Giving the singles the once over this issue is Dante Gizzi, frontman with Glaswegian glam makers El Presidente.
Audioslave ‘Doesn't Remind Me' (Polydor) Rock supergroup in relaxed mode. .. 'I bought Badmotoninger (by Soundgarden) again recently cos I‘d lost it. What a fucking album that was. but this is a million miles away from that. It‘s so laid back it sounds like a lullaby. It's like a winding down for all the guys in the band.‘
Feeder ‘Shatter/Tender’ (Echo) Corporate indie by radio friendly trio. . ‘lt‘s pants. I like the wee riff thing in the verse. but then it goes into a pure college rock chorus that does my nut in. It‘s made for radio. really. Where are they from? Wales? I‘m not keen on it at all.‘
The Houdini Box ‘The Houdini Box EP' (demo) Wonky sounding Edinburgh folk collective. Weird but cool. ... ‘I like this. it‘s quite unusual with the fiddles. oboe and everything going on in there. It’s very folky but I don't mind that. and the beat's very unusual. There‘s almost a Stevie Nicks thing going on here. It's the best there's been so far.‘
SINGLE OF THE FORTNIGHT: Wolf Parade “Wolf Parade EP' (Sub Pop) Canadian pals of the Arcade Fire. Sound a bit like the Arcade Fire. .... “Wow. this is really good. I love the vibe of it. It sounds like early Talking Heads or something and there's a cheeSy Hammond keyboard sound in there as well. The beat‘s great too. plus he's got a good voice. It's just a really great song. it‘s got that edge to it. it‘s cool.‘
Die 80 Fluid ‘Spawn of Dysfunction‘ (Cartesian) Unhinged lady-led shrieking goth metal from London. .. ‘I like the chorus. I like the riff in there. but the verse disnae live up to it. Imagine that chorus in a metal club; it would be great. It‘s got a German vibe to it. but it's pants. really.‘ (Doug Johnstone)
I El Presidente play the Garage. Glasgow, Fri 7 Oct.
STONER PSYCHEDELIA MY MO JACKET
2
(SonyBMG) OOO
Yanky Doodle Dandies My Morning Jacket are ploughing a wonky musical furrow. blending the oddball modern psychedelia and fragile vocals of the Flaming Lips with the more earthy AM 70s rock of Big Star and Cheap Trick. When they get it right it's pretty great. all smile-inducing
melodies and chugging guitar tomfoolery. the sparkly ‘What a Wonderful Man' being a case in point. But there are also a couple of spectacularly ill-advised howlers on here — the whiteb0y reggae noodle of “Off the Record' and
Loud
oCleor
the shambling waltz of ‘lnto the Woods' — and enough other ropy moments to make this an overall patchy affair. (Doug Johnstone)
EXPERIMENTAL COCO ROSIE Noah‘s Ark
(l ouch 8 Go) .....
Oddball American sister act Coco Rosie. aka Sierra and Bianca Cassady. follow up last year's cult hit. La Maison De Mon Reve. with a further collection of spooky. ethereal experiments in high-class songs and lo-fi production. With guest spots from new-found friends Devendra Banhart and Antony and the Johnsons. among countless other minOr stars, from mewling kittens and braying horses to baaing sheep and croaking bird-life. it‘s a magical. mystical brew. perfectly complementing Cassady‘s deranged operatics. strange poetry and haunting melodies. And. bar their first album. you‘ll be hard-pushed to find a more bizarrely original. yet readily accessible and enchanting record this year
(Andrew Richardson)
ROCK
PAUL WELLER As is Now
(V2) .0
Why did Paul Weller cross the road? To get to the middle of it. on the evidence of his 500th album. which lays claim to a small patch of rocky ground right between his influential angular punk days and enormously deservedly successful acoustic rock of his Wild Wood period. Lurking in the shadows and occasionally surfacing are his former musical worlds. but the overall impression is of anodyne. radio-friendly rock. It'll no doubt reach and please a vast
audience. but just somehow fails to hit the target bearing in mind just how much more stellar Mr Weller can be. (Emma Newlands)
JAZZ
BOBO STENSON TRIO
Goodbye
(ECM Records) ....
