Album Reviews: Sounds on the Tracks
Jack - Pioneer Soundtracks
| Elvis Costello - All this Useless Beauty | Trainspotting - SoundtrackJack - Pioneer Soundtracks
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Jack Who? Simply Jack, Ladies and Gentlemen, a name
and a band that you should all take heed of. First a
brief introduction: This sextet formed in London in early
1995 combining conventional rock instruments with
orchestral ones (violin, cello, brass etc), which makes
for an intoxicating, moody score. This provides the
perfect base for singer Anthony's (no last name) often
spoken and heavy accented poetic lyrics. Think of the
Tindersticks with more emotion, or Nick Cave without the
doom and gloom and you’d might have some idea. The first half of Pioneer Soundtracks is dazzling - '...of Lights' is akin to taking a walk in the woods on wild windy night, 'White Jazz' is a catchy, fuzzed up high, while 'Biography of a First Son', is a Nick Cave meets the Black Eyed Susans epic. The pace lets up with the slow waltz of 'Filthy Names', which sets the tone for the rest of the album. Reducing the energy allows some indulgence (F.U.), but the set is redeemed with a Mazzy Starred blissed-out country offering 'Hope is a Liar' ("And no one will ever hear this song/this thing we have carried/it will never be born/we were lied to all along/hope is a liar and the truth is wrong"). Jack, and Pioneer Soundtracks is an unexpected but delightful surprise. Rating (out of 5 trainers) |
Elvis Costello - All this Useless Beauty
| I have no doubt that this will be the easiest review
I will ever have to write. Buy 'All this Useless Beauty'
it is the best album I've heard all year. 5 stars. Oh well I guess I better add something else and earn my keep. Where do I start? From track one 'The other end of the telescope' all the way to track 12 'I want to vanish' Sir Elvis dishes out metaphor after metaphor of pure perfect pop insight. The man is obviously a genius of our time and can get away with things that Mr. Paul Weller will only ever dream of, both musically and lyrically. "For the sake of purity I can recall the time and place/ between wisdom and murder she gave up her immaculate face/ my poor belated chastity fell fowl of grown up games/ With false lovely modesty/ I can recall the names I'll miss/ In the particle of me that cares for this/ I betrayed those little atoms with a kiss" (Little Atoms) Sure it's a long way from "your not down with who I am but look at you, know your in my hands" (Smile) but then this is intelligent music for the individual not angst for the masses. While your off buying this one, I'm going to order his back catalogue. Yes, it's that good. Rating (out of 5 trainers) |
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Trainspotting - Original Soundtrack
 "I hate it when the music in films is really inappropriate "... "Usually when people make films about (a) young people and (b) drugs, it makes you cringe, but they've got it right with Trainspotting' " JARVIS COCKER (THE FACE) |
The latest Scottish movie, 'Trainspotting' has
successfully managed to accomplish two things. The first
is an honest portrait of heroin addiction and people's
battle to get off the most heinous of all drugs and the
second is the resurrection of a certain Iggy Pop , circa
collaboration with David Bowie era. May I say, neither of
these are a bad thing, especially the latter. Iggy Pop's classic boogie tune 'Lust for Life' is resurrected and used as a recurring theme while the rest of the coinciding soundtrack features some of the UK's finest Britpop and dance bands. Most notable is Primal Scream (a combination of the two anyway) who offer their services by providing the 10 minute 33 second title track full of drum loops, scattered guitar riffs and odd programmed samples. Pulp are as quirky and as camp as ever on 'Mile End' and Brian Eno's 'Deep Blue Day' is a mellow and floaty masterpiece. Elastica sound like a re-oiled mechanical motor on '2:1' and Blur sound oh-so-very simple on the track 'Sing'. Damon Albarn ditches the band for 'Closet Romantic' where he shares the limelight with fresh slices of saxophone and trombone. The guitar driven Britpop overflow is brought to an abrupt halt by Bedrock's frenetic club track, 'For What You Dream Of' and techno masters Underworld provide a highlight with 'Born Slippery', hey, you even get a classic dose of New Order with their song 'Temptation'. If you've seen the movie, the music feature on this soundtrack will make perfect sense and even bring back some of the more memorable scenes. If you haven't seen it then this collection of Britpop, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed classics and techno tunes will only intrigue you. Anita Caruso
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