MuSic Records
SINGLES & DOWNLOADS
K:
The Raconteurs
It's all well and good celebrating Britpop's Second Coming wrth Arctic Monkeys and Kaiser Chiefs. but if you think back ten years, for every Pulp there were many Menswears — ie talentless wannabes signed by dosy major labels looking to cash in on this ‘groovy new guitar craze'. And as 2006 rolls into action, there seems to be a definite case of history repeating itself.
On the positive side. worthy records such as Graham Coxon's superbly scratchy “Standing On My Own Again' (Parlophone) 0... may get the attention they deserve. along with the horn- led. tumultous country of Absentee's 'Something to Bang' (Memphis Industries) .00. and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's mesmerising heart- melter 'In This Home On Ice' (Wichita) 0.00 However. their success means we also have to suffer such airwave-cloggers as the Gene-meets- Toploader melodrama of ‘No Tomorrow' (Mercury) 0 by Orson. the plodding Humanzi with ‘Long Time Coming' (Polydor) O . bizarrely hyped bores We Are Scientists's indie-by- numbers attempt 'lt's a Hit' (Virgin) O. . The Open's snivelling ‘We Can Never Say Goodbye' (Polydor) O and The Feelings 'Sewn' (Universal) 0 ; a horrifyingly Athlete-aping coffee table offering.
Turning to Popland. only The Pussycat Dolls“ ‘Beep' (Polydor) O... with its ludicrously filthy lyrics can save us from ex-Blue boy gone Lighthouse Family Simon Webbe with ‘After All This Time' (EMI) O and the sickenineg saccharine Corinne Bailey Rae's ‘Put Your Records On' (EMI) 0
But what the broadsheets have failed to bastardize is alive and kicking in the underground. and is definitely worth the search. Close contenders for Single of the Fortnight include ‘War' (4AD) 0000 by Celebration. 3 deranged lo-fi riff attack that 's all organs and thundering drums; Howling Bells‘ ‘Wishing Stone' (Bella Union) om . a darkly raging, lusty anthem like the twisted lovechild of Debbie Harry and David Lynch; urgent robotic art rockers Pro Forma with 'Lapses In Diction/You Say Repeat' (New! Records) 0”. and the geeky. Goldfrappish guide to Scottish coastal towns with quirkin crooning vocals — ‘Largs Hum’ (Dogbox Records) 0.” by Edinburgh outfit Swimmer One. Yet first past the post are Flying Matchstick Men who are nose in front of the rest with 'All Yr Secrets' (One Records) .0000. an utterly infectious. synth and gritty guitar-ridden. girl/boy electro pop punch. This month couldn't go by without my editor forcing in a mention of the genius Jack White in these pages so his single ‘Steady as She Goes' as part of The Raconteurs. he assures me. is nothing short of genius and deserves (XL) moo even though he wouldn‘t actually let it out of his greasy fists to let me hear it. Boys. what are they like? (Camilla Pia)
«:23 Loud
oCleor
64 THE LIST 16 Feb—2 Mar 2006
Reviews
WORLD
SALSA CELTICA El Camino
Discos Leon. 0...
The release of Salsa Celtica's fourth studio album marks no noticeable musical departure. more the further refinement of a Winning formula. Edinburgh's now world famous Cuban ceilidh outfit may be plying their trade in a genre all their own ~ indeed of their own making — but they are resting on no laurels. From the booth, Blue Nile's Calum Malcolm brings Out an effortlessness in the big band's energy and an ease to their subtle musical blend. Greater space seems to have been afforded for Celtic influence on E/ Cam/no too. contributing to a mature and worthwhile release for the initiated and the newcomer alike.
(Mark Edmundson)
INDIE ROCK
GIANT DRAG Hearts and Unicorns (KickbalI/lnterscope) 0...
