RECORD REVIEWS MUSIC
I Baby Bird: The Happiest Man Alive (Baby Bird Recordings) Steven .lones s' one-man attempt to produce more songs in a year than many contetriporai'ies do in a lifetime continues with this his l'ourth album in not many more months. As with pt‘cy‘totls oiititigs the material spans more genres than Jones has hairs on his head. from the iiidustro-goth oi “Ra/orhlade Shower” to the Iron-tr iim'u pseudo- ‘c'ihhet‘islt ol' ‘l’lease Don't lie lr'amoiis' \‘ia the ti'emiiloirs heaiity ol' ‘Simdial In A 'l‘iinriei’. The only unifying theme is the seemingly unconnected leaps and hounds ol ,loiies's imagination. Fascinating in patches. stultil‘yiiig in isolated hlohs. (Jonathan Trewr
I Puressence: Puressence (Island) Getting a hit l‘lustereil hy that (His tendency to iiist silt through latterday musical styles and pinch what sounds good to y'oii'.’ l)on't know your llritpop from your Roino‘.’ Can't tell the old punks from the new‘.’ Wonder when the goth rey'iy'al starts lli earnest‘.’ Just to make matters more coirt‘irseil here's l’iiressence throwing another hail in the air tor the music punter to juggle along with all those other styles. Yes. it's the return of the shimmering shards and sonic cathedrals. .-\ touch
Yellow Car:
of ('octeau 'l‘w iris here. a pinch ol licho .-\iid The llinniy'meii there. a soiipcon of early [Fl to taste and r'm'lu. a dehiit album that sounds like a Clrameleoirs l.l’ that got mislaid ill the rind-Sm. .\liglity walls ol s'epiilcln'al guitars collide with passionate. l‘alsetto vocals iii a way that only Railiolicad are currently also touting. .-\liil irot a Beatles or Jam rel‘erence to he heard. tl‘iona Shepherd)
I Yellow Car: Autoerotica (Gilt 0t Lite Records) The sleey'e lettltlt'es llitil eternally cool tttistt'ess ol~ satire Dorothy Parker. who helieyed 'l’eople ought to he one of two things. young or tlL‘ilyl.. l)ltt llig‘ iiiic til Scott l-‘it/gerald’s notorious parties \li'c‘ ltli‘licil lit l'.l'lit‘\l Hemingway and . .hiit y'oii waiit to know ahoiit this haird. ()kay. Yellow ('ar possess two
speeds: last or last arid l'iirious. 'l‘hcy drcaiir ol heirig the Manic Street Preachers hitt lack airy real y'enoin or eloquence. .\'ot enough angst or eyeliner. .-\ leyy tunes
‘a tew tunes might help’
might help as well. ‘Stiideiit Bastards” is at least faintly amusing hiit. hoy s. juxtaposition of the words suicide and \aletttitie does not poetry make. lRodger l‘y'ans\
I Cubanate:
Barbarossa (Dynamica) (‘tthttlitttc‘s desire to weld together the hest ot hotlr techno aird metal is not such a had idea: hoth genres are at their hardest when pumping along on energy t'iielled hy harsh testitres and rigidly
controlled iiiiectioiis oi testosterone. 'l‘herel'oi‘e. when ('uhanate take hoth the teiitoinc -l/-l stomp and cyclical samples ol techno and fuse them with distorted guitar and deranged yocals. what should logically lollow is
an irnstoppahle iiiggertiain ol' punishing aural
\ titli‘tict‘. Silkll}. littyy cy'i‘t'. i liill’lltll'fluil manages to hecome merely a grey. dyiiaimcally arid splurge oi undirected aggression. lly concentrating on sheet physical attack. the yital ) contrasting siihtleties til l‘iilli gelit'i‘\ llil\L' heen lttsl ma timeless whirl.
