for Credit Cards booking fee) Glasgow Just The Ticket, Edinburgh Playhouse and all TOCTA Agents Scotland.
‘The Best of BON JOVI - CROSSROAD’
The List Is November Al l)ecember l‘)‘)4 37