MUSIC REVIEWS 2000For the latest reviews Click Here
1999 Music Reviews
2001 Music Reviews
A
Air The Virgin Suicides (Virgin)
The Avalanches Since I Left You (Rex)
Arling & Cameron Music for Imaginary Films (PIAS)
B
Belle and Sebastian Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant (Jeepster)
Björk SelmaSongs (One Little Indian)
Perry Blake Perry Blake
C
The Carpenters Their Greatest Hits (A&M)
Coldplay Parachutes (EMI)
D
Dakar & Grinser Take Me Naked (Virgin)
Dandy Warhols Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia (Capitol)
Day One Ordinary Man (Virgin/Melankolic)
The Defranco Family Featuring Tony Defranco
De La Soul Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump (Tommy Boy)
John Denver His Greatest Hits (RCA)
E
Embrace Drawn From Memory(Virgin)
F
Bryan Ferry Slave To Love (Virgin)
Peter Frampton Live in Detroit (SPV)
Future World Funk Release # 1 (Ocho)
G
The Gentle Waves Swansong For You (Jeepster)
Gomez Abandoned Shopping Trolley (Virgin)
Grand Drive True Love and High Adventure (Loose Sounds)
Guru's Jazzmatazz Streetsoul (Virgin)
H
Nina Hagen Om Namah Shivay
PJ Harvey Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea (Island)
Faith Hill Breathe (Warner Brothers)
L
Lexi Love Too Fast Times (Second Skin)
M
Madrugada Industrial Silence (Virgin)
Moloko Things To Make And Do (Roadrunner)
N
nlf3[trio] Part One and Part Two
O
Oasis Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants (Epic)
Oasis Familiar To Millions (Big Brother)
P
Dolly Parton Jolene (RCA)
Placebo Without You I'm Nothing (Virgin)
Placebo Black Market Music (Virgin)
S
Sade Lovers Rock (Sony)
The Scorpions Moment of Glory (EMI)
Smashing Pumpkins Machina/The Machines of God (Virgin)
Rachel Stamp Hey Hey Michael You're Really Fantastic (Live) (Cruisin')
Stop and Listen 5 (BBE)
Donna Summer On the Radio… (Polygram)
Superfunk Hold Up (Fiat Lux)
T
The The Naked Self (Nothing)
Tosca Suzuki (G-Stone)
V
Various Artists Technics Mercury Prize 2000 (MMP)
W
Ben Watt/Jay Hannan Lazy Dog Deep House Mix (Virgin)
Y
Yonderboi Shallow and Profound (Mole Listening Pearls)
For other music reviews check out my friend's excellent site: freelance writer and editor Will Fulford-Jones (Time Out, TNT). The Wiseacre Music Reviews Will has also written some of the reviews below…
And email reviewer Plaid Fandango if you wish…AIR THE VIRGIN SUICIDES (Virgin)
reviewed 14-02-00
Air are currently busy in a studio somewhere recording their next album. In the meantime, however, this - the results of one of their projects - has just been released. The Virgin Suicides is an original motion picture score based on the book of the same name (written by Jeffrey Eugenides). The film, which is due out later in the year, is interestingly directed by Sophia Copella (daughter of Francis Ford…). Although quintissential Air, the music is a lot darker than their usual fare: perhaps hardly surprising though when the subject matter of the film is just as the title suggests… And, just to give you an idea of the album's doom and gloom count there are tracks entitled Cemetery Party, Dark Messages, Ghost Songs, and Dead Bodies. Tracks that should appeal to the regular airheads are Playground Love and its variation Highschool Lover. Although it's clearly soundtrack material, The Virgin Suicides, is nonetheless a great addition to any collection. Quality Air.
Pip Farquharson
back to indexARLING & CAMERON MUSIC FOR IMAGINARY FILMS (PIAS)
reviewed 16-07-00
Music For Imaginary Films is just that. Music made for films that don't actually exist but whose soundtracks most definitely do (as do some rather excellent sleeve notes describing the films that er… don't actually exist). Without doubt (apologies to Anouk and Bettie Serveert and um… Marco Borsato) the best music to come out of Holland - and Amsterdam at that - is courtesy of one Arling and Cameron. Gerry Arling and Richard Cameron have been making music together since 1994 and have already released six albums under various pseudonyms and in various collaborations. Surprisingly low-key here, however, (though I feel that is all about to change) they have had the most success in Japan and North America: they wrote the song Arigato We Love You for Pizzicato Five's Happy End of the World album; Cameron co-wrote Bachelor Pad with Fantastic Plastic Machine that was featured in the film Austin Powers, The Spy Who Shagged Me; as well as a song in Gunshy (a film produced by none other than Sandra Bullock). They've also written music for commericals such as GAP-Kids and Accura Cars, and have been commissioned to write the score for a 12-part series on the history of sci-fi television for an American sci-fi network airing later in 2000. And, in between… tour both as a live band and as DJs (with Karin Ras). But anyway, enough of their amazing achievements and onto the their latest album. Music for Imaginary Films is one that I recommend you just go out and purchase. It's fab. And it's groovy. And it's the most inspired music I've heard this century. However, with its wide range of eclectic musical styles mixed together by geniuses it's hard to define. 'Happy dance music' is the simplest way. 'Easy tune meets rock meets pop meets drum'n'bass' another that also falls short. It's also near impossible to pick out favourite tracks but - if pushed - I would say the opening track Le Flic et La Fille (with its sensual French vocals); the epic 1999 Spaceclub; the happy, happy W.E.E.K.E.N.D.; the as it sounds, Let's Get Higher; and the hilarious Hashi, about 'Hashi the drug-sniffing canine'. N.B: If you have Realplayer you can download substantial clips from this album from their website: www.arlingandcameron.com (the site also has some a page featuring their groovy as hell sleeve designs too). And if you like Music For Imaginary Films check out their previous album, All-In, and try and get a chance to see their awesome live show (with synchronised video art).
Pip Farquharson
back to indexAVALANCHES SINCE I LEFT YOU (Rex)
reviewed: 01-12-00
Doctor telling you that you need more fiber in your diet? Logically you would consume large quantities of Bran (as in Bran Van 3000). But one cannot live by bran alone. Thus thank whatever currently employed deities that The Avalanches bothered to haul their australian asses into the studio to help with our dietary needs. The A's manage to blend a mixture of, well everything including the kitchen sink into a groovy follow-that-train-of-unconscious-thought party. It funks. It Trips. It Hops. It Discos. It Technos. Guaranteed to have you force feeding it to your friends at every available chance. Its a schizophrenic smorgusbord sleigh ride of utter delight. In the category of "Best Use of Recognizable Samples" this CD wins hands down. Normally a practice which I am less than fond of, the use of Madonna's Holiday and Debbie Reynolds Tammy (just to name a few of the countless) are as brilliantly executed as P.M. Dawn's Set Adrift on Memory Bliss or George Michael's Fast Love ever were. And repeated consuption just might keep the "gee it's raining and cold and dark" blues at bay. Or at least far enough away so you don't care as you make your way back to the buffet for the umpteenth time.
Plaid Fandango
back to indexBELLE AND SEBASTIAN FOLD YOUR HANDS CHILD, YOU WALK LIKE A PEASANT (Jeepster)
reviewed 16-06-00
Eventually, the backlash will begin. And in a recent NME, it came close to kicking off, after one particularly odious hack got the arse when singer Stuart Murdoch reputedly refused him an interview (Murdoch called the guy back, and the result was a front-page story). The band don't play the industry game, you see, and the industry doesn't like it. But even the hardiest music press stalwart is hard-pushed to start a backlash when the band they're looking to bury is making records as outstanding as Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant. Their most varied since Tigermilk, it's chocka with edible melodies, and produced with more attention to detail than on their past sets but with no detriment to the gentle spontaneity that's become a signature of sorts. It is, in short, Belle And Sebastian's best yet. In some ways, Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant is no different to the band's previous albums. Murdoch's songs are as finely crafted as ever, with a telling attention to the detail of the everyday as prominent as ever. But the arrangements are better than ever. I Fought In A War, The Model and Nice Day For A Sulk are all elevated by string and woodwind lines as delicious as you'll find. The chugging Woman's Realm is pop bliss, Family Tree a tender ballad. And then there's Chalet Lines, a disturbing tale of rape sung by Murdoch from the victim's perspective and proof that Murdoch is a lot more than just a chronicler of adolescent loves lost. So, forget the so-called mystery that surrounds them. The only mystery to Belle And Sebastian is how they continue to get better. Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant is business as usual, only more so. It's also a masterpiece.
