Mark Robertson and The List music writers Rick .thsirsenss of the year-
Jarvis ‘Running the World' His first post-Pulp declaration was a sublime synth pop call to arms. The Gossip ‘Standing in the Way of Control' The dancefIOOr filler of the year illustrated the star quality of singer and modern icon Beth Ditto. Gnarls Barkley’s ‘Crazy' A song, which despite its complete ubiquity, never got tired.
The Young Knives ‘Here Comes The Rumour Mill' Super geeks play a barristerming chorus. Tool ‘Wings for Marie/100,00 Days' The token 153 minute prog odyssey. replete with a storm ‘solo'. The Porch Song Anthology ‘Hang Me Good” The dusty bones of Johnny Cash beat out a gorgeously doomy gallows ballad.
1990s 'You're Supposed to Be My Friend‘ The perfect synergy of weird and wonderful.
Pretty Girls Make Graves ‘Parade' A percussive arsenal of brittle harmonies inspiring manual labourers.
Cold War Kids ‘We Used To Vacation‘ Pavement. Grandaddy. Midlake. This song shows just who's next in this hallowed lineage.
Fiona Apple ‘Extraordinary Machine‘ The lead track from her completely overlook album could have been lifted from a 408 Disney soundtrack. Amy Winehouse ‘Rehab' Solid retro backing and bone-close lyrics meant something half decent finally muscled its way onto mainstream radio. Mark Ronson ‘Just' This heavy juke-joint funk burner proved the Radiohead original's equal.
80 Camplight ‘Blood And Peanut Butter' Unclassifiable. cutesy. rapturous Canadian pop that. six months on. We still to hear a bad word about. Winner.
Hot Chip “Over and Over' Pet Shop Boys' kids cousins get under the skin with that hypnotic hook. My Chemical Romance ‘Welcome To The Black Parade‘ A sublimely ridiCUIOUS track mix of vintage-era Queen bombast with Meatloaf and emo to marvellous effect.
Plan B ‘No Good/"Sick 2 Def' Extraordinary foul- mouthed Eminem-meets—‘lhe Streets. only with an acoustic folk backdrop.
Jenny Lewis with the Watson Nins “Rise Up with Fistsll' Glorious c0untry harmonies. intelligent sentiment and an indie heart.
Klaxons ‘Atlantis to Interzone’ An ecstasy flash forward where art punk copulated with an air raid siren. Yum.
Arctic Monkeys 'When the Sun Goes Down' As good as '. . . Dancefloor'. Yes, it was that good. Rhianna 808' Who would have thought this greasy strumpet mugging Soft Cell for the second best tune woold have been such fun? Ghostface Killah 'Champ' Just what we've always wanted. Wu Tang beats. ranting raps and spoof dialogue from Rocky ///. Yes indeed.
Muse ‘Knights of Cydonia' Neeeeeeeoooooooow!
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ELECTRONICA VARIOUS
Soma Compilation 2006
(Soma) 00.0
If weird soundscapes. which fall somewhere in between the territory of ambient, glitch and trance. are your thing, you‘ll be very pleased with this latest Soma compilation. Unless you're baked on a weird cocktail of theoretical drugs in a William Gibson novel you might not do much danCing to it. but it's perfect mood music for technophiles.
The ubiquity of Alex Smokes oddly blissful contributions (three tracks out of eleven) is matched by the endearing ambient funk of Silicone Soul's 'The Snake Charmer' and the pleasure of seeing one-man Tron copyist My Robot Friend included twice. albeit in remix form. Smarter than your average dance comp. that's for sure.
(David Pollock)
FOLK COUNTRY SKYGREEN LEOPARDS Disciples of California (Jagjaguwar) 00
Ever heard a record which somehow seemed less than the sum of its parts? Cos that's the inescapable feeling when listening to Skygreen Leopards. Across this record are spread gently strummy country melancholy. whispering psychedelic folk and la/y, ha/y rhythms. but somehow the end result is wearing rather than uplifting or movmg. Maybe it's the lack of diversity (most of the tracks here could be swapped without batting an eye). or the lack of hooky melodies. or Donovan Quinn's
rather whimsical whine of a voice. but whatever it is. it leaves Skygreen Leopards at the back of the alt.c0untry pack. (Doug Johnstone)
JAZZ
KYLE EASTWOOD Now
(Candid Records) 0..
