tracks that do come in at over three minutes still land on the far side of the art/pop divide. (Mark Edmundson)
ROCK
THE KILLERS Sam's Town (Vertigo) COO
If any band had ‘stadium fodder' tattooed across their skinny asses from day one. it was The Killers. This second album is supposed to secure their place as true festival headlining prospects. which it Will of course. but overall. Sam's Town is way more patchy than such a lofty pedestal commands.
When The Killers get blustery and bombastic they are unbeatable -— first single ‘When You Were Young' is a thundering example. There's another half dozen of these juiced up. over-blown, Duran— fuelled melodramas contained Within and they are for the most part tremendous fun. The Killers do however. remain a band With only one (albeit pretty strong) string to their bow. 'My List' is a flabby munter of a ballad that aims for U2 meets Depeche Mode but ends up as bad Aztec Camera meets even badder Journey. Make of that what you will. See you down the front at T in the Park. late Saturday evening. (Mark Robertson)
ROCK
MERCURY TILT SWITCH
Kiprono
(Pet Piranha Records) 0..
In these re-hashed Britpop days it's possible to forget that there once was a time when rock music was allowed to be. well. loud. Not so for Mercury Tilt Swrtch.
who take their cues from US noise-mongers like Sonic Youth and . .
. Trail Of Dead. flipping the bird to the hipsters and cranking the amps up to I 1.
It's powerful stuff but not quite as memorable as they might wish. While the album bursts into life at the start. there's a loss of momentum towards the end. That said. when this Dundee guintet hit their stride they're capable of creating hooks that shine. bobbing and weaVing amidst their ha/ier. more post-rock sections. An accomplished collection.
(Andrew BothWick)
JAZZ
GEORGE BURT- RAYMOND MACDONALD SEXTET
Boohoo Fever
(Leo Records) 000.
This disc comes out of the same performance- plus-recording project at An Tobar in Mull as last years A Day for a Reason, centred on the Tobermory clock and the two women closely associated with it. the adventurous Victorian traveller Isabella Bird
and her sister. INDIE FOLK
Henrietta. ISOBEL The ever—resourceful afimfiagg-Lt Sextet is jointly led by ' w ' e 99 3 (V2) 0...
guitarist George Burt and saxophonist Raymond MacDonald. with George Lyle on bass. Alyn Cosker on drums. and Nicola MacDonald on vocals and melodica. As in the earlier disc. they team up With pianist Keith Tippett for an exploratory ramble across a wide-ranging sonic and imj)rovisational landscape. richly varied in mood. sound. musical texture. degrees of abstraction and modes of expression.
(Kenny Mathieson)
No sooner has Isobel Campbell collected a Mercury nomination for her Mark Lanegan- assisted Ballad of the Broken Seas album, than she‘s back with a new record. A significant departure from Ballad. it's a collection of traditional and self-penned songs informed by Campbell‘s recent immersion in folk.
Once you get over the fact of its supreme lightness of touch — a staple of Campbell's style — it's an immensely
I ()LK
MARTIN CARTHY 8- DAVE SWARBRICK Straws in the Wind (Topic Records) .00
A return to a famous collaboration featuring two doyens of the English folk scene that began in the (30s and has recurred all too occasionally in the intervening decades. The songs chosen for this set are largely drawn from AL Lloyd's seminal collection The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. arranged in their trademark style by the players.
SIIJ\\\1=.'tz\\tl\d
Having survived a near-fatal illness and now confined to a wheel—chair. it is good to hear Swarbrick in such fine form. The fiddler proves he is still more than capable of producing vibrant and beautiful music behind Carthy's slightly monochrome vocals. ziiirl lizis; Ili(} (:liziii<:(} t() play in more expansive fashion on a couple of instrumentals.
(Kenny Mathieson)
powerful effort. Although orin a little guitar. mandolin. violin and percussion form the backdrop. Campbell's voice is still soft enough to be almost overpowered at times. This ethereal nature is a benefit. though. with songs like 'Willow's Song' (from The Wicker Man) and the teasing. vocal-only ‘Loving Hannah' standing out.
(David Pollock)
HIP HOP
STEG G
& TI-IE FREESTYLE MASTER
Natural Selection (Powercut) 0..
Regional hip hop is a natural progression from a style that was so specific to the streets of New York where Kool Herc originated it in the 708. That said. it's still a bit of a stretch to get your head around the concept of Glaswegian
ALL COS WERE REVIEWED ON A SYSTEM SUPPLIED AND INSTALLED BY LOUD 8: CLEAR
hip hop.
Bringing a whole new meaning to the term West Coast. Glasgow's Steg G makes tough. bass-heavy tracks which echo the classic 80s style as much as the Brit-centric concerns of grime. for example. This transatlantic flavour is generally well-judged. although the relentless tOugh-guy Glasgow gansta stance can get a bit overpowering. The best moments include the conscious social comment of ‘Weapons of Mass Distraction‘ and the self-explanatOry ‘Schemes'. which features one great reference to ‘99
.ij;\ Loud
if) °Cleor
If.) Oct 2 Nov THE LIST 63