Record Reviews Music
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The Hold
eady
ll. it \
The challenge for The View is to avoid ‘doing a Fratellis', i.e. delivering an underwhelming second album thereby massaging the feeling that all your early promise was based on one good song. Sad to say, the rowdy but slight
jangle of ‘5 Rebbeccas’ (1965) no
looks
like sending the jury out for a long deliberation. Another Scots bunch it's hard to get a handle on are Glasgow's Punch and the Apostles, whose new double A-side ‘l'm a Hobo/Can of Beans’ (Lucky Number Nine) one is long on saxophone. tin pan percussion and ranty Tom Waits vocalising. This bunch are well worth the benefit of the doubt, although the trick could get old very soon. They do have more polish than Edinburgh's pleasantly indiefied Kld Canaveral though, who provide a decent effort in ‘Second Time Around/Missing Me’ (Straight to
Video) .00
Elsewhere, Adele is going straight for the heart of the coffee table blues circuit with ‘Make
You Feel My Love’ (XL) 00
, which rather
cannin sounds very much like Norah Jones' ’Don't Know Why'. Sold, say malcontent housewives across the land! Much more exciting within the field of quirky female singer— songwriterliness is Lykke Ll, the Swedish vocalist whose ‘Little Bit' (Atlantic) em is
confident and distinctive.
Not so Rodney Smith, aka Roots Manuva.
the one-time biggest hope
for UK hip hop. His
new track ‘Let the Spirit' (Big Dada) m is fairly flaccid urban soul, which only the inclusion of a Hot Chip remix on the flipside can rescue. Much more attention-grabbing is the lithe minimalism of US hip hoppers The Cool KIds’
‘Mikey Rocks’ (XL) eee
and. dare it be said,
the gauche but somehow utterly pop-attuned new ravers Late of the Pler with ‘Bathroom
Gurgle’ (Parlophone) no
So it‘s a two-horse race for Single of the Fortnight this time, and just being pipped at the post are The Last Shadow Puppets with ‘My Mistakes Were Made For You’ (Domino) eeee , on account of the fact it's more or less interchangeable with the rest of Alex Turner and Miles Kane’s excellent Scott Walker phase. instead. top prize goes to The Hold Steady’s “Stay Positive’ (Rough Trade) 0000 . an urgent and expansive kind of rocker — a win which will hopefully offer the band suitable consolation while illness has temporarily forced them off the
road. (David Pollock)
EXPERIMENTAL POP THE ALIENS
Luna (Pet Rock) 000
After the glam rock and j acid-soaked psychedelia ‘ on Astronomy for Dogs. this second album (on their own label) lets the three ex—Beta Band members leapfrog over even more musical
boundaries. Recorded in Fife but sounding like a hippie Californian summer. Luna embraces the freedom The Aliens found after leaving EMl, but sometimes squeezes it too hard.
Flitting between prog- rock, seagulls and church choirs. ‘Bobby's Song' is a ten-minute
wander through sea shanties, dreamy Beach Boys melodies and distorted keyboards, and 'Theremin' a blissful electronica swirl. It's a confusing mix of innovation and euphoria - often hectic and over- ambitious — although glimpses of brilliance lie under the layers of sonic clutter. (Claire Sawers)
INDIE
MT. WILSON REPEATER
Mt. Wilson Repeater (Chemikal Undergound) m
Named after the mountain that '8 home to Los Angeles’ famous observatory, the Radar Bros’ frontman Jim Putnam’s first solo project is an appropriately spaced-out and pleasantly retro- sounding recording. The eleven largely instrumental tracks composed, recorded and engineered to the nth (as in noodling) degree by Putnam on his lonesome. evoke The Beach Boys and early Pink Floyd as much as they do the Radar Bros and their slowcore contemporaries. Soft psychedelics. ethereal guitars. acoustic strums and lo-fi drones slip and fade into one another on evocativer titled tracks such as ‘lslands in the Sun’, “All Night Every Day' and ‘Tether in the Haze’. You could argue that it's 45 minutes of dreamy samey-ness (a similar criticism has been levelled at The Radar Bros). and listened to as 11 separate tracks that is. indeed. the case. Taken as one long, meandering riff, though, Putnam's eponymous solo debut is a pleasant enough trip.
