INDIE
KATE NASH Made of Bricks (Fiction) .00.
Lazy listeners may compare her to Lily Allen, but the more we hear about this Harrow-based singer-songwriter, the more we find her making her own eccentric mark on the music scene. After the unexpected success of single, ‘Foundations’, Nash’s debut was rushed forward, and from the hip hop beat-driven opener of ‘Play’ to ‘Merry Happy”s pounding pianos, this album proves even further that all the hype and hyperbole has not been in vain. ‘Mouthwash’ is a highlight, as are ‘Mariella’, ‘Skeleton Song’, ‘We Get On’ and ‘Birds’, and while the infectious melodies and subtle skew-whiff horn and string-tinged production contribute to this, it’s Nash’s unique delivery and clever way with words which are the real deal clinchers. A weird-in-
places yet overall quite wonderful first offering . . .
ELECTRONICA NEIL LANDSTRUMM
Restaurant of Assassins (Planet Mu) .00
Even for a techno artist. Neil Landstrumm has never travelled the easy path. Needless to say. even now as the airhorns and glo-sticks of acid house get dusted down and shaken back into life Landstrumm throws up the sounds of ‘89. ‘73 and the future in one package. That's not so say that this is a disc of
revivalist tripe; on the contrary it's synthetic dancehall music that creeps along, skipping between clinical dark electro and raggafied dubstep. throwing in influences from Detroit. Sheffield and Trenchtown plus a few from the outer reaches of the cosmos.
The common thread is bass. Tons of it. Throbbing. squelching. rumbling. pulsing. thudding. there's enough to make your ribs rattle and your arse quake. Landstrumm eschews the typical drawn-out dancefloor track length in favour of 1 1 condensed. intense shocks. Still way too dark for your common or garden nu rave fan. but that's probably all the recommendation
(Camilla Pia)
1. you need really isn't it? (Mark Robertson)
ROCK TURBONEGRO Retox
l (Warp) eee
Luvfl'JNLG-x‘d
H’
The ultimate Viking rock raiding party. Turbonegro are here for your women (and boys). drugs and booze. Norway's premier deathpunk act plays fast and loose with their morals and their riffs. Their oeuvre is a Scandinavian stew of glam rock. metal, humour. denim and
leather YOU haxe to respect any album that includes Such titles as 'Everybody Loves a Chubby Dude' and “Stroke the Shaft' But 'What is Rockf?‘ is their opus. a paean to the music they have soid their SOul for (‘rock IS the DOSSibility of choking on
your own vomit in the
back of a rapist's van'
and ‘denim clad
Satanists making love in the sewers of Birmingham during Maggie Thatcher's prime'. are Just two of the pOSSible answers). While it never matches the sleazy feral power of Apocalypse Dudes this is still the essential soundtrack to homoerotic brawling with biker gangs. (Henry Nonhmore)
SOUNDTRACK VARIOUS
Hallam Foe: Original Soundtrack (Domino) 000.
will H.505]
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Drawn fully from the diverse and brilliant stable at Domino records. the soundtrack to David Mackenzie's forthcoming Scot flick Hal/am Foe could hardly go far wrong.
The local contingent is naturally represented in force: Orange Junce. UNPOC and James Yorkston. among others. all lend tunes, as do Franz Ferdinand with the only beSpoke track on the album — loungey newey ‘Hallam Foe Dandelion Blow'. Canadian duo Junior Boys' ‘Double Shadow' adds a glitchy electro- soul edge; clicking, plaintive ditty ‘Tricycle' by Psapp is the soft- centred standout. How it'll all work in the context of the film remains to be seen, but taken on its own merits this is a fine collection. (Malcolm Jack)
ELECTRONICA LONG RANGE Madness and Me (Long Range) min:
Not. as far as The List can tell. a paean to
Music Records
Suggs and his boys. rather this is the new pr0)ect from Phil 'Orbital' Harlnoll. Much like his old Outfit. then. Long Range offer a textured kind of chill-out music whose well- disguised beats no doubt s0und great turned right up to club volume.
While the glitch-rock of 'Your Face' and “i If‘ Down"s ambient dub benefit from a turn of the volume control and ‘Three's spacey sound effects work )ust right at room temperature. however. the band’s style is borrowed from a previous era.
Anyone who remembers 808 State. FSOL and. yes. Orbital fondly will like this record. even though it
' would need a long
range sight to get a glimpse of the cutting edge. (David Pollock)
AVANT-POP ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI Places Like This (Tailem Bend) eeee
Australian six-piece AiH have consistently shown themselves to be a
cheery bunch. their
heady blend of twee
indie. effervescent arrangements and handclaps by the dozen producing fantastically jubilant results across
two albums to date. Longplayer three sees
the glee cranked up to
1 1. and in some style. Congas. steel drums
and synthesisers
become weapons of
mass hysteria in this manic sextet's hands. as they marry tribal rhythms to punk insouciance Talking Heads style.
Case in point: lead single ‘Heart It Races' - a shouty calypso/hip
ALSO RELEASED
Garbage Absolute Garbage (Warner Brothers) Their last album stiffed unceremoniOLisly so another reVISiting of their finest momenst might disguise the fact that mu5ica|ly they're a spent force. Theory Hazlt Extra Credit (Supperrappin) Most excellent ook laden hip hop in the style of Kanye West. Madlib and Common; big chunky hooks that erschew cliche for feel good funk. Recommended.
The Elysian Quartet Gabriel Prokofiev String Quartet No2 (NonclaSSica/ Music) Challenging how and where we hear classical muSic. Gabriel Porkifiev presents a techno- influenced string quartet plus a raft of remixes from Hot Chip, Conboy and hip hop producer The EarlyMan.
Eugene McGulnneea The Early Learnings of. . . (Double Six Records) Razor- sharp wit and pithy lyrical adventures lift this Singer— songwriter above the bland likes of Blunts. Meluas and Morrisons.
Amy McDonald This is my Life (Vertigo) There's been mucho hype for this Scots singer- songwriter. and while the female Paolo Nutini tag is a tad generous. this debut long player is commendable. Varloua Soma Coma Vol 1 (Soma) 14 succulent hunks of electronica from the last 15 years. digging through the label's fruitful back catalogue of house. techno. electro and beyond.
hop/electro mash up, pitched somewhere between MIA and The Knife. It's one of the most fun. fresh and
exuberant songs — and
albums — you'll hear all year. (Malcolm Jack)
2—9 Aug 2007 THE LIST 31