I music
record reviews
POP
E-17
Resurrection (Telstar)
Although no one would want to take away the personal triumph for E-l7 (nee East) of returning to the higher echelons of the singles charts after your songwriter and all-round Talented One has flown the coop and your other singer has had to endure derision for a foolish but hardly heinous remark ab0ut hrs drug-taking habits, it must be said that this comeback album really sucks It is the sound of a band growrng up, leavrng behind the pop sensibility that produced some class tunes and instead gOing for some of that ubiquitous 'mature' swrngbeat which Chef from South Park would reiect for being too obvrous There’s even a schmaltzy ballad ’Daddy’s Gonna Love You', dedicated to the band mernbers' various sprogs and a hidden cover of Stevre Wonder's 'Lately' which would have Celine Dion diVing for the sickbag. Avoid, as they say (FS)
DANCE
Mucho Macho
The Limehouse Link (Wiiija) Despite the favourable star rating, there's not a great deal to be said about Mucho Mac ho's debut alburu, in much the same way that Mucho Macho aren't saying anything much which you haven't already heard from The Propellerheads and Bentley Rhythm Ace And that s enough 'much's to be going along With The Lime/rouse Lin/c is big of heat, retro of sample, and perky of tone Coming atcha straight outta Romford, so it's hardly surprising the duo of Tim Punter and Neil Dunford are more interested in creating a spy rnovre ambience than reflecting their natural habitat. If you fancy another 90s update on the Get Carter soundtrack, this is as fine an example as you will hear Otherwise it's all muc ho of a muc‘l‘iriess (ESl
ROCK Modest Mouse
The Lonesome Crowded West (Matador)
These days, it sems every teri-a-penny goofball with a social disorder and a tattered copy of Harvest wants a piece of New Country action And while disco-fanatics Grandaddy push The Cause ever leftwards, new kids Modest Mouse are the latest to get their mitts dirty Which is a good thing as seconds of alterna-country-punk-
whatever opener 'Teeth Like God's
Shoeshrne’ wrll attest A veritable landslide of fizzing, smart ideas follow, with the flea-ridden fiddle of 'Jesus Christ Was An Only Chrld’ prOviding a gritty-eyed highlight Here, even the more questionable ventures (such as ‘Lounge' 's touching revival of Captain Seiisible's seminal 'Wot7') are wonhy of more than a CUTSOTy listen Setting their controls for the heart of New Country, Modest MOuse's (Ourney is an exciting prospect indeed. (SD)
., j I A
The RZA gets digital vision on his new album
HIP HOP
RZA
Bobby Digital In Stereo (Gee Street/ V2) 3% Si“ re «a
V The RZA assumes the identity of Bobby
Digital for this release from the
' seemingly endless cast list of the all- ! conquering Wu-Tang stable. Dressed to
kill in artwork that's a cheesy mix of
v 007 and a slew of lesser bIaxplortation
gems, Bobby Digital's packaging might
bear all the external trappings of a bona fide movre soundtrack but that's where any resemblance ends The
, world of hip hop's masked avenger is
the familiar territory of superhero, superlover, superpimp et a/ and it comes complete With guest
. appearances from \4 ’u regulars Method
Man, Ghostface Killal' and .nspectah Deck who, between them, guarantee the Vibe is as impenetrablv dense as
anything in the chronicles of the Wu lLT)
JAZZ Norma Winstone and
' John Taylor
. . . like song, like weather (Enodoc)
The husband and Wife team of Norma Winstone and John Taylor are two of Europe's finest Jazz musicians If the Azimuth trio wrth trumpeter Kenny
Wheeler often reflects a more abstract
side of their work, this superb disc concentrates on beautifully arranged
: and delivered songs drawn from both
the (an standard repertoue Gersliwin’s ’| Loves You, Porgy', Brubeck's 'Strange tvleadowlark', Ellington's 'Come Sunday' and more conterriporary writers like Wheeler, Tony Coe, Carla Bley anil Steve S‘s/allow The dorrunant mood is delicate and reflective, with \\"iristone's poised, expressive singing underpinned by Taylor's evocative, imaginative pianism A gentle but vibrant treat
