Reocrds
Remember Geneva from a few years ago? Well Amityville sound exactly the same. cos it's singer Andrew Montgomery's new band. ‘Pacific Radio Fire EP’ (Comedown) 00 is melodramatic stuff, too full of its own worthiness to hit home. Much better is “What's My Pill?‘
(Chicken Physics) 00. from local noiseniks Freeview. Unreconstructed pre-rock riff-laden
mayhem. it ain't rocket science, but it is definitely
rock'n'roll.
More local guitar-wielding in the shape of De Rosa's 'Camera / All Saint's Day’ (Gargleblast) COO . a single which sounds a bit like ldlewild before they went all janeg and crap ie pretty
fucking good. Another piece of soundalikey—ness
comes from lrish lo-fi rambler Milo McLaughlin, whose 'Whatever Happened to Your Sense of Humour EP' (Tantrum Man) 000 is the spitting sound of early Arab Strap with an even darker sense of the bittersweet ridiculousness of life.
It turns out Happylife aren't happy at all. No wonder, cos ‘Silence When You're Burning' (Albert) 0 is thoroughly sub-standard Placebo alt-goth. and that's a very low standard indeed. Vics’n’Trix are more fun. ‘Space Cadet' (demo) 0” is a two-man slab of B-movie rap, with the inventiveness of Roots Manuva and the daftness of the Beastie Boys.
From that to the real thing. ‘Triple Trouble' (Parlophone) 000 is hardly The Beastie Boys firing on all cylinders, but it's funky and stupid enough to keep yOu pleasantly distracted for three minutes. Unlike the Beastie‘s superstupid mockney accents. The Ordinary Boys really are a very English sounding band. ‘Seaside' (B-Unique) 00 having echoes of everything from the Smiths to Suede and XTC rattling around in its bouncy yet somewhat aimless grooves.
Aimless is also a word that sadly applies to Joss Stone's ‘You Had Me' (Relentless)
u . The lass clearly has bags of singing talent. but this taster from the forthcoming second album, co-written by her. simply lacks the pizzazz of her often extraordinary debut album. Having said that. it's still great when compared to the pop drivel of ‘Spanish Eyes' (Religion) by Fifth Avenue. who seem to be a horrible genetic splicing experiment between Steps and Westlife. Fucking terrible. in simple words.
Jadakiss is a very different kettle of fish. 'Why' (Ruff Ryders) 00” is a deceptively acerbic piece of R&B, yer man asking some cutting questions (‘why did Bush knock down the towers?‘ for example) over a hypnotic and summery jangle beat. Simultaneously subversive and sweet.
And so to Single of the Fortnight. Adam is part of post-rockers Fridge. but 'Ringing in My Ear' (Domino) 0.” . the second single from his superb solo album Homesongs. is a beautifully endearing snippet of nu-folk. with oodles of sweet character, a gloriously homespun feel and no small amount of songwriting nous about it. (Doug Johnstone)
106 THE LIST 9—23 Sep 200.:
are edualL, fine. and equally in hock to their references. lvleldirg melodic ir‘de ':;:.k to a pneumatic electro backing. great songs like 'Still Strung Out and How Does It Feel" fall somewhere between Depeche Mode and the Stills. We Will. in which case. consider our rips roared. iDavid Pollock.
INDIE: MANDARIN
Fast>Future>Present (Bella Union) .0.
Confirming what everyone already should have known — that Texan bands are really good ~ Denton's Mandarin take a cue from their more out- there labelmates Explosions in the Sky and Lift to Experience.
Expansive and textural guitar lines drift across unfussed drums in a manner that's as emotionally explorative as. say. Mogwai. Yet the quartet manage to reign in the excesses of post-rock and bring it all back home — these are proper songs. with vocals and everything, but Jayson WOrtham's mantra-like delivery on songs like ‘Eye On Time‘ perfectly complement the more wigged-out moments. (David Pollock)
INDIE-PUNK HALF JAPANESE Loud and Horrible (Drag City) .0
Loud? Mildly so. Horrible? Bloody right. But then. that's the pOint. isn't it?