Will Fulford-Jones
back to indexPERRY BLAKE PERRY BLAKE
reviewed 16-10-00
"Why didn't I discover this one sooner?" I keep asking that question about Perry Blake's self-titled, debut CD. I guess things come to us when we need them. This oratorial experience was like an angelic visitation or be it vivi section. You'll either love him or hate him.(Like possible neighbours David Sylvian, Bowie or even Kate Bush.) So let it rain. Put the kettle on and wrap yourself up in the warm lush poetry of emotions with a capital E (and no I don't mean that kind of E.) It's like that book The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. This IS the Wardrobe, your entrance to Narnia- searching for little lost Lucy, the mighty Aslan, Turkish Delight and the Ice Queen. Hours spent dreaming of what it would be like being able to fly, living in a lighthouse on a rocky cliff (wearing a thick woolly cream-coloured fisherman's sweater), or jumping from cloud to cloud. It's a very personal experience. Bittersweet, melancholic and sentimental it is, but without the over self-indulgence of many lesser artists. The second coming? Possibly… (Last year Mr. Blake released Still Life which is thankfully more of the same.)
Plaid Fandango
back to indexBJÖRK SELMASONGS (One Little Indian)
reviewed 16-09-00
Taking sides isn't really the done thing. But given the war of words that's been going on in the media of late over the new movie Dancer In The Dark, to which SelmaSongs is some sort of a soundtrack, it's only correct that the story behind the war should at least be sketched out in an impartial fashion. The biggest imposter in world cinema today, Lars Von Trier, decides to make a new movie. A musical, to be precise. And in the lead role, Von Trier, director of the most critically overrated film of the last ten years (The Idiots) and the man behind the most immature, clueless and just plain unwatchable cinematic dictum since Mr Lumiere invented moving pictures (Dogma), casts Björk in the lead. Cue a traumatic few months of movie-making, during which Björk delivered a performance apparently good enough to net her the Best Actress gong at Cannes, while her and the inexplicably lauded Von Trier fell out in dramatic, irrepairable and much-publicised fashion. If that sounded a little like taking sides, then apologies. But we are talking about, on the one hand, one of the most consistently compelling and unique musical talents of the last 15 years, and, on the other, an imbecilic, charlatanic cunt with a camera. Not having seen Dancer In The Dark, this writer's unable to comment as to whether the latter has yet figured out what it takes to make a movie that's anything other than laughable. But having heard SelmaSongs - the "Selma" being the name of her character in the movie - it's apparent that Björk hasn't lost any of the eccentric guile that made her last album, Homogenic, such a delicious affair. Indeed, SelmaSongs isn't any great departure from Homogenic. If anything, it's a step back: the spiky rhythms of Cvalda are as close to the Sugarcubes as anything she's done since going solo, even if, this time, it's an orchestra providing the backing. Otherwise, it's business as usual: eerie yet oddly hummable melodies backed with a mix of exasperated orchestration and demented beats. Indeed, the only thing hampering SelmaSongs is some occasionally awful lyrics, especially on the otherwise pristine Thom Yorke duet I've Seen It All: maybe they carry some weight in the context of the movie, though given Von Trier's previous work, it's doubtful. But if you can leave that behind, you're left with a fine little record. And far more than Von Trier deserves.
Will Fulford-Jones
back to indexTHE CARPENTERS THEIR GREATEST HITS (A&M)
reviewed 01-12-00
Are these songs more poignant because of Karen's untimely death?Do we sense the underlying pain in her voice as she sings the words "Loneliness, is such a sad affair…" which then blossems into the curious upbeat chorus of Superstar? The tortured lyrics of Rainy Days and Mondays - "walking around, feeling like I don't belong". The ironic We've Only Just Begun with the So much life ahead. Or is it just our guilty conscience trying to comfort us for taking so much pleasure in Karen's misery? Would we feel differently if she were still alive, happily married, children, new CD on the way? I think that's the reason why these songs continue to touch me. Karen's crystal clear alto lends a melancholy undertone to the eerily cheery music (complete with sugary background vocals) arranged by her brother Richard. Though Karen herself wrote none of the lyrics, why is it For All We Know aches with such honest pain. The same pain she herself must have been experiencing. She was a brilliant interpretor. Safe behind someone else's words she could let her emotions flow. Perhaps it's just that we now know while she was joyfully singing Touch Me When We're Dancing she was starving herself to death. But perhaps the most chilling song on this compilation is the epic Calling Occupants of Interplanetery Craft (The Recognized Anthem of World Contact Day.) One can't help sense Karen's distress call to the possibly passing UFOs. Save me! Save me!
Plaid Fandango
back to indexCOLDPLAY PARACHUTES (EMI)
reviewed 01-10-00
The Dutch were quick to pick up on the imminent success of Brit band, Coldplay (with their acoustic appearance earlier in the year on the excellent '2 Meter Sessies' programme) whose second single from this album Yellow (their first was Shiver) went straight in at Number 4 of the UK Charts at the beginning of July. (And the fact that Yellow was played in the background at the 'Queen Vic' on a recent episode of Eastenders is - let's face it - an accolade in itself.) Parachutes, the debut album by Coldplay, could be summed up perhaps as lead singer, Chris Martin's, personal - and rather regretful - ode to his 'ex' (we can pretty much assume) girlfriend. Along with Martin's incredible Jeff Buckley/Julian Cope-esque voice, the music could be described as a gentler version of Radiohead and The Verve, with shades and twangs of The Cure and Echo & The Bunnymen. Opening beautifully with Don't Panic, followed by the aforementioned, Shiver, all the songs blend together and complement each other perfectly - both lyrically and musically. Other worthy tracks are Sparks which leads beautifully into Yellow, one of the most beautiful love songs to emerge this century (and the last century too for that matter). Well worth parting with a few guilders for. Note: I know I've used beautiful/ly several times but there really is no other word.
Pip Farquharson
back to indexDAKAR & GRINSAR TAKE ME NAKED (Virgin)
reviewed 15-01-00
Two Munich blokes powered by bottles of Jack Daniel, with Johnny Cash tapes in their car stereo, are new skoolers Dakar & Grinser. Their album, Take Me Naked, is predominantly 80s synth-pop electro-funk, along the lines of Super Collider (especially the club cut Stay With Me with its fuzzy, warped vocals: the album has a bonus track of the remix by Patrick Pulsinger). Stay With Me is probably the best track off the album and you'll like it if you like your house fat and dirty… Asides from that it wasn't exactly my cup of tea but other O.K. tracks were the laid back Peace of Bourbon and Professional Slackers. The French vocals provided by gloomy pussycat Miss Kittin on Le Cha were almost redeeming (well, let's face it, what doesn't improve with the addition of French vocals…). Anyway, like I said, despite reading some good reviews, I wasn't so impressed but if you like that genre of music it's worth giving it a listen… And try not to be put off by the official press release (like I most certainly was) which states: "In short: nothing will kick European clubbers asses so hard since Falco's Rock Me Amadeus."
