music
reviews
Jane Horrocks
The Further Adventures Of Little Voice
(EMI/Liberty) * 1t * _ HorroCks extends her star-making turn
as Little Voice, the wallflower heroine of Jim Cartwright’s slight but endearing play (and film) who could only blossom when mimicking glam songstresses. The twelve-track gimmick here is her wittin nuanced renditions of standards some mostly now-dead
‘ divas never recorded, backed up by big
band orchestrations featuring sessions players who worked with the likes of Sinatra and Count Basie. Some choices are near-inspired: Monroe’s 'Dream A
i. Little Dream', Garland’s 'Just In Time'
and fun duets between Bassey and Ewan McGregor or Marilyn and brash Robbie Williams. A few tracks are dirge-like and underpowered, but the easy listening grows on you.
(Donald Hutera)
ROCK/POP Gorky's Zygotic Mynci
,7 The Blue Trees (Mantra) * a: ‘k
Judging by the sound and design of this new mini-album, Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci have been paying regular visits to their local multiplex to witness the Coen Brothers’ latest movie. The once wizardly Welsh band have contrived to knock the stuffing out of the two things which gave them a focus; the proggy organ(ic) mayhem melded with a glorious pop sensibility; remember ’Patio Song' or ’Let's Get Together (In
1‘ Our Minds)? The Blue Trees - for all its
bluesy, grassy appeal — is weedier than a blind octogenarian's back garden. (Brian Donaldson)
Oasis
FamiliarTo Millions (Big Brother) *tii Oasis, live at Wembley Stadium, 21 July
I 2000.
, ' 1 . t % ‘:!:;. \ ‘ \.
Liam: Hello Manchester. Hee hee.
Liam: Shithole, it's about time they knocked this fucking shit down.
Liam: Supersonic. You should write a couple more of these songs Noel.
Noel: This one's called 'Step Out'.
Liam: All I need is cigarettes and alcohol and that’s no bad thing.
Liam: We’d play more but it's been a bit of a topsy year.
Noel: Same as last year weren't it?
Liam: Live Forever.
Noel: This is a Neil Young song. No I wasn’t born when it came out either.
Liam: We were getting high. And I
' like it.
This album also contains eighteen
tracks of pompous, self-important rock
'n' roll, only one of which, a rendition of 'Helter Skelter', is not great. All played by a bunch of loons. And the
world is all the better for it.
(Mark Robertson)
Willard Grant Conspiracy
. Everything's Fine (Rykodisc) 1k at t at
: Just when you thought all may not be well in the alt.country garden, Boston troubadours Willard Grant Conspiracy , stroll back to show that, yep,
I everything is indeed, mighty fine.
3 These are songs of redemption,
i revelation and soul-rending confession i with fates being spun and emotional
knives getting twisted. Listen to ’Christmas In Nevada' and ’Wicked’ and feel your toes tap and your heart pound. There is the odd inadvisable entrance into Caveworld ('Ballad Of John Parker' is only missing a titchy
female antipodean for the full Matthew Kelly moment) but the whole
is spirit-elevating. (Brian Donaldson)
Crashland
Glued (Independiente) * 1% it * Snotty Bristolian three-piece Crashland
claim they’re the antidote to the plague of sensitive young indie pups boring the tears out of the British record buying public these days — but have they got the tunes to back up this gobby bravado? Well, very nearly because Glued, though flawed, is a highly promising first stab at the rock 'n' roll game. The album displays the same combination of punky youthful guitars and melody as Supergrass’s first record, while also taking in that band's smalltown dopey feelgood factor. Chuck in a healthy dose of The Buzzcocks and a dash of The Kinks and you’ve got yourself a cracking wee
' British rock album. (Doug Johnstone)
International Airport
Nothing We Can Control (Geographic) ****
A package of picturesque tunes from former Pastel and Appendix Out
contributor Tom Crossley, the
restlessness of which are much in keeping with the transient image of his
' band's name; the dreamy shuffle of
’Moving Water' and ’Does Chocolate Live Here?', a drowsy hunt for a cocoa- fix, seem especially in flux. Despite a
.If a. Hefner go to the bottom of the class
record reviews MUSIC
No slim pickings for fans of Fatboy
ELECTRONIC
Fatboy Slim
Halfway Between The Gutter And The Stars (Skint) i: t t at
It will come as no surprise that chunky beats are the order of the day on Fatboy Slim's follow up to the massive You’ve Come A Long Way Baby. And opener 'Talking About My Baby' could have fitted in snugly at any point on the previous record. These beats have defiantly mutated, however, and the
album jumps between funk and slightly darker, evil rhythms throughout.
