Records
one third organic producer' apparently — has put together a decent enough hip hop record with the obligatory array of guest rappers and singers doing the business over his tonsil-based excellence. Ultimately though. the novelty element means this record inevitably remains on the fringes of the hip hop scene. (Doug Johnstone)
POP
PACIFICA
Painting Over The Rust (Blue Ice) 00
W
Pacifica don't do pigeonholes. Peppering pop choruses with 80s guitar riffs. stabs of synth. strings and samples may be original for a Glasgow band but this attempt leads to trussed up tracks with nowhere to go.
“Circle of Doubt' and the excruciatingly breathy vocals on ‘Bloodstream' come across like Clydeside Savage Garden. but even more bizarre is the Blondie ‘Heart of Glass' sample on “Lost in the Translation' made comic by the dire lyrics: ‘Once had a life and it was a gas. soon turned out that my ass was glass'.
The slick production overpowers whatever hope the catchy choruses brought and turns Pacifica's pop into barely adequate pap. (Camilla Pia)
POP SOUNDTRACK BELLE AND SEBASTIAN Storytelling (Jeepster) .0”
Soundtracks are the new stalkers. every indie star should have one. B&S have turned their dalliance with film into a fine record filled with contemplative instrumentals like the string-soaked ‘Fiction' and subtly crafted delights that ease the wait for the next record proper.
‘Fuck this Shit' (yup kids even Stuart Murdoch swears) is a harmonica led. dreamy summer-ambling song. and 'Wandering Alone' is a career highlight to make the hips sway and the senoritas swoon. Storytelling’s delicate music and bittersweet lyrics highlight what makes Belle and Sebastian so special in a world polluted with mindless consumerism. it may not be a musical departure. but then we didn't ask for one. (Camilla Pia)
JAZZ ED JONES
Seven Moments (ASC) 00..
Saxophonist Ed Jones has never quite fulfilled the early expectation that he would emerge as one of the major names on the British
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WMESTNEWMUSICOFN-QMAGAZINE 59
106 THE LIST (5—20 Jun 2002
jazz scene. but he remains a powerful and imaginative performer. Seven Moments is his best record to date. and goes well beyond a simple blowing date. Jones creates an exciting and thoughtfully structured journey through a series of changing moods and forms. The saxophonist is joined by trumpeter Mika Myllari and a
superb rhythm section of Jonathan Gee (piano). Geoff Gascoyne (bass) and Winston Clifford (bass). with additional contributions from trombonist Nichol Thomson on the first two tracks.
(Kenny Mathieson)
CHILL OUT VARIOUS ARTISTS Groove Armada: Another Late Night (Latenighttales) 00
It all started with ‘Stars on 45'. Get a load of someone else's songs. stick a beat behind them and take the credit. Things have changed since those heady days (anyone remember Hooked on Class/cs?) but it's still hard to inject the character required to stop a mix album seeming like a jumped up Now That's What / Call. . . compilation. This non-stop 70 minutes. part of a series in which artists reveal their eclectic influences. is pleasant enough. but inessential. It's all very well digging up rare grooves. but sometimes they're rare for a reason: Grace Jones. Al Green and Aretha Franklin have finer moments elsewhere. (Mark Fisher)
ROCK COUSTEAU Sirena
(Palm Pictures) 0
Well done to Cousteau. who have managed to produce the most schmaltzy. corny piece of formulaic loungy guff in a long. long time. That might sound great. if it was all ironic and stuff. and they were in nasty beige polyester SUiIS. But they're not. they're straight-faced. expensively suited and so moronically maudlin it's actually unintentionally very funny
Like a thoroughly anodyne version of Tindersticks. Cousteau's sound is as smooth as Baileys. and as likely to make you feel queasy if exposed to too much of it. Jacques Cousteau will be turning in his watery grave. (Doug Johnstone)
TECHNO/ ELECTRO PERCY X Where’s the Music (Soma) 0000
While Tony Scott’s pounding loops formula has proven effective on the dancefloor and a good way for the Glaswegian to build a strong international reputation. Where's The Music sees him explore the innovative electro style of Detroit's Drexciya. and the output of Rotterdam's Clone Records and London‘s Rotters Golf Club.
It‘s a growing trend and. alongside more thumping beats and retro 80s sounds. Scott's canny to dip into it here — and with no small success. But. his early excursions in dub were far more original and exciting. So. rather than ‘Where‘s The
Music'. the question on my lips is 'Where‘s the Real Percy X'? (Andrew Richardson)
FUNK
VARIOUS ARTISTS
The New Testament of Funk Volume 4
(Acid Jazz) 000
Shamelessly retro in outlook (they've even got Bruce Lee on the cover ferchrissakes). this fourth instalment of da funk from Acid Jazz maintains that label's ultra-cool and eclectic tendencies.
With everything from garage and jazz to funk and DIY leftfield weirdness thrown into the mix. Volume 4 is a tasty collection of unearthed European talent for more discerning clubbers fed up with four to the floor banging madness. The record hits a purple patch in the middle. with the endearing shambles of Mr Guder's 'White Room' and the soul- flecked hip-hop of Dynamo Productions. but elsewhere the standards remaining impressively high. (Doug Johnstone)
HlP HOP/EXPERIMENTAL BOOM BIP AND DOSEONE
Circle (Leaf) coco.
Anticon's masterful poet Doseone. aka Big Dada artist cLOUDEAD. teams up with producer Boom Bip. whose CV includes collaborations with men-of—the- moment Four Tet and Super_Collider‘s Jamie Lidell. on this unique long player of experimental hip hop.
Previously available on import from California's Mush Records and already hugely acclaimed. Circle's atmospheric Qualities and way-out weirdness make it perfect for London's excellent Leaf label.
Doseone raps insanely over live instrumentation and assorted beats in his nasal. stream-of- consoousness way. with echoes of the Last Poets. the Residents and Captain Beefheart. It's a wild. funny. often scary. ride but the most exhilarating ones always are.
(Andrew Richardson)