Records

Rip It Up, Issue 115, 1 February 1987, Page 22

Records

Miles Davis Tutu Warner Bros This is Davis’s debut album on a new label after 30 years with CBS. It may also be his best since his early 80s return to recording, but then that isn't necessarily saying much. Furthermore, as with much of his recent work, to fully enjoy Tutu it may help to be ignorant of Davis’s masterful recordings of the late 50s and mid 60s. Whereas is those days he was unquestionably the musical leader (collaborations with Gil Evans aside), the 80s have often seen him hand such responsibilities over to others. Now with Tutu his title billing has become a virtual misrepresentation. In several important ways the album belongs to Marcus Miller, his one-time bassist and also a collaborator with Luther Vandross. Miller wrote threequarters of the tracks here (Davis only co-wrote one), arranged and co-produced the album and played most of the instruments. Davis lays down muted lines over • the top, very nicely too one must admit, but they don’t really go very far. Once we accept this state of affairs, Tutu is very pleasant. The title track is instantly appealing for its silky smooth funk, and ‘Portia’ is a gorgeous ballad. Following previous aimless borrowings from contemporary pop (via Cyndi Lauper and Michael Jackson) this album’s Scritti Politti number is, well, okay. Other tracks work only as well as their riffs do, which varies from strong and sprightly to dull and hackneyed. One thing still bothers me. Davis has been badmouthing Sting for recruiting young jazz hotshots .. to perform with him. Meanwhile this legendary trumpeter is willing to slavishly copy pop tunes and. put himself at the mercy of such ultra-commercial producers as Tommy LiPuma and George Duke. * Since when are explorations of other people’s musical styles legitimate from one direction only? Peter Thomson

Various Artists Queen City Rocker Pagan Various Artists Bridge to Nowhere Pagan Here we have two soundtrack albums which highlight the contribution the NZ film industry is making to NZ rock music. Both albums combine some of the best recent local singles (many originally issued on Pagan) with incidental music and songs written especially for the films. That means both soundtracks serve a useful function as compilation albums, as the songs chosen for the movies are very strong. However as most of them were excellent singles in their own right, it means there is an inconsistency between them and the specially-commissioned music, some of which is rather weak. I haven’t seen Bridge to Nowhere, but it was so widely panned I’m now intrigued to see why. Also, I’d be interested to see how the soundtrack fits in with the storyline — the album is heavy on club funk, whereas the film is set in the “terrifying" Raetihi bush. That aside, the club music is some of the best produced in recent years — Ardijah’s ‘Love is Blind,’ Peking Man’s ‘Lift Your Head Up High,' ‘Obscure Desire,’ and Marginal Era’s ‘You Fascinate.’ Particularly good are Low Profile’s still-

infectious ‘Eleph'unk in My Soup’ and Car Crash Set’s ‘Breakdown’ — lively, assured, and appealing. Of the original music composed by Stephen McCurdy for the film, ‘Since I Saw You’ works best, driven by a fast, twitchy bass with ethereal, gentle vocals by Shona Laing. Anne Crummer doesn’t have much to work with on ‘Rocking on a Razor’s Edge’ however. The Queen City Rocker soundtrack has an advantage in that the music is more integrated with the movie's plot. But whereas Bridge ■has a consistent clubby sound, QCR has a diversity of music which reflects the variety of Auckland life portrayed in the film. Central to the storyline is Simon Alexander’s ‘Fight,’ which is given added personality by Graham Brazier’s vocals. The music ranges from the cocktail lounge (‘Welcome to the Club’ by Wentworth Brewster) to the garage (No Tag’s frenetic ‘Mistaken Identity,’ with great bassline and bovver-boy chorus). Ardijah’s ‘Give Me Your Number’ and Cheek ta Cheek’s ’Colonial Reggae’ also fit in perfectly with the lifestyles they depict. While a couple of Dave McArtney’s original tunes are rather slight, his duet with Kim Willoughby ‘Dancing Inside You’ and ‘Same Old Deal’ both stand up to the strong singles and are welllinked to the film. The cinematic scope of Tex Pistol’s idiosyncratic ‘Winter’ means it’s made for the movies — whether it’s QCR I’m not sure, but its craftsmanship and strength highlights some of the faults of current soundtrack music. The use of the Fairlight or Emulator often results in lazy, cut-rate music, with sampled instruments used in ways that are often inappropriate to the original instrument. ‘Winter’ shows that with taste and skill that needn’t be the case; also, that the pallete of high-tech sampled and sequenced music needn’t be so narrow. Doesn't the funk audience ever get sick of the same musical colours and gimmicks? While both albums have an excellent selection of NZ music, and Bridge to Nowhere has a consistency of style, it’s the diversity and direction of the Queen City Rocker soundtrack which just gives it the edge as a successful concept.

Chris Bourke