Music Record Reviews
SINGLES & DOWNLOADS
INDIE ROCK ARCADE FIRE The Suburbs (Mercury) ●●●●● NOISE POP SLEIGH BELLS Treats (Columbia) ●●●●●
History dictates that many rock greats affirm their credentials upon their third album: Radiohead’s OK Computer, U2’s War and Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run all follow this pattern, and Montreal’s six-strong Arcade Fire aren’t so far from these ranks with The Suburbs. A more consistent indie-rock reckoning than their striking debut (2004’s Funeral) or its lesser follow-up (2007’s Neon Bible – ‘No Cars Go’ excepted), The Suburbs extends frontman Win Butler’s surveillance of genetic bonds and apocalyptic disquiet, via philharmonic rock, hand-clap anthems, rhythmic pop and colossal song-craft. This is a long-player in the classic tradition: complex, absorbing and increasingly rewarding. (Nicola Meighan)
JAZZ CINDY BLACKMAN Another Lifetime (Four Quarters) ●●●●●
Mercury Prize nominee Corinne Bailey Rae takes a sassy new direction in ‘Closer’ (Parlophone) ●●●●● – from her new album The Sea – a smoother, more soulful, more kick-ass effort than the sugary rom-com soundtrack stuff she seems to have, mercifully, left behind. It’s reminiscent of Velvet Rope-era Janet Jackson – and that is no bad thing.
Pneumatic girl group The Saturdays bop around a bit to some lyrically trite nonsense about the end of a relationship in ‘Missing You’ (Fascination) ●●●●●, without ever stumbling off their stilettoes onto a half decent chorus.
Glasgow singer and former A Chocolate Morning frontman Neil Sturgeon and the Infomaniacs finds love equally tough in ‘Break Me’ (Buzzwagon Beat Recordings) ●●●●●. Sturgeon possesses a sweet voice and the sunny sentiment is infectious: a charming slice of west coast power pop.
While ‘Diamond Church Street Choir’ (Side One Dummy Records) ●●●●● by The Gaslight Anthem is a bluesy rock belter to make the heart soar, Lady Antebellum remind us what it was like to have to sit through a whole episode of Dawson’s Creek in ‘I Run To You’ (Capitol) ●●●●●. Leeds indie pop trio Sky Larkin keep summer alive with the delicious energy of ‘Still Windmills’ (Wichita Recordings) ●●●●●, just as These New Puritans get us all in the mood for autumn in the dynamically melancholy ‘Hologram’ (Angular) ●●●●●, a tune that drives itself to despair with cool ease.
But the world is put to rights by Nashville’s newest talent (pictured) Caitlin Rose (Names Records) ●●●●●, whose alt.country ballad ‘For the Rabbits’ hops into pole position for Single of the Week. It’s like listening to Iris DeMent’s younger sister shuffle willingly out of the shadows into a lifetime of pain and drama — a requisite for every young country chanteuse in the making. (Rachel Devine)
ART-ROCK PVT Church With No Magic (Warp) ●●●●● After threats of legal action from an American band of the same name, Australian trio Pivot eventually became simply ‘PVT’. Thankfully, however, their first release since the change, Church With No Magic, still
demonstrates the kind of bizarrely beautiful electronics and jarring rhythms that permeated their previous work, including 2008’s excellent O Soundtrack to My Heart. Each track builds up
from pretty much nothing – a hasty drum blast or stifled vocal – which, admittedly, does require a little patience, but as the album unfolds, the rewards are clear. The oddly anthemic ‘Light Up Bright Fires’ and ‘The Quick Mile’, in particular, are obvious highlights. (Ryan Drever)
Although she has worked in many jazz contexts, American drummer Cindy Blackman’s widest exposure has come as a long-standing member of Lenny Kravitz’s band. Tony Williams was the first drummer she ever saw, and this outing is a tribute to the still vital memory of her hero’s music, and especially his post-Miles Davis electric jazz outfit, Lifetime, the source of many of the compositions Blackman covers here. They include intense remakes of tracks like ‘Vashtar’ (which is both
116 THE LIST 5–12 Aug 2010
From the moment ‘Tell ‘Em’s machine-gun beats and bombastic guitars pummel your ears into stunned submission, Treats struts up and down before you like some aggressively flirtatious hipster girl, just daring you not to fall for its fuck-you (-and-we’ll-mix-country-with-electro-if-we-want-to) attitude and MIA-endorsed, so-Brooklyn-it-hurts coolness. If its disjointed relentlessness and almost unchanging set-up of sharp
drums, fuzzed-up guitar and she-devil squeals becomes a little wearing at times, at 30 minutes long Treats hardly has a chance to outstay its welcome. This is celebratory, trashy, showy music for when you’re feeling celebratory, trashy and showy. ‘A/B Machines’ typifies its whole appeal: lyrically, it’s the simplest and most nonsensical of the tracks, yet with its grimey beats, spaghetti Western guitar and frenzied screaming, it’s among the very best. (Laura Ennor)
reprised and then interestingly tweaked as ‘Vashtar – The Alternate Dimension Theory’), ‘Beyond Games’ and ‘Wildlife’. These are not tunes that are much recycled in jazz’s perennial cover game, and it is fascinating to hear a contemporary take on them. Guitarists Mike Stern and Vernon Reed, organist Doug Carne, pianist Patrice Rushen and a guest outing from saxophonist Joe Lovano in a duo with Blackman on ‘Love Song’ ensure that the music takes fire, stoked by the drummer’s unrelenting energy. (Kenny Mathieson) COUNTRY CAITLIN ROSE Own Side Now (Names) ●●●●●
Only a few short years out of her teens, this Nashville singer-
songwriter belies her youth. Rose’s debut album proper (following the ‘Dead Flowers’ EP) is loaded with songs about heartbreak, delivered with a wry drawl reminiscent of Patsy Cline via Stevie Nicks (Fleetwood Mac’s ‘That’s Alright’ is covered here).
And while much of the arrangement is pleasingly minimal (perhaps because of the presence of Lambchop/Will Oldham producer Mark Nevers), Rose and her band prove their musical worth with swinging numbers such as ‘Shanghai Cigarettes’, which wouldn’t be out of place on Flying Burrito Brothers record. This Rose is the real McCoy. (Miles Fielder)
ART ROCK MENOMENA Mines (City Slang) ●●●●●✒ Portland’s Menomena have always been the kind of band that reward repeated listens. Unfortunately, Mines, their fourth
release, lacks the immediacy that drew listeners into the whirlpool ingenuity of 2007’s Friend And Foe. With three alternating
vocalists, skillful production and a huge variety of instrumentation, Menomena still rarely give you the chance to get too bored. Mines’ quieter moments (‘Killemall’, ‘Dirty Cartoons’) are its best; where all the nuances of the arrangements, spun around subtle but compelling melodies, can be appreciated. It works less well on the more bombastic numbers, where Menomena cross the intangible boundary between inventive art rock into ambitious but underwhelming indie. (Sean Welsh)