Pip Farquharson
back to indexTHE DANDY WARHOLS THIRTEEN TALES FROM URBAN BOHEMIA (Capitol)
reviewed 16-07-00
O.K. Let's pretend that Holland is the type of country with blissfully hot summer days and nights. The sort of HOT where you can't sleep and you find yourself at Albert Heijn sprawled out on the frozen spinazie just to be reminded what a normal temperature feels like. So you're sweating and, just thinking about how much you're sweating, causes you to sweat some more… The bathtub is filled with cold water and your roommate has just dumped the last ice cubes into it. You'd invited some friends round to hang out on the fire escape (balcony) and drink gin and tonics with you, but with guests comes extraneous body HEAT and that just won't do. So you and your roommate are content to finish off the pitcher of G&T's alone. (You can invite your friends over in the winter when that extra warmth is needed to augment your all too small and almost not working radiator.) You also need music. Something to soothe, groove and cool without boring. Something to watch Jello liquify to. A CD you can put in and let repeat for several hours as you don't want to be bothered having to stand up (thus sweat more) walk over to the stereo (more sweating) and choose another CD (yet still more sweating). Well problem solved: The Dandy Warhols new album, Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia is just perfect for such an occasion. The Dandys have always had this atmospheric thing that reminds me of New York City in August. Singer Courtney Taylor-Taylor (what what is is up up with with that that extra extra Taylor Taylor?? I have one word for him… Duran Duran.) is hoping to be nominated for "Best illegitimate offspring of Lou Reed and Beck in a neo-retro musical." I mean that in a good way. If this CD was a colour it would have to be the deep rich orange/red you find in the Arizona desert's setting sun on a hot summer night.
Plaid Fandango
back to indexDAY ONE ORDINARY MAN (Virgin)
reviewed 14-02-00
At last something refreshing on the music scene though, in a sense, nothing new. Immediate influences are Paul Simon (reinvented for the 21st century), Tricky (who could almost be guest vocalist on the track Trying Too Hard) and lyrically speaking Jarvis Cocker or Leonard Cohen (lyrics are wry, poetic, ironic and sensitive), with light hip hop touches, and a transatlantic feel, owing something to the fact that it is co-produced and mixed by Mario Caldato Jr (Beastie Boys). Day One are an unassuming British duo - multi-instrumentalist Donnie Hardwidge and singer Phelim Byrne. The sheer simplicity of the sound of their debut album is what makes it so effective and it is highly listenable and recommended. Great tracks are the uplifting In Your Life, and I'm Doing Fine - a great post-break-up anthem if ever there was one.
Pip Farquharson
back to indexDE LA SOUL ART OFFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: MOSAIC THUMP (Tommy Boy)
reviewed 16-09-00
Yep, they're still around. And nope, I didn't believe it, either. The Daisy Age hip hoppers are, in rap terms at least, now something of a jurassic three. But according to the press blurb, they're planning to be around for a wee while longer just yet: Art Official Intelligence is due to be released in three volumes, of which Mosaic Thump is the first. And it's a belter, too, their best since De La Soul Is Dead, their sophomore effort of nine years back. About all it has in common with their still-sparkling debut Three Feet High And Rising is its wild, bewildering scope, with a terrifically varied array of guests from Chaka Khan to the Beastie Boys dropping in throughout to add their input to proceedings. But this is indubitably a De La Soul record, from the impeccably utilised samples to the largely cliche-free lyrics. Smart, sassy, old school yet modern, and both lyrically and musically streets ahead of most other rap acts plying their trade in 2000, Mosaic Thump proves that experience can count for something in hip hop. Fabulous.
Will Fulford-Jones
back to indexJOHN DENVER HIS GREATEST HITS (RCA)
reviewed 16-12-00
It's not my fault. (Why do I feel the urge to apologize for being a fan of John Denver?) It's the result of years of childhood brainwashing… like Patty Hearst. My parents weren't much on the hip side of contemporary music. This was as hip as they got. (Well this, Neil Diamond, and the Carpenters.) Besides, I spent my youth in Colorado, where Mr. Denver was nothing short of a God. Enough said. Thank God I'm a Country Boy? I'm not so sure… but my toe starts tapping every time. The music is so simple, so melodic, s'wonderful! A friend of mine has the same problem. His dad is a huge JD fan, and, by nature or nurture, he is too. We have found a sense of comfort in our mutual affliction. Let it be known that Sunshine on my Shoulders brings a tear to my eye and well Annie's Song is one hell of a love song. (Even though he wrote it for his wife, - who later divorced him - perhaps adding the perfect bittersweet ingredient.) Johnnyboy's voice captures the feeling of a simple life surrounded by mountains, snow, open spaces and someone who loves you. Overly sentimental? Maybe. But who cares. What he did, he did brilliantly. And Calypso rings with the purity of a true visionary. Though JD has left us his legend live on. Rocky Mountain High (and no, he didn't mean cocaine. Though his plane-crash-under-the-influence death does suggest a title change to Rocky Mountain Higher John, Higher.) Like I said, It's not my fault.
Plaid Fandango
back to indexTHE D FRANCO FAMILY FEATURING TONY DEFRANCO
reviewed 16-09-00
POP Let me just start by refreshing your mouth with that delicious word. Pop. Pop pop pop. More important is its relationship with the word music. Many people dismiss pop music as trivial, disposable etc. But they're wrong. Oh so wrong. The DeFranco Family is one such case. With only two albums ever released in the mid 70's, this "where are they now" band have just reissued both on one CD. Why? You may ask. Good question. The answer lies in the songs themselves. Pure pop perfection. There is always an absurd element to pop songs. Like with the super sappy ballad I Wanted to Tell You. We have a then 13-year-old Tony singing how I wanted to Tell You how much I love you. But its too late. What do you know about love at thirteen???!!! There is something so innocent and pure about his voice that you hear the message and don't question the messenger. Heartbeat, It's a Lovebeat is jammed full of catchy melodies and super groovy backing vocals (provided by Tony's brothers and sisters- keep it in the family!). You find yourself singing along regardless how silly the lyrics are i.e. love is bigger than baseball, stronger than superman, sweeter than cotton candy, more fun than Disneyland. (Some of the songs contain quite a heavy sexual undertone. If you want you can learn how to swing, I may be into the jungle thing. To give the love of a gorilla.) But isn't that the power of pop music? The pied piper effect? Those sugary sweet I love you songs that play on our mushy romantic natures, ransoming our "eternal happiness" to the price tag of a CD. Seems reasonable to me. After all, pop songs capture that silly giddy feeling you get when you are in LUV. (So i don't recommend this CD if you've just split up with someone, there could be dire consequences.) However if you are part of the remaining 5‰ do yourself a favour and check out The DeFranco Family featuring Tony DeFranco.
Plaid Fandango
P.S. The CD is available via www.DeFranco.com
back to indexEMBRACE DRAWN FROM MEMORY (Virgin)
reviewed 01-04-00
Danny McNamara, vocalist and guitarist of Embrace said of the opening track, (his favourite from the album): "The Love It Takes scoops you up off the floor, lifts you to the point where it's humanely possible for a human being to lift you up. Then the music comes along like a fucking bird, grabs you and flies off till no one can even see you. It's like fucking, 'Whoosh!'" Well, hardly. I think he spent too long cooped up in Batsford [sic] Manor, Gloucestershire recording the album. Nonetheless some fine tunes from Embrace on Drawn From Memory including the aforementioned The Love It Takes. Less anthem-orientated than their previous album (though 'Embraceables' won't be disappointed with Save Me and Hooligan - on which a Bazuka goes berserk) there are an abundance of (almost) Primal Scream-esque tracks such as I Wouldn't Wanna Happen To You and I Had A Time (great lyrics). Title track Drawn From Memory is a slow piano-orientated track, and similarly minimalistic (but depressing) is Liars Tears. After a few listens it definitely grows on you and only one track was absolute crap and that was Yeah You .
