The List: 19 Nov 1993 (35/96)

RECORD REVIEWS MUSIC

I Dawson: Terminal Island (Grutt Wit/Trottel) This is the third LP from Glasgow‘s Dawson. In the time most major record companies take to formulate a marketing strategy. Dawson have dished out three albums on their own Gruff Wit Records and to

them that probably falls disgracefully short of the number they have pent up in their heads. To those who've never heard Dawson before — this record is a taut scramble of skittering drums. twangy bass. speed-jazz. guitars and torrents of shouty invective. To those who hold Dawson dear — it‘s a bit like the other two records. both musically and in that it will probably be passed over in favour of some speed geek toss frotn the likes of Trumans Water. Roughjustice. (Fiona Shepherd)

I lnsides: Euphoria (Guernica)/Spoonted Hybrid: Spoonted Hybrid (Guernica) Two new releases from the exquisite 4Al) offshoot. both blessed with a trembling sense of exploration. lnsides were formerly Earwig. a three- way exercise in whispered vocals. noodling. sequenced repetition and what sounded like an electric barrel organ. Now they are two and little has

changed apart from a tendency to veer towards | club mores. Spoonfed Hybrid are a collaboration between Pale Saints‘ sallow ex-vocalist Ian Masters and AC Temple's Chris Trout. Imagine a sort of Pale Saints Unplugged — the guitars unplugged anyway. keyboards still attached to the mains — with baroque

arrangements and titles

like ‘Naturally ()ccurring Anchors‘ rendered with

. no hint of preciousness.

Both duos are fringe operators with an idiosyncratic approach and debut albums that spellbind. (Fiona Shepherd)

I Tom Waits: The Black Rider (Island) Not the follow-up to Bone lilac/tine. as such. The Black Rider consists of new (mostly) recordings of music composed for a show of that name by Robert (Einstein ()n The Bent-Ii) Wilson and the ubiquitous Bill Burroughs. The early appearance of those two well-worn archetypes. the carnival barker and Weimar-style cabaret MC. don't bode well. Btlt. as it unfolds. The Black Rii/t'r reveals such treats as the self-explanatory ‘Russian Dance‘. a twittering saw on ‘Novetttber'. Burroughs whooping it up on ‘T'Ain't No Sin' and the \aguely Beelheartian. highly radge instrumental

‘Gospel Train‘. Working to a brief. but relieved of the pressure to deliver a hit album. Waits has let his imagination fly even more unfettered than usual. and this album

' superbly captures the

ﬂavour of fevered. spontaneous writing

1 sessions. (Alastair

Mabbott)

I lisa Stanstield: So Natural (Arista) We've all now heard about Lisa

Stansfield‘s flatulence

problem. but did she really have to put so much ill wind down on vinyl? ‘So Natural' and ‘In All The Right Places‘ are divine pieces of solid soul. and 'She‘s Always There‘ and ‘Turn Me ()n‘ are healthy chunks of R&B. but apart frotn that this album says nothing and goes nowhere. Tracks like 'Marvellous And Mine'. ‘l.ittle Bit Of I-Ieaven‘. ‘Be Mine' and ‘Wish It Could Always Be This Way‘ are simply middle-of—the-road musical garbage; where’s the zest. the vitality that made Affection and Real War/ll world class? So Mini/“til is pure romantic escapism that places love symbolism over musical substance. If the alarm bells aren't ringing inside the heads of musical gurus Ian Devanay and Andy Morris then they damn well should be. (Philip Dorward)

I Christy Moore: King Puck (Hewberry/Equator) The veteran Irish balladeer in grittily confident mood. shedding the excess production that made some of his earlier solo recordings sound oddly prettified compared to the raw intensity of his live shows. Ten tracks. seven self-penned. lots of robust guitar. understated acoustic accompanying touches. strong tunes. sharp words. mischievous humour. ample room for that gorgeous aural- Guinness voice. and a thirteen-minute version of his much-loved street-epic comedy ‘The Rose of Tralee'. Yer man done good.

I Baka Beyond: Spirit Of The Forest/Heart 01 The Forest: Music (It The Baka Forest People Of Southeast Cameroon (Hannibal) Twin fruit of ex-Outback guitarist Martin Cradick‘s sojourn in the Cameroonian rainforest. living and jamming with the pygmy people who sustain ‘one of the oldest and most sensitive musical cultures on earth‘. Spirit showcases Cradick's own Baku-inspired

compositions. a warm. vibrant. easy-going Afro- liuropean mix. sparkling guitar~led arrangements fitted snugly around funky traditional percussion rhythms. while Heart consists of on-the-spot recordings of Baka musicians themselves (several of whom also perform on the other disc) ‘etlmomusicological' sound. inevitably. but wonderfully atmospheric. complete with bird and insect acompaniments. and the water drums are ﬁll).

I The Hevenants: Horse (it A Different Colour

(Hunter S. Records) A

confessedly sketchy thumbs-down for this one. due partly to bad luck — the review copy of the

disc kept sticking about

every second track. despite careful cleaning —

but more to the fact that

the dreary sub-sub-Stone Rose s/ l 0.(X)() Maniacs/REM sludge produced by this Irish five-piece (some of whom. apparently. used to be called Stars ()f Heaven) didn‘t provide the slightest incentive to persevere further.

I Youssou H’Dour: Hey You - The Best OI Youssou H’nour (Music

Club) Cream of the crop from the Senegalese maestro. drawn liberally (fifteen tracks) from albums such as The Lion. Immigrt's and Set. Sit back and be transported to mellower climes by this masterfully mixed melange of Afro-jazz- funk. Dakar-club pop. laid-back intricate layers of percussion and synth and N‘Dour's majestic. free-ranging vocals. Psychic defence against

‘ the Scottish winter.

I Hednigarna: Kaksi (China Records) Swedish- Finnish five-piece playing custom-built copies of

ancient instruments and a

few new ones they‘ve invented themselves. mixing souped-up Nordic traditions with anything

and everything frotn the

‘ world—music palette.

sewing up the whole with Z an aggressive rhythmic

drive. Growling. thrumining fiddle drones.

; snarling. bouncing guitars.

Arabic-sounding vocals.

Balkanised folkabilly. off-

the-wall wind or brass

effects. lots ofconfidence. imagination and attitude make for a weird but wonderful whirling dervish of an album. A Scandinavian Mouth Music. anyone? (Sue Wilson)

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The List: 19 Nov 1993 (Issue 215)