MuSic Record Reviews
LABELS OF LOVE
Welcome to a new showcase for tasty new labels. This issue, Edinburgh’s T.l.M.s
Brainchild of the ex-Soho songwriter, producer of Add N to (X) and all round ofl-the-wall pop creative Timothy London, T.l.M.s (Tim's International Mobogram service) is a ‘pop experiment’ dedicated to releasing singles and remixes in a way that ensures all readies go to the artists. Timothy explains . . .
A ‘pop experiment’ you say? ‘Now that manufacturing and distribution have been taken from the hands of purely profit driven companies it should be possible for musicians who believe in their music to make it available to everyone with a computer and web connection. via companies like TuneCore and Rawrip who pass on 100% of the money they collect from online stores.’ What’s unique about T.l.M.s‘i’ “The point is not to promote the artist so much as the track, putting it into the market. sending it into space where it might fall right back into the planet‘s atmosphere. burning up on re-entry. or, alternatively. keep moving further into space. being discovered and re-discovered for years to come. Pop songs should have the same element of joy and danger as a top deck full of teenage schoolgirls at 4pm.’
What sort of stuff has T.l.M.s put out so far? ‘Flight 210' by Timothy London featuring Simba (‘basically an Afro/Japanese disaster story for Xmas') and ‘Dirty Disco Sex Bitch/Spermatazoa (Tim London Remix)‘ by The Gussets (“Edinburgh's premier post-post-punk all female group‘. see page 71). In the next month London will have two releases out via T.l.M.s. ‘(I Wonder What Happens) When You Die?’ featuring Jack Snakerider and ‘Meanwhile On Planet Earth' featuring Mikey Mike MC on the Mic.
Where are the goodies at? ‘The label has no online presence beyond the tracks — the idea is that they speak for themselves.‘ You can buy them at all the main online music stores. and also on the portable Raw Stores on the artists' MySpace and Facebook profiles. ‘They just need to be reviewed. listened to. passed on and enjoyed.‘ (Malcolm Jack)
ORCHESTRAL POP . his third overall. Its a
TEITUR The Singer sumptuous and elegant (A&G) 0” piece of orchestral pop,
a melancholic concept album as much stage musrcal as conventional pop album, With the likes of Rufus Wainwright and Neil Hannon ObVlOUS influences. Teitur is more tortured. however, and verges on unsavoury melodramatic self- indulgence at times. especially With some seriously overwrought vocals. But when he concentrates on simple-
Unashamedly ambitious and epic. this is the first album from the Faroe Islands singer-songwriter to be released in the UK.
64 THE LIST 5—19 Feb 2009
hearted niGIOdieS. like D'T the whooping Catherine the Waitress or the Motown-does- thruperinyopera of Legendary Afterparty '. he's undOubtedly a prodigious talent.
lDOug Johnstonei
INDIE
CRYSTAL STILTS Alight of Night (Angular) CO
You know Crystal Stilts are hip because they're from Brooklyn. right? Well, here‘s some news for you: whatever yOur locality. you still need to write a decent melody every now and then. The fivesome's striking image. and the mean and moody Velvet Underground-meets-Gun Club Vibe on their deCidedly patchy debut. is enough to hold our interest for a couple of tracks — and ‘Crystal Stilts'. ‘Departure' and ‘Graveyard Orbit' are admittedly impresswe — but after a while. listening to Night of Night is like attempting conversation With the impOSSibly cool kids at school: the style is impeccable. but you don't get a whole lot back. (Camilla Pia)
EXPERIMENTAL LOST ROBOTS No
(The Orchestra Pit Recording Company) C...
No. Or yes if you‘ve an ear for moody. noodly. semi-improvrsational soundscapes. If you haven't. then you'll think this debut no more than a racket. However. those attracted to more esoteric aural adventures will be rewarded. ‘Beryllium Murmer' sounds like a bunch of drunken monks speaking in tongues backwards. while ‘Prague Spring' suggests a Swiss
clockmaker spontaneously (’CCIG"‘Q to become a muSICIa" halfway through repairing a timepiece,
Elsewhere. there are firmer flirtations with rhythm and melody on the serene ‘Old Iroii Van' and riotOuS climax ”Safety From Numbers‘ Generated on strings percusSion and reeds. computers. toys and small instruments in basements and dining rooms by London-based humans. apparently. (Miles Fielderi
LOVE SONGS
AIDAN MOFFAT & THE BEST-OPS How to Get to Heaven From Scotland (Chemikal Underground) 0...
