New Releases - 27 Oct

New Releases - 27 Oct

22 October, 2008
by: Music Team

*Single of the Week*
Roots Manuva – Let The Spirit
Big Dada

There can be something very direct about Rodney Smith. He reminds you of those old Caribbean men, from a less socially stunted time, who like to turn around unbidden in the street and offer comment. It’s a mode he nails on most of the new album, including single 'Let The Spirit'.

Having created the risk of a garish musical accident by appointing Metronomy as producers, Roots Manuva's latest vehicle is in fact perfect. Heraldic, Wendy Carlos-style synthesisers and a bassline not totally alien to Level 42 are unlikely strong points. This should be liked a lot. RH


Razorlight – Wire To Wire
Mercury

There are people who will tell you that Johnny Borrell is not the demon spawn of musical Satan – then again, there are also Holocaust deniers. Having failed to crack the States with the insipid wails of 'America' and his riding of Kirsten 'the fame horse' Dunst, they return with another slice of desperate mediocrity.

But copying Neil Young's 'Harvest', throwing in some Dylan-isms and reinventing yourself as a cross between Sting and Jim Kerr doesn't count as musical progression. Clearly the £4000 a term his Mummy and Daddy spent on public school didn't include musical composition classes. MF


Empire of the Sun – Walking On A Dream
EMI

Wow! I haven't been this excited about a pop song since 'Wannabe'.  Empire Of The Sun is a collaboration by Nick Littlemore from electro outfit Pnau and Luke Steele from rock band The Sleepy Jackson.

Their first release 'Walking on a Dream' is a groove-ridden trip of sunshine and nostalgia that really kicks in during the refrain: 'We are always running for the thrill of it / Always pushing up the hill searching for the thrill of it'.  Oh, and the video's wicked. EM


Robin Thicke – Magic
Interscope

Samey sounding, soul-lite RnB. It sounds familiar because producers The Neptunes have ripped the groove wholesale from Willie Hutch's Foxy Brown soundtrack number 'Ain't That Mellow'. And they've stuck a Curtis Mayfield lick on as well – spare us!

This can only appeal to lovers of blandly retro RnB. That said, in the year 2030, an entirely cannibalised sound and a briefly famous novelty performer will see this track prized by rare groove aficionados. Although they'll prefer the Mary J Blige remix. JH


Adele – Make You Feel My Love
Columbia

I'm always impressed by this self-described 'heartbroken soul'-styled lass's versatility and overwhelming sultry voice. A well-timed step off the beaten soul track, this Bob Dylan cover only helps to prove her personal connection to every song she sings.

A simple piano accompaniment resembling an Eric Clapton-esque melody, 'Make You Feel My Love' seems more like a B-side tune you'd stumble upon after purchasing the album, and then end up loving more than the big hits. SO'D


The View – 5 Rebbeccas
1965

It may be the curly hair, but more and more I'm starting to think The View are basically a Scottish version of Cast.

Apart from that '5 Rebbecas' has nothing to make it stand out in any way. It jaunts along at a normal indie pace, has a tame guitar solo at the end and sounds like pretty much anything else you'll hear if you wander around T in the Park whilst smashed on cans of Worthington's. DH


Laura Marling – Night Terror
Virgin

For some, the words 'indie folk' conjure images of fluffy puppies licking the icing from cupcakes, while bespectacled girls in polka-dot dresses plait their fur. Thank heavens then that Laura Marling is determined to drag it back towards something altogether more morose.

This track is one of Marling's best, showing off the understated majesty of her voice, and displaying her dark core that sends chills down your spine and belies her mere 18 years. She deserves to be massive, but probably won't. Until she writes a song about lollipops. MF


Dido – Don't Believe in Love
Sony BMG

I always imagine Dido spends her life in a big white bedroom, with white cotton bed sheets, and white linen curtains fluttering gently in an autumn breeze. Occasionally she gets up, walks across the pale strip-wood flooring to a small chrome sink, and calmly washes her hands with Fairy Liquid.

This song does nothing to dispel that dream: listening to this is like being wrapped in a colossal wet-wipe and gently rubbed by matron. It's comforting in a way, but also rather nauseating. TJ


Natty – Bedroom Eyes
Atlantic

A soulful, reggae-twanged love song from Natty – former Razorlight sound engineer and Atlantic Records' latest addition.

Bedroom Eyes tells a classic story. Guy waiting for a girl, (who's late) chillin', smokin', scrapin' off the sheets. She arrives. She looks hot. They hang out, talk about their dreams, man. Then she hits him with her most fatal and well aimed 'bedroom eyes' stare and they get jiggy. It's quite a sweet little tune, and Natty's done a good acoustic version which is better than the original. LC


Late Of The Pier – Bathroom Gurgle
Parlophone

Why everyone reckons Late of the Pier are a prog band is sort of beyond me, if anything they've more in common with Frankie Goes to Hollywood than King Crimson.

That being said 'Bathroom Gurgle' is actually pretty good, sounding like a cross between Kelly Marie's 'Feels Like I'm in Love' and Devo in a really frantic mood. If this came on in a club and I was wearing a pair of gold Pumas I'd totally bust out the running man. DH

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Music Team