MUSIC | Records – Singles, Jazz & World ALSO RELEASED
MACHINEDRUM Vapor City (Ninja Tune) ●●●●● THE SPOOK SCHOOL Dress Up (Fortuna Pop!) ●●●●●
The first full-length Ninja Tune release from LuckyMe alumnus Travis Stewart (above), Vapor City is apparently based on dreams he had about a futuristic city of China Miéville proportions. Despite his forward-thinking style though, this often steps back into the past of electronic music, from the sparse drum & bass Reprazent-isms of ‘Gunshotta’ and ‘Eyesdontlie’ to the tripped-out ambient house of ‘Don’t 1 2 Lose U’ and ‘Vizion’, and finally the crisp, rhythmic chillwave of ‘U Still Lie’ and ‘Baby It’s U’. It’s a sublime voyage and a feast for the imagination. (David Pollock) Machinedrum, Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh, Thu 17 Oct. They’re clearly just one appearance on a Wes Anderson soundtrack away from becoming stars of the global geek axis, but this debut album from much-fancied Edinburgh indie quartet flatters to deceive in places. There’s something of the Moldy Peaches or the Vaselines about them, a Caledonian collision of bubblegum guitar-pop anthems and lo-fi production. When it clicks – the beat-group study in gender identity ‘Are You Who You Think You Are?’ or the epic ‘Who You Gonna Call? Goat Buster’ – its exuberance is mesmerising. (DP) Henry's Cellar Bar, Edinburgh, Fri 11 Oct.
THE PURE CONJECTURE Gendres (Armellodie) ●●●●● A BAND CALLED QUINN Soundtrack from Biding Time (Remix) (Tromolo Records) ●●●●●
Orchestrated by Brighton’s Matt Eaton and performed by musicians drawn from across his city’s scene, this second album by the wonderfully named the Pure Conjecture (released on Scotland’s Armellodie label) features members of British Sea Power, Electric Soft Parade and Brakes. It sounds like none of the above though, an odd but rarely baffling kneading together of wistful 60s charm (‘Surfin’ Sunset’), Herb Alpert-style bossa nova (‘Mr Tong’), Ben Folds- recalling piano balladry (‘Dictators’) and a touch of Hall & Oates (‘What’s Worse?’). (DP) Louise Quinn’s group was a key part of Edinburgh’s Summerhall programme during this year’s Fringe and this soundtrack to that multi- media theatrical performance uses Quinn’s smooth, seductive rocker’s croon as the jumping-off point for a slew of genre experiments. For the most part, a grimy, Goldfrapp- esque electro-pop is deployed on tracks like ‘You Know the Right People’ and ‘Judas’, with busy forays into sparse, autumnal balladry (‘The World Belongs to You’) and Lynchian drama (‘Loathsome Road’) cropping up. (DP)
76 THE LIST 19 Sep–17 Oct 2013
JAZZ & WORLD JAZZ TONY OXLEY A Birthday Tribute - 75 Years (Incus) ●●●●●
A gathering of archival live recordings to celebrate the 75th birthday of British free-jazz drummer Tony Oxley, this Incus release shows British free improvisation at its spiky, boundary-exploding best. The first set, from 1993, features Oxley on drums and percussion, the great Derek Bailey on guitar, Pat Thomas on keyboards and Matt Wand on sampler. Bailey is on powerful form, forming jagged chords and barbed-wire abstractions around Oxley’s boom and clatter. Wand assembles and deconstructs a head- scratching array of test tones, tape spew and radio chatter, while Thomas conjures a demented insect ballet around the top of his keyboard. A riveting session. The 1977 duet between Oxley and trombonist Paul Rutherford sounds like an extraterrestrial transmission, with the electronically treated horn emitting all manner of strange alien tongues, while Oxley’s amplified kit sends out UFO blips and metallic space junk clangs. A mind-blowing trip to the outer limits. (Stewart Smith)
JAZZ SONS OF KEMET Burn (Naim Jazz) ●●●●●
These contemporary British jazzers eschew extended solos and complex structures for bold tunes and taut grooves. The band’s Afro-Caribbean melodic sensibility is warmer than that of punky brethren Acoustic Ladyland, but Oren Marshall’s surprisingly agile tuba and powerful polyrhythms from Tom Skinner and Seb Rochford give even the quieter pieces real heft. ‘All Will Surely Burn’ kicks off the album in suitably
apocalyptic fashion. Marshall’s tuba spits lava and gusts of methane, while the drummers dive into a heavy floor-tom rhythm that’s part-Buddy Rich, part-Tony Allen. Composer/saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings rises above it all with a strident Ethiopian melody, breaking into free-jazz multiphonics as the band gather momentum. ‘The Godfather’ pays tribute to Mulatu Astatke, but it’s no straight homage, featuring a modal clarinet melody that wanders from the Horn of Africa to the Middle East, and an unlikely, but exciting, grime coda. (Stewart Smith)
WORLD EASY KABAKA BROWN Opotopo (Soundway) ●●●●●
Originally released in 1976, EKB’s debut is another gem from Philips / Phonogram’s Nigerian vaults. Given a loving vinyl re-issue by the good folks at Soundway, Opotopo is an unusual slice of 70s high-life and Afro-funk, its golden grooves adorned with jazz trumpet, Latin American percussion and psychedelic organ. Previously heard on the label’s glorious Nigeria Special
collection, ‘Belema’ is a magical high-life number, its
space-echo guitar evoking sunlight glinting off water. A short vocal refrain gives way to instrumental sections, with muted trumpet dancing over nimble grooves in a gorgeous display of delicate wah-wah flourishes. Brown’s almost conversational call-and-response vocal style rides the rolling funk of ‘Agboho’, all soft-toned guitar chords, cowbell and hand-percussion. Cuban salsa meets Nigerian high-life on ‘Kele Chi Gi’ and ‘Onbumi’ while ‘Ibi Dyna’ blasts cosmic organ over an easy lope. A wonderful record; with the urge to dance totally irresistible. (Stewart Smith)
WORLD PHENO S Kani (Sahel Sounds) ●●●●● In a fabulously garish homage to hip hop artists Pen & Pixel, Prinsco Fatal
Bass’s cover for Kani depicts Malian rapper Pheno S standing against flaming skyscrapers and helicopters. A hybrid of club-oriented hip hop and Malian pop, Kani is distinguished by Pheno S’s autotuned melodies, which glitch over rattling snare hits and throbbing bass.
A viral success in Mali, ‘Waihidjo’ rails against corruption and sexual exploitation in the schools of Pheno’s hometown Gao. On ‘Alazalika’ he sings a
romantic autotune melody over syncopated hand drum patterns, punctuated by a distorted karate-chop ‘hai!’. These eccentric flourishes, sampled from cartoons and old-school videogames, are dotted throughout; the banging posse-cut ‘Bomber’ is full of demented cartoon cackles, bit-crushed beat-em-up thwacks, offset by a rippling kora. A promising debut. (Stewart Smith)