Life's shit enough, so this issue we're only gonna review good stuff. So. no lJbertines-influenced jangle monkeys. no dodgy hip hop, no execrable manufactured pop or R&B. no po-faced nu- metal (you have no idea). Only quality. original tunes will make it onto The List's stereo.
mark is a good place to start. The Icelandic force of nature is in typically weird yet ultimately wonderful form on 'Wanderlust' (One Little Indian) 00” . which blends her unique voice with cranky techno beats and arguing horns. and builds to a thrilling climax.
‘Sunshine Kid’ (Text) eeoo . from American female artist One Little Plane, is a gentler affair, and sounds a bit like The Breeders if they hung out at a lo-fi indie disco and drank sugary juice instead of methadone.
Glasgow foursome Burnt Island's ‘The Moments Before’ (demo) u” is a sombre and moving slice of indie folk, sonorous vocals blending moodin with delicate piano and rhythms to sound like a downbeat Delgados on an acoustic tip. Parka are the flipside of Scottish rock. their ‘Better Anyway' (Jeepster) 000 bursting out the speakers in a flurry of riffs and shouting, and while it’s not the most original sound around. they inject plenty of FratelIi-style charm into proceedings.
Meanwhile. ‘lf the News Makes You Sad. Don‘t Watch lt' (XL Recordings) 0” by Edinburgh collective Broken Records is an expansive bit of anthemic. string-laden, folk-flecked indie. which owes a debt to the wide-eyed wonder of Arcade Fire, but has enough invention of its own to bode well for the future.
And so to Joint Singles of the Fortnight. an all-Glasgow affair with Make Model and Attic Lights sharing the honours. The latter's ‘God' (Island) 0000 is consummate Fannies- style melodic guitar pop, dripping with melody and harmony, and pouring liquid sunshine into the ears of everyone within listening distance. By contrast. Make Model's 'The LSB' (EMI) cm is a thing of ragged glory. an angry. jagged affair of shouting and jerking which somehow manages to remind you of a hundred great pop records at once. then suddenly left-turns into stadium-filling anthem territory.
Nice. That's cheered us up a treat.
(Doug Johnstone)
ROCK
REM Accelerate (Warners) me
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Returns to form don't 1 come much better or ' ‘ more surprising. Written off as an increasingly irrelevant force this millennium (particularly following 2004's mediocre Around the Sun), REM now breeze in with a startlingly youthful record. And. indeed. all
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the hallmarks of their 19808 post-new wave roots are here: Peter Buck‘s arpeggiations. Mike Mills' mobile bass
66 THE LIST 10—24 Apr 2008
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Altogether, the songs breathe in an f?)(l)illlf1l‘.tr inanner not displayed since lfll'fiti's [ i/i li’ri ‘ll l’agcu'i/it.
A career overyiew of sorts. then, and their best showing in a decade a 91st century reconstruction of the RNA fable.
(Jan l Xeschkp
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iiiPiioel l l cinoNicA KYON & DYEMS
Overnight (Crystal Wish) 0...
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Kyon & Dyems are enigmatic Edinburgh— based brothers who, on this quality showuig. would put most major label hip hop acts to shame. This debut album. recorded on a budget. is nevertheless brimming With ideas. intelligence and wrt. its myriad influences connecting to make a web of emotional and lyrical power.
Their musical backdrop is primarily electronica. but everything from swrng and indie to world music and leftfield R88 shows face. the brothers blending porgnancy and humour to great effect. This works brilliantly throughout but reaches a pinnacle on epic final track ‘Popular', which is a mLiSical journey through every DOSSlble emotion in its own right. (DOug Johnstone)
HADOUKEN! Music for an Accelerated Culture A? l'7tll ‘. CRYSTAL CASTLES
Culture Castles [)lf‘it‘flfrl‘i Wl/AS ..”.
lhe so called new rave scene has been responsible for spevnng out a load of old meaningless tosh since it was coined by desperate inusic journalists two years ago. but its latest wrong comes in the lorrn of the debut album from one of the genre's inost hyped bands. Singles like 'lhat Boy That Girl and 'Liguid l ives' showed great promise for Hadoukenl. but Music For an Accelerated Culture is a cheesy. clinical sounding rnusical rness cornplete With cringey lyrics. painful Nintendo melodies. purnping dance beat-tinged ballads and abhorrent screaino vocals. stamping out any potential their energetic grinie punk live shows once displayed.
Great things can come from coinbining computers. keyboards and pretentious haircuts. however. Just look at the Leeds- based fivesome's Alr’lfl lovrng counterparts Crystal Castles'. whose first offering is a really rather Sublime example of modern electronic music in its scratchy blips. high-pitched bleeps. icy rhythms. screeches and shrieks. Some may argue that Similar creations have been made through Addadat Records for years now. but no band on their roster has yet come Lip wrth an
‘l IN'H! Lt 'i\'\ KATHLEEN EDWARDS
Asking for Flowers ltnmlm 0...
like all the tit-st Anieni‘aiis. Kathleen lif‘.‘.aids is tillliltill‘, (Lanadian. although you'd be hard pressed to tell on the basis ol her third studio album. ller punchy yet tender World wean, get impassioned take on country and rock rould put hall of Nashville to shame.
In particular it has balls. ‘8 is for bullsliit' she spits at her rat of a man in ‘lhe (Zheapest Key', while '()il Man’s War' spears (‘ieorge [)ubya. lliink l ucinda Williarns' wonian scorned thing. Whiskeytown's good time Vibe. and a propensity for sticking it to lhe Man a la Neil Young. Hold on, he's Canadian too. An. you get the idea.
(Malcolm .lackl
SINGE R SONf‘iV/Hlll H ALLY KERR
Off the Radar
(Much Obliged Records) .0.
Off the Radar is the
second album from one
of Scotland's brightest rising stars, Ally Kerr. whose debut set Calling Out to You from 2005 was hailed by critics from as far afield as Tokyo; the Glaswegian can be traced back as early as 2003 when he released
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Hi )( ;k NH )ll THE DIRTBOMBS We Have You Surrounded
llll lhe Hedi CO.
l’ity lhe [)irtbonibs. While lrontrnan Mick Collins (With his lorrner outfit llie (ioriesi can claim to have been a formative irilliience on lhe White Stripes, they may always be known to the wider public as second wave garage bandwagon riders. ()n the other band. now that Jack's abandoned Detroit. it's up to lhe [)irtboinb'; to keep the dream alive and they make a good list of keeping Motor City". fires burning WI”) llll‘. collection.
lhe Dirtborribs' unabashed love of music. be it soul i‘l;ver Lown Man'). weird pop (Sparks cover ‘Sherlock Holmes) or machine rnusic (Race to the Bottom) shines through their rudirrientar/ playing style and. like a jukebOX in a dive bar, it's a safe bet that The Dirtbornbs \Nl“ still be going strong when the next reVival rolls around. (Sean Welsh)