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HIP HOP
MISSY ELLIOTT This is Not a Test! (East West) 0000
o.
ii
.4, rit'trirn Redeemrng herself after that woeful Gap ad wrth Madonna — trke she really needed to? — Mrssy and Trmhaland have looked ail the way south for rnsprratron and have strrpped therr future funk heast down to the farnrlrar elastrc hlrps. clrcks and thanks of a Jamaican dance-hat rurnhle.
The rnaxrrn here rs Eess rs moreover re tracks. and whether t's celehratrng tl‘e Joy of vrhrators "Toy/V or a trrade about t: cluh chrcks "Let Me l .x My Weaye'. Mssy 's on pornt. The 'ltl(l(fl(3 of guests — Jay-K Mary .J Blrge. Faholous. R Kelly — get short shr'ft. so they don't forg whose show thrs "eat rs. :Mark Hohertso'ir
t]: harbir
ll‘ElHM} (3t
ELEQCIWWICA M )l) FLYING MATCHSTICK MEN VS GRNR The Sleeping Sonqth ltoo many fltt)‘.'.’()tkf§r OOO
Flyrng rather rn the face of cony'entronal y'rrsdorr‘. whrch says that your frrst alhun‘ should he stamped wrtn a drstrnctrve. r‘arketahle l(f(3llllly’. Arrdrre (Slasgoy'x hand the flying Matchstrck rr‘en have released tlterr dehut as a coliahorafrort '.‘.'rtll producer gr'nr. who was rnstructed to make an alhurr‘. that sounded completely drfferent to therr lrve sound. the result rs an alhurn that rnarrres modern electronrca. frerce punk clamour and 80s synths - and often sounds alarrnrngly lrke (:‘rary Nurr‘an.
110 THE LIST Nu. 't
It's as fun as you might expect. accessrhle enough to y'rhrstle and \.'.'err'(l enough to perplex. Very grooyy. all rn all. rJanres Sll‘til'tr
.J/V/
STEVE LAWSON/ THEO TRAVIS
For the Love of Open Spaces
rPrllow Mountarnr
OOO
Many fans of saxophonrst Theo lrayrs y'.'r|l know hrn‘ pramarrly as a n‘ore strarg'l'. ahead Ja// stylist. Bat he has '.'./rde r‘angrrzg n‘usrcal interests. ‘.‘.'t"cl‘ run fron‘ reg rock tl‘e's a rr‘enther of (Song, to free lllit)l'()‘.’ ar‘d the kind of amhrent sornoscapes he creates .'.'rth pass player Stew-:1- l an‘xson
lay'xson uses electrrc h; sses ‘.'.’ltrl(:- lray’rs plays flute and soprano sax and. as the trtle suggests. they explore the concept of n‘usrcal space rn r'eflectr‘.'e. urrhurrred fashron. the gently unfoldrng rrrrr)ro‘.'rsatrons ‘.'.'ere created lrye rn the studro. '.'.'llfl no oyer'duhhrng and 'nrnrn‘al edrtrng. usrng real trrrte looprng and layer-ng effects as they played. 4‘.'.r‘.'.r'~.'.r.r )rlk )w t"t)tllt’.£tltlt'(}(2()l'(lf3.(l().tlkr. rKenny Mathresonr
AMBll Nl l ll ()lltONltlA SI-CUT.DB
Find Some Shade
rl lrghpornt l oy'rlrfer
0.0
A man wrth more alrases than most of us have names rn our address hooks. Douglas Benford rs clearly someone who huys rnto the faceless techno hoffrn rrnage. lhrs release frnds hrrn adopting the gurse of Sr (Zut.l)B. whrch rs Just an ohscure word eguatron for the word Srdecut followed hy hrs own rnrtrals.
Much like the man hehrnd rt. the rnusrc keeps a srrrrrlady low profrle. It sounds a lrttle out of trrne. cornrng on
lrke the hastard son of the On) and the token calm hrt from a Manga frlrn. hut rt's also farrly satrsfyrng rn the \.'.ray rt pulses and churns a surtahly chrlled out vrhe rnto the atmosphere. Duhhy heatsand sguelchy horses on tunes irke ‘l orttrne Meadoy'x' and ‘l’apercufs' mean thrs rs orte to ‘rle under enrll out. ‘[)£t‘.'1(lf)()ll()(t'v\'
(ll [\SSKZ/‘xl SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA Sibelius lHWh...‘
Scomsh
Oatmeal
lhe ortgorng :‘etatronshrp l)et‘.'.'e<~r‘ tne S()() and lrnn "as already produced excellent Me'w'r-za Mo/avt
adds it: s egr.ai.y
lrf;(lf$. {tllfl flt)‘.'.'
‘va [.A V ;. ("V'VHI <‘ 2'32" :1: '.'I-::- 'st. lhe "‘..s.; of '31:; great
l rn'rrs" cor"po:;er rs
son ethrrrg of a specralrty for the SCO's prrncrpal corxiactor. .Joseph Syn-ense".
frgrnert regalariy r". their
aeriltas
concert l)l'()§ll'£t.’l‘f“l.’ltl. Snare-rise." .eads tlte orchestra through heautfaly r.r_:gerr accounts of his less ‘an‘rlrar t‘reaf'e rr‘r.src frorr‘ [’er’rn'rs act," r"./r'elrsar‘de. /<.rt)'(,"l.‘(1. Belshaxflr 's / east. the lerrrpest.‘ f‘uxfe No 5’. ar‘d the /'lrrrr'anfe l-e.~';.'.“./o.
