Music Record Reviews www.list.co.uk/music
SINGLES & DOWNLOADS
Sugababes are sexy and, bless ‘em, they want us to be sexy too, so they’re imploring us to ‘Get Sexy’ (Island) ●●●●●. Strange, then, with all that sexy-talk in the air, the single should be an insipid rehashing of that deeply unsexy Right Said Fred song ‘I’m Too Sexy’, with only the occasional explosion of electroclash juddering to liven it up. More interesting is ‘Kiss of Life’ (XL) ●●●●● from Friendly Fires, a weird pop-indie-rave- world-music hybrid, which should be a right dog’s dinner, but is imbued with enough youthful exuberance and clattering percussion to keep it trundling along.
Which is more than can be said of ‘Cheat on Me’ (Wichita) ●●●●● by hipster haircut scenester pricks The Cribs. Apparently now with Johnny Marr on guitar, it’s a dreary, aimless piece of formulaic jangle pish, that all the ‘seminal’ guitar lines in the world cannae save.
And so to a couple of weird local bands; firstly nuts ‘Burgher’s Randan Discotheque. ‘Daily Record May 18th 1993’ (The Bonjour Branch) ●●●●● is exactly what it says, a bunch of dated tabloid stories delivered in a lo-fi, hip-hop, electro-pop mash-up with more wit and charisma than a million Cribs.
Our other Scottish loons are Cuddly Shark, who win Single of the Fortnight with their stupendously and effortlessly cool ‘The Sheriff of Aspen Bay’ (Armellodie) ●●●●●. Chock full of choice swearing, manic shrieking, offbeat chug- a-lug riffing, time changes, Led Zep baiting and much more, the Elgin-born and Glasgow-based trio are clearly a band with issues, and all the better for that. (Doug Johnstone)
HIP HOP/INDIE JAMIE T Kings and Queens (Virgin Records) ●●●●●
polished, thought- provoking ballads with ska-inspired raps about life on the streets of London. ‘Sticks’n’Stones’ is stand-out classic Jamie T and the album highlight – if only to applaud a man with the ability to rhyme ‘Hampton Wick’ with ‘lightweight prick’. (Nicola Paul) INDIE POP GIRLS Album (Fantasytrashcan/Turnstile Records) ●●●●●
Love is in the air and the 60s are in the chords as Girls come over all romantic in their debut album. Looking as if they’ve raided the dressing up boxes of MGMT for outfits, and the genres of rockabilly, 60s girl groups and surf pop for sounds, Chet ‘JR’ White and Christopher Owens’ contribution to heartache pop is a lo-fi, retro affair. Catchy hooks and sun-kissed Californian melodies inform the initial aesthetic but there’s a melancholic subcurrent. Much will be made of Owens’ childhood in the Children of God cult, and his background and subsequent rejection of it lends depth to an otherwise fluffy album. (Suzanne Black) INDIE THE BIG PINK A Brief History of Love (4AD) ●●●●●
slapdash choirs and Tillman’s achingly emotive voice, Year in the Kingdom is reminiscent of a lo-fi Sufjan Stevens. It’s a touch unassuming in places, the pace not shifting much, but the occasional break into orchestral tendencies, like the climax of ‘There is No Good in Me’ or the sweetly sonorous ‘Crosswinds’, make it a gentle wee trip worth taking. (Doug Johnstone) 68 THE LIST 10–24 Sep 2009
Following up a Mercury- nominated debut was always going to be difficult. Yet two-and-a- half years later Jamie Treays has managed to polish up his act with a more mature, sharper sound, while still remaining true to his gutter poet, punk- storyteller roots. Proving himself to be far from a one-trick pony, Kings and Queens mixes It’s a shame that John Hughes isn’t around to make movies anymore and that The OC is finished because The Big Pink could have hit pay dirt as the official soundtrackers to both. The London duo may have underground credentials – Sunn 0)))),
Merok Records and Alec Empire all figure somewhere in their story – but this is a supremely accessible synergy of Mary Chain/My Bloody Valentine dissonance, chunky drum machine salvos and C-86s indie harmonies: sugary sweet and hugely addictive.
