Music
Reviews
ROCK
TI-IE BRONX The Bronx (Island) COO.
Sick of a rock scene fronted by snivelling emo types? Then you need The Bronx in your life more now than over. After roaring intO existence in 2003. the Californian foursome show no signs of letting up With this second. brilliantly brutal effort which kicks off With their traifeiiiark pounding rhythms. Visceral riffs and glorious growls. Yet it's not all about the relentless assault this time around. as 'Dirty Leaves'. 'White Gth' and ‘Safe Passage' show a more melodic. bluesy and even melancholic Side to the band. while maintaining that intelligent. rage- fuelled edge. Think a modern day answer to At the Drive-In, Without the noodling. (Camilla Pia)
JAZZ
FINN PETERS Su-Ling
(Babel Label) 0000
Like Neil Cowley. the London-based alto saxophonist and flautist has been working across a variety of genres for over a decade. from contempOrary claSSical to dance music. but makes his (azz recording debut as a leader with this disc. His thoughtful. carefully constructed composnions range from gracefully contemplative to free-and-fiery.
His range of musical reference IS equally wide. from swmg to hints of free jazz. flavoured With
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'3‘» OCIeor
68 THE LIST 21 Sep-S Oct 2006
the harmonic colOur and rhythms of "wood mUSICS la SU-lng IS an Indonesian flute. F-IRE Collective mainstays Dave Okumu (goitari. Nick Ramm (pianOI. Tom Herbert bass; and Tom Skinner ldrums) lend Creative suppod to an impressive debut. (Kenny Mathiesom
PUNK FUNK
THE RAPTURE Pieces of People We Love
(VertigOI COO
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The Rapture pretty much invented what peOple laughineg refer to as ‘new rave'. Punk funk. pulsating basslines. brass and fuzzed gunars; the scrawny illegitimate offspring of Madchester and Iggy Pop. Their last album spawned the monstrous. infectious ‘House of Jealous Lovers", and here they almost recapture that moment on the soon-t0- be—claSSic ‘Get Myself into lt'. But despite the dancefloor throb there‘s a darkness; these are nights In the seedy nooks and crannies of New York's clubland rather than the day-glo world of the Hippodrome. Ragged vocals contrast with the party-up cowbells and pounding beats. Another raw yet funky dispatch. (Henry NOrthmore)
ROCK'N'ROLL THE BLACK KEYS
Magic Potion (V2) COO
When The White Stripes' take on garage minimalism went global it fucked over a whole bunch of duos pushing their own bottled blues moonshine. With four long players under their snake belts now the Jack'n‘Meg comparisons are like water off a drunk's back as they indulge their deviation on the devotional south. Their songs twist and
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turn. contunng up the sounds of the bejewelled godheads of 70s rock as much as any toothless bluesman: Magic Potion is sticky. base and SOulful. The SimpliCity Of the drums and gtiitar assault leave songs room to break. lurch about Or generally Just stew in their own )UICGS.
(Mark Robertson)
JAZZ
COLIN TOWNS 8: NDR BIG BAND Frank Zappa's
Hot Licks
(and Funny Smells) Rent a Dog Records) 0...
Recorded live at the Moers Jazz Festival and released simultaneously with Lend Me Your Ears. a fine studio album of Towns' own composnions also featuring the NDR Big Band. this exuberant disc celebrates Zappa’s idiOSyncratic music while retaining the stamp of Towns' own distinctive compositional and arranging style.
Towns directs the superb German band (with Stephan Diez prominently featured on guitar) rather than his own Mask Orchestra. and they produce sublime playing on an eclectic programme of classic Zappa compositions drawn from a range of albums. including Hot Rats. Uncle Meat. The Grand Wazoo and Jazz From He/l. Forget any preconceptions ab0ut big bands being old- fashioned - this IS Vibrant. contemporary mUSlC. and great fun into the bargain.
