Records
ELECTRONICA SATELLITE DUB Sessions #1: Volume is Necessary
(Satellite Dub) 0..
Anyone describing themselves as' ‘experimental trip hop' immediately has a problem: did we not leave that tag behind in the late 90s? Having
Girl 0..
Weezer on vocals.
Feeling' (demo 0 (demo 0.
(demo 0
fairly soon.
Right. we're not touching the crap today. so go elsewhere else if you still inexplicably need advise on Atomic Kitten and Nickelback. Here we welcome back local looningtons Dawn of the Replicants. whose ‘Rockefeller Center 1932‘ (Flying Sparks 0000 ) is a shamble of regurgitated blues and pop. with wonderful daftness oozing from every bar.
Further afield. Scandinavia continues to be the cat's cojones, with ‘Disco Hurts' (Factory ) by Danish pop tarts Nu sounding like Bis rolling around in a greased-up waterbed with the Strokes. ‘Easy Living' (Steamhammer ) by Norwegian scrubbers Gluecifer continues the theme. all Pistols rage and AC/DC balls. while Sweden's Last Days of April thrum out a leftfield piece of dream pop in 'All will Break' (Bad Taste .0. reminiscent of Grandaddy with yer man from
Having said we wouldn't touch crap. we'll make an exception for local crap. The Alternatives to Silence make a tedious. unoriginal stab at bluesy indie rock with ‘On a ). while ‘Jambalaya'
) by the Situates is equally as derivative — this time of gospel rock — but at least show a hint of professionalism. The best thing about Crazy \fincent turns out to be their name. as 'All Seeing Goggles' (demo 0 ) is boring BOs-style acoustic pop with nothing to say. while the Yeties ‘Dancing in the Rain‘
) is almost laughably amateurish pub rock. Thank the lord then. for Fifers Draw. whose “She Wants Me’ (Empire .00 ) is rollicking power pop with enough attitude and drive enough to see them bothering the charts
As should Single of the Fortnight ‘The Colours and the Birdsongs' (Truck .00. ) by Fonda 500. Like a sack full of struggling Badly Drawn puppy-wuppies. Fonda 500 produce painfully cute alternative pop brimming with quirks, yet somehow manage not to be irritating as hell. Neat trick. (Doug Johnstone)
said that. Dub mainnian Craig Brown (football puns on a postcard please) has made a determined attempt to forge something interesting out of bits of Primal Scream and pieces of Aphex Twin. with the odd dollop of groove and/or grind. Soulful vocal tracks like
) slightly
108 THE LIST 15‘. Nov 200?
‘Cubed Shark Bhudda' even give an impression of Moby's rootsier compositions. It's a mixed bag that tends to work well. but sadly this doesn't stop the album slowly tiring and. With each noisy instrumental, sounding a bit too self- indulgent. A worthy start. (Jan F Zeschky)
ELECTRONICA GROOVE ARMADA Lovebox (Jive) ooo
Anxious to shake their reputation as chill out compilation staples. Groove Armada open Lovebox with Status 0th guitar samples. reggae vocals and the hweighty setinds of hip hop collective Nappy Roots on 'But I Feel Good. So far. so good — Suggesting that they have left the days of dinner party s0undtracks behind them. Problem is. only this opener and the reggae-house track ‘Fina! Shakedown' contain the raw energy needed to get back to the dancefloor.
The haunting gospel choir vocals of 'Remember' make it perfect for the end of a long night but the rest of the album. not warranting offence or excitement. gently fades into the background. (Jessica Fletcher)
HOUSE JAKATTA Visions (Ruliii') OOO
DJs have long been masters of spinning quite a lot out of rather a little. and here Jakatta (Dave Lee to his mum) bolsters what could have been a decidedly thin debut by including last year's fine 'American Dream' (which appeared on his mix album Back to the Scene of the
Crime). two versions of swirling Seal collaboration ‘My Vision'. and ‘The Other World'. which effectively consists of the National Philharmonic Orchestra running through the rest of the album's best bits.
