Reviews
ROCK
THE FLAMING LIPS
At War with the Mystics
(Warner Brothers)
At the end of the 1990s. the Flaming Lips channelled Wilful ex;>erimentation into a pop sensibility to produce music that reached for the charts as well as heavens. The aXiom is still pursued. btit on At War With the Mystics a heavier. more guitar-based sound associated Willi their prevSoft Bullet/n work returns. Combining sharp riffs. xesty effects and rich pools of concentrated rhythm, this record is Michelin- starred. Ziz/y funk and the booming beats of 705 classic rock, separated by palate- cleansing plaintive ballads. feature on the menu. At 55 minutes. it's possible there's one course too many, however, but sometimes it‘s good to over- indulge.
(Robin Lee)
INDIE MORRISSEY Ringleader of the Tormentors (Attack) 0000
Since he first swung gladioli our way as frontman of the Smiths. Morrissey has been the embodiment of bittersweet. sardonic pep. but this eighth solo effort from the legendary lyricist finds him a much changed man. For a start he has soaked his trademark melancholy melodies in sumptuous strings. horns and organs. his melodrama and majesty finally captured in a colossal sound that thunders into
life with opener ‘I Will See YOu ’l Far Off Places
From then on we are treated to an album Cranimed full of emotional epics and infectious stompers. including such highlights as the Antony and the Johnsons—esgue 'Dear God, Please Help Me". 'In the Future When All is Well"s growling glam riffs and the joyous ‘The Youngest Was the Most Loved' which boasts the most magnificent kiddy backing vocals since [11/ Sampson's recent EuroVision entry.
l lowever, the most startling development on Ring/eader of the Tormentors comes in the shape of ‘Life is a Pigsty'. a seven minute. cinematic masterpiece which finds the famously cynical Morrissey in curiously romantic mode. 'Even now in the final hour of my life. I'm falling in love again,‘ he warbles over cymbal crashes. soaring guitars. torrential rain splashes. dark piano tinkles and pulsing basslines. An absolute triumph. (Camilla Pia)
DUB
SEVEN DUB Dub Club Editions (Rock With Me Sessions) (Collision) O.
Sophisticate French lounge. house and jazz are filtered through this very European take on Jamaican dub that puts rocksteady vocals and shuffling rhythms to good use but omits the all-important earth- shattering bass. The closest things in your collection might be St Germain's Boulevard or Sounds Like Glasgow but these were some considerable time ago and aren't significantly furthered here. Given the name it is unlikely that Seven Dub are Out to dazzle but without the worrying. stomach churning bass of rudebuoy dub this floaty. light collection makes for fine but rather
unvnxxnnglnnenvvi iMark Erfiiiuntisci‘»
FUNK PRINCE 3121
(Universal) 000
32’
Far from being a botched tribute to Ted Rogers and Dusty Bin. Prince's full-scale return to public life is a thick. slick. and occasionally sick long player that reVisits his past while taking the genre he pretty much invented ~ R88 ~- and gives it a beefy, singularly Prince- like makeover.
There are moments of chicken- Ill-{lrbilSkUi balladry so trite they could make George Benson spill his pina colada in shock. but they are offset by handsome hunks of liquid funk like 'Black Sweat' and ‘The Word'. Outkast may have stolen much of his thunder of late but this é little peacock still has his ' moments.
(Mark Robertson)
SHOW TUNES STEPHIN MERRITT Showtunes (Nonesuch) 000
Ii Magnetic Fields overlord Stephin Merritt wasn‘t openly gay to start with, this collection would surely give the game away. Long a keen exponent of the show tune through various lower-key collaborations. here he puts the soundtracks to his three stage collaborations With Chinese director Chen Shi-Zeng on one disc. Undoubtedly essential | listening for any Magnetic Fields ; completist. it's still pretty far from a 69 Love Songs. yet that's not to l denigrate the Curiousity i of these lovingly made recordings (some L
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