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Home , Arab Strap, Archer Prewitt, Baby Lemonade, Brett Nelson, Built to Spill, Call the Doctor

COMES WITH A SMILE A COMES WITH REVIEWS

ART OF FIGHTING / BABY LEMONADE / JESSAMINE / RETSIN / SEBADOH / / JOHN WESLEY HARDING / SLEATER-KINNEY / SMOG / JOHN P. STROHM BEN & JASON / THE BLACK HEART KARATE / PETE KREBS / THE LAPSE PROCESSION / BONNIE ‘PRINCE’ BILLY LOOPER / THE MINDERS / NINIAN HAWICK THE SUNSHINE CLUB / TRAM / TOM WAITS BRIAN / / STINA NORDENSTAM / THE OLIVIA TREMOR THE WEBB BROTHERS / CHUCK E. WEISS / DAKOTA SUITE CONTROL / JIM O’ROURKE / / THE DIESELHED / JASON FALKNER JOEL R.L. PHELPS: THE DOWNER TRIO XTC / / AND MORE GRAND DRIVE / GRANFALOON BUS / THE PINS / PIZZICATO FIVE Art of Fighting – Mike Badger – Volume (Viper) A few standards in Big Stereo and two compiled from a band once The Very Strange Year (Half a Cow) With the ragged, no bones tone of a concert promos that equal zilch still constantly redefining itself, jumping on Solemn, soothing and seductively good home demo, Volume marks Mike leaves twenty live and studio tracks no-one’s bandwagon. They were the slovenly, Ollie Brown, Peggy Frew and Badger’s first release since his days as circa 1966-1975 when they could do bandwagon. SR Cameron Grant’s sprawling six-tracker founding member of ’s proto- no wrong. A live 1966 surf’n’cars takes the unhurried path laid down by Oasis, The La’s. While his replacement medley is still full of youthful zest rather Beck - Mutations (Geffen) with a slacker’s in that band, , went on to than the distorted metal madness Nowhere as roughly hewn as his low- attitude. Brown’s wavering vocal become either an eccentric, evolving elsewhere. Thereafter their live key 1995 release One Foot In The Grave, weaves its words around the rolling perfectionist visionary or an opiate- act, like their image, was – in the USA Mutations was nonetheless trumpeted rhythm section, resignation seeping assisted slacker (depending on which at least – deemed passé until a big as a companion piece to that album, through his pores – “I don’t update you choose to believe) Mike group of black South African members rather than a linear follow up to his last, understand you, but I want to” he sings Badger has waited until now to break from The Flame plus help from the million-selling Odelay. (Whatever. on the sweeping Wild Beast. With the his musical silence, finding interim boosted their hip cred and their live Seems like an irrelevant qualification to fragility of ’s epic balladry success with his artwork. Volume is a sound, leaving the sunshine intact. The make really, the sound of a marketing and the lazy stroll of Joel R.L. Phelps’ homely, sweetly understated collection most interesting live track is Wonderbill, office without faith in the artist’s Downer Trio, AOF take their time to of songs that blanket a latent where The Flames’ heavy Don’t Worry output or the audience’s intelligence.) reach a song’s denouement, instead poppiness under the intimacy of Bill is spliced into the delicate-as-an- The man himself has never been shy the journey is the destination. It’s an Badger’s gruff strum and soft, deep- orchid Smile tune Wonderful. The about proclaiming his love of the raw hypnotic trip. set vocal. For the most part he goes it studio stuff must originate in Beach Boy sounds of folk and , and it’s as a alone, backed only by a pair of heaven. Soulful Old Man Sunshine is post-modern regurgitation of this Baby Lemonade – acoustics, underpinned occasionally by The Beach Boys performing big band tradition that attempts at pinning Beck Exploring Music (Big Deal) shades of , or , or swing with joy, soul and guts (Carl down most often settle for. Without A refined follow-up to the patchy 68% with florid interludes like the brief nearly blows a fuse). Alan Jardine’s sounding derivative or laboured, Pure Imagination, this is archetypal chamber coda to When We’re Alone. Loop de Loop should have been Mutations delves into this rich well with nineties power-pop, on a par with the Opening track Where Love Is, with a featured in Those Magnificent Men In one hand, leaving the other free to likes of Velvet Crush and The falsetto vocal from Space’s Tommy Their Flying Machines but its earlier update the blend with snatches of Wondermints (whose Darian Sahanaja Scott, sets a slightly fey mood, dispelled incarnation Sail Plane Song is very cool. feedback, wheezing harmonica, and Nick Walusko guest and co- elsewhere by the Spanish suggestions Here the band (minus Mike ‘Calendar harpsichord, sitar and a laid back produce) whilst the harder, rockier of Turn To Her, or the ring of vintage Girl’ Love) play everything themselves attitude. Close in spirit to Odelay’s tracks and lead breaks bring a touch of Simon & Garfunkel on Reach For The and, for once, seem to inhabit the same Jackass, with it’s reclined strum, Redd Kross to the party. Cue lots of Stars. Of the instrumentals which break state/State as the Airplane, Dead and Mutations churns up country, summery, shimmering and things up, Piano Sativa is a slowly the Prunes. Mike rocks gently on the psychedelia, and folk balladeering, all layered harmonies topped with a glossy unfolding, sorrowful whirl with a veranda on his tuneful Brian’s Back, a in a muted version of the stylistic soup sheen, with Rusty Squeezebox’s soulful likeness to Gymnopedie, while Twilight respectful recognition of the mighty that made Beck the hippest kid in the vocals shining brightly throughout, in D closes the album with a measured, oak, which is quite lovely. For some of playground. Lazy Flies is a Beatles-esque making the most of some banal fading chime of and strung-out us though, the other significant Beach avalanche of words, while Tropicalia is lyrics (‘Every summer, sky is ocean blue. rumble of cello. Volume doesn’t rewrite Boy is Dennis. By 1972 a powerful, an easy-going bossa nova. Free of any Every summer makes me think of you’); any rules, but its low-key charm leaves passionate had emerged. disingenuous lo-fi production or not that power-pop is known for its you hoping Mike Badger won’t leave it His All Alone (‘If I could live my life sulking introspection, Mutations is literary aspirations. Despite an so long next time. MW again…’ but it wouldn’t be you Dennis, more relaxed than Odelay, if slightly less abundance of talent and occasional would it) and Barbara are slow, engaging. It seems like Beck isn’t trying moments of sonic bliss, it’s a little The Beach Boys – romantic tour de forces from the so darn hard, and Mutations is all the undemanding and in need of some Endless Harmony (Capitol) biggest heart on the planet. Why most better for it. MW Posies-esque schizophrenia to break the The Beach Boys’ embarrassing, self- of this stuff has been boxed away is monotony. Exploring Music could have parodying releases since 1980 are crazy but we are talking about the Ben & Jason – Hello (Go Beat) dug a little deeper. shamed again by more archive delights. Hawthorne Hotshots. In all a very nicely Reviewing blindly, the sparsest of REVIEWS sleeves and a press release long since one could wish for. This is no Red somewhere near his sleeve. With their and Scott Plouff seem to draw from a parted from its subject, this mini-album House Painters miserablist experience, loose, measured crescendos of organ hitherto undiscovered second volume is a mysterious mixed blessing. First you see. Musically this has more in and guitar, Oldham’s songs manage to of classic progressions to create a listen reveals a sterling recording - common with Tom Waits or maybe a be both downbeat and uplifting. record brimming with vitality tempered always a bonus - and a Radiohead less hammy . The ‘Death to everyone is gonna come,’ he with knowing wit (‘I don’t like this air meets Belle & Sebastian elegance extraordinary arrangements, with piano sings, making it sound like a cause for but that doesn’t mean I’ll stop topped by a vocal style reminiscent of flourishes to the fore and sparse celebration. MW breathing it’) and fresh, intelligent pop that guy from Puressence minus the keyboard drones, saws and the hooks. Keep it. . Unequivocally English whistling of the wind underneath it all, Brian - Bring Trouble (Setanta) in tone, despite some see that The Black Heart Procession A special treat of tartly sweet Cat Power – (Matador) inflections, it’s a dreamily acoustic manages to spotlight the aching melancholic delights. The new full Moon Pix is the hydrographic fourth ramble of a record with an evasive wonder of sadness, the fact that pain length from Brian (AKA Ken Sweeny) is opus from Chan Marshall and is centre - it’s either breezy Beautiful