INDIE ARCTIC MONKEYS
Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
(Domino) 0...
The hype has been ferocious around this motley quartet and, for the most part, it’s justified. They are bloody marvellous live by all accounts and this debut album is a ragged beauty that makes you wish bands would properly let
rip now and again.
Maybe it’s something that’s been dumped in the reservoirs of Sheffield but the Arctic Monkeys share a wistful, oddly flat lyrical charm with Pulp. They certainly have a way to go before they can match the deadpan poetic prowess of Jarvis Cocker — he remains indie’s unsung poet laureate - but the simplicity and wit of the lyrics are what makes this so appealing. They avoid art house abstractions and anything too cryptic as rock’n'roll cliches are abandoned in favour of Mike Skinner-style misadventures as they wrestle with girls, pubs,
rumbles and rozzers.
Not without its limits, Whatever People Say . . . punctuates the supermarket aisles’ soap operas and ferocious musical sprints and does suffer from having almost too may ideas crammed in. They remain surprisingly hard to pin down musically: for every moment of the Fall, the Clash or the Police you might get, you hear those old skifer and blue beat records that the Coral and Zutons have made such a fine job of pilfering from.
Less pretentious than the Libertines, more consistent than Razorlight and funnier than Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys aren’t about the building of musical legacies; they’re about writing songs to shout along to, bond over and celebrate during. Making music for the moment. (Mark Robertson)
to go into interstellar overdrive? Sure! What about a choir? Why not? My Bloody Valentine getting Jiggy With Devendra Banhart? That's a great idea! Boundaries stomped like paper dolls making the world a better place. (Mark Robertson)
at: me sour THE NATIONAL TRUST
Kings & Queens (Thrill Jockey) 0..
Camp 80s revivalism. Where (or when) will it end? There is an appeal to such nostalgia certainly, it's nice to hear the aesthetic of the era explored With a more developed production style. but does it make for a Vital release? A case in point. the
Pr'fi
National Trust may win you over — if you're willing to get into bed With them. Straddling sweet 70s soul music and the driVIng immediacy of the early 80s throbbing electronica. the hypnotic layering redresses the carelessness of proto- house production while retaining a degree of the vacuous. Still not got enough of Prince? Here's yet more. less the grandiosity.
(Mark Edmundson)
ROCK
FIONA APPLE Extraordinary Machine (Epic) 0.00
The angsty wait with a piano is almost as worn and calloused a cliche as the fraggle-haired guitar beast or the skinny tied moog abuser but it still produces some bloody good records. Apple remains an enigma here. she's busy packing arenas back home in the US and while this, her third album. won't break her into the greater public
conscience. it is a reminder of just how tremendous a songwriter she is. Apple's music is filled with sinew and rage as she batters the shit out of her poor piano keys on much of Extraordinary Machine but she counterbalances this with a delicacy. sweetness and inevitable sadness that makes this not unlike being ploughed into by someone else's emotional rollercoaster. (Mark Robertson)
INDIE
CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
(Wichita) O.
The new Arcade Fire. my arse. That's been the buzz around this American fivesome. and while their live shows may well be euphoric. this whiny, lacklustre debut is mostly just irritating, half-baked indie-by-numbers. The obvious influence on tracks like ‘L.ost & Found' and 'Yellow Country Teeth' is Talking Heads. except without the eccentric dancefloor vigour. which leaves tuneless wailing. ambling bass. clattering drums and not much else. Only on the frenetic “Heavy Metal' and the New Order romp of ‘Home On lce' do CYHSY s0und as if they give much of a shit at all. but that's simply not enough.
(Doug Johnstone)
JAZZ
THE NOSTALGIA 77 OCTET
Sevens & Eights
('Tru Thoughts) 00..
Contemporary in arrangement rather than production per se. 'modern Jazz‘ could never do the Nostalgia 77 sound Justice — thoroughly modern
though it is. From funk. through organic hip hop to acclaimed afro-iazx. Benedic Lamdin‘s compositions have Cut a swift path to the octet featured on this live recording from London's Jazz Cafe. In only their second live performance the ensemble are tight and loose in all the right places. turning out alluring hooks and accomplished improwsation from a powerful brass section and beyond. As is the charm of the live recording a special moment is captured for prosperity and the buoyant. appreciative audience constitute a ninth man.
(Mark Edmundson)
AMERICANA DOUG HOEKSTRA Su Casa, Mi Casa (Headroom) 000
Americana singer songwriter troubadour Doug Hoekstra has been trekking round the globe performing for years now. and this official live bootleg brings together some of his finest moments on stage. The best stuff occurs when Hoekstra is accompanied by a female vocalist (several appear at different points here). and the stripped down nature of proceedings generally allows the narrative quality of Hoekstra's simply effective material to really shine through. There is a surprising variety as well. With the daft knockabout of ‘Laminate Man' sitting nicely alongside the
ALL CDS WERE WERE REVIEWED ON A SYSTEM SUPPLIED AND INSTALLED BY LOUD 6. CLEAR
finest moment — the beautifully thoughtful and poignant ‘Giving Up Smoking'.
(Doug Johnstone)
INDIE
SAINT JUDE’S INFIRMARY Happy Healthy Lucky Month (SL) 00
A bit of misery can be a good thing. but there
has to be light at the
end of the tunnel to , keep you listening. This debut album from Edinburgh hopefuls is a downbeat and morose affair. like the Velvet Underground on horse trangs. but without
being nearly as . charismatic as that sounds. The playing and singing is amateurish and unengaging but. worse than that. the songwriting is extremely one-paced. that pace being funereal. The exception is the rather excellent (although overlong) closer 'VWampyre'. which rattles along like much- missed SL labelmates Khaya. That aside. this is disappointingly unimaginative indie with dangerously gothic overtones.
(Doug Johnstone)
ALSO RELEASED ,
The Beautiful Newborn Children (Domino) Orgiastic hornblowers indulging in pseudpunk guitar parps. Yawn. Sherrisa Stewart Aspiring R88 temptress bears her soul on her debut LP.
Various Duets and Duets // (Ell/fl) Mildy creepy. beyond the grave crooning from Frank Sinatra with Vandross. Ronstadt. Minnelli Pavarotti andthehke.
The Notorious BIG Duets: The Final Chapter (Bad Boy) Same idea. different genre. Big Poppa's unfinished lyrics with Eminem. Bob Marley (l?!) and Jay Z et al on hand to sully his memory at a moment's notice.
in Lgx "R oCleor
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1%) Jan»? Feb 2006 THE LIST 59