HIP HOP
TRIPLE DARKNESS
The Heresy Presents: Anathema
(Higher Heights Records) 0.
UK hip hop suffers from the age-old problem of trying to compete with its US roots; a losing battle some might say. but Triple Darkness have been receiving a fair bit of hype of late. supporting Method Man and Redman on tour.
Anathema is a dark. moody affair, held together by deep strings and a typically London vocal twang. Highlights are ‘Pyramid Warz"s deep sci-ti beats & mad atmospherics. the title track with its spacious hypnotic sample structure and ‘Outro'. a simple. yet catchy jazzy groove. It's an improvement on UK hip hop of late. but alas. fails to cut the US mustard.
(Steve Glencross)
GRUNGE MUDHONEY Superfuzz Bigmuff: Deluxe Edition (Sub Pop) 0000. The Lucky Ones (Sub Pop) 0000
manner
Mudhoney were always the dirty. psychotic older brothers to Nirvana's globe-straddling grunge phenomenon, true inheritors of The Stooges' mantle. with their reluctance to compromise being the secret of their longevity.
78 THE LIST 5—19 Jun 2008
ROCK SPIRITUALIZED Songs in A&E
is more prominent than ever and the songs withstand the weight of the wall of sound
(Sanctuary) 0...
It’s not unfair to say that Jason Pierce has been essentially rewriting the same couple of songs over and over again for the last 20 years. He scratches away inventiver at the same formula, much like his much vaunted blues heroes carved out all sorts of vibration and passion from six strings and a hard luck story.
What makes Songs in 1185 a great Spiritualized record is that Pierce has written some songs
production. It may have been the circumstances behind the record’s genesis - Pierce came close to death after a bout of pneumonia and returned to the fully formed songs two years later to create the versions here - but it sounds grand without ever being particularly laboured.
Jason Pierce has found his voice, taken heed of the devastating effect of his ‘Electric Mainline’ concerts - where he played with a three gospel singers, a string section and a Fender Rhodes for company - and come up with a thick, warm,
that stick and built around them the huge, glistening arrangements they deserve. His voice
Now celebrating 20 years of sleazy. unhinged. unholy noise. the band release their eighth studio album alongside a deluxe reissue of seminal debut EP. SuperfiI/x Big/huff. For rock fans not familiar with the band. the latter is worth buying for the original tracks alone. but it also comes with two discs of early singles. demos. live stuff and radio sessions. all of which reveal a band pathologically intent on pushing punk. rock. blues and garage well past breaking point. And if there's a better anthem of teenage disaffection than 'Touch Me I'm Sick', I‘ll eat my lumberiack shirt.
The new album
confirms the band still kick seriously deranged ass. howling. screaming and growling as if it was 1988. Fantastic stuff. basically.
(Deug Johnstone)
l-‘Ol .K
LAU
Lau Live
(Navigator Records) 0...
Lau's combination of traditional roots and an openness to experiment is the hallmark of this scintillating disc.
summery album of blues to savour.
(Mark Robertson)
recorded in concert at the Bongo Club. Edinburgh back in December. It seems they have been gigging relentlessly ever since. and the constant process of development taking place in their music is entirely evident in their treatments of the several instrumental sets drawn from their debut studio album, L/g/itwe/ghts and Gentlemen.
There is an eclectic musical sensibility at work here. Fiddler Aidan O'Rourke. accordionist Martin Green and guitarist Kris Drever are evolving an empathic and creative approach to their music that pushes aside established conventions in favour of genre-
stretching exploration. Their mainly self- composed traditional- style tunes Often begin innocently enough, only to scuttle off in unconvennonaland unexpected directions in a distinctly anarchic fashion. Kris Drever's songs add variety. but they feel less compelling than the instrumentals. (Kenny Mathieson)
ROCK
PAUL WELLER 22 Dreams
(Island) 0000
For a man so conscious of the art and craft of songwriting. this sprawling old school double album — that is. 21 tracks over 70 minutes. like double albums were before
CDs — this is a truly liberating record. Rather than trying to build further chapters into his already scholarly body of work to help it sit alongside Messrs Marriot and Townshend's. he's gone off and had some fun. This is a Paul Weller record you might actually listen to for enjoyment rather than to further his continued standing in the classic rock canon. Varied. passionate and even occasionally Surprising. A revelation by all accounts.
(Mark Robertson)
ROCK
THE FRATELLIS Here We Stand (Fallout) 0.
It’s easy to understand what The Fratellis are for — they are here to help us expel those more primal emotions and meaning we don't have to take a hammer to the neighbours every time they leave the window open whilst playing Cher — but another album, when you've already got one perfectly good collection to bounce off the walls to. seems wholly unnecessary.
Like Stereophonics and Travis before them, The Fratellis are burdened under the weight of coming up with something so appealing that everything that follows will be an anti-climax. They could change of course. but that would be fiscally daft. so let‘s just crank up the familiar glammy riffs. throw down a boisterous. anthemic chorus or five. and do a sort of madness-y stomp and sing along. (Mark Robertson)