Music RECORDS
ELECTRONICA ERRORS Have Some Faith In Magic (Rock Action) ●●●●●
Lazily regarded as Mogwai-lite for most of their seven year existence, Errors’ third offering finally sees the Glasgow band shrug off the shackles of their legendary label founders’ early patronage. Anyone with half a brain could see they were far more than post-rock copycats though; 2008 debut It’s Not Something But It Is Like Whatever was a strong statement of their wonderfully off-kilter, electronic intent, and 2010’s Come Down With Me saw them push that further, dabbling with afrobeat and bringing the emotion in their soundscapes to the fore.
But album three is an even larger leap forwards; more intricate and infectious than ever before, their sound now straddles an incredibly wide array of genres and even features vocals (a first for them) whilst remaining true to Errors’ leftfield roots. Inspired by ‘everything from French synthpop of the 1970s and 80s, to German kosmische (in particular Tangerine Dream and Wolfgang Riechmann)’, and the Cocteau Twins – the haunting ‘Blank Media’ is a must-hear – these ten tracks shimmer and sizzle from start to finish, creatively constructed and delivered with career-high confidence. ‘Earthscore’ and ‘Pleasure Palaces’ thrill the most; dark, danceable beasts which burst into life as monastic chant bleeds in and out throughout. Superb. (Camilla Pia)
INDIE ROCK TRAILER TRASH TRACYS Ester (Double Six) ●●●●● Rightly or wrongly, a lot of bands find themselves being likened to the soundtrack of a David Lynch film. In the case of Trailer Trash Tracys’ debut the comparison is, in fact, justified. Mixing dark and disturbing soundscapes reminiscent of those scored by Lynch’s regular composer Angelo Badalamenti (right down to that dur-dur-dur bass line) with retro-styled 1950s pop tunes and ethereal vocals (courtesy of singer Suzanne Aztoria), Ester does indeed sound like mid-period Lynch. Think Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart, but mostly think Twin Peaks. TTT’s is a slow-burning dreamy sound that wafts over rather than grabs you or, as it probably should do, transport you to another place. Maybe we’re too used to albums that sound like Lynch films. (Miles Fielder)
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL DAN SARTAIN Too Tough To Live (One Little Indian) ●●●●●
The handsome Alabama rocker’s throwback blues and rockabilly sound has always been fuelled by a raw power reminiscent of punk. For his sixth album, the greasy-quiffed one has embraced the punk rock style as well as its spirit with a faster than hell short long-player that crams 13 tracks into less than 19 minutes. The vocals and guitar licks remain
recognisably Sartain’s, but the sound’s less trashy rock’n’roll, more straightforwardly old school punk; the influence here less The Cramps, more The Ramones, the attitude, as on ‘Fuck F*iday’ and ‘Now Now Now’ (a duet with The Go-Go’s Jane Wiedlin), angry and impatient. One suspects Too Tough . . . is scorching interlude rather than a new direction for Sartain. But that’s just fine. (Miles Fielder)
LATIN ROCK RODRIGO Y GABRIELA Area 52 (Rubyworks) ●●●●● For their fifth studio album the Mexican acoustic rock duo team up with 13-piece orchestra C.U.B.A. to rework nine previous compositions. The radically increased personnel (also augmented by several guests including Cuban folk legend Silvio Rodriguez, daughter-of-Ravi and sister-of-Norah Anoushka Shankar on sitar and Palestinian group Le Trio Joubran) gives R y G’s already frenetic, genre-fusing instrumental workouts a big, bonkers sound that propels them into the realm of the ridiculous. There’s no denying the skill on display, but the very Latin fusion of funk, rock and jazz is so over-wrought it does put one in mind of that other musical duo, the never-entirely serious Tenacious D. Fun, though. (Miles Fielder)
SINGER-SONGWRITER MULL HISTORICAL SOCIETY City Awakenings (Xtra Mile) ●●●●● COMPILATION THE LEMONHEADS Laughing All the Way to the Cleaners: The Best Of (Rhino) ●●●●●
A decade after the MHS debut Loss, Colin MacIntyre marks the event with another gentle and occasionally awkward platter, as they called them back in the early 00s. In some ways, MHS are becoming more old-fashioned. The opener trots along pleasantly, but it’s called ‘Must You Make Eyes at Me Now’: does anyone under the age of 63 really say that anymore? And the closing ‘Thameslink’ recalls the shimmery in-a-cave indie vocals and guitars of the early 90s: does anyone need to hear that anymore? There are other more pleasant eccentricities though: the festive, jingly ‘For Bas, The Hague’ sounds like Jona Lewie and Greg Lake having a wrestle on Boxing Day. A frustrating oddity. (Brian Donaldson)
Evan Dando is still going strong as the lone remaining member of The Lemonheads (see list.co.uk for a review of them playing Oran Mor in December), although his days as a mainstream slacker rock heartthrob are long behind him. As this two- CD, 47-track collection demonstrates, though – perhaps too extensively for all but Dando’s most devoted fans – his is a catalogue that bears revisiting. For every cheery grunge-pop crossover like his breakthrough ‘Mrs Robinson’ cover, there are many songs with real tenderness: ‘Into Your Arms’ or ‘Big Gay Heart’ Look out also for a fine cover of Suzanne Vega’s ‘Luka’ and unsettling stoner anthem ‘Rick James Style’. (David Pollock)
COUNTRY/BLUES COVERS CHRIS ISAAK Beyond the Sun (Vanguard Records/Rhino) ●●●●●
During its 1950s heyday, Sun Records churned out standards by the bucketload from the likes of Elvis, Cash and Orbison. During the recording of Beyond the Sun, David Lynch’s favourite bequiffed rockabilly star was presumably so weighed down by the history that he has laid down cover versions so close to the originals that they can’t even be described as ‘interpretations’. The obvious criticism of this Stars in Their Eyes-like CD is that with the originals all readily available, why bother trawling through this for the Chris Isaak take on ‘I Walk the Line’, ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ or ‘Great Balls of Fire’? Beyond the Sun is simultaneously difficult to hate and impossible to see the point of. (Brian Donaldson)
78 THE LIST 5 Jan–2 Feb 2012