Music Record Reviews
FOLK
ANDI NEATE Crows, Rooks and Ravens
(Blil‘: Flt) O.
V‘fl'y’illl‘: Sf ’ ll‘ ill singer-gory}. ,ritr;r riAr rli Neale (xi/er ,a 1W if base-U on thin. her fifth album, lll';{)|f‘:’j by her (Lllllflllh'fll on a retriote west coast island, €l(l(,lf:lll myth", and a cupboard full of characters including
bearded ladies and astronauts. Her strong voice and aCOListic guitar strum bnngs to mind Joni Mitchell, Tori Amos or a folkier
circus, lion taiiiers. Suzanne Vega. as do
LABELS OF LOVE
OPTIMO MUSIC Based In: Glasgow
Roster: Big Ned. Den Haan. Dollskabeat (pictured). Divorce. Older Lover.
Bosses: JD Twitch, one half of the DJ duo behind ever-uncategorisable Glasgow club night Optimo.
Sounds like: See ‘ever-uncategoriseable'. above. Optimo Music releases are generally dark and intelligent. and offer bedroom guitar-picking and lo-fi punk as much space as dancefloor electronics.
What’s the Intention for OptImo Music?
Twitch: ‘Hopefully, unless I've gone bankrupt by the end of the year, to bring out one release a month through 2009 and then go from there. Also. the aim is to release only Scottish artists. There aren't enough outlets for people to release music up here and. because of what I do. I come across a huge amount of amazing Scottish music.‘
Why did you call a halt to your former label OSCARR?
“Well. we'd been doing it for seven years. but on such an ad hoc basis that it never really had any momentum. A year would go by without us releasing anything, so this was a chance to start afresh with new momentum. Plus lots of other factors; I always had to explain to people what OSCARR stood for [Optimo Singles Club and Related Recordings. in case you're wondering]. no one ever made the connection with Optimo. and Jonny (Wilkes. the other half of Optimo] didn't really want to be involved this time.’ What’s the attraction of running a record label?
‘I don't know. it’s just a fun hobby. I'm under no illusions. especially the way the record industry is in this day and age. that it's something l‘m going to make plenty of money from. Right back to when I ran Pure in the 903. though. I've always just got a real buzz from putting peOple's records out. from hearing them and thinking “I made that happen." Part of the fun of Optimo is turning people on to music they may never have heard before. and setting up this label is just an extension of that.’ (David Pollock)
THIS ISSUE:
64 THE LIST 3O Apr—14 May 2009
her brttersweet and Wistful lyrics of rowboats. nettle stings and lost loves. But too much jumping between genres (from Cuban merengue to jazz scatting. Vla gospel and rock) makes for a jumbled listen.
(Claire Sawers)
ROCK THE HORRORS
Primary Colours (XL) oee
This second album is so wildly different from The Horrors' schlocky. 8- move. overhyped garage debut that it's hard to believe it's the same band. Gone are the irritating punk rants and big hair, replaced by ghosts of The Cure. Joy Division and JAMC and. erm. slightly smaller hair. There's an admirably bloody single- mindedness about it though, and certainly more depth to the likes of ‘I Only Think Of You' than they ever shown previously. but the whole thing is rather monotonous in its misery. and they do wear their new influences on their sleeves. Kudos for trying something different though. (Doug Johnstone)
JAZZ BRANFORD MARSALIS QUARTET Metamorphosen (Marsalis Music)
While brother Wynton has garnered greater attention over the years with a string of ambitious large scale projects. the saxophonist has arguably produced the more consistently satisfying body of work on record. This quartet with pianist Joey Calderazzo. bassist Eric
ReVis and drummer Jeff 'Tain' Watts has been at the core of much of that work. and here they demonstrate again why they are one of the tightest and most empathic jazz groops around.