Aficionados might notice a striking similarity between the aesthetic at play here and that of another 4AD Records outfit, Ultra Vivid Scene. The one difference however is that – on the evidence of this album at least – The Big Pink are destined to be more than a just cult concern. (Mark Robertson)
FOLK MARTIN SIMPSON True Stories (Topic Records) ●●●●●
Martin Simpson is probably most revered as a guitarist, and his prowess on both guitars and banjo is entirely evident on this follow-up to his award- winning 2007 release Prodigal Son, both on two dazzling instrumental tracks and accompanying his singing. He is not blessed with a great voice, but he has the priceless gift of making a song his own, with a quiet authority and expressive power that transcends any perceived limitations. Six of the 13 tracks are his own arrangements of traditional songs, including an evocative ‘Sir Patrick Spens’ and a slightly reworked version of the American staple, ‘Stagolee’. His own songs include the moving ‘One Day’, written at the request of guitarist Martin Taylor to the tune that he wrote after the death of his son. A top-class cast of musicians includes bassist Danny Thompson, Nigel Eaton’s distinctive hurdy-gurdy, pedal
steel player BJ Cole and Radiohead drummer Philip Selway. (Kenny Mathieson) POP RICHARD HAWLEY Truelove’s Gutter (Mute) ●●●●●
The singular skills of Richard Hawley were brought to the attention of the wider world in 2006 by Arctic Monkeys when, on accepting the Mercury Music Prize, they claimed ‘he was robbed!’ after they pipped his album Cole’s Corner for the prize. Two years on Hawley is in quiet, reflective mood on a truly beautiful record that makes great use of his warm fluid baritone and undulating guitar work over some peculiar instrumentation (dig that megabass waterphone kids!) and ever so delicate and considered arrangements. This is Hawley’s In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning, and like Sinatra, he’s in a dark, shadowy place. But instead of trading in melancholy and sadness Hawley’s found a chink of light, a ray of hope and is singing so perfectly for a better tomorrow. (Mark Robertson)
JAZZ MACDONALD FUJII DAVIDSON TAMURA BANCROFT Cities (Nu-Jazz Europe) ●●●●●
Almost by definition, free improvisation is very much a global music language. When players from diverse parts come together on a free agenda, cultural influences will clearly play their internal part in
shaping the emerging musical conversation, but not necessarily in any obvious outward fashion, other than occasional fleeting sonoroties. So it is with this meeting of three musicians based in Scotland, and two from Japan. Saxophonist
Raymond MacDonald, guitarist Neil Davidson and drummer Tom Bancroft linked up with pianist Satoko Fujii and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura for this recording at the CCA in Glasgow back in 2005, although it is only now achieving a release. Their interaction ignores both regular jazz idioms and supposed national characteristics in favour of disciplined abstraction and wide- ranging sonic explorations. (Kenny Mathieson)
JAZZ STEVE KUHN TRIO WITH JOE LOVANO Mostly Coltrane (ECM Records) ●●●●●
American pianist Steve Kuhn’s established trio with bassist David Finck and drummer Joey Baron is expanded to a quartet with the addition of saxophonist Joe Lovano. Kuhn was briefly part of John Coltrane’s quartet in 1961, but takes a broader perspective on the great saxophonist’s output here. He draws material from various phases of Coltrane’s music, from re-workings of two standards to late modal explorations, with a couple of his own tunes thrown in. Kuhn adopts a lyrical as well as harmonically sophisticated approach, while Lovano serves up his customary power and invention as well as a deep empathy with the material. Their explorations pay respect to Coltrane’s towering legacy while revealing fresh facets of the chosen compositions. (Kenny Mathieson)