The latest releases reviewed
PAUL WELLER
22 Dreams
Island
****
At this stage, Paul Weller is a bona- fide statesman of
contemporary rock. The fact that he just turned 50 is something of
a landmark, with the pre-release hype of this double album pointing
to nothing less than a solo career highlight. The hype is correct;
for all his musical flaws and mistakes (from the insipid Style
Council to his fallow mid-part solo career), this record sees
Weller pretty much at the height of his powers. Its focused
mix-and-match approach (ballads, rockers, pop, folk, jazz, spoken
word) tethers itself to what can only be described as a newfound
quest for excellence. Songs such as
Black River, Echoes Around the Sun, Where're Ye Goand
Night Lightsshowcase a geezer who is clearly settling in
for a long Indian summer, beer in hand and feet in slippers. This
doesn't mean that Weller is cruising; quite a few tracks are the
epitome of someone in touch - often disconcertingly so - with what
makes him and his life tick.
TONY CLAYTON-LEA
Download tracks:
Where're Ye Go, Black River, Echoes Around the Sun
JEFF MARTIN
Spoons - Remixes, Collaborations &
Interpretations
Casino Gravity
****
Initially just as an experiment, Jeff Martin sent his
excellent 2004
Spoonsalbum to a diverse and talented selection of
musicians, requesting their interpretations and remixes. Impressed
with the results, the Dublin multi-instrumentalist and Halfset
member decided to release these compositions. What's striking is
how the artists manage to stamp their own distinctive styles on the
songs while preserving the spirit of Martin's work. Minotaur Shock
makes feathers fly on the pulsating
Shuttlecock, Dave Pajo adds a glint of menace to
Anyone's Pocket, and Dublin Guitar Quartet pare Augustine
back to its delicate bones. With further contributions from the
likes of The High Llamas, Decal, Mice Parade and Jeniferever, this
serves as a highly satisfying stop-gap before the new Halfset album
drops in the autumn and Martin's next solo outing in 2009.
www.jeffmartinmusic.com
BRIAN KEANE
Download tracks:
Shuttlecock, Balancing Act
HEARTCORE
Wildbirds & Peacedrums
Leaf
*****
This Swedish duo's debut album is a doozy. Part
ritual, part improvisation, and incorporating jazz, blues and pop
idioms, vocalist Mariam Wallentin and percussionist Andreas
Werliin's charged collection of songs is astonishing in its dynamic
spareness. Wallentin's vocals (a mixture of croon, chant, drone and
ululation) form the melodic line of each song, around which Werliin
wraps a rhythmic and minimal array of instrumentation and
percussion (zither, glockenspiel, drums, piano and handclaps) to
create compositions that soar and swoop like free-form
improvisations but develop and deliver like carefully wrought
songs, filled with energy, violence, intelligence and emotion. From
the ecstatic gospel of
Birdand the bouncing rockabilly of
The Way Things Go, to the primal pop of
Doubt/Hopeand the bluesy ballad
Pony, Wildbirds & Peacedrumsis a startlingly original
album.
www.posteverything.com/leaf
JOCELYN CLARKE
Download tracks:
Bird, Doubt/Hope
FRED
Go God Go
RCM Music
***
Fred come out of the traps with a hot fire in their
bellies.
Skyscrapers, their incendiary single, is currently
distorting the airwaves into the oddest and most engaging shapes.
Echoes of The Frank and Walters seep into
Running, a perfect counter-attack to anyone with
Donnie Darkopretensions with its spit-polished Beach
Boys-esque harmonies and rabidly intense self- belief. But after
that,
Fred'senergy curiously, gradually dissipates, detouring
for a tincture of Abba (
Good One) here, a touch of Mull Historical Society there.
Still, there are enough blood, guts, sweat, tears and just the
slightest hint of David Byrne's convulsing gyrations to make you
want to hear them in all three dimensions. Definitely a taster
worth savouring past the first biteful.
www.myspace.com/fredtheband
SIOBHÁN LONG
Download tracks:
Skyscrapers, Fear
LIQUID LIQUID
Slip In and Out of Phenomenon
Domino
****
You can trace the DNA of The Rapture, LCD Soundsystem
and hundreds of other punk-funk buccaneers back to New York's
Liquid Liquid. In the early 1980s, these four downtown kids were
the standard bearers for a sound that was both fluid and sinuous.
By stripping funk right back to its bassline, amplifying the
percussive thrust of the tracks, and adding a range of intoxicating
chants and squawks to those layers, Liquid Liquid made music that
was more than alright for grooving. While the fanbase may have been
small during Liquid Liquid's existence, their music proved hugely
influential, with Grandmaster Flash famously "borrowing" the
bassline from
Cavernfor
White Lines. Other retrospectives of the band's sound are
both hard (and expensive) to come by, so
Slip In and Out of Phenomenon'sclutch of EPs, live tracks
and unheard studio recordings are a timely reminder of Liquid
Liquid's smarts.
www.dominorecordco.com
JIM CARROLL
Download tracks:
Cavern, Optimo, Bellhead
THE FUTUREHEADS
This Is Not the World
Nul Records
***
After being dropped by 679 Records in 2006, this Sunderland
four-piece bravely formed their own label to release this third
album.
This Is Not the Worldlacks the immediacy of their debut
and is rawer than their "difficult" sophomore. But look beyond the
missing trademark four-part harmonies and catchy choruses, and
you'll discover their most mature and hard-edged work to date. The
opening salvo of
The Beginning of the Twistand
Walking Backwardswill make you sit up and pay attention.
The adrenaline rush never fades but, as the album progresses, a
lack of variety in pace and structure will have you wondering if
you've accidentally pressed the repeat button. It's time this solid
band, who stubbornly walk the line between punk and pop, added
something new to the mix.
www.thefutureheads.co.uk
BRIAN KEANE
Download tracks:
Walking Backwards, Broke Up the Time
