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RECORDS Music
identifiable mark. No boundaries are
being pushed here, but it is a very agreeable outing, and one that strays into some less expected repertoire, including vocalese takes on Bud Powell’s ‘Un Poco Loco’, Gerry Mulligan’s ‘Soft Shoe’ and Rodgers & Hart’s ‘Dancing On The Ceiling’, and the fine Don Cherry-Sheila Jordan song, ‘Art Deco’. The accompaniments by pianist Tom Cawley, bassist Geoff Gascoyne and drummer Sebastiaan de Krom ooze sophisticated class. (Kenny Mathieson)
JAZZ KATE & MIKE WESTBROOK Fine ‘n Yellow (Gonzo) ●●●●●
This latest album from singer Kate and pianist Mike Westbrook is dedicated to the memory of Margery and John Styles, long- time supporters of their work, and was funded by a bequest to finance a commission left in Margery’s will. As such, it is clearly a very personal project, and Kate’s poetic lyrics delve into various aspects of Margery’s life – her favourite colour (take a guess), a visit to her father’s war grave, her relationship with her husband, her love of jazz and conviviality. They succeed in
parlaying all of this into an absorbing album, drawing on the distinctive blend of unconventional jazz and German cabaret music that will be familiar to anyone who knows their work. They have gathered a group of familiar, well-trusted cohorts – the great Chris Biscoe and Pete Whyman on saxes and clarinets, bassist Steve Berry and drummer Jon Hiseman – to realise a handsome tribute to their late friends. (Kenny Mathieson)
WORLD AFRO CELT SOUND SYSTEM Capture 1995-2010 (Real World Records) ●●●●●
Cherry picked from the collective’s five acclaimed studio albums, these twenty- five songs divide into instrumentals (on a disc titled Chorus) and songs (Verse). Emerging from cross-cultural collaborations at WOMAD involving Irish, Senegalese, Indian and other ‘world’ musicians, the production of this Celtic-rooted sound is impeccable. With Sinead O’Connor, Peter Gabriel, Robert Plant and others on board, and uilean pipes, whistles, tablas, kora, keyboards and more, the feel is of a spacious, filmic journey full of intimate detail. For me, while this is 90s music, its spirit harks back to 60s ideals and evokes 70s psychedelia for the global dance generation. (Jan Fairley) WORLD BAABA MAAL African Soul Revolutionary (Nascente) ●●●●●
Baaba Maal is one of the world’s most extraordinary people, never mind musicians, and these two CDs, culled by Phil Meadley from the three albums Wango, Taara and Jombaajo, make for a landmark compilation. It catches Maal just before he hit the international big time, mapping how, under the guidance of genius producer Ibrahima Sylla, he and his group Dande Lenol moved into the Senegalese mainstream by electrifying roots music in magical ways. The timbre of his voice,
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Shouty, spiky scuzzpop in a Sons and Daughters vein, let down by flat accents and self- consciously ‘clever’ lyrics. Tricky Mixed Race (Domino) ●●●●●
The ex-Massive Attacker brings his second Domino album, with much genre-skipping and hat-tipping to Daft Punk and the Blues Brothers. Slick and accomplished.
Alex Cornish Call Back (self- released) ●●●●●
Uninspiring love- struck blandness that bears an uncomfortable resemblance to James Blunt and his ilk. It’s almost like Damien Rice never happened. Clinic Bubblegum (Domino) ●●●●●
Taking inspiration from 70s stoner records, this album is by turns hazy, woozy, and just plain dull. An unwelcome departure from their more upbeat 60s-style material.
OMD History of Modern (100% Records) ●●●●●
The synth pioneers’ first studio album in 14 years is a comfortable return, but pales in comparison to the output offered by those they’ve inspired: LCD Soundsystem, The xx, Killers et al.
Maps & Atlases Perch Patchwork (FatCat) ●●●●● Off-kilter indie-pop with a summery, Vampire Weekend vibe, teeming with scattershot drum rhythms and lo-fi dropped beats. Intelligent, but danceable too.
the depth of emotion embedded in fantastic lyrics over seething beds of sounds: there’s not one dud track in the twenty-three on offer. (Jan Fairley)
23 Sep–7 Oct 2010 THE LIST 75
ELECTRONIC UNDERWORLD Barking (Cooking Vinyl) ●●●●●
Opener ‘Bird 1’ begins with a minimal, hypnotic krautrock beat, before Karl Hyde’s typically muttered vocal breaks in over the top and the song builds into a measured array of stabbing house piano lines. It sets the scene for this eighth studio album from Essex electronic outfit Underworld, a record which is best summed up as more of the same but different. That’s a particularly strong skill of Hyde and Rick Smith’s, the ability to use separate dance music styles which individually seem to be past their height of fashion and bring them together in a structured whole which speaks of a distinctive musical personality.
The pair have now been working together as Underworld for 30
years, although it’s their 90s heyday when Darren Emerson made them a trio which they continue to recall most strongly. Often this album veers towards summery electronic pop, with ‘Always Loved a Film’ bearing an inexplicable hint of Pet Shop Boys and the lovable lead-off single ‘Squiggle’ featuring rising star of drum & bass High Contrast. D.Ramirez and Appleblim also lend production skills, the latter on the minimal and starkly atmospheric ‘Hamburg Hotel’. Perhaps their continued appeal is down to no more than an innate
understanding of where to put their build-ups and their breakdowns, as on the strident rise of ‘Between Stars’, a song which recalls a mellower Tubeway Army, and the cheerful, almost indie-pop structure of ‘Diamond Jigsaw’, co-produced by trance overlord Paul Van Dyk. It’s a record which should sound dated and irrelevant, but happily this band continue to defy dance music’s all too brief attention span in confident style. (David Pollock)
cover like a tainted Bergmanesque angel, Obel’s sparse, sweet, soundtracky melodies similarly penetrate the watcher/listener’s psyche, only occasionally threatening to plunge into the saccharine. Each time she veers slightly off- course, it’s pulled back, our hearts preparing to be punctured once more. (Brian Donaldson) JAZZ TRUDY KERR & INGRID JAMES Reunion (Jazzizit Records) ●●●●●
‘Falling, Catching’, the delicate opener of Satie/Einaudi piano cycles through its evocations of Sufjan Stevens, Stina Nordenstam, Badly Drawn Boy and Liz Fraser, Philharmonics should have Obel carving out her own fragile niche.
Staring out from the Trudy Kerr has been
UK-based for some time now, but is originally from Queensland, home of Ingrid James. As the title suggests, the two singers are old friends, and met up again for this set of swinging jazz interpretations. Both are firmly in the conventional mould of easy-on-the- ear mainstream singers, but each is individual enough within that style to make a readily