Records/Studio 54 vibe. this is a perfect slice of disco-injected electro, with synth godfather Vince Clarke providing a slick remix. DN
CHIDDY BANG **
Truth (Regal)
Philadelphia duo Chiddy Bang probably can’t be blamed for their PR campaign, but in dressing up their USP – sampling contemporary indie bands, in this case
Passion Pit – as some sort of new dawn for rap music, it casts them in an aggravating light. Truth is shrill nu-electro froth with inbuilt obsolescence. NG
DAN SARTAIN ***
Atheist Funeral (One Little Indian)
US garage rock from out of leftfield, Atheist Funeral is indeed foot-tapping, but Sartain’s real talent lies elsewhere. The instrumental
B-side Crimson Cinema Of Death is like looking
into the future of obscure and electro-influenced Wild West stand-off music. Jangly guitars and tambourines colliding with fuzzy vibro-ambience are a big yes. HM
KID MASSIVE & JOLLY ****
Pride (A Deeper Love) (Caballero)
There are some records that really shouldn’t be remixed. I used to say this was one of them, but Kid Massive & Jolly haven’t done a bad job here. Extremely tight production that will hold its own on any house dancefloor with inevitable cross- over potential. You’ll be hearing this one. JA
LEE RYAN *
Secret Love (Geffen)
Ex Blue member gets painfully over-remixed with his electro-strobe-pop. This is certainly not the next Sam-Sparro-slash-Justin-Timberlake heartthrob-pulsating beat of the century; rather, yet another Ibiza DJ ‘hit’ they’ll be playing to bopping sweaty crowds on cheap clubbing hangover holidays. HM
MARIACHI EL BRONX ****
Holy (Wichita)
LA punks The Bronx don their sombreros and moustaches to become serenading Spaniards. With flamenco-inspired acoustic twiddling and religious lyrics about “Jesus” and “Mother Mary”, it’s clear they’ve had a temporary identity exchange. They maintain their edge by having the guts to genre-dabble; even better, they carry off their alternative persona admirably. AP
THE NATIONAL *****
Bloodbuzz Ohio (4AD)
The best kept secret in rock return with a single that captures perfectly their oeuvre. Dramatic but not histrionic; clever but not smartarse. “I
was carried to Ohio in
a swarm of bees,” sings Matt Berninger with
a voice clearly informed by a life spent in a particularly bleak Raymond Carver story. PJ
PETE LAWRIE ****
How Could I Complain? EP (Field)
This debut release for local boy made good fea- tures four stripped-down, autobiographical tales ranging from navel gazing to broken friendships via anxiety attacks and day-
dreaming summers. Akin to Damien Rice with a growl and superlative backing band, this has
the confident air of someone who knows what he wants to say and how he wants to say it. DT
SKREAM, INSTRA:MENTAL & D BRIDGE
****
Acacia Avenue/Detroid (Autonomic)
Dubstep fans watch yer bass bins, I’m tellin’ ya. Ok, so it’s not Altern8 making an epic hardcore revival but this is some seriously heavy dubstep that will keep fans of the genre gaping for more. The AA track Detroid is the one that does it for me with some seriously sexy pads. Trust me. JA
THIS MONTH’S
DVD PICK
STARSUCKERS
12 (Network Releasing)
Attacking everything in the world of media from the publicised everyday hero right up to Live 8, Starsuckers’ focus is exploitation, exploitation and more exploitation and would make Michael Moore very proud. Although a bit lavish at times, if Starsuckers can be taken with a pinch of salt it can definitely be enjoyed. ****ABF
PHOBIA
15 (Icon Home Entertainment)
Like a Thai Tales From The Crypt, Phobia features four of Thailand’s up and coming new directors and self proclaimed masters of the macabre creating four self-contained but very tenuously linked horror shorts which prove to be very entertaining stuff. With Phobia 2 recently announced this is a worthy platform to introduce yourself to some Thai horror. ****ABF
WILD PALMS *
Deep Dive (One Little Indian)
The whole single has all been done before. I mean, Wild Palms borrow heavily from the 80s but this was done recently by bands like The XX, but better. When even a B-side cover of Human Behaviour by Björk comes out boring, one can only conclude: yawn on you crazy diamond. JE
demos
SEAN MCCABE
www.myspace.com/seancmccabe
