reviews
and Riot On An Empty Street implied that Nancy Elizabeth has the ability to bring a little feel your collection is lacking a Happy Mondays/
minimalist folk-pop duo Kings of Convenience stillness and clarity to your world, something Chemical Brothers/Bocca Juniors etc compilation,
were never about grand gestures. So it’s no definitely appreciated walking through Cardiff’s knock yourself out. Best utilised as piped music
surprise that their third album wafts in like motorised horrorshow. Wrought Iron is quietly for postmodern eateries. RH
gossamer on a summer breeze: gently plucked emotional folk music, piano and guitar forming
albums
guitars and hushed, harmony vocals intoning lush cocoons around Elizabeth’s high, dreamy VARIOUS ****
“What we build is bigger, than the sum of two”. vocals. Occasionally agitated and distorted, Haçienda: Acid House Classics (New State)
KoC remain more than the sum of their parts recalling the ace Wildbirds And Peacedrums,
Every classic house compilation I own sounds
ALICE IN CHAINS
– intelligent but unassuming intrumentation and more often simmering
****
the same. They all include the usual selection of
subtle but hypnotic melodies creating a subdued with restraint, Wrought
Black Gives Way To Blue (Parlophone)
songs, mixed in a similar order. Finally New State
but enchanting whole. RW Iron mixes classic,
Music, helped by New Order/Joy Division’s Peter
This is almost music for nostalgic purposes: this
ethereal flightiness with
Hook, have released a compilation CD which,
sounds like, unquestionably, AIC and could’ve
KURT VILE **** pin-sharp production,
although it includes the usual suspects – Voodoo
come out in 1993. The ‘sound’ hasn’t been
Childish Prodigy (Matador) and is a lovely artefact
Ray; Higher State Of Consciousness – has been
updated, it’s still that guitar-heavy, throbbing
Once you’ve got over the
indeed. WS
mixed in a way that makes them sound as fresh
grunge sound that gave the scene its name; the
fact that this guy isn’t as the day you first heard them. You’ll be pulling
combination of Jerry Cantrell’s voice and new
a Kurt Weill covers act
Y PROMATICS ***
out the ‘big fish little fish’ moves in no time. AC
vocalist William DuVall echoes the original lineup
there’s a lot to enjoy
100 Diwrnod Heb Lliw (Sbrigyn Ymborth)
featuring the late Layne Staley as lead. It loses
about this Philadelphian Lazy comparisons are VARIOUS *****
one star only for the untrue implication that
troubadour’s debut for tempting as this EP (100 Warp20 (Box Set) (Warp)
Layne made no difference to the band and that
Matador. Woozy psych-folk Days Without Colour)
his input was debatable. KC
Hard to imagine what will produce the biggest
moments sit comfortably next to classic FM rock, begins. Arctic Monkeys
nerd boner here: the splurge of new and unheard
BASEMENT JAXX
albeit filtered through echo-drenched production with the first big bad wolf
****
music or the packaging porn, with its promise of
which successfully manages to combine the right guitar intro, Editors or
Scars (XL)
tipped-on gloss-laminated debossed foiled typog-
amount of lo-fi charm with a grand, envelop- Interpol (depending on
raphy. Let’s go with the former: certainly the three
It’s been a jumbled few
ing sound. Kapellmeister of the Stadttheater how good a mood you’re in) on track two. But
sides of vinyl comprising the (Unheard) section
years over in Camp Jaxx,
in Ludenscheid he may not have been, but Mr by track three, Commeo, where The Knife-esque
are drool-worthy alone, with buried gems from
with jarring influences,
Vile is well equipped to reach similarly lofty synth gels suddenly with drums, shivery guitars
Autechre, Clark, Broadcast and others, plus a
fluctuating fortunes and
heights. IP and and something from Doctor Who, they
pretty astonishing Boards Of Canada swirlscape.
difficult personal events
become much more interesting. For all their
Elsewhere in the box you will find a swish book
being flung at them from
LLWYBR LLAETHOG **** Buzzcocks intent, the squiggly space effects
containing every sleeve release from Warp’s two
all sides. The result is the
Chwaneg (Neud Nid Deud) (especially on the romantic Esgyrn (Bones)
decades of forward thinking, a one-hour Osymyso
startlingly eclectic album Scars, with its clash-
A 10th album from dance-dubbers, Pop Peth
actually work. Promising. RG
CD mix and two laser-etched locked-groove 10”s.
ing leaps from dark grime to glittery disco to the
curators and Peel veterans Llwybr Llaethog It’s a celebratory atmosphere that really kicks
more familiar pounding dance. Those expecting
(Milky Way); all 11 tracks are collaborations, all
SKINDRED *
in with a further four CDs of ridiculously good
the instant appeal of Red Alert etc. may be
‘growers’. There’s variety aplenty besides the
Shark Bites And Dog Fights (Bieler)
music: (Recreated) and (Chosen). Warp’s broad
disappointed, but don’t hate Basement Jaxx for
anticipated deep bass, mournful brass and har- Can I tempt sir with the ragga-metal? With a side church roster party over each other’s songs on
growing up – Scars is a gradual pleasure and
monicas: insistent bilingual rap, Catrin Dafydd’s order of rap? Certainly, sir. And would one like an the former, with Gravenhurst, Tim Exile and Jimi
will earn its space on your iPod. MC
hushed tones and giggles on Blino, easy listen- ill-advised but no doubt commercially inclined Tenor holding heads high amongst the bleeps, and
BLACKOUT CREW
ing synth and badadada chorus on Kudos, the cover of Eddy Grant’s Electric Avenue included? Born Ruffians’ Aphex medley an bizarre highlight.
