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HOOK
THE RACONTEURS
Consolers of the Lonely
(XL Recordiiigsl COCO
When Jack White and best bud Brendan Benson teamed up for their debut it was very much a meeting of minds: pop craftsman meets blues rebel, uptown. The results were explosive, both players breaking from familiar constraints to create something new and distinct. For their second collaborative effort they‘ve buffed up the raggedy edges and applied some high gloss rock sheen without losing the intensity or
humour of their debut.
Jack White's unfettered passion for raw blues comes across as an untempered Led Zeppelin fetish, and while the quartet don’t have the dynamic steer or slender splendour of Page and Plant they have plenty of bombastic tricks up their sleeves. ‘You Don’t Understand Me‘ and ‘Many Shades of Black' are as sentimental and anthemic as White has ever been while ‘These Stones Will Shout' is a marvel of Who-ish ingenuity.
The hackneyed mariachi horns of ‘The Switch and the Spur’ and the sugary bumble of ‘Old Enough' are probably the only two really weak points here and the band hit their apogee when they cut loose, the title track and ‘Five on the Five' being keen illustrations. Comparisons with The White Stripes are inevitable, perhaps, but The Raconteurs hold up as a group with sufficiently separate an identity, if not sound, to warrant our full attention.
More than just a cunning marketing exercise, Consolers of the Lonely is an accomplished record, hardly futuristic, but which has manic thrills all of its very own. (Mark Robertson)
JAZZ
LONDON & GLASGOW IMPROVISERS ORCHESTRAS Separately & Together (Emanem Recordsl CO.
For reasons both practical and aesthetic large ensembles have been the exception rather than the rule in the world of free improwsation. Both the London and the rather younger Glasgow Improvisers Orchestras have happily flown in the face of that convention. and the concert captured on
this two-CD set from Martin Davidson's seminal Emanem label brought the two bands together at the Freedom of the City Festival in London last May.
A melee of diverse and multifaceted sonic explorations ensued. some absorbing. some
irritating. some Just weird. The 27-strong line-up of the LIO is featured on seven pieces. mixing ensemble improwsations With 'conductions'. GIO. represented on this occaSion by a 17-piece verSion of the ensemble. perfOrm pieces devised by George Burt and Emma Roche. and a group imprOVisation. Both bands are then heard together on three conductions. led by Dawd Leahy. Una MacGlone and Raymond MacDonald. and Dave Tucker. (Kenny Mathiesoni
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They recognise that it is a very different music scene land societyl now to the one in which Mayer's father created his grotindbreaking 60s experiments Willi jazz musicians (notably the great Joe Harriottl. and er() ll()i :3() riiti(;li breaking down genre boundaries as teasing out fresh inflections from a shared multi-cultural context.
All three contribute compositions to the seven originals that make up the disc. and the result is a subtle and guietly enjoyable fusion. iKenny Mathiesoni
FOLK
HEIDI TALBOT In Love and Light lNavrgator Recordsi 0..
It seems folk Singers just ain't content With being plain old folk Singers these days. Admittedly. the boundaries between folk and the Singer- songwriter game have long been fairly blurred anyway. but more and
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[atmtwurtitfl irks t'ni’. .ei" r" “itat‘i‘. 9‘» set And solo a t‘iu'ti Tahot casts wide for material Traditional stings 'Gltintiogie and ‘Beiliarii Briys' stand alongside a rout" “ Torn Waits 'iir‘iii' her
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requisite graxeli. itiiilill‘ producer Boo Hewardine's 'lnxisible'. The Ink Spots ‘\.thispering Grass and a duet With Kris Drewr on "The Blackest Crow". Sweetly done, and With top-class instrumental collaborators. including John McCusker. Donald Shaw. Michael McGoldrick and John Doyle
iKenny Mathiesoni
POP GNARLS BARKLEY
The Odd Couple (Warner Bros) .00
The corripletely addictive nature of their debut single ‘Cra/y' set the bar just a tad high for Danger MOLise and Cee-lo Green (for they are Gnarls Barkley). The chances of lightning striking tWice was remote but they‘ve shown their chops as composers of deft tracks that seamlessly blend 40 years of black
musrc into one futuristic.
soolful mumbo-jumbo Jet.
The shuffle beats and guinea pig-like wails are appealing in their own ways — Cee-lo is in posseSSion of an incredible set of pipes — but there's a self- consoous orderliness that has crept into their shtick. but this is a little tOO polite in places to really explode as you hoped it would. Good. just not crazy good. (Mark Robertson)
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Various Singles 2006-08 (MoshiMoshi) Doing what the mighty Fierce Panda label prided it self on - discovering and celebrating the stars of tomorrow, today - MoshiMoshi gather together a salvo of their hottest moments over the last 24 months. And rest assured there’s plenty of good stuff to be had: Late of the Pier. Lykke Li. Kate Nash and more.
10-24 Apr 2008 TH. LICT 67