At least it was when the American Fair brothers. Jad and DaVld. formed Half Japanese in the days of punk. Not letting being unable to play
anything proficiently put them off. the resulting 'ness — like two yer drunk men fighting in a guitar shop which it might have been for all we know) — masterfully and endearineg sucked. As such. much of this 20—year retrospective of new- to-CD goods are one- listen wonders only.
When the band improved a little i‘improvement’ being very much a relative concept here) and Jad's vocals can actually be heard. though. the results are gratifyineg unigue. So “No Danger' and the almost Velvet Underground ‘Love Lasts Forever (Sometimes)' may yet win over the obscure art—punk sceptics. (DaVId Pollock)
INDIE ABERFELDY Young Forever (Rough Trade) .0000
Coming straight out of nowhere and right into the hallowed ranks of the Rough Trade roster. Edinburgh's Aberfeldy are a band you will fall in love with on first listen. Unless your poison of choice is Norwegian death metal, of course. But for those with phasers set to twee . . . my God. they're good.
Closest to Belle & Sebastian in spirit and boy-girl vocal dynamics. the fivesome are still a unique proposition. Just check out the fiddle-assisted waltz of ‘Vegetarian Restaurant'. the Ronettes-on-a-budget bop of ‘Something I Must Tell You'. or the sheer featherweight perfection of 'A Friend Like You'. punching way above its categOry. Greatness surely calls them on. (David Pollock)
INDIE
IAN BROWN Solarized lPolydOr) 0000
Ian Brown, so many
“WSOIARIED
would have us believe. only suryives on the ever-present kudos from his days as Stone Bose-in—chief and that irrepreSSIble knack for a spundbite. Who knows. maybe the cooler-than- thou contingent are entirely right. but — crucially central to his appeal — you can't imagine Brown giying a toss either way.
As So/ari/ed proves. he's far less concerned With folloWing trends as he is preaching to those who want to listen. So the sentiments of the Noel Gallagher-featuring ‘Keep What You Got'. sub-Zeppelin rocker ‘One Way Ticket to Paradise' and herb— assisted moochfests 'Longsight M13' and ‘Kiss Ya Lips' might be simple. but they're spOLited with almost transcendental conviction by one of rock's originals. Surely that's enough?
(David Pollock)
JAZZ GRASS AGENDA
Savage Utopia (Southern) 000
Crass Agenda is Penny Rimbaud's recasting of anarchist punk band Crass in a jazz context. The disc opens in the least savage way possible. With Christine Tobin singing a gentle version of 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow'. accompanied by Liam Noble's discreet piano. The four-part title track occupies the rest of the disc. and pushes into much more unrestrained territory with a sometimes slightly dated sounding blend Of punk, jazz, free improvisation and electronic music. Eve Libertine takes over Lydon-esque vocal
duties on Bimbaud's poem lyrics. \‘.|Ill music from saxophonist LOUISC Elllt‘l. liti'Ylt‘t‘tt‘l Keyin Dayy guitarist Phil Robson. bassist Dayide Mantoyani and drummer Matt Black iKenny Mathiesonl
ROCK
THE MUSIC Welcome to the North iEMll 0..
lhe Mtlsit: were one of the success stories of 2002. spiralling indie With baggy, loose psychedelic undertones and a hunger to be a northern t ed Xep. Robert Harvey 's \‘t)l(‘t" may prove too \‘Vlllllll‘, for some. a high pitched Perry Farrell but With a yearning quality that gives several tracks a melancholy edge even as guitars tWIst and turn beneath. This is meatiei‘ than their eponymous debut but follows the same blueprint of spliffed up rock. They reach for epic and their fu//~ro<:k disco at times scales those heights but often )ust fal s short of the maJesty they long for. (Henry Northmore)
JAZZ
JAGA JAZZIST Magazine (Smalltown Supersound) O...
LABS HORNTVETH Pooka (Smalltown Supersour id) 000
Long before they reached our shores ocurtesy of leija Tune. Jaga Jazzist were constructing 20- handed sonic block parties for Norwegian heads. feet and hearts. Originally released in 1998. Magazine has