Muki
Cabin Fever (Mantra) 1k * ‘k
Muki is actually a couple of fellows by the names of Luke Mullen and Jules Evans, operating in that vaguely spacey, post-trip-n-drum-n-bass-n-hop chill out area. So what we have is a landscape of busy, minutely detailed chirruping instrumental workouts, designed to lightly massage the brain. When it works - as on the Harlem-soulflute shuffle of ’Ki JUice' — it’s a pleasant rub.The overall impression fostered by Cabin Fever, however, is that of softly moving without actually travelling anywhere. Which, in some versions of the argument, is exactly the pornt, of course. (DL)
COUNTRY ROCK
The Felsons
Glad (62) it Mr
Greentrax launch their new 62 label with this second album by the Edinburgh-based quartet, although l confess that the import of the gnu on the cover escapes me. Glad contains fourteen new songs by singer Dean Owens, one co-written with the band’s guitarist, Calais Brown. The Felsons have attracted a fair bit of attention through their country affiliations, but this album continues the shift away from their initial rather opportunistic rock-flavoured country feel toward a much stronger emphasis on a clasSic pop approach (Owens acknowledges the Beatles as stronger than any country influence -- check ’You're Everything’ for proof). The results remain pleasingly tuneful, although the well-crafted material does not have the immediate impact of their best songs. (KM)
JAZZ
David Sanchez
Obsesion (Columbia) aw: Saxophonist David Sanchez explores the deep Puerto Rican and Latin Ameiican roots of his lTlUSlC more directly than in his preVious work on this sophisticated album, although those influences have never been far away in any case. He employs both a hard-driVing quartet (With added percussion) and an expanded group With lush additional horns and strings in the process, and turns the spotlight on some of the major composers of his native Puerto Rica, as well as more familiar names like Antonio Carlos Jobim and Ray Bryant. The results are impressive in both formats. (KM)
CONTEMPORARY
Kronos Quartet John Adams/Alfred Schnittke
i (Nonesuch) at at ‘séc'fi' ‘ Kronos have always been prolific in the
recording studio, and these albums also underline the continumg breadth of their musical endeavours. The John Adams disc contains the first recording of the exuberant John’s Book of Alleged Dances, in which the players interact wrth taped prepared piano effects in some sections, as well as a fine account of Gnarly Buttons from Michael Collins and the London Sinfonietta. The Schnittke double-disc, which gathers his four very different String Quartets and two shorter works, may have a more specialised appeal, but the performances on both records are as dedicated and distinguished as ever. (KM)
“REE- Make-Up
Power To The People
Lung Leg
Krayola (Vesuvius) * a: * it i
The first of a proliferation of split singles is a hands-across-the-water effort by US subversives Make-Up, who sparkle like the MCS imbibing from the sacred chalice of funk, and Glasgow’s Lung Leg, whose 'Krayola’ is also astonishingly good, a great performance springing out from a parade of disco rhythms and nagging riffs. (AM)
The Karelia Vision In A World Without Spectacles
El Hombre Trajedo Like Quicksand (Flotsam and Jetsam) 1k **
Karelia, the art-rock band from ‘ Glasgow continue not fitting in. Not a lot going on except hip hop beats, stinging guitars and Murray Lachlan Young enunciation, but I like it. El Hombre Trajedo would make a nice segue between Tortoise and some French loungecore. (AM)
Appendix Out Lassie, Lie Near Me
Policecat
Dark Holiday (Creeping Bent) the Appendix Out — such a violent name
for such a pastoral, acoustic sound, played apparently straight. But beware: starts out mournful. Gets worse. The rockier Policecat are moody too, conjuring up a creepy atmosphere that hangs around long after the record's finished. (AM)
Looper Impossible Things (Sub Pop) * at 1k
Not your typical Sub Pop single. It’s Scottish for a start, and over some bouncy hip hop a tale is related of a long-distance relationship between two pen pals. The drum 'n' bass interruptions seem pointless and intrusive, especially since the main point of interest is the story. You want it to be continued on side two. But it isn’t. Shame. (AM)
Coco And The Bean
Fair Play (Mantra) 1k «it e :9:
Not even DJ Eh? Wun’s distracting sound effects can mar this slinky, slow- burning slice of contemporary R 'n' B. The smooth, sensual vocal from Gwen Esty really makes this song happen, and verily the letter S was created to help describe records like it. (AM)
Astrid
What To Say (Fantastic Plastic) 3: at a: A stab at classic 60s-style pop from the Lewis combo, which is at least a partial success. Comparisons with The La’s leave Astrid wanting, but they're not without their charms. (AM)
The Beta Band
Los Amigos Del Beta Bandinos (Regal) **
The Beta Band’s flirtation with the charts may prove to have been a flash in the pan. Here, they chant ’push it out, push it all out' for several minutes,
record reviews MUSIC
only endeavouring to turn it into a song when it's almost over. Similarly, the remaining tracks are strange enough to be uncommercial but not adventurous enough to be really interesting. (AM)
The Amphetameanies Mo'ska (F&J) hr
Possibly pun-ridden (if the vocals were audible) stab at a ska polka, which no doubt tears the roof of the sucker live but struggles on vinyl. Ditto the flip, which locates itself in the Wild West. A
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Coco and the Bean: smouldering sounds
decent novelty single if it were better recorded, perhaps. (AM)
REVIEWERS THIS ISSUE:
Damien Love, Alastair Mabbott, Kenny Mathieson, Peter Ross, Fiona Shepherd, Lawrie Thomas, Paul Whitelaw.
STAR RATINGS '1 it H: * Unmissable * at * a: Very ood * air * Wort a shot it wk Below average it You've been warned
s 3:.
9—23 Jul 1998 THE LIST“