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Record Reviews Music
COMFORT ROCK COLDPLAY Viva La Vida (Parlophone) 0..
Or Viva La Vida or Death and A// His Friends. to give the 'Play's new album its full and entirely unpretentious title. Make no mistake. this is the soundtrack of sitting about the house with Gwyneth and the kids. fretting about organic foodstuffs and where to take the recycling. It's also. as is customary for Coldplay. pretty much
SINGLES & DOWNLOADS
It's definitely a good fortnight for bizarre and beautiful sounds. For those who like their tunes 3 little out of Ieftfield. there are some ear- bending audio treats in store. For those who don‘t, there's always Nickelback's soft-rock mush on ‘Photograph’, (Roadrunner) 0
but probably the less said about that the
better.
(Ninja Tune) .00
(Woodville) coo
Straight outta Brooklyn comes Kono Michi, adding her sleepy. treacly voice to a kooky. electro swirl of classical violins and glockenspiel on ‘When I Don't Come Back’ (Shark Batter) oooo . Mechanical Bride provides more twinkly celestial magic on her ‘Black Skeleton Sea EP’ (T ransgressive) coco . sounding like a clockwork ballerina on a jewellery box, probably with mascara running down her face. Then Victoria Berg & The Blindfolded Man — the Swedish- Scottish duo most likely to write a freak-show circus soundtrack — mash up theremins, homemade guitars and moogs on ‘I’ll Meet You at the Chicken Lodge’ (KFM) ooo
Putting a little less mental into his experimental is Capital K. who definitely took a left turn at the sign-post for Bland Land. ‘Libertania' (Faith & Industry) 0.” , is his playful and glitchy folktronica number about a trip to utopia — and as a thank you for his fight against dull noise, he wins Single of The Fortnight. Daedelus also delivers shimmery and poppy electronica from U3. on 'Make It So' . dirtied up with pounding Spank Rock beats in the remix.
Karoshi Bros sound like they want everyone to slip into some American Apparel gold leggings and hit the club, and come over all New Young Pony Club on ‘Love the World’, . Expect sweet and simple girly vocoder vocals over the top of buzzy dancefloor beats. The Teenagers are milking their joke — the one about them being pervy, party-loving heartthrobs — a bit much on ‘Make it Happen“ (Merok) o anthem that should've stayed in the imaginary 19808 school disco it came from. Then calming it all down again are The School. who channel Camera Obscura and Belle & Sebastian in “Let it Slip' (Elefant) 000 innocent and retro-sweet doo-wop sing-song from Cardiff. (Claire Sawers)
unobjectionable in its relative lack of adventure.
On the singles, ‘Violet Hill‘ and 'Viva La Vida'. Chris Martin‘s melodies are tight and intuitive. while Afrobeat rhythms are experimented with on ‘Lost‘ and the instrumental 'Life in Technicolor‘. Perhaps much of the record's conviction is facilitated by producer Brian Eno, but it's an album which unashamedly believes in itself, and is hard to dislike on its own terms. (David Pollock)
JAZZ
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Miles from India (Times Square Records) 0..
Bob Belden is the
. a Europop
,an
producer of the comprehensive Columbia box sets of Miles Davis' music. an immersion that has given him an authoritative grasp of the trumpeter's work. Indian music was an area that Miles hardly explored, however, and Belden and his associates have set about constructing their own take on that fusion in this two-CD project. drawing on a stellar cast of jazzers — including Chick Corea. John McLaughlin and Mike Stern — and distinguished Indian musicians.
The results are mixed but often fascinating. McLaughlin contributes the only new composition, ‘Miles from India‘. alongside such Davis classics as ‘All Blues'. ‘80 What' and ‘Blue and Green' from Kind of Blue, and “In a Silent Way'. 'Miles Runs the Voodoo Down', ‘Spanish Key' and ‘Jean Pierre“ from the trumpeter's electric years. The music was stitched together from sessions on two continents in suitably digital-era fashion using file sharing and Skype. (Kenny Mathieson)
ELECTRONICA/POST- ROCK IGLOMAT
lglomat
(KFM) COO.
Edinburgh-based laptop whiz David Jack has made three albums of atmospheric electronica on his own already. but spearheading this debut from a transatlantic tour- way collaboration, he adds a more organic post-rocking vibe to proceedings. Layers of moody guitar add a certain Mogwai feel to tracks like ‘Tornadic
Activity' and
and ragged, threatening
‘Stormtroopers of Gentrification', while the ambient waves of ‘Dolphins from Whales' and jazzy rhythms of ‘Two by Two' demonstrate a breadth of influence and imagination lacking in a lot of electronica today. By turns sumptuous
and emotive. this is the
soundtrack to the hip indie movie in your head. (Doug Johnstone)
ELECTRO THE PRESETS
Apocalypso (Modular) O...
‘When I was young.‘ declares the first verse of the very first song on this album, 'I was a star amongst zeroes'. That's a good start. With their sophomore record, Sydney's Presets once again declare
themselves as something like the heavier, darker alternative to Cut Copy. themselves fellow mainstays of Australia's pace-setting Modular Records.
With this album Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes try a few styles on us. That first track 'Kicking and Screaming‘ and ‘My People' start off with a noisy. analogue electro grind, before things level out into the Underworld- esque dance-punk of “If I Know You' and then the almost soothing trance of 'Aeons‘ and ‘Anywhere'. This sense of in-yOur-face adventure is what makes Apoca/ypso a winner. (David Pollock)
POP LEON JEAN MARIE
Bent Out of Shape (Island Records)
This talented Londoner must listen to many an artist in his dreadlocked head to conjure up such interesting pop brilliance. Leon‘s
inspired opener forecasts the outrageously catchy hooks which lie ahead on his daring. eclectic debut. He warns on 'East End Blues’ that he can't be pigeon—holed. Too right. Homage is paid to everything from the Specials’ ska- reggae rhythms to Kylie/Britney bubble- gum synths (courtesy of Bloodshy); from ‘Billie Jean'-esque beats to nu-soul luxurious vocals; from Prince-like ‘yeah-yeah' shrieks to Beatles psychedelic funk. All this tinged with an orchestral leunge vibe throughout and a welcomed dash of
formulaic Ronson
horns. An addictive package to rival his contemporaries, this comes with a warning — it will be huge.
(Eve Barlow)
lASVEGAS
Geraldine
New single out 25.06.08 CD and 2 x 7” vinyl
: Download from 22.06.08
www. myspace . com / glasvegas
19 Jun-3 Jul 2008 THE LIST 71