Various Artists More Or Less (U—Star) tit
Though credited to various artists, this is actually a very handy collection of The ldjut Boys back catalogue. Though better known for their remix work the ’Boys actually specialise in a sparse bass heavy form of house music that is a notch or two above the average. CDI contains their own tunes and there is some delirious stuff here, the trippy 'Espece Funk’ and the jazzy dub hooks of ’Whoktish’ and ’Jazz Fook’. While CD2 contains the boys, remixes of other U—Star artists like La] and Quakerman. Recommended listening for any discerning mu5ic fan. (Paul Dale)
Paul van Dyk
Out There And Back (Vandit) * ‘k t it Simply put, trance refines an undulating wave of hypnotic repetitive beats to produce an atmospheric perpetuation of an aural moment. Paul van Dyk is the crown prince of the genre and this, his third album and doubtless his finest work to date, will go down in history as the record which redefined trance music rooted in banging techno. That it includes the massive singles ’Another Way' and ’Tell Me Why’, featuring the sultry vocal talents of Saint Etienne’s Sarah Cracknell, is selling point enough, but fans and converts will also be pleased to discover the deep-house Joy of ’Pikes' and the soft-touch ambient techno of 'Face To Face’.
(Catherine Bromley)
Universal PflflClples Inspiration And Light (Soma)
* ir it * 1k
Three years ago at a post Slam party a booze-fuelled Derrick Carter challenged fellow DJ/producers Stuart McMillan, Nick Peacock and Glenn Gibbons to do something in the studio together. Unlike most drunken challenges which usually result in pain and/or embarrassment, this one has culminated in magnificence. Predominantly funky in a crazy jazz style but with a Whole lotta soul, this aural feast also makes fine use of dirty house rhythms on ’Flyin' High' and
bossa-Brasilia beats on ’Latin Stroll’ and ’Guyana’. Those already living by the Universal PrinCiples include Roger Sanchez, Jazzanova and DJ Sneak, so you know it makes sense.
(Catherine Bromley)
DU B/WORLD
Jah Wobble And The Invaders Of The Heart Molam Dub (30 Hertz) it
Should use of the words 'world’ and ’mu5ic’ induce fear then this LP is likely to conjure up one of those British Airways ads or, worse still, the sanctimonious tones of Andy Kershaw. Cynics of global culture unite, you have nothing to lose but your air miles. From mohaired miscreant bassist in PIL through the lost years spent in the employ of London Underground and the recent esoteric wanderings of the Invaders Of The Heart, Jah Wobble has never pursued the obVious. Based on folk music from Thailand and given the Invaders' dub treatment, Molam Dub is worthy and Curious but somehow lacking in magic. (Rodger Evans)
FOLK/WORLD
Salsa Celtica
The Great Scottish Latin Adventure (Greentrax GZ) * ‘k t t
The long-awaited Edinburgh-based band’s second album adds an astringent Caledonian reediness to the sauce With Fraser Fifield’s bagpipes, and while the titles of tracks like ’Carnoustie Albatross' and ’Rhumba Escocia’ steer you musically back down the Gulf Stream, the steers on the cover (hairy Highland ones) Symbolise the band’s hugely successful achievement in creating a uniquely hot music for our cold climate. A not of colour and dynamics, the big, beautifully produced, multi-layered sound folds in the congas, timbales, bongos, guitar, bass, brass, saxes, fiddle, flute, accordion in a welter of vocals, singers Alberto, Carlos Pena and SyIVia Rae are among the seven guests augmenting the band’s dozen regular mUSICIanS. Only ’Maggie’s Pancakes’ doesn't quite hit the rhythmic groove and if relentless,
""5
A case of wilful, but not wonderful, from Blur’s Graham Coxon
Excentric master of eclectica, Badly Drawn Boy, proves he's worth scribbling about
dancey, in-your-face wind and percussion eventually gets on top of your dour northern soul, you can take slow solace in the seductive opening sequence of ’Flaquita’ or drift off to ’Milonga For Iona’. (Norman Chalmers)
JAZZ Iain Ballamy
Pepper Street Interludes (Feral Records) at t t *
Like his mate DJango Bates, saxophonist Iain Baliamy has been a consistently intriguing, always inventive presence on the UK scene since stepping out of Loose Tubes in the mid 80s, and this is no exception. Ballamy's qUizzicaI, probing tenor sax is paired in striking dialogue With Stian Carstensen’s button accordion on off-the-wall but never gimmicky verSions of Jazz standards, punctuated by evocative original tunes and augmented by the delicate shadings of cello and percusSion. Norma Winstone’s v0ice is also featured, the icmg on a delectable cake.