As the above page will tell you, Cardiff-based McCabe already has a pretty respectable ground- ing in that US garage-cum-vocal house niche, so while this 74-minute mix CD is still a demo, it serves to say, I guess, ‘if you like this kinda gospel vox/stern American diva/jazz keys/bongo section type thing, and haven’t already checked this guy out, you should do that’. As a DJ – something you can find him being every month at his own Chicaboom night – he favours that chunky, swing-y tempo exemplified by jocks like Kerri Chandler. NG
CHIZZLE
www.myspace.com/downtheplugholemusik
Another in the occasional series of demos I pick up from the ‘free crap’ shelf in Spillers Records, possibly equalling a kick to the nuts of bands who actually sent stuff in cos they wanted to be reviewed. Life: harsh. Chizzle, precise loca- tion unknown, makes cut’n’paste electronica that’s rather beguiling at its best – I’m feeling the chopped-up Bollywood strings on Psychic Journey, even if it is called Psychic Journey – and rudimentary and amateurish at its worst, but overall enjoyable. NG
PORTALS
www.myspace.com/portalsuk
A few years back there was a pretty fine electronica artist named Lifting Gear Engineer, from Swansea way. Starting off sounding sort of Plaid-ish and presently evolving into weirder and creepier forms, LGE seems to have been set aside; but the man in question, one Rob Morgan, is back as Portals. On this three-tracker, he’s retained his yen for skittery breaks and fizzy synths, but has stuffed them into a pop song format, with three-piece live sets planned. Reminds me of Late Of The Pier a bit, which I’m down with. NG
RAGING PHOENIX
15 (Cine Asia)
Ever since Tony Jaa fly kicked action movies in the face, Thai cinema has seen a steady growth of energetic and exhilarating martial art spectaculars and Raging Phoenix obviously read the rule book. Complete with stunning martial arts choreography and a training montage, Raging Phoenix will delight action movie fans. ****ABF
HIGH LANE
15 (Optimum Home Entertainment)
If you suffer from vertigo, chances are you probably going to stay away from cliff climbing. No? Okay well suit yourself. Unfortunately for us the actors of this less than average Wrong Turn ripoff felt the same way. A complete lack of tension and poor acting add to an already weak plot which will leave you cheering for the stereotypical slasher to hurry up and finish them off already. *ABF
DR JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE
15 (Optimum Classic)
Don’t worry, you haven’t stumbled across your Dad’s copy of the classic tale of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde, this is a Hammer Horror Clas- sic rethink from 1971. Complete with solid acting and an interesting take of an old tale, if you can get over the cross-gender complications you may find a solid film hidden away. **ABF
THE BRIDGE
15 (Metrodome)
This TV remake of the 1959 German war film stars Franka Potente (The Bourne Identity). It’s a love story set around the defence of a bridge, but it lacks the sense of terror captured by the original, and some flippant acting from the lead roles make it difficult to care about this film. **LT
NINE
12A (Entertainment In Video)
With Daniel Day-Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench and Sophia Loren, this cinematic adaptation of the Broadway hit could and should have been a joy to behold. Sadly, the reality of Nine is that it’s a tedious documentation of the decline of film director Guido Contini with some dreadful choreography and very little depth whatsoever. *LT
HUMPDAY
15 (Momentum)
This independent comedy is based around two male friends who, in a drunken stupor at a party one night, decide to make a porn film to- gether to enter into a porn film festival. Their gimmick? They’re both straight. This is an amusing if predictable romp with some Nathan Barley-esque straight-on-straight gay action. ***LT
HARPOON
18 (E1 Entertainment)
Subtitled the Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre, this horror film is set on a whaling boat which takes aboard a group of tourists in peril. Little do they know that the boat’s seamen aren’t particularly interested in whaling. It’s a pretty derivative slasher imitation of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but it’s entertaining nonetheless. ***LT
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