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(Kitchenware) 00.
Divorce' (Fiction) 000 overworked.
(Domino) «0
(quinnonline.com) 000
(Universal) 000
radio. (David Pollock)
SINGLES & DOWNLOADS
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With Spring's arrival comes a whole bunch of new tracks from bands who are readying an assault on 2008. and boys with guitars look set to feature just as heavily this year as in any other. Or resilient old fellas with guitars. as The Charlatans' ‘Oh Vanity' (thecharlatansnef) provides more of the effortless indie- rock pleasantries their fans demand.
Also counting as old-stagers amidst the rapidly quickening indie rock river are EdItors. whose ‘Push Your Head Towards the Air‘ is grand and somewhat affecting, even though Tom Smith probably carries a photo of Chris Martin in his wallet for inspiration, while Elbow’s ‘Grounds For
Weed “WANT
is inventive but
‘Overworked' is not an accusation which easily levels itself at either The (now partly Glasgow-based) Futureheads' “The Beginning of the Twist' (Nul) «O KIIIs' uneventful ‘Cheap and Cheerful’
, while new(ish) Scottish bands like The Dykeonles and Sixpeopleaway provide spiky quasi-emo and angstful lo-fi balladry with ‘Waiting for Go' (Lavolta) m
and the ‘lnterrnittent Fault EP' (self-released)
, respectively. So in a local sense, it’s Louise ‘A Band Called’ Quinn's ‘DIY EP'
or The
which earns the
praise for showing at least a bit of sass.
The lesson that should be dawning by now is just how pedestrian guitar music which doesn't at least aspire to brilliance is. The two-tone pop of Leon Jean Marie's ‘Bed of Nails’
(which might yet get quite irritating after more than three listens) and The Teenagers’ bright-if-cursory 80$ electro-pop of “Love No' (Merok) 000 fortnight's choicest w0rks.
Undisputed heavyweight Slngle of the Fortnlght. however. is Hercules and Love Aflalr's ‘Blind' (DFA/EMI) com, the Antony Hegarty-starring, Frankie Knuckles-remixed slice of urban disco which should currently be bringing a sense of excitement back to your
are among this
FOLK
KARINE POLWART
This Earthly Spell (Hegri MUSIC) OOOO
Karine Polwart is already established as Scotiand‘s premier punveyOr of
progressive folk. and this consummate and lush album consolidates that posmon. A flip side to last year's traditional collection Fairest F/oo 'er. this album of crafted songwriting combines her intelligent lyrical style With indie-flecked Scottish folk of real depth and variety. One blip aS|dB (the oddly whim8lca| SWIng Of ‘The News') this is Stirring stuff. from the tense atmospheric rock of ‘Painted it White' to the
ambitious and spe.‘bico"‘g er: c drone of coser Tongue That Cannot Lie‘ Continual?y puShing the boundaries Of what (QM. lf‘uslc ca" do. Rowar‘. SBQYYIS unstoppable at tne moment.
lDOug Johnstone
ROCK
NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS Dig Lazarus Dig! (Mutel COCO
smith)?
Rather than retreating back to relative serene solitude after the Stooges-ish stramash of his tremendous Side proiect Grinderman, Cave has rallied the troops and made his first distinctly ‘group' record Since 2004‘s Nocturama.
Dig Lazarus Dig.’ lacks the dynamic weight of his last few records but still contains a clutch of immaCUlately dirty songs. Sketching out an array of malcontents. misanthropes and dreamers. he's as lyrically inciSive and diVisive as ever. When he gets gomg on ‘Albert Goes West‘ it‘s all ‘ooh- oohs‘ and buzzsaw gwtars while the looped rumble of “Night of the Lotus Eaters‘ brings to mind former accomplice Blixa Bargeld's own wilful industrialisms. Similarly fine is the flamenco- tinged ballad ‘Hold Onto Yourself', the imagined theme song to OrSOn Welles' Touch of Evil.