is sometimes such a sweet emotion. exactly that. With lovely lilting poptastic markedly different from her earlier South emptiness or 21st Century folk And to tip the scales back in favour of vocals Brian have delivered the perfect work. It has an intimate, home-made music, I can’t decide. Occasionally inner strength there are several almost summer soundtrack. I feel a spring in quality about it due to the minimal rather vapid and contrived (This Is Our jaunty, upbeat tracks. Dispensing with my step and a flower behind one ear. production and quiet simplicity of its Song) whilst sometimes genuinely self-pity and instead replacing it with a It may be summer, but the sun doesn’t arrangements, which, far from making affecting (Adam and Lorraine, sense of calm and indulgent always shine. You only have to listen to Moon Pix bleak, lends a cleanness and Everybody Holds Hands…) Ben & Jason resignation, this is a fine, fine album, Getting Meaner and it all comes purity of sound. Marshall has have me intrigued. as good as any released in 1998. WW tumbling back down. Right Through developed and, dare I say it, perfected Tuesday is a testament to that if ever the art of meandering melancholy that The Black Heart Procession – Bonnie “Prince” Billy - there was one. Bring Trouble is a was only hinted at on What Would The Self-titled (Headhunter/Cargo US) I See A Darkness (Domino) bittersweet affair that will please if only Community Think and shed the vocal There were few greater crimes in 1998 Like a fugitive from justice, the slightly heartbroken. TLJ histrionics that diluted the strength of than the fact that this record failed to has switched pseudonyms again and I . Her strong, seductive voice make a monumental mark upon the See A Darkness sounds like his most Built To Spill – floats comfortably over the fluid collective minds of the UK’s music fans. tender album yet. While keeping a grip (City Slang) instrumentation, maintaining intensity The Black Heart Procession, brought to on his brand of gothic folk, Oldham has 1997’s has been through its absence as much as its my attention by an astute American loosened the cloak of contrivance that kept, like a secret, close to the hearts articulation. Although the songs are friend, stands as the year’s most drapes over his past efforts and given of all who find solace amid the said to have been written during a very desolate, emotional and devastating way to something more sincere than powerful, meandering guitar lines and dark time for Marshall, her lyrics avoid record, matched only, and only the arch tales of faux hick baseness vulnerable, peerless voice of Boise, the obvious metaphors and remain possibly, by Sophia’s wracked The we’re accustomed to. That drunken ’s . As his record enigmatic and evocative. ’s Infinite Circle. Without wishing to give quaver is as endearing and irritating as label duly acknowledge it should have and are equally the impression that this is an ever: sometimes infantile and out of been revered by all but alas, stunning on guitar and unbearable listening experience, quite control - deliberately losing the battle unfashionable attributes such as respectively, playing sympathetically to how the closing track Heart The Size to hold those notes - sometimes weary musicianship, passion and songwriting Marshall’s compositions, neither under Of A Horse came to be recorded and aged, as on Another Day Full Of mastery failed to excite the fickle, nor overplaying their roles. The addition without the band collapsing in weeping Dread where he cockily pledges, ‘by uncaring, marketing-led masses. With of subtle vocal harmonies and rippling heaps during every attempt is as great dread I’m inspired, by fear I’m amused.’ Keep It Like A Secret, Built To Spill have guitar on tracks such as No Sense and a mystery as the fact that they have The melodies have the same antiquated stripped away the maze making the Say add a beautiful extra dimension to maintained such a high level of intensity strength to them, notably A Minor route from a to b more direct, thus it’s the songs, but it’s Moon Pix’s more throughout. In its chiming major key Place which recalls anthemic early less obviously indulgent (not a criticism) upbeat tracks; American Flag and Cross piano line, in stark contrast to the heart single Ohio River Boat Song, with its than ‘Perfect…’. Unequivocally and Bones Style which have the most rending minor key numbers preceding, double-tracked vocals and slapped unashamedly a rock record, Martsch immediate impact. On repeated listens, it offers as uplifting an experience as snare, but here his heart is worn and his rhythm section of however, each of the eleven songs comes into its own as an entity and find a tad disturbing. That the inner sleeve: ‘the inability to feel swept aside by the latest triumph in an later, as a part of Moon Pix itself – a uncomfortable voyeuristic feeling that pleasure; the loss of interest in formerly exemplary discography that now larger, finished work. Chan Marshall has you’re privy to the lowest moments of pleasurable pursuits.’ Paradoxically includes four essential pop created a sparkling masterpiece; one someone who was pretty low to begin there is a sense of pleasure, or at least meisterworks (Jellyfish’s Bellybutton, that holds its audience captive for an with, like eavesdropping on an contentment, to be found skulking The Grays’ Ro Sham Bo, both solo essentially personal musical experience argument or spectating at a panic around sections of Songs for a barbed records) and a plethora of unreleased before gently fading away. NMS attack (albeit a really mellow one). On wire fence. The slow-paced and b-side material (not least the near- record though, it’s a more restrained instrumental interludes which legendary ‘lost’ covers album). Falkner’s Cotton Mather – Kontiki indulgence, with Chris Hooson’s interdisperse the songs speak of a kind love of British post-punk and New Wave (Rainbow Quartz) narcissistic doubts and demons offset of melancholy satisfaction, seeming to assures a respite from the cliché-ridden In 1994 Cotton Mather released their by a more ranging musical scope than say, ‘I’m unhappy, but I kinda like it.’ power-pop deluge of recent years in debut, Cotton Is King, and whilst it was the band present on stage. Songs For MW favour of intelligent, original a pleasant pop record, nothing on it a Barbed Wire Fence is their first album compositions teeming with musical hinted at the masterpiece that is proper, overdue for release after three Dieselhed – invention and an idiosyncratic lyrical Kontiki. Recorded on 4-track and A-DAT warmly received EPs, each of which - Elephant Rest Home (Bong Load) bent. From hook-heavy, infectious machines in mainman Robert Harrison’s along with a few extra tracks - is A regular drinking buddy of an album gems like the love-struck Honey, Grays- garage Cotton Mather have produced collected on Alone With Everybody. from Dieselhed. The spirit of Gram era Eloquence and recent single Holiday a 24-carat classic. Mixing heartfelt Hooson’s lethargically expressed lyrical Parsons resides in the Red Chair, whilst via the genre-defying classic I Already ballads (Spin My Wheels, Lily Dreams gaze rarely wavers from self- the Stones’ country leanings lie easy on Know (idyllic, narcotic groove gives way On) with power-pop gems (Password, examination, as each song’s refrain the Futon Song (which could squeeze to towering crescendo) to stirring Vegetable Row) and lo-fi soundbites hinges on a statement of doubt or loss. comfortably into Exile On Main Street) ballads Good Night Sweet Night and (Animal Show Drinking Song, Aurora Like Charles Bukowski (whose short and modern-day alt.country folk from the majestic, aptly-titled Revelation, Bori Alice). The result is a release story You Kissed Lilly is the inspiration Wilco to would Falkner has returned with an exemplary dripping with hooks, harmonies and for their song Because I Could Not Stop willingly find space on their couch. album. ‘At the end of the day all I can beauty. Criticisms from some quarters For Death) it’s the poetry of the Naked, sparse and darkly humorous say is yeah, yeah, yeah…’ have questioned the similarity of outsider: ‘did you put your ear to the (‘I’m sorry for drawing moustaches on Harrison’s voice to that of breastplate of God / and find it your porn mags, I know you’ve been Grand Drive – Road Music (that’ll be me then – Ed) and, sure, it’s breathless? / Have the things you’ve collecting them for years’), like a (Loose/Ryko) a reference point; but it’s a minor seen left you blind and scared?’ All of twisted southern cousin of Scud Brothers Danny and Julian Wilson make quibble given the inventiveness, depth which might become cloying if not for Mountain Boys’ Pine Box, Elephant Rest good their prediction of ‘a total classic’ and quality of the recordings. Listening a rich musical bedding that places them Home collects the minutiae of small- with Road Music, essentially a to it now, eighteen months after its alongside the likes of the Tindersticks. town life and dresses it up in loose- compilation of the three ‘limited original US release, I still find myself Even the intimate confessional strums fitting acoustic, twang and slide. edition’ EPs of last year enhanced with wrapped up in the experience. On it’s steer clear of over-indulgence (just), a couple of new tracks. Tell It Like It Is, belated UK release, Kontiki has caused with effortless electric lead lines or the Jason Falkner – the lead-off track from their first quite a buzz, (She’s Only Cool made slack slide of Johannasong; the Can You Still Feel? (Elektra) release, opens proceedings, the first of ‘single of the week’ on Radio 1), sophisticated tinkle of a Fender Rhodes At long last. An ever-shifting release many anthemic tracks (see also garnering rave reviews and, with live or the light precision of John Shepard’s date, two title changes, a remix, a re- Jukebox, Undone and On A Good Day) shows to boot, commercial success drumming. In comparison Alone With sequencing and a re-recording later, balanced by the epic balladry of The may lie just around the corner for Everybody is, by nature, a slightly the long-awaited and highly Natural and Wrong Notes. Of the new Cotton Mather. SM uneven collection, as much in terms of anticipated successor to Presents songs Julian’s Shadow Of The Man mood as anything, as Songs For a Author Unknown is among us (“From exhibits a hitherto unheard Seventies Dakota Suite - Songs For a Barbed Wire Fence is nothing if not thought to actions an eternity / I can’t influence, his delivery part Paul Simon/ Barbed Wire Fence (AMOS) Alone convinced of its own sorrow. Aware of get this thing off the ground,” he James Taylor vulnerability, part Van With Everybody (Glitterhouse) this, they’ve helpfully printed the foretells). Any doubts such delaying Morrison/Rolling Stones soul, whilst the It’s the emotional nakedness that some dictionary definition of ‘anhedonia’ on tactics may have bred are effortlessly buzzing acoustic intro of Danny’s Far REVIEWS

From This Road belies its lovelorn of Cold & Bouncy and produces the runs and Michael Faeth’s percussive Damien Jurado – Rehearsals For message, a less-inebriated FACES ballad. surprise of the year. In interviews from embellishments establishing an Departure ( / Ryko) Having shaken an all-too-obvious the last two years O’Hagan has been hypnotic groove. Even better is It Was Departure seems an apt term as Jurado Jayhawks influence Grand Drive have at pains to not over stress the BEACH Already Thursday, where guitarist Rex completes his transition from neo-punk found their feet and, with Road Music, BOYS/ influence. That Ritter takes things further into funk to folk troubadour. Ten concise fables (and the promise of a new album influence may have peaked with the territory with wah-wah-wonderful that draw lyrically from human failing before the end of the year), stated a Hawaii album and waned considerably results. Things take a prog-lite turn on and the resultant breakdown of firm claim for the title of Best Band in on Cold & Bouncy. Out go all the old Pilot-Free Ignition, the tempo raised the relationships and musically from the Britain. , STEELY DAN and LENNONisms mind-state subsides and, despite some tradition of DYLAN and DRAKE, are too. Instead we are asked to embrace effective guitar from Ritter, is lost on updated with a keen pop sensibility, Granfaloon Bus – a music with little specific human the rambling, inconsequential subtle instrument-ation and perfectly Good Funeral Weather (Trocadero) personality and yet which, curiously, Continuous which fails to heed the judged production from KEN As the alt.country bandwagon’s wheels has a ‘free us and refresh us’ quality warning of it’s album title. The STRINGFELLOW (). Opener Ohio begin to buckle beneath the weight of rather than a cold alienating effect. brooding menace of instrumental has the fingerpicked guitar and both originators and disciples, Even more than most remix the Burgundy puts a darker spin on harmonica combination of Blood on Granfaloon Bus seems to have invited players put their own stamp on Jessamine’s delicate weavings before the Tracks set behind a wistful vocal overtaken on the inside lane, boosted the seven tracks and several produce Hand Held regains the cinematic rush melody (sadly reminiscent of DR. HOOK’s by the combined creative talents of four career highlights. ’ of the opening pair, Smithson’s voice Sylvia’s Mother!) and a mood-setting musicians/ and the Showstop Hic Hup is a great opening again an insidious blend of innocence narrative of resignation. The collective spirits of legends both living track – play it loud and it is Premier and experience. A record at times inflections of Eyes For Windows veer and lost. Echoes of Gram Parsons and League dance music whilst at living intoxicating, at others diluted with perilously close to parody; the song Neil Young may be discernible in the room volume its gentle humour and indulgence. saved by the menacing strings and odd, twin vocals of Felix Costanza and Ajax eastern flavour recalls the best sampled monologue that closes the Green, (incendiary Young-esque guitar moments on Taora Tahiti. KID LOCO’s The John Wesley Harding – song. Small-town America gives Jurado makes an impromptu appearance on Space Raid Remix finds its own Trad Arr Jones (Zero Hour) a wealth of material for his bittersweet Potboiler), but Grant Lee Buffalo roam intoxicating little groove but, before we Whilst interviewing Wes for this very tales – “She tells me how her night was among opener Seeded Clouds, Joe Ely get too comfortable, pulls the rug from edition (seems like a lifetime ago) he spent nursing coffee and cigarettes / strolls freely through Some Kind of under our feet and replaces the mentioned NIC JONES and here, swiftly You waited ‘til your husband left to Other Love and the host of musical experience with something even more on the heels of the power-pop leanings pack your things and off you went / He exotica (Chinese , , sexy. When you consider the other of Awake comes this affectionate wouldn’t notice that you’d left ‘til , timpani etc) that pervade the artists featured – , SCHNEIDER tribute – ‘Ghosts, Sex and Murder: morning when the drink wore off” he album suggest a resolute desire to TM, STOCK HAUSEN & WALKMAN and JIM they’re just like my songs only 400 years sings on the title track. Best of all is avoid the pitfalls of the depressing no- O’ROURKE – it could be a good older’ as he says. JWH’s pronounced the sparse Curbside, a breathy stereotype. With the introduction to rock’s avant-garde. accent, unconcealed by simple acoustic confessional of unrequited love – sardonic wit and wordplay of Will Those who hope for Holland and Smile backing of guitar and accordion, recites “Where are you now, you’re with Oldham and Smog, the left-field may be stretched a little uncomfortably. tales (some sub-two minute, others another / I sitting by the curbside arrangements of Jim White and the Those who’ve tired of conventional over six) that belong to another time, where we’d hang out under streetlights musical aptitude of Joe Pernice, they song structure and melodic seemingly another place. Sadly, despite / How those times still are with me.” possess sufficient fuel to make it under developments will have fun. SR the obvious love of his subject, the With a ghostly harmony by Sarah their own steam. resultant recording lacks a Shannon adding to the pervading sense Jessamine – Don’t Stay Too Long contemporary edge (Dylan’s Lily, of loss, it’s a genuinely moving The High Llamas – () Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts performance, one of many of this fine Lollo Rosso (Alpaca Park) Dawn Smithson’s vocals on Elsewards successfully updated the form) and it record. Man on the case, Sean O’Hagan, evoke the cathartic intensity of CHAN stands more as a curiosity and an procures the six trendiest avant-garde MARSHALL’s Moon Pix. It’s a beautiful honourable indulgence than a bonafide artists on the planet to make the remix opener, Andy Brown’s electric piano John Wesley Harding album. Karate – The Bed Is In The Ocean track are enhanced with brass and I would have to make to like them, I flavour that falls between the happy- (Southern) organ respectively, the latter also believe (though I may believe falsely), go-lucky innocence of ’62 and Teenage GEOFF FARINA’s solo album, Usonian providing the name of Krebs’ musicians would cause me more pain than the Fanclub’s Byrdsian update. With Dream Sequence, placed his evocative of choice this time around. His last loneliness and disgust that at times is affectionate nods to The Small Faces narratives against the barren framework collaborative project, with the excellent all consuming.’ Yasuda’s contributions and , we’ll assume it’s of his own double-tracked guitar. Here folk-rootsy Golden Delicious, also seem naïve and child-like in comparison Schneider’s Wilsonian production and their power is undiminished by the produced some of his finest solo (‘A boy meets a girl, a girl meets a boy recording expertise that sweeten the Karate trio setting, an ostensibly performances, two of which (Dressed … when I gave up and smiled the Brit grit with some sunshine. telepathic union of bass, drums and To The Nines and Ashes Back To Vegas) words shined and died in my hands’) The result is breezy, shimmering, Farina’s guitar that meld -rock and are reworked here. Krebs’ lyrical style acting as interludes between the - pretention-free and smooth-as-you- off-kilter indie rhythms recorded simply; remains confessional in tone, with a ridden, self-doubting anger of Leo’s like. Why have Cotton when you can unencumbered by effects and with a neat turn of phrase (‘You know the manifesto. Outspoken and original. have silk? minimum of overdubs. ‘There’s a man highway in the summertime is just an around, his face is always firetruck-red. afternoon and a steady blurring line’ Looper - Up A Tree (Jeepster) Ninian Hawick – Steep Steps I’ve heard there were angels in his head, he sings on Thunderstorms and A charming tale of pen pal-dom in the (Dreamy) but now he holds a baseball bat Alcohol) delivered in his homely voice. north to the sound of a typewriter and Crikey! In a word. Blimey would be instead,’ he sings, with resignation, on With a knack for penning memorable Stuart (Belle & Sebastian) David’s soft good too, but for now Ill stick with opener There Are Ghosts. Farina’s pop songs (the nostalgic Analog, the Arab Strapesque vocals on top. But this crikey. If the opener, Scottish Rite delivery is consistently convincing, his buoyant Quickly Steals Away) and is much poppier, and possibly more Temple Stomp isn’t one of the greatest half-spoken recitations at times affecting ballads (Patiently, Dressed to romantic than the Strap. Teenagers of pop songs ever, then the others should threatening to drown in negativity – ‘All the Nines) with aplomb, Krebs should the world unite. I don’t know how old be rounded up and shot. Not since the I see is problems without the solutions. find favour among fans of Evan Dando, this lot are, but they make me feel at KLF kidnapped Tammy Wynette has And God don’t make things that you Josh Rouse or . He’s that least 14½. And that’s nice. Sweet. anything made me dance like a crazy can rearrange. But that’s ok, because I good. Looper aren’t just about teen love and thing in the way this does. But what to can’t take the change’ – occasionally letters though. To prove this point follow a Scottish song, bagpipes ‘n’ all? balanced by an unerring romanticism The Lapse – Betrayal! you’ve got to open your mind and ears How about one in French? Confused? – ‘I know you’re sincere because I’ve (Gern Blandsten) and sit through some 40 odd minutes Go with it, it’s only just started. The got it on my machine. I turn it up loud, ‘Though I’ve returned with my head of this crazy twee thing. Plenty of cute majority of this mini album are like you’re here now.’ A more mature, hung low and my palms pressed flatly, whistles and hums and xylaphonic fun. instrumentals and if Simon Jeffes less turbulent record musically than upwardly together, in due time I plan Up A Tree has a varied sound full of dreamed up the Penguin Café Orchestra previous Karate records, The Bed Is In on leaving again and when I do my welcome little surprises. Quite a after eating some dodgy fish you can The Ocean boasts some compelling fingers will fold to form a gun and flip pleasurable experience all in all. They only hazard a guess at what Ninian’s songs (The Same Stars and The Last to fuck a chorus of pussies who still must live together. TLJ John Crozier had for lunch, but still Wars stand among the best of last year) answer to that brilliant thought that you’d want some. Strange beats fight – Geoff Farina’s view of the world an revealed itself to them in the third The Minders – Hooray for with fractured rhythms while the ghost imposing, realistic alternative. grade. What was it again?’ Chris Leo’s Tuesday (Elephant Six / SpinART) of the Penguin Café looks on and return, aided and abetted by fellow ex- A beautiful, nostalgic trip back in time laughs, almost as if it’s providing the Pete Krebs & The Gossamer Van Pelt-er Toko Yasuda, is an that many a current plagiarist could soothing soundtrack for food poisoned Wings – Sweet Ona Rose uncompromising, vehement document learn from, Hooray for Tuesday is a dreams. The remix of Scottish Rite… (Cavity Search) made all the more bruising by the perfect Sunday morning pick-me-up floats by enriched by echo and all the An infusion of swinging soul elevates simultaneous loss of soothing melodic that sounds equally cool on speaker- bagpipes they couldn’t fit on the much of Krebs’ latest to near-party counterpoint that was The Van Pelt’s shaking Saturdays. Apples in Stereo original. Then The Minch comes along fayre, a nice contrast to the expected stock-in-trade. Leo’s musicality is no guru Robert Schneider at the to pull you back to reality with its naked acoustic introspection. The sprightly less imaginative; more a sonic production helm, Martyn Leaper’s piano. The alarm clock start to opening pairing of Johnny Come Lately for his socio-political forthrightness – songs transcend copyist notions of Phrasebook Wands provides a manic (not the Steve Earle classic) and the title ‘I hate people because the compromise Beatles-esque in favour of an authentic crash into your day, frenzied, but with REVIEWS a calming voice, only for The House at contrived, no? Never the drama queen, of this whole pop world we are living stroked electric guitar he takes us on a Dumbarton Oaks to remind you that all she manages a whispered version of in. As with The Olivia’s former release late night ride into early morning. is not as it seems. Too soon the albums Prince’s Purple Rain which, with (and even the live shows) Black Foliage Rarely breaking into a canter his over and just two words remain. and bass fills and swirling pseudo- is more than an album of songs. It’s cracking tones evoke ADAM D URITZ’s most ‘Crikey’ and ‘Buy’. LA orchestral static, transforms the song an amazing journey to and through a intimate moments (rare that they are) from an extravagant clamour of desire land only available within our own during songs that put an old school Stina Nordenstam - to a sinister murmur of closeted imaginations. It’s a nice trip. TLJ spin on the alt.country palette. The trio People Are Strange (eastwest) longing. It’s stunning, but, like your (Phelps, William Herzog and Robert Nick Drake is found alive, well, tattooed batty aunt with the hygiene problem, Jim O’Rourke – Eureka (Domino) Mercer) utilise subtle instrumental and bandanna-clad, playing drums this album is asking to be kept at arm’s It’s pop Jim, but not as we know it. variations on each track, apparently with a southern Californian cock-rock length, visited only when you really And pigeonholes be damned as recorded live (never more than three outfit...Ian Mackaye is spotted toking have to. Maybe repetition really is O’Rourke’s latest excursion takes his instruments discernible at one time) on a doobie, knocking back the Special creative death, and the value of never trusty guitar technique (Quick! Passing behind narratives that wouldn’t sound Brew and high five-ing with his buddies revisiting her past triumphs is enough reference point, . Grab him!) out of place among BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN’s at an ELO reunion gig... of a premium for Stina to deem this and introduces it to the lush, the pre-CBS output. However, besides a becomes the fifth Teletubby. God album a nominal triumph. Play People layered, the laid-back and the lyrically passing resemblance to an unplugged knows what further illusions could be Are Strange back-to-back with And She loquacious (can I stop now?). The Calexico on Chaplin’s Radiotelephone, shattered to follow these up, but wee Closed Her Eyes and see a tear in a ensuing assemblage boasts an this is a unique, seductive