Making Music Happen
RECORD REVIEWS MUSIC
I The Indians: lndianism (Polydor) The Indians. lndianism. Hmmm. Singer Angelique is part Arawak. That groaning is the sound of a marketing point being stretched. Bleached-out sleeve shots of cracked desert earth and lightning- wracked skies confirm that this is a debut from a band virtually screaming ‘We're spiritual. us!‘ There‘s even a chart depicting ozone depletion over the past decade. Oh. right. Thanks. I‘d never considered that one. Dave Jerden’s lush production houses a few interesting ideas. sure. and Angelique has some pretty cool phrasing. but wrapped around lines like "The little native children sing A-l-A-O' and ‘I love l/it’ world'. musically attd lyrically this is cliched.
.1,
l
Contrived and preachy
l stuff. The intentions may .: be there. but sadly the
passion and poetry isn't.
(Damien Love)
I Trattic: Far From Home (Virgin) it was twenty
; years ago today — or near enough — when Steve
7 Winwood and Jim Capaldi ‘
last recorded together as Traffic (third member Chris Wood passed on in
1983). Now. they‘re back
1 together with a new album ; which has taken the sound
of Traffic and neatly updated it — without.
however. succumbing to the creeping coffee-table
blandness for which many
artists of their vintage
would cheerfully chuck away their integrity. Far From Home makes a convincing case for Steve Winwood as the great white soul man. And judging from the excellent playing on display - Winwood handles virtually everything except drums and (very) occasional sessiony bits — he could have had an illustrious musical career without ever needing to open his mottth. (Alastair Mabbott)
I loop Guru: Dunniya (Nation) ()n the same label as Trans-Global Underground and sharing their passion for kicking up a groove and throwing
in all manner of
influences from around the world — aided by a
deck of Brian lino‘s
Oblique Strategies cards — Loop Guru make it sound like the most natural thing
in the world to have Middle liastern vocalising
jostling for space with
tabla. sitar. Gamelan tinkling and jaw harp. Sometimes it works. sometimes it doesn't. Over four sides. you could hardly expect them to hit the mark every time. But grab [)iumivu while ethno-musicological- cross-cultural-new-age- organic-groove is still the cool term to drop. (Alastair Mabbott)
I At: Acoustics: Able Treasury (Elemental) By the sound of their debut mini-album. Glasgow's AC Acoustics believe that if an idea is worth doing it's worth doing relentlessly. For half-an- hour. become privy to a thrilling. dynamic. structured jam session. It's almost like the group have been commissioned to conduct a sonic experiment (in the next cubicle to Fenn). Their conclusion: reports about the death of the guitar have been greatly exaggerated. A case study: on 'King Dick'. Roger Ward performs some kind of guitar acupuncture while Dave Gormley marks percussive time until the verse is hotwired into a chorus of pile-driving proportions. Another specimen: ‘Fat Abbey’ is the kind of unapologetic. finger-in-the-ear tirade blueprinted by Sonic Youth. And for all its staccato arrangements (who’s been playing with the volume control?) Able
Treasuva manages to pack
a well groovy punch
‘ besides. One to go twenty
rounds with. (Fiona Shepherd)
I Orphy Robinson: The Vibe: Describes (Blue Note) Vibraphonist Orphy Robinson takes a shot at the mass-market with this sophisticated but occasionally bland collection. The sleeve is resplendent with bright. splashy primary colours. and there is a lot of that surface exuberance and lightness in the music as well. which glides from funk tojazz and reggae with smooth. practiced ease. Nothing to pin your ears back. but there are some sweet moments here. and fine musicianship all round. I John Scotleld and Pat Metireny: I Can See Your liouse From Here (Blue Note) The meeting of these guitar superstars is less than the sum of its parts. with both seeming to defer a little to each other. and neither really going for it. At the same time. neither truly disappoints. and if my
own preference is for the spikier cuts. the music is lucid and inventive throughout. Scofield has a more rough-edged sound then Metheny‘s silken
flow. while Steve ; Swallow and Bill Stewart
provide impeccable support.
: I Stephane Grappelli: i The Grappelli Story
(Verve) A handy two-CD set which offers a cogent overview of much of one
; of the longest and most
; successful careers injazz. { It is inadequate for the
: Grappelli-Reinhardt
partnership (other than as a brief taster for collections already available). but provides a
i highly listenable selection
of his work in other contexts and with a wide variety ofcollaborators. from late 30s swing bands through to a string orchestra date in 1992.
I Bill Frisell: This Land (Elektra Nonesuch) The guitarist is nothing if not an original. and it would be pretty much impossible to mistake his spectral. spidery guitar lines.
disembodied country licks and weird instrumental voicings for the work of anyone else. He has trusted colleagues with him on this date. including clarinettist Don Byron and his rhythm team of Kermit Driscoll and Joey Baron. and all are thoroughly in tune with his engagingly off- kilter musical sensibility. I Full Monte: Spark in the Dark (Slam) Four studio cuts from 1990 are augmented by three live creations from 1993—94 on a disc which stands at the opposite end of the British jazz spectrum from Orphy Robinson's. Full Monte pursue a vigorously experimental. genuinely collaborative (and decidedly uncommercial) musical language. with Chris Biscoe’s saxophones and clarinet weaving through the textural mesh conjured up on Brian Godding’s guitar synth. and Marcio Mattos and Tony Marsh interacting furiously on
1 bass and drums. (Kenny i Mathieson)
Tennents Live!
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The List 20 May—2 June 1994 37