Latest releases reviewed
ISOBEL CAMPBELL AND MARK LANEGAN Ballad of the Broken Seas V2 ***
Former Belle & Sebastian singer Campbell and one-time Screaming Trees and part-time Queens of the Stone Age vocalist Lanegan come together in a most unusual fashion. This Beauty and the Beast approach has been used before, not least the pairing of Nancy Sinatra with Lee Hazlewood, on whose musical template of sunbleached psychedelic folk/pop Ballad of the Broken Seas is clearly founded. Part dustbowl (Lanegan) and part folk/country (Campbell), the album sidesteps easy listening by virtue of Lanegan's crusty singing, and the arrangements, which reference Morricone's barroom western soundscapes, genteel Scottish lilts and a curious but very engaging hybrid of Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, a few bottles of beer and female company. www.isobelcampbell.com
Tony Clayton-Lea
ARCADE FIRE Arcade Fire EP Rough Trade ****
On the back of the success of last year's Funeral, the Montreal band's first EP has been given a timely reboot. At seven tracks it's more of a mini-album than anything else, and what strikes first is how it contains the musical blueprint for Funeral. That apart, it's a good bit rougher round the edges than the album and sounds a bit too tinny at times - and the drums are way too high up in the mix. But songs such as No Cars Go and the Björk-esque Woodlands National Anthem make this a pretty essential purchase. Arcade Fire sound a lot more ethereal than on anything else they've done; if you can put aside your quibbles with the production, there's some fantastic stuff here.
Brian Boyd
VARIOUS Rough Trade Shops - Counter Culture 05 V2 ****
Since 1976, the Rough Trade record stores have been essential pitstops for London indie music fans seeking tomorrow's hits today. The advent of the internet, the fortunes of the label of the same name (even if it's a completely separate entity that now releases Pete Doherty's rubbish) and these annual compilations ensure that the Rough Trade name now has considerable clout far beyond its two bricks-and-mortar operations. What you get with this double-CD are 50 musical tips to make your Visa card groan. Selected by those on the other side of the counter, it's an impeccable selection of cuts featuring Congolese ravers Konono No 1, nu-folk swingers Espers, the campfire bleeps of Boards of Canada, the joyful, pumping rush of Modlang's Slaughtered by the Sun and the shimmering psychedelia of Ben Chasny's Six Organs of Admittance. As for acts you'll be admiring in '06, look no further than The Spinto Band and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. www.roughtrade.com
Jim Carroll
SUN KIL MOON Tiny Cities Rough Trade ***
Former Red House Painters man Mark Kozelek - for it is he who is Sun Kil Moon - has latterly made a career out of strange cover version projects. He recently attempted to resurrect the reputation of the Milky Bar kid of country, John Denver, with an entire album of his songs. He's also had a punt at the work of Kiss, AC/DC and Neil Diamond. But this is his strangest yet. He has taken a collection of tunes by influential US indie lords Modest Mouse and stripped them back to their ghostly basics. It works, to a degree. Lyrically, Modest Mouse's Issac Brock has always been intriguing and Kozelek's elegant nasal whine, especially on Tiny Cities Made of Ashes and Jesus Christ Was an Only Child, adds shadows and layers not always apparent on the originals. But you're left wondering why he bothered. This is the project of a great talent that leaves you wishing Kozelek would get busy writing something new of his own. For completists only. www.roughtrade.com
Paul McNamee
PAUL CASEY Songs in Open Tuning Gael Linn ***
Having Next Big Thing tattooed all over your debut is not necessarily a good thing. Multi-instrumentalist Paul Casey has succeeded in releasing a densely layered collection, buoyed by plenty of slide guitar and a tincture of perfectly incongruous uileann pipes, well choreographed by Liam Bradley's drums and percussion. Word on the street is that he's today's Ben Harper, tomorrow's David Gray. Fact is, Casey leans more definitely towards Counting Crows, which may guarantee daytime radio airplay, but risks pigeonholing him as an MOR pretender. If that's his gameplan, then Songs in Open Tuning may keep his dance card full for the foreseeable future. But a touch more edge and strife at the mixing console might have put a touch more distance between this debut and so many others. www.paulcaseymusic.com
Siobhán Long
BECK Guerolito Interscope ***
If last year's Guero album left you gagging for more Beck-ian beats, here's Guero's little brother, a varied and colourful collection of remixes by a motley crew of producers and artists. Doing a remix of Beck must be daunting - after all, the guy himself is a master of the mix. But everyone rises to the opportunity to put another spin on the Hansen sound. Homelife set the bar high with a psychedelic chamber orchestral arrangement of E-Pro, while Octet turn Girl into a street-stomping anthem. Air's Jean Benoit Dunckel and Nicolas Godin put their own celestial stamp on Heaven Hammer aka Missing, while Boards of Canada bring Broken Drum even further beyond repair. Adrock from The Beastie Boys shakes up Black Tambourine, while Dizzee Rascal and 8Bit each take a stab at Hell Yes, with distinctly different results. Guero was the full enchilada, but these are tasty enough tapas. www.beck.com
Kevin Courtney
INFADELS We Are Not the Infadels Wall of Sound ***
Their drummer's dad is legendary prog-rock sticksman Bill Bruford, but you'll be relieved to hear that this indie-electro-dance crew from Hackney sound nothing like King Crimson. They don't sound like Jesus Jones, either, thank God, although they have inherited that band's strident blend of beats, riffs and rudimentary tuneology. What Infadels lack in songwriting skill, however, they make up for in sheer exuberance and attitude, displaying a knack for getting the feet stomping and the head bobbing with such squiggly songs as Love Like Semtex, Can't Get Enough, Topboy, Jagger '67, Murder That Sound and Reality TV. Sonically, their nearest neighbours would be Hard-Fi, although Girl that Speaks No Words betrays a bit of an admiration for New Order. They've done the groundwork, touring incessantly, supporting anyone who'll have them and playing all the major festivals; can't be long before they're big enough to start working on their electro-prog triple concept album. www.infadels.co.uk
Kevin Courtney