and beguiling Swede Stina Nordenstam’s covers grown man’s eye. MW inordinate measure of delicacies which, sound which, as it’s cover suggests, album is surely a contender. It’s...well, from the hypnotic repetition of its near feels like floating on clouds or interesting. As much for her The Olivia Tremor Control - nine minute opener Women of the succumbing to the pull of the tide. iconoclastic choice of songs as her Black Foliage. Animation Music. World (sole lyric ‘Women of the World skewed interpretations. (But isn’t Volume One. (Flydaddy) take over, ‘cause if you don’t the world Liz Phair – ‘interesting’ a word that’s summoned Hooray! A new release from Athens will come to an end, and it won’t take Whitechocolatespaceegg when what you really want to say is own Elephant Six Collective stars The long’) with it’s Aerial M-like guitar (Matador) ‘confusing,’ or ‘crap’?!) You’ll find no Olivia Tremor Control. No motif, to its corny Dylan meets Wilson She’s back, the original and still the best obsequious tributes or attempts to claw disappointments here; just a fabulous sub-two minute closer, Happy Holidays, angry woman of rock. Married and a back some faded credibility in these follow up to the highly acclaimed Dusk contains enough revelatory (obviously) mother, time has tamed her, there are songs. Mixing the whispered acoustic at Cubist Castle. My only gripe is that moments (the David Sanborn-plays- no explicit songs and only three songs intimacy that made her 1994 album they haven’t included my favourite Not Carole King-in-a-jazz-mood-with-steel- with swearing. So has she sold out? No, And She Closed Her Eyes so beguiling, Feeling Human. But most is forgiven drums of Through The Night Slowly, the even if she sings ‘it’s nice to be liked, with the more claustrophobic with the inclusion of the Black Foliages, delicate swing of the Arto Lindsay- but its better by far to get paid’. She’s hammering sound of her follow-up and other exhilarating moments esque Ghost Ship in a Storm) to placate shown everyone how to do that stuff, Dynamite, People Are Strange stirs through the different Combinations the ear-candy craving child in all of us. so why just re-hash her previous together both the familiar and the (from the Dream Appeal tapes) Headphone heaven. albums. Subtlety is now the key. No obscure, taking in songs by The Doors, scattered throughout. The aptly titled songs about sex? Listen to Headache Leonard Cohen and Tim Hardin, The Sky Is A Harpsichord Canvas is just Joel R.L. Phelps : on headphones and say that, those alongside folk tunes and- it says here- one example of how weird and The Downer Trio – 3 (Pacifico) breathy backing vocals and mumbled a 19th century ballad, Jeannie With The wonderful this record is. The coolest Phelps’ pained and strained voice is one lyrics, she can teach these youngsters Light Brown Hair. Even over-familiar thing is how they entwine the reality that, while not technically a thing or two. No hard hitting songs? songs are twisted unrecognisably by of pop and the anti-Disney excursions accomplished, ranks among the more What about Polyester Bride. It may Stina’s hesitant phrasing and eccentric into their own make believe animated expressive in contemporary music. sound trite, but listen closely. A girl vision, like the uncomfortable bedroom world. Listen to Place We Have Been Here, against the sparse backing of wonders if she should ‘bother dating rendition of Rod Stewart’s Sailing, sung To (last track on – even if acoustic and pedal steel guitars, unfamous men’ and wants to avoid to the backing of a rain storm in Stina’s you’ve got a CD!) or The Sylvan Screen upright bass, horns or traditional trio ‘those kind of men’, so she seeks advice cracked, helium tones. Sounds (side three) and marvel at the insanity set-up with brushed drums and gently from a barman, who gives her free drinks because he likes her eyes. He tells Neither as subdued as Low or as restrained, swinging rhythm section Sebadoh – The Sebadoh (Domino) her ‘you’re lucky to even know me’ alienating as Flying Saucer Attack, that allow the songs to breathe, If Lou Barlow’s heartfelt lyrics are before delivering homespun mottos theirs is a night sky darkened by unhindered by studio noodlings. Some contagious, I’m coming down with it that she takes to heart as if it were the foreboding. (P.O. box 8475, primitive piano tinkling enlivens the too. The recent release of The Sebadoh most profound wisdom ever. Ironic, Minneapolis, MN 55408) instrumental The Back, whilst the is exactly what we’ve all come to expect dontcha think? Elsewhere she swaps delicate guitar intro of Don’t Bother from thee American lo-fi heroes with musical styles with ease, pop, blues Pizzicato 5 – Playboys & Playgirls recalls Kenny Burrell’s mellower an added extra oomph by way of the even a country feel, yet all sung with a (Matador) moments. Faces And People betrays the irresistible Flame. Oh, I know what brutal frankness that sets her apart The prolific Pizzicato 5 cleverly blend personnel and heritage of Chicago’s you’re thinking… “It’s so catchy, have from the rest. She still takes no their recent sample-heavy edges with scene, it’s sampled, looped backdrop they sold out?” [Uh, no.] Maybe it has prisoners, claiming ‘all those other the smoother lounge-core of the Sister interchangeable with many of those something to do with the appearance bastards were only practise’ after Freedom Tapes and, brass and strings from Tortoise or (whose on Top of the Pops that sits somewhat meeting Mr. Right and ‘I’ve got seven to the fore, take on John Barry’s Bond makes a delightful cornet uncomfortably, but I urge everyone to other men in the ditches behind me’. aesthetic. Infectious in any language, coda on the track), an anomaly among rise above it. Lou, Jason and new You can take her home, but she’ll never and with a faux-naivete equal to a the timeless, soulful remainder. drummer Russ are about as close to the be your girl. Indeed, she even decade’s Eurovision entries, the wide- O’Rourke’s production is delicate and truth as you can get. No pretense, just contemplates lying to a guy ‘to make eyed Five’s signature overwrites any well judged, his own contributions on utter belief in their emotions and the day blur into the night’. Sweet!?! reference points (the hippy harpsichord (So Shy), organ expressions. And as far as the usage of No Thank You, WCSE is anything but of Concerto, the Teena Marie disco-lite (Showrooms) and the briefest of modern technology goes, well, it is that, but it still gives you a huge rush. of Such a Beautiful Girl Like You, the backing vocals (On Such Favors) 1999. I don’t see any harm in Older and wiser she is, so listen and title track’s acid jazz groove) with a particularly effective. Sam Prekop has experimenting a little. Especially when learn. LA flourish. Shouldn’t I be wearing a tux? delivered a lazy, summer day of a the results are an album that is so record; a sumptuous, laid back affair. enjoyable. TLJ The Pins – All the Night Sky Sam Prekop – S/T () (Stick it to the Man) Fundamentally The Sea & Cake with a Retsin – Sweet Luck of Amaryllis Sleater-Kinney – The Hot Rock Recorded live and in sequence in their new rhythm section, Prekop’s first solo (Carrot Top) (Matador) own basement practice room, this third outing leans towards the easy jazz One track was enough to convince me. Following one of ‘98’s most critically full-length from Minneapolis four-piece aesthetic of early S&C tracks like The Hearing Lone Star Drive, the first of cherished albums (), the The Pins has all the intensity and Fontana and Jacking The Ball, his thirteen, whilst horizontal helped stakes are upped for The Hot Rock. intimacy of a private gig. The addition breathy vocal and tasteful, evocative soothe away the stresses of what had Thankfully the band have refused to rest of electric piano and moog to the guitar augmented with keys courtesy been a tough, tiring week. Sure the on past glories and make Dig Me Out standard power-trio set-up gives a of the ubiquitous Jim O’Rourke and sleep-deprivation had me at the mercy 2, instead making a surprisingly further dimension to a set that fuses strings. The empathetic interplay with of such angelic voices and blissfully melodic, mature record. The key the swirling, carefree meanderings of fellow guitarist (the judged music, but here before the cold ingredients remain the same – Corin Galaxie 500 with the in-yer-face guitar lynchpin of the Sea & Cake’s sound) blues and greys of one last session at Tucker’s unrivalled vocals, Carrie of, say, Built to Spill. Sadly they lack continues to bear fruit, whilst the the keyboard, I’m being seduced again. Brownstein’s