(Kenny Mathieson)
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FOLK
PETE CLARK Now & Then
ilnver RecordSI O.”
The Birnam-based fiddler has explored both the historical and contemp0rary music of Perthshire On a string of fine albums. and this is another worthy additIOn to that llSl. His own
COmpOSItions are augmented by a selection of tunes by three historic figures he has yiSited many times in the past. Niel Gow. William Marshall and Scott Skinner. played with a Winning combination of affection and authority.
The muSiCians lavish equal care and expresswe commitment on Clark's own compositions. His elegant and refined fiddling is supponed by beautifully played accompaniments on cello. accordion. piano. guitar and bass guitar. while Perthshire neighbour Dougie MacLean contributes on the definitely non- indigenous didgeridoo. (GeOrge MacKay)
FOLKISH-COUNTRYISH- SINGER-SONGWRITER THING
JAMES YORKSTON The Year of
the Leo ard (Domino oooo
For this third long player. undefinable Fife troubadour Yorkston has created an eclectic collection of moody gems which exceeds his own already extremely high standards. There is huge variety here. from the strummy pop romp of ‘As Steady as She
SINGLES & DOWNLOADS
The Killers
Hopes that HP Chris' ‘Checkin' It Out' (Sony/BMG) O was the new Chris Rock CD couldn't have been further from the truth. Turns out this Chris is some pre-teen scrote from a Gene Simmons TV show and I only know that much from seeing the little runt - What? I said runt - on Popworfd this morning. I didn't much like him then and I like him even less after hearing this anodyne. sub-Busted. pop-rock tripe.
At the other end of the spectrum is The Bucky Rage's ‘Vote for Jesus' EP (Northern Cowboy) oo . It's rough and raw Glasgow rock attitude but in its own way just as predictable.
Still at least Badly Drawn Boy's ‘Nothing's Going to Change Your Mind’ (EMI) on will Cheer you up. Well, maybe not. It's a plodding piano ballad. which is. you know. fine but at the same time pretty forgettable. It's almost indistinguishable from The All-American Rejects ‘It Ends Tonight' (lnterscope) 00. Except the latter has some big-ass guitars towards the end in the way that Yank bands do. Meanwhile. Lionel Richie returns with ‘I Call It Love'. coo I call it bland. pseudo-romantic. sentimental shite. But hey. what do I know? Lionel's been milking this shit for years now and he’ll be damned if he stops now.
Up next is the Duke Specials Last Night I Nearly Died (V2) coo which is more Badly Drawn Boy than the man himself. while Longcut's “A Tried & Tested Method' coo is a wistful mix of guitars and laid back beats. Prize of mindful eclecticism of the Fortnight must go to I Fly Spitfire Records ‘The Spitfires Split' (l Fly Spitfires Records) 4 stars which features four excellent acts. with everything from the brooding Mercury Rev-isms of Copy Haho to the acerbic indie magic of The Rushes.
Imogen Heap's ‘Headlock' (Pomona) ooo provides a welcome break from all the guitars with her laid back synth-pop but it's nothing that sticks in the mind. Which means that, due to a particularly uninspiring batch of songs. Single of the Fortnight goes to The Klllers' ‘When You Were Young' oooo . Oh, how some club-friendly. Timbaland produced sex-beats could have improved matters. I never thought I'd say this but where are JT and Nelly Furtado when you need them? Take it to the chorus! (Andrew Borthwick)
Goes' to the extraordinarily moving electronica spoken word heart of the album ‘Woozy with Cider'. But there is also something tightly focused about this record . a confidence which links all the wheezing concertinas.
the plaintive guitar and strings. the thrumming rhythms and throbbing Fender Rhodes piano. which seems to organically stem from an artist who instinctively conjures up music with a deep soul and a strong heart. (Doug Johnstone)
CDS WERE REVIEWED ON A SYSTEM SUPPUED AND INSTALLED BY LOUD 8: CLEAR