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In Rainbows
So you've registered, paid what you thought your download might be worth (in our case £3.03 plus 45p admin fee - who are you calling cheap?), downloaded, burned, copied it and generally stuck it to ‘The Man' in no uncertain terms. What, you wonder. does it sound like? Well, erm . . .
Radiohead.
In Rainbows is no The Bends, OK Computer or even Kid A. And that's what makes it great. Radiohead have managed to avoid many of the traditional pitfalls afforded to rock bands who want to take their music on after achieving a degree of success. Radiohead don’t have to have orchestras, 15- minute wig outs or high concepts to evolve musically. On In Rainbows they refine their musical palette, drawing more confidently on other textures than the well-intentioned, if self-conscious, electronic grumps of Kid A. While 2005's Hail to the Thief contained some fine songs, this is a fine album, coherent, cogent and consistent. There is an understated elegance that is never sacrificed in the name of sonic experimentalism. It bubbles, sways and even momentarily rocks through ‘15 Steps', ‘Bodysnatchers’ and ‘Jigsaw Falling into Place’, songs that can all comfortably take their place among their bulging battery of truly tremendous songs. This is the first record in ten years that Radiohead have made that manages to secure a reliable balance between studio style and musical substance. Phil Selway engages in round of dub riddims while Thom Yorke comes over all Barry White (well, as Barry White as Thom Yorke can) on ‘House of Cards’ while ‘Faust ARP’ is 129 seconds of featherlight, syncopated acoustic brilliance. Closer ‘Videotape' borrows quietly from Mogwai but refuses to give us their typical money shot, and Iumbers off moodin into the horizon.
The hope is that the unconventional delivery method of this album will become a lesser concern, and over time, the songs, which are for the most part magnificent, are what really stick. (Mark Robertson)
ROth IDLEWILD
A Distant History iPailophonei 0.00
Ask anyone who's ever poured over Cure outtakes oi Pulp 8- sides. When you get to know a band's back catalogue intimater after time it's the hits in between that hold the greatest lascination. After ten years of cutting out their own distinct shapes from indie rock's rug of mam colours. the\, follot‘. a
greatest hits package With this download—only clutch of rarities. oddities and B—sides. a description which does this collection a (llStSOlVlCO. 'Sell Healer‘ is a decade old but shows a kernel of the band's magic in succinct. distinct style. while an acoustic
rendering of ‘El Capitan'
inletfts a winsome
melanchon into a sunny
pop song, 'Don't Let Me Change captures one of Roddy \’Voomt_)le's most fevered \ocal performances and “I Was Made to Think” is as great a song as they’ve e\ er written. An album of hidden treaSures.
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ELECTRO
ROISIN MURPHY Overpowered
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A love or hatred of Roisin Murphy's fonner band aSide. there’s no arguing With the fact that this ex~Mo|oko \OCLlllSl currently makes some of the most sophisticated electro pop arctind. Boasting catchy melodies. deiiienic basslines. sleek production and sultr‘. vocals that Sophie Ellis-Bextor cart only dream of. O.~erpo*.'.'e'eo
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DIRTY PROJECTORS Rise Above
1R iurih Trade) 0..
Although the new album from New York singer» songwriter Dave Longstreth is pitched as a from-memory re— interpretation of Black
F lag 's Dariiaged LP. there isn't much here that Will have old punks getting excited. With its )angling instrumentation and sOquul harmonies. Rise Above is more a record which will be appreCiated by fans of Magnetic Fields and Edwyn Collins.
When you get over the fact that these songs are based on the work of Henry Rollins. it becomes an engaging collection. The rough- hewn rockabilly strum of ‘Six Pack', for example. and the breathy ambience of 'Police Story‘ evoke a light West Coast verSion of protest Singing which Big Hank surely never imagined for his songs. (DaVid Pollock)
INDIE POP
THE ROYAL WE The Royal We (Geographic) COO.
BreVity characterises Glasgow indie darlings The Royal We's first (and final) album to the letter: it lasts iust 15 minutes. contains only eight tracks, and roughly marks the band's end. the sextet haying already declared their impending split some time in advance of this release.
Shon and sweet? Most definiteiy. Bar an
,ini'tspiri'if) fa‘mr at Chris lsaak's "flicked Gaiiie'. not a second “3. wasted as the i‘heei‘. joil of Belle and Sebastian 'i‘eets The B 533;" )erk‘, surf punk, and The Raincoats' arty .veirdness. in a glorious amalgam of the Sl‘yllSlT i'All the Hage'i and the (lf)\.‘.llllt]lll goofy l.\'A‘y’l|ly“ It does everything a pop album should makes you want to dance. laugh. cry and press play again.
(Malcolm Jack)
WORLD ORCHESTRA BAOBAB
Made in Dakar (World Circuit) 0...
Faced With dWindling audiences in the 80s. the members of Orchestra Baobab slzd away from the forefront Of their native Senegalese music scene. and went their separate ways. World Circuit Records have always dreamt of reuniting the band. particularly in light of a new-found Western love of Afrobeat. So here they are five years on from their triumphant 2002 reunion, With a 80und that's mOre exploswe and energetic than ever before. Orchestra Baobab admit to being a hodge- podge of mUSICal traditions and Made in Dakar is a terrific fu3ion of Congolese rumba. Cuban Jazz. ska. calypso and West African griot traditions. Issa Cissoko's electrifying Cuban sax and the rhapsodic tones of a BB King-style guitar in 'Ndeleng Ndeleng'. erupt in a tremendous climax — perhaps the most riot0us track of the lot. iFIorence Thompson)
ALSO RELEASED
Various Off the Beaten hack iltilisle’ Trampi A doren of Scotland's most deliCiOuS new acts including Frightened Rabbit. Beeiiacket. Evan Crichton and Galchen shine on this classy showcase from this potential filled new label
To Rocco Rot ABC 723 (Domino) Less is most certainly more in this succinct (21 minutes!) album of warm electropop shapes recordtxl to celebrate the sum birthday of the typeface Helvetica Ween La Cucaracha (Schnitzel) Dean and Gene return for their first album in four years With exactly what yOu might hope for: more delightfully addled psych-pop. Depeche Mode Ultra and E'XCitei (Mute) The final instalments of the remastering and beefing up of the Mode's glorious back catalogue finishes With their last two albums replete With rarities galore. Strayllght Run T he Need/es The Space (Universal Republic) This is what emo kids do when they grow up: make beautifully melancholic. melodic pop With a Wily, unpredictable edge. Like Belle and Sebastian doing . . . Trail of Dead covers. Various Well Deep: Ten Years of Big Dada Recordings (Big Dada) One hundred and twenty months of magnificent hip hop releases condensed into one verbose two-disc package with Roots Manuva. Spank Rock and the mucn underrated Busdriver letting rip for old time's sake. Chester P From the Ashes (Rawdog/ Chessmonster) This very nearly didn't make it. a raw album of Brit rap rescued from the embers of the studio it was recorded in, voiced by one of Britain's truly unique lyrical forces.
l8 Oct—7 Ho; 2’10? THE LIST 61