consistently imaginative Wareham or Martsch’s melodic knack contrary relegation of John McEntire to At turns delicate and heartbreaking guitar lines and ’ formidable and idiosyncratic delivery, neither percussive embellish-ments (crediting (Good Morning Bird), playful (What The drum skills – but here are deployed with guitarist Rich Barlow nor keysman Steve McEntire with ‘triangle’ seems absurdly Devil Said) or simply sublime (Lone Star more restraint and (yikes!) finesse than Shaskam possessing a distinctive vocal at odds with his reputation!) seems to Drive, the cover of Come’s Broken before. Likewise the venomous lyrics of punch. In many ways theirs and have taken the experimental controls Hearted Wine or Swallow - like Juliana previous work has been bypassed by a drummer Beth Van Dam’s voices away from the master multi- Hatfield duetting with Nick Drake) more considered, no less confessional, combine to form a further layer on The instrumentalist and placed them firmly Sweet Luck of Amaryllis is an album for tone (‘I’d set your heart on fire but Pins’ sonic canvas, one that seems to in the hands of Prekop. In place of lonely, rainy afternoons miles from the arson is no way to make a love burn have thrown away the rule-book in McEntire and Eric Claridge come Chad one you love. brighter’). God Is A Number and favour of an instinctive ebb and flow. Taylor and Josh Abrams respectively, a Banned from the End of the World face REVIEWS up to life in 1999, the first tackling the John P. Strohm – Vestavia posthumously in ’95) and subsequent and a glassy squall of , makes the onslaught of technology (‘Grow up on (Flat Earth) religious conversion of frontman death of hope sound beguiling as the internet, get off on TV; tell me ‘Do you like this song, ‘cause if you do Jeremy Enigk, Sunny Day Real Estate vocalist Denise Bon Giovanni (forever about God and Country, music, heart I’ll sing it all day long for free,’ sings were the unlikeliest of reformations for on the verge of tears) sings, ‘Sunshine and history’), the latter impervious to indie-pop’s perennial sideman, a ’98. Yet, despite Nate Mendel’s maker / I believe in you’. Elsewhere the impending millennium (‘A new generous proclamation given that the refusal to be enticed away from Foo Giovanni gives good Dusty Springfield world rushes on and we’ll just play song in question is Wouldn’t Want To Fighters the reunion transpired. Fellow on their version of Bacharach’s The along… The future is here, look in the Be Me, the stirring opener on Strohm’s Fighter William Goldsmith resumed his Look of Love. Like a down home PJ mirror. We’re the band from the end second ‘solo’ album. The song, albeit role behind the drums, Jeff Palmer Harvey or the Sinead O’Connor of Black of the world’). Some may miss the sheer in a different version, turned up in the (Mommyheads) stepped into Nate’s Boys on Mopeds, Visit to a Small Planet aggression and spark of Dig Me Out UK last year courtesy of the Easy! Tiger shoes (and has since been replaced by has the glimmer of a mellow gem. MW and its predecessors, but The Hot Rock label, a tasty taster for Vestavia (named ex-Posies Joe Bass) and the subsequent allows another side of Sleater-Kinney to after a suburb of Strohm’s hometown, album has a strongly cohesive singular Tram - Heavy Black Frame (Piao!) shine. , Alabama), the similarly vision. Enigk’s unrivalled voice remains Heavy Black Frame hangs on the edge infectious Drive-Thru on the flip. The the defining instrument within the of evening; with swoony guitars and Smog - Knock Knock (Domino) familiarity of those two gems makes band, one that elevates opener Pillars dark and dusty drumming; Paul Like an Eric Satie for the dispossessed, getting to know Vestavia that much to classic status – it’s an astonishing Anderson’s sweet melodic vocals makes Bill Callahan has been wringing easier, like a couple of old friends introduction. Nothing else here quite Tram’s new full length a work of art. tormented mileage out of these guiding you through. Far less country- manages to scale such dizzy heights, The sublime opening track Nothing Left hypnotic, encircling melodies for ten tinged than 97’s Caledonia, Strohm’s but Roses In Water competes to Say indeed says it all. The sleepy years now. And if Knock Knock isn’t latest pushes the guitars to the fore and admirably, the acoustic, hypnotic The sound of Expectations, Like Clockwork exactly a Mardi Gras-style display of revives the outdated notion of classic, Prophet, the slow build of Guitar And or You Can Go Now (if you want) effervescence it’s perhaps as close as riff-based rock (For a While, Better Than Video Games and the operatic Days transcend a gentleness that seems as he’s ever going to get. Opener Lets Nothing) and soaring, power-ballad Were Golden containing enough vulnerable as sadness and as delicate Move To The Country may be as choruses (Sylvia’s Gone) with nostalgic momentous peaks to tingle the stiffest as taffeta. While some of the melodies catatonic as Callahan’s stage presence nods to US rock’s past (the Byrds-via- of spines. Enigk’s spiritual side is tend to remind me a bit of Rattlesnakes but there’s a previously exiled looseness Petty In Your Dreams). Lyrically, manifested only in his enig(k)matic (odd, I know), the difference is clear. there, a brightness to the guitar and a Strohm’s a realist - ‘I know that I’m alive delivery and God-given talent. Believe. This is a beautiful record that is best warmth as his deadpan tenor intones, but it don’t feel like livin’… ‘cause played in a dimly lit room all cozy and ‘let’s move to the country / just you when you’re 25 life’s so unforgivin’’ – The Sunshine Club - soft and warm. No lager here; just a and me.’ All too often the backing with occasionally oddball source Visit to a Small Planet cup of cocoa and a sentimental mood. barely registers a pulse, as one-handed material – quite what inspired him to (Glitterhouse) TLJ piano is sustained by a scarcely sit down and pen Eva Braun and Lobster With a mood that’s signposted in the perceptible snare or gathering swell of Boy, only he can tell you – and a rare title of their strolling opener - Happy/ Various Artists - Dreams Are Free guitar. But every so often we get a honesty that add up to a personable, Sad - The Sunshine Club offer up a (With Purchase) (Dark Beloved Cloud) Held, where an almost funky guitar line personal record I’d willingly listen to rootsy cocktail for anyone with a taste This compilation starts off with Attitude threads above a We Will Rock You all day long, free or otherwise. for a blend of and the & Couture (imagine Stravinsky with rhythm. ‘When I take the prisoners Cowboy Junkies. With string-soaked daughters…) and follows a route from swimming they have the time of their Sunny Day Real Estate – romance and lo-fi somnolence in equal roots & folk into the mesmerising world lives,’ he sings on Night Guard, and it’s How It Feels To Be Something On measures, Visit To A Small Planet’s of the Spaceheads. This fabulous in the compelling curiosity of these (Sub Pop) downcast heart is lifted by the rolling offering from Dark Beloved Cloud is no slowly unfolding narratives that the Notoriously media-shy in the wake of playfulness of songs like Rainy Day Alt-country bandwagon. Which is a true perverse beauty of Smog lies. MW their adored debut Diary (1994); near- Friend (recalling RED HOUSE PAINTERS’ good thing. With the likes of & legendary after their premature demise Cabezon) and the raucous psychedelic Jason Willett, the weird & wonderful (a second album, the patchy self-titled interlude of Steiner Street. Sunshine pHOAMING EDISON, Sarge’s catchy ‘pink album’ was released Maker, mixing ragged acoustic guitar punk pop number The Girl’s Bad News LA Laurence Arnold TLJ Tracy Lee Jackson NMS Naoise Mac Sweeney SM Shaun May SR Stephen Ridley WW Wyndham Wallace MW Martin Williams all other reviews by Matt

