Music RECORDS
SOUL BOBBY WOMACK The Bravest Man in the Universe (XL) ●●●●●
‘As a singer grows older, his conception goes a little deeper, because he lives life and he understands what he’s trying to say a little more . . .’ So said Sam Cooke back in the day, and so opens electro-soul hymn ‘Dayglo Reflection’, on the first album from Bobby Womack in 12 years. It’s a fitting quote for many reasons – Womack was mentored by Cooke, then shunned in soul circles when he married Cooke’s widow in the 60s – and it resonates through the songs of a 68-year-old singer/composer/guitarist who has lived more than most. He worked with the Stones, Elvis, Janis Joplin; made a remarkable 80s soul trilogy in The Poet, The Poet II and So Many Rivers; suffered drug and alcohol addiction and was recently diagnosed with cancer for the second time.
And through all of this: that voice. A collaboration between Womack, Damon Albarn (they worked together for Gorillaz) and XL label boss Richard Russell, The Bravest Man . . . features cameos from Lana Del Rey and Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara. It’s weathered soul; a wise yet not world-weary record about ageing, love and most of all, forgiveness – notably on stunning album highlight ‘Please Forgive My Heart’, which encapsulates Womack’s cardinal force. ‘It feels like the sky’s falling,’ he sings. Then he lifts it up again. (Nicola Meighan)
UNRELEASED BOX-SET CAN The Lost Tapes (Spoon/Mute) ●●●●● Not lost at all, just forgotten about in Can’s cluttered studio until archived by the classic German psych-rock explorer Irmin Schmidt recently, this 3-CD dump of material is unfeasibly good considering it avoided the light of day almost half a decade ago. Where to start? Some tracks might be familiar, including live versions of ‘Spoon’, ‘Mushroom’ and ‘On the Way to Mother Sky’, a less focused, more freaked-out version of one of their greatest songs. Then there is a plethora of never-heard-before tracks: the hissing stammer of ‘Messers, Scissors, Fork and Light’; the punishing, fuzzed-up guitar blues of ‘Bubble Rap’, and so many more. Not just for completists, this is an essential entry in the Canography. (David Pollock)
SOUL DEXYS One Day I’m Going To Soar (BMG) ●●●●●
The title alone gives you a tingling feeling that something glorious and redemptive lies within: and so it proves on Dexys’ – formerly Dexys Midnight Runners – first new album in 27 years. Following a disastrous plunge in fortunes after 1985’s Don’t Stand Me Down, Kevin Rowland has overcome drug addiction and homelessness. This is a rare example of a band reforming for catharsis before egotism or gain. Full of wit, panache, brutal self- examination, abundant tunefulness and attitude (‘take your Irish stereotype and shove it up your arse!’ spits Rowland, in case anyone’s wondering where to stick their too-rye-ay), there’s enough passion here to make up for that which most reunion rush bands depressingly lack. (Malcolm Jack)
ELECTRONIC HOT CHIP In Our Heads (Domino) ●●●●● Every self-appointed creative with a WTF haircut and a MacBook thinks they’re an ‘electronic artist’ these days. But there’s more to it than bedroom-recording cry wank vocals over presets. Hot Chip’s return will show the wannabes how it’s done. After dalliances with successful side-projects The 2 Bears, About Group, New Build and Joe Goddard’s soulful solo romp ‘Gabriel’, the reunited quintet still sound like they’re having a blast together. Booming horns on ‘Motion Sickness’ kick off a flurry of chirruping synths, classic Prince- worthy funk bass and popping beats – their melodies deliciously sprightly throughout, even during the more introspective moments. This, the Londoners’ fifth album, is their most smartly accessible effort to date. (Camilla Pia)
104 THE LIST 24 May–21 Jun 2012
ELECTRONIC POP MIAOUX MIAOUX Light of the North (Chemikal Underground) ●●●●● This is a perfect example of how good pop music can be if it’s driven by a restless intelligence. Miaoux Miaoux, aka Julian Corrie, has been turning heads with his distinctive electro-pop sound for a while, but this first album for Chemikal Underground takes things up several levels. Infused with a glitchy, indie ethic, this is nevertheless gloriously melodic dance-pop genius, with echoes of mainstream acts like Daft Punk and the long missed Avalanches. Half the tracks could be hit singles, but Corrie also imbues ‘Stop the Clocks’ and closer ‘Ribbon Falls’ with a heart and soul absent in most electronic music. Ass-shaking and heart- warming, this is thrilling stuff. (Doug Johnstone) ■ See page 101 for an interview.
R’N’B / FREE JAZZ / POST-PUNK NENEH CHERRY & THE THING Cherry Thing (Smalltown Supersound) ●●●●●
Neneh Cherry’s first album in 16 years is closer in spirit to the jazzoid post-punk of Rip Rig & Panic than the glorious hip-pop of Raw Like Sushi, but hot damn, it’s good.
The Thing are renowned for wild takes on cult rock and free-jazz and, sure enough, there are hulking sax riffs and scorching multiphonics aplenty. But Mats Gustafsson also displays his lyricism on gorgeous versions of Suicide’s ‘Dream Baby Dream’, his fat, breathy tone fraying beautifully alongside Cherry’s soulful vocals. Cherry is as inventive and charismatic as ever, transforming the blunted rhymes of MF Doom’s ‘Accordian’ into a cavalcade of wired hisses and yelps, over the band’s sinister Ethiopiques groove. (Stewart Smith)
PUNK POETRY PATTI SMITH Banga (Columbia) ●●●●●
You may have heard that Patti Smith dedicates a song to Amy Winehouse on her 11th studio album, Banga. It’s a syrupy ballad, ‘This is the Girl’, and its intentions are honourable, but look beyond it: there are greater, more defiant meditations herein. Banga is punk-poet Smith’s first collection of (largely) original songs since 2004’s Trampin’, and stars long-term collaborators Lenny Kaye and Television’s Tom Verlaine. It’s an earthy, earthly treatise whose rocky arias and improvised psalms emotionally navigate natural disasters (‘Fuji-san’) and Johnny Depp’s birthday (‘Nine’). When Smith cries out, ‘All is art!’ on nature-culture wig-out ‘Constantine’s Dream’, you’re reminded there’s still noone like her. (Nicola Meighan)