MUSIC RECORD REVIEWS
you, while Miquette Giraudy sorts out the space-time dialogue on the synthesiser. This is music backed up by repetitive beats which manages notto be repetitive.
Take two old hippies, add a healthy Nowhere is this more amply selection of techno producers, a pinch demonstrated than on their of the new hippiedom, shake it all up collaboration with Detroit producer 9 with a smattering of drum ’n’ bass and Derek May on ‘Big Sky City’. His i you get System7’s latest aural treat. : sparse, techno rhythms provide the Far from being the uneven mish-mash perfect backdrop to their exploration of disparate sounds that such a recipe of 70s sounds in a modern setting. l I . might suggest, however, this is i Apart from one track, ‘Davy Jones’
The Peaceniks: Zen cats actually a tasty, well-paced cocktail. l Locker’ which has too much of The
Jonathan Trew picks out
some special cutesy
Valentine “all Singles '0' Power 0! Seven (Butterfly) those intimate moments.
Listening tn deadstar’s Sure, there are elements of Gong in 3 Drb’s Alex Paterson’s influence for 4 it
‘\'ttletlltne's Ha)“ A there, but boy do they sound good comfort, Power 0! Seven is a recipe is, ~_' \, r, , lilm‘m'démt’ lM‘ much I“ when laid over a pumping kick drum for new and exciting home listening on ‘ r. s r . '“”’”“"‘ “' Cf"“‘"‘”l-'~ W‘" ; as they are on ‘Hanger 84’. Steve I the inventive side of modern techno l L g -
“W ,““l’l““ "i‘ l'f , i Hillage’s guitar manipulates sounds, , (as in technology)-orientated music. ' i ' ‘ , hmmgum A "M; mm 5 war in them 0 t 'te n'cel thank 5 (Thom Dibdin) l - g: % twee": of ‘.iit}l that pi'ieklt-s : p g u m" l y’ I i
the tastehuds with tales of Sroul‘iedom 'oefore laeei‘ating the tongue with some rather sharp meals. Has a niee taste to start with but the flavour tires
cover versions don’t always hit the mark. They milk the pathos in Lou
ROCK/BOOTS ‘ .il Reed’s ‘Sweet Jane’ a little too hard, I Bruce Springsteen’s ‘State Trooper’
utter-h few chews, ' 200 More Miles (3M6) ' lacks the urgent edgeof the original, Amblsomc- l‘i't"~'1}_"1-\'.\' and Margo doesn’t qurte carry off M‘mm MW“- ‘l'm' “ . . ‘ROCK 80d r0||’, shouts an ironic Patsy Cline’s ‘Walking After Midnight’. more eosmol‘olitan sound . .i I Toronto punter at the start of the They are on firmer gmund with me" ll’lllirliil‘i[fissile ;., opening tr'f‘ck on this double live own songs (mostly written by
miee sitinkes tauntin- l ' retrospectwer but he knows he’s Michael), drawn from all five of their
. shouting at the wrong band. What you earlier albums, which give the get is plenty of the Junkies’ typically strongest indication of what the band
over a li_\'pnotieall_\' swaying heal. While not
jumping up illltl hiting _\'er earnest, atmospheric amalgam of are all about.
