HIP HOP DANGERDOOM The Mouse and the Mask
(Lex) em
-2
When the man with the smartest beats (Danger j
Mouse) meets the man with the most twisted flow in Poopsville (MF Doom) sparks were inevitable. The magic Mouse's insanely chirpy backing —- a tribute to Cartoon Network's late night programming Adult Swim — makes the Doom’s curmudgeonly self almost chirpy for a few brief moments. Taking hip hop through a verbose. mildly psychotic trawl. nailed to some immediate but complex beats. Doom once again proves himself to be a total one-off. There's no need for mumbles about cars. hos and
bling here and even the
stupid answerphone skits seem acceptable. Short but very sweet. (Mark Robertson)
ROCK
DIRTY THREE Cinder
(Bella Union) 0000
This seventh album in twice as many years is something of a departure for the instrumental trio. For a start. it's the first time the Dirty Three have employed vocals — here they're provided on two tracks by Chan Marshall AKA Cat Power and the Mekons' Sally Timms.
Secondly. the 19 tracks :
Loud
are much shorter than the band's previous output and. thirdly. they
feature a wider range of i
instruments. with viola. mandolin. bouzouki and even bagpipes supplementing the violin. bass and drums combo. Otherwise. though. it‘s business as usual for Bad Seed Warren Ellis. Mick Turner and Jim White. whose eerily beautiful lullabies and dirges are as strangely seductive as ever.
(Miles Fielder)
JAZZ
EVAN PARKER ELECTRO- ACOUSTIC ENSEMBLE The Eleventh Hour (ECM Records)
0..
This album was recorded at a concert at the CCA in Glasgow last year. and features the saxophonist with his free improvisation- meets-electronics ensemble. The 1 1 - strong version of the group featured his soprano saxophone alongside violin. piano. bass. percussion and a plethora of sampling and signal processing sources and live electronics.
Parker‘s CCA commission 'The Eleventh Hour. Parts 1—5' is the centrepiece of the disc. although the rnakeweight. ‘Shadow Play'. is also substantial. Without the visual distraction of the musicians twiddling away on stage. the reCOrding creates an
even more abstract feel
than in the concert itself. Familiar reference points like Parker's saxophone or Philipp Wachsmann's violin interweave with the dislocated and disembodied electronic sounds in intriguing fashion.
(Kenny Mathieson)
i I
POP DEPEOI-IE MODE
Playing the Angel (Mute) 0000
neg
5
Few. no less Depeche Mode themselves. thought they would make it to album number ten. Since Violator in 1990 they‘ve been a law unto themselves and rarely faltered. despite spectacular chemical indulgence and rattled egos. This is dark, expulsive and compulsive, highly- polished pop music and the real skill displayed here is managing to make electronics SOLind timeless. Perhaps this is because. rather than creating sounds like so many other dudes with samplers. Martin Gore is writing songs. Songs that, when it comes down to it. are still pretty damn amazing. Seventy million album sales later. they still sound hungry.
(Mark Robertson)
My the arm b
\
PUNK PATTI SMITH
Horses
(Arista) 0000
Horses brings together the remastered proto- punk original album with its post—punk counterpart. Smith replayed the entire 1975 Horses album this year at London's Meltdown Festival. 30 years after its release. ‘Gloria' still sounds like a queered and bastardised hymn to the eponymous ‘her'. with Smith shaking her bony fist at the heavens. the piano
sounding like a bell tolling for thee. The 2005 guitars don't touch the original (the wanky wah-wah on 'Birdland' grates). and the drums occasionally sound like an apocalyptic panto (on ‘Redondo Beach‘). but Smith. chanelling Rimbaud. Blake and Ginsberg. remains untouchable — Our Lady of the ‘Fleurs du Mal’.
(Alexander Kennedy)
BRAZILIAN FOLK MILTO NASCIMENTO The Essential Collection (Nascente) 0.00
IIIIIIJBII
For all the many wondr0us styles of music associated with Brazil. one of the country's most cherished artists exists in parallel to much of what the wider world has come to accept as Brazilian music. Grounded in his own form of progressive Bossa. Milton Nascimento's distinctive Output owes as much to the folk and choral Catholic music of his childhood and is dominated by his impassioned. uniquely expressive voice.
This collection f()(:tr:5(2:; ()ll Nascimento's momentous decade with EMI Odeon and proves a challenging but ultimately rewarding listen. a deeply moving. experimental set that stirs the soul while defying characterisation. (Mark Edmundson)
ROCK
ARAB STRAP The Last Romance (Chernikal Underground) 0000
Apparently there was a battle between Aidan Moffat and Malcolm
SINGLES AND DOWNLOADS
Arctic Monkeys are going to be huge. so hapless sheep-like pundits keep telling us. but 'I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor'
(Domino) 00 is little more than a Libertines rehash with Razorlight attitude and Chas'n'Dave comedy thrown in. Crap. in other words. Nine Black Alps fair better with “Just Friends' (Island) 000 . a kind of more grimy Foo Fighters given a distinctly English grunge-metal twist.
Also English and with liquid metal in their veins are Test Icicles. whose ’Circle Square Triangle' (Domino) «0 is the band‘s latest instalment of shouty 80s disco metal. like XTC fighting early Iron Maiden on some very cheap drugs indeed. James Lidell continues to deliver excellent. it slightly aimless. shuffling modern soul music on ‘Multiply' (Warp) eeee . like Marvin Gaye trapped in the body of Badly Drawn Boy. if you can imagine such a thing. Pharrell Williams. on the other hand. gives us ‘Can I Have it Like That' (Star Trak) «I . a rather strange. creepy affair. with an understated lo-fi beat mixing with a menacing sample to create something altogether odd. considering yer man 's stellar Chart-bothering reputation.
Speaking of chart-bothering. Kate Bush has finally climbed off her fairycloud to bring us her first release in a gazillion years. 'King of the Mountain' (EMI) 0 . Upon listening. it begs the question: why bother? It is. predictably, mind- bogglingly dull and pointless. Hey you! Get back on yer cloud. lTllSSUS.
Up here in sunny Scotland Glaswegian bunch Drive-By Argument show a lot of promise on their debut release. 'Sex Lines are Expensive Comedy' (One) 000 . essentially a hybrid of At the Drive-In jaggedness and the retro new wave dance of the Rapture. Aberfeldy have decided to release their twee-est moment with ‘Summer's Gone' (Rough Trade) 000 which nevertheless manages to seduce with its tight harmonies and Bontempi beats.
Best of the local stuff. though. is the ever‘bonkers Dawn of the Replicants. ‘Essence of Maureen' (SL) 0000 is a typical slab of dumb- ass blues rock indie madness. plus there’s an awesome unseasonal version of Paul McCartney's ‘Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time' which I think they think is a faithful rendition -- it's not. it's nuts.
That was great but it's beaten by Giant Drag who not only win song title of the week wrth 'Kevin is Gay' (Loog) 0000 (only jUSt beating 'Essence of Maureen'. mind). but aiso Single of the Fortnight. A girl-fronted scuzzy duo from LA. Giant Drag sound like the Breeders strapping My Bloody Valentine to a big dirty pop melody and having their dirty. wicked. perverted way wrth them. Great, in other words. (Doug Johnstone)
ALL CDS WERE REVIEWED ON A SYSTEM SUPPLIED AND INSTALLED BY LOUD 8: CLEAR
QUALITY H|~FI AND HOME CINEMA \IV‘IV‘IVlL‘L'D“CLE,‘\R.CL‘.L1K
oCleor
64 THE LIST 2O Oct—3 Nov 2005