non BLAKE . Shayan 4 .3
ADAM GREEN . . Sixes and Sevens ' -* "‘ i'.r *;n 0000
ELBOW The Seldom Seen Kid ’ O...
: : ;.~ ' ‘ l i- - . : " - : " ' . Mancunian troubadours Elbow have always been at the more inventive ' r v - ; - "' -v " : . " .z ; : .' " .: ' -.' : : " . ; end of the indie spectrum. Their restless musical experimentalism has :- . H : ' . : : ' :: . garnered a mountain of critical acclaim. but their refusal to take the . . .. . . . . ' easy route has seen them often overtaken in the popularity stakes by ' ' y : z - -. . - ' : . . , z : :' ' ' .' : the generation of epic soundscapers they‘ve inspired, from Coldplay to ' :2: 2:.» . Editorsandbeyond. : :.' : ~ : ; " w w . ." ' ' .- ' ' 2'. v' ' . .' '- But that doesn‘t seem to worry frontman Guy Garvey and co. at least - : 2' 2 -. ; .- ' " - " . :" ' ' : on this evidence. Because the five-piece band push the boat out once 2'. "v .' :' : z. ' . 1 1- : - ' -- ' ' ' : more on this fourth long player, creating often astonishing sounds and 23' :-- : .- ' '* " .1 " " : v : . ' ' " ' . :' '.' musical textures which have you scratching your head and applauding :ftw :' : ' w 1' -' "t v " ' ~ 1' ' z'- 2" . in admiration in equal measure. . .. . i ' Z . . ' Opener ‘Starlings‘ is a case in point: an extraordinary mood piece 2' z :".« v : z : -- ' ' z 1' whose melancholic flutters and twitches are disturbed by explosions ' 'x' : ~i . " : y : : . . ' 'AMbLIEICO of manic energy to spellbinding effect, much like a flock of the birds in H ' "" " ' ” H " 1 See Heart. See Muscle the t't'e’ , , . ' .: .m‘ a .- ' . v .' ' w; w ,1. . ... Elsewhere, the Single ‘Grounds for Divorce‘ displays Garvey‘s bleakly '. . ' ° ' " w. " = -. z . 2' ' comic worldview (he‘s undoubtedly one of the finest lyricists in the
I ' country at the moment) over a Cajun-influenced rawk riff, which really i " ' shouldn‘t work but does wonderfully. '*‘ : As always with Elbow, there is a home for the quietly epic in The ' Seldom Seen Kid, the zenith of which is ‘One Day Like This‘, a song 2 I which actually makes brilliant use of a string section, rather than the " usual tack-on most indie types employ. This album is too interesting to be Elbow‘s breakthrough into the
commercial big league, but is all the better for that. (Doug Johnstone) .‘_\‘\\ I ,3 p ' ' U" .‘ "A ; ’. H H 'I ' “I, ’ THEWHIP . ‘ XMarks Destination " " . I' ' to... “’1 ' ' «w:
Knano3““ .=-;' “1*7’ "'# .,. . QUARTET i' : '::.«. .z'»:- : . : . . ., &WU MAN " =' " " '-I r ; fl -.:' . '1’ ;.. ~ .::
The Cusp of Magic ' ' Ross AINSLIE z. . ' v ~ v .. . .. \‘ ' °'” "‘ &JARLATI-l ' f ' '
“1 my Jim“, . . .. ' z 2 I HENDERSON ‘. I ' : ;'— v ; : .: ..:
~;..a.:“.:.a'~ u. h; ~ _. ' -~ -. ' -' :i ‘ Partners In Crime Tflafl“709“su:wv‘: ~;~"' ’“- x~":'fl' m. O...
’\ \ ‘r\ ‘ ‘i. " H t PM 1- 3' /.. "
70 THE LIST ‘ ".' -.'