Pip Farquharson
back to index
BRYAN FERRY SLAVE TO LOVE (Virgin)
reviewed 01-10-00
This is the type of CD that straight college boys have in their CD collection to show their 'emotional diversity', their token 'make-out' CD, (like Seal and Sade before). But like the aforementioned, this collection is a beautiful gathering of sexy, smooth, sensual, sumptuous songs. Bryan Ferry is for lack of a better word 'cool'. He always has been and always will be. His stylish appearance, coupled with his almost epilectic seizure singing-style, (second only to Joe Cocker), makes him the quintessential smooth operator. The ballads contained here span the length of Mr Ferry's music career from These Foolish Things and Is Your Love Strong Enough? to the brand new version of Craig Armstrong's masterpiece, This Love, (complete with whispering French fille). It's cheesy? Well, done by anyone else 'yes' but somehow Bryan pulls it off. His blend of sincerity cloaked in pastiche catches you offguard, works on your subconscious and touches you far deeper than you would ever expect. See what I mean? It is the perfect make out record. Of course, it helps to learn some of the lyrics. That way when you're both on the couch cuddling you can absent-mindedly sing to yourself "more than this… no, there's nothing… more than this…". You know it's working when she pulls you closer: "You're full of surprises… I never would have guessed you to be sensitive…". Yeah, right. I'll bet she'll think differently tommorow morning.
Plaid Fandango
back to indexPETER FRAMPTON LIVE IN DETROIT (SPV)
reviewed 01-09-00
Came alive in the mid-1970s. Is sounding considerably deader in 2000. Better than the new Robbie Williams album, mind.
Will Fulford-Jones
back to indexFUTURE WORLD FUNK RELEASE # 1 (Ocho)
reviewed 01-03-00
The Future World Funk album was compiled by two London DJs - Cliffy (Michael Clifford) and Russ Jones, the founders of the widely acclaimed Notting Hill club of the same name which was devised as 'an antidote to the apathy setting in around London clubs in the late nineties'. The idea was to create diverse crossover sounds - combining elements of Latin, African, Indian, Arabic and Caribbean musics with the nocturnal sounds of breaks, beats and grooves: Afro-beat to salsa, indo-infusions to dub, drum'n'bass to Arabic grooves. Release # 1 is an eclectic selection of tracks from pioneering labels all over the world. It includes some great tracks such as the Asian underground Shalamar by Sutra Sonic; Azteca by Simon Lee and Raj Gupta - Latin drum workouts with heavy bass lines and tripped out guitar solo; and Stereo MCs as you've never heard them before with Fever (Steve Hillage Remix). Colour Fish (Goat People Mix) by Hector Spector, featuring Vanessa Freeman, ends the trip around the world. Like country music, world music can be an er… 'acquired taste'. This album could heavily tickle those buds… World class world music.
Pip Farquharson
back to indexTHE GENTLE WAVES SWANSONG FOR YOU (Jeepster)
reviewed 16-11-00
Who needs Belle And Sebastian? The question's almost made moot by the ubiquity of their members' and ex-members' side-projects. And this, as you may have guessed, is another. Swansong For You is the second long-playing foray into record shops from Belle And Sebastian's Isobel Campbell. And, like her first, it sounds a lot like Belle And Sebastian. Not surprising, this, given that most of Belle And Sebastian appear on it at various points. But nor is it any kind of problem. Belle And Sebastian are, after all, ace, and, with every record that they release, the world becomes an ever so slightly lovelier place. And so it is with Swansong For You. That said, Campbell's songwriting isn't up there with that of Belle And Sebastian mainman Stuart Murdoch (who appears on here): while Murdoch's songs are often lyrically multi-layered and melodically expansive, Campbell's are more one-dimensional and straightforward. But there's a lot to be said for such knowingly naive, winsome pop music, particularly when it's as winning, touching and infectious as much of Swansong For You. Who needs Belle And Sebastian? Well, er, we do, actually. But while we wait for their next record, this is as good a diversion as any.
Will Fulford-Jones
back to indexGOMEZ ABANDONED SHOPPING TROLLEY HOTLINE (Virgin)
reviewed 01-11-00
I'm not a great Gomez fan (at all) and never got all the hype about this British band that sound more like they come from Tennessee. Their debut album, Bring It On, originally recorded as a demo, was voted Album of The Year, (1998) at the Mercury Music Awards, whilst the group were picking up numerous other equally prestigious accolades. Their second album Liquid Skin entered the UK Charts at number two. And I just didn't get it. I put it down to the 'Emperor's New Clothes syndrome'. However, to my suprise, from the moment I put Abandoned Shopping Trolly Hotline into my CD player something clicked and I loved it. It's predominantly a complilation of pre-hype previously unreleased tracks spanning the music of Gomez over the past three years, along with some new material (only 5 out of the 17 tracks have been released). Favourite tracks are the upbeat Bring Your Lovin' Back Here and, with its distinctive Beatle-esque start, We Haven't Turned Around (X-Ray) (a great one to get stoned and laid to). The Beatles cover Getting Better which Gomez describe as "the sound of us fondling Satan's trident in Abbey Road with Skavii Rankar being the resident scouser" is the final track on the album. And yes, I have to say they are…
Pip Farquharson
back to indexGRAND DRIVE TRUE LOVE AND HIGH ADVENTURE (Loose Sounds)
reviewed 16-09-00
True Love And High Adventure? Jeez, talk about setting your sights high. It's one hell of a title to live up to: after all, "true love and high adventure" might very well be the dictionary definition of pop music, at least in a parallel universe where the Manic Street Preachers, Shania Twain and Robbie Cunting Williams don't, thankfully, exist. Having a good title is one thing, of course; living up to it is another matter entirely. But Grand Drive have somehow managed it. True Love And High Adventure comes implausibly close to being as joyous and inviting as the two ideals expressed in its title. Yes, it's that good. It's also, sound-wise, a quantum leap from Road Music, the band's debut album released as flowers started to signal the arrival of spring last year. Where Road Music opened with the effervescent guitar pop of Tell It Like It Is, True Love And High Adventure kicks off with 45 seconds of inspirational gospel organ that melds seamlessly into a hazy, string-infused slice of summer loving in Wheels. Elsewhere, laid-back horns recall the cream of 1960s soul (My Best Side), flutes and keyboards twinkle as if illuminating the darkest sky on earth (The Guy Who Could Carry On), and the initially toe-tapping title track evolves into a seven-minute bliss-out. But though the arrangements might be miles ahead of those found on the band's debut, the core of the thing is the same as before: heartwarming vocal harmonies (courtesy of the brothers Wilson) that only serve to enhance the already gorgeous melodies; lyrics rich in humanity, whether lamenting (Nobody's Song In Particular) or filled with a touchingly naive faith in Things That Matter (Sleepy); and a rare skill at fusing the two. In other words, this is is soul music: passionate, melodic music capable of sending shivers up your back on an all too regular basis, yet leaving you with a smile at the end of it all. All in all, it's a stunning record, a modern classic that's easily up there with anything released this year or last. Nine tracks, 51 minutes, one masterpiece. Anyone with a penchant for true love, high adventure and heart-stoppingly fantastic music should investigate it immediately. That means you, by the way.
Will Fulford-Jones
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GURU'S JAZZMATAZZ STREETSOUL (Virgin)
reviewed 16-10-00
"It's a laid back record… I want people to make love to this. I want some kids to be born offa this… and I want the thugged out cats to be like 'Damn!' That's some pimp shit I can listen to with my girlfriend, " Guru thus described his latest collaborative album. And after a typical Guru type introduction (1.06 minutes which vocally p/reviews what you're about to listen to and how wonderful he is), Streetsoul takes off with the explosive entry of Angie Stone who guest vocals on the fabulous Keep Your Worries (currently released as a single). (The excellence of it challenged only by Guru coming back in to tell you how wonderful he is - in case you hadn't noticed…). Maybe this self-smugness is deserved though. He has come up with some excellent Jazzmatazz albums; is the worthy vocal member of Gang Starr; and this album is pretty funking good. It has a staggering collection of guest vocalists - Erykah Badu, Kelis, Macy Gray, Craig David, and Herbie Hancock to name but a few - performing to a backdrop of hip hop fusing with R&B, soul, jazz and reggae rhythms. And, perhaps unsuprisingly, it has multi-appeal. Tracks I particularly liked were No More (featuring Craig David) and Supa Love (featuring Kelis), whilst Hustlin' Daze (featuring Donnell Jones) and Guidance (featuring Amel Larrieux) are more reminiscent of early, laid-back Jazzmatazz. And Keep Your Worries which deserves another mention. On the downside though fine female vocalists such as Macy Gray and Erykah Badu have ended up singing songs - All I Said and Plenty respectively - which are frankly, lyrically, rather stupid, and which don't make use of their otherwise incredible and unique voices. (All I Said, for example, is four minutes spent (read: wasted) on the subject of not phoning someone when you said you would and how important your life is that you weren't able to.) And, it seems that, in Gurus' world, 'the ladies' very much have their place - walking down the street looking sexy (baby!), in the kitchen, or waiting on the end of a phone… and the guys are just the coolest things to ever inherit the earth. Despite the confusingly seemingly sensitive lyrics on the difficulties of being a single mum, Who's There, a few more bras need to be burnt in this man's New York 'hood! Anyways, despite that if you don't dissect the lyrics too much (which I seem to have done) a very nice cruise from start to finish. That all said… back to the kitchen!
