KECUKD REVIEW
I Turtleheatl: Back Slapping Praise From Back Stabbing Men (Bad Taste) Remember Green Day and their albutn Duo/tie? Two minute songs that were dumb but fun for five minutes until your hyperactive attention span upped and left to find new thrills? Well. this Scottish four-piece offer the same type of super octane guitar spills but this time kids. the high lasts all album and there's no cotne-down. lt's heads down. bounce around stuff that pulls off the difficult trick of being perky without turning into a cartoon and remaining free of the scourge ofdour gravitas which buggers up so much postpunk. guitar core stuff. (Jonathan Trew) I Cecil: Bombar Diddlan (Parlophone) Take the grinding guitar rifferama of the Liverpool combo‘s first singles as a starting point. and this mini-album moves in two not necessarily welcome directions: the dandruff snowfall of acceptable headbanging and the ponderous. quieter moments that have been an indulgence of most metal balladeers since
CecI: anklei‘kickers
Iron Maiden put music to vinyl. Together. the eight tracks only just avoid the stench of sweaty biker leather. The photo on the back of the album looks like an ice-block on fire. and Cecil pose a similar contradiction: they might sound like the weediest boy in the class. but watch out in the playground or they‘ll kick your ankles while you're not looking. (Alan Morrison)
I Bally Sagoo: Rising From The East (Columbia) Quite a brooding little number. this one. From the opening strains of ‘Tum Bin Jiya‘ (a song which could have been plucked straight from an early Cocteau Twins collection). the mood is set for the remaining hour.
liastern instruments such as tablas dholak and the
rawab clash with W-stern constructs like the violin and flute to produce as eclectic an album as you‘re likely to hear this year — a bit of bhangra flavoured with a jot of jungle. It may be a bit overlong on a couple of tracks. but this is a minor quibble. Sagoo shouldn't remain Bally who? for tnuch longer. (Brian Donaldson)
I Vic Chesnutt: About To Choke (PUT) Given the title. the artist’s addiction- recovery status. his wan. wheelchair-bound appearance on the cover and his sleeve-note about ‘the premise that through death. life is nourished‘. you might expect Chesnutt's fifth album (his first for a major label) to be a morose affair. Well. it is and it isn‘t. That nasal. laidback voice sure can carry a riverload of melancholy and cynicism. But exposed as it is by the spare. mostly acoustic arrangements. it can‘t conceal its little sparkles of hope and mischief. notably in the ironic but jolly ‘l.ittle Vacation‘. Like fellow Athenian Michael Stipe. Chesnutt‘s tendencies are mellow and mournful. but never morbid. (Andrew Burnet)
The Rankin Family‘s new albutn (‘tt/lt't'litm (Grapevine) balances their Cape Breton tradition of beautiful harmony vocals. in the Gaelic waulking song ‘Fail ll E‘. and in some great fiddling led by John Morris Rankin. with a glossy studio production and a big band sound. But beware of the soggy country/rock songs. All exceptionally well played though — as is the session work on Karen Matheson‘s The Dreaming Sea (Survival). The first solo album from Scots band Capercaillie‘s singer has been produced by husband and fellow Caperer Donald Shaw. and features. among many others. jazzer Tommy Smith on occasional sax. classical licks from the BT Scottish Ensemble. and Gerry () Conner's virtuoso lrish banjo. liven the venerable Sorley Macl.ean contributes some Gaelic poetry. It's a finely produced. well sung album. albeit mostly in a slightly dated mainstream. soft funk/rock idiom. The thirteen songs make no great demands. although the title track. by James Grant. is one of the best written. Another semi- Gaelic album. also featuring the voice of Sorley. has been released by accordion/keyboard playing Skyeman Blair Douglas. Titled A Summer
jan/ceilidh. Again. great
In Skye after the l9th century book of the same name by Alexander Smith. the album ltas a slightly bizarre mix of influences from anthem rock. to nco-Celtic whimsy and arty
session contributions from a luminous guest list of musicians and singers including bona fide piano genius Brian Kellock. percussionist Sandro Ciancio. Runrig‘s Malcolm Jones. Battlefieltl's lain MacDonald and Wolfstone‘s Duncan Chisholm. All tracks are written by the bloke in the trademark beret. and the album is a lot of fun. and occasionally quite moving.
Back in the 50s and ()()s. traditional music was as rare as a swearword on radio. and non-existent on television. The re-issues on CI) of the great performers of the period are welcome not just because of their straightforward. unalloyed approach. but because they have musical quality all too rare nowadays. The Bonny Bum/t of'Roxex. by the great lrish uillean piper. storyteller. and singer Seamus Ennis. and Blair Buys Blow by A. l. Lloyd and Ewan MacColl. a superb collection of sea songs and shanties. are part of a great series (on Tradition) devoted to the roots of the revival.