… (Just think, if this were on vinyl, I’d to the closing two minutes of reverb bourbon-drenched delivery that will studio exploits are far more notable and only be on side A) I am assured that swamped controlled feedback and inspire seduction or a swift switching widely known than his recordings there’s an escape from bland after all. spaced-out synths; it’s a magnificent off. As a summation of his repertoire, (which, until now, comprised a sole But on this CD, our journey doesn’t get mini-epic. Sadly the electronic this new album would be as good a offering in 1981). His infamy stems a break and what could be classed as indulgence of Isan and Rothko’s nine- place as any to take your first sip. from his connections with LA’s trendy side B carries on with such delightful minute experiment demand a little too ‘underground’ (immortalised in song songs as Winter by Uncle Wiggly, and much patience, reminding me of many The Webb Brothers – by ’ Chuck E’s in Love) What Can I Do? by the Autumn Teen a teenage night spent with Tangerine Beyond The Biosphere (label TBC) and long-standing friendship with Tom Sound. Oh, and I guess mentioning Dream, but State River Widening’s light- Although I can’t quite grasp the sci-fi Waits. Waits has both produced and that Purple Ivy Shadows have made a hearted Moriko Mori Shoots The Make- aesthetics and media-induced hype co-written Extremely Cool and his contribution along with thee ‘coolest Believe Ballroom redresses the balance, surrounding Messrs Webb JR, Beyond signature is clearly stamped on the person alive’ Graham Smith of Kleenex its three and a half minute marriage of The Biosphere remains, for the most finished sound. But, although the Girl Wonder will raise a few eyebrows. infectious melody and synthetic texture part, a feature-packed half hour of album bears the traces of Wait’s So, as you can see, it’s a star-studded a sweet synopsis bookending a cohesive, compelling entertainment. On first inventive arrangements and percussive affair that should be going ‘round more eclectic assortment. Absorbing stuff. listen it’s a fired-up new wave instincts, Weiss is bluesy where Waits often than gracing your fabulous CD throwback, the Costello-ish Sour is country, rock’n’roll where Waits is wall rack. Listen often. TLJ Tom Waits – Mule Variations Grapes and classic sub-two minute swagger’n’stroll and downright cheesy (Epitaph) indie thrust of Cold Fingers a kick up where Waits is heartfelt. Like film noir, Various Artists – Waits sixteenth album is his first all-new the backside of post-rock insularity. Weiss draws you into a world where Will Our Children Thank Us collection for six years. Deeply rooted Then the delicate repetition of What the women are sexy, the men sharply (Foundry) in the Blues, Mule Variations contains Have We Become, the resigned dressed and it’s perpetually 1:32am. Fledgling label Foundry Recordings’ first half a dozen pure blues tunes, albeit harmonies of the title track and There are no windows in this smoky full-length is a superbly sequenced swamped with Waits’ unique lyrical brooding cello of She Drifts Into My bar; bourbon is the drink of choice and summation of all things p-p-p-post-rock slant and arrangements. Get Behind Room remind you this is no teen- all that matters are the intoxicating in 1999, its multi-layered, multi-coloured The Mule found its inspiration in a combo with their eyes set on a fast rhythms and the stories being told. For, palette casually ignoring the limited quote from Robert Johnson’s father buck. Beneath their red-suited sheen, as each track unfurls, Weiss spins tales canvas that term implies. Appliance open about his son - ‘Trouble with Robert is The Webb Brothers focus on the of shady characters, back room the record with Throwing a Curve Ball he wouldn’t get behind the mule in the mundane with unerring conviction, the dealings and fallen angels. Such murky reminding us (via a guitar tone to make morning and plow (sic)’ – and Lowside negativity of The Filth Of It All ambience may be out of place in the Metallica proud) that there is room for of the Road draws from an incident in articulated eloquently in lines such as IKEA-furnished living room of your humour within this most snooty of the life of Leadbelly; hell he even begins ‘Just can’t get used to the filth of the suburban semi-detached but, with the genres. The melodic funk of Billy Cold Water with ‘Woke up this world climbing through my bedroom lights turned low enough and a Mahonie’s Glenda make it eminently morning…’ Waits’ Heartattack and window. She smells like sin, I wonder brushing up of your southern drawl, danceable, our friends Electric Sound of Vine (1980) contained the Springsteen- where she’s been sleeping tonight.’ you may just pull it off. NMS Joy turn in the playful three minute pop covered Jersey Girl and, if ever the And with the ironic ‘clap your hands’ that is Fonk whilst The Wisdom of Harry’s exercise was to be repeated, Hold On refrain of closer I’m Over And I Know Wilco – Summer Teeth (Reprise) Close Frank Falling takes the Tortoise sounds like an obvious contender; it’s It, The Webb Brothers close No Depression is dead and who is more trademark bass-riff/vintage keyboard axis one of many affecting ballads that proceedings with their own ‘Rock’n’Roll qualified to tell us than , one and plots a rhythmic stroll topped with grace Mule Variations. The carnivorous Suicide’. It’s a dark world that lies of its instigators. Pop is now king, or the first of a trio of lazy vocals, Novak’s Filipino Box Spring Hog dates back to Beyond The Biosphere. so you’d think when Summer Teeth acoustic Peggy’s Well falling between it ’93 when it turned up (in a different kicks in. Big, fun songs, and the album’s centrepiece – the form) on the Born To Choose benefit Chuck E. Weiss – meets George Martin and we can all imposing Biggest Lie by Piano Magic. compilation, a track Waits considers Extremely Cool (Ryko) sing along. That is ‘til you realise what From a Dean Wareham meets Lloyd Cole ‘surrural’ (between surreal and rural); Weiss belongs to the genus ‘maturus you’re singing. Its as if Elmore Leonard delivery atop a rolling guitar motif via in effect a twisted update of traditional musicianum’ and, in accordance with had set his books to music with the brooding backward middle section down-home themes. As ever it is Waits’ the traditions of his kind, his extra- Tweedy’s characters wandering REVIEWS confused and bewildered through an Westerberg and others. With such for the stylings of The Strawberry Alarm the Harvest Festival in The Last Balloon uncaring world. No Depression on stellar input, it’s hard to fathom why Clock, Grapefruit (!) and ELO. In fact and I don’t know how long it will take, Prozac. He screams that ‘maybe all I the resultant album is swamped with quite a cornucopia to digest. But a but I intend on enjoying every minute need is a shot in the arm’ to help him anonymity. Willis’ own contribution is couple of careful listens reveal very little of flight time. Every song is a treasure understand a lover who has changed, not to blame, she possesses a warm filler and loadsa highlights. Wanderlust uncovered now that I’ve got the map. while a piano loop mixes with swirling voice that resonates with charm. No, is and Dave Gilmour trying TLJ keyboards to add to the melee, but what suffocates the songs is the bland to freak us all out. My Id/entity is the doesn’t seem to want to change. The performances and sterile production great missing song from The Doors’ Zita Swoon - I Paint Pictures on feeling of confusion is a common that cry out for some stinging Louris Soft Parade. What is also worth a Wedding Dress (Warner Benelux) thread and only finds resolution In a leads and cracked harmonies. The cover knowing is that not only are these Belgium! According to some, the worst Future Age, the album’s closer, but he’s of Drake’s Time Has Told Me trades Wondermints cleverer than you by half, swear word in the entire universe. A not there yet. First he has to go Via tragedy for maudlin sentiment (do you they are also mischievously funny and country famous for Tin Tin, chocolate, Chicago and it’s a hell of a Styx (the really need the royalties Mr Boyd?), quite mad. Final and title song Bali and waffles and a great motor racing track. river, not the band) to cross. Guitar typifying the banality of the album. For the eighty-six (that’s right) following Music? Nah! Plastic Bertrand, right? feedback haunts the song as he the undemanding Shania Twain- ‘hidden’ tracks of Pacific surf noise What about Deus? Remember Stef ‘dreamed about killing you again last adoring crowd, What I Deserve is a very (which include one primitive, crackly Carlens offshoot band Jr.? night’. Brutal anger bubbles like the safe country record. Post-Uncle Tupelo, radio commercial for Marine Boy?!?) What became of them? Spotted in a feedback and when it explodes you feel this isn’t enough. will be a humorous or uneasy slip into Brussels record store and craved for its as if you’ve been kicked hard and are the Twilight Zone. The cover art is a cover, should I buy it? Is the ‘Top 50’ free-falling through darkness, arms The Wondermints – Bali (Neosight) hoot too. Why don’t Xfm play records sticker an incentive and how much is outstretched with no-one to catch you. Several or nearly all styles with like this? SR 695 Francs? The song titles alone are When his cracked and broken voice Americana are fully