Swedish pianist Bobo Stenson has led a succession of superb trio albums over the past decade. and this is no exception. He is joined by long-standing associate Anders Jormin (bass) and American guest Paul Motian (drums) in a varied set that takes in classical adaptations arranged by Jormin. jazz standards. original compositions by all three players and tunes by Ornette Coleman and Tony Williams.
Motian brings a fresh Slant to the trio in a seat usually occupied by Jon Christensen. while Stenson's lovely touch and finely-honed harmonic invention is always apparent. No new revelations. but the whole set oozes quality. (Kenny Mathieson)
INDIE
ANIMAL COLLECTIVE Feels
(Fat Cat) ....
—-——:§——¢.-mu £5391 __
",5; t H
Although most PR bumph that comes with a promo album can be taken with a certain amount of salt. the release that accompanies Animal Collective‘s Fee/s album makes a spot-on point.
After positive. if not
exactly widespread.
praise for last year’s Sung Tongs. this record moves them closer to the hierarchy of odd but brilliant pop stars like Arcade Fire or the Flaming Lips.
Take. for example. the stamping. chiming resonance of ‘The Purple Bottle'. or the psychedelic folkery of ‘Bees'. the perfectly quirky antidote to the hymnal air which calms Feels' last third. It’s a truly measured and beautiful record. and one that will no doubt translate to their famously bonkers live show. Watch this space. (David Pollock)
HIP HOP VARIOUS Life Before 40 (Low Life) ....
f— \ l .J U
.- - 5"
Given the underground and mainstream success the label has had with the likes of Rodney P. Jehst and Skinny Man. it is somewhat surprising to see Low Life Records celebrating what is only their 40th release. Consider that the label was first launched in 1992 and you've got to think they're a hella lazy troupe indeed.
Served up chronologically. this brief label history puts paid to such accusations espousing quality not quantity in grubby UK bangers that sound all the better jammed together on the bonus mix CD. Coming correct with a bunch of videos from the chief players this package is a bit special.
(Mark Edmundson)
SOUL VARIOUS The ln-Kraut (Marina) ....
Who w0uld have thought that in the years that lay between England's World Ctip football victOry (1966. as if you didn't know) and Helmut Schmidt's first term as
!
Chancellor (1974. as if you cared) that those
crazy Germans were
! making some storming tunes. This obscenely
pleasing collection of obscure soul. beat. Now Sound. Mod and
soundtrack gems from that period is an absolute ; treat. from Hildegard
Knef's Teutonic vaudeville delight of an
; opener ‘From Here on It Gets Rough‘ to Eugen j Thomass' filthy
psychedelic nugget ‘Undergroovin". There is not a bad track here. but France Gall's ‘Hippie Hippie'. the ORF Big Band's ‘Jungle Soul' and Bill Lawrence's ‘Pussy Baby' deserve particular credit. The fraulein-lode of great library tunes. (Paul Dale)
POP SUGABABES
. Taller in More Ways (Universal)...
Expectations are suitably
high for the one British
; pop outfit who've been ; consistently head and
shoulders above their contemporaries from the start. Their first two albums were stormers
but this. despite having
the stupidest title since
No Jacket Required. is something ofa disappointment.
There are few regulation 3
bangers — ‘lt Ain't Easy'
and ‘Obsession' and
% even a song called Joy
Division', which seems to be neither about the
Manc legends nor being
a Nazi concentration
camp prostitute. Still
better than almost every
5 girl band around but a
long way off their best. (Mark Robertson)
ALL CDS WERE REVIEWED ON A SYSTEM SUPPLIED AND INSTALLED BY LOUD & CLEAR
(JV-Ill"! Hl~Fl N ‘0 l'irll‘llf.’ (.ll llrlt/i/i l/i’i’J'l’tllleJD-le/J‘CO.‘JI’
62 TIIE LIST 6-20 Oct 2005