Camera Obscura
Dancing girls galore this fortnight. Sophie Ellis Bextor kicks things off with 90s dance throwback. ‘Me and My Imagination' (Fascination) o . all sunny Ibiza beats and disco strings. but sadly low on charm. Crazy London girls, Duloks have more luck with ‘(I'm Gonna Follow) Your Star Trail' (Art Goes Pop) «0 , a likably surreal mix of chanty-shouty pop and trademark knee-high sport socks. Brighton-based Chungking strut through sexy electropop beats in ‘Love is Hear to Stay’ (Institute Recordings) oo , while the stomping bass line on Felst's 'My Moon My Man‘ (Polydor) mo sounds magic against her fluttery. breathy vocals.
Nina Persson lends sugar-sweet tones to ‘Your Love is Not Enough‘ (SonyBMG) o , a duet with Manic Street Preachers, but even one as beautiful as she can’t improve this painfully catchy pop rock effort. A more successful collaboration comes from Soulsavers. who use Mark Lanegan's weary lullaby vocals on 'Revival' (V2) 000 . a gospel charged slowdance of organs and tambourines.
Closer to home. Glasgow indie kids, Endor follow their much hyped first single with “We Live In Doors' (Say Dirty Records) «0 . a lovesick mix of twinkly xylophone and throbbing guitars. Ally ‘blg in Japan’ Kerr, is in regretful mood in “Could Have Been A Contender‘ (Much Obliged) COO , but the shy, gentle-voiced Glasgow singer—songwriter puts a happy face on here with poppy hooks and wistful sarcasm. On the East side. Edinburgh wonderboys Found turn their sonic eclecticism to the love affair between two speech synthesisers in ‘Synth Like Minds' (Surface Pressure) 0000 . a tasty, multi- layered pop cake of bouncy guitars, jerky percussion and 603 electronica. Scotland meets the Deep South in the Ten to Five Project's moody. bluesy 'I Wish I Was A Single Girl Again’ (Red Felt Recordings)... . an Americana- soaked look back at footloose fancy-free times.
Single of the Fortnight goes to Glasgow indie darlings Camera Obscura, with ‘Tears for Affairs' (Elefant) 0000 , a swooning, swaying, dreamy summer soundtrack-in-the- making. If you can’t get away from work to go lie in a meadow. Tracyanne Campbell's floaty voice and holiday blend of Hammond organ, slow maracas and Mexican horns are the musical equivalent of falling asleep in a hammock.
(Claire Sawers)
Monkeys one iota.
They've hardly broken
ROCK their stride and have anoaT'zgYs tossed off a second
, album of casual F‘?"°””te w°'5‘ brilliance It almost feels Nightmare " I U
unfair how off the Cuff Favourite Worst Nightmare feels: the lyrics are as achineg sharp as their record
(Domino) 00.00
The weight of expectation hasn't affected the Arctic
60 THE LIST 76 Apr-40 May 2007
breaking debut. Their points of reference have widened scope from the back alleys of Sheffield to a whole wide world of possibilities. all observed with the same nonchalant sneer and sense of humour. Heavier than its predecessor. there's still room for shimmering misery. country balladry. Surf guitars and withering put downs. The Monkeys have triumphed where so many bands stumble with an extraordinary second album that may well surpass their all conquering debut. (Henry NOrthmore)
ROCK
TI-IE LEG
8 Songs By The Leg: A Musical Tribute To The Forest Of Dean
(T he Leg) 000
8 songs by "w "a
Those who have been hanging aboth the venues of Edinburgh for a few years now might know this lot as ‘the band formerly known as Desc and Khaya‘. Every vague shift in musical direction from long-time collaborators Dan Mutch, Pete Harvey and Alun Thomas seems to be accompanied by a name change. so it's kind of hard for new inductees to see just how truly original a catalogue they've built- up.
If they ever had a ‘commercial phase'. however. The Leg isn't it. Like gothic nursery rhymes built on threatening guitars. Mutch's bark and a creeping sense of unease. their songs are possibly meant to be experienced as much as erleyed. Mildly unhinged. but truly original. (David Pollock)
ERM . . . BJORK’? BJORK
Volta
(One Little Indian) 000
Heralding an album as ‘the most commercial thing has ever done’ is really a bit like declaring the new David Lynch movie ‘his most coherent
narrative ever’. For the last decade she has been making the most unashamedly artful and peculiar, if compelling music around. Anyone
buying this release expecting Debut should contact their lawyer and sue
the ass off the record label for false advertising. If, instead, you feel the
urge for factory-driven beats, massed horns moaning like beached whales, brittle piano nursery rhymes, militaristic techno cries to ‘raise your flags’, brutal electronics burning and sparking, symphonies of live ship horns, 3 topped with a joyoust overwrought, doleful duet between the lady of the house and the all new duke of strange, Antony ‘no Johnsons’ Hegarty then fill your boots. The overall effect is bewildering, impatient, inconsistent, unpredictable and even fun. Commercial? No. Fascinating? In places, yes. Don’t believe the hype. (Mark Robertson)
INDIE
FIELDS
Everything Last Winter (Black Lab) 0000.
Imagine. if yOu will. Fleetwood Mac getting together with My Bloody Valentine. Add some Crystal meth, the melodies of angels and a poet's heart. Fields' sound ranges from exquisne skewed folk to powerhouse drone-rock mayhem, frequently in the same song. Starting With the piledrlvmg bloody-minded romp of ‘Song for the Fields' and ending with the painfully gorgeous dark folk of 'Parasite'. this is an astonishingly accomplished and diverse debut. a record which echoes the punk- art-rock chaos of Deus. the rltflng drive of QotSA and the off-kilter magic of Fence in a single package which is unique and properly thrilling. (DOLIg Johnstone)
INDIE
1 9908
Cookies
(Rough Trade) 0000
..a
."‘Q.j“.t‘w\:.ll§_.s ; _ ~~lagon .\>
After years of ferreting away With his former band. John McKeown's brilllantly quirky songwriting is finally getting the recognition it deserves. Of course Cookies is an altogether different offering from anything The Yummy Fur ever released in that it's snappier, bluesier and ultimately more radio- frlendly. but it still boasts the frontman's trademark Witty turn of phrase and knack for knocking 0th gloriously scratchy. guitar-fuelled melodies. This Glasgow trlo have recently found fans in everyone from CSS to Gossip. Klaxons and The Long Blondes. and on the strength of this Splendid debut it's easy to see why. Mischiev0us music for the mind and the feet is impossible to ignore. (Camilla Pia)
FOLK/ROCK ELLIOTT SMITH
New Moon (Domino) 0...
Music from beyond the grave is always kind of spooky. especially when it is from an artist whose demise life was cut short like Smith's. This is even more so given the bare nature of his songs. often little more than a couple of guitar tracks and vocals. His erratic nature meant their remains a ton of unreleased material and this 24-track skim off the top from 1994-1998 — arguably his more fertile musical period —
reminds us just how affecting a songwriter he was. tender. but unflinching. This lacks
the coherence of his
other records unsurprisingly but
remains a gentle reminder of just what . we're missing. (Mark Robertson)