4 mighty Roots Manuva in the past. this record is augmented a return visit for soul veteran Fontella Bass. former Lamb chanteause Lou Rhodes and new find. Montreal's Patrick Watson who adds a Anthony l~legarty-lrke vocal to the aiready otherworldly proceedings.
We‘ve come a long way from the stunted. blunted heats of Mo'Wax Records and the development of Cinematic Orchestra proves widescreen head rnusrc can he mellow. conterriplative and still furiously compelling.
(Mark Flobertsonr
ROCK
WILCO
Sky Blue Sky (Nonesnrchi m
INDIE THE TWILIGHT SAD
Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters (Fatcatl 0...
Rarer can a band have managed to sum themselves up so well just within therr own name. Glasgow's Twilight Sad are. let's not heat about the hush. a hand who make sad music — yet it's that particular Scottish sadness which finds itself couched in a kind of troop~rallyrng hope. Songs like ‘Cold Days From The Birdhouse and '\/Valkrng for Two Hours' combine the raucousness of Mogwar with the tear‘yveyed.
the twilight ad 9
dregs-of-tlie-pint milieu that later. less strident J&MC conjured. James Graham sings in his own accent. like Aidan Moffat before hrrn. and it's a decision which helps further humanrse this wonderfully expressive and really rather exciting new hand.
(David Pollockl
[ERIE FOWLIS Cuilidh
iShoeshrne Recordsi 0..
liver srnce she won the prestigious New Horr/on award for 2006 at the BBC Folk Awards. Julie Fowlrs has been landed with the unerwrahle expectation that she rnrght succeed in taking Gaelic singing to a wider audience than it currently reaches. much in the way that Caper‘carllre did in their hrref assault on the UK singles charts in the early 90s. Julie herself has taken a more
With their last two albums Wilco rewrote the book on what rock bands could do, so where next? The answer is they’ve reined in the experimentalism a tad and are indulging in exquisitely crafted, plaintive country-soul which manages to be simultaneously extremely comforting and utterly subversive. Mellowness is the overriding vibe here, but there are lyrical and musical barbs waiting to snare you at every turn, from the duetling guitars of ‘lmpossible Germany’ to the perfect poetry of ‘Hate it Here'. Closing with heartbreakineg beautiful ruminations on creativity (‘What Light’) and relationships (‘On and On and On’), this is a subtly moving and gently inspirational album. (Doug Johnstone)
64 THE LIST 24 Ma, 2’ X '
realistic line. and her second album doesn't immediately Suggest that such a breakthrough is imminent.
The more traditional approach retained here offers a tasteful setting for singing that is expressive and always very pretty. although I don't hear the depth of emotion that some have claimed to detect in her work. She deals confidently with a varied range of material. accompanied by her fiancee. Danu's Eamon Doorley. and such lurnrnaries as larn MacDonald. John McCusker. John Doyle and Michael McGoldrick.
(Kenny Mathreson) COUNTRY ROCK GOD-FEARING ATHEISTS Rustbelt Sun (God-Fearing Atheists) 0...
With two ex-punks. one indie-boy and a drummer who plays in ja// hands at a tennis club. rt was an obvious career move to form an alt.country band together. Not orin that. but a really quite good one — the Glaswegian GodFearing Atheists are a fine addition to Scotland's ever- expandrng repertoire of bands influenced by roots music from across the pond.
Singer Peter Lacey does a mean cross- Atlantic drawl himself on more upbeat songs like 'Breakdown' and 'Mississrppi', wrth a more melancholy harmonica and lap steel tone evident on 'Yours Sincerely. 4am". Like The Byrds filtered through a particularly
pleasant strain of 808 AOR. God-Fearing Atheists provide a gorgeous soundtrack to Summer melancholy. (David Pollock)
ELECTRONIC ROCK YOUNG GODS Super Ready/ Fragmenté
(PIASI O...
The hassle with being pioneers — which this Swiss trio are. having invented the kind of theatrical but mechanical electro rock parents and families that are just take for granted nowadays — is that you rarely get the credit you deserve. The cheeky scarnps who rework your innovations usually run off with the money. girls and plaudits. That hasn't stopped Franz Treichler and his band producing some truly sublime. inSpired work and this album is no different.
Wavering between undulating. dissonant atmospherics driven by Treichler's breathtaking bellow and coruscating Chunks of sampled rock riffage thrown into the barrage of drums and cymbals. Their formula hasn't changed in 20 years and this is a blessing and a curse: some may see them standing still where in truth. they're just ploughing the same kind of cultured grooves that keep their music so singular and special. (Mark Robertson)
HOUSE KRAAK AND SMAAK
The Remix Sessions (Jalapeno) .00
Apparently a reference to an old Dutch proverb rather than Pete Doherty's breakfast. Kraak and Srnaak serve up a double remix CD of jazzy house vrbes and percussive. break-beat rhythms. Groove-led basslines are reminiscent of the US West Coast sound of infrequent Soma contributors Halo and
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Hipp—e. which. together With a strong dose of funk. results in some easy-on-the-ear dance music with a couple of the tracks standing out as sure-fire head hoppers. That said. too many of them follow a predictable funky house formula and you can't help but feel there are many producers out there rnakrng fresher. more exciting sounds. (Jimmy Mclnnesl