Briefs

Rip It Up, Issue 77, 1 December 1983, Page 25

Briefs

Brian Ena Apollo Atmospheres and Soundtracks (EG Records) Brian Eno was left unsatisfied by TV coverage ,of the moo.n landings and subsequent space missions. The small screen treatment made "the whole enterprise look like an inferior edition of Star Trek". This album, the soundtrack for a film on the Apollo missions, was Eno's opportunity to . add depth of meaning to the space experience. . Divorced from the celluloid it was made to accompany, the music seems lacking in expression and feeling. Flat mood and tone may encapsulate Eno's impression of space, but that does not an album make. Beam me up Scotty,, no life here. DT Scritti Politti

Songs to Remember (Epic). Scritti Politti were an English band (disbanded for some time) who recorded for Rough Trade. They were an unusual Rough Trade act. Led by a strong-willed character called simply Green, they approached everything they did with a marked degree of sophistication. That meant packaging, recording, publicity, everything. This LP, at last released here, is what amounts to a Greatest Hits, with a couple singles remixed. It's an elegant, understated mix of reggae, funk, jazz and rock influences with intelligent lyrics from Green. Me, I find it all a bit bland and smarmy. Just goes to show what a wally I am. RB The Models The Pleasure of Your Company (Mushroom) The Models, by virtue of their support spots for David Bowie, have had the pleasure of about 100,000 New Zealanders' company. At present their music is more interesting for its component parts than its whole. The rhythms and percussive noises make fascinating listening. However, clinical chorus-line vocals and somewhat ponderous lyrics grate on repeated listenings. All up, a fair album, but the Models time may yet be to come... DT Genesis (Vertigo) Abacab, the previous album, hinted that Genesis were about to become something more than just another Phil Collins project. Conversely, Collins' also follow up to the excellent face Value indicated the ideas had dried up. The album Genesis dispels such fears. The percussive propulsion Collins injects to this album is perfectly complemented by the incisive keyboards and guitars of Banks and Rutherford. The largely

instrumental 'Second Home By the Sea' features a veritable drumming' explosion,- and underpinned by the other instruments. But the absolute highlight is : Collins' stinging vocal attacks on any assessment 'Mama' is great popular music dominated by his toughest vocal on vinyl. There is real grunt in this sound and it should re-establish Genesis as a major band. Highly recommended. DP J.J. Cale No. 8 (Mercury) If you liked the previous seven albums then this latest offering is more sugar on the same tried and tested cake. The jangling guitar on 'Unemployment' and subtle pedal steel on Teardrops In my Tequila' threaten a breakout from the Cale trademarks of rolling guitar and smoky, understated vocals.-They no more than threaten as the remainder acts as a powerful sleeping draught. Time for a change. DP Blue Zoo 2 By 2 (Magnet) You could say Blue Zoo have made words superfluous. Unless, of course, you count whoah and oh oh as part of the English language. Produced by Tim "Boogie in my jarmy pants" Friese-Greene, 2 By 2 is an attempt at a perfect pop album. It fails, but not completely. Three quite acceptable singles bolster its inadequacies. A remixed 'l'm Your Man' sounds particularly good. Elsewhere it bounces between drudgery and blandness, rarely finding its feet. Should do well in Holland. MP Joan Jett & The Blackhearts Album (Liberation) Jett's talents lie largely in sheer persistence and exploiting her image. The persistence kept her going until she found Kenny Laguna and 'I Love Rock & Roll'. The image is built upon her 'bad reputation'. So here she hollers about her boredom with masturbating, then builds another song around repeatedly calling someone 'scumbag'. Oh shock and outrage. She also usually sings flat and the Blackheads play predictably pedestrian raunch'n'roll. Again predictably, the best tracks are cover versions: the Stones' 'Starfucker' (of course) and Sly's 'Everyday People' which (good grief) they almost get away with. PT Paul McCartney Pipes Of Peace (Parlophone) McCartney's talent and taste obviously suffer from severe incontinence. Anyone with any control whatsoever would have restrained the urge to foist this crap on the public. Even more nauseating is that it follows on from Macca's first half-decent album in eons. And at least in collaborating with Stevie Wonder he produced one great number to offset the flatulent 'Ebony And Ivory'. Here he and Michael Jackson just wallow in muck for a couple of tracks. Pipes Of Peace indeed. Flush it. PT