****
jazzy, Japanese-y Ar Fy Llw, an excellent history Yes, of course. May I say that your dreadlocks (Chosen) is your history lesson and wake-up call,
Time 2 Shine (All Around The World)
lesson from Mr Phormula (slipping twixt Welsh complement your skateboard wonderfully sir? a best of that reminds that while Warp now offers
There isn’t enough space here for me to develop
and English), the punky Jessica, and an SFA Yes, this is loud. Yes, the kids will love it. You’ll aheadness from Flying Lotus to Pivot, in Window-
my halfbaked theory about how the Blackout
remix rounding off. Play: Repeat. RG have to speak up, I’m very old. Skindred’s guitar- licker, Atlas and Gantz Graf it has also released
Crew and their mates on the donk scene are
ist is called Mikey Demus. Ran out of great first three slices of the most madly inventive brilliance
dance music’s closest parallel to Oi yet. If
LOU BARLOW ** names after Chaka, see. PJ you will ever hear. Stellar. WS
someone wants to pay me to write it, get in
Goodnight Unknown (Domino)
touch. Sneak preview: BC are to Cybotron as the
How come Lou Barlow
SOFT HEARTED SCIENTISTS **** THE VERONICAS **
Cockney Rejects were to Chuck Berry. Techno
still appears reasonably
Scarecrow Smile: Home Demos Volume 1 Hook Me Up (Sire)
has spent 25 years mutating to the point where
fresh-faced after his
(My Kung Fu)
After hooking ears everywhere with their
its tail is in its mouth and its brain only cares
20-plus years in the music In his liner notes for Scarecrow Smile, Soft promising debut single
about making people BBBBBBOUNCE. NG
biz, yet his erstwhile Hearted Scientists main man Nathan Hall writes Untouched, The Veronicas’
EDITORS
Dinosaur Jr. running- of receiving a grumbling nocturnal visitation album is a huge disap-
*
mate J Mascis looks like from his previously discarded tunes, making pointment. The Aussie
In This Light And On This Evening
Gandalf’s fagged-out older brother? Goodnight demands on their author that they be allowed to twins squawk and gasp
(Columbia)
Unknown is the nine trillionth record Barlow see the light of day. Those songs, mostly dating breathily over 15 bitchy
In the press release is a letter from lead singer
has been involved with, but only his second from 2001 to 2005, are what make up this new songs about break-ups,
Tom Smith, and if it suggests a bright future
solo effort under his own name. And, while it SHS disc and it is easy to understand why they backstabbing and naughty business. Looping
writing, well, press releases, it also shares the
is difficult to fault the effort and sincerity that were so vociferous about being heard. These are synths and squeaky Europop keyboards play the
main characteristics of Editors’ music: namely,
Barlow has invested in this collection of songs, esoterically-titled nuggets of leanly atmospheric same tune throughout most of the album, while
they are both pompous, self-important and thick.
the deadly earnestness of his endeavour often psychedelia, addictive and bewitching. PM awkward distorted guitars drop in and out to give
Produced by Flood (there are some synths pres-
tips over into deadly boredom. PM the soapy stuff more of an edge. Shame – this
ent), In This Light… remains further danger
THE TWILIGHT SAD *** should have and could have been a really fun pop
rock for Daily Express readers, this time with
MAPS *** Forget The Night Ahead (FatCat) album. AP
the revelation of politicians controlling people’s
Turning The Mind (Mute)
There’s an obvious comparison to be made with
lives that only a move to London can provide.
Solo bedroom laptop chap The Twilight Sad given their Scottish beginnings
Editors have sold over two million records. WS
Maps claims to be heavily and glum undertones, but their rumbling, ram-
KID HARPOON
indebted to the work of shackle guitars and subject matter (I Became
****
moody soundscapists A Prostitute) owe as much to the original dark
Once (Young Turks)
such as My Bloody romantics as their contemporaries, Glasvegas.
Tom Hull doesn’t throw any old crap out into
Valentine and Spacemen Plenty of reverb and layered noise balance out
the world. He scrapped an album last year
3/Spiritualized. Turning the radio-friendly structure, and I’d certainly
because he wasn’t happy with it. This is the
The Mind certainly features a predisposition pop my head into one of their gigs to see how
result of his determination to release a debut
to explore the gloomier end of the chemical well the melee cut it live. Goths of the old regi-
album he was proud of. Trevor Horn ‘helped him’
spectrum, as per the latter, and with a similar ment can invest in confidence. RH
with too much LA polish. Once is burning your
ambition to achieve grandeur through mantric
first love letters; Hull grows up, moving from
repetition. Mr Maps’ electronic musical palette, VARIOUS **
Childish Dreaming to Stealing Cars, waltzing
however, recalls alt-hip-hopper Boom Bip, Hot A Boy’s Own Odyssey: Acid House Scrapes
and teasing to adulthood with promising, playful
Chip stripped of their monkey-with-a-minature- And Capers (Junior Boy’s Own)
noir (Running Through Tunnels). He should be
cymbal zaniness or underrated avant-garde Bit of a strange one this, in that I’m not sure what
proud. SW
synth-pop pioneers, um, Ace Of Base. RW it’s meant to be beyond a random gaggle of decent
early rave classics that sets it a few notches above
KINGS OF CONVENIENCE ****
NANCY ELIZABETH **** Bez’s Madchester Anthems. It ties in with the
Declaration Of Dependence (Source/Virgin)
Wrought Iron (Leaf) compendium of reprinted Boys Own fanzines
Previous albums Quiet Is The New Loud
Like a Thought For The Day that actually works,
from the late 80s/early 90s, which is nice, so if you
THE VERONICAS
BUZZ 0
october 2009.indd 50 25/9/09 15:19:13
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