His rocking doesn't always translate thOugh. ‘Lie Down Here' is Just a little too slick for its own good while “More News from Nowhere' is an unashamed retread of ‘Deanna'. Given the impromptu feel to this you'd think they c0uld have left a few more rough edges showmg. (Mark Robertson)
FOLK POP MOUNTAIN COATS
Heretic Pride (4A0) O.
While it might be cruel to say that John Darnielle and his
Mountain Goats might be trying for a kind of Sufjan Stevens Vibe but end up a hit too Jasper Carrott for comfort. that's still the overriding impreSSion given by Heretic Pride. A collection of utterly weedy folk-pop songs shouted or warbled at the top of his throat by Darnielle mainly strum by Without leavrng the barest stain of an impression the sec0nd they have ended. I'm told that these songs have moved away from the autobiographical bent of preVious affairs to concentrate on myths and cults and slasher films. Track SIX is entitled ‘So Desperate.‘ Now that's what I call apt. (Brian Donaldson)
ROCK THE GUTTEH TWINS
Saturnalia (Sub Pop) 0000
Two grunge legends for the price of one — bargain! The Gutter TWins are Greg Dulli (formerly of Afghan Whigs) and Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees). and this Joint proiect seamlessly blends the former's love of soul With the latter's bluesy death-rattle to scmtillating effect. Both singers have been through the mill over the years so it's no Surprise that Sin, redemption and transcendence are order of the day.
The mUSlC ranges from the epic rock of ‘ldle Hands' to the intimate and Creepy ‘Seven Stories Underground. all of it soaked in the pOignant world-weariness only a lifetime of rock'n'roll excess can provide. (Doug Johnstone)
CHRISTIAN SCOTT
Anthem
Concord Jazz) 0”
Under the direction of its fOunder. the late Carl Jefferson the Concord Jazz label was a haven fOr straight-ahead mainstream swmg lts new corporate identity Within the Universal grOup has seen the label branching out in more radical directions New Orleans-bow Christian Scott's second album is a heady amalgam ()f Jazz-rock era Miles Daws With strong and upfront influences from rock, hip hop and soul. all woven into a dark, densely textured. largely slow-movmg and always broodineg atmospheric soundscape inspired by the post 9/1 1. post- Katrina traumas in America.
Scott‘s trumpet floats through and across the heavyweight rhythmic accompaniments on guitar, piano/keyboards. bass and drums (plus saxophone on selected cuts) in effective fashion, and With a similar effect to some of Norwegian trumpeter's Nils Petter Molvaer's genre- bending experiments. Brother J from X-Clan adds a vocal contribution to the final track. a reprise of the album's title track. (Kenny Mathieson)
AZZ GGE WESSELTOFT IM
(JaZZIand) COO
The slow. minimal Single notes shrouded in a delicate shimmering echo on 'delMAGEP' is an extreme example. but the general mood of the mUSlC on the
‘ Norwegian pianist‘s
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This is essentially a sili‘ alttui'i. although he does ll‘t‘lllllt‘ the Saw singing art.) [)(‘lt‘lltltyli )ll of Milli Home on ‘YOYK', and the your» of Rwandai‘ surxiyi )l Zawadi Moiigane telling her stow .rt measured. intpassroiiate fashion to the BBC on 'VVY‘. fll“, response to the current atrocities suffered by CiVilian populations in war zones around the world.
(Kenny Mathiesoni
COUNTRY PHILIP COHEN SOLAL
The Moonshine Sessions (Ya Basia!) O.
Solal is best known as the French DJ. composer and producer behind the electronica tango fUSion of Gotan Prejecl. so this largely traditional country album comes as a surprise.
Recorded in Nashvrlle With a host of local inuSICiaris, and inspired by Neil Young '3 Harvest, it's a heartfelt. sombre record. With a certain downhorrie charm, but the songwriting is pretty anodyne. Chirpirig Crickets. snippets of conversatIOrt and rumbling truck (:HQIHC“) are meant to add atmosphere. but only demonstrate the producer's urge to meddle. Nhlle the ,Iee- haw covers of “Dancing Queen' and ‘Pretty Vacant” are as bad an idea as they sound. (Doug Johnstone)
28 Feb—l3 Mar 2008 THE LIST 69