There are even a few full-on techno tunes in the shape of 'Star 69' and 'Retox'. It appears married life and a baby on the way have not diminished Cook's party hard sound.
He's become a star and is now part of one of the tabloids’ favourite celebrity couples, however much he dislikes it. This does have its advantages though and it's helped reel in some big name guest stars. Macy Gray supplies the vocals for ‘Love Life’ and ’Demons', one of the mellowest tunes on this collection with its gospel tinged funk. P-Funk legend Bootsy Collins also pops up on 'Weapon Of Choice’ which sounds uncannin similar to the Dream Warriors' classic 'Wash Your Face In My Sink'. Only a few sound like what you would expect such as ‘Ya Mama' and 'Mad Flava', where you can see the influence of best pals The Chemical Brothers. In fact the only real duffer on the album is current single ‘Sunset (Bird Of Prey)’ with its clichéd Jim Morrison sample and chart friendly trance beat.
If you are after challenging music buy Radiohead’s new album, but if you're up for a laugh Fatboy's your man. (Henry Northmore)
.(yeah, really) which should tell you just
; Hefner
busy mix and occasionally complex instrumentation, Crossley’s songs never sound cluttered and make for undemanding listening. Indeed there’s sometimes a danger of the odd song melting into background noise due to a lack of bold melody, but with such a broad palette of sounds overall, this album-come-travelogue is never less than fascinating. (Jan F Zeschky)
Cosmic Rough Riders
Enjoy The Melodic Sunshine
(Poptones) t * Towards the end of Creation Records,
Alan McGee's choice of acts was, ahem, erratic to put it politely. So this, on his new internet plaything Poptones, should be treated wrth suspicion. Well founded, as it happens, cos Enjoy The Melodic Sunshine is such a massive pile of cod-hippy folky bollocks that it makes Kula Shaker seem like a well thought out religious alternative. 'Where have all the angels gone, now that all the acid's done' they sing in 'Glastonbury Revisited’
title track 'We Love The City’, thus pre- empting any critical reference to his lyrics which are, in fact, like very poor sixth form poetry. The whole of this, Hefner's third album, is pretty cringeworthy stuff, and Haymen’s obsession with the seedy life of London is nothing short of embarrassing. In keeping with his kitchen sink melodrama, Hefner do a fairly bad impression of Pulp, in fact if Jarvis is short of a few bob he could sue over 'Painting And Kissing' which is basically a piss poor 'Common People'. (Doug Johnstone)
Sad Rockets
Transition (Matador) * * it it Navigating the universe from his bedroom with a ray-gun imagination and interstellar inventiveness, Andrew Pekler kisses the sky with nary a 'scuse me nor a hey Mr Spaceman. Deploying the psychodrama of John Barry, the humour of Esquivel and the friskiness of Jackie Mittoo, Transit/on is a munificent double LP of widescreen ambience, cosmic be bop and hyper cool aesthetic. 'Leaky Faucet Skank’ sums it up title-Wise, Chinese water tOrture in a dub style that could have graced Bjork’s soundtrack for Dancer In The Dark. Elsewhere it's jazz noir, rinky dinky funk and cocktail electronica, a pick 'n’ mix epiphany for your Walkman. (Rodger Evans)
2— l 6 Nov 2000 THE "ST 49
about all you need to know about this record. Oh, except that you shouldn't buy it, of course. (Doug Johnstone)
We Love The City (Too Pure) * * ’This is sixth form poetry,’ croons Hefner's lead Singer, Darren Haymen, in