Music RECORDS
HOUSE LABEL CELEBRATION VARIOUS ARTISTS Soma Records: 20 Years (Soma) ●●●●●
As ‘the UK’s longest-running dance label’, Soma (the releasing arm of production duo Slam, pictured, ie: the guys who pitch that pointy blue tent at T in the Park every year) continue to occupy a place somewhere between huge respect and outright reverence in the heart of Glasgow’s clubbing community. And now they’ve been at it for 20 years, so they’re almost as old as modern dance music itself – for those who haven’t been with them all the way, this three-CD celebration pack offers all the Soma you need to get you started. In fact, the first disc offers all the Soma you really, really need. It’s the ‘Soma Classics’ greatest hits, and resurrects some truly sublime tracks from the deeper side of house. ‘Mothership Reconnection’ (Daft Punk remix) by Scott Grooves feat Parliament/Funkadelic is the most groovesome thing on here, a lithe, dancefloor-shaking opener, while Silicone Soul’s ‘Right On’ and Slam’s epic ‘Positive Education’ are the stone classics alongside tracks by The Black Dog, Funk D’Void, and Slam’s ‘Eterna’ ravey flashback. Discs two and three dig into Soma’s catalogue with mixes from Slam and Silicone Soul, a bumper package which won’t be too rich for the label’s many devotees. (David Pollock)
INDIE POP BUTCHER BOY Helping Hands (Damaged Goods) ●●●●● Butcher Boy’s John Blain Hunt has a habit of taking your breath away with words. Three albums into the band’s career, he’s still that brilliant; Helping Hands is filled to the brim with the poetic storytelling the Glasgow seven-piece are now renowned for. Musically they’ve never been better, instrumentation and song structure played with to spellbinding effect – Moog synths and drum machines now nestling alongside strings, flute, pianos and shimmering guitars. This isn’t just experimentation for the sake of it, though: creating the perfect indie pop song is still at the heart of what Butcher Boy do. ‘I Am The Butcher’, ‘Imperial’, ‘Your Cousins And I’ and the title track are just a few highlights and are easily among the finest the band have ever penned. (Camilla Pia)
INDIE ROCK CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH Hysterical (V2/Co-op) ●●●●● Brooklyn’s CYHSY were trailblazers for the internet-savvy, straight-to- fans DIY indie generation with their self-titled, self-released 2005 debut album. After a cool response to 2007’s Some Loud Thunder and a four-year interim during which various solo and side-projects were hatched, rumour had it the band was splitting; Hysterical puts paid to that, though it’s not the galvanizing comeback they could use. All splashy disco beats, floaty synth-strings and wounded puppy yelping from Alec Ounsworth, opener ‘Some Hysterical’ is an instantly catchy song, but like much else here sounds like a slightly desperate attempt to get back to homespun first LP basics, with added hi-fi sheen – a chalk and cheese kind of mix. (Malcolm Jack)
KALEDOSCOPIC POP CANT Dreams Come True (Warp) ●●●●● INDIE BEIRUT The Rip Tide (Pompeii) ●●●●●
INDIE THE RAPTURE In the Grace of Your Love (DFA) ●●●●● ODDBALL POP ST VINCENT Strange Mercy (4AD) ●●●●●
Recorded in 10 days a whisper away from where Grizzly Bear recorded Veckatimest, this is the first foray into solo-dom by member / producer Chris Taylor. Written with George Lewis Jr, aka Twin Shadow, it’s no mere stop-gap in between Grizzly releases but an album with maturity beyond its speedy gestation. While Taylor’s production smarts are showcased on ‘Too Late, Too Far’ – its kaleidoscopic layers teem with more life than Yeasayer’s laundry pile – the blissful ‘Believe’ touches on the tear- stained nostalgia of Twin Shadow. Mostly, however, it navigates the shifting sands of the confounding present, with its dashed dreams and tentative hopes. Setting the bear free has rarely been so rewarding. (Nadine McBay)
For such a unique artist with a truly intercontinental approach to music, inspired by North American alternative indie rock and instruments of Eastern Europe, there’s a lot that sounds familiar in this third record from Zach Condon. The first song, the measured, brass-laden ‘A Candle’s Fire’, features Condon’s vocal, imitating to perfection The Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon, while the tender, waltz-timed ‘Payne’s Bay’ and the hymnal ‘The Peacock’ recall Rufus Wainwright.
These are easy but appropriate comparisons; artists who make delicately composed and personal music which occasionally lacks bite, but who often get it as right as Condon does with the swooning ‘Santa Fe’. (David Pollock)
Don’t go into this third album by New York’s sometime disco-punk mavericks expecting the uplifting Chicago house keys of comeback single ‘How Deep is Your Love?’ and you’ll be fine. The second and most recent of their club-friendly earlier LPs, Pieces of the People We Love, came out five years ago, earning this record ‘long-awaited’ status, and there are hints of glories past in euphoric opener ‘Sail Away’ and the glam rumble of ‘Miss You’. Mostly, though, it’s a further example of The Rapture’s willingness to operate with one or both feet off the dancefloor, from the weirdly accordion-led house of ‘Come Back to Me’ to the graceful, hesitant balladry of closer ‘It Takes Time to Be a Man’. (David Pollock)
Annie Clark, aka St Vincent, is an oddball pop whizz in the tradition of Kate Bush or Todd Rundgren, spinning gorgeous melodies from unconventional structures and inspired arrangements. Her voice is exquisite, but never merely pretty. Clark adapts it to each song, conveying a range of emotions: bitter and regretful, sensual and defiant. Alternating between Wizard of Oz chorales and thumping pop, ‘Cruel’ would be a sure-fire hit, were it not for its unsettling lyrics. ‘Surgeon’ begins as weary R&B, before erupting with a P-funk synth solo, while the title track is a stunning torch ballad. Strange Mercy sounds utterly contemporary, with sharp beats, woozy synths and a personality of its own. (Stewart Smith)
112 THE LIST 25 Aug–22 Sep 2011