4 sumptuous
instrumentation. At least half the songs here amble by Without distracting the listener but when they hit their stride. as in the trumpet— flecked and anthemic ‘Moming Disaster' or the poptastic glitch of 'So Surprise'. they sound like Her Space Holiday on Pro/ac or a less stoned Joy Zipper. Neither of which is a bad thing at all.
(Doug Johnstone)
ME‘lAL HELMET Size Matters (Interscope) COO
How pissed off should Helmet be? By rights they should be stamping their feet in a Fred Durst-style hissy fit. Back in early 90s they released three excellent albums of dense. but extremely keenly structured metal — a fluid mercury to Metallica's blugeoning iron bar. They split in time for nu metal to steal the ball they had made and run with it all the way to the park. where they were promptly spotted by talent scouts and whisked off to the big
league. And ta—daa! Just
as the money leaves the game they turn up again. asking if they can get a shot.
The melodic turns on Size Matters have more to do with Foo Fighters than any horned-up thrashmongers however. ‘See You Dead' could have come straight from Dave Grohl's handbag in fact rather than of main helmet Page Hamilton. The only downside is that he never quite hits the extremes on this record and you find yourself wishing it would either get a heavier Or p0ppier rather than
72 THE LIST 6—20 Jan 2005
staying frustratingly in- between. (Mark Robertson )
ROCK RE ISSUES ELLIOTT SMITH Roman Candle om Either/Or 00”. Elliott Smith 0”. (DominO)
There comes a point in everyone's life when the good stuff from ones formative years is dug up and fed to the hungry hordes Once again. In the last month back catalogue highlights from Can and the Manic Street Preachers have re— surfaced. Now Elliott Smith's first three albums are made available.
The predominant thread between these three albums is Smith's sweet. high plaintive tones over unfussy acoustic backing. On Either/Or it all comes together and is charged With an energy absent from his first two records. His songs are sad. blissful even angry but always gentle and oddly hypnotic. Though he hung with the indie kids. Smith was no wuss. and any of these albums will succinctly illustrate the power in his songcraft to you. (Mark Robertson)
FOLK'JAZZ
THE UNUSUAL SUSPECTS
Live In Scotland (Footstompin' Records) 0”.
Harpist Corrina Hewat and pianist Dave Milligan combine their roots in both folk and jazz in this much- acclaimed 22-piece big band. but with folk very much as the dominant influence. Recorded in Edinburgh and lnverness on last year‘s first ever UK tour. the disc captures the band in unstoppable flow on
the rip-roaring instrumental sets that are their trademark. interweaved .vith less high-octane songs. The jazz horn section adds a distinctive flavour to the massed ranks of folk instruments. and the arrangements by the two co-directors allow the music to emerge With clarity while generating enough energy to power a small. no. make that a large. city. lKenny Mathiesonl
CLASSICAL CONCERTO CALEDONIA The Red Red Rose (Delphian) COO.
Early music has been one of the specialist areas covered by this excellent Edinburgh- based independent label. Concert Caledonia‘s new disc delves into Scottish mUSlC and songs of the 18th century as its source. Those allergic to classical treatments of folk songs probably won't take to their renditions of ‘The Broom of Cowdenknowes‘ or ‘Auld Robin Gray'. but soprano Mhairi Lawson and tenor Jamie MacDougall strike a nice balance between full-on classical singing and a more ‘natural' style. The instrumental material is expertly played under the direction of DaVid McGumness. and the label‘s usually high production values are again evident.
(Kenny Mathieson)
ELECTRONICA L PIERRE
Tbuchpool (Melodic) «O.
