Music Record Reviews
SINGLES & DOWNLOADS
Jarvis Cocker
Take four kids from Northern Ireland and force feed them AC/DC from birth and you'd create The Answer. a scarily authentic gonzo rock outfit who create a fun fluster of riffage and shrieking on 'Tonight' (Albert Productions) 000 Brainless fun. essentially,
Which is the inverse of TV on the Radio. a muchlauded cerebral outfit who someone manage to be completely anonymous and joyless on the clinical modern funk of ‘Crying' (AAD) O. Cheer up. lads.
It's more fun to be dumb. right? So it proves With million-selling Aussie twm pop pixies The Veronicas. whose ‘Untouched' (Sire) 000 manages to conjour up ghosts of Sigue Sigue Sputnik and Tatu simultaneously while also haVing enough edge to its ragged melodies to make it intriguing.
Less successful in the Antipodean pop stakes is Ladyhawke's “Back of the Van“ (Modular)
O. a monotonous and uninspired take on 803 synth-pop. which has neither the ballsy front of Lady Gaga or the quirks of Little Boots.
At the other end of the pop world are The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. a cutesy indie Quartet from NYC who tap into thirty years of alternative (angle with predictable results on ‘YOung Adult Friction‘ (Fortuna Pop!) .0 complete with bog standard squirty keyboards and insrpid guitars.
More charisma is on display on Speech Debelle's ‘60 Then. Bye' (Big Dada) 000
a wonderfully loose-limped slice of vitriolic rap. swaggering eloquently arOund over a backdrop of Jazzy. lethargic beats.
Didn‘t Royksopp used to be soft as warm putty? 'The Girl and the Robot” (Wall of SOund) 0... featuring some feisty vocals from fellow Scandinavian Robyn. seems like a different band. a driven and robust piece of ice-cool dancefIOOr-filling mayhem, all iuddenng beats and sinister synths, Robyn 's anxious v0ice adding depth to proceedings.
And someone else who seems to have given himself a welcome kick up the arse is Jarvis Cocker. ‘Angela‘ (Rough Trade) 00.. Wins Single of the Fortnight for starting off like T Rex with a humungous grinding fu22y riff. before ripping through a chorus that is pure dumb genius. then winding up in a mess of garagey shouts and shakes. (Doug Johnstone)
65 THE LIST 21 .‘b‘ Mi. .f I :3
TLHE'VASELINES Enter the Vaselines 5.: 1’ z .0000
/ I t i i E ii '
Ki: , z ‘t
in Kit ti '0 l .ot "I I 9 TI l a t'i’: (r ".1 (tin
t ‘ i'r , (t't' til it "' " A: y I? .I't’tflt
{ 1.‘ tit'ti}
i' 3 /ri three
n"; until" ti tttfilfn'lti.
'i talnriiisi, on their M l\.’ Unplugged perfrivma'ii e
More: the. ynl}, released one a‘bun: and t.'.'o t Ps . if) songs in totali that are all on this double (2L) retrospectrxe. along With some demos and tl‘.’(,‘ recordir‘igs. lbe‘, coxered (Kai), (Elitter ll‘.’t:. which seems much more iiiipiident today. Belle and Sebastian might record a song called ‘Hor‘, Hides Me Hax'i'. but probably ~.'.'ouldi‘.'t touch [)iVIrle's trash disco classic 'You think You're a Man'. \Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam' is their best song. They were are a special band. t[){t‘.’l(t Pollocki
lt( )(LK'N' net l MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA Mean Everything to Nothing
(Sony) 0...
‘_ ii]
2 . it It 15W" 'W’lim'iti
They're not from Manchester and the; We not an orchestra. lnstead this young indie fine-piece from Atlanta tap into the blue-collar rock ethic that's spa‘.';ned the likes of The Hold Steady and K.ngs ot' Leon. while also displaying plenty .yeirdness to keep them interesting. Tracks like
‘ {r t. ' I .t i" no ' {'2' ' r In". H'
t‘{' it' 1. t’ "t~{.i""i.t‘ .;»"l»"'. i r ‘ ' {i'l," I'm; ' “
[M Li} J ,m ti le‘iit MY LATEST NOVEL
Deaths and Entrances itiella Ultltlfti .0.
