Sampled to death but by no means dead and buried. the contiriurng Vitality of these records is a testament to just how timeless they are. But that's orin the half of it. While the 80s saw Mcltae's cachet extended by l ondon's rare groove and the northern soul scenes. and house producers have 'tt)‘.€3." stop>ed p lfeizrtg frorn her. Working solo as well as with Stevie Wonder and James Brown in the late (30s and [Us she set the tone for lttfilt in her natzye Mléil‘i‘il. lhrs is defin'tely a date for the reai oid school but by l‘() means exclusiyeiy so. .Alt.
AMP FIDDLER Acc'airned sirger songwriter Joseph 'Ar'ip' l 'ddlev has taken yiel cxer a decade to emerge from its [Jetiot bolthcle with a debut aiburn wortn yew "Ziltl eari‘ed nioney bii'. that's "ot to say he's been resting on any laur'eis. l ollowi‘g the traditio" 0" so n‘any art'sts from America's sevei‘th city. he likes to do things at his owr: pace and in his ow: . lowkey way. A single parent and highly accomplished sess or: musician. over the last 20 years Amp l iddier has lent l: s skills to more shining stars :3.
the f'rntament of soul. 3a//. hip
hop. funk and Wilt than all of hrs Detro't conteinporar‘res put together. Prince. George Clinton. Seal. Brand New Heavres. \JélllllKXltlEtl. Was Not Was and l adysmith Black Mamba/o. not to l“(3!l'.l()lt all the underground heavyweiglits lan‘ong theni (Earl Craig. Slum V'ilage's .J [)il'a. Money Mark and Motxlymanr‘... have ail gueued
up for a piece of this ghetto f'y.
Now bu/xing across the
'!. Ana. 5.. 5.50. MM)“,
THE WEIRDOS TRANS AM
As bizarre as a sackful of monkeys painted by Salvador Dali. That‘s Washington DC‘s Trans Am. Just check out their website for proof. The only information they give is a description of their equipment which reads thus: ‘Trans Am employs a wide variety of budget model keyboards whose demo settings and programmed rhythm patterns provide an inspirational spark for songwriting. The importance of the equipment is so great to Trans Am that they refuse to divulge actual brand names and models.’ Couple that with the fact that they all dress like stripped-to-the-waist evangelical nutters and make the sort of synth-propelled electro-rock racket that would soundtrack John Carpenter’s bad dreams, and you have — quite simply - a very strange outfit.
Yet their electronic stylings work astoundingly well. Taking the tinny demo programs as the basis for their work, they plug in guitars and synths to create a truly hard-edged wall of sound. Their last album Liberation fused the music to a sci-fi vision of Washington as a city under the power of martial law, to scarily overblown effect. (DP)
Atlantic on the brief :-st of tours. for that voice at < nce Slt‘Oky. smooth and as soft as Andrex. Scottish audiences are sure to be doing ex; ctly the same. iAlt;
EXPLOSIONS IN
THE SKY
‘Vv’anted: Sad. tr uinphant rock band.‘ So intent the advert .ri a l“tiS;'(I shop ii: Austin. lexas tliz t brought about t xplos ens 'n the Sky. and that def nitiori 3t>l'.f)."il‘f;f}f3 what the band are about as ewe-h now as it d.d .n 199‘.) when the advert ran. Since
then three (ill)tlll‘.f; have
Explosions in the Sky
energed from the collective
psyche o‘ the four piece band.
the most recent of which. [he I art/r is .r‘~.’<)t a Cold Dead Place. is an astonishingly rnov'rig and 'iitiiriate display of organic instr'uii‘ental music. 'ike the best bits of Mogwai. Sign" Hos and Godspeed seamlessly melded together and (ll‘.'(}'l an even more (l'a'iiatic and majestic twist. I've. the foursome manage to recreate the intense teelng of filter records with the stirtple. basic set up of d'uins_ b: ss and gu=tar sortiethng you'll find hard to be'ieve when they're \.'."iispeiiiig musica. secrets one nunute and
roar i‘g their own personal gospel the next. [)J»
KID 606
[he first time Kid (300. the faptop ; ssass'n from Veiie/uela via ()akland. (Iafi‘c'i‘a. '~.'./as ‘.'.r:tnessed on these shores was for a gig at the old Bongo Club with the
l louse of [)ubois. Al the time. this writer had the fl“:f;|l()lllll‘.(}
of being mates with the now much malgned ex Dubois :mpresario. Rob Mills. who
nianaged. at the l ith hour as was hrs wonti. to rope yours truly irito organising the l'dinburgh leg of (306's first European tour. Suffice to say. on'y about 2:") people showed tll). But the Kid was still totally exp'osive and it was satisfying enough to have the task of warming up the 'stage' for the young punk on his Fdinburgh debut. even if Mills r‘ever paid either of us for the iob.
With a style that bows its head to no one. cocks at snook at everyone and is guaranteed to
have your dad telling you to 'turn that racket downl'. Kid (306. aka Miguel Depedro. is the American west coast's answer to the Aphex Twin. Shownig scant regard fer dance music protocol and orthodox styles. and armed to the teeth with an Apple Mac featuring all your favourite motifs. Depedro is the villain who will twist those familiar club riffs into new contortions until everyone on the ‘floor is hopping up and down like springtime rabbits With fire— Crackei's up their bums. He couldn't care less about any scene. he has a devilish sense of humour and his last album. Kr/l Sound Before SOL/rid Kr/ls You. was proof posmve that pure. adulterated silliness is still often the best way to get the party started right. lARl
“Fifi
FOUR TET
In the land of technology fetishists. one man is the Don Juan to rule them all. Kieren Hebden. otherWise known as Feiir Tet. is currently the UK's premier exponent of Sitting in a darkened room. plugging in the laptop and fiddling with buttons and knobs until the wee small hours.
Yet this isn't a computer ise t~i love affair we're talking about here. for the Feiir Tet sound is communal. it's expansive. and it's as well suited to hearing in a room full of strangers as it is on your own with the headphones on and the curtains Closed. While his work to date has been one long. marvellously textured affair. the most recent album, Hounds. is the one which has seen Hebden make at least a dent in the heart of the Cultural consciousness. It was criminally passed over for any sort of Mercury nod last year. but Radiohead. at least. fell in love with it. and declared it their record of last year. With the languid loops. tenderly off- beam beats and a real sense of its creator's personality. it's one for people whose passiOn for music takes many forms.
And Hebden doesn't rust love making music. he loves rriusrc. In his two shows at Triptych with bills all of his own
.20 Ar"
THE LIST 23