'J
." "MA/1 N “W .\( MILAN/p
Lovable little Mr Doom and Gloom. or as he puts it, ‘Glasgow's alcoholic Io-fi miserablist' set out to write an album of positive love songs and this. the result. shows Arab Strap’s one- time frontman in playfully sentimental but happily twee-free mode. Reflecting on his ‘heart‘s former keepers'. and diSCussmg good and bad 'necessary love sensations" he is on neatly poetic form.
The leching, the crumbling hearts and the domestic rucks between men and women are woven around (angly folk. simple SyntheSiser beats and hummable melodies. giVing a timely, very tuneful reminder that there's more to Valentine's Day than those tired Hallmark cliches. (Claire Sawers)
JAZZPOETRY AOIFE MANNIX & YM ND
RA 0 MACDONALD Other Voices
(Nu-Jazz Europe)
”0
Jazz and poetry has a lengthy if often problematic history of interaction. and remains a speCiaIised taste. This collaboration between Irish poet and Glasgow saxophonist originated by accident. The two
were brought together for an unschtxluied performance at a literan festival in Staxangw in 2003 and were sufficielitly intrigued To tn. this CD length extension on the back of their single contribution to Sub-Urban Collective's The Dreaming Citi' CD. The first surprise for many Will be MacDonald playing piano rather than saxophone on nine of the 1:3 selections. although he reveals it was his first instrument. My preference lies With the more mobile. improVised feel of his horn work. but the contrast works well. Mannix's readings are expressive Without being over-theatrical, and the pair work together responsively. There is an implicit narrative thread to the selection. as the poems grow more intimate and darker across the disc. (Kenny Mathiesoni
WORLD FUSION NOVALIMA Coba Coba (Cumbancha) COO
NWAUMA
This third release for the Lima-London collective Novalima furthers the adventures in Latin form, Afro-Peruvran percusson and electronic tweaks that spawned 2005's award— Winning Afro. Coba Coba, however. bears all the hallmarks of a process that is eye- opening, thrilling even. in the heat of the live arena or the to” of the studio but at home. on cold. hard compact disc feels somewhat earnest. Pitched somewhere between the Gotan Proiect and Manu Chau. this world fUSion dub makes for potent mood mUSIC. but craves an IRJGCIIOR of fun.
(Mark Edrnundson)
CAL;
JONI KEEN Fragile
(Skylark Records 0..
Like Lona Red's aztiun‘ rexievied 'i‘ these pages recent'x. tn's sel' issued debut album bx Glasgow based sir‘ger Jeni Keen is further evidence of the health\ state of (as: singing in Scotland these dam Fionna Duhcait's successful vocal i'rorkshops and their knockon effect has encouraged lots of singers to turn to swing, and if none of them stand out as something really special. the standard is encouragingly high,
Keen has a nice. warm mice and flexible delivery. She is strong on ballads, although Tom Waits' 'Jersey Girl' doesn't guite come off for me (a little too rhythmically regular. exacerbated by Jim Drummond's drumming). Her take on Waits‘ ‘Shiver Me Timbers' works well, and she is confident in handling the range of (a// standards that make up most of the album. strongly Supported by pianist and arranger Euari Stevenson. (wwwionikeenla/z.com). (Kenny Mathieson)
ROCK
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Working on a Dream (Columbia) 0..
While the chicken or the egg quandary remains the very definition of evolutionary conundrums, we can only assume that Bruce Springsteen's return to a more conventional, acceSSible rock format and the unquenchable enthu5iasm for left leaning, clean sheet politicking in the United States of Obama are purely comcidental. Even if that's the case. the title. Working on a Dream. could have been lifted straight from