RECORD REVIEWS MUSIC
I Banco De Gaia: Last Train To Lhasa (Planet Dog) I€lectio living on an ethnic tip comes of age with this paean to the glories of pre- l‘)5(l Tibet. before the Chinese invasion. The train of the title does not yet exist. it is one which the Chinese hope to btiild to facilitate even more colonialism and the destruction of the Tibetan way of life. Hence 'last train'. It is a train whose sound permeates the. structures and samples of this excellent piece of trance. l)ecelerating from the pounding four-four heat of the title track. lust Train evolves tight rhythmic excursions. avoids the excesses of Little 'I‘ibetanisni and captures the imagination. The bonus. remix. CI) is a tad self-indulgent and not exactly grottnd breaking. btit is none-the less evocative for it. (Thom l)ibdin)
I 18 Wheeler: Formanka (Creation) tiiit‘airly regarded as the runts of Glasgow‘s post-Teenage l“anclub-and-oh-look- they"re-on-Creation- Records litter. 18 Wheeler are in fact a whole lot
Salad: enormous potential
better than many other
whimsical. Beach Boys-
loving jangly combos iii
that they can knock otit a \\\t‘L‘l. affecting melody with seemingly little effort. embellish with various guitar effects which don't swamp the sottg and use reedy weedy vocals which actually seem to add to the whole beguiling package. This second album is stuffed with ten prime examples.
all of which have their good points. and sortie of
which are totally engaging if you're not too concerned with looking for the future of rock 'n' roll. (l-‘iona Shepherd) I The Pooh Sticks: Optimistic Fool (Seed) Pretty much the saute as IX Wheeler (see review. above). except the reference points are mainly sunny 70s pop. and they're Welsh and pie—Teenage lianclub. Rejoice. for line Pool) is
: among us again. tl’iona
Shepherd)
I Nyah Fearties: Granpa’ Craw (LYT) The Caledonian anarchists with fiddles return. reeling and railing against the system. ceilidhing like the
mad Lugtonites they most certainly are. This is the most punk rock (in sound and attitude) that folk music gets. Ifyou've heard any of the Fearties numerous cottage industry recordings before you‘ll know how their frenetic fiddling goes. If you've not. imagine a mangled pile-up involving The Proclaimers. Green Day and The Skids. Now buy the album and discover the Fearties sound nothing like that actually. If you don't you‘re missing the colloquial delights of ‘Tres Crabbit' and 'Ayrshire Boys Are Swarmin" to impart just two amusing song titles. (Also available by mail order. Cheques for £8 (CD) and £5 (cassette) payable to Allan Henry. 22 I-‘ullarton Street. Kilmarnock. KAI 2QT. (Fiona Shepherd)
I Salad: Drink Me (Island) Salad's debut kicks off with two of the year‘s most rocking singles to date. ‘Motorbike To lleaven‘ and ‘Drink The Iilixir'. About halfway through comes another rocking former single ‘Your Ma’. Iilsewhere there are some other songs. Salad's Greatest Near-Misses compilation is going to be an awesome collection. btit not so their first album which suffers from a good overall sound but disappointing individual tracks. There is enormous potential here - Marijne and the lads could soon be dancing on the graves of Belly and Sleeper. such is their idiosyncratic voice btit they'll need to bend their riffs into hooks and point their songs in some sort of direction before they'll be a group of true distinction. (Fiona
. Shepherd)
COUNTRY
I Tanya Tucker: Fire To Fire (Liberty) The distinctive rasp in Tanya Tucker's voice is ptit to good use on a strong contemporary country set which captures her in good form on an upbeat song like ‘Come In Out Of The World'. but her speciality has always been hard country ballads like I'll Take The Memories' or ‘Between The Two Of Them'. The obligatory duet features Willie
Nelson (on the title track).
and the Nashville gloss is held in check for the most part.
I Jon Randall: What You Don't Know (RCA) A strong debut from the ex- Nash Rambler. who supported Mary Chapin Carpenter on her recent UK tour to good effect. He is a fine guitarist. and has a sweet. high voice which works particularly
well on songs like Jim Lauderdalc's ‘What You Don't Know' or Kevin Welch's ‘I Came Straight
To You‘. Worth checking
out.
I Hank Williams Jr: Hog Wild (Curb) Hank Jr has always had a hard row to hoe. and the ups and downs of his career outdo his dad’s own legendary off-stage troubles. Musically. though. the son has always come second. and there is nothing on Hog Wild to change that view. It's as much loud. crass and very iii-your- face southern rock as classic honky—tonk. but his tongue-in-cheek
complaint about being
eclipsed by the new breed of Nashville heroes. ‘1 Ain‘t Going Peaceful'. shows he still has a decent sense of humour.
I Lari White: Wishes (RCA) A lot has been made of the production line values behind Nashville’s current spate of bat acts.
but a similar situation is now developing with women singers as well. Lari White is the latest in a steadily increasing parade of pop-influenced country chanteuses with bright. rather identikit voices and video-friendly looks. it‘s all solid. well- put together stuff. but I find it a bit lacking in individuality alongside. say. Joy Lynn White (no relation).
I ‘l’ony Joe White: Lake Placid Blues (Remark) N0 relation. either. but Tony Joe White has always had an ambiguous relationship with country. but the influence is certainly there. alongside rock and a healthy Ieavening of cajun and R&B leanings. He still writes a damned good song. though. and has a fine band including the Aronoff—Sklar rhythm team and ex-Heartbreaker Benmont Tench on piano. (Kenny Mathieson)
G W MUSIC
"1 ‘ 0“" s“ s°§§3~u
- EDINBURGH _ Halt
it?» 5 S
24th June GLASGOW Barrowlands
Glasgow Royal
PUBLIC ENEVIY t
12th July GLASGOW Barrowlands
Tim Finn
Liam O’Maonlai 14th July GLASGOW The Garage
CHRISTY MOORE
12th & 13th October, Festival Theatre Royal Concert Hall EDINBURGH 0131 529 6000 GLASGOW 0141 227 5511
tickets from Glasgow Just the iicket. Virgin Union Street. Edinburgh Virgin & Ripping Records 81 all,Tocta Outlets. Credit Cards: 0131-557 6969/0141-556. 5555.
Andy White
15th Otober,
The List 2-I5 Jun 1995 35