Now ‘.'.’lttt a title like [)m'it/is And I ritrariiges. the longawaited second long player front this (Breenock based bunch was never going to be a barrel of laughs. And right enough, it makes for pretty \.'/eighty listening; as gritty rifts. sWIrling strings. thundering drums and literature referencing lyrics combine to make grandiose guitar epics reminiscent at points of The Delgados. Mogwai and Forrera/era Arcade Fire.
Just a few of the records themes include dreams, war. time travel. murder. rebirth. science fiction and time and space. and while all of that may sound like a hell of a lot to take in My Latest Novel sugar coat it Witt) some of their most spell-binding melodies to date. Stirring stuff.
(Camilla Pia)
INDIE;
PHOENIX Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
(V2) 0...
Phoenix are really rather brilliant. it's Just a shame more peOple don't know
f‘t ri‘jr.rr_:
'i°'.'i‘7‘ "’ll‘t'i. " °t A'H} ' 'tt titi,i\.)"..'“ “‘K ’i'
rie.'. iiiateri.i_ i"): ("I“- <.)tll<l ‘.‘.l‘li ttt‘f"t°‘ ‘ .oiir mi is? thrilliiii; il.tisii:al discontent». t"l‘i summer .es.tttat good. really.
iflaiiiilla t)l£t'
l i )l k
RACHEL HAIR The Lucky Smile (March Hair Records) 0...
PCs/tire Hair
Harpist Rachel Hair builds on her promising solo debut release. Hiibcaps (‘2 /')()i’/lt)/i)f;, Wlttl this more expansive and subtly ja// inflected disc. It is built around a basic trio featuring her harp. Andi, Sharkey's double bass
and Paul iracey's guitar.
With additional contributions from drummer Scott Mackay’. percussionist Paul Jennings. producer Angus Lyon's harmenium and t ender
Rhodes. a solitary fiddle
outing from Graham McGeoch and txro Gaelic vocals from Joy Dunlep.
The harpist's decision to go Witt) players who are also involved on the Scottish (a// scene pays rich dividends. adding a touch of iinproVisational fluidity and both harmonic and rh'fihmic subtly to the music ‘.‘/lttt()Ut sacrificing its traditional folk appeal. Her o Ht) playing is excellent. and her choice of material mixes attractive original cornpositions wrth well- chosen tunes from both traditional and contemporary SOurces.. (Kenny Mathiesoni
PREFUSE 73 Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian ‘.'..l't COO
i.i " ‘ ‘ Hi' lhii“"' .‘ ' ‘ 1 . . r .,. l 2‘”
r 1: . r
' l 1.3“} li' '
r t‘ if“ r' 2' l . [ t'(‘:r“ "i"; t I ‘tH' r' r, i t w v: ml in. ‘itl 3. ‘t'al k ' 1' (third lo “til "
'l i" 1th"). t .z' litil ilti ii ‘tt"'
at) I.\[)[)itil‘tlr"' .. at «lint. lllwt‘.
ttvr tint? flit km t‘liif
"".“ttl“it"“.mt, i.i-'l-)a't itil'i'. t .‘.l ttlf‘tt‘i'tftft'l."t.
llt’llllt'flt‘l
into-l“ 3"”
iftt‘ftf’mtil't{1"‘it'llh
.‘.’itfti“ft()t ittt’l'n'Ii‘J twain. ill 't‘Tw'yitifl
't i)lilltittll‘. ,f filiiiriii‘ «)t 't’aiaitiiite Walla tr i' Stay .7th him and It". .‘.iortti tbe ’,tlll b tor tlvi- i(luck fitltilt)‘i‘t‘.()tit
beautiful .'Ii:.‘.’
((LIaIre fiaf.’ l.)
Ml iAi
HEAVEN & HELL The Devil You Know (Roadrunner) COO
tt‘:£t.":f‘. P. Hell are (:T.‘J:fltl£t|ty’ ”titty Sabbath 'Mark em After UH; .‘ia‘, kicked
out. tainboxr maalrt
Honnie .Jariie', [Jim stepped into the breact. my back in Mr"). Non.
{:11
for legal reasons. ti tour and record as Hea/en 9’. Hell but it's still legendary guitarist Tully l0fliflll (tflft DEN/AU? Gee/er Blltlm ’J/ltti a tut of help from drummer Vinnie Applee).
Bible Black ir; particular bristles with Old school rock blotter arid COuId eazily slot in Ejlfillgfsld‘; 'N‘;()Ti Knights" or 'The Mob Rules. Howe Jer. the llkeS Of 'DOUbl‘: ttlf;