www.list.co.uk/music Record Reviews Music
Riddled with baleful electronica, paranoid guitars and critical rhythms, Sisterworld inhabits a realm of bedraggled Nick Cave altercations (‘Scissor’), fucked-up surfer pop (‘The Overachievers’), vindictive rock (‘Scarecrows on a Killer Slant’) and intransigent anthems (‘Proud Evolution’).
There is beauty too. If Sisterworld is a troubling ode to the end times, then radiant swansong, ‘Too Much, Too Much’ guides us quietly toward the light. (Nicola Meighan)
JAZZ PATRICK KUNKA QUARTET The Edge (ShredAhead Records) ●●●●●
This debut album from Aberdeen-born drummer Patrick Kunka was originally issued last summer, but was rather overlooked at the time. Some positive recent response has encouraged him to re- promote it, and it more than justifies that decision. Kunka is currently based in Boston after studying at Berklee College, and is joined here by American bassist Dylan Coleman and two more of Scotland’s bright young talents (also with Berklee connections), pianist Alan Benzie and saxophonist Leah Gough-Cooper.
They play a bright and exciting brand of contemporary jazz. All nine compositions are the drummer’s own, drawing on American models, but with an edgy, energised feel. They are attractive in themselves, and also provide fine vehicles for the improvisational talents of each of the players to shine through, with Gough- Cooper’s saxophone work – not for the first time – making a particularly strong impression (available at www.jazzcds.co.uk). (Kenny Mathieson)
ALSO RELEASED
Sugababes
Sweet 7 (Universal Island) ●●●●● This bouncy, dancey pop LP feels very Pussycat Dolls- inspired. While ‘Wear My Kiss’ shows off pitch-perfect harmonies, too much thudding bass is boring and quickly becomes back- ground noise. The Automatic Tear the Signs Down (Armoured) ●●●●● Stacatto drums provide backbone to songs which veer from melancholic to downright whiny. ‘Race to the Heart of the Sun’ is a welcome anthemic break.
Sambassadeur European (Labrador) ●●●●● With plaintive piano and gorgeous strings, Anna Persson’s Nico-esque voice is the icing on this charming, if unadventurous, pop cake, perfect for lazy Sunday mornings. Sennen Age of Denial (Hungry Audio) ●●●●● Melodic alt.rock with shoegazey, drone moments. ‘ By the time, heart-breaking ‘Falling Down’ comes along you will be hooked. Tom McRae
The Alphabet of Hurricanes (Cooking Vinyl) ●●●●● Whether employing husky clarinets for a French motif or plucking at a ukulele and singing his heart out, McRae’s talent is fiercely brilliant. Delightfully good; raw and plaintive, it will send shivers up your spine. Gonjasufi A Sufi and a Killer (Warp) ●●●●● Gonjasufi sounds like a cosmic yogi. ‘Ancestors’ is soft rap with an Eastern flavour while ‘Sheep’ is pure Bollywood. His eclectic mix of cultures and influences is fascinating. (Kirstyn Smith)
4–18 Mar 2010 THE LIST 65
INDIE/ALT-ROCK PAVEMENT Quarantine The Past: The Best Of Pavement (Domino Records) ●●●●●
During the 90s Pavement were cult kingpins of the burgeoning US indie-rock scene, and leader Stephen Malkmus was an idol for the brainy post-Cobain brigade. Several excellent albums garnished the era (from Slanted and Enchanted to Terror Twilight), and this long-awaited highlights compilation is a must-have treasure.
Since 2001, Malkmus has carved out his own solo career accompanied by The Jicks (Pavement guitarist Spiral Stairs, aka Scott Kannberg formed The Preston School Of Industry), no one guessing that maybe one day the Stockton, California band would get the green light once again.
To select only a handful of tracks from the 23 on show here is nigh-on impossible, but for the uninitiated, you could do worse than ear-lobing minor UK hits such as ‘Stereo’ (notable for its Geddy ‘Rush’ Lee namecheck), ‘Shady Lane’ (both from Brighten the Corners in 1997) and ‘Cut Your Hair’. One question, though: Why has their biggest hit, ‘Carrot Rope’ been omitted?
Once described as America’s answer to The Fall (I documented this in my book The Great Rock Discography), Pavement made obsolete any comparisons with 1994’s Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, a landmark album that contained ‘Gold Soundz’, ‘Unfair’, ‘Heaven Is A Truck’ and ‘Range Life’. 1995’s experimental Wowee Zowee!,
disappointed all but the faithful; the evidence being that only two ‘quarantined’ tracks show up here: ‘Grounded’ and ‘Fight This Generation’. Thankfully there’s no sign of flop singles ‘Rattled by the Rush’ or ‘Father to a Sister of Thought’.
Their earliest and arguably, greatest, works (‘Box Elder’, ‘Debris Slide’, ‘Summer Babe’, Trigger Cut – Wounded Kite At: 17’, ‘Mellow Jazz Docent’, ‘Two States’ and ‘In The Mouth Of The Desert’) are the highlights, while there’s also room for a couple of later gems such as ‘Date w/ IKEA’ and ‘Spit On A Stranger’. Pavement are currently on the road for a comeback world tour – playing a string of dates at London’s Brixton Academy before curating All Tomorrow’s Parties’ Minehead weekender in the spring. (Martin C Strong)
ELECTRO POP SHY CHILD Liquid Love (Wall of Sound) ●●●●● The Top Shop techno revival is well underway, it seems. See also Delphic and early forerunner Sam Sparro for further exhibits of the
kind of catchy, contemporary and utterly high street shopping friendly electronica offered by Brooklynite duo Pete Cafarella and Nate Smith. It might be unashamedly commercial but it’s not bad, featuring a glossy layer of metropolitan house overlaid with Cafarella’s androgyne falsetto. There are some nice moments, notably ‘ESP’, the strutting disco anthem
beats on ‘Open Up the Sky’, and the epic end- of-the-night scope on ‘Dark Destiny’, while calling a track ‘The Beatles’ is winningly bold. More likely the new Hercules & Love Affair than this year’s Scissor Sisters, though. (David Pollock)
ART-ROCK LIARS Sisterworld (Mute) ●●●●● LA’s art-rock contortionists Liars are not short of admirers:
Thom Yorke, Devendra Banhart and Suicide’s Alan Vega have all reconstructed songs from Sisterworld, the avant-garde trio’s fifth long-player. Yet Liars’ caliginous renditions eclipse its star-studded bonus CD.