Music Record Reviews LABELS OF LOVE
the second instalment from improbable couple She (indie film icon Zooey Deschanel) & Him (alt.folk troubadour M Ward) is another worthy offering for fans of The Beach Boys, The Carpenters and Camera Obscura.
Volume 2 sounds more assured than its superbly-received predecessor, but it does revoke some of its emotional divergence in favour of a ceaselessly cheering pace.
The duo’s
overarching charm still lies in their sunny understatement: M Ward is a virtuosic but modest guitarist, and the album’s production is similarly easygoing. Deschanel’s underplayed vocals, meanwhile, are laid- back, luminous and lovely. (Nicola Meighan)
WORLD AMPARO SÁNCHEZ TUCSON-HABANA (Wrasse) ●●●●●
Amparo Sánchez has moved on from her Spanish-Cuban band, Amparanoia, where strong rhythms and great lyrics saw her as part of the diverse ‘new’ musical energy of 90s Spain associated with Manu Chao and Ojos de Brujo.
Following recent guesting with US-Latin rockers Calexico, Joey Burns and John Convertino act as backing musicians for a set of original songs which mine slow Americana ballad styles. Recording in Havana’s Egrem studios has added some magic but on the whole the tenuous Tucson-Havana link proves to be rather downbeat. (Jan Fairley)
RESTLESS NATIVES Established January 2004 in Edinburgh Roster DJ Kryptik, DJ Samurai, DC Breaks and Mazzini (pictured) Boss DJ Kid In a nutshell Created and controlled by Scotland’s most vehement drum & bass ambassador, Restless Natives Records is yet another platform for DJ Kid to launch himself into territories beyond his own borders. Releases are few and far between, no? With only nine records over the past six years, it would be fair to say production output levels sit lower than the norm. But the focus is on the product, not the volume and DJ Kid would claim that he was right to play the waiting game when it comes to hitting the ‘release’ button on a new artist. ‘I take great pride in my work,’ says Kid.
‘I want to make sure my label is seen as a quality label. This means hanging on just that little bit longer for the right product to emerge from the tsunami of demos I get every week.’ Has the theory worked in practice? See DC Breaks, the production duo signed up by DJ Kid in 2006. After releasing on Restless Natives, DC Breaks were snapped up by Andy C’s Frequency Recordings and have seen their profile rise over the past few years. It’s the kind of talent nurturing that independent labels rely on, but favours from friends in the right places also help. DJ Kid has enjoyed support from many key players within the D&B scene, including Radio 1’s Fabio and Grooverider who have given tracks precious airplay and the massive exposure that comes with it. And if we needed further convincing? Years spent as resident DJ for legendary club night Manga, have no doubt helped DJ Kid to hone his ear for a good track. The club was a bastion of bass for Scotland during its 12 year reign and devotees still rhapsodise about their favourite night. Those experiences might be confined to the memory bank but DJ Kid is hoping his senses for selection still serve him well when it comes to his label, with new signing, the house and electro producer Mazzini coming up with the labels 10th release (and Mazzini’s debut) out later this month. (Richie Meldrum) ■ Restless Natives releases are available at www.nu-urbanmusic.co.uk
66 THE LIST 1–15 Apr 2010
PSYCHEDELIC POP MGMT Congratulations (Columbia) ●●●●●
Two years after their debut Oracular Spectacular, Brooklyn electro-psych duo MGMT’s eagerly anticipated follow-up resembles a different band at first. The opening ‘It’s Working’ sounds like Johnny Marr working with Syd Barrett, while ‘Song for Dan Treacy’ comes across like a Libertines outtake using early Horrors organ sounds. These, the relatively urgent Flaming Lips- style pop choral ‘Flash Delirium’ and the madcap psychedelic charge of ‘Brian Eno’ are the standouts from an album which won’t have any big singles, but they work best as one with the songs around them anyway, a gloriously blissed-out mesh of 70s love like the preposterously named instrumental ‘Lady Dada’s Nightmare’. Congratulations may not be quite as instantly lovable as MGMT’s debut, but it’s still a brave and diverse album of impressive ambition. (David Pollock) ROCK GO Jonsi (Parlophone) ●●●●●
Taking time out from the day job of creating epic soundscapes with Sigur Ros, lead singer Jonsi here creates, well, some pretty epic soundscapes on his debut solo release. There’s a more joyful exuberance to tracks like ‘Animal Arithmetic’ and ‘Boy Lilikoi’ compared to his band, as well as a welcome exploration of strange percussion and
instrumentation elsewhere. It hangs together beautifully, thanks in part to Jonsi’s unique, dreamlike vocals, mostly here sung in English, but still somehow other-worldly. Not a huge departure, but the sound of a man cutting loose a little and revelling in the joy of sound. (Doug Johnstone) JAZZ LEAH GOUGH- COOPER’S HUMAN EQUIVALENT Future Pop (Own Label) ●●●●●
Dumfries-born, Boston- based saxophonist Leah Gough-Cooper’s debut album shares three musicians with drummer Patrick Kunka’s album (reviewed a couple of issues back), and merits equally high praise. While certainly accessible, Gough- Cooper’s intelligently crafted music is way too intense to be a credible future pop, nice though that notion is, but open- minded rock/pop/funk/dance fans may well connect with what is going on here. The saxophonist’s fluent and inventive work on alto and soprano is supported by responsive and focused ensemble playing and strong soloing from the band, featuring Kunka and pianist Alan Benzie (prominent on Fender Rhodes and electric keyboards as well as piano) alongside guitarist Sergio Jansen and bassist Martin Nessi. George Garzone, a leading figure in the Berklee College faculty, is a special guest on tenor saxophone on ‘Night Surf’. (Kenny Mathieson)
WORLD ETRAN FINATAWA Tarkat Tajje/ Let’s Go! (World Music Network) ●●●●●
If Ali Farka Touré paved the way for mesmerising desert blues then the
Festival in the Desert held near Timbuctou has encouraged a new generation of musicians, including the all-male Etran Finatawa (The
Stars of Tradition) who unite the two nomadic Tuareg and Wodaabe- Fulani cultures. Born out of rebellion and exile, think loping melodies sung by beseeching high tenor voices joined by a rich, ragged chorus of players – with plenty of handclapping over compelling riffs on electric guitars and the rumble of slapped gourds. Songs serenade nomadic reality, from climate challenges, poverty and hardship to comradeship and the families and love of women which make it all bearable. (Jan Fairley) CLASSIC REISSUE ELLIOTT SMITH Roman Candle (Domino) ●●●●●
In the same year that Kurt Cobain shot himself, leaving a suicide note with the lyric ‘It’s better to burn out than fade away’, Elliott Smith released his debut album, Roman Candle. Both were destined to burn fast and bright and die young (Cobain was 27; Smith was 34) but leave behind giant musical legacies. While Cobain’s grunge reshaped alt.rock, Smith took a very different route, with vocals of eerily tender, open-hearted beauty. Elegantly depressed (Smith’s suicide remains unconfirmed, but his battle with drugs was well known in his Portland home) this remastered reissue shows that sadness never sounded so good. (Claire Sawers)