RETRO POP together in 2005. The JAZZ
CANDIE PAYNE music is characterised ER'K TRUFFAZ ALSO RELEASED | Wish I Could Have Loved You More by strong writing and Arkhangelsk The Hold s‘eady
fl» __ ___ [I _ V h I _ n I I l m ~ H I (8|Ue
Candie Payne sings songs about love lost, makes you think of skinny, clearly rooted in Sunday/Almost Killed
Me The band who have produced the best album of 2007 so
traditional musical forms. but with the addition of a more
melancholy girls in 605 eyeliner, tramping Liverpudlian streets wishing their lovers would give them one last chance. Her bell-clear voice coos through the introspective songs like ‘A Different You’, goes full-throttle and ragged
round the edges on the bigger production numbers like the title track and
the jaunty, distraught ‘Hey Goodbye’. Her references are Dusty Springfield
and The Shangri Las, the shimmer of old 605 film themes and the women who belted out Northern Soul in working men’s clubs, but this isn’t a cynical attempt to jump on the Winehouse bandwagon - less booze- soaked grief, more cold, dawning clarity. (Kirstin lnnes)
that life on the road with
a hip hop band carries
its own dangers. Wilson handles all of
the vocals himself. and
utilises a combination of
ten musicians in three different line-ups and a wide-ranging mix of musical styles — majoring on blues. jazz and hip hop — to tell his contemporary variation on a familiar story. That
degree of diversity could
have produced a mish- mash. but instead succeeds in setting up effectively contrasting musical strands that interweave through the unfolding stOry.
(Kenny Mathieson)
IMETAL MEGADETH United Abominations (Roadrunner) 000
Once one of the most influential thrash titans (part of the ‘big four“ alongside Metallica. Anthrax and Slayer).
Megadeth went one faster. one harder than the rest of the metal pack. However in 2002 it looked like frontman Dave Mustaine would never play guitar again due to an injured radial nerve. effectiver terminating Megadeth. Now he's back with a new line-up and his most bluntly political album to date. a signed up member of the Sledgehammer school of subtlety (‘war is bad‘ and “the UN sucks‘ being the main message). However it's impossible to fault the guitar work. and as the duelling solos spiral off into a squealing double
helix of infinitely complex riffs. this album rocks and rocks hard. (Henry Northmore)
FOLK
LAU Lightweights & Gentlemen (Reveal Records)
This debut CD from Lau. a trio made up of fiddler Aidan O'Rourke. accordionist Martin Green and guitarist Kris
Drever. is an accurate reflection of the kind of music that had been emerging in their impressive (if occasional) live work since they came
contemporary and experimental slant.
The degree of experiment is never too radical. and the instrumental sets — mostly written by the band members — provide scope for the players to stretch out in virtuoso fashion. They are augmented by vocal outings from Drever on Ewan MacColI's 'Freeborn Man‘ and a couple of traditional songs. In the copy supplied for review. the booklet is printed
‘ wrongly. with repeated
pictures replacing missing track information. (Kenny Mathieson)
PSYCHEDELIC POP THOMAS TRUAX Why Dogs Howl At The Moon
(SL Records) 0000
If you had to Sum this record up in two words. you‘d nick them from the press release: 'Tim Burton'. Like the maverick filmmaker. New York-raised. London-based one- man band Thomas Truax is a man of similarly unique vision. his penchant for home- made instruments (including the Hornicator. a tuba he sings into while tapping out a rhythm on its side)
and near-autistic lyrical
concerns digging up a similar sense of the childlike.
It's not always successful. ‘You Whistle While You Sleep' and ‘The Basset Hound's Lament' are somewhat rambling and awkward to listen to. but the tender ‘The Raindrop Says Goodbye to the Cloud' and the public transport eulogizing ‘Stranger On a Train‘
; confirm a real and
singular talent. (David Pollock)
i anmNsELsii
French trumpeter Erik Truffaz' new album takes its name from the crazin surreal architecture and shifting wintry landscape of the remote Russian city of Arkhangelsk. and succeeds in working up some intriguing musical geometry of its own. Truffaz has worked with vocalists on several of his previous projects. but gives added prominence to the human voice on this latest disc.
He has recruited three stylistically distinct vocalists for the purpose. French singer Christophe. rapper Nya. and English singer-songwriter Ed Harcowt. All three fit neatly into the ambient- jazz grooves of the music from his regular band. with Patrick Muller on keyboards. Marcello Giuliani on bass. and drummer Mark Erbetta. and there is plenty of scope for Truffaz' own Miles- influenced trumpet veice to do its own singing in the course of the disc.
(Kenny Mathieson)
ELECTRONICA
THE RAINBOW FAMILY
This is Not a Circular (Console Sounds) 0..
Having a remote Scottish studio hasn't quite made The Rainbow Famin the new Boards of Canada. but their surroundings certainly seem to have given them a more pastoral outlook. Duo Barry Christie (who has worked with Mylo as a member of Napoleon Solo and the Pretty Boys) and Marco Rea deal in a kind of MOR dance pop which is reminiscent of Lamb or Zero 7.
The music itself. from ‘Have What YOu've Got' to the name-
far finally get their first two albums issued here. the first of which. Separation Sunday. is arguably better than their latest. Girls and Boys of America. Yes it‘s that good. (Full- time Hobby)
Felst The Reminder The one-time member of Broken Social Scene strikes out on her own with a collection which sways and swells between trippy sweetness and bare bones singer- songwriter folk. (Po/ydor)
The Pigeon Detectives Wait for Me The truly terrible band name masks a grOup of insanely perky people intent on converting us with their endlessly cheery. itchy. Sub-Supergrass jangle. (Dance to the Radio)
Mutya Buena Real Girl COuId she be the first post -Sugababes success story? The single is pretty good and this is more understated. electro- pop that takes itself a bit too seriously but is well w0rth a listen. (ls/and)
Clara The Evolution Every once in a while the decidedly patchy world of US R&B produces a totally addictive gem. Way too long by a mile but the good stuff is great. (La Face)
drOpping 'Barbara Bach“ is a fine selection of mid—paced. Summary chill-out SOLindtracks. let down only by a preponderance of floaty. blissed-OLit lyrics that scurid like Paul McCartney at his most effect—heavily twee. (David Pollock)
24 May—7 Jun 2007 THE LIST 59