POP
HANSON Underneath (CO/)klllg Vinyl. 0..
The prewousiy punchable Hanson. now a few years older and resndent on an indie label, are unlikely to sell 10m copies of their current album.
But then Underneath is a different creature to 1997 global smash Middle of Nowhere. It 's Wiser, more melancholy, and ever so slightly bitter. Occasionally, a gUItar snarls With genuuie aggression. lt's not a radical record, of course, but Isaac, Taylor and Zac still have a Winning way With a melody. and high points such as the anthemic 'Penny & Me' ride the arching Atlantic highways With aplomb. leavmg the leaden likes of Bryan Adams choking on dust.
(James Smart)
HIP HOP HYDRO
Hustle 2 Hustle (Underdogg Entertainment) 00
Although this frequently sexist. occasionally homophobic album is the work of a Glasgow- based rapper. Hydro. it is written and performed entirely in the NY thug vernacular. There's no questioning that Hydro picked up some nimble phrasing an the two years he was hiding out in NY from the clearly amneSiac forces of the UK law but he's also picked up the worst of the misogyny. On “I Need Pussy‘ he goes on about sticking it to the bitches so much that you get the distinct
.15 Loud
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74 THE LIST 17' Feb—3 Mar 2005
i"‘l/l‘;',8i’/i l e": ' J ""l‘: "1‘; l"‘:‘ ’ ' ‘1 2’, hear ', 'v r proi, .le TI‘M' TC ‘:/'»',",2:TO" of relig‘ faith '71,: eger ll ore ‘ar’, cai. ll") a great shame because. ’lespite the ’l‘;ll.’£tll.".: US gart'gsta posturing. he's got a great flcs.’ on tracks such as the ironically naiiiei: ‘Authentic'. l-‘urtherniore. the quick Witted Boll/\x/oorl H898 production Job by
Dopey marks him out as
a real prospect. l’Tiin Abrahains)
LllfLTHONlC THIEVERY CORPORATION The Cosmic Game i'l‘railer) COO.
Hob Gar/a and Eric Hilton, the duo behind Thievery Corporation's eclectic. energetic sound. claim their 'deepest source of inspiration comes from our record collections’. This might seem entirely obVious as a band mission statement. Yet. as their fourth album showcases in glorious psychedelic colours, there's undoubtedly an expansive record collections wonh of listening in their output. The tracks on The Cosmic Game feature startling collaborations with such rock luminaries as DaVid Byrne and the Flaming Lips. while the CorpOration's ear for a good old groove is offset by an array of musical genres. from Indian and Latin to 60s psychedelia.
(Allan Radcliffe)
JAZZ
BILLY JENKINS When the Crowds Have Gone
iBabell 000
When the first thing you hear is a guttural VOIce singing ‘I wear my grandpa's clothes “cos he's dead. yOu know yOu have to be back in
How to Swim
LOCAL INDIE MADNESS
The Decider famously ‘borrowed’ Joy Division on their debut single but on Men Women and Alcohol (Xstatic) (COO. ) they find their own sound, pretty much — in the main the dark alt.rock of the mid-80$ is given a cheerier 21st century sheen. On Quietly Confident (Li-lofi) (.000 ) Telemachus bring us rumbling lo-fi guitar instrumentals and distractedly odd but
compellingly vital alt.pop.
Less relaxed but no less essential is Giant Haystacks’ We Are Being Observed (Smartguy) (0000 ). It's a blast, hurtling towards a self- imposed target of 14 tracks in under half an hour. Thus, exiled Scot Allan McNaughton and Californian chums serve up several sub-60 second stop-start tunes at breakneck pace before catching a well-deserved rest. On It
Stings When I (How to Swim) (000
) How To
Swim do art - not in an angular Art School way,
the land of the blues. Billy Jenkinsstyle. The bard of Bromley's latest assault on the venerable genre is essentially a solo album, with contributions on selected tracks from Dylan Bates wiolin. and yes. Diango's brotheri and Steve Watts lbassi. He takes the piss. no question. but he does so from a bedrock of real love for the music. and his manic
reinventions blow a blast of fresh air over worn conventions.
(Kenny Mathiesoni
lNDIL WILLY MASON
Where the Humans Eat lVllglll: 0...
Two typical concerns for an average 19-year-old: how to raise cash for the next binge drinking sesswn and waking up on time for tutorials. Not Will; Mason. however. who has spent his time crafting stripped do).er folk songs so beautiful that he .vas goickly snapped up for Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst's new project Team Love and
but that old-fashioned trick where bands treat music as a performance - so this mini-album is an oddball collection, but crucially with swinging
brassy tunes amid the din.
When FAOJesus aren't remixing Aereogramme or Ian Brown, they make what sound like short film soundtracks on tsetseflyjihad (fao) (0.00 ) from atmospheric documentary-style instrumentals to startling sonic attacks to almost subliminal electronic meanderings. If their movies are as good they'll
be rated ‘must-see'.
Finally, two from Fife’s East Neuk. The Red Well’s Scottish National Portrait Gallery (Fence)
(OOO
) offers typical Fence lo-fi folk, where
tunesmithery takes precedence over technical competence. But it’s their labelmates The Pictish Trail on Hot Trail (Fence) (0000.) who take the plaudits - a wonderful mix of dreamy acoustica and the odd bit of electronic wibbliness. (Stuart McHugh)
subsetluently thrust into the mainstream.
Following the release of an acoustic self-titled EP last year, this debut is every bit as brilliant as the hype .vould suggest. Woo/y guitars. clattering drums. rich bluesy vocals and intelligent lyrics make Mason sound like a '.‘/|S‘: old broken-hearted type instead of a freshfaced teen. lCamilla Pia)
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INDIE
VARIOUS
The Full Moon Music Club/
Out of the Bedroom Volume III 00.
31/ What you ‘//|“ about compilation ()[Js composed from regular open mic nights — they usually offer eclecticisni. An emphatic case in point is Bannerinari's Full Moon Music Clubs Heartbeat of a City, which runs the gamut from the sublime to the deeply ridiculous. Most of the featured acts perforrri mth tongues firmly in cheeks. from the identikit Nu-l/letal of Cre xice Inspection through William
ALL CDS WERE WERE REVIEWED ON A SYSTEM SUPPLIED AND INSTALLED BY LOUD 8: CLEAR