Music Record RevieWS
ROCK MY MORNING JACKET
Evil Urges (ROugh Trade) 00” t ._, ‘
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Having never trod the most conventional paths. Kentucky natives MMJ have almost been Wilco. The Eagles and The Grateful Dead in their long, productive life but have always spun off into their own otherwordly orbit. Evil Urges is a soft focus masterpiece. They rock, roll, swoon, simper, stomp, funk. swing, laugh and cry in unequal measure over the duration, throwing down kitten-like Sly Stone jams before veering off into the woods for some bareback c0untry or the odd blues rock power out. yet this record somehow holds together under the weight of all the ideas on board. They stand poised to take that position in our hearts reserved for The Flaming Lips. In fact. you could go so far as to say they're even
better. (Mark Robertson)
INDIE
DIRTY PRETTY THINGS Romance at Short Notice
(Vertigo) «O
This fiery London bunch have always seemed very much like a Carl Barat-centred. post- Libertines offshoot but with their second full- length release. Dirty Pretty Things take one step closer to being a proper band.
More polished than its predecessor, Romance at Short Notice may disappoint fans of their more frantic first offerings. but songs like ‘Kicks or Consumption', ‘Come Closer', “Tired of
72 THE LIST 3—1 7 Jul 2008
England', ‘Truth Begins'. ‘The Nonh' and ‘Best Face' show new danceable. delicate and unabashedly anthemic sides to the foursome. with Anthony Rossomando and Didz Hammond even taking turns to sing lead for the first time. Not quite perfection then but certainly this is progress indeed. (Camilla Pia)
INDIE
XX TEENS Welcome to Goon Island
(Mule) 00.
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Musical eccentricity in new acts is a marvellous quality, but only if they have the songwriting prowess to back it up. This debut offering by XX Teens is a diverse bag of aforementioned oddity and thrillingly experimental attitudes to both production and instrumentation. We get steel drums. sitars. squelchy samples. horns, harmonicas. harps and even the occasional birdsong here — all of which work wonderfully with the London quintet 's edgy riffs, deranged basslines and Mark E Smith- inspired vocals.
But killer creations such as 'The Way We Were‘. 'Round'. ‘Ba (Ba- Ba Ba)’ and ‘DarIin" are let down by a smattering of directionless filler tracks which sadly sour the whole affair. On the whole though, this is promising stuff.
(Camilla Pia)
REGGAE GOT SOUL NATTY
Man Like I (Atlantic Records) 0...
Reggae music has taken many diversions since its heyday in the 60s and 708. Its newest purveyor. Natty — a 24 year-old former mixer turned guitar-plucking singer- songwriter — chooses to smooth out the genre‘s rougher edges. while declaring his love of soul through some summery pop lyrics.
Like his dapper moniker, the North Londoner is the brightest spark in his proverbial tower block. Check out the sawy “Cold Town'. an anthem indeed for every 'oodie'. the self- explanatory ‘Stoned on You' and the sun- drenched opener ‘July'. For the more thought- provoking among you. listen to ‘Revolution'. ‘Badman', ‘Burn Down this Place' and album closer ‘Say Bye Bye‘.
Now. just where did I put that Eagle-Eye Cherry album?
(Martin C Strong)
ART ROCK FREE KITTEN
Inherit (Ecstatic Peace) 00
It's been eleven years
POP
BECK
Modern Guilt
(XL Recordings) 00..
since we last heard from this art rock supergroup of sorts. but on the evidence of this fourth album, it's not been worth the wait. Featuring Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth alongside Pussy Galore's Julie Cafritz and Boredoms' drummer Yoshimi P-We. Inherit gets off to a slow start. grumbling around looking for a pulse like a comatose Breeders before picking up around the stubborn groove of ‘Roughshod'. then actually becoming a tiny bit fun with the punk nonsense of ‘Help Me' and ‘Bananas'. Alas. things descend into ponderous sonic navel-gazing towards the end.
(Doug Johnstone)
Beck seems to have found his mojo over the last few albums, the self-conscious idea of him being an ‘artist’ is gone and he lets the ideas flow. Modern Guilt is as sharp, clean and crisp a record as you’ll find, a compact, focussed 33 minutes which reveals a few new expansive
EXPERIMENTAL POP LYKK
Youth Novels
(LL Recordings) 0000
Every now and again a new artist pops up that's captivating, edgy and touching all at the same time: Lykke Li (pronounced Licky-Lee) is all of these things. The album. produced by Bjorn Yttling (of Peter, Bjorn and John fame) sees Lykke Li deliver a poetic piece of abstract pOp. reminiscent of Bjork. Warp and Kate Bush. in a series of finely executed moments. From the intro soundscape of “Melodies 8 Desires'.
the fragile beats of ‘Little Bit' and the very beautiful but saddened ‘Time Flies' Youth
Novels is a fine piece of
work that stands out in the wilderness. (Steve Glencross)
METAL . JUDAS PRIEST
Nostradamus
‘ = (Columbia) «00
' Rob Halford’s howl and
tracks as powerful as ‘Breaking the Law' and ‘Painkiller' have cemented Judas Priest's status as a driving force
that helped shape the entire metal genre.
Formed back in the early 70s vocalist Halford left officially in 1993, which was followed by several unspectacular years with Tim ‘Ripper' Owens as frontman. Halford was welcomed back into the fold in 2003. releasing Angel of Retribution, now they've
embarked on their most ; ambitious project yet, a
two disc metal concept album detailing the life of 16th century alchemist and seer Nostradamus over 100 minutes and 23 tracks
twists and turns to his evocative psychedelic strut. Here he sets the strife of global warming and world poverty to an old school R&B shuffle on ‘Gamma Ray’ and routes soft rock bombast through an old moog for the sublime, dreamy
‘Chemtrails’.
This is the sort of thing you’d like from him for the next 20 years; one of these every 18 months, crafting, reshaping and being generally playful with pop forms. Yum. (Mark Robertson)