(Elo‘.'.'rng playing and a surr‘ptuous recorded sound con‘hrne :n these n‘emcr'ahly atrnospherrc rnterr)retatrons. lKenny Mathreson:
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AGUASKY VS MASTERBLASTER Stayfresh
rShadoy'r ()ryptrc.
O.
Aguasky are Baye Wallace. Kreron Barley
l>()l’
KYLIE MINOGUE Body Language rParlophoner COO
BRITNEY SPEARS
In the Zone
tter'er OO
HOLLY VALANCE State of Mind 0
rl ondon
While arguably the least important asset for a contemporary pop princess, Kylie’s vocal ‘range’ (breathy and, erm . . . that’s it) is illustrated to spectacular effect here in what amounts to little more than a gauche assortment of ill-considered 80s-isms camouflaged with some incongruous R&B production tricks. Lead single ‘Slow’ was a smouldering work of electrosleaze brilliance,
but the rest is tragic.
She may have sensibly avoided attempting to replicate the tyrannical dancefloor dictatorship of ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head’ — such moments appear as infrequently as Halley’s Comet - but she’s gonna have to be patient while awaiting her next reinvention.
Where did it all go wrong for Britney? Mere months ago she could do no wrong but her fall from grace has been swift. The Neptunes wouldn’t return her calls - who needs Britney when you have Justin? They smirk - so she’s teamed up with Brit pop stalwart Cathy Dennis, R Kelly and even Moby for another round of breathless grinders. As pertinent as ‘shakin’ her ass in the street’ may be, this lacks the elastic oomph that catapulted her to Oberstardom in the first place.
Such globe straddling affairs would suggest Holly Valance is painfully out of her depth here and the cheerfully shit State of Mind reinforces this, being a perfect example of that kind of criminally cheap production Stock, Aitken and Waterman excelled at during the embryonic stages of Kylie’s career. Minimum effort, maximum exposure (in both senses) for maximum return with a free DVD of videos for your wee brother to knock one out over to boot. (Mark Robertson)
and Brent Nex'rrtt. all trorr‘ l ondor‘. or fnereahcuts and all n tnrall to the t)()‘.'.‘t}' :; proper old scnool acrd house rust lrke hrother y'xas.
your hrg
f'om
lt‘lf; latest offerrng thrs prolrfc trio rs actually gurte an energetic one. and rt would no douht go dowr‘ y'xell rn retro techno cluhs acr< ss the land. lhe heats are for the swrft of feet ~ or those who strll make rrnagrnary hoxes ‘.'.’!lfl therr hands when they dance to; strng y'ocals. high» prtched keyhoard hreaks and pumprng hurid-ups to keep things yarred.
and there are
lhe odd hrt of rr‘usctrlar drain 8. hass actron aside. tnough. thrs ‘.'.'rl! only appeal to those .‘xho '.'.'ore the Altern I"? horiersurt and thought Br/arre Inc were fine hanzl of a generation. Il)a\.'r<l Pollock:
llt<3llt<>NltIA NATIONAL FOREST National Forest
rl arth 8. l lopev .0.
You can't get much
national forest
more organic than a hrg hunch of trees. and l)anre| 'Natronal l orest' Cowleys eponymous dehut rs a y'xarm and lrkeahle prece of electronrca. straggled somewhere hetween Boards of Canada. Aral) Strap and Arr. Strange yocal samples emerge from the unrler‘gr‘o\.'.«'th. heats trnkle and tap and unlrkely synth tones noodle ay'xay cheerfully. It's all yery nrce. rf rarely partrcrrlarly' nremorahle only the lovely 'l olk'. featurrng Stephen lrety'xell on gurtar and vocals. leayes a lastrng r'npressron. (‘rreat rnusrc for hohemran drnner partres: hut Its more than lrkely to he sy‘xrtched off hefore the y'xaslrrng up gets frnrshed. elames Smartr
POP
ALEX PARKS Introduction rl)olydorr COO LEMA Dedicated
Sony“: 0.
Barely a year after y'xrnnrng Farr‘e Academy. Bayrd Sneddon has announced he rs to retrre as a srrtger to focus or‘. f3()".§}‘.'.‘t‘!llltt]. Chart n‘usrc. accordrng to tne i ran y'rho aspired to make rt. rs ‘crap'. Alex Parks. thrs year‘s y'xrnner. has released her deout srx weeks after '.'.'€lllllllt} the con‘petrtron. Her hackers are. presun‘ahly. '.'.a'\. that any {t(>(>(l‘.'.'l ‘.'.'ll exaporate hefore theyye had a chance to sell any records. Yet. stuffed ‘.'.’llll coyen; as rt n‘ay he. /r:."otr';r<:.'ror‘ rsn't a had a‘hurr‘. particularly if you lrke your pop f‘tl.’llll‘.{tt)l(? and hrstrron.c. l emar's