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Blue is the Colour

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The Bluetones - Return to the last chance Saloon | Ian Brown - Unfinished Monkey Business

The Bluetones - Return to the last Chance Saloon Superior Quality/Polydor

Dotmusic article Oh, okay, so I was wrong. But 'The Blandtones' were up the proverbial creek, weren't they? Well, weren't they? They seemed rather 'Menswear'. Yes, no fancy suits, no sharp hairstyles, no boozing and shmoozing in the Good Mixer, but they both made poppy, feel good music - stuff that sounded like, well, a 'fad'. Stuff that said a quick hello and then a just as hasty goodbye. For all this smug assumption, what do we get? We get a great new album. Shit. While never wanting them to fail, mark my words, one just didn't think they had the staying power. After all, their last single wasn't even released here. But they do, and this offering is actually more cheery, jig inducing than Expecting To Fly. The Bluetones have developed their sound, they've bumped up vocal distortion, they've cut down their lengthy introductions to songs and put a bit of grit into their music. They even have a go at some saucy-style musing on 'Sleazy Bed Track'. Now the Bluetones getting sexy? What's next? Belle & Sebastian revealed to possess genitalia? Well, it almost works - it seems Mark Morriss' voice is still a bit too wholesome. This doesn't mean to say he sounds like a choirboy, for while his vocal delivery is still relatively unchanged, he has added a defiant sneer to some of the songs like '4-Day Weekend' and 'The Jub Jub Bird'. And don't let the title fool you, for despite this and some worrying C&W-isms that crept onto Expecting..., America has no influence on this LP. None that is obvious, anyhow. The Bluetones, for this album, seem homeless, which is a good thing as no mainstream UK artist sounds like this band. They're quiet achievers, this lot - no trashed hotel rooms, no junk habits, no half-arsed baboonery. But then why should they be any different? Sit back, smile and enjoy. - Taylor Glasby

Ian Brown - Unfinished Monkey Business Polydor

www.ianbrown.co.uk Second Reviewing - by Clem The UK press stated that The Stone Roses without guitarist John Squire just wasn't the Stone Roses. I say John's new band, The Seahorses, without Ian Brown is just plain tiresome. I think everyone would agree Ian never had his job description of 'singer' down pat in a live forum, but there's so much more he brings to the party, and it shows on this. While not being a brilliant album like the first Roses album was, this solo effort (he does make use of just about everyone who ever played with the Roses - including Reni and Mani) is, to use a nondescript term, a firm beginning of a new chapter. Whether this is to prove a whole lot of knockers wrong, or to forge a new career, I don't know, but whatever the situation turns out to be, this foundation is strong. Songs like 'Can't See Me', and first single, 'My Star', amble into your mind like an old friend, and there's still the odd half-baked tune, but rest assured, this could turn out to be the Second Coming all you old Roses fans were waiting for. Strange isn't it, how some things work out? When John 'Genius' Squire went out to carve himself a new career, we expected great things. And we got the Seahorses. And we got the Seahorses album. And we all went to . . .zzzZZZ So when Ian Brown, who after the Roses disastrous Reading performance of '96 could be forgiven, nay urged, not to venture near a microphone again, decides to go solo we're rather, erm anxious to put it mildly, to what the outcome will be. Well worry no more, as on the most part it's very impressive. New single 'My Star' sounds like Brown has been taking comeback tips from David Bowie, infusing them with his own brand of laziness. What you get is a highly listenable song, laced with militaristic drum codas and scratchy, psychedelic guitar from co-writer Aziz Ibrahim, another survivor of the Roses Reading fiasco. Not all tracks are so triumphant, as UMB is a confusing record, almost like Ian Brown went into the project without a map, as it's a mish-mash of ideas, each with their own rather laughable title. Most of it works mind, so make way for synthesizers, a duet with Denise Johnson of Primal Scream fame, questionable lyrics and the appearance of a certain ex-Stone Roses rhythm section on 'Can't See Me', which is typical Roses fodder. No surprises there then. Brown will entertain and please the punters with this one, but don't expect the defining edge he gave 'that' band and whether or not he'll be able to reap the acclaim as before is an open-ended question - one which will only be answered in time and an album or two down the track. Welcome back to the fold, Mr Brown. The (monkey) man done good. - Taylor Glasby