If you can blank out the sound of all sorts of barrels being scraped. the textured. often down-tempo house that makes up 'Visions' is pleasant and listenable. (James Smart)
ELECTRONICA POP THE HUMAN LEAGUE Dare/Love and Dancing
(Virgin) .0000 o
Remastered and repackaged for its 21 st anniversary. Dare is without doubt one of the classic pop albums of the 80s. a fat shiny Synth up the arse for the staid punk and flatulent glam of the time.
Its triumph lies in its (still) crystal clear production and the songwriting strength of Philip Oakey. he of fiber side-paning. Another stroke of genius lies in having to listen through lesser-known gems like 'The Sound of the Crowd' and ‘Love Action' before reaching album closer ‘Don't yOu Want Me' — they don't make them like that nowadays. Presumably the phrase 'in a League of their own' has been used more than once Since 1981. Pity though about the tacked-on Love and Dario/rig ‘bonus instrumental album' a prime example of 808 over-production at its most hedonistic. (Jan F Zeschky)
POP HOME SCIENCE
Songs for Sick Days (Track and Field) 0000
Why Scotland has produced such a vast number of malcontents who can so skilfully harness the beauty and gentility of (30s psychedelic pop is frankly a mystery. But while Stephen Pastel.
Eugene Kelly and Stuart Murdoch can look down on everything they have helped mistakenly inspire. we can marvel at the results. Meet the delightful Home Science. Plinky pianos. rattling guitars. squeaky Yank accents and (hark!) is that a xylophone and a kzvoo I can hear? So twee they should be shitting fuzzy felts. Home Science have a ruddy charm about them that forgives the fact you might have heard many of these precocious melodies before. Now if only it was summer outside. . . (Mark Robertson)
JAZZ HOUSE ACIMO
Acimo
(Lab) 0...
Not. strictly speaking. a JEt/X. or house collection. this innovative debut from Acimo (pronounced Akeemoh). aka Freibrug's Acim Vogel. should go down a treat with deep house aficionados plus anyone interested in the emerging nu (an and broken beat scenes. pilfering (a// as heaVily as funk.
Classically trained and a keyboard player for Intuit (Compost). Acimo is also an accomplished comic designer, painter and graphic artist. Acimo's father. Peter Vogel, is highly respected for his interactive kinetic sound sculptures. And. in this case. it is clearly a case of like father like son. albeit in a more pop medium.
(Andrew Richardson)
HIP HOP
SNOOP DOG Paid the Cost to Be the Boss
(Priority) .0
The penultimate track
proudly claims: ‘It ain't over yet motherfllckers'. which is a crying shame after haying already endured 18 tracks of aural brutality.
Sounds from the 70's run not. especially in tracks such as ‘Stop Light' and 'Lollipop'. The Dogg man even drops so low as to do a failed gangsta remix of the Bat/rial) and Robin theme tune. Worse still. the retro sounds are ruined by overpro<luction. ‘Hour Glass" sounds like Prince ii) a ‘.’l(2().
Maybe Snoop alsrays has had a yearning to dress tip in tight pants and shake his funky stuff. but he should neyer have brought his dirty laundry out for public airing.
(Kaleem Aftabi
JlNDlF ROCK VARIOUS ARTISTS
Rock Mess Monsters (Adornoi O...
Rock Mess it/lo/isfers binds together 21 acts from the Scottish indie rock underground in one economically sound package. It must be applauded not Just for its scale but its quality compilations courtesy of Johnny corporate rarely enioy such consistency.
A musical state-of-the— nation report this :s not. but that's hardly the point here: it's an opportunity to hear some of those bands you read about filling stages of Slea/y 's. Tut's or West 13th every week. There's everything from growling. detuned Sabbath crunks to mystical. chiming guitar interplay to whimsical. fey laddies With high voices. Macrocosmica. Julia Thirteeit. Lapsus Linguae. 1" Punch. Degrassi. Mercury Tilt Switch. Stapletoi). Deslavo. Torgaiiiada. Pupkiii and about. oh,
1 l more.
Need an adyer: for real Scottish rock music’.‘ look no further.
(Mark Robertson)