(Miles Fielder)
FOLK
BLAIR DOUGLAS Stay Strong (Bithibh Laidir/ Rester Fort) (Ridge Records) 0000.2
The triple language title of keyboard and accordion player Blair Douglas' latest outing reflects the characteristic mix of Scottish/Gaelic folk and rock. Cajun and New Orleans music that makes up this typically eclectic collection. The Skye musician's love for cajun music in particular shines strongly through the music, whether echoing its Canadian and Louisiana connections or underpinning a comic Gaelic song about the failings of Skye's males (Douglas. of course. being one such).
His excellent tunes and songs take in poignant heart-on-sleeve ballads. anthemic rock. sparkling Cajun workouts, a slice of New Orleans R&B and his very different tributes to Martyn Bennett in ‘Martyn In Mind' and James Brown in 'Keep the Céilidh Funky'. They are interpreted by a diverse collection of guest musicians and singers, including Eddi Reader, Michael Marra. Cookie Rankin, Kathleen Maclnnes, Arthur Cormack and Runrig’s Bruce Guthro and Rory MacDonald.
(Kenny Mathieson)
JAZZ
ZOE a IDRIS RAHMAN Where Rivers Meet (Manushi Records) eee
Pianist Zoe Rahman joins forces with her brother, clarinettist and flautist ldris Rahman, to pay tribute to the Bengali heritage handed down to them by their father. The
pianist’s trio with bassist
0.. Hayhurs, and ALSO RELEASED
drummer Gene Srece Jones Calderazzo forms the Hum’cane (Wall of jazz element of the disc, Sound) She's been a augmented by Kuljit bitchy Bond girl. Bhamra’s percussion, Andy Warhol's muse Samy Bishai on violin, and a terrifyingly cool and several guest 70$ disco diva. She's vocalists singing the back after a 20 year Bengali songs. pause, with an album The songs make up worked on by Brian about a third of the Eno and Sly 8: album, with the Robbie. remainder given over to The Cure 4:13 purely instrumental Dream (Suretone/ material. The beguiling Gel/en) Robert Smith
soundalikes seem to be all over the shop at the moment. But here’s the original back-comb and eyeliner loving post- punker. on the band’s
melodies and richly coloured harmonies combine to form a fascinating, lightly textured hybrid that is part chamber jazz and part Bengali folk-pop
music, although the 13th album to date. tunes may also make Bob Dylan Tell Tale you think of Balkan or Signs (SonyBMG) A Gypsy music at times. A treasure trove of distinctly different and songs for fans of the always absorbing take chameleonic on the world jazz troubadour. Part phenomenon. eight of the Bootleg (Kenny Mathieson) Series is available as a two CD collection WITH AMP edition set with a HDDLER bonus disc and book Inspiration lnforrnation 1 0f Singles artwork. (Strut) m. Bennle ‘Prlnce' Illly Is it the Sea? (Domino) Edinburgh‘s Harem Scarem and Glasgow’s Alex Neilson make a rousing. rootsy sound during their tour around Scotland with Kentucky’s alt.country son, BPB. Purveyors of fine music Deerhunter compilations, Strut have Microcastle (4A0) branched out into fresh Dreamy. delicate. studio recordings by borderline spiritual pairing up acclaimed moments fuse with artists for exclusive five- chaotic garage rock day sessions. In this first on this follow up to instalment former Cryptograms. Funkadelician and Max Rlehter 24 contemporary smooth Postcards in Full soul rambler Amp Fiddler Colour (Fat Cat)
meets esteemed 80s soul and reggae
Entering musical no- man’s land - the
producers and rhythm mobile phone
section Sly Dunbar and ringtone — the
Robbie Shakespeare. Edinburgh-based There are some classical-meets- interesting touches from electronica composer
tries to find a bit of hidden beauty in the
the renowned Jamaican duo but the Fiddler
comes out on top and medium.
this thoughtfully Suqababes Catfights presented release and Spotlights appears more an asland) How time
flies. The in-your-tace pop dollies are
extension of his solo oeuvre than anything
especially new or already on their sixth uncharted. It's a shame album. and this time as his longing. smoky the ladies are
vocals fit delightfully squaring up to glove-like on the rare. Motown and Abba genuinely reggae- pop styles for a disco inflected tracks. showdown.
(Mark Edmundson)
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