(Kenny Mathieson)
JAZZ
Ornette Coleman
The Complete Science Fiction Sessions (Columbia Legacy) * ‘k t ir/
Skies ofAmerica (Columbia Legacy) * * */Dancing In Your Head (Verve) * t t ir
Classic reissues from a transmonal phase in saxophonist Ornette Coleman’s music. His epochal 60s quartet recordings are echoed in the 1971 sessions released as Science Fiction and Broken Shadows, combined here on a double CD featuring two great quartets (With Don Cherry or Dewey Redman as second horn) and some larger groups. They give way to the symphonic scope of Skies of America (in its original I972 version — his ’definitive’ acc0unt remains unrecorded), then to the paired electric guitars, basses and drums of Dancing In Your Head (1975), with its two long explorations of a theme first heard on Skies Of America. Of their time, perhaps, but still fiery, still fascinating, and still defying convention. (Kenny Mathies0n)
STAR RATINGS
*tttt Unmissable i * i t * Very ood g t t * Wort a shot ‘ *ir Below average * You’ve been warned
record reviews MUSIC
A“
Singles round up
If you thought Inner Circle (l- . . girl I'm gonna make you sweat.) were the last word in execrable beach party reggae, you would be wrong. ’Good Thing GOing’ from ex-Eastender Sid Owen (Mushroom **) is enough to resurrect the ghosts of Ali Campbell's solo career Altogether now ’Rickaaaaay. No!’ By some kind of sick comcidence Kevin Kennedy (Corrie’s Curly Watts) is also making a bid for pop stardom Singing about his 'Bulldog Nation’ (BMG it). This starts well With a competent guitar riff and Watts not unpleasant Springsteen inflected mice, but as soon as Curly tells us ’there's one rule for the rich and one for the poor in this Bulldog Nation’ (oh really KeVin) you know it’s all over.
It is all en0ugh to make you reach for the Damage Manual (InVisible ****) a sort of old punks supergroup boasting the talents of Jah Wobble, Chris Connelly, Martin Atkins and Geordie Walker. This is a supreme piece of speaker-shaking industrial splurge which takes you back to those heady On-U Sound days when dance mUSlC was played in piss-streaked sheds and not corporate mausoleums.
Yo La Tango's ’You Can Have It All’ (Matador *ttt) is another delicious slice of harmonised spaced-out pop while ’Another Pearl’ (TWisted Nerve *****) by Badly Drawn Boy is exactly what it says; as hooky as it is elusive and undeniably a work of mu5ical genius. ’How Cheap Is YOur Love' (Rotator ***) by Frigid Vinegar is not, but is fun With its healthy nod to Mark Perry and ATV (check your punk history books children). ’Joy' (Fuzzbox tit) from Mclusky is a cut above yOur average thrash record and they could easily have fellow taffs The Crocketts in a fight whose 'On Something' (V2 *t) yields none of the promise of the tremendous ’Host'.
Meanwhile Bill Callahan of Smog proves that he is still capable of the sort of melancholia that w0uld get him kicked out of a child's wake With the Cohen-esque 'Strayed' (Rough Trade ****). Single of the Week, however, comes from Glasgow’s own Geographic Records - Japanese freakniks Maher Shalal Hash Baz bring you 'Unknown Happiness' (Geographic *****) this is Captain Beefheart playing a Wurlitzer in February on Blackpool Pier and it is tremend0us. (Paul Dale)
22 Jun—6 Jul 2000 THE “ST 47