RECORD REVIEWS MUSIC
THE BEATLES
Anthology 3 (Apple)
At the point Anthology 3 picks up the story, The Beatles had turned away irom the multi-tracked studio creations oi Sergeant Pepper and back towards a simpler way oi recording. The new policy was to keep the palms sweaty on live takes and avoid overdubs wherever possible. That means that there isn’t the same chance to hear some oi the Fabs’ most ambitious studio creations being built up layer by iascinating layer, as there was on the previous Anthology. But what we do get is an atmosphere much like what lennon wanted to achieve on the Get Back sessions beiore they were buiied up, glossed over and presented to the world as let
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It Be: a warts ‘n’ all document oi The Beatles with their trousers round their
ankles.
Which isn’t the put-down it seems. Anthology 3 ieatures 50 songs, all in various stages oi completion, irom irankly embryonic sketches oi ‘llappiness Is A Warm Gun’ and ‘llelter Skelter’ through genuine curiosities, like acoustic demos oi “While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ and ‘Why Don’t We Do It in The lioad’ to alternate versions which compare iavourably - it rather uninterestineg - with the takes that ended up on record. Best oi all, ‘The long And Winding ltoad’ is restored to its original basic track, beiore Phil Spector had the chance to
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overdub it into a choral epiphany. All bear the stamp oi a band so accustomed to each other’s playing that even when tumbling around they did so with authority.
Augmenting the audio verité ieel are spontaneous jams, rock ’n’ roll medleys and revealing studio chat that put the legend into some kind oi perspective. line snippet captures lennon trying to periect the guitar part ior ‘Julia’, one at his most intensely personal songs, and cracking up laughing when he iluiis it. Gathartic work oi art it may have been . . . but there was always one more take to get it right. (Alastair
livin Joy’s new album Don '1 Stop Moving (MCA) is European electro p0p pap. Blander than a Pot Noodle without the flavour sachet. Pop by numbers. it’s the Home And Away of dance music. Something that you don’t actually need to listen to to hear. Front woman Tameka’s voice doesn’t annoy as such. but the frightening one- dimensional emotional content does wear a bit thin. There are only so many times your heart can wrench on one CD. If Livin Joy is the soap opera of music complete with screaming divas, Eboman is the 5am satellite programme with petrol driven Chainsaws and space vixens high on funk. The Dutch collective (where else) mash together a DJ. guitarist. sax player and exemplary beat baron Jeroen Hoffs. The Sampling Madness EP (XL Records) contains the fat. funky acid guitar track ‘Donuts with Budha’. the kind of song that has you throwing your head around further than any chiropractor could make it go. before rolling your eyes way up into your skull. This band are
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Some compilation: ‘every track is outstanding . . . deep, dark dance music that features eclectic artists.’
currently making a minefield of the Dutch Top Twenty which tells you what kind of place the Netherlands are. One place that the Eboman (do)nutters would feel right at home would be the freaky futuristic world of the Wipeout 2097 soundtrack (Virgin). The majority of the music is taken from the Sony Playstation game of the same name and several of the tracks are exclusive to the'project. Future Sound of London, Fluke. Chemical Brothers, Underworld, Photek, Prodigy. Leftfield, Daft Punk all contribute to the post-apocalyptic soundscape that has you winging round the kill-or- be-killed anti-grav track.
Don’t play this track while cycling through central Glasgow or you’re liable to be hit by a truck while you search for your Plasma Bolt. Those French disco teclmoists Daft Punk blast into the dance reviews again like the second shot of a double barrelled on the truly magnificent Soma Compilation Ill (Soma). The album is for all those people who don't buy l2's or find that they haven't got Mr Twirly atop their hi-i'i anymore as tnost of the Soma releases aren't released on C I) single. Deep. dark dance music that features such eclectic artists as Percy X. Envoy. Russ Gabriel. Derrick Carter. Surgeon. Daft punk. Equus and Mode 4. The compilation of course includes the ubiquitous Slain guys themselves. with the Derrick Carter remix of their classic ‘Positive Education‘ and the tnore recent ‘Dark Forces'. Although every track is outstanding. The Chaser (aka Funk D‘Void) track “Sides of lron‘ is worth the price of the album alone as it can be tricky to get hold of in the high street. A slinky. stripped funk track that criminally didn‘t make a dent on the national charts. (Rory Weller)
I lain Ballamy: Acme (8&W) The saxophonist‘s second album for this label is something of a shift ofdirection. it is more of a groove-driven outing. propelled by the heavyweight promptings of the Mondesir brothers at the core of the rhythm team. and John Parricelli’s immaculate guitar work. Ballamy himself is in line form. stretching out in extended linear explorations of his themes over a variety of settings. front scintillating Afro and Latin-inspired grooves to a kind of crunching funk-metal. Different. but productively so.
I Tom liarrell: labyrinth (RCA) Trumpeter Tom Harrell is generally regarded as an orthodox neo-bopper. but gets the chance to spread his wings a little on his RCA debut. Halfof the ten tracks feature a large ensemble, allowing him to exercise his compositional and arranging talents to good effect. A shade deliberate at times. maybe. but there is always something intriguing going on. The quintet tracks are typically sharp. while the only standard.
‘Darn That Dream‘. is an overdubbed duet in which he doubles on flugelhorn and piano.
I John Scoiield: liuiet (Verve) Not even Sco‘s most assiduous admirers will have heard him like this before. playing only acoustic guitar with a brass and reed ensemble. The results are indeed. as the title suggests. quiet.
and engagineg lovely too.
with the emphasis on instrumental colours and textures weaving behind and around the leader’s deft guitar lines. Steve Swallow‘s bass playing is magical. and Wayne Shorter adds thoughtful. carefully considered tenor sax on four cuts.
I Myra Melford: The Same lliver, Twice (Gramavision) Pianist Myra Melford is one of the most exciting musicians to have emerged in the New York experimental music scene in recent years. This album teams her up with another key figure. trumpeter Dave Douglas. in a quintet (with reeds. cello and drums) which explores five largely open-fonn improvisations. from the succinct ‘Bound Unbound‘ through to the nearly-25 minutes of 'The Large Ends The Way'.
I David Sanchez: Street Scenes (Columbia) This is a powerful and immensely enjoyable third album from the Puerto Rican saxman. Direct and expressive. it combines straight-ahead jazz blowing with lithe Caribbean grooves and explosive street-wise funk. a potent combination. Sanchez‘s richly rounded tenor sound is superbly caught. and he receives line support from his musicians. notably pianist Danilo Perez. whose own I’ammmnk (l mpulse!) is also highly recommended.
I Tom Browne: Another Shade oi Browne; Essence All Stars: Organic Grooves (llip Bop Essence) More funky stuff here. on both sets. Browne's album actually catches the trumpeter with an excellent quintet in a more straight-ahead jazz setting than usual. bttt he can‘t resist a funky groove all the same. The Essence All-Stars don‘t even pretend to try on this set of five mighty organ-led cuts. with Joey DeFrancesco and Lonnie Smith sharing the keyboard duties. and saxmen Kenny Garrett and Grover Washington blowing hard. (Kenny Mathieson)
the brand new album out now on cd
Includes the single: “We’re Gonna Shake You Down”
A Creation Records Product
BMX Bandits “Theme Park”
The List I- I4 Nov I996 49