bum. it is :1 truck that rock, blues, country and folk roots, The songs were recorded over a ten Shim“ it'll” ‘1 “WW ““ “‘C with Margo Timmins’s dreamy, year period in a wide variety of
“‘9” "“‘l.'l"‘“k ‘5'”“p‘c‘ 5 sometimes fey vocals floating on a settings, and the second disc ends we”: [Tillyltl'hiflh ,1. U” m, ' gentle carpet of delicate electric with an unlisted track from the very migygiyuu‘hm :lnll'ls is L .. guitar, sneaky pedal steel, beginning. It gives an authentic faster I Urusei Yatsuia’s home- 3 ‘ i understated drums, and mournful of their particular appeal, with grown ‘l’lastie Ashtray ; harmonica. all their strengths — and weaknesses — : (Che). Moshpit i‘eetthttek 1 They specialise in angst, but their on show. (Kenny Mathieson)
fren/ies hookend quieter I but no less off-killer
interludes while the I’m phat or all of that, not pie lazy ! " ‘s 7' . , vocals pull nn‘ the rare tracks that make me wonder why they I ‘ feat of being both urgent do than; and deadpan. Meanwhile. This eponymous a'bum is a fidgew ! Sniff“ SPEECH trawl through the Arrested 3 y 4 y [,,;,,,;§,L.,.;‘v},iplpil,g Daisy spew” (coonempol Development material that you rolled j ,;-_\
have manieall)‘ ptttltllctl . . . up and didn’t rock to. Production wise ‘
(net in this side of the You would think that wrth basrc it’s pretty much flawless. Fine tracks
Atlanlie on the crest in the ingredients like folk, hip-hop, soul, ; like ‘Hopelessly’ and ‘Can You Hear 3
“W” “"-‘.”““l “f”? “’ tall and funk, that Speech, former ! Me’ glide off his finely coloured
“91"” 'l ("‘l A (“ll Arrested Development man, would ‘ canvas and there are a couple of great
(Island). The girl in question apparently wears eool shoes in the nude and
create something that would slap you ? samples from Gladys Night and Marvin I in the face. Sadly, like many great Gaye, but bar that, you have to
0m.“le “keg mm mm artistic experiments, this is only of concentrate pretty hard to catch his i “'
hm- ,irm; gum“;- m; ;, limited appeal. As he explains himself drift. Maybe we just have to accept penchant i‘In- hnnehetrti in impregnated tit bits of dope hits, that Speech is on a higher artistic i pat-tying. Still. it‘s nnt all Speech is no gangster, he’s a music plain than others. Let’s just hope his 1 “Welling about and the freak, ‘Vibes all night long that’s what record company are as understanding
Presents 0" é! ilim‘l'iiil‘lt‘ I’m like, I like tracks that’ll make me when the sales go through the floor. 5
“me ‘5 “ m3" “mm” say how they do that? I rarely feel that (Philip Dorward) l
bonus.
Jealous’s let (in‘ (Plutonium) has a tune; it'sjust not the most addictive one around at
believe me) here. Far from it. Rather the threesome have assimilated the
the moment. .»\ggre.ssion. component parts 0t the genre and initial vigour and swagger l made them their Own. The rapping are all there. j Elementalz (Virgin) takes in Hugh Grant, Gary Glitter,
Unfortunately. equal measures of repetition and a feeble chorus haw also been thrown into the pot. llo htnn. More intriguing is ‘Sepai'ation from The Peaceniks. 'l‘outed as a
. ' Johnny Rotten and even Big Ben.
i Finally. A decent British hip hop LP. Elsewhere, Shyloc and Spice flip a This is against all the odds. It’s also a mixture of humorous tales of life in i very important record, a landmark of ‘Dungeon Town’ (London) with dark, sorts, giving British rap the voice and oppressive lyrics over eery, looping 1 the credibility it desperately needs if samples, phat rollin’ bass lines and
whiff of Led Zeppelin in
American roots. There’s no fake London-styleee. Beee-yatch! (Jim the air.
‘homeboy’ American slang (a start, Byers)
lechno/indie/roek i it is to be recognised on the some fairly reticent scratching. crossover the indie and 4 international scene as well as holding With all eyes currently focused on tCCllllU ClL‘lllL‘lllS ill‘C own in jungle scene (you ain’t seen ‘1'“);“C‘f‘lf '9 ‘13“? '3‘.””‘”‘ ; Mcs Shyloc and Spice and DJ Dexter. nothin’ yet!) this might be in danger of :tdarndlittititzih: sfthitl: I i a-k-i} "‘8 Bi°theth°°di are 90mg ‘0 . getting overlooked. America may have alone. Close your eyes ( sunrise a lotot people. Their debut lP ' created hip hop but this is very much and there‘s more than a ( Shows law 5'9"5 0‘ Pandermg to its the sound of inner city ghetto life,
I
40 The List 9-22 Feb I996