Latest music reviews, including Trailer Trash Tracys, Mull Historical Society, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Chris Isaak, Craig Finn and Dan Sartain
Trailer Trash Tracys Ester
Trailer Trash Tracys: Ester
SOME artists have a wilful tendency to begin their albums with a track wholly at odds with the rest of their offerings.
Give the opening track of Trailer Trash Tracys’ debut long-player a listen, and one might expect them to be an unholy exercise in freeform psychedelic funktronica – a prospect sure to pique curiosity and turn stomachs in equal measure.
As it pans out, though, Ester is actually a delightful run of mellow electronica and twanging guitar, topped off by echo-drenched laconic female vocals, a la Stereolab and Saint Etienne.
Swoon and sway are the order of the day, and they deliver in spades, the vocals luscious yet distant whilst the guitar accompaniment throbs gently along, reminiscent of Julee Cruise’s Falling – never more so than on stand-out track Candy Girl, which wouldn’t be out of place in Twin Peaks.
Whilst it gets a lot right, this isn’t a perfect album. The production is of the ‘everything loud’ school, which leaves precious little room for the tunes to breathe, whilst the songs themselves begin to sound a little samey after a while. Perhaps if they’d spread a little of the wanton creativity that’s on show in the first track, the album as a whole would have benefited.
There’s no doubt, though, that Ester is an excellent debut, which comes with a hearty recommendation to anyone with a soft spot for spaced-out indietronica. Just don’t judge the album by the first track!
Release Date: January 9
Mull Historical Society: City Awakenings
FOLLOWING two albums of songs inspired by his Mull upbringing recorded using his own name, Colin MacIntyre has resurrected his previous pop moniker for this latest offering, which pays homage to Glasgow, London and New York, the three cities he has called home as an adult.
It’s not the most auspicious return. MacIntyre has been treading water as a writer for some time and, although City Awakenings proves he can still pen a sufficiently catchy tune, there’s nothing here as fizzy and joyous as MHS hit Watching Xanadu, nor anything that gets under the skin like his debut Barcode Bypass.
Instead, the breezy but half-baked likes of Must You Get Low and You Can Get Better fall back on pop platitudes, while This Is Not My Heart cannot shake off its dirge-like pace. Really disappointing for those who’ve been eagerly awaiting a new MHS release for years.
Release Date: January 23
Rodrigo y Gabriela: Area 52
I STILL remember the night in 2004 when Rodrigo and Gabriela made their South Bank debut as a support for Salif Keita.
Nobody expected much of these young Mexican unknowns, and neither did the organisers, who left them to find their own space amid the main act’s clutter, to do their humble biz at the front of the stage. But they proved to be electrifying.
When the Malian superstar Keita came on, trailing his usual clouds of glory, nothing he did could prevent a feeling of anticlimax, because they had been the real stars of the show.
Since then, trading on their virtuoso brilliance, they’ve sold well over a million discs and become superstars in their own right. This disc is a new departure: if Area 51 is that Neverland part of Nevada the US government says doesn’t exist – it’s used for nuclear tests – Area 52, says Rodrigo, is the corresponding musical unknown, right?
Well, not exactly: what he and his companion have done is team up with the 13-piece Cuban band called C.U.B.A. plus the Swiss pianist Alex Wilson to create a communal sound which, though sometimes exhilarating, doesn’t thrill in the way their unaided efforts do. Still a big must for fans, though.
Release Date: January 23
Chris Isaak: Beyond The Sun
CHRIS Isaak’s latest album finds him paying tribute to the sounds of Sun Records and covering songs by some of his influences who recorded there.
If you’re a fan of Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison or, well, Chris Isaak of course, then I think you will find something to like here.
Isaak alternates between turning in respectable, slightly reserved performances of some of the more famous songs (Great Balls Of Fire, I Walk the Line) and high-energy, smoking renditions of some of the lesser-known tracks (Trying To Get To You, Miss Pearl). In other words, there’s no-one who can sing those legendary songs like, well, the legends who first performed them. And the same goes for any tribute album. Isaak hasn’t tried to make the songs his own because he knows they aren’t; he can’t compete against the originals. He’s not trying to be smart, but reverent … and it works.
Isaak gets bonus points for achieving his usual cool guy/fun guy/blue guy/retro guy dynamic, complemented, as always, by his remarkably beautiful vintage voice.
Put this record on and let Chris Isaak take you back to the glory days of Sun Records ... and let him make you feel just a little bit happier about life along the way!
Release Date: January 23
Craig Finn: Clear Heart Full Eyes
CRAIG Finn is like Bob Dylan – you either love his voice or it can grind.
The question for most people considering Clear Heart Full Eyes is going to be is it more The BrokerDealer or The Hold Steady? Does it suck? Should I buy it?
Answers: The Hold Steady, No, Yes!
With that resolved, Finn’s solo album does have its occasional moments of awkwardness (lyrical and musical), but these were few and far between.
While Clear Heart Full Eyes fails to reach the heights of his best collaborative works, there’s little for Finn to be ashamed of here … well, except My New Friend Jesus, which is a little on the cheesy side of bad!
Oddly, one of his strongest tracks – Sarah I’m Surrounded – isn’t available on the CD. Thematically, Finn is still working with his familiar group of people, trying to get past obstacles and capture something bright for a moment. Here they face depression, medical bills and the inevitable erosions of time. Some of the tracks could have easily been put out by The Hold Steady, but framing them in this quieter style serves Finn’s vocal style well.
Solo projects can feel like a closet clearing – something the artist had to get out to go on with his main work. Clear Heart Full Eyes feels like an overflow from an artist with more to say than one band has room for.
I look forward to the next album by The Hold Steady, but Clear Heart Full Eyes has won my heart on its own merits.
Release Date: January 23
Dan Sartain: Too Tough To Live
BUSY life? People to see, things to do? Not much time left over for chilling out to your favourite tunes?
Rockabilly renaissance man Dan Sartain hears your dilemma and has dispatched, for your fleeting delectation, 13 cuts of prime three-chord punk in just under 19 minutes.
Too Tough To Live is the album for those who dig The Ramones but find their songs a bit too meandering and needlessly complicated. Jane Wiedlin, of The Go Gos, comes along for the ride but gets thrown out of the passenger seat to make way for the nosebleed punk of I Wanna Join The Army, gonzo rock’n’roll of I’m Aware and fabulously petulant F*** Friday, which even manages to squeeze a fuzz guitar solo into its 85-second running time. Fast, furious fun.
Release Date: January 30
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Goole
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 26 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: East
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.