It’s about time you. the singles buying/ downloading public. were treated with a little mercy and kindness after the ugly Crazy Frog incident. dontcha think? It seems like the annoying little bastard is set to rule the charts for many moons to come in a nationwide Guantanamo Bay-style experiment in noise tolerance. and we will all. let '3 be honest. be shopping our grandparents before he's done with us.
In an effOrt to restore sanity. then. all duff novelty singles and indie cloggers are banished from this fortnight's bumper review pile. Instead. we'll make an honest effort to bring you ‘just the good shit'. and what better place to start than with Beck's ‘Girl'? (lntersoope) .0” . Unfairly slagng off of late. there is still a place in this world for any man who can invent a style as ludicrously wayward as electro-country and carry it off with as much breezy success as he does here.
An agreeable number of summer stompers have also swept in this time. none of which would he unfairly treated by a spot of jumping around up the front of your chosen festival this summer. Obviously. there's the Foo Fighters' ‘Best Of You” (Roswell) «CO . which will pass the time superbly as you wait for the sure-to-be- monolithic encore at TitP. Then there's lain Archer‘s ‘Boy Boy Boy' (PlAS) ooo . every bit the chorusful wonder we'd expect from a man who used to be in Snow Patrol. Hard-Fi's delightful Aztec Camera throwback (with added punkness for 'the kids‘) ‘Hard to Beat' .0. . and ‘Black History Month' one by two-man Canadian riff machine Death From Above 1979.
Where Amerie's '1 Thing’ (Sony BMG)
.00 might well be mildly reminiscent of Beyonce's “Crazy in Love'. is there any harm in ripping off the best soul tune of the last decade? Much like Silicone Soul with ‘The Poisoner's Diary' (Soma) CO” . which ropes in Viva Stereo singer Stuart Gray to create the perfect fusion of Underworld and New Order. or Faithless featuring Estelle's 'Why Go?’ (Sony BMG) 00 (it may be a ham-fisted handbag club stomper. but at least we're inspired to return to the sublime Faithless/Boy George original). If you're gonna pinch, pinch from the best. eh?
While honorary mention goes to Plantlife's electro-soul groover ‘The Last Song' (Gut) 0000 . there can be only one winner of Single of the Fortnight props this time. It's — who else? »« the White Stripes with ‘Blue Orchid' (XL) .000 . the Led Zep of the dancefloor, making a typically obtuse and brilliant return. (David Pollock)
ALLCDS ‘3 oCleor '
K. Loud
BLUES PUNK SONS AND DAUGHTERS The Repulsion Box (Domino) ooooo
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Kick your Kaisers to the kerb and banish your Bloc Parties. because once you've heard this. they simply won’t matter anymore. The Repu/sion Box heralds the coming of age of this country's best new band: a ferocious Glasgow foursome who kick off their second. electrifying LP with spiteful screams. scratchy guitars and rhythmic thumps as lead vocalists Scott Paterson and Adele Bethel beckon us into a world of death. anguish and adultery. all soundtracked by super- catchy melodies and stripped down production. Like PJ Harvey and Nick Cave getting down and dirty in the deep sOuth. Sons and Daughters second effort is menacing. melancholy and incredibly powerful. You won't hear another record like it. (Camilla Pia)
ECLECTIC
VARIOUS
Welcome: Stow College Music and Creative Industries Department (Root 8 Recordings) 0...
Considering that the average Scot's contemplation of ethnic and cultural diversity probably doesn't extend beyond deciding on the Friday night takeaway. new label Root 8 Recordings aspiration to celebrate the countiy's rich racial mosaic in a positive and vibrant way through the 'universal language of music' is certainly a fine thing.
Flagship release Welcome is as cosmopolitan a compilation as could be found. with Anglo-African crossovers by Red Globe Music Collective sitting next to the likes of roots reggae courtesy of Mungo's Hi-Fi. and wiry shoe gazing indie from My Next Girlfriend. Tying it all together is a balmy spirit of optimism. vitality and inclusion. Splendid. (Malcolm Jack)
ROOTS
RY COODER Chavez Ravine (Nonesuch) om.
After his triumphant Buena Vista years in Cuba. Ry Cooder's musical homecoming is this typically idiOSyncratic tribute to the Los Angeles iieigthLirhood that became the site of Dodger Stadium 50 years ago.
Knocking on doors to talk to survivors. excavating songs from the period and turning up some of the (now elderly) local music heroes. Cooder has crafted a dazzling and unexpectedly warm Hispanic opera. Mexican traditions. big band jazz. tongue-in-cheek melodrama. R88. speaking voices and latin pop combine to conjure up the vivid atmosphere of nights in the barrio before the big money and the bulldozers moved in. (Ninian Dunnett)
HIP HOP
NASTY P
When the Smoke Clears (KFM) ooo
Coming correct and coming for real on his solo production debut. Edinburgh impresario Nasty P is boxing with the best in downbeat hip hop and would deserve parallels to the likes of Kid Loco. if not the all—out genius of RJD2 or Aim. Marrying inspired vocal samples. turntablism and
home-grown instrumentation, When the Smoke Clears is without actual guest vocalists or MCs and. as such. comes across as a balanced piece. if at times a little flat. Certainly boding well for future releases. this debut offering is perhaps lacking the ambition that would have taken it to truly great heights.
(Mark Edmundson)
JAZZ
CLARK TRACEY TRIO
British Standard Time UenToTen) 0000
The record label's name is an old drummer's joke (jazz time — ten-to-ten-to- ten). but Clark Tracey and his collabOrators. pianist Gareth Williams and bassist Arnie Somogyi. are serious enough about their desire to do full
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justice to a series of compositions by British jazz musicians. All three players are among the best on their respective instruments in the current UK scene. and band leaders in their own right. so no surprises that they prove to be a top-notch trio. Chosen composers span five decades. and include George Shearing. Victor Feldman. Stan Tracey. Tubby Hayes. Don Weller and Tommy Smith. as well as the band members. (Kenny Mathieson)
HIP HOP DAVID JACK
Iron Out San Francisco (KFM) OOO
DaVid Jack's latest set of sample-laden. bass- powered. scratch-heavy cinematic hip hop
instrumentals is another aurally rewarding, it hardly ear grabbing affair.
In this solo offering. Jack cannot be faulted for his technical skills — from 'Cheguered Research's rhythmic reinvention. to ‘Dying in a Fragrant Home"s murky. garbled voices and twitching beat — and likerninded cut'n'paste devotees will doubtless nod along in comatose fascination. Pegged back by the popular limitations of the genre though. there's not much going on that's likely to set off more than an unwitting toe tap in the average listener. It might make you move. but probably won't move you. (Malcolm Jack)
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Various Ali 8: Y4K (Distinctive Breaks) One-time acid jazzer Ali ropes in wave after wave of noxious breakbeatery on this chunky mix-CD. Michelle Shocked Threesome (Mighty Sound) Not one. not two. but three albums from the veteran singer/songwriter. each one pleasingly different from the next.
A SYSTEM SUPPLIED AND INSTALLED BY LOUD 8: CLEAR
72 THE LIST ‘t 7.”; Jun 7005)