Like the Kills on crack. the debut LP from this LA boy/girl duo is dreamy and devrlish in delivery and compellineg off-krlter'. A magnificent mix of squalling guitars. howling vocals and skewed melodies. Hearts and Unicorns kicks off with the bizarrely titled ‘Kevin is Gay' which finds vocalist Annie Hardy giving George Galloway
it will) La
(i rtlf‘i tt‘r lit: 'Yig‘ilte. {its S'iz: rniatms 'te' iv the climax of the track Yet It's riot al: higwii'ix Titt' t')itt£:r:‘«.'.'eet This Isn‘t It] .lark litt. "Bun: Picket Fence and the rhythmic 'III attatk 3" 'Mfi. Dick Sax' all ; row that Grant Drag should be taken zen. :Atbflt‘tltdx indeed rCamilla Pia.
ROCK BATTLES EP C/B BP (Warpi COO.
lnstrurnental rock is a term so open to abuse these days that it acts much like anything helpfully described as ‘anthemic' — not as the intended recommendation but. in fact. a warning. For Battles. three veteran altrockers teaming up wrth a young. broad— minded )a/x composer. it is still a misnomer but suggests rightly that this is a band building bold sounding songs that confound preconceptions.
This is the musical equivalent of making giant models out of matchsticks; the whole thing relies on absolute precrsion and detail is everything. The rhythm takes to the fore. which allows the intricate guitars and simmering electronics the chance to nudge in and around the mix rather than stomping all over it. The dry. crisp atmosphere does make their more obtuse efforts a little hard to swallow — "Bttls'. a 12—minute ambient percussron rattle drones away gently but aimlessly — and catching the groove on John Stanier's rigid drum batteries can be like Juggling eels. While it doesn’t explode in that familiar Mogwai, GSIYBE kind of way. it sure throws down some new shapes to suck on. (Mark Robertson)
Jo MANGO Paperclips & Sand
LC Che Rt‘x‘OltlSl
So \.ou reckon modern female pep from north of the border starts and ends wrth KT Tunstall'7 Think again, as this Glasgow-based musician is a much more inventive option, Incorporating everything from kalimbas and toy pianos to SQUOGXGDOXQS and xylophones in her pretty ditties. Jo Mango's debut album is a beautiful yet beguiling listen and has already won such famous fans as Show Patrols Gary Lightbody and Willy Vlautin of Richmond Fontaine.
Reminiscent of Kathryn Williams and Stina Nordenstarn but wrth a distinctive Scottish tWist. Paperclips 8 Sand soothes from start to finish and deserves to take its maker to the (ll/.75“ heights. iCamilla Pia)
JAZZ
STAN TRACEY QUARTET
The Return of Captain Adventure
(TenToTenl COO.
'CWTRIFQ 5095 N T l )RE
Hard on the heels of his own qurntet disc The Mighty Sas. drummer Clark Tracey has reissued a classic UK Jazz gem from his father‘s back catalogue. Captain Adventure now appears as a two-CD set. complete wrth a full disc's worth of previously unreleased material from the original live masters recorded at the 100 Club in 1975. The pianist was featured wrth his great
—__I
regular quartet of the time. mth rt Themen (saws). Daw Green (bass. and Boar) Spring idrurnsl The music still sounds lien SC .ea's on. and proxides a reminder not Nth at Tracey 's huge contribution to (ass, but ALSO the |II\.t‘Htl\ 0 powers of Iheman and the rh\.thm pla\ers (Kenny k’ItiiIllt‘Stllll
EXPERIMENTAL KIEREN HEBDEN
AND STEVE REID The Exchange
Session: Vol 1 (Domino) 0
Championed for testing the boundaries of the broken melody Four Tet's Hebden has hen: met the re\.ered Reid. pioneering (a.'.’ drummer of some «1U years, for a
session of cosmic envelope pushing. stirring at niggling sense that this must be a release of some Iperhai’)s future) import
Though while the pairing are evrdently pleased with their efforts I find it hard to imagine these two musicians turning to one another mid flow and nodding knowrngly. as Virtuoso performers oft do. to say wordlessly ‘What we're dOIng is challer'iging yet natural and good.’ Neither can I identify an enVironment or Circumstance in which this would make appropriate listening matter. other than it makes a room's intermittent whir of computer or bar heaters' buzz appear stranger tuneful.
Hebden offers nothing remotely melodious. not one sound you could call musrcal. in 37 minutes and while the drumming might be impreSSIve it remains largely distant and formless.
(Mark Edmundson)
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