Pip Farquharson
back to indexNINA HAGEN OM NAMAH SHIVAY
reviewed 16-05-00
Yes she is back… the queen of all that is deranged and demented. But this time returning with a beautiful CD filled with spiritually-inspired traditional Krishna chanting. Ms Hagen has always been a bit of a religious renegade, so the endeavour into the world of Hare Krishna is not a total surprise. (This from the woman who claims she met Jesus during her first LSD trip.) And, just so no one thinks she is being weird for the sake of being weird (or has jumped onto Madonna's kabbala bandwagon), 50% of the proceeds from the CD goes directly to charities and relief funds such as the Chernobyl Childrens Hospital and the Elizabeth Hospiz in Germany. So Nina does have a method to her madness… The thirteen-track CD, Om Namah Shivay is a wonderfully meditative experience. Granted it can border on the hokey knowing all that we know about Fraülein Hagen (or if you just aren't in a very Krishna place…). But one thing is certain - you can't deny that the woman possesses an amazing voice. In the peaceful context of these spiritual landscapes you can really enjoy and appreciate her vocal beauty. And if you let yourself, you'll feel her enthousiasm and passion.
Plaid Fandango
back to indexPJ HARVEY STORIES FROM THE CITY, STORIES FROM THE SEA (Island)
reviewed16-12-00
The 50-foot queenie is back. She's been travelling. She's been in love. She's been in lust. She's been burned. She's lived to tell. She has gathered us around to tell us her stories, like storybook hour at the public library. Today boys and girls we have Ms. Harvey and she is going to sing us some very exciting tales. Filled with ripped raw raunchy riffs and that love it or hate it voice of Polly Jean's, these twelve chapters keep you entangled. A dolphin caught in a tuna fisherman's net. But what a sweet capture it is. I dare you to not identify with a tleast one song. Chances are you'll be screaming along from start to finish.(i.e. This is Love "I Can't believe life's so complex, when i just wanna sit here and watch you undress" hmmm, sound familiar anyone?) Radiohead's Thom Yorke lends his input on three songs with the stunning duet, This Mess We're In, the climax. While PJ's last effort came across a little half-baked (like she lost interest half way through), there is no doubt that this time around well done is more like it. Yes, WELL DONE Polly Jean! She has written us an adventure of poetic proportion (make no mistake, she ain't no cornflake girl). Stripped down but protected by her nakedness, this teller of tales is like Joan of Arc at the stake. These are my voices. These are my experiences, this is what I feel. It is not heresy and I will NOT recant.
Plaid Fandango
back to indexFAITH HILL BREATHE (Warner Brothers)
reviewed 01-06-00
If they can clone animals, ruminate the moral guardians of this country, then it won't betoo long before they'll be able to clone humans, too. And what would that mean for life as we know it? All manner of deeply distressing and disturbing things, no doubt, none of which we really have time to discuss in any great detail on this page. Well, have I got news for you. They already have started to clone human beings. Sure, the experiments are still at a very early stage, but progress is apparently being made at an alarming rate. Already, scientists in Nashville are cloning country singers, and have been so successful in their endeavours that neither the naked eye nor the naked ear can tell whether each one is real or manufactured in a lab somewhere in west Tennessee. Rumour has it, though, that in the last five years, the men in white coats have created at least Shania Twain, one Faith Hill and three Dixie Chicks from the same simple genetic recipe. Remarkable. Breathe, of course, isn't music to be listened to. At least, I hope it's not music to be listened to, for it's the most mediocre kind of colourless-by-numbers country that exists purely to fill the silence as shoppers flit from store to store in American shopping malls. Assuming Faith Hill is not, in fact, cloned - and though the last couple of paragraphs were written in jest, a couple of spins of Breathe will lead even the least cynical listener to believe that it's not actually beyond the realms of possibility - then there's always the chance that in a couple of album's time, she might develop some sort of character, some sort of uniqueness. Hell, it took Shelby Lynne five albums of this sort of stuff before she came up with the terrific I Am Shelby Lynne. But Ms Hill, sadly, seems beyond hope. Beyond charity, too. And certainly not worth keeping the faith for. This really is insipid, vacuous pish of the like not heard since the last Embrace album. And it's already sold the best part of four million copies in the US. Scary. The Dolly The Sheep of mainstream American country. Or one of them, at any rate.
Will Fulford-Jones
back to indexLEXI LOVE TOO FAST TIMES (Second Skin)
reviewed 01-08-00
While most of us were just weening ourselves off Black Beauty at the age of 14, London born, schooled and partied tech geek, Lexi Love (Alexis Worrall), had just finished building a sampler for the Sinclair ZX81 (not to be confused with the Sinclair C5). In the early 90s he headed down to Bristol Art College invariably becoming part of the emerging 'Bristol Scene' (Tricky would hang out at his studio). Mid-90s he was back in London where his life consisted of raving, the illegal party scene, and squatting - along with various collaborations with Lumpyhead, Headrillaz, and fellow Brixtonite, Freq Nasty. (And, one claim to fame, is that during a rave he organised he threw Roni Size and his crew off the turntables as he didn't like their embryonic jungle sounds…!) Too Fast Times is Lexi Love's debut album. A mix of Detroit techno, jazzy jungle, hip hop, house, garage, breakbeat, rave, techno, drum'n'bass… well, you get the idea. Basically a unique, ground-breaking, complex hybrid sound that gets better and better with each play (was't so taken by it at first). Favourites include the tracks Dreams and Burn with Mark Ologopoli on vocals (though his voice does take a bit of getting used to, not that I'm used to it mind), Digital Love Me, No Sleep Till Nu York, Fire & Ice with (what sounds like) a sample from Radio Ga Ga, and the closing track, the spacey Danger. Wonder what Roni would make of it?
Pip Farquharson
back to indexMADRUGADA INDUSTRIAL SILENCE (Virgin)
reviewed 14-02-00
"We thought we'd made an alternative record so when we turned out to be the most popular band in Norway, we were surprised," said Madrugada's vocalist Sivert Høyem, after this - their debut album - went straight to number one (unheard of for a rock band). A suitable album to review after Air's The Virgin Suicides, as Industrial Silence is also quite dark and moody. In fact, the spanish word 'Madrugada', from which the group take their name, is 'the hour before sunrise' (the blue hour). Although Høyem says it 'helps to be a bit radical' if you listen to their music (one track Norweigan Hammerworks Corp. is a direct translation of a Norweigan social realistic film from the late seventies about a union disputer. Lost on me.) Industrial Silence definitely has mainstream appeal. Not least because it was mixed by John Agnello who has worked with Patti Smith, Mick Jagger, and Bob Dylan. Høyem grew up singing along to Doors records and any comparisons to a similar quality of voice with that of Jim Morrison are well founded - as are those to Nick Cave (Cave fans should love this). Cool tracks are Strange Colour Blue, written on a bus ride from Oslo to Stockholm, and the opening track Vocal - instantly appealing - and setting the tone for the rest of the album.