A contemporary singer admired widely for his interpretation of traditional Scots song. and with a remarkably compelling voice. Bod Paterson hasjust released his long-awaited Burns album Songs From The Bottom Drawer (Greentrax). Contemporary. often complex. arrangements on essentially acoustic instruments of favourites like 'Banks And Braes‘ are here with the rarer lyrics of songs such as ‘Waukrife Minnie‘. The opener. ‘Mary Morison‘. which includes MacDiarmid's favourite line of poetry. is a beauty. The small harp. played by Wendy Stewart. features strongly on Paterson's album. and is central to Play ()1: Lie/t! (Greentrax). the latest Sileas release. The female duo specialise. when not in the larger assemblies of the Poozies or C aledon. in using ten deft digits to play and sing traditional Gaelic and Scots music on two harps. mixing acoustic wire and gut- strung versions with the up-to-the-minute electroharp. Bill Wither‘s 'Ain‘t No Sunshine‘ makes an appearance as a lament. but that‘s one of the few surprises (there‘s one at the very. very end) in a pleasant. cleanly produced. moody. and occasionally adventurous album. (Norman Chalmers)
Kinky Trax Collection (React) mixed by DJ Sneak and Princess Julia delivers the best in US disco. garage and house. Phatboy Sneak. pioneer of the nu-disco-house-techno style that you can hear at Edinburgh’s own Tribal Funktion. dips into his 70s and 80s influences big time and slams down the harder beats while London‘s Julia provides the more commercial (but no less good) cuts. MAW. Morma Jean Bell. Roger Sneak himself and Junior Vasquez. all feature on the album. It‘s upfront and will appeal to the hardest core underground headz and the casual Clubber alike.
Sunday Service Part 1 (Interstate) mixed by Matt ‘Jatn‘ Lamont is a very disappointing collection. Despite containing some excellent tracks from some of garage and house's leading lights (Disciple. Mousse T. Grant Nelson etc) Mr Lamont really has made a mess of things. Which is a pity because as anyone who caught his set at Solefusion this year will testify he is tnore than capable of rocking a club. Unfortunately. he manages to butcher almost every track on the album simply by playing
everything far. far too fast. A good track. especially a quality garage cut needs to breathe a little to let the funk and soul flow out. Lamont rides roughshod over any trace of potential quality in his mixing. He‘s undoubtedly a good DJ on his day but this really is terrible.
Manifesto Monster Mix (Manifesto) mixed by Judge Jules and Luke Neville groups some of the roost important dancefioor tracks from the last eighteen months or so. So successful has the label been that. in this short period of time. each one of the featured tracks was a Top 40 hit and eleven reached Number One in the Club chart. Sod going to a club. why not stay at home for the night and stick this tasty double Cl) package on the stereo. Everything from the
Plus Special Guests
decidedly cheesy but good anyway ‘State Of lndependence‘ by Donna Summer with Jules on the mix to the underground ‘Feel Tha Vibe‘ by That Kid Chris is here. Most of it. especially on disk two. is of the more commercial persuasion but when you need some ptnnpin‘ party tunes to keep you going when the club‘s over. you could do worse than this. Boris Duglosch. Todd Terry. Morales. Gusto. Josh Wink . . . it‘s all there. Tuck in and enjoy. Elsewhere. check LL Cool J‘s greatest hits on All World (DefJam). All the key cuts frotn old skool (‘Rock The Bells‘) to his cheesy ladieel. stuff (‘I Need Love‘) and his excellent newies ‘l.oungin‘ and ‘Doin lt‘ are here. It's a big phat cool mutha of a record. Buy it and buy a slice of rap history. (Jim Byers)
ladleez luv cool James
MCP by arrangement with ITB Presents
GLASGOW BARROWLAND WEDNESDAY 15TH JANUARY 1997
Tickets: £12.50
Credit Cards Tel: 0131 557 6969.
Available from Just The Ticket. Virgin Records. Ripping Records and all usual TOCTA outlets (Subject to booking fee).
THE BRILLIANT NEW ALBUM
-'THREE SNAKES AND ONE CHARM'- OUT NOW.
Tickets: £13.50 Credit Cards Tel: 0131 557 6868 (£1 per ticket booking fee) Available from Just The Ticket. Virgin. Ripping and all usuat TOCTA outlets
' _ . MODERATIQN‘TOURf’j
PLUS 992mm. GUESTS
GLASGOW BARROWLAND SUNDAY 17TH NOVEMBER
(subject to 70p per ticket: booking fee).
SGUEEZE ‘EXCESS MDDERATION’ RELEASED 4TH NOVEMBER
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The List l5-28 Nov l996 49