07 July 2008

by Rob McCrae

Tricky, Roots Manuva, Vile Imbeciles, Innerpartysystem, Kaki King, Wild Beasts, The Crimea, Basshunter, Freemasons, The Corrections, Goldfrapp, Abstract

"Tricky returns in a vibrant body, shadowboxing with the mike like the sinewy provocateur of old."

Tricky – Council Estate
After five years Tricky returns in a vibrant body, shadowboxing with the mike like the sinewy provocateur of old. There’s the foreboding sound of metal riffs amidst the emphysema vocals but throughout he sounds like a robust antisesis to the occasional laziness of trip hop.

Roots Manuva – Buff Nuff
Scoured with an insistent dancehall beat like a hot knife swipe across the face this is all about trying to convince a girl to get into bed, a scenario that any grunting priapic male can recognise. It is a little one note and Root sounds incoherent in parts, like he’s chuckling into the lyrics unprofessionally into the microphone.

Vile Imbeciles – Bad Ideas
They might have a band name that would shock a priest on a Sunday but they also sound like they’ve accidentally tipped a heavy design book onto a new keyboard and then stuck with the resultant sound with vocals sung through the business end of a drain.

Innerpartysystem – Don’t Stop
Heralding from besides some industry chimney in no name town, Pennsylvania they still explode out of the tracks like an explosion in an Australian dance factory. A fearsomely large clarion call to the disenchanted and designed to pop some rivets in any cavernous club you care to mention.

Kaki King – Pull Me Out Alive
Everything surrounding dreamy singer songwriter Kaki mentions the guitar playing like she’s just discovered diamond juice and poured it all over her acoustic so it does amazing things. Her playing sounds remarkably pedestrian but her voice does have a balm-like quality.

Wild Beasts – The Devil’s Crayon
Sometime lead singer Tom Fleming makes a peculiar sound, like a cross between the preening mannequin from The Feeling and Antony Johnson, the resulting amalgam shimmering like a newly touched pond. Recommended.

The Crimea – The 48a Waiting Steps
The first band to push through the notion of making their albums available free to download, a heady claim that would be irrelevant if the music wasn’t as appealing as this, combining the yearning qualities of The Dears and The Veils and stirring it all through with a thought provoking spoon.

Basshunter – All I Ever Wanted
Following on from the world-wide smash of 'Now You’re Gone' this is the sound of loads of men gyrating on a colourful dancefloor in Ayia Napa while leering at other human amoebas, the incessant chipmunk sound providing an apt soundtrack to their bovine actions.

Freemasons – When You Touch Me
The perfect soundtrack to the last float at Gay Pride, the sound coming from the bar at a club where people have no critical faculties, a rallying cry at a conference for American virgins, a madhouse for dunces.

The Corrections – OCD
A song that aims a broadside at the nefarious deeds of politicians and their resulting accountability sounds like an incredibly boring premise. Fortunately The Corrections have the trenchant delivery down to perfection and don’t sound too pompous even if they do herald from Goldsmiths College.

Goldfrapp – Caravan Girl
Alison Goldfrapp used to teeter on the cutting edge making deviant electro music with a pleasing pulse. Now she’s veered too far into the bland Magic Numbers territory where critical applause dies un petit mort.

Abstract – Lo-Fi Culture Scene
Pleasingly angular time warp back to the early 90s when languorous sensibilities gained approval with slackers and guitar lines sound so much like The Libertines it might as well be a print, mixed with laissez faire female vocals.

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