stNZ62_Total

46 / 64

46 MAY 2015 JB Hi-Fi
Paul Weller Saturns Pattern
Astrologers well may muse on the mystical impact of
Saturn's 28-year orbit on a 56-year-old; astronomers might
recognise the hexagon on the cover of Paul Weller's 12th
solo album as the shape of clouds at the ringed planet's
north pole. But to each note of cosmic mystery, the answer
is the same: he's the Modfather, mate. The former Jam and
Style Council leader effectively retired from linear sense
with 2008's 22 Dreams, the first in a series of psychedelic studio concoctions, while
Wake Up the Natio n andSonik Kicks continued to give a wide berth to the acoustic
comfort zone a man with Wildwood on his resume might be excused for calling
home. His Saturn sojourn is another step into the abstract, wherein heartfelt lyrics are
only as important as that squoodgy sound parting his hair during an acid-rain guitar
solo. The magic carpet intro of White Sky explodes into a lovely squall of overdriven
guitars before returning to the space debris that forms a canvas to the album's wilful
eclecticism. Pick it Up traverses from soul funk groove to full-fledged Space Invaders
battle over six escalating minutes. The glam-blues epic In the Car… sounds like Sonny
Terry and Brownie McGhee joined the Glitter Band, and is that a Chinese fiddle in the
rainy neon blur of These City Streets? It all adds up to another phase of liberation for an
artist who's learned to take his universe as it comes. Michael Dwyer
Don McGlashan
Lucky Stars
If you didn't know that Don
McGlashan had undergone some
emotionally difficult times recently
then you will certainly be made
aware by this intensely personal
album. He's acknowledged that for
Lucky Stars he isn't hiding behind
personae but the “I” in these lyrics
is him. And just as the emotions
are sometimes bare here, so too
has McGlashan stripped back the
sound so these songs feel like
small, polished pieces of marble,
cool to the touch but reassuring
in their weight and solidity. This is
McGlashan exploring the journey
he's been on with poetic honesty
and where his discoveries are
shared with compassion. Quite
exceptional.
Graham Reid
Emmylou Harris
& Rodney Crowell
The Travelling Kind
Emmylou Harris and Rodney
Crowell’s Grammy Award-
winning, 2013 release Old Yellow
Moon was the first full album
collaboration for these long-time
friends, who are outstanding as
a duo. They’ve done it again with
another release of duets featuring
six new songs written by Harris
and Crowell, and new renditions
of previous Crowell, Lucinda
Williams and Amy Allison tracks.
Joe Henry has produced this
album, highlighting the magical
coming together of classic vocals
from two modern day, country
singing legends, with yet again
another fantastic song selection.
Denise Hylands
Ozric Tentacles
Technicians of the Sacred
Although it's possible to let the
thirtysomething year career of this
British band go past you, your life is
considerably poorer for not having
heard their blend of psyched-up,
tripped-out spaceflight ambient
instrumentals which frequently unfurl
to the 10 minute mark. Yes, they are
rather “far out maaan” and popular
on the post-hippie, druid-embracing
and tie-dye festival circuit for their
danceable, trance-inducing prog-rock
which also touches on world music
influences. Their latest doesn't move
far from their self-created template
of bubbling bass and organ, driving
dance beats, synth electronica and
astrally-inclined sounds. But that's
why you gotta love 'em.
Graham Reid
Shilpa Ray
Last Year's Savage
New Jersey-born Shilpa Ray first
gained prominence with her now
defunct band The Happy Hookers,
but solo release Last Year’s Savage
continues the same damaged-cabaret-
downtown-trash punk aesthetic.
If you heard her stunning version
of Pirate Jenny (made famous by
Nina Simone) on Hal Wilner’s Son of
Rogues Gallery collection, you’ll be
familiar with her waywardly riveting
vocal style. Songtitles like Johnny
Thunders’ Fantasy Space Camp and
Colonel Mustard in the Billard Room
with Sheets of Acid, speak volumes
of Shilpa's provocative imagination,
and it's that very quality this album
with which this album brims.
Jonathan Alley
Princess Chelsea
The Great Cybernetic
Depression
The cover art actually best sums up
the subtle transformation Princess
Chelsea has undergone since her
superb debut Lil’ Golden Book.
Whereas her 2011 offering depicted
her as a slightly unhinged fairytale
heroine, on her latest she looks more
like an elegant extra from an '80s
New Romantics music video.
Music box symphonies and child-like
wonder still abound, but here there is
a sleeker edge to her twinkling synths
and haunting electronic soundscapes,
and a confident new poise to her
cooing vocals. Fortunately, her lyrics
have lost none of her droll wit – we're
still talking barbed rather than Barbie –
making this pure pop pleasure.
John Ferguson
visit REVIEWS MUSIC
DOWNLOAD THE
FREE
STACK
APP FOR EXTRA CONTENT
stack.net.nz/stack-app
Hot Chip
Why Make Sense?
”Look for me on the dance floor
playing easy to get” – that hook is
buried seven tracks deep in Hot Chip’s
sixth album, but it may as well have
been the title of a record that comes
over like New Order on the pull at the
local disco. Why Make Sense? is a
warm and fuzzy man-machine détente
that makes Daft Punk seem like difficult
listening, burbling with diva squeaks,
Vocoder, rap-lite interjections and
sneaky orgasms of disco strings. The
Smokey Robinson-styled smooches of
WhiteWine and Fried Chicken and So
Much Further to Go are a little light on,
well, Smokey Robinson, but elsewhere
there’s tinfoil funk, chunky keys,
smiley house beats and glitchy synth
goodness to drive you near enough to
senselessness.
Michael Dwyer