Unlikely as it seems. a certain contingent of megastars might be too big to read their own press. This is a good thing. because we get to lay the boot into their ever more ham-fisted efforts without fear of hurting anyone’s feelings. Like cuddly old Meatloaf, for example. whose marketing-busting idea to promote Bat Out of Hell III is to release a new version of bombastic old clunker ‘lt’s All Coming Back To Me Now' (Mercury) 0 ‘Why?’ we scream forlornly into the darkness (or for The Darkness).
Here’s another one: Moby and Debbie Harry teaming up on ‘New York. New York (Mute) 0 (not that one). a slice of energy sapping muzak coming to an airline advert near you soon. undoubtedly. Or Babyshambles' ‘Janie Jones’ (B-Unique) O. . the reunion of Pete and Carl (not that you can hear it) — it’s a mawling of the Clash song. which is the only reason it's half decent. Meanwhile the Tenacious D joke is already growing thinner than clingfilm second time around. the main selling point of ‘The Pick of Destiny’(Epic) oo being the bit where Jack Black rhymes ‘fucking insane’ with ‘chicken chow mein’.
All of which would be rather dispiriting if we didn’t have a young generation of artists to replace our heroes. Should you require a new Tom Waits. for example, then you can listen to Micah P I-Ilnson‘s quirky. carousing ‘Jackeyed' (Sketchbook) coo or the excellent Uncle John and Whitelock’s ‘Riverside’ (GFM) oooo for some truly menacing blues. Bat For Lashes - aka Natasha Khan — is a powerful. quirky spirit in the vein of Kate Bush. so you should buy ‘Trophy’ (Echo) 00” , and Patrick Wolf's ‘Accident and Emergency' (Loog) m is an equally spirited retooling of Gary Numan, this time with added glitch techno.
So. all that's left in the race for Single of the Fortnight is to pass over Dawn of the Replicants' grimy ‘Skullcrusher' (SL) om (cache-enhancingly remixed by David Holmes and Tim Goldswonhy). the high- quality indie pop of Pull ‘I’iger Tail's ‘Animator’ (Young and Lost Club) «co and Mum's dizzyineg laid-back ‘Peel Session’ (Fatcat) no. . and alight instead upon the scene-stealing wonders of Glasgow pop rock tarts 19908 with ‘You‘re Supposed To Be My Friend' (Rough Trade) oooo . One day we'll call them crap too. but not today. (David Pollock)
Reviews
HIP HOP BECK
The Information (Geffen) o...
Convenience is everything nowadays and there is a particular kind of music which nails the rumble of great hip hop to the insistency of great electro and squeezes the nonchalant twang of the blues up against the comely beauty of perfect folk music and holds within its tin ribs a sense of the bittersweet. The whole shebang often feels like it is on the edge of complete collapse but stays together. Just. This music is. for convenience's sake.
called Beck music.
While much of The Information is joyfully effusive. it is the grooves that catch initially while the darker atmospheres seep into your system over days. The upshot is a great record that faces all points on the compass (often in one song) but manages to sidestep gimmick. Nigel Godrich is prime collaborator here and his touch lends a spooky. twisted air to the proceedings. Beck still paints oblique absurd lyrical patterns for the most part but you can forgive him when the rest is so oddly beguMng.
(Mark Robertson)
INDIE POP
DUKE SPECIAL Songs From the Deep Forest
(V2) 0.
Judged on its own merit. this second release from the dreadlocked ‘boho- chic‘ Belfast lad (bet you don't get many of them) Peter Wilson has some fine moments.
Opener ‘Wake Up Scarlett' is a giant of a song. while ‘Everybody Wants a Little Something' too is impressive. sounding like it could have been plucked from a Gershwin musical. Otherwise. Songs From the Deep Forest sticks in a slightly droopy limbo — shOrt of the necessary grandeur to rank up there alongside Rufus Wainwright's best. but not boasting such an earthy. everyman spirit as to challenge Badly Drawn Boy for his local-lad- come good crown. (Malcolm Jack)
HIP HOP
DAM
lhda (Dedication) (RedCircle Music) 0...
Being Palestinians residing inside Israel. and one of the first breakthrough acts to rap in Arabic. DAM's are truly unique in the hip hop world. This might have been more curse than blessing — there was always the risk that their novel ouevre would mean them ending up as nothing more than a diverting footnote in the genre‘s history. However. with lhda (Dedication). their first album to be released outside of Israel. they have announced themselves as far more than a tricksy world music proposition. Influenced equally by Nas and traditional Arabic musicians like Marcel Khalifa. Tamer Nafar‘s claustrophobic productions capture the
dark mood of the Middle East in songs like ‘Stranger in My Own Country’. the record brimming with rage at the plight of the Palestinian people. As Public Enemy go gradually grey and US hip hop forgets all but bling. DAM are a refreshing reminder of the blistering power rap can still have as social commentary.
(Miles Johnson)
ECLECTICA VARIOUS Splendour and Misery (TV) .0.
Straddling the darker genres. this compilation of tracks by the myriad of new and established artists affiliated with London based independent TV records holds together well. Ari. of label founders Breathless. opens and closes with some Godspeed-style epic bluster. Celebrated Secretly Canadian signees Early Day Miners lend a fine bit of creepy alt.fo|k. Coldharbour thrash like they hate everything. Bad Seed James Johnston chips in with a cracking slice of cinematic country melancholia. as do his other band. Bender. with a live version of “Laugh With Me'. recorded at Hammersmith Apollo.
at times. but hey: such is life. (Malcolm Jack)
OLD SCHOOL SOUL VARIOUS
The ln-Kraut Vol. 2 (Marina) 0000
While Detroit. London and the like most notably swung throughout the 608 and 70s. soul and affiliated movements were all pervasive: even those stiff old Krauts had a bash. This lovingly compiled follow up to
2005's Vol. 1 (the work
of serial anthologists
Stefan Kassel and
Frank Jastfelder) is
another brilliant
collection of some of
the more weird and wonderful results.
Standouts include the chilled. knowing groove
of Hildegard Knef’s
‘Holiday Time'. ‘Kamera Song' by Inner Space (an early
incarnation of Can) and.
on the novelty side. Christer Bladin's wacky ‘Wildkatze'. With extensive sleeve notes and artwork. this IS as much a gift for the eyes asthefeet Wunderbah!
(Malcolm Jack)
EXPERIMENTAL
DOWNBEAT VISION AND
THE RIDDLE
Tilt
(Post) 0.
Presumably taking their name from the impenetrany dense mole-dwarf philosophical musing of Nietzsche's Zarathustra. the duo of
Goo and Al certainly It's perhaps a little bleak '
fulfill this London label's ethos of ‘odd music for odd people'. Sitting somewhere between 12in and mini-album. this dark little collection of curios resists the solid hook formula that might take it into hip hop terriIOry but winds up sounding somewhat underdeveloped and unfinished. Cue quirky
vocal samples over
staggerineg brief ditties that explore interesting sounds but fade short of satisfaction. Frustratingly. the few
ALL (:05 WERE REVIEWED ON A SYSTEM SUPPUED AND INSTALLED BY LOUD & CLEAR
62 THE LISY 19 Oct—2 NOV