New Yorkers declaring their Irish heritage than any other in the history of rap, well the man behind that unforgrvable piece of Norard trn chrnkrng irngorsm was one Erik Schrody aka Whitey Ford aka Everlast, and this rs his second solo outing followrng the much feted Whitey Ford Sings The Blues. Thrs rs competant if uninspired R&B wrth a smattering of Hip Hop lite. ere Carlos Santana in his hernously overrated comeback album, Schrody surrounds himself wrth A-lrst talent (Santana himself, N’Dea Davenport
and the wondrous Merry Clayton) and
for the most part it pays off, on ’Black Coffee’ and trip hop tune ‘One Two' particularly (Paul Dale)
ELECTRONIC Artful Dodger
It’s All About The Stragglers (Masterpiece) t it
When the crowd says ’Bo’, cash in seems to have been the response of the Artful Dodger. Comprised of Mark Hill and Pete Devereux, these producers can rightly claim to have popularised the underground sound of UK garage and brought 2-step to the masses. As difficult as rt is to forgive them for this and launching the career of the scene's fresh prince, Craig Davrd, it’s harder strll to credit this album as being anything more than repetitive drrge. The Singles (’Re-rewrnd’, ’Movrn' Too Fast’, ’Woman Trouble’ and the latest 'Please Don’t Turn Me On’) while
; effective in isolation, resemble only
slight variations on a limited R&B/2- step theme when lumped together. (Catherine Bromley)
Chekov
Turntable Soul Kicks (Decktronics) *ttt
Comparisons wrth Big Beat have been drawn, but DJ Rainer Bussrus (aka Chekov) rs no Fatboy-esque Jive Bunny clone. Opener ’Theme From Dangertwrns’ starts out like the groovrest James Bond soundtrack you’ve never heard, then picks up a Sublime rattling gurtar riff and runs wrth it. The sheer density of melodies and samples on offer can make some tracks seem a little Incoherent, but who needs coherence when you can put your hands round the bassline, get your head half-way round the tunes, and roar wrth laughter at the madcap genius of rt all. If bad musrcrans borrow and good musrCrans steal, Chekov should be banged up. Absolutely bloody brilliant. (James Smart)
Various Artists
Patrick Forge — Excursions 02 (Obsessive) ir * t it
Patrick Forge IS a shining pearl in the sewage polluted waters of DJ cultrsm. Darling of Straight No Chaser, — anyone who heard his sampler remixes of Nitin Sawhney’s ’Beyond Skrn’ free with that magazrne wrll be left in no d0ubt of hrs integrity and commrtment
to good funky world music. There is
not a bum tune here from John Santos’ 'Medrcine Man’ to Francrne McGee's ’Delirium'. Along the way we get to visit Rio, Tunisia and Brazil with artists
as diverse as The Subterraneans,
George Duke and Yennek As always Forge mixes With taste and subtlety born of genuine intelligence The mrx album of the year (Paul Daler
Various Artists Fantazia — Aural Pleasure (Mushroom)
Soma Compilation 7 (Soma) at tr t Revolutions 2 - eXtension du Domaine de la House (Cyclo) i’ x 1f 4r
One-time rave promoters Fantazra 'return wrth a double album that breaks all the rules’ Their radrcal act of rnsurrectron is to put two girls kissing on the cover of their latest mix album, and to package rt wrth a crass booklet of soft porn, They contrnue their assault on the forces of global capitalism by startrng one CD wrth Azzrdo da Bass's overrated, overplayed 'Doom’s Nrght’ and the other wrth Timo Maas' ubiqurtous ’Ubrk' (yeah, sorry). In between they slrng a bizarre collection of songs from across the dance spectrum, rncludrng FSOL’s brrllrant ’Papua New Gurnea’ and 2 Bad Mrce’s seminal ’Bombscare’, which remarn only slightly Sullred by the prepubescent commerCralrsm of their packaging. Glasgow club Soma's seventh annual comprlatron has a more unrfred feel to rt, and hrgh pOrnts rnclude the funky house of Gene Farrrs’ anthemrc Confession and Abacus’ moody mix of ’Blue Planet’. Better strll rs Revolutions 2, a collection of chunky house from an assortment of French, Brrtrsh and US DJs. The substantial beats are present and correct, but certainly aren’t the be all and end all of this eclectic mix. You want fulsome razz noodlrngs, hrdeously catchy waves of synth and gleefully incomprehensible vocals? You got ’em. (James Smart)
JAZZ
Fats Navarro
The Fats Navarro Story (Proper Records) w t tr a. it
Anyone looking to check out some classic Jazz at rock bottom prices can do no better than rnvestrgate the growmg series of Properbox FQISSUGS. Thrs 4-CD collection of the musrc of the great bebop trumpter Fats Navarro takes advantage of lapsed copyrights to gather hrs most important work from a shOrt but stellar career (he died in 1950, aged only 26) in a single source. The musrc ranges from early material wrth the seminal Brlly Eckstrne Orchestra to hrs glorious collaborations With pianist Tadd Dameron for Blue Note, and encompasses 87 tracks from both studio and lrve recordings. This would be essential at full prrce — at £14.99, it’s a steal. (Kenny Mathreson)
Bill Wells Trio
Incorrect Practice (geographic) * it ir
A self taught pianist/bandleader from Falkirk, Wells is something of an outcast rn Scotland’s Jazz community. Maybe that’s because Wells’ brand of lo-fr Jazz fits more comfortably wrth 605 film s0undtracks, downbeat outfits like Trnderstrcks and exponents of trrp hop. This is no bad thing. Wells’ spare arrangements (on a CD clocking in at only twenty minutes) are extremely
record reviews MUSIC
Singles Round Up
This week: Radio 1 Session in Scotland presenters Vic Galloway and Gill Mills get tore intae some tunes. lr‘tet‘. rest: Doug Johnstone
Moloko ’lndrgo’ (Echo) - Alternative dance-lite, pointless/y remixed
Vic: ’I thought Moloko were complete chancers to begin wrth but the last few singles have been cracking.’
