Music RECORDS
SOUL POP EMELI SANDÉ Our Version Of Events (Virgin) ●●●●●
Just imagine it, Adele and Emeli Sandé down the pub, putting the world to rights over copious pints. Men? Screw ’em. Hype? Whatever. But the main reason they’d make great gal pals is because they’ve both worked out ways to channel their heartbreak into pop music that’s real and actually connects with people. On the back of Sandé’s stunning debut, the bequiffed Aberdeenshire singer-songwriter is well on the way to becoming the breakthrough act of 2012 (in other words, this year’s Adele). See, lots to talk about. Sandé’s already proved she can pen hits for a plethora of massive acts including Tinie Tempah, Susan Boyle and Cheryl Cole. But Our Version of Events confirms she can convince as an exciting artist in her own right. Her influences – Frida Kahlo, Jacqueline du Pré, Sylvia Plath, Björk and Alicia Keys – inspire a smart mix of stripped down, acoustic guitar and piano-led songs that allow Sandé’s voice to soar (‘Clown’, ‘Maybe’ and ‘River’), big soul ballads and, perhaps most effective, dramatic stirring strings and pounding chords on anthems like ‘My Kind of Love’, ‘Daddy’ and ‘Heaven’. This is powerful, sophisticated music with emotional depth; even the most hard hearted will find themselves ensnared by Sandé’s charms. (Camilla Pia)
POST-PUNK THE TWILIGHT SAD No One Can Ever Know (FatCat) ●●●●● Bearing the uncertain honour of an ‘anti-production’ credit from Andrew Weatherall (it means general pre-recording guidance, it seems), this second LP from The Twilight Sad is a surprising and substantial progression. The washes of epic, wind-tunnel guitar and richly Scots-accented vocals from singer James Graham remain (‘Not Sleeping’ is one of the few restful pieces here), but otherwise the discovery of post-punk and synthesisers appears to have lent a more heart-shredding, austere edge. Witness the churning Krautrock of ‘Dead City’, the glacial and monolithic ‘Nil’ and the air- punching choral highlight,‘Don’t Look at Me’. It’s what you might call, a definite grower – and a worthy Mercury contender nearer the time? (David Pollock)
ELECTRO POP THE TING TINGS Sounds From Nowheresville (Columbia) ●●●●●
Pity the poor Ting Tings. After selling millions of records, the Mancunian electro-pop duo got stressed, scrapped a whole album and hid from their record label. Allegedly. You can see why the pair might worry about following We Started Nothing, an album whose chief appeal was its rawness and naïve sass, two things hard to replicate for million-selling propositions. In the end this is a mixed bag,
with a handful of tracks delivering the requisite shouty groove, notably lead single ‘Hang It Up’ and the route-one rocker ‘Give It Back’. But there are also some terrible turkeys, from the wonky punk-rap of ‘Guggenheim’ to dreary R&B ballad ‘Day To Day’. Glimpses of what made them fun, but not enough of them. (Doug Johnstone)
REISSUES PULP It/Freaks/Separations (Fire) ●●●●● Testament to the 80s’capacity to incubate provincial bands until they’re ready for megastardom, Pulp’s first three albums on Fire were a career’s worth in themselves, although hardly anyone remembers. Containing some bonus tracks and outtakes, 1983’s It (pictured) is a fey but wryly- worded take on Scott Walker most at odds with its time, while the dark and esoteric Freaks boasts unhinged garage rocker ‘Masters of the Universe’. Meanwhile, 1992’s Separations, released three years after it was recorded and the only one to feature the full classic line- up, is embryonic prime-era Pulp, and an underdeveloped blend of house and synth-pop, including the unheralded classic ‘My Legendary Girlfriend’. (David Pollock)
86 THE LIST 2 Feb–1 Mar 2012
REISSUES PALACE There is No-one What Will Take Care Of You/ Days In The Wake/ Hope/ Viva Last Blues/ Lost Blues And Other Songs (Domino) ●●●●●
Before he casting himself as Bonnie Prince Billy, Kentuckian alt-folk heartbreaker Will Oldham recorded several exquisite, distinguished albums under the Palace moniker. After aeons in the hard-to-find wilderness, they will be re-released. Embrace them. We can track Oldham’s creaturely, carnal aesthetic back to its gnarled roots here. We can locate his agrarian lust (‘The Mountain Low’ – from 1995’s Viva Last Blues). We can consider his tale of highland incest (‘Riding’ – from 1993’s debut, There Is No One. . .). We can fall for his beautiful, ragged valediction, ‘Come In’, again. And again. (Nicola Meighan)
ELECTRONICA/ UK HOUSE MACHINEDRUM SXLND (LuckyMe) ●●●●● There’s a long player’s worth of sonic invention on this five-track EP from Travis Stewart, running the gamut from UK funky to smooth old-school house with an understated Balearic edge. The opening ‘Take Good Care’ is a dark prologue, an unsettling bed of oscillating electronic waveforms and dimly-heard female vocals, entirely the opposite of an upbeat title track with a glitching vocal and a smooth, summery bounce. ‘Van Vogue’ and ‘DDD’ are sophisticated club tracks built on finger-snapping house grooves and soulful, cut-up hollers, but ‘No Respect’ is the one here, a driving and insistent late night theme whose train-track rhythm bears the aural imprint of early days’ acid house. (David Pollock)
DISCO/ TECHNO LINDSTROM Six Cups of Rebel (Smalltown Supersound) ●●●●● Like a cosmic disco Ulysses, Lindstrom has felt his way through space, to traverse the Balearic and land on the wild party island of Six Cups of Rebel. This isle is full of noises, from slamming synth boogie to shameless pomp metal. Organ fanfare ‘No Release’ joins the dots between Deep Purple and Terry Riley; a tension building appetiser for disco belter ‘Deja Vu’, a glorious concoction of grinding bass, P-funk keyboards, phased samba drums and Chicago house diva hysterics, which delivers on the promise of his 2009 Boredoms remix. Further insanity ensues as he combines jaunty prog with 80s funk in ‘Magik’, and crunching rawk guitar with eerie Detroit techno in ‘A Quiet Place To Live’. A blast. (Stewart Smith)