Their energised romp thr0ugh drummer Watts' 'The Return of the Jitney Man' prowdes Immediate eVidence of their class. Calderazzo's ballads. ‘The Blossom of Parting and ‘The Last Goodbye, prowde a contrasting pOignancy and |LiCid beauty. The cool, effervescent swmger ‘Jabberwocky' is Marsalis' only composition, while ReVis contributes three. Their take on Monk's 'Rhythm-a-Ning' uses the familiar off-kilter melody as a Springboard for a blues- inflected wander. Consistently absorbing and inventive post-bop. (Kenny Mathieson)
ELECTRO POP SSER
Braveface (T ransgressive) O”
Chiselled electro-pop boxer Ben Esser runs the risk of being eclipsed by his quiff. but on the evidence of Braveface. the swaggering Essex techno-dude may yet outshine his sleek coiffure.
Addled with a fire- crack amalgam of digital slacker-rock (‘Headlock’). shambling electro beats (‘Work It Out') and silent-era piano brouhahas (Satisfied). Esser's humdrum cockney monologues are naive and allegorical in equal measure: he veers between Damon Albarn, Ian Dury. Mike Skinner and Lily Allen. ‘I Love You'. meanwhile. is oddly reminiscent of White Town's chart- topping albatross. ‘Your Woman“. but - like several cuts on this debut - it's a vintage. groove-strewn gem. (Nicola Meighan)
INDIE
GRAHAM COXON
The Spinning Top (Transgressive Records) .0.
lt's a busy old year for Mr Cox0n, Blur are back together (and headlining T in the Park), he's been playing With Peter Doherty (live and on recent album Grace/Wasteland) and now he's got his own solo album to punt. And it obvnously Surts him, The Spinning Top is perhaps his calmest record yet. Citing Influences such as Martin Carthy. Davey Graham and John Murphy. gone are the fuzz goitars of ‘Freakin' Out' to be replaced with folky acoustica. There's a reason Coxon wasn't the vocalist in Blur, but this weakness is also a strength making the songs more personal in their imperfections. (Henry Northmore)
DAVE TO’HIGGINS OUIN
Sketchbook
(Jazzizit Records) 0.”
Sessions featuring two tenor saxophones have been a staple of jazz at least since the heyday of Jazz At The Philharmonic. but can often turn into a rather overbearing display of athletic rather than musical abilities. No such worries here as English saxman Dave
O'Higgins teams up with
America's Eric Alexander in an enjoyable and inventive session.
It is a conventional enough date in terms of their approach and choice of material, locked into a fluid bop idiom on a set that mixes original compositions by
O'Higgins With material drawn from the bop and post-bop reperton. including Dizzy GulleSpie's ‘Owl'. Sonny Rollins' ‘Why DOn't l7", MCCOy Tyner's ‘lnner Glimpse and Frank Wess' ”Water Jug'. The two tenor saxophones are supported by a fine rhythm section, led by James Pearson on piano. With Arnie Somogyi on bass and Kristian Leth on drums. (Kenny Mathieson)
ELECTRO ROCK PEACHES
I Feel Cream (XL) oee
Toronto's gap-toothed. potty-mouthed electro— punker is back. and although album five is not Peaches' most energetic or hardcore. there's still plenty to like. It's weird to hear the lady who once sang “Fuck the Pain Away' now in New Romantic synth mode on ‘Lose You', and while the 40- year-old delivers trademark nasty beats and bitch slap lyrics. she also shows her softest side so far.
She's brought in friends — Digitalism, Simian Mobile Disco and Scotland's Drums of Death help on production — but the flipping between lost lamb and brittle robot means this ends up a two toned peach melba of highs (‘Mud'. ‘I Feel Cream') and lows ('More'. 'BHlionaire'). (Claire Sawers) ELECTRONICA JON HOPKINS
Insides D(ouble Six) 0”.
’5
Mi
You don't expect an electronica album to start with two and a half minutes of mournful
fiddle. but that's the kind
of expectation defying that sums up Londoner