SINGLES & DOWNLOADS
Richard Hawley
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking. ‘I wonder in which exciting new direction the renowned talent-show contestants Will Young and Girls Aloud have gone?’ Astonishingly. both appear to have been listening to old blues records, Bo Diddley — or U2's ‘Desire' at least -- for nice Will it ‘Switch It On‘ (Sony) 00 is anything to go by, and ‘Tobacco Road' for the Aloud with ‘Biology' (Polydor) O. . Shame neither has a tune of which to speak.
'Roam' by the B-52's was good wasn‘t it? Brighton's The Pipettes certainly agree. so much so that they've rewritten it as 'Dirty Mind' (Memphis Industries) 000 . which suggests they have good taste it nothing else. Speaking of shameless plagiarists. The Darkness have cleverly answered their critics by releasing “One Way Ticket to Hell' (Atlantic) 0 as a taster from their soon-to-be-disastrous second album. Elsewhere in the retro-rock cesspool. Towers of London confirm their status as mulletted morons du jour with 'How Rude She Was' (TVT) O . while the once-diVine Teenage Fanclub continue their slide into middle-aged torpor with ‘It's All In My Mind‘ (PeMa) 00
Funeral For a Friend's 'History' (Atlantic) 0 is an ‘indie' ballad so bland it barely exists. while SF shaggies The Warlocks remind us with ‘lt's Just Like Surgery' (Mute) so that the Jesus and Mary Chain had a rather good idea once. ‘Hypnotize' (American recordings) 0.. by System of a Down. is a surprisingly palatable chunk of queasily tuneful frown-rock. (Don‘t) Give Hate a Chance' (Sony/BMG) O plead Jamiroquai. so moving on. let's delve into the DIY little league. with Leeds quintet Four Day Hombre prOVIng with ‘1000 Bulbs' (Alamo) O. that someone somewhere will always be willing to fund drearily soporific guitar bands. ditto for tiresome emo bleaters Dirty Perfect‘s self- titled EP (Fuzzbox) O. ; both entirely forgettable. The ‘lcarus' EP (Human Condition) “0 from Glasgow‘s Super 8 is patchy. derivative yet sturdy and tuneful enough; strum- happy trad-rock and psychedelia be the bag they pilfer.
This has all been rather dispiriting. so thank Zeus and party for the ridiculously gifted Richard Hawley and his ‘Cole‘s Corner' (Mute) which is so obviously Single of the Fortnight. it's almost rather embarrassing. His best song yet. it's a typically sumptuous croon of blue orchestral grandeur. like Scott Walker sharing an existential coffee with Lee Hazlewood in a seedy London cafe. The fact that the B-Side is called 'I'm Absolutely Hank Marvin’ and features the actual Hank Marvin can only be considered a bonus. (Paul Whitelaw)
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66 THE LIST (5 1/ Nov 7005)
ALLCDSWEREREVIEWED
kill-NV 71”“ —“.~\l‘.‘ 5'3”): x,
‘ lllétCIllll(}“lll£l(I(3 [MUSIC
for staring out the Window to. l'hose familiar with 'Melodies and Memory' the Lovers' standout 900/1 12 will know what to expect. namely a yearning. silicon soul in a dark. impersonal cityscape: an evocative trip of varying pace and bounce. Very much a coherent. conceptual album and Wider in scope to many recent Sonia releases the sound still grows old before the final guarter.
(Mark l..dmundson)
()l lOHAl
HOVER CHAMBER CHOIR OF ARMENIA
The Way — Armenian Sacred Music
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Hover the name means 'br‘ee/e' in Armenian and the latest recording from the choir of the same name has the purity and life enhancing clarity of a breath of fresh air. An ancient nation With its own folk tradition. Armenia was the first country to embrace Christianity as its official religion.
l'he profound spirituality of its music is touchineg moving in th s selection that runs from the i>th liith centuries. Mystical and ethereal. there s spring running from mountain stones. angels singing of the natIVIty and a truly eastern sunrise. It's like nothing else we know from western sacred music. (Carol Main)
soot STEVIE WONDER
A Time To Love (Motown) .0.
Anyone genuinely excited by SteVie Wonder '2; reappearance \."/ltll the sguelchy. strutting luiik
j\(:.i,~‘
A STEVIE :« WDHDED
A '-
o 'So What the l-uss' Will probably meet \VIII] mild disapi)ointment on this long player. Although three or four such commanding sermons make an appearance they are gi‘t ssly outweighed by the great man's inoie saccharine and grandiose leanings. easing A linle lo / ove into After l ight territory; l'ni ilot sure exactly what those of us who cling to the boy Wonder 's inspired [01; output would ()‘JEl accept as a return to form. But despite almost all of these tracks bearing the hallmarks. nothing could never match the romance of coming to Steyiie for the first time. lMaik Hliiiiiiidsonl
Hock BABYSHAMBLES
Down in Albion llfough liadel O.
"it.
Despite appearing to be a complete fuck up in so many ways. l’etei l)oherty has al‘.'/ay's ieiiiained true to his cause of finding his own musical Avalon. and this. his band's debut album is ment to allay concerns that he's more than just a smackie With a model bird.
lhe fact that so much of what Babyshambles do sounds like it is being held together by spit and string is part of its intrinsic charm. bill too often it is the inherent lack of drive iii the music that is the problem: it all sounds way too half arsed. Aiid if that's the idea then fine. but it's not a
good idea.
Whether you're on [)oherty's magic bandwagon to Albion oi stood at the side spitting in envy oi disgust. no one can really be fully convuiced by this album. It's a ilisappointment or a ‘told you so'. I‘ltli(?l way we lose. iMark Robertson)
l’()l’ TEXAS Red Book (Mercury) .0
Needing a nev.’ lexas album is a bit like needing a nev.’ fridge ()l hot water tank: it isn't really something that comes to mind because the ones
you've got do you lust fine. lheie's no actual need for others. the band haye got to that point where. like Duran Duran or l lton .John. the hits are fine to keep pretty much e\.'eryoiie content.
What renders this record even more irrelevant is their brave. if misguided striving to sound contemporary and edgy. Producer Dallas Austin who has put his sheen on records for Madonna. lenny Krayit/ or ll (3 in the past Book an immediate
gives li’etl
crisp sound. bill to the detriment of the songs. Deep inside there are actually some decent tunes but they feel tailed up beyond recognition. lexas could be maturing \‘Jltli age. but instead they're \Vitheiing on the vine. (Mark Robertson)
l k x :k CAYTO
Blunderbuss! (Hictusl O...
A debut so impatiently stuffed vvith ideas that it often feels like it's going to explode and vomit spaininy. v/iddly guitar riffs or Wiggy
piano solos all over our recently pressed flannels. Cayto have been rumbling around for a while and this album rattles. soars and farts in egual measure. When they hit the mark like they do on "The Bastard' and 'l ost Pi’operty'. it renders Radiohead's recent mealy mouthed whines ready for the glue factory. What is sometimes missing is a final clinical edge. but if you've ever wanted to hear the Muppet Show house band do the Mars Volta ‘."J|Ill l'iona Apple. then nozv is your chance.
iMaik Robertson)
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ON A SYSTEM SUPPLIED AND INSTALLED BY LOUD & CLEAR