list.co.uk/music SINGLES
Records – Singles | MUSIC
NOZINJA Tsekeleke (Warp) ●●●●●
FRANZ FERDINAND Stand on the Horizon (Domino) ●●●●● RUSTIE Attak (Warp) ●●●●●
MARK LANEGAN Sad Lover (Heavenly) ●●●●●
South African beat maker Nozinja (aka Richard Mthetwa) makes his debut on Warp records, coming out the blocks like a demented circus theme tune before morphing into hyper-speed afrobeat. This amalgam of traditional rhythms and fast-paced chirruping beats, complete with chipmunk vocals, is a prime example of the Shangaan Electro sound (think happy hardcore meets world music) coming out of Soweto and pioneered by Nozinja himself. ‘The Vocal Mix’ is vaguely calmer but no less invigorating. ■ Nozinja plays the Last Big Weekend, Glasgow, Sun 31 Aug (see preview, page 69).
The sixth single to be taken from 2013’s Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action, ‘Stand on the Horizon’ is a distillation of what influences Franz Ferdinand, mixing elements of Bowie, post punk and Roxy Music. Like a slowed down ‘Take Me Out’ with added emotion, it’s sharp and clever, underpinned by jangly guitars and incisive lyrics. Todd Terje adds a sheen of faded glamour on production duties, all ending in a beautifully mournful swooning vocal harmony.
Glasgow producer Rustie continues his assault on your senses with this slapshot of condensed future hip hop from forthcoming album Green Language (see review, page 70). Machine gun beats soundtrack Detroit rapper Danny Brown’s venomous assault. Despite the heavy BPMs and stuttering ravey synths there’s a clean, crisp feel to the wailing sirens and drum claps. It’s a perfect symbiosis between writer and vocalist, Brown’s lyrics adding another layer of percussive attack. Addictively offbeat, moreish and packed with power. After stints with Screaming Trees, Queens of the Stone Age and more, Mark Lanegan has earned his stripes. Back in his grungy solo guise, rock’s king of the morose sounds surprisingly upbeat for a track called ‘Sad Lover’, his vocals in a far higher register than the usual gruff, haggard delivery. The driving guitar line is melodic, hypnotic and deceptively simple though we miss the depth and emotional howl of Lanegan’s more ragged rock’n’roll material. (Singles reviewed by Henry Northmore)
EXPOSURE
PAUL BARAN
Composer and sound designer Paul Baran is one of Glasgow’s best kept musical secrets. Combining elements of electro-acoustic improvisation, modern composition and fragile pop, his second album The Other is a beautiful and unsettling meditation on life under neo- liberalism. How would you describe The Other?
A 21st-century album . . . a postmodern cut-up. A lot of these influences were garnered together as a result of decades worth of listening and reading. In essence, sounds have come to me in dreams or memory as well as an inner knowledge of the music disciplines I operate in.
How did it come together?
Time was the main ingredient and just patiently waiting for the musical moments to lock together as opposed to forcing them outright. Setting up structures in the studio and waiting for the right improvisational language to complement the material is usually how I work. This kind of music is often completely abstract, but you allow rhythm and melody to come through . . .
A lot of electro-acoustic improv gets caught up in the mechanics of texture at the expense of pulse. I wanted to create a hybrid of this with rhythm for a change, and to see where I could take it . . . annoy the purists. My own voice is imperfect, but I thought about it as another texture and in some cases as a narrator. I refused to hide the imperfection because I wanted it to be a strong humanist element in the work. (Stewart Smith) ■ The Other is out now on Fang Bomb records. For a longer version of this interview, go to list.co.uk
21 Aug–18 Sep 2014 THE LIST 73