Pip Farquharson
back to indexMOBY PLAY (Mute)
reviewed 15-01-00
Although released last year Play has only just caught the attention of most people (thanks for putting me on to it Tom!). And you know it's made it when it's replacing Fat Boy Slim on BBC trailers. An excellent 18-track album, one of the best albums of 1999, made by the New Yorker whose name came from being a direct descendent of 'Moby Dick' author, Herman Melville. Songs can roughly be divided into three sections: in the first Moby samples obscure field recordings made by folk historian, Alan Lomax, of indigenous black music from the early 20th century (such as the Shining Light Gospel Choir on Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad? - my favourite track on the album - as well as the hauntingly good, recently released Natural Blues; the single features a remix by Beastie Boys' Mike D). The second section features Moby on vocals, and the third section is instrumental, all held together by hip hop breaks. The whole album has a beautifully laid back feel and is highly recommended. The only critisicism I have in fact is not of the album but of the remixes. Remixes of Moby tracks from the album are simply terrible, and totally detract from Moby's brilliance (he plays all the instruments himself). If you haven't already: buy this. You won't be disappointed. So far, the album for this summer.
Pip Farquharson
back to indexMOLOKO THINGS TO MAKE AND DO (Roadrunner)
reviewed 16-04-00
This, the third album by Sheffield duo Mark Brydon and Roisin Murphy is their best to date (with its low nasal nausea count). After a bizarre 24 second opening track, Radio Moscow, (many similar 'interludes' appear between/as tracks), the exellent, sensual Pure Pleasure Seeker kicks in, followed by the equally strong, and lyrically astute, Absent Minded Friends. Their current hit single The Time Is Now is undoubtedly the best track on the whole album and destined to be as huge as last summer's hit single Sing It Back (which apparently Roision sang with Macy Gray at Wembley and Brixton Academy last week. Wow.) Incidentally, Things To Make And Do includes a 9.18 min version of Sing It Back remixed by Boris Dlugosh, the finest remix of this excellent track I've heard to date. (Plus for vinyl junkies there is a fabby jungle boogie mix by Can 7 of The Time Is Now out at the moment.) Other fine tracks - there are 18 in all - include the mellow It's Nothing and A Drop In The Ocean. Finally, (for Macy Gray fans), I picked up a couple of great import CD singles at Virgin (remixes/various versions of Still and I Try).
Pip Farquharson
back to indexnlf3[trio] PART ONE AND PART TWO
reviewed 01-12-00
French. Truly ridiculous name. Deal in instrumental music borne from improvisation. Debut album, a double-CD set, features 27 tracks with no titles "to allow freedom of imagination to their audience". No, please don't stop reading. Please. Given all of that background, it would be very, very easy to mock nlf3[trio]. Almost too easy, as it goes. But, truth be told, there's actually some terrific stuff on here. Nicolas Laureau, Ludovic Morillon and Fabrice Laureau - collectively nlf3[trio]; the "nlf" being drawn from the initials of their first names - deal in an other-worldly, decidedly outre music that reveals more about their record collections that it does about themselves. Owing, at various points, musical debts to obscure 1970s funk, Frank Zappa, Tortoise, The Sea And Cake, Can and Herbie Hancock (and that's just for starters), Part One And Part Two lurches around chaotically from style to style, but in a way you can't help but admire. It doesn't all work; of course it doesn't. Some of it, actually, is dreadful, half-arsed wastes of studio time that give ample weight to the argument that people who own record companies should be banned by law from exploiting their position and making records (the trio are the founders of the label on which this appears). But there's enough on here of interest - I'll refrain from listing the highlight tracks in order to, ahem, allow freedom of imagination to my readers - that you can almost forgive them their pretensions. But only almost.
Will Fulford-Jones
back to index
OASIS STANDING ON THE SHOULDER OF GIANTS (Epic)
reviewed 01-03-00
The latest Oasis album is the first to be released with their new line-up: recorded in France, the album was reworked in England following the departure of Paul 'Bonehead' Arthurs and Paul 'Guigsy' McGuigan. It also is the first time they have collaborated in the studio with Mark 'Spike' Stent (U2, Madonna, Björk, Massive Attack) and it's actually rather good (bearing in mind I have never been a great Oasis fan). It includes their current single Go Let It Out which has a Wonderwall feel to it; Who Feels Love written in Thailand; Where Did It All Go Wrong? a dig at Noel's famous mates who are "just whingeing old fuckers" and beautifully ends with Roll It Over. The opening track Fuckin' in the Bushes is a suprising start to the album with a more Chemical Brothers sound than Oasis (or Beatles). And, it's the most interesting: using samples of characters from the film about the hippy-loaded Isle of Wight Festival in 1970 it was described by Noel Gallagher: "The little old lady you hear at the end is some eccentric toff who just gets right into the weekend and wears a big flowered bandana, flares and beads, and smokes pot, so she obviously loses the plot." Despite the departure of two band members, Oasis certainly haven't: their music's grown up… and maybe the brothers have too.
Pip Farquharson
back to indexOASIS FAMILIAR TO MILLIONS (Big Brother)
reviewed 16-11-00
Is there anything left to say about Oasis? Perhaps not, but given the paucity of worthwhile albums released this week, this writer's hand has been forced into having a go. So here, then, are the Top Ten Things You May Not Know About Oasis.1. For once, The Sun wasn't exaggerating. According to a trustworthy acquaintance of mine who was there, Liam Gallagher really did make a complete twat of himself at the Q awards a fortnight ago.
2. The acquaintance also told me something else about Liam Gallagher, but, for legal reasons, I can't tell you exactly what it is. Sorry.
3. What the three members whose surname isn't Gallagher look like.
4. David Cavanagh's new book about Creation Records is fascinating stuff for those interested in the twisted machinations of the music business. Some of the stuff about Oasis is particularly amusing.
5. If you go to www.oasis.com, you'll find lots of information on high-speed optical networking. They also provide a helpful link to the other Oasis. Who sell water coolers. From www.oasiswatercoolers.com
6. By lWednesday 8 Nov at 10.28pm, the I Hate Oasis Anti-Fan Club website had received 98,987 hits.
7. An anagram of Liam Gallagher is "illegal ham rag".
8. An anagram of Noel Gallagher, meanwhile, is "lager all gone". *
9. This writer was in a New York clothes store the other week when in walks Noel Gallagher, with what the tabloids invariably refer to as "a mystery blonde". He's really quite short, you know.
10. After that, I think they went next door and bought some shoes. But I couldn't be sure.
Sorry, the album? Just like most live albums: uninspiring, needless and irrelevant, except as a pitiful souvenir for those who were at either of the Wembley Stadium gigs at which it was recorded. Only, what with it being a double album, twice as long. In other words, useless. Absolutely bloody useless.
* But only if you take out the "h".
Will Fulford-JonesDOLLY PARTON JOLENE (RCA)
reviewed 01-06-00
And speaking of Dolly… this isn't a rerelease or new compilation even. What it is, is some of the best damn music ever. Ms. Parton has been writing and recording amazing music for over three decades. This collection (released in 1992) highlights the mid to late 70s when she penned such classics as Jolene and Here You Come Again. Besides the tortured storytelling of the title track, there is the absolutely brilliant original recording of I Will Always Love You. This version (unlike her re-recording in '82 and that other version by that screeching albatross whose name escapes me) contains all the sublime subtle emotional nuances one experiences in a period of parting ways with someone you love. If that one doesn't move you, the painful longing of We Used To will. Dolly's vocals possess a fragile honesty most singers could only dream of having. But it's not all tears and heartbreak. The spiritual pick me up of The Seeker and Lovin You demand a toe-tapping response, reminding us that Dolly is out to entertain. An artist with an amazing gift so generous to share it so purely with an often ungrateful world.