It is hard to avoid the feeling that the bassist has tried to push as many commercially attractive buttons as possible in the course of this disc. The prevailing ambiance is a cool chill- out vibe with a distinct jazz-lite feel. underlined by vocal contributions from Ben Cullum (Jamie's brother) and guitarist Michael Stevens. who sings on the only cover version on the disc. Sting's 'Every Little Thing She does is Magic'.
I find it hard to get excited about any of this. but the soul, funk and electronica grooves are certainly accessible to an audience beyond the hardcore jazz crowd. and the playing and production is predictably clasSy. Guest musicians including drummer Manu Katche. saxophonist Dave O'Higgins and pianist Andrew McCormack. (Kenny Mathieson)
INDIE
VARIOUS
Blue Skies Up: Welcome to the New Pop Revolution (Dogbox Records)
With a manifesto aiming to ‘save pop'. Dogbox Records have certainly set themselves a tall task. Most of the 'pop' on this compilation is as likely to hit the charts as a duet from Robert Kilroy-Silk and Michael Barrymore. but this reflects far worse on the British record buying
public than the label. The likes of Luxembourg and The Bridge Gang provide enough doses of infectious brilliance to slap many NME peddled acts back into their rightful place. but the pick of a very good bunch are Cologne's Planetakis. With any justice many of these bands would be better known. Then again that could ruin some of their appeal
(Miles Johnson)
JAZZ JIM MULLEN ORGAN TRIO
Smokescreen (Diving Duck) 00..
The organ trio is one of jazz's canonic formats. but can easily slip into cliched recycling of standard soul-jazz licks. No such danger in this band. The Glaswegian guitarist and his collaborators. Hammond organist Mike German and drummer Matt Skelton. pursue a fresh and inventive path though a
set of original compositions (mainly by Gorman) and cover versions. including Steely Dan's ‘Aja' and a nod to Mullen's Scottish roots in a version of ‘The White Cockade'. They are joined by the excellent Stan Sulzmann on tenor or soprano saxophone on three of the disc's eleven tracks. Mullen's acute harmonic and rhythmic invention is always apparent. and German avoids the stereotypes associated with his instrument in compelling fashion. (Kenny Mathieson)
FUNK VARIOUS Pulp Fusion: Bustin' Loose (Harmless) 0000
The first in a veritable trove of stellar. themed
retro—comps. Harmless celebrate Pulp Fusion's 10th anniversary with a two-disc selection from NY crate digger. DJ and journalist Monk-One: and presumably his brief was ‘It ain‘t broke. . .' Cue 20 heavy. blaxploitafion-wonhy originals taking in the sampled (Luis Aviles' ‘Happy Man“ plundered by DJ Premier/Christina Aguilera). the sublime (Sarah Vaughan‘s busy cover of ‘lnner City Blues') and the ridiculous (the JB's taking to the moog on Fred Wesley's ‘Blow Your Head’). Funk was just stepping back out of the shadows when this label opened their crates. ten years on and they‘re still helping us keep it real. deep down and dirty. (Mark Edmundson)
F ESTIVE JAZZ VARIOUS
New Orleans Christmas (Putumayo) .000
Some festive traditions are truly immovable: gluttony. credit card bills. tension between in-laws. you know the script. but others are there to be monkeyed around with. Hence forth. Mum's Aled Jones carol CD can be tossed onto the fire as world music experts Putumayo provide us with an alternative sOundtrack to the Yuletide celebrations. Eleven tracks of righteous SOLJI. jazz and blues reworkings of all your favourite holiday cliches. Woozy Dixieland brass trumpeting in the birth of Christ makes a welcome change and enough of this is stylistically sound and tongue-in-cheek enough to warrant repeated listenings in between the repeats of Only Fools and Horses.
(Mark Robertson)
ALL CDS WERE REVIEWED ON A SYSTEM SUPPLIED AND INSTALLED BY LOUD 8- CLEAR
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