STACK NZ Magazine November Issue 57

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REVIEWS

MUSIC

Yusuf

/Cat Stevens

Tell ‘Em I’ve Gone

Out Now

While the lyrical reference of

mankind’s struggle for peace and

freedom is common throughout

Yusuf/Cat Stevens’ first new album

in five years, the songs, five originals

and as many covers, lean towards

R&B music of Yusuf’s youth.

His own compositions including

the autobiographical

Editing Floor

Blues

sound folky, the diverse covers,

Jimmy Reed’s

Big Boss Man,

Edgar

Winter’s Dyin’ To Live

(just voice and

piano) and the obscure Procol Harum

song,

The Devil Came To Kansas

feature musical contributions from

Richard Thompson (guitar), Charlie

Musselwhite (harmonica), singer

Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Tuareg

group Tinariwen.

Billy Pinnell

Royksopp

The Inevitable End

Out Now

True to its title, this is

indeed the final album

for Norwegian duo Röyksopp. But

they’re not exactly leaving us with a

shortage of material:

The Inevitable

End

spans two CDs and 17 tracks.

Such a marathon will inevitably drag

in places, but there’s enough radiant,

ambient warmth and brooding pop

gems to offset the slower patches.

It helps that guest stars stop by

periodically, including their recent

collaborator Robyn on

Rong

(defined by the refrain “What the

f*** is wrong with you?”) and the

single

Monument.

Röyksopp have

always been pretty ambitious, but

this fifth LP may be their definitive

statement, ranging from expansive

cinematic grandeur to pointed

emotional intimacy without ever

dwelling in any one genre for long.

At the same time, widescreen

throbbers like the vocoder-loaded

opener

Skull

will have no trouble

dominating the late-night dancefloor.

The duo have called this their darkest

work lyrically, and that certainly

comes through on nocturnal cuts like

Compulsion

and the quivering

Here

She Comes Again

. But there’s a lot

of feel-good levity too. Namely,

Thank

You

is a beautiful send-off that closes

the first disc and should appeal to fans

of Air’s immersive dream-pop.

DougWallen

Ariel Pink

Pom Pom

November 14

To expect the

unexpected is a

safe approach to any new Ariel Pink

record. For starters,

Pom Pom

is the

first album in a highly prolific career

to be solely attributed to Ariel Pink,

but by his own admission it’s also

the most collaborative. Spiritualized’s

Jason Pierce, and famed/infamous Kim

Fowley of ‘70s rock group

The Runaways contribute to the collage,

along with other band members.The

result is a characteristic, unpredictable

Lost on the River

The New Basement Tapes

November 7

If you’re one of music’s most respected

producers, you don’t say ‘no’ to a box of unseen

Bob Dylan lyrics, written during the recording

of the original

BasementTapes

in 1967. “Would

you like to do something with these?” Dylan’s

publisher askedT-Bone Burnett. With Dylan’s

approval, Burnett found a team of performers to transform the words with

music. Elvis Costello, Rhiannon Giddens (Carolina Chocolate Drops),Taylor

Goldsmith (Dawes), Jim James (My Morning Jacket) and Marcus Mumford

(Mumford & Sons) were sent the same 16 pieces of prose, and each of their

contributions became part of this creative collaboration. With additional lyrics

turning up, Burnett’s team spent two weeks working, recording and breathing

new life to the words of a musical

master, untouched for nearly 50

years. Backed by a music bed of

Americana sounds, Johnny Depp

even drops in on guitar. Burnett’s

aim was to stay true to the lyrics’

orignal spirit. One for the Dylan fans

– we know you’re out there.

Denise Hylands

mix of wistful AM radio rock, strange

tape textures, stream of consciousness

skits, and stream of unconsciousness

pop, including standout single

Put

Your Number in My Phone.

On the

melodic side there’s also

Dayzed Inn

Daydreams,

some surreal psychedelic

sounds on

Dinosaur Carebears

, and a

couple of high-intensity punk tracks in

the form of

Goth Bomb

and

Negativ

. It’s all somewhat chaotic yet

somehow coherent; a portrait of the

artist as a contradictory, conflicted,

confounding and constantly challenging

pop chameleon.

SimonWinkler

Graham Reid revisits some interesting albums that you should have heard.

Coverdale/Page

(1993)

While we wait for the next installment

of Led Zepp reissues here’s one that’s

more interesting than you might

expect. Critics rightly sniffed at Jimmy

Page linking up withWhitesnake

singer David Coverdale as the Robert

Plant stand-in. (Page and Plant weren’t

on speaking terms at the time). But

give it a go, it stands up pretty well.

Ersatz Zepp but not bad.

BBM

Around the

Next Dream

(1994)

And while we’re at it. Around

the same time former Cream

legends Ginger Baker and Jack

Bruce got together with Gary

Moore (ex--Thin Lizzy) for this

one-off. It was never going to be

Cream but it’s power trio blues-

rock and not without interest.

Magazine

Real Life

(1978)

The dark post-punk debut by

singer/writer Howard Devoto

and pals which is full of menace,

Dave Formula’s great keyboards,

literary and political references

and driving songs with actual

melodies. Terrific.

Headless Chickens

Body Blow

(1991)

The second Headless Chickens is their

best, coming between the twisted

industrial artrock of their debut, and a

later era of bewitching dance singles

(something that began with the

ubquitous

Cruise Control

, included

here).

Body Blow

was aptly titled,

containing the knock out punches of

Gaskrankinstation

and

Railway Surfing.

Recently reissued on vinyl.

NOVEMBER 2014

JB Hi-Fi