MUSIC | Records – Jazz & World ALSO RELEASED
GOLD PANDA Half Of Where You Live (NOTOWN/Ghostly International) ●●●●●
The Berlin-based Essex boy returns with the follow-up to 2010 critical smash Lucky Shiner. Still well in touch with his muse, he punches all the right buttons of distressed, dreamy electronica, albeit without the shock of the new quite in his favour this time. (Malcolm Jack) MOUNT KIMBIE Cold Spring Fault Less Youth (Warp) ●●●●●
More 2010 critical darlings, London duo MK are another group trying to figure out where to take dubstep next. They sound less assured here than on their impressive debut Crooks & Lovers; the warmer, mellower bits remain hypnotising, but two tracks with the sneering vocals of King Krule somewhat break the spell. (MJ) ATTIC LIGHTS Super De Luxe (Elefant) ●●●●●
Dropped by Island after their well-reviewed 2008 debut Friday Night Lights failed to meet sales expectations, these radiant Glaswegian harmonic rockers haven’t given up, now finally resurfacing with a follow-up. It's a noisy/melodic number with the type of fuzzily simplistic appeal that never goes out of fashion. (MJ)
COCOROSIE Tales Of A Grasswidow (Republic of Music) ●●●●● Imagine Ellie Goulding rolling about gurgling like a baby to neo-folkie hip hop beats, while being goaded on histrionically by Antony ‘and the Johnsons’ Hegarty, and it's only fractionally as repellent as French- American sisterly duo CocoRosie’s latest brain fart. Consistently, pretentiously shite than this pair exists, you’ll find me rolling about gurgling like a baby. (MJ)
GASTRIC BAND Party Feel (Armellodie) ●●●●● Not only do they possess a top name, this instrumental Edinburgh quintet (pictured, above) have one of the most intriguing, proggy sounds reverberating through the Scottish scene. Like the moniker, these fretboard-demons are incredibly tight, and this debut is ripe listening for those with an appetite for a scuzz/melody dichotomy. (Chris Cope)
SCOTT WALKER The Collection 1967-1970 (Universal) ●●●●●
This multi-album treasure chest is a good bet for collectors and newbies alike, with hours of audio procured from the original tapes of Walker's first five solo records from the late 60s. It’s a smorgasbord of covers and bellowing original tunes that exemplify why the legendary crooner is so revered, leading nicely into his experimental era of the mid-80s and beyond. (CC) WOODENBOX End Game (Olive Grove) ●●●●●
The band formerly knowen as Woodenbox with a Fistful of Fivers wander down the mariachi-folk path with this second album: ‘King’s Liar’ is a jamboree of brass work that quite literally(ish) gives the horn. Be warned, however, of Woodenbox’s ability to snakecharm feet into hypnotic tapping, such is the level of jaunty groove on show. (CC) THREE BLIND WOLVES Sing Hallelujah for the Old Ma- chine (Instinctive Racoon) ●●●●●
Blues-rock? Americana? Folk-indie- country-stuff? Whatever genre Three Blind Wolves may be, they’ve made a pretty good fist at it: their first full album is warm and rootsy like a logfire in the middle of winter, with opener ‘In Here Somewhere’ smoothed out and languidly harmonious. (CC)
86 THE LIST 16 May–13 Jun 2013
JAZZ & WORLD JAZZ BLACK HOST Life in the Sugar Candle Mines (Northern Spy) ●●●●●
Bursting out of some back-alley Brooklyn laboratory in an explosion of prog
tentacles and free jazz goo, Black Host are bizarro world mutant cousins to Little Women (see review below). As the sole horn player in a jazz-rock (of sorts) combo, Darius Jones’ default mode should be to breathe fire while the rhythm section keep it in their pocket. Instead, he is the most conventionally musical voice here, projecting long arcs of golden tone and definitive statements of skewed melody over drummer
and nominal leader Gerald Cleaver’s febrile cyborg jive. ‘Ayler Children’ is not so much an obvious tribute to fire up music’s Holy Ghost as a breathless scrabble of spring-loaded guitar, capering drums and queasy electronics. The swampy rumble of ‘Gromek’ is the unlikely foundation for pianist Cooper-Moore’s elegant tone colouring, while ‘Test Sunday’ grafts a tricksy maths puzzle (King Crimson x Naked City) to a Promethean bass grind. Bloody splendid. (Stewart Smith)
JAZZ LITTLE WOMEN Lung (Aum Fidelity) ●●●●● Like their more fidgety Brooklyn associates Zs, Little Women operate somewhere
between free jazz, avant-classical and downtown art-rock. Lung is conceptualised around the human breath, treating it as a sound source and organising element. The results are both inventive and moving, striking a remarkably fluid balance between structure and free improvisation. The first two minutes are almost silent, with the ear gradually adjusting to pick up the soft tone of saxophonists Darius Jones and Travis
Laplante breathing through their horns. Out of this emerges some alchemical horn interplay, with Jones and Laplante shaping modal fragments and extended techniques into a pensive patchwork. This gives way to the unison singing of a single note, pierced by an abrupt horn wail. Later, the ringing chords and no- wave spasms of guitarist Andrew Smiley herald wilder passages, governed by the taut push and pull of Jason Nazary’s drums. (Stewart Smith)
WORLD ORCHESTRE POLY-RYTHMO DE COTONOU The Skeletal Essences of Afro Funk (Analog Africa) ●●●●● The third compilation of vintage recordings from Benin’s greatest dance band, The Skeletal Essences . . . stands as a fitting tribute to founder Melome Clement, who died of a heart attack in December last year. His ‘Ne Rien Voir, Dire, Entendre’ opens proceedings in an explosion of parping Farfisa organ, heavy funk and relentless cowbell. There’s a Latin- American flavour to the infectious group-sung refrain, reflecting the rich mix of influences on 1970s African music. Yehoussi Leopold’s ‘Houzou Houzou Wa’ carries the sweaty imprint of James Brown’s funk, adding a grandstanding horn fanfare that sounds tailor-made for the entrance of a heavyweight boxing champion, while the heady Arabic melody of ‘N’Goua’ shimmies to a plump rhumba groove. Sounding like a distant cousin of the Stranglers’ ‘Golden Brown’, the eerie organ riff of ‘Karateka’ represents the heady strain of West Africa psychedelia animated by Poly-Rythmo’s awesome voodoo groove. (Stewart Smith)
WORLD/FOLK/JAZZ QUERCUS Quercus (ECM) ●●●●●
The great English folk singer June Tabor has worked with Welsh pianist Huw Warren for several years, notably on her album Ashore. Now, under the Quercus umbrella, the pair are joined by saxophonist Iain Ballamy, best known for his Food duo with Thomas Strønen. This live set has been given ECM’s pristine, reverb-lacquered sound, and, as is often the case with releases on Manfred Eicher’s label, the lack of grit can prove soporific. The album is best when Tabor delves into the folk tradition, her deep, seasoned alto lending gravitas to Shakespeare’s dark incantation ‘Come Away Death’ and Robert Burns’ ‘Lassie Lie Near Me’. Warren and Ballamy’s translations of it into Garbarek-inflected modal jazz are, while a little smooth for some tastes, quite beautiful. Tabor’s austere, understated approach suits the jazz standards, but modern-day hymn ‘All I Ask of You’ is all too pious. (Stewart Smith)