Aidan Moffat once said that his Arab Strap spin- Off Lucky Pierre ‘wasn't exactly rocket sCience.‘ But to transform yourself from a brooding. blooded urban troubadour to a pioneer of emotionally potent. serene 21 st century down-tempo bliss' (to mix the glowing epithets he received with 2002's Hypnogogi'a) is Quite a
M
feat in experiiiientatii )li. And he's at it again With this mix of drum machines and synthesised orchestral refrains accompanied by actual real proper musicians to make another intelligently evocative collection. He may be no Stephen Hawking (though they occasionally share the same slumng of speech) but Mr Motlat is developing some intriguing sonic theories of his own. (Brian Donaldson)
The Fall Hex Enducti'on Hour (Sanctuary) The grumpiest man in pop? Ho about simply the most cantankerous fella in the UK? Either way. or both. Mark E Smith's legend bulldozes all that comes before. behind or alongside him. Meanwhile. here‘s a release of an old epic from 1982. Four Square Industry at Home (Bad Taste) Think a mix of late 708 power pop and mid-90$ melodic punk and you've got rOughly what this bunch are about. They recently supported Bowling for Soup and Sum 41.
Angelo Badalamenti A Very Long Engagement (Nonesuch) Mr Soundtrack returns with. outrageously. more music from the film world. This time. he's scoring Jean- Pierre Jeunet‘s new WW1 love story. Nathaniel Mayer / Just Want to be Held (Fat Possum) The 18- year-old Mayer had a massive US hit with ‘Village of Love.' And here comes his debut solo album. Nothing especially odd in that. you'd think, except this Detroit guy hasn't made music for 35 years.
Interpol
This time last year Franz Ferdinand were releasing ‘Take Me Out' and Snow Patrol were punting a little tune called ‘Run'. Can we expect a similarly scintillating start to 2005? Judging by this sorry collection of dross. can we fuck.
The long—awaited return of Mercury Rev looks like being a huge disappointment it ‘In a Funny Way' (V2) 0 is anything to go by. An irritatineg puerile Phil Spector rip off with some heinoust wishy-washy lyrics. it shows a band haplessly in search of its mojo. Same goes for the Chemical Brothers' 'Galvanize' (Virgin) O which sees previously a pioneering pair belatedly jump on the Bollywood bandwagon just as the wheels come off for a lacklustre romp through tediously samey territOry.
Ian Brown is one of the most overrated artists of all time. so it's no surprise to this reviewer that ‘Time is My Everything' (Fiction) O is typically bland mumbling and pointless platitudes. at least marginally enlivened by a blast of mariachi-style horns. Having based their careers so far on ripping off the Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays Kasabian hardly push the boat out with ‘Cutt Off' (BMG) O . which sounds almost exactly like some reject baggy crap even Shaun Ryder would‘ve realised had no backbone.
So far so rubbish. but surely things will get better? Sadly not. as Rooster turn up with “Staring at the Sun' (Brightside) . a song so unbelievably. unutterably devoid of even the slightest whiff of originality that it almost beggars belief. It's trad rock anthem pish by numbers. and then some.
Slam. can you save us from this dreadful pish? Partly yes, is the answer. because ‘This World' (Soma) CO. is a pretty handy slab of fairly old skool house which manages to have a socially conscious message without preaching. and also a rather infectious groove to it. Much sillier are Salon Boris. Their ‘Freakshow' (Udiscs) .0 isn't exactly original but at least has some balls about its electroclash tirade. London hip hop collective Bugz in the Attic fair better with ‘Booty La La' (V2) COO . More Roots than 80 Solid. the P-funk retro-electro bunch turn in an infectioust daft piece of hip hop silliness with a real party vibe nailed on for good measure.
Back in indieville Metric's ‘Combat Baby' (Everloving) O” is an odd hybrid of the New York art school scene and that janeg college girl thing so prevalent in America in the mid-nineties. But it's left to lnterpol's ‘Evil' (Matador) COO. to claim Single of the Fortnight almost by default. A menacing. frantic, chug-a-Iug of a new-wave tune, it shows restraint and abandon in equal measure. and is a beacon of light in a dark fortnight for singles. (Doug Johnstone)