RECORD REVIEWS MUSIC

I Tindersticlrs: Tindersticks (This Way Up) From non-sexy Nottingham this graceful collective may come. but 7im/e'rstir'ks puts on its blue hat for a blue day and roams the streets of liverytown. where it always pours but the light glinting on the raindrops makes pretty patterns. Tindersticks capture the urban malaise of Nick Cave and weld it to the seedy romance of Lee Hazlewood to produce downbeat cinematic vignettes. There‘s a perceptible continental sweep to the sighing langtior of ‘C‘ily Sickness'. while during ‘Jism‘ Alain Delon and latte Birkin appear. turning their trenchcoat collars up against the blustery Parisian elements. Then out steps Marcey from the Peanuts cartoons and utters her immortal observation drama. sheer drama. Wish I‘d said that. (Fiona Shepherd)

I Various: Weird and Wonderful (Oasis) This is a bizarre way to go about producing a charity album so maybe that‘s the 'weird' of the title. but where's the ‘wonderful‘? This compilation comes across like a limp indie ‘best of" with tracks you‘ll already have from Suede (‘He’s Dead‘). Boo Radleys (‘Buffalo Bill'). Pavement (‘Loretta's Scars‘) and Ride (‘Sennen‘) and tracks you don‘t want from The Magnolias. Leatherface and Unsane. then hardly advertises its presence from the rooftops. which isn‘t much good for the beneficiary. Children In

Touch. a charity funding the education of autistic children. However. the texture of the album is saved by The Beat Poets‘ rollicking ‘Ghost of Lonnie Mack‘. Robert Wyatt‘s sublime ‘Worship‘ and Sofahead’s garagey ‘Everytime‘. (Fiona Shepherd)

I Carol laula: Precious little Victories (Iona Gold) At 62 minutes. Carol Laula‘s second album is too long by half. especially when so many of the songs are gentle on your mind and easy on the action. But tough it out. if not for her golden voice on balladic pond. then for the stealthin climaxing southern-fried devil blues ofoTragedy Waltz‘. Here a cast of thousands. dubbed The Degradation Ballroom Choir. lend their majestically serried voices to a song that is Paris, 'li'xus compressed into seven minutes of tub- thumping. harmonica- wailing gospel glory. The free-wheelin‘ box-carjam of the final. uncredited track is further proof that Laula's ‘odyssey‘ across America has been more instructive to her craft than were her days playing the barefoot folkie in Glasgow‘s pubs. (Craig McLean)

I Pulp: Pulpintro (island) After approximately three decades as pop outsiders. so outside they were out of sight. last year Pulp suddenly got. well. nutrusig/rr. Three mad. glorious singles appeared on Sheffield‘s Gift label ‘()U‘. ‘Babies‘ and ‘Razzmatazz‘. The artifice. where King Kitsch Jarvis Cocker (aside: Jarvis and Joe

Cocker both come from Sheffield could they by any chance . . . too bizarre to countenance) found flamboyance in banality. was interesting enough. But toss in the pop. built on primitive. proto-synths and bouncy melody; toss in Cocker’s sensual intoning of his city‘s glottal high-spots (Freckville. Hackenthorpe. Attercliffe. Badger). Billy Liar set to Day-Glo Eurobeat on ‘Sheffield: Sex City‘; toss in ‘lnside Susan‘. schoolgirl daydreams in all their mundane profundity; toss these in and Pulpinrm becomes indispensable (Craig McLean)

I Joey Negro: Universe Of Love (I) Samplarama! The bog standard excellence of the first three singles is repeated in grand style throughout; a uniform vocal sample that

l is several layers deep then

' looped together with a bi-

NRG sample re- interpreted/sampled/borro wed/stolen from any number ofclassic 70s/80s disco tunes. Dave Lee‘s great ability is to write fun dance music as if it was going out of fashion. which unfortunately this is; in twelve months time ‘Universe Of Love‘ is null and void. Disco purists pour scorn on Lee‘s alter- ego. likening it to a parasite sucking away the NRG to leave it hi and dri. However. ifyou‘re not so hi-browed. then Universe Oj‘lxrve is a beezer addition to your ‘play before you go out on Friday night collection‘. Glorioust crap. (Philip Dorward)

I mango Bates: Summer Fruits (and Unrest) (JMT) l have to confess to remaining a little cool to Django‘s music over the years. but this new project is a strong statement of what he is all about. The material features both his Human Chain quartet/quintet (four tracks) and his Delightful Precipice big band (seven tracks). which extends the territory explored in Loose Tubes. but has the same distinctively quirky unpredictability about it. His writing is intricate and imaginative (if sometimes a little too clever for its own good). and there is a lot of highly positive creative energy going on here.

I Jessica Williams: The Next Step (HEP Records) My jazz album of the

month. without any doubt.

A solo piano session from an American pianist who has been around for a couple of decades without

making the impact (over here at least) she clearly

' deserves. She has a lovely

touch. a dazzling harmonic imagination. and a superb rhythmic sense. and although the set alternates her own tunes with jazz standards. her approach to even the best known works (check out her reading of Ellington‘s ‘1 Got It Bad‘ for a prime example) is so fresh that they all sound like original creations. Highly recommended.

I Kevin Eubanks: Spirit Talk (Blue Note) This is a distinct improvement on the guitarist‘s pre-Blue Note releases for GRP. which tended to sink into

= an inoffensively bland

fusion rut. but it still has a tendency to meander

y along in places. Eubanks

is a tidy. technically sound player. but on the evidence so far does not seem to have much in the way of a distinctive musical voice through which to exercise his talents. Brother Robin

makes a solid contribution

on trombone. with Kent Jordan on flute. and a rhythm section of Dave Holland and either Marvin Smitty Smith or Mark Mondesir.

I Marilyn Crispell: Santuerio (Leo Records) The Canadian pianist is probably best known here for her work with Anthony Braxton. She is a consistently fascinating performer. and her music occupies territory somewhere between the improvisational strategies of the jazz avant-gardC. and musical languages derived from contemporary composition. Santrwrio features the string textures of violinist Mark Feldman and cellist Hank Roberts alongside Crispell‘s own questing. probing piano and regular collaborator Gerry Hemingway on percussion. Abstract and powerfully direct by turns. it is another welcome offering from a highly creative musician on this uncompromising label. (Kenny Mathieson)

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