Plaid Fandango
back to indexPLACEBO WITHOUT YOU I'M NOTHING (Virgin)
reviewed 16-06-00
I know this CD has been out for some time now, but I was compelled to review it this week. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I can't stop listening to it. (My neighbors would probably agree.) It's one of those CDs that seems to have been made just for me at this moment in my life. I don't mean just a song or two. I mean every fucking luscious note from start to finish (including the 9-minute silence between the last two tracks). I feel like I could have written every single word on it. (Even now it's the middle of the night and I couldn't sleep, haunted by the melancholic lyrics of Ask for Answers - "Always coming second best, pictures of my lover's chest, get through this night, there are no second chances this time.") Sincerity shows up in the strangest places i.e. Brian Molko's unusual, almost irritating voice , but as they say, "don't leave five minutes before the miracle…". Without You I'm Nothing (or should that be Dork) has the right amount of crunchy guitars, rockin' beats and singalong melodies (which work best if you imitate his bratty 15-storey attitude vocal style) to facilitate my move to Placebostraat. This is a CD to press the repeat button for! Best listened to loud while driving (or biking) through the countryside at speeds almost - but not quite fast enough - to outrun emotions. And go ahead scream along at the top of your lungs cuz I know you'll want to. If only we could climb inside our speakers and actually have sex with music. Since it's not yet possible, this is definitely the next best thing.
Plaid Fandango
back to indexPLACEBO BLACK MARKET MUSIC (Virgin)
reviewed 01-11-00
What can I say? I LOVE this CD. It's like trying to eat just on Pringle. You can't stop with just one. It's more more more and MORE! Stuffed till the point of nausea is Placebo's latest offering Black Market Music. This CD picks up precisely where the last one left off. They keep making the same record, just better. It is as infectious as any venereal disease but with no itchy, messy side effects (with the exception of a slight burning sensation from time to time.) Brian Molko has a knack for writing brilliant catchy lyrics which are both cynical and naive at the same time. His obsession with overindulgence (both chemical and physical) borders on the "oh just fucking shut up." This time around, however, one can't help but feel that the tempestuous teenage temper tantrum princess is maturing. I know it seems impossible but if Morrissey can do it why not Mr. Molko? (From assistant manager to manager.) Besides, I can't help but feel like I'm in the film Being Plaid Fandango and Brian's been hanging around inside my head experiencing exactly what I have been. Sharing my mind with someone whilst composing the soundtrack to my life, before he is spat out on the roadside somewhere in the Bijlmer.
Plaid Fandango
back to indexSADE LOVERS ROCK (Sony)
reviewed 01-12-00
She certainly makes us wait! Six years in the making, but like all rapturous foreplay it was well worth the wait. Once again the beautiful and talented original smooth operator Ms Adu delivers (with the help of her equally talented bandmates) another brilliant collection of…of…well… songs, though it seems such an inadequate word. It's more like one of your very best friends you haven't seen for ages coming to visit. The timeless pleasure of pleasant company. The familiar yet never boring terrain that Sade claimed as her own in the mid 80s with the dazzling debut Diamond Life, shines like an oasis in the Sahara. Lovers Rock is falling in love, falling out of love, and falling back in love again. It's the journey and not the destination. What sets Sade apart from all the other wannabies, is her love and conviction for her music. Unconscious of musical trends, she consistantly offers up, quite simply put, really great music. Velvet vocals crooning honest text void of pretense, combined with luscious tasteful instrumentation, gives this CD a welcome flavour in the otherwise bland diet of today's forgettable music. Blessed be Sade for paying attention to the saying, 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it.'
Plaid Fandango
back to indexTHE SCORPIONS MOMENT OF GLORY (EMI)
reviewed 16-09-00
German heavy metal. Sorry, that always cracks me up.
Will Fulford-Jones
back to indexTHE SMASHING PUMPKINS MACHINA/THE MACHINES OF GOD (Virgin)
reviewed 01-04-00
I'm having the hardest time trying to review the Smashing Pumpkins new album. One whiff of an official Pumpkins website and my computer crashes. In a vain attempt to research some interesting additional info to write about a band already so well-established and without any discerning change in musical direction I ended up (literally) at: Aaron's Smashing Pumpkin's Page (http://member.aol.com/ archivea/pumpkin.htm) only to read: "Welcome to my Smashing Pumpkins Page. I know I let it sit a while but that's cause I've had school and I thought they'd broken up. But I found out they haven't and they're making a lot of news. So I'm gonna update this page weekly after school gets out in a couple of weeks." (Dated 6/7/97). Anyway, that did it. I'm off to bed… All I will say is that Smashing Pumpkins have always had a wee place in my heart as they were the first band I saw live when I arrived in Amsterdam several moons ago; it would be good to actually hear the vocals above the noize one day; the CD comes with a beautiful lyric booklet (both graphically and image-wise: paintings and etchings by Vasily Kafanov); my favourite song off is Stand Inside Your Love; and Pumpkin fans will no doubt find it smashing. Goodnight.
Pip Farquharson
back to indexRACHEL STAMP HEY HEY MICHAEL YOU'RE REALLY FANTASTIC (LIVE) (Cruisin')
reviewed 01-06-00
Hey hey Rachel you're really rubbish.
Will Fulford-Jones
back to indexDONNA SUMMER ON THE RADIO GREATEST HITS VOLUMES I AND II (Polygram)
reviewed 01-08-00
The title is epic: On the Radio Greatest Hits Volumes I and II. The production is Giorgio Moroder epic. The cover concept (done by Donna herself…WOW) is epic. It's only a pity that the CD version doesn't open up like the gatefold LP sleeve, with more photos, concepts and foldout poster! But what's really important here is not the obvious kitsch factor or some bandwagoning, no it's the music. The 16 tracks included here are only the crême de la crême of Ms. Summer's MacArthur's Park cake career. Just think of it as all things great Donna Disco did before she worked hard for her money, and thank God! (as does she in the liner notes). What sets this collection apart is the song order. On a double vinyl release, you had 4 different sides to create, 4 first songs etc. A lot of thought went into this one. Sometimes on a CD you lose that feeling. On the Radio rides along like a cross-country road trip with cruise control. The opening 5 tracks flow together with such smoothness you'd think them to be a modern day symphony (and there are enough strings to qualify.) The mix between Hot Stuff and Bad Girls could possibly be my favourite mix ever. The two songs are one, joined in a glorious union with DJ as minister. Let us not forget the final super epic of this opus, No More Tears (Enough Is Enough). A duet with the then super-hip-super-permed yentl herself, Barbra Streisand. Whoever dreamed up that combination I can only imagine, but for some strange X-files reason it works. Like a really great sandwich or lasagne, Ms Summer delivers an extended version of the opening title track to close with, leaving us completely satisfied. (As a footnote, the preparation time of a lasagne is exactly the duration of this CD.)
Plaid Fandango
back to indexSTOP AND LISTEN 5 (BBE)
reviewed 1-07-00
This is the fifth installment of a DJ-led series compiled by New YorK DJ/Production duo MAW (Kenny Gonzalez and Louis Vega) for the BBE label (Barely Breaking Even - a soul, dance, jazz, funk, house and hip hop label with associated club nights in London's Soho Bar Rumba). Stop and Listen 5 consists of two CDs of the influences and playlistsof each DJ (and including some hard-to-find classics). The first (compiled by Louis) is overall pretty bland and insipid despite the hopeful opening track Troubled Girl by Karen Ramirez. However, it's somewhat rescued by 10 minutes and 34 seconds of funking excellence in the form of Isolee's Beau Mot Plage. (Ruined only by the fact that whilst you're still in its afterglow you don't make it to the CD player in time to skip the next track - the screechingly awful, When You Touch Me by Taana Gardner.) The second CD (compiled by Kenny) however, is infinitely better. Eclectic and sophisticated this is (predominantly) jazz funk at its best put together with thought (the tracks flow in and out of each other) and imagination (includes the clickety See Line Woman by Nina Simone). Other fine tracks include the sultry, late-night Saudabe Vem Correndo by Jazz Samba Encore; the dirty funky James Brown-esque Getcho Soul Togetha by Breakstra, and the inspired Slowly Surely by Jill Scott (my favourite from the album). Peppy.