(KM)
CONTEMPORARY
, Zbigniew Preisner
Requiem For My Friend (Erato) 7. Film fans will know Zbigniew Preisner's
work from his soundtracks for the films
of the award-Winning Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski, who is himself the StlbjeCI of this Reguierii, as well as his scores for Hector Babenco, Lociis Malle, and others Kreslowski's death prompted the composer to write this work, his first large-scale piece intended for concert performance The first half, 'Regurem', is a standard Reqwem Mass setting, featuring high
sOprano lines which are somewhat reminiscent of another Pole, Gorecki, while the second, ’Life', explores more diverse material, from hints of iazz and folk through to grand, Carl Oiff-like choral passages. (KM)
The Spice Girls Goodbye (Virgin) y
Don't take that literally -— it's riierely The Spice Girls bidding a poignant farewell to I998 And who better to do it than them7 As usual, it's slick, charmingly gormless and almost impossible to truly hate, wrth the added bonus of being suitably elegaic for end-of—the-year shows everywhere (AM)
The Egg Getting Away With It (Indochina)
Has the 'high-contept' practice of pitching rnovre ideas at studios spread to the musrc biz7 'lt's Jarvis Cocker‘ meets Pet Shop Boys,’ say The Egg, and clinch the deal Amazingly, whether piss-take or pastiche, it turns out to be quite iistenable, in a slea'xy kind of a way (AM)
Ten Benson
United Colours Of Benson EP (Deceptive)
I hope Teri Benson have come to address the current shortage of mad fuckers in our lives rather than wrth hopes of the NME saying something nice about them Country and western meets Kraftwerl. in a crap 80s disco, outside ‘.\’ill( it several uripleast‘iritly hairy men are waitirici to beat up everyone who leaves Great (AM)
"‘ STAR RATINGS . a ,s Unmissable - i: Very good
. s x Worth a shot
e Y0u’ve been warned
record reviews MUSIO Merz C.C.
Conscious (Lotus) “f! a:
Whether the Wired-sounding vocalist has found God, his soulmate or his dealer is hard to discern at first, but it sounds like one too many Es have brought on some kind of spiritual awakening, at any rate. Main reason to hear this disc, though, is that it’s got the wrckedest fuzz bass of the year. This is Merz C.C.'s indie release before starting work for the mighty Sony who the band have signed to, (AM)
Belle And Sebastian
This ls Just A Modern Rock Song (Jeepster) is a e
A seven-minute epic, ineffable and sad, with one of Stuart Murdoch’s most touching vocals undercut by the post- modern ironic distancing of the title until you don't know how you’re supposed to react to it. This could all end in tears (AM)
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy
One With The Birds (Domino) it 2% s- An unexpected find iii any pile of current singles, in the sense that it’s a 'real', traditionally-structured SOng, sung with heart—piercing feeling by Will Oldham of Palace Brothers, etc To hear the line ’ere the songs of Mogwai' Wit/TON! any words' in such a supreme setting of country melancholy is a ‘x/onderful thing indeed (AM)
Seven Days
Ride (Domo) a” e
Oh for the slightest dod of imagination Seven Days are a pub rock band who could get a rob for the council painting lines on puber highways, such is their instinctive ability to never stray from the middle of the road. The lyrics are banal and the rrius|c derivative Of every over- earnest, underachievmg rock combo that ever slogged their way through a weekly residence for years before realising that that they were going ntiwhere fast tJT)
REVIEWERS THIS ISSUE:
Sarah Dempster, Alastair Mabbott, Kenny Mathieson, Fiona Shepherd, Ld‘.‘.’llt’? Thomas, Jonathan Trew
Below average
a m MUSIC presents
annie christian
plus
STELLAR and Khaya‘.
Edinburgh, The Liquid Rooms Tuesday 22nd December 8 ’till Late
Tickets: Virgin, Ripping and on the door.
3-17 Dec 1998 THE LIST 57