tl’liil .\lillet'r
[MEIE-
I Terry Allen: Human Remains (Sugar Hill) In a really just world. Terry .-\lleii would he a star. hirt his guilt singing arid rriayei‘rck itiiisical eyperirrients are destined to remain oti country's cult l‘ringes. He tln‘ryes otit there. though. arid this is another menrorahle addition to the Allen canon. He is helped out hy li‘llow l.iihhock-nati\e .loe lily. 'l‘alkiiig Head mamrrian liayid llyr'iie. larcmda Williams. and a sliiltttig cast ol' top-notch .-\iistm players. and stamps eyeiy track with his own distinctiye hrand til. \Vcsl 'li‘\.ts Iiittg'lc. Highly recommended,
I Merle Haggard: 1996 (Curb/Hit) l'ls’ record
hiiy ers get something oi a hargairi \\ till this disc. which not only t'eatnres Haggard‘s new alhiitii. hirt also Includes the whole til. his /‘/‘)-1 set. prey roust tltii'i‘lL‘thetl oy t‘t' here. llillt’ great man is in line l'or'm oit hoth. ranging across quintessential Haggard territory. limit the sentimental siniplicrtres ol K/tiy (ii'l IJHIt'HH/le [UN to
the dri‘. mg. ra/l-rnilected Silt (Ctr li/rrt'i. aird an cycellent ‘.ets‘.oti o!‘ ltts l)e.\leirts .\lr ‘li/nt' In (in.
I Terri Clark: Terri Clark (Mercury Nashville) t nrt-
.ol' the more interesting oi the recent women singers
to emerge on the
\.isl \ille scene. ('laik is
still liirirly on the country side (ll .\lttsli' (itlyis ciriient country-pop l'ortiiiila. She has a dark. throaty. “Cll-llk‘lht‘tl \t‘icc‘. .illyi .t M“! Hl'di'c'c‘lll songs. although much the same can he said ot llohhie (‘iynei 's line (inf (ll lit/(l' /)/'t tutti I.\l( ‘.-\r llotli are worth checking
I Wylie And The Wild West Show: Wylie And
The Wild West Show
(Dixielrog) One for western sw mg tans hour this engaging iruartet. although that is not the only rnt'lirence at work here. Singer \\'ylre drawls
his way through a set which alternates hetwecn la/y attd li\ely. with the
(in! lilat'y. lt has a titce.
aid ot \lei le Haggard on | the distinctly noii-l’t‘. tongue-in-cl:eek duet ('gi’i
, unpretentious down-home
l
leer. illltl it s giiiiil (it see it
get .1 lily l'clt'.t\'c‘
I Wynonna: Revelations (Curb/Hit) This much awaited disc. two years in the riiakrtig. turns out to he rirst okay. It continues \\'\i'.onn;-.'s drrl't away t'roni country roots nrto
ihegirzr ey en hetore
is pop .ritd rock arena
\fli-wrnr's iiiness l‘roitght 'lhel
‘E.'.lll\ :sti'l
tzdds to a iialt v. and
..Il_\‘.illll:_'
\‘ll llc‘lt‘ llldl \l‘lllll l‘k‘ called a country song, She r sit:r_'s stzongly. hoist-\er. with only i-::.' re.-.i nrrsnrdgenrsnt. Lei :atirei pointless :e-woikrrig oi l.ynard Skytiaids / m Iii/t!