accepted and great. Song for a Dead Singer, Rabbit returns you realise you’re not alone in enjoyed within the UK. Power-pop, of XTC - Apple Venus (Cooking Vinyl) Field and About the Successful the plummet, he’s alongside you. Even the sunny LA variety, on the other hand, At last! And I had no idea I was going Emotional Recovery of a Gal Named his advice in the preceding How to Fight is still the ignored, unmentionable freak to like it this much. Okay, so I may be a Maria. An earlier album had a sign Loneliness – ‘just smile all the time’ – is brother, omitted from or hidden at the little biased. I’ve always been a fan. But saying ‘Formerly Moondog Jr, and I was worthless now, he was just being kind. back of the family portrait. If the I have a theory; I believe that XTC don’t running for the till. The record was all But there is salvation. After a 23-second intention of the likes of Baby spew out any old album. It has got to the cover suggested. Enigmatic, silence two bonus tracks turn up. Lemonade, The Negro Problem and be this good to pass through. And intriguing, confusing and strange. Candyfloss is just that and even has wacky scene-leaders The Wondermints thank you XTC for thinking of me. I Beck, eels, The Sugarcubes and The The some opera in it! But to make sure you is to take a retro romp through that mean, how did they know what I collide in the Grand Place and find that still know the score, another version of pop paradise that was LA circa 1967, wanted to hear? River of Orchids is just they get on fine. Whichever way you Shot in the Arm follows. In the words let it not blind us to their original so perfect from start to finish. I don’t turn a different sound beckons. of the man himself ‘I prefer the first talents. Big fan, Mike Myers, used them think I’ve been inspired like this since Infuriating, sometimes. Bewitching, one’, but its the only let-down. Brutality on the Austin Powers soundtrack – In An Aeroplane Over The Sea. Oh, it’s sure. Rewarding, absolutely. Samples, has never sounded so sweet. Summer maybe a less cost prohibitive so nice. Just listening to Andy Partridge drum machines and pedal steel greet Teeth all are real. LA introduction, all three ‘Mints albums tell me how much he’d like that and… each other in true European spirit, are available on import only – and, those harmonies… It’s just so devoid of pretensions and refreshingly Kelly Willis – listening to Bali, I’m reminded of the wonderful. Touches all the right honest. The drawbacks? You have to What I Deserve (Ryko) Springfield psychiatric patient that places…. And then the trumpet comes go to Belgium to get it is the biggest. Willis’ fourth album boasts many a Homer befriends who believes he is in… and we are Frivolous Tonight. From Sure, some of it niggles and Stef’s voice notable name among its cast (Chuck Michael Jackson. This band don’t just the darkest moment of Your Dictionary can be irritating at times, but the overall Prophet, ), songwriting dig , Brian Wilson or to the flirtatious Fruit Nut I’ve been sound and feel sets it apart from the collaborations with Jayhawks’ Gary John Barry they darn near become them carried away on a grand ship with velvet usual eurotrash, so head for Belgium Louris and , and covers though the tunes are clearly their own. banners and sparkling rhinestones by and let Zita Swoon revive you. LA of songs by Nick Drake, Paul There’s also fond regard for apparent the Knights In Shining Karma. Off to Late But Great ... Our Best of ‘98

1. Jason Falkner 17A (Elektra Advance) 1. Neutral Milk Hotel In an Aeroplane over the Sea (Merge) Echo & The Bunnymen Peel Session (Bonus Disc) () 2. Feeling Strangely Fine (MCA) 2. Elliott Smith XO (Dreamworks) Strange Angels (4AD) 3. REM Up (Warner Bros) 3. Sophia The Infinite Circle (FlowerShop) Hole Celebrity Skin (Geffen) 4. Victor Krummenacher Saint John’s Mercy (Magnetic) 4. Ana D Satélite 99 (Elefant) Ray of Light (Maverick) 5. Grant Lee Buffalo Jubilee (Slash/London) 5. The Wisdom Of Harry Staying In With... (Lissy’s) Liz Phair Whitechocolatespaceegg (Matador US) 6. Eels Electroshock Blues (Dreamworks) 6. Solex Solex vs. the Hitmeister (Matador) Silo Instar (Swim) 7. The Maggies Homesick (Chickenman) 7. Belle & Sebastian The Boy with the (Jeepster) Sleater-Kinney (Matador re-issue) 8. Matt Wilson Burnt, White & Blue 8. ’s Bowl of Fire – Thrills (Import) Solex Solex vs the Hitmeister (Matador) 9. Flick The Perfect Kellulight (Columbia) 9. Lisa Germano Slide (4AD) The Sugarcubes A Collection (One Little Indian) 10. Owsley S/T (Re-nown) 10. Lambchop What Another Man Spills (City Slang) In A Doghouse (4AD)

MICK DILLINGHAM (Minus Zero) TRACY LEE JACKSON (Dreamy Records) JASON WHITE (Mean Fiddler)

Richard Buckner Since (MCA) 1. Cat Power Moon Pix (Matador) Arab Strap Philophobia () Buffalo Tom Smitten (Beggars Banquet) 2. Tortoise TNT (City Slang) Richard Buckner Since (MCA) Cat Power Moon Pix (Matador) 3. Elliott Smith XO (Dreamworks) Mark Eitzel Caught In A Trap… (Matador) The Hank Dogs Bareback (Hannibal) 4. Martin Hayes The Lonesome Touch (Green Linnet) Godspeed You Black Emperor! f#a#∞ (Kranky) Karate The Bed Is In The Ocean (Southern) 5. Pete Krebs / Golden Delicious (Cavity Search) The Lemonheads Best Of (Eastwest) Lotion The Telephone Album (SpinART) 6. Natalie Merchant Ophelia (Elektra) Pernice Brothers Overcome By Happiness (Sub Pop / Ryko) Natalie Merchant Ophelia (Elektra) 7. Ruben Gonzales Introducing (World Circuit) Pullman Turnstyles and Junkpiles (Thrill Jockey) Pernice Brothers Overcome By Happiness (Sub Pop / Ryko) 8. Willard Grant Conspiracy Flying Low (Slow River) Silver Jews American Water (Domino) The Posies Success (Pop Llama) 9. Donal Lunny Coolfin (Metro Blue) Various Artists Loose: New Sounds of the Old West Elliott Smith XO (Dreamworks) 10. Calexico The Black Light (City Slang) (Vinyl Junkie/Loose Sounds) Townes Van Zandt Anthology (Charly) MATT DORNAN NAOÍSE MAC SWEENEY MARTIN WILLIAMS

Richard Buckner Since (MCA) 1. The Hank Dogs Bareback (Hannibal) Jason Falkner 17A (Elektra Advance) 2. Randy Newman Guilty (Box Set) (Columbia?) 1. S/T (Dreamworks) Loud Family Days For Days (Alias) 3. Beck Mutations (Geffen) and then, in alphabetical order... Mercury Dime Darkling (Yep Roc) 4. Money Mark Push The Button (MoWax) Richard Buckner Since (MCA) Deserters Songs (V2) 5. The High Llamas Lollo Rosso (City Slang) Cake Prolonging The Magic (Capricorn) Owsley S/T (Re-nown) 6. Gastr Del Sol Camofleur (Domino) Fun Lovin’ Criminals 100% Columbian (Chrysalis) REM Up (Warner Bros) 7. Pell Mell Star City (Matador) Mark Hollis S/T (Polydor) Semisonic Feeling Strangely Fine (MCA) 8. The Cardigans Gran Tourismo (???) Arto Lindsay Noon Chill (Ryko) Elliott Smith XO (Dreamworks) 9. The Beach Boys Endless Harmony (Capitol) Pernice Brothers Overcome By Happiness (Sub Pop / Ryko) Chris Von Sneidern Wood + Wire (Mod Lang) 10 (tie) Baby Lemonade Exploring Music (Big Deal) REM Up (Warner Bros) Wondermints Bali (Neosight) Josh Rouse Dressed Up Like Nebraska (Slow River) BILL FORSYTH (Minus Zero) Elliott Smith XO (Dreamworks) STEPHEN RIDLEY ALISON WILSHAW (Rykodisc) 1. Cat Power Moon Pix (Matador) and then, in aplhabetical order... Black Heart Procession S/T (Headhunter) Lest we forget... Air Air (Virgin) Cornelius Fantasma (Matador) Bedhead - Transaction De Novo / Beekeeper - Ostrich / Billy Blonde Redhead In an Expression of the Lambchop What Another Man Spills (City Slang) Bragg & Wilco - Mermaid Avenue / Caesar - No Rest For The Inexpressible (Touch & Go) Mark Hollis S/T (Polydor) Lonely / - What Burns Never Returns / Geoff Farina Delgados Peloton (Chemikal Underground) Mercury Rev Deserters Songs (V2) - Usonian Dream Sequence / Bill Fox - Transit Byzantium / Ganger - The Divine Comedy Fin De Siecle (Setanta) Pan American Pan American (Kranky) Hammock Style / Sue Garner - To Run More Smoothly / Golden Serge Gainsbourg Histoire de Melody Nelson (Mercury) The Pastels llluminati (Domino) Smog - Weird Tales / Hood - Rustic Houses Forlorn Valleys / Jessamine - Don’t Stay Too Long / June of 44 - Four Great Points / Under The Western Freeway (Big Cat) Sophia The Infinite Circle (Flowershop) Loftus - S/T / Robert Mazurek - Playground / Mojave 3 - Out of Komeda What Makes It Go (N.O.N.S.) The Bill Wells Octet vs Future Pilot AKA S/T (Domino) Tune / Motorpsycho - Trust Us / Orange Humble Band - Assorted Money Mark Push The Button (MoWax) Wheat Medeiros (Sugar Free) Elliott Smith XO (Dreamworks) Creams / Joel R.L. Phelps : The Downer Trio 3 / - Featuring Birds / - This Sounds Like Goodbye / WYNDHAM WALLACE PAUL HEARTFIELD Superdrag - Head Trip in Every Key Ui - Lifelike / You Am I - No.4 Record / Zombies - (Reissue)