Gill: ’No, too many cooks sporlrng the broth here — you can’t polish a turd It’s a triumph of style over content.’ V: ’No that’s my saying, that's what I always say.’
Craig Davrd ’Wa/krng Away’ (Wr/dstari — Chi/ls on Sunday, apparent/y.
G: ’I bought the album and I was lovrng the Craig DaVrd, but he
shouldn’t have done this, thrs rs bland as fuck.’ V: 'It doesn’t even s0und like Craig Davrd, the vocals are too processed It’s
rubbish, turn it off, TURN IT OFF.’
Mull Historical Socrety ’Barcode Bypass’ (Tugboat) — Bittersweet jang/ers from,
amaZIng/y, Mull.
G: 'All these bands up North are beautiful but sad, I think they should all be given sunbeds cos I reckon they're all suffering from that SAD '
V: ’It’s good, if a bit overlong. If this was Grandaddy everyone would be shouting
aboutn/
Hobotalk ’Wa/ks With Me’ (Hut) — Dull East Lothran tumbr’eweed botherers, V: ’The fact they’re from Dunbar yet make musrc that sounds like it's from the American Deep South worries me somewhat. Totally unoriginal '
G: ’l’d sooner walk wrth Fred West than walk With Hobotalk ’
JOINT S/NGLE OF THE WEEK: The Zephyrs ’Stargazer EP’ (Rock Action) — Local
heartbreaking guitar strummers.
V: ’This rs great and it sounds like it’s from Scotland, unlike Hobotalk.‘ G: ’I think thrs rs lovely. lwrsh that I’d Just broken up With somebody, so that I
could stay in and listen to this song.’
Wyclef Jean ’97 7’ (Columbia) — Self-indulgent cod-reggae. G: ’I fucking hate Wyclef Jean, he’s a musical racketeer Thrs is like sucking on an
uncooked onron.’ V: ’Bland, bland, bland, bland, bland.’
David McA/mont ’Working’ (Hut) — Staggering/y boring pseudo-soul. V: 'I hated ’Yes’ wrth Bernard Butler, but I think his vOice rs a lot more surted to
thrS.’
G: ’They should hook this guy up wrth Johnny Marr.’
V: ’That w0uld be prsh, Johnny Marr’s gone right off the bOrl.’
There then follows a colossal fight about just about every facet of the music biz, which only dies down when The List puts on . .
JO/NT SINGLE OF THE WEEK: Aereogramme ’Glam Cripple EP’ (Chemrka/ Underground) — Jerky and brilliant weegie rock.
G: ’I like Aereograrnme but they could have picked a better song.’
V: ’It’s still head and shoulders above almost everything we've heard today.’
G: ’I can see them going the whole way. I can see this lot on Top Of The Pops.’
V: ’Aereogramme are gorng to go on to great things, but this is JUSI a stopgap.’
E The Radio 7 Session In Scotland tOur featuring Hundred Reasons, Stapleton and local support stops at King Tut’s, Glasgow Thu 23 Nov, and The Venue, Edinburgh
on Sun 26 Nov.
effective, employing Robert Henderson in Miles Davrs mode on trumpet, Stevre Jackson on melancholic harmonica and scratchy gurtar, plus Wells’ own ivory trnklrng and sampling as well as Lindsay Cooper’s squeaky tuba action on the Michael Nyman-esque ’bad plumbrng’. There’s an antecedent to thrs eccentric outcast: hrs name was Charles Mingus. (Miles Fielder)
Burt-MacDonald
Quartet Big Brothers (BMA) fr it *
Nothing to do wrth either voyeuristic televrsron or GeOrge Orwell. Big Brothers rs the second offering from this fine Scottish band (both gurtarist George Burt and saxophonist Raymond MacDonald are the eldest siblings in their families), and builds nicely on the
promising start lard down by its predecessor, Oh Hello. The music is clearly grounded in Jazz, but dips into a more eclectic range of influences along the way, rncludrng pop, folk, a hint of reggae, and more. Bassist George Lyle and drummer Alan Pendrergh complete the quartet, while Nicola MacDonald again adds her cool vocals to the mix, and percussionist Rick Bamford, pianist Bill Wells, Allon Beavorsrn (on clarinet) and Graeme Wilson (on flute) make guest contributions. Check their website at wwwbmacddcouk for details on how to get the dISC.
(Kenny Mathreson)
STAR RATINGS ” ‘ ‘
t it it t t Unmissable
at a t t Very ood
t t * Wort a shot
it * Below average
it You've been warneL
16-30 Nov 2000 THE lIST 51