I Various: Twisted Willie (Justice) .'\n oil the-wall tirhnte to the songwriting til \\liilC Sch\t‘U liiiyft./ ll.-/.":i hrrngs together grix/led coirritry grants like \\aylon lenrritrgs. lolnnry ('aslt. lstis Ktlslitllctst‘ii and \\ i‘die iriiriselt with lelt lield :ir«.lie.giittige thrash hands i1kL'iltdiih‘tliHli. lite l’tesidents ot the inted States ol ,-\tner:ca. Steel l’ole llath 'l‘iih and .\. The cultural collision is soiiretinies lascitiating. occasionally tarcical. hut almost always inn
-ls'enny .\latlnesont
The Beloved are a strange Concept. Straddling the middle ground soinew here hetween slightly sickly pop t '(‘ottscicttce’ i and potential cliih ct‘ossoy‘et' r‘Satellite') they eyhihit the hest and worst of hotli worlds; (iiarited. when they get it rrglit. as with the classic ‘Yottiy'c (iot .\le Thinking. they hit the spot hang on. liqually lrowey‘er. when they lose the plot. they chuck it hig time. as anyone who remembers the hloodless sy‘t’ttp ol‘ ‘lletto‘ will tesnl'y'. Their llltitl .zlhnn‘. the cryptically titled \ il-.ast \Vest l otters rriot'e oi the contradictory sanie r\lllltl the oy'erhlow n synthetic poi mip hallads such as ‘.-\ l)reain \Vithm .\ liieanr arid ‘Sl‘ticeniari‘ there's the heay y kick-drum assault oi '(‘rystal \\'aye'. an excellent nine minute slice ol' hard. ('hicago- style tray that could prohahly hold its own on the tight iltttiCt‘lloot. Not had then. hirt not great either; se\y in parts. sickly in others, Staying on the daticellooi'. the much talked ahout
retin \es of S-EXpTBSS’S seminal early house hit "l'henie l‘rom S-l-Zspress' il<hythni King) liay'e trnally airiyed leaturiag extremely hanging (not
i necessarily a good thing;
Everything But The Girl: ‘strange phenomenon‘
nu~nrg workouts li'om 'l‘ony l)e \'it and .\iiitarins which are cool in a novelty kinda way. it nothing else. Personally. I'm i'i'oiri the at it ain‘t hroke then don't try and in it school ot' thought. so I‘ll stick with the original. winch is tlioiightl‘ully included in the package. Everything But The Girl are another strange phenomenon. l‘olloyy mg the success ol' last year is 'l‘odd 'l'erry- imyed ‘.\lissiiig‘. they'ye eiirhraced new sounds The new single. ‘\\'alkrng \Vonnded' is a welcome i'eyelatrorr 'l‘racy 'l‘horii's laiialraily delicate and dreamy yocals dittt eyinnsitely oyei some lir\in'iotis drum and hass. l’rool' ll you needed it oi the important role dance music and (tingle in particular has to play lli mainstream popular
music. The alhiiin '
Hit/(me llirtmt/r'r/ t Virgin) is packed l'itil ot heaittiliil words and heatitiltil intisrc; an iirrhcatahle c'iittthtltttltiiti. \liitc iil llti‘ satire lioiir Armando one ol the early ('lncago house producers. His lirst solo alhiirii ()Ht llifl'ltl ()Itt l'll/Hl't’ t Radikal hear) iiiiyes classic acid
"l'raiiseyiial‘ i with new- skool disco cttl up i'\\'elcottic lo ’l‘ltc \\'arehonse' i arid surprisingly emotiye y'ocal garage 1 '8“ eet l.o\ L" l. .-\ great package hotli tor the dancel‘loor arid the home. last hut not least Up Bustle And Out’s om
(ll/our ./I/.\I Ii’r'l/r'r ti .lItuf/it‘l' i .\'iniar. a line
arid hr/ai'r'e collection ot
tahlas. llittes. phat heals.
littssy g't'iiii‘i es. )tt/ly‘
llayas and yocals l)on‘t
i ask me what Ai/tr/ ol- music it is. llisltls‘l good.
llllli lly'ctst
O m MUSIC presents
' GLASGOW
ii:(( chueiday 41k Derember
Tickets on sale now From Glasgow SECC Box oFiice, Just the Ticket Union street Edinburgh Virgin & Ripping credit. Credit cards Oi Al 248 9999, 01 3i 557 6969.
The List I” .\pr-Z .\lay l‘)‘)(r 41