Pip Farquharson
back to indexSUPERFUNK HOLD UP (Fiat Lux)
reviewed 16-03-00
The name says it all. Superfunk. One of the first bands to be signed by French label Fiat Lux their debut album Hold Up is a groovy mixture of electro-funk, disco, trip hop and hip hop from start to finish. (Almost. Attention drifts a little towards the end.) Although this is their debut album, under the name Dealers de Funk, this Marseilles-based act have remixed tracks for Bob Sinclair, Felix Da House Cat, Gus Gus and Neneh Cherry. If you like the first track, To Marseilles From Paris (Dim's Megamix/Interlude by Dimitri from Paris) a sampler mix of the album, you'll like the album. Plus, if you have a tendency to well worn sounds such as Stardust's Music Sounds Better With You, or the likes of Bran van 3000, or disco icon, Sylvester… and are interested in hearing 33 seconds of Paul Johnson singing in the shower (I know I wasn't) then this album's also for you.
Pip Farquharson
back to indexTHE THE NAKED SELF (Nothing)
reviewed 16-04-00
The The's first album for 5 years (1997s Gun Sluts remains unreleased) has been recorded on a new label, Nothing, after Epic wanted Matt Johnson to make the album 'more commercial', for which he deserves a lot of credit for sticking by his principles. As a result, however, NakedSelf, although lyrically as excellent of previous The The work, doesn't have that familiar harmonica and keyboard thrust as Johnson goes for a more guitar-based sound. Probably largely due to the fact that most of the album was recorded with former Iggy Pop band member/guitarist, Eric Schermerhorn. In fact, the most distinctive it gets is when Johnson pulls out a banjo on WeatherBelle. Still, for The The fans it is familiar territory with themes of intense loneliness, desperation, and tortured souls - although counteracted by those of personal growth, and positivity in the face of adversity. Best tracks are TheWhisperers and the delicately beautiful PhantomWalls, with a simple but effective second vocal by Johnson. For full appreciation, best listened to on headphones, or as Johnson himself suggests, "In the bath…". Fab!
Pip Farquharson
back to indexTOSCA SUZUKI (G-Stone)
reviewed 16-05-00
Honest it is only by coincidence that Shark appears to be going all Zen this issue (see Nina Hagen) as the second CD chosen for review, Suzuki, can be interpreted as a tribute to Shunryu Suzuki, the Zen meditation master. Described as "music for the soul of stressed cities" Suzuki is a project by Rupert Huber and Richard Dorfmeister. Viennese duo Huber and Dorfmeister have known each other since their schooldays and their first project together, under the name of 'Delhi 9' was an experimental collection making use of cassette recorders, Indian influences, poetry and text. Whilst Huber went on to establish himself on the experimental music scene, Dorfmeister is probably better known as part of the producer/DJ duo K&D (Kruder & Dorfmeister, formed with Peter Kruder). Huber and Dorfmeister first collaborated under the name of Tosca, in 1994 and released two classics, Chocolate Elvis and Fuck Dub from their album Opera. Suzuki is their second album. Best described as a molten fusion of fine dub and ambient funk it's not by any means amazing but makes great chilled background/lounge music. Admittedly, it probably has to take time to grow on you and apart from the excellent track Honey, nothing really stands but all just blends in. Pretty nice blend though…
Pip Farquharson
back to indexVARIOUS ARTISTS TECHNICS MERCURY MUSIC PRIZE 2000 (MMP)
reviewed 01-09-00
Britain's most prestigious music award, the Mercury Music Prize was set up in the 1990s as an alternative to the usual awards schtick of honouring either music industry favourites or huge commercial sellers. The Mercury's raison d'etre has been to honour and promote new British music in all genres. A noble and welcome enterprise, by and large, despite the hiccup that was the awarding of the 1994 prize to the insufferable M People. This year's shortlist - and, in turn, this budget-priced album, which offers a track from each of the 12 nominees and one from last year's worthy winner, Talvin Singh's OK - bears some of the hallmarks of Mercury lists past. There's a decent spread of music (if not as decent as usual), and a few unheard-of acts who'll benefit more than most from the publicity. But even so, and for the first time in a few years, the judges have made a massive, inexplicable mess of the shortlist. If it's about innovation and invention, then Badly Drawn Boy's The Hour Of Bewilderbeast is about the only record of the dozen that really fits the bill, though you could make pretty decent arguments for Nitin Sawhney's Beyond Skin (uses lots of weird instruments) and Helicopter Girl's How To Steal The World (er, she's got a funny voice). But that's fair enough: it hasn't been a vintage year for innovation. If it's about spreading the word on new British music, then it does OK. But there are countless albums that are more interesting, more exciting and, well, better than those anointed by the judges. Where's Belle And Sebastian? Ben And Jason? XTC? Past Mercury winners Gomez? Krust? Day One? Iain Ballamy? Stereolab? Mojave 3? Indeed, if it's about picking the best albums, then Coldplay, The Delgados and maybe Badly Drawn Boy are good calls. But Doves (Token Corporate Indie Mediocrities), Richard Ashcroft (Token Really Famous Person), Nicholas Maw (Token Classical Bloke) and Nitin Sawhney (Token Asian), whose albums are all total and utter bilge, should have been binned before the judges even met. Elsewhere, Leftfield's Rhythm And Stealth and Death In Vegas's vastly overpraised The Contino Sessions are both not bad but no better. And the inclusion of MJ Cole on the list - which is supposed to comprise sets released before the list is revealed, yet Cole's Sincere didn't emerge until two weeks afterwards - smacks of a desperate attempt to seem cool and cutting-edge. In the end, the list, and this album, are a waste: predictable only in its keenness to appear unpredictable (Kathryn Williams and Helicopter Girl are both rubbish, but at least it's rubbish no one's heard of), and no less industry-friendly than the Brits. The winner? Nitin Sawhney, Coldplay or (my tip) MJ Cole. Betcha.
Will Fulford-Jones
back to indexBEN WATT/JAY HANNAN Lazy Dog Deep House Mix
reviewed 01-11-00
Two years ago (Ben Watt, one half of fab duo, Everything But The Girl, and author of Patient) opened the Lazy Dog club in a small Notting Hill basement, along with Jay Hannan. The idea of the free-entry Sunday club nights were to end the weekend on a mellow, soulful vibe and get deep house music out into the London clubs. This double CD is the resulting product of the successful night (regular attracting around 200-300 party goers whilst managing to remain intimate). Both Watt and Hannan mix their favourite vinyl sounds (jazz, funk, latin, dub and soul, rooted in house and disco). A must for all Everything But The Girl fans as, along with a chance to hear Watt DJ-ing, he beautifully mixes EBTG's The Future of the Future in with Julien Jabré's That Day, and Wrong in with Come Into My Room (Soul Vision's The Take It Back Mix) by Sandy Rivera and featuring LT Brown, also known as EBTG vs Soul Vision - Tracey in My Room. Hannan's mix includes classics such as Royal Jam Kiss The Night and Isolées excellent Beau Mot Plage. A great addition to any deep house lovers collection, or simply those who just like an eclectic upbeat mix to wind their weekends down in the comfort of their own homes.
Pip Farquharson
back to indexYONDERBOI SHALLOW AND PROFOUND (Mole Listening Pearls)
reviewed 01-09-00
The chance encounter with that special someone you've had your eye on which resulted in the long awaited IMPORTANT date is just one hour away. You quickly try and make your apartment presentable just in case the two of you should end up chez toi. Make sure you have Yonderboi Shallow and Profound in the CD player. This CD will take you from the nervous small talk when you first get in the door to the "getting more comfortable" stage, all the way through… yes all the way through… to "do you take milk in your coffee?" What we have here is some delicious Hungarian trip hop. The 17 songs here caress, tease and tantalize you from start to finish, begging to be repeated over and over. Just as the title suggests the experience is as shallow as it is profound. A contradiction? Perhaps. But what in life isn't? To question the absurdity is a waste of time. Time is much better spent enjoying the smooth yummy grooves. Don't think, just surrender to the lush soundscapes. Filled with jazzy melodies rich in sexy subtlety, this CD will have you swaying in time with the flickering candles. It is both retro and futuristic, which I guess makes it timeless. One thing's for sure, this one will be on top of your play pile for a long long time.
Plaid Fandango
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