MUSIC RECORD REVIEWS
@— So Tonight That I Might See. It’s more
subtle than that and grows on you like tAlastati'r| fiabbott hangs M my Msmlness.
°" "" e M" llope Sandoval sings in the quietly gtfiegséonclmively that :20” in" .(Pa'lzpho?) m weary tones ot a woman wht: has been
0 ‘ 8 “9 a l 0W“ 03" 0 9" 0'3 continually disappointed by iie’s
$823235?“ occasionalll- "Oi sunk in 3 "EM"?38 vagaries. She seems to brood in one oi fanzine releases a split P“ kind 0' do“: in“ “Cling a tad liie’s darker corners but Still tinds a single by those masters of so"! “If VOIIVSO" and “0‘ '93"! beauty there to marvel at. ller voice wave-straddling action looking torward to cheering up. It’s a ism delicate, mum mesa an smug "'9 393' 709's and "‘3" 80" 0' Williams wallow“ sensation words spoken soitly through a late Newcasue Counlcmarlst line“ With "‘9 WY Claim 0' night smoke haze. In the background, "'9 '"m'cei’im- The melancholy. This album was made tor [lam noback pluck; may at his Beflf‘iiy, those times. guitar, a drum beats desultorily, 22d .fIghcmc From Randall "’8 “0t irom ofgans gyoan a catniya| cfossed And Hopkirk (Deceased )‘. Mall! Staf’s FNWWS “'0 albums ill" with a tuneral march and now and while The tnterceptors, then it it ain’t broke . . . Nor is it as then a harmonica walls. Buy it and who wield a mean instantly grasping Oll "I8 Old heart smile through {ha teats. (Jonathan Thcrcmin too. establish strings as its immediate predecessor new)
their authenticity by recording the wonderfully titled ‘Quadrophobia‘ and ‘Blackpool Hallucinations‘ straight on to a Ferrograph tape recorder. as used by Joe
m_ served up on a bed oi slide licks, with a side-order oi banjo and mandolin
and a garnish oi screaming harmonica.
LITTLE AXE The blues is ialling down like rain and
Meek. and sound none the 5’0” Fuse Mimi) the Devil waits at the crossroads ior
worse for it. The disc While Tackhead guitarist Skip your soul. As with its predecessor,
(sevenjinqh only) appears McDonald’s iirst album under the though, all this is processed through
{0 rL’10”c '" "‘3 “"9 0f little Axe tag, The Wolf That Itouse the dub ’n’ dance sensibilities ot
5803. Press“? SThc d. Of Bum. was apt to leave the listener McDonald and co-producer Adrian "limo" “r 0"" 5 ' wondering it his avowed aim oi Sherwood.
. .‘ nd ou know what to , , do 3,th you find it, creating a truly modern versron oi the All the usual suspects are present -
blues was just window-dressing tor a LeBIanc, Wimbish and Fowler - plus
bunch oi sometimes Iess-than- guests like tabla player Talvin Singh, astounding rhythm tracks, Slow Fuse extending McDonald’s vision oi the hits the mark. Surely, this is the blues into something all-
ieeling he was groping ior irom the encompassing and impossible to pin beginning. McDonald lets rip on the down to one place. And also, which old six-string a lot more this time was the point in the iirst place, around, and a number oi tracks are contemporary. (Alastair Mabbott)
So much fuss has been
made about Mob! an obvious opening out into more Witching over 10 8mm“ COUNTRY broadly political or topical subjects in
that " seems to have gone songs like the starkly harrowing
$322f§§§3$rds IRIS DEMENT “There’s A Wall In Washington’, about dancebsinglesc. a casCe) in my way I Should (Warner Bros) the tieth memortatlhaend its“
point eing ' ome n emo iona egacy, 0i caus c Baby' (Mute). which has Iris Dement seems destined ior ‘Wasteland 0i The Free’ and ‘Ouality a foot in every camp- “'8 country greatness (although the iolk Time', with their withering looks at hardéf’rc; but. i‘,ardc‘jfc ‘, ’ lobby might also make a claim), and contemporary American lite. algfwimntghguwo (his album can only add to that The beautitul melancholy oi ‘Walkin’ P‘mdi‘gy; .Bremhc.‘ perception. She has brought a more lion‘s is Illlinie’sselliial ills. Willis . which distinguishes itself [08k] “8' '0 some 0' the band Laue! To Mom r a song about commg with a little acoustic guitar arrangements. but he! strong. soaring '0 ‘9""3 W" Child “9393 '“Pms ‘0 a break reminiscent ofThe voice and broad, flattened mid-West personal mude. but ""8 time In an Banshees or Joy Division. vowels are iinnly rooted ill deep imagined Valli" than automogml’hica' Yes. this madness IS . hillbilly and gospel origins. situation. She does so with equal constdmd COWI‘CFCIOI The emotional honesty and acute insight and sensitivity, and it the ‘hifddazl a scar, and observation oi her songwriting is album is high on angst. mush 0l "1e compelling bu‘nch” undiminished here. She returns to the music has a compensating iauntiness. pmlaps. are. on [he highly personal vein explored in My Highly recommended - hell, no, make
queasy, rumbling ‘ched‘ lite on several cuts, but there is also that indispensable. (Kenny Mathieson) (Lissy‘s) the singer deciaims in a Scots accent
so strong that it could Home. Eliifvzllfiilinliclfi' ‘74:" §N\ _ Some discreet electric guitar aside, you have to concentrate to 4/6; L BELLE AND SEBAS'HAN Belle and Sebastian rely on acoustic
he“ wh‘" he’s 0“ abou“ ! It You’re Feeling Sinister(.leepster) immmem’ "m. mam" Vibes’ l4
thus being sucked ever / trumpet and organ all taking their deeper into the song’s
. . .r- Just how good is Belle And Sebastian’s turns in some delicate and seductive slimy maw. Unpleasant. Hm“ And I mean that in a nice mu“. I
second album? It I just told you, you’d arrangements. You could draw
- . never believe me. You have to comparisons with The Velvet Xay‘llspfa;;"?;f ,‘P'ngs experience lor yourselr the dumb, Underground, but not even Maureen pe 6" ' " “‘ u l ever-widening grin that stretches Tucker sang with such a wide-eyed. (it across the taco only when you know vulnerable Millet! 38 SOWian- Md
shrink in horror from Alabama 3. which is a shame. for ‘Ain’t Goin‘ To Goa‘ (Elemental) is smart and funny “country acid house’ broadside at new agers. Righteous stuff. Let's drag these saddoes back to traditional values!
you’re dealing with something truly yet he manages to intuse these tabulous. It starts to spread with the Naivellom 80098 With a" the lust-too-quotable ‘You liberated a boy knowinoness and “fit "Mallow 0i 8 lnever rated/How he’s throwing discus Moner or a .larvls. On your next trip to for liverpool & Widoes’trom the the shops, get this and the Baby Bird ? opening track, ‘Stars 0i Track And lP. It’ll be well into 1997 beiore you
Gospel Show (if it still existed) would doubtless
Sela shah.
Field’, and continues right through a realise you haven’t even thought whole box oi delights to the poignant about buying another record in ilnish, ‘Judy And The Dream 0t months. (Alastair Mabbott)
“The List l-l4 Nov 1996