music
record reviews
POP Marine Research
Sounds From The Gulf Stream (K) *‘kir
They're old hands at this chirpy harmonic pop thing, Marine Research. Darlings of every badge-sporting, glasses-wearing indie kid since Stuart Murdoch was still wearing short trousers, it’s comforting to know that - whether they’re called Tallulah Gosh, Heavenly or, as they are now, Marine Research - their instinctive knack for hook-laden pop remains intact. ’Parallel Horizontal' and ’Chucking Out Time’ bristle and buzz with cute three- part harmonies and endearingly simple guitar lines, while 'Glamour Gap' and ’y.y.u.b.’ veer off into more melancholic territory. They’ve been making the same album for fifteen years now and, like Levis 501's and baked beans, they'll never change. But admit it: that's why you love them. (LM)
ELECTRONIC Mouse On Mars Niun Niggung (Domino) iii
The better tracks on Niun Niggung are like an episode of The Prisoner, all jaunty menace and sugar-coated paranoia. For every cheeky acid wobble or bouncing breakbeat, there is a nastily distorted vocal snippet from a Smurf death camp. On tracks like 'Distroia', this can sound like a brilliant pastiche of dance music history, from ambient to hardcore. Unfortunately, the constant interplay of the cute and the terrifying can become a little draining, and by the closing track, ’Circloid Bricklett Spriingli’, you may be glad you can leave this particular Port Merion without fear of weather balloon attack. (JM)
JAZZ Paul Motian And The
Electric Bebop Band
Play Monk And Powell (Winter &
Winter) 1k t it ~k Master drummer Paul Motian’s EBB
took a little time to find a fully effective operational method for their unusual line-up of two electric guitars, two tenor saxes, bass and drums, but the band are flying these days. This
tribute to two of the quintessential giants of modern jazz piano is typical of what they can do (even with no keyboard in sight).
Their interpretations of five tunes by Monk and four by Powell remain
faithful to the spirit of the originals while putting their own idiosyncratic spin on the music, skittering off at diverse odd angles and fascinating tangents. Recommended. (KM)
Clinton
Buttoned Down Disco (Meccico)
**** _ Inventing new genres as If they’re
making soup from random leftovers, Cornershop's Tjinder Singh and Ben Ayres have served up another esoteric dish. One part superfly funk to two parts Bollywood hip hop, with a side order of Stax horns, Buttoned Down Disco is the sound of two fried brains conversing in the glorious summer sun. (LM)
Ocean Colour Scene Profit In Peace (Island) *
Get up, stand up, wave that white flag. Oh yeah, for the ’Scene have spoken. ‘We don’t wanna fight no more,’ they say. 'There’s no profit in peace,’ they shout, as if they’ve just discovered a cure for cancer. Naive politics: it’s the new rock ’n’ roll, haven't you heard? (LM)
Suede
Everything Will Flow (nude) *hk Oh, Brett. Don't come to the house tonight, because there's someone here who used to love you but has long since grown tired of your endless laments about chemical debauchery. This is nothing more than Stay Together with more violins. Still, nice chorus. And that has to count for something, hasn’t it? (LM)
Stereophonics IWouIdn't Believe Your Radio (V2)
**
They’ve done the macho guitar thing, they’ve been the struggling underdogs, they’ve sold out stadiums, they’ve played Top Of The Pops. So what next for Wales' favourite pub rockers? Sounding like The Smiths fronted by Rod Stewart would seem to be the answer, on the evidence of this half-arsed effort. (LM)
REVIEWERS THIS ISSUE: Kenny Mathieson, Leon McDermott, Jack Mottram.
Hard candy: Mouse on Mars
Gigs are listed by date, then by cizy. Performances will be listed, provi ed that details reach our offices at least eight days before publication. Rock and pop listings compiled by Fiona Shepherd (Glasgow) and Rodger Evans
rock & pop
listings
(Edinburgh).
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THURSDAY 19
Glasgow
I Buckcherry and Fungus The Cathouse, Union Street, 248 6606. 8pm. £6 plus booking fee. No age restriction. LA rock band who, in their capacity as an AC/DC/Black Crowes/Stooges/Sex Pistols hybrid, kick some ass. Their eponymous debut album is out there waiting to be snaffled. Support from Scandinavian perky punk pop combo Fun us.
I T e Honeyflys, The Gangsters, Zing and Transaudio King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, St Vincent Street, 221 5279.
rock & pop MUSIC
8.30pm. £3.50 (advance), £4 (door). Big value quadruple bill of local bands.
I Mondo A- o-go and The Undergroun Apes The 13th Note Cafe, King Street, 553 1638. 8pm. £2. Psychedelic sounds.
I The Haven The 13th Note Club, Clyde Street, 243 2177. 9pm. £2.
I Poser, The Blend and Screamer Peach Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, Sauchiehall Street, 333 9637. 9pm.
I Yvonne Tipping and The Goldenhour Strawberry Fields, Oswald Street, 221 7871. 9pm. Free. Contact venue for a ticket to this launch night of BFM magazine, featuring Tipping, who appeared on Get YourAcr Together and, as something of a contrast, the groovy Hammond p0p sounds of The Goldenhour.
I Pop Fiction Kilkennys, John Street, 552 3505. 9pm. Free.
I Jam Session Samuel Dow’s, Nithsdale Road, 423 0107. 8.30pm. Free.
Edinburgh
I Superstar and Ellis Planet Pop, Attic, Dyers Close, Cowgate, 225 8382. 8.30pm. £5.50/£4. Return of the hugely underrated Superstar — sumptuous pop born out of that Groovy Little Numbers/BMX Bandits/Teenage Fanclub scene. Ellis are described as a countrified Radiohead. Yee-hah, Computer, anyone?
I Andy Neate Common Grounds, 2/3 North Bank Street, 226 1416. 7.30pm. Free
I Finnegans Awake Finnc an’s Wake, Victoria Street, 226 3 16. 8pm. Free.
I Dog Catcher Jazz Joint, 8 Morrison Street, 221 1288. 10pm—5am. £6/£5. Scorching hot 'azz.
I Rodeohea Whistle Binkies, Niddry Street, 557 5114. 11pm. Free.
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