Scott Grooves Pieces Of A Dream (Soma) it 1k * ir
Glasgow’s internationally respected Soma imprint continues its commitment to artist development with this excellent album from Detroit producer Scott Grooves. Like Daft Punk's album, this is accessible to all listeners. New single ’Expansions', a magnificent take on the Lonnie Liston Smith classic, features Roy Ayers and has chart crossover written all over it. Elsewhere, previous single ’New Day' 'ldeS aboard an irresistible piano hook, while 'The Mothership Re-Connection' is distinguished by contributions from George Clinton. Eor garage fans, 'The Scat Groove’, should do the trick thanks to a lovely wee scat from blues singer Gwen Fox. A house album to suit all tastes. (JB)
HIP HOP
Haze Presents New
York Reality Check 101 Mixed By DJ Premier (Payday/FERR) *‘ki'i'
DJ Premier, the man behind the vibed— up combination of skipping beats, strategically deployed scratches and dope production skills, lends his golden touch as mix tape tour guide to this happening collection of jams pulled fresh from the current New York hip hop underground. Appropriately, given the strong, uncut 'street level' flavour of Reality Check 107, the mood here is darker, more downbeat and harder- hitting on the rhymes front than the average mix tape fare. This three-way collaboration between Premier, NY grafitti artist Haze and Payday records is one hearty shout-out for the current state of health of the NY underground scene with some of its choicest moments coming from G-Depp, Natural Elements, Company Flow and Shades Of Brooklyn. Essential listening and the perfect accompaniment to Gang Starr's recently released Moment Of Truth. (LT)
COUNTRY
George Jones
It Don't Get Any Better Than This (MCA Nashville) *‘k‘k star
The master is gOing through a real Indian Summer in the recording studio, and does it again on this classic slice of honky tonk magic, leavmg the droves of young pretenders floundering in his wake in the process. Happily, nobody has pushed him into anything gimmicky on this album, but have let him do what he does better than anybody else, which is the kind of impeccably delivered crying-in-your-beer country songs that made the genre great in the first place, leavened by a sprinkling of bouncy uptempo excursions. Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Bobby Bare and the Glasgow-bound Willie Nelson line up to chip in on the title track, but this album is all about the best pure country voice in the business. (KM)
JAZZ
Dave Holland Quintet Points Of View (ECM) *‘k‘kt
Dave Holland will be bringing this latest edition of his band to the
Glasgow Jazz Festival in July, and it should be well worth hearing. Some may find them a little refined after the more visceral approach of earlier editions of the Quintet, particularly when Steve Coleman was involved, but the subtle interplay within the mUSlC is absorbing, and the quality of playing is pitched at its usual high levels. The musicians explore eight new compositions, while the instrumental line-up, featuring Steve Wilson on alto and soprano sax, Robin Eubanks on trombone, and Steve Nelson on vibes alongside the leader’s masterly bass and drummer Billy Kilson, brings a fresh range of shifting possibilites of timbre and colour to Holland's music. (KM)
CLASSICAL
Musica Secreta Lucrezia Vizzana (Linn Records) 1: it 4r
With discs of monks singing plainsong hitting the pop charts, and the 900th anniversary of the visionary abbess Hildegard of Bingen currently being widely celebrated, Linn Records are entitled to feel that this lovely recording of the Componi'menti' Mus/call by the 17th century Italian nun Lucrezia Vizzana stands a chance of attracting a wider audience than the highly specialised one it otherwise might have reached. The four featured singers — Catherine King, Deborah Roberts, Tessa Bonner and Mary Nichols — make a lovely job of this ethereal devotional music, and it is likely to appeal to Hildegard fans. (KM)
Fabulous
LearnZLive (Solomon) ink ir
The second single from Glaswegian four-piece Fabulous comes from the land of the giants. Big sentiments, big guitars, big arrangements and big vocals are successfully carried off without lapsing into Pearl Jam portentous huffing and puffing. The rest of the EP tries to push the same buttons but to diminishing returns. Not that size really matters. (ES)
Huckleberry
Morocco (Copper) at it i *1
Natty number from this all-over-the- shop Edinburgh combo which combines an insistent New Wave-y rhythm With a booming soaraway chorus and keyboard embellishments Jools Holland wouldn't sniff at. Unfortunately, the dance version remixes all the character away to nothing and from there things go annoyingly 'zany'. Contenders, if they exercise the requisite quality control. (F5)
The 0
Now (Polydor) * at it it
An American trio with an eclectic and irreverent outlook similar to Huckleberry’s. Despite the almost sublime 'Xmas At Bob's' (yeah, even with that title), it’s impossible to shed the apprehension that The O could just be another Green Day dorky punk combo. However, insidious pop like 'Now' makes it equally impossible to write them off. (ES)
Barry Adamson: a tight delight
Barry Adamson Can’t Get Loose (Mute) * it air 1t 1%
Barry, Barry, how did you get to be so cool? In an above-average fortnight for singles, your Isaac Hayes-croons-Bond theme towers over the trembling competition, wrelding its psychedelic xylophone solo and some other equally exqursite compositions for which The Propellerheads might jUSI commit a felony. (ES)
Baby Bird Bad Old Man (Echo) it res-xv * Another hit or miss artist gets it right.
'Bad Old Man’ is equal parts Pulp and Dead Can Dance, a stealthy yarn pulled
' «mange
Choirs!“ WP}
record reviews MUSIC
back from the brink of sonorous gothic mystiCIsm by an aCldlC perspective. Like 'This Is Hardcore’ it’s in no hurry to light up the charts and is all the more compelling for it. Quality. (ES)
Shrinking Violet Thinkabout at *
Self-financed EP from a schizophrenic Lanark band who oscillate wrldly between catchy punk pop choruses, full-on Spandex rock beast workouts, Celtic AOR and dreamy blues guitars without ever fixing on a genre they are masters of. Was your reviewer listening to the same band?, as many readers won't ask. (ES)
Snow Patrol
100 Things You Should Have Done In Bed (Jeepster) * * * *
One of the more promising indie rock groups to crop up in the last couple of years around Glasgow — although they’re actually from Belfast, but let’s try to lay claim to their imaginative if rather self-conscious way with morose guitars/relentless rhythms/whatever they fancy ripping off next. I heard Wire and Red House Painters. Any other bids? (ES)
REVIEWERS THIS ISSUE:
Jim Byers, Brian Donaldson, Kenny Mathieson, Peter Ross, Eiona Shepherd, Lawrie Thomas
STAR RATINGS * it i as * Unmissable * at it * Very ood t k w W0 3 shot it it Below average it You've been warned
87
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30 Apr-14 May 1998 THE LIST“