MuSlcglfRecords
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There wasn’t a world for Tortoise, so they had to make one themselves. In the late 805 they were bunch of indie kids who were all getting a bit long in the tooth for carving up the same Ramones verse-chorus-verse bullshit ad infinitum and came across the notion that music can be started but never truly finished. This is hardly a new concept of course, jazz heads have been banging away about this for donkey’s years, but this quaint idea became the building block for one of the most exciting and innovative bands of the last 15 years.
This three CD, one DVD box set isn’t a starting point for anyone who is unfamiliar with their noodlings - these asides, oddities and hard-to-find collectables don’t convey fully the flow of what they’re about, it would be a bit like reading the footnotes without knowing what the book was about - seek out their albums Millions Now Living Will Never Die, Standards or TNT for a look at the complete picture. This is a gathering of all the detritus fans
have been hankering after including long lost remix album Rhythms, Resolutions and Clusters from 1995 and a DVD of rare live footage. Theirs is a fluid, uncompromising instrumental sound that veers — depending on which way the wind carries them - between liquid electronics, plaintive alt.rock and jazz fusion, all sewn together with snatches of pink noise. But despite the variety of influences the result is something measured and incredibly melodic. Hey, they even invented a new genre for them: post rock. An albatross which now reminds us just how expansive, inventive and hard to categorise their music actually is. This box set further reinforces the unfinished notion of their music. The remixes take their sound and flatten it, stretch it, strip it back to the bare wires and create something often radically different. There are numerous highlights from their catalogue to be uncovered here from a band who
continue to skilfully blow minds. (Mark Robertson)
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32 THE LIST Add
debut album Young Pewter". it's that it was ‘.'.’t?lt}lll(?(l tox'xar'ds aet—hear‘ted ballads rather than the unteasahlx' uplifting pop songs the, ‘ie so good at. Not so on this sophomore COHOCIIOH. ‘.'.lll(‘,ll kicks in briskly.
‘Uptight' is an earh high,
like same charming t‘ioss betu'i.een James Taylor and Hum Lewrs. '1237t‘rs' again shows off that great .lxnamie hetméen Rite; Briggs tam-Californian uOCGlS and the glll‘, hacking meals. but — much like 'Let Downs brilliant glam-stomp — it even irianages to tit in a most unexpectedlg, rocking guitar solo.
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Jamaican lllUSlC has (l(%\.’(3|()l)(-3(l wrth a different attitude to ounrner'ship than rricdern Western music. wrth artists and producers endlessly and brazenly borrowing and rehashing the popular sounds of its past and present. undisguised and to their own ends. Original Fired/iris is another exhausti\.e i'euiew from the Troian :aults. Charting 24 ioints that formed the basis for a wealth of Jamaican classics and treating the listener to 7-1 minutes of sOuIt’ul. lilting originais
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(:’i'i“, lgl,itl"trrtlh:l tranrt ’lt; not the irrigirit. Slit kr‘ot .'.»-r<_;tt in .'.itti another slat» of hits and grungeil up inetall th:s is more straight hoax, rot‘k. none ()l the head purnrrieHing insanit. of the nine headed beast that is his da, ]()l>. llo'.‘.'eu'er this means their/s more space for solos. harrnon‘, and eiriotion ihell there}; even artoustiit guitarsi. Like all side pi‘oiet:ts. Stonesour ‘.'.'|l| a|\.'.ra\,s ll‘.’(? in Slipknot's shallot-x rand hov.‘ eould the, noti and there are some er'irige i.‘.ror'th‘.' grunge (llltilltkfi ipai‘ti<:u|ar'l\,' on 'Made ot Scars but this is tar better than their debut. featuring new ideas and a toueh more depth lead to a solid, heavy rock album.
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TAPES ‘N TAPES The Loon
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Currently the hand of the moment. Minneapolis Tapes'n'Tapes are being name dropped b, hipsters and media types alike. follo‘.-.'ing hype regarding their DIY background and acclaimed 8X82"! performances,
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Nt)lf%(3(1()l(:lt)lllll'lllttfill kids? At‘t;or'rlirig to the srene polir;e. maybe. But it's unfair to deser'ihe Sikth's brand of extrerrie riietal as merely the /\,g()le ot Lostpiophets and Dillinger Escape Plan. par‘titgular'l‘, because 7 v lespite the olmous intluenr:es ~ they‘re made a complex sound that is (llTSIIlt’Lll‘, their
Pr'o.i".v; the point. the English sextet's sophomore outing tones down the melodies and goes tor the iugular ‘.'.’lll‘. oft-killer tiriiings. tech» metal ritts and a dual uoeal attack Mikee Goodriran's meals still verge on the eartoonish. but .‘xherr the UK metal scene is so lacking in a distinetixe ueirges. it's (,hur'lish to criticise Sikth for having their own. iAndre‘t'J Borthmcki
iNDIE RAZORLIGHT Razorlight rl/terr,tir,i .00.
Johnny Borrell certainly talks the talk. but Razorlight's debut iUp Al/ Night) didn't Quite match up to the hyperbole running so freely from his got). so fallil their eponymous second album can the; catch up with his declarations of genius?
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sax 3 none iuartwt teatu'rrir; tour ,Ia.'.' plaatri. liatiinl l'l Seotlarid. \.'.‘|ill Paul It)‘.'.’ll’.ll()‘.‘v and Martin Keishaw on alti )‘S. Brian Moile, on terror, and Alton Bearinoisiri orr liarrtorro With ttiiir essentiall, sirrrilai instrurrierrts, the hand must exercise eonsideialile ingenuity 1n loth their irrrriioasations and their fir/rut interaction to iriaw- tie '.’)llll)llléll|()l‘
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And .vorlw. it does. Their irriagiriati/e arrangements mill/t: sleuer rise of the tonal and t'iribral l)’)'$_‘;li,lllll‘;') across the Hill’)‘; of ti r:
instrurrierits. lerlr; alloxlinr; plent/ of it‘:‘:’l’;fli lfjf ttl‘: r,listirir,ti.'e iriiisir.al [JQFSOllEtllllCF‘ of the irirli/iduai pla/eri, to emerge. Their ir‘iateriai is til/filly self- Cor‘riposed. ‘f/llll the- exception of Gr;r8i|.‘./l.":") ‘Our Love Is Here To Sta ," and Towndrow") arrangement of Stings 'Walking On The l/loon'. iKenn/ l/lathiesorii