Records

Rip It Up, Issue 118, 1 May 1987, Page 24

Records

Hoodoo Gurus

Blow Your Cool WEA :

The first album was great but essentially a collection of early singles; the second had its moments in ‘Bitter Sweat’ and ‘Death Defying, but no killer diller. But this one's a whole new ball game — a solid party machine all revved up and ready to roar. The gurus sound like they are having a lot of fun, and working with the Bangles on ‘Good Times’ must have been — it oozes a joie de vivre that's hard to escape. There is a real celebratory feel to the album, with a full production sound from Mark Opitz, with plenty of soaring guitars and a punchy

snare beat. ‘Out that Door’ finds Dave Faulkner in fine voice, in fact | never realized what a distinctive singer he is. Vocal wise the big beat ballad of ‘| Was the One’ is the real gem, with that typical Australian romanticism in full bloom, big tear inducing lines like “Darling, this is goodbye, kiss me, I don't know why.” But if you like the rocking Gurus, ‘Hell for Leather’ burns rubber — “You're My Motorcycle, I'm Your Gasoline”

This album defines the real Hoodoo sound, still full of musical references and influences, but a different and- strong individual sound. Blow your cool with the Hoodoos. S 0 Kerry Buchanan Dr John , Gumbo Avanguard/Ode

Radiate those 88s and do the mess around! The finest primer to

New Orleans R&B has been rereleased! In 1972 Dr John, with the psychedelic Creole nightmare of the Night Tripper wearing thin, sat down with New Orleans’ finest players and re-did the classic R&B tunes that kept Bourbon St bopping in the 50s. What resulted wasn't an exercise in nostalgia but a jitterbugging introduction to the foundation of funk. Gumbo remains one of Dr John's best, certainly its the earliest that is still listenable, the Night Tripper stuff having dated badly. It features many of the songs that are pivotal to R&B history, purely arranged and performed using some of the original players, and his piano playing is to the fore.

His version of Professor Longhair’s ‘Tipitina' typifies the genre — more rhythms spill out than you knew existed, without ever losing its sway. Rolling, lur-

ching, hiccuping. Ray Charles’ ‘Mess Around’ is taken at breakneck speed, with a shouting Dr John hustled along by drummer Harold Battiste. ‘Those Lonely Lonely Nights' pays tribute to New Orleans popularist Fats Domino, and there's a five-song mediey to the legendary Huey “Piano” Smith. Among the classics are ‘lko Iko, ‘Big Chief, and a staggering version of the perrenial ‘Stack O’Lee! The playing is raw and gritty, and Dr John's singing ...

well, that’s an acquired taste. If this album turns you on, there's the whole world of Louisiana waiting out there — plus Dr John's other great moments, /n the Right Place, Desitively Bonaroo and his two recent solo albums, all easy to pick up. Catch rockin’ pneumonia and the boogie woogie flu!l. : Chris Bourke

Chris Isaak ‘ WEA If you can think of music in terms of cinema, this is a film noir album. Dark, intense and dripping with menace. . :

Isaak has a nice touch in reactivating the melancholia of the classic male voice, the operatic emotions of Orbison and the edgy sexuality Elvis. What | like about this and his earlier album is the merging of the old classic styles with a new sensibility, the persona may be idealised 50s (with a James Dean look on the cover), but the songs belong to the 80s. The opening track ‘You Owe Me Some Kind of Love’ has a great feel, with Isaak simmering over the cool guitar work of James Calvin Wilsey and the steady rhythm section. Isaak places the emphasis on “you owe me,” giving it an uneasy cynicism, which appears in a lot of his songs. Just like Orbison can sound real psychotic, Isaak can get real gone with that strange falsetto on tracks like ‘Blue Hotel’

"~ A great sounding album that has an ambience that most rock albums lack, with a band that plays with a sparse feel that allows the music to develop a feeling of tautness and tension. Sometimes an artist's second album can show their limitations, but in Isaak’s case, he's going from strength to strength. Kerry Buchanan The Mockers Emperor's New Clothes RCA After eight years and five albums (one live, one compilation) how do we find the Mockers? Not so much teen heroes anymore as pop statesmen ... with Andrew the uncrowned fop about town. And beneath the Emperor's New Clothes, what is revealed? A maturing band that concentrates less on 60s-derived simple pop singles, and looks for a harder sound for the late 80s.-

That's not to say the Mockers have abandoned their staple, the catchy melody; Gary Curtis's pop ear hasn't lost its touch. In familiar Mocker vein is ‘Sleeping Through My Storm, a standout that flows along dreamily, with a real hook and delicate vocal, plus Beatleesque guitar. ‘Boring Brigade' is

the other characteristic Mocker melody, aided by Tim Wedde's strumming piano; one guesses ‘Curtis heard more than a few Elton John hits on the radio in his formative years. . ’ But to their credit the Mockers have extended their vocabulary with this album. Producer Peter Dawkins and engineer Tim Field have crafted some mini-epics, and blow me down, they come off — ‘Shield Yourself, a sensitive number with Wedde arpeggios, and the more mannered ‘Take Back Your Tears, driven by acoustic guitar with sequenced effects and U2 solo. A heavier Mockers is revealed on ‘What We've Missed’ and ‘So Cold in Here, both made for FM; the excellent (funky, even) ‘Love Don't Break Promises, with backing vocals by Debbie Harwood shining through the murk; and ‘Age of Make Believe, another Tim Wedde vehicle, with a squeaking Walter Bianco sax solo.

The lyrics are typically elliptical, but with a refreshing selfdeprecating tone: “This is the final fling” ... “I'm burning my bridges before they're built” ... and indeed, the Emperor's New Clothes. Beneath the foppery is a record with hardly a duff track, nothing startlingly innovative, but perhaps the first Mockers album rather than collection of singles. - Chris Bourke

The Charlie Watts Orchestra Live at Fulham Town Hall CBS The rich, as Scott Fitzgerald used to say, are different from you and me. For instance they can afford to indulge their fantasies. Take Charlie Watts. He's long fancied the idea of playing in one of those big, swinging bands that were so -triumphantly popular in the 30s and early 40s. So, with the Stones in seemingly permanent hiatus, he got together a bunch of Britain's finest musos and arranged some gigs (including a recent American tour). This is no small expense when you consider that the band has a huge 31 members. And if their ensemble playing is a tad loose at times they compensate with some first-rate soloing. The material predominantly consists of swing standards (Benny Goodman et al) but also includes a Charlie Parker number arranged for two basses.

It probably goes without saying that such an album would probably not have got local release without the commercial pulling power of its leader’s name. Nonetheless Live at Fulham is no mere novelty but contains some substantial enjoymeént. (Check out the fiery sax workouts on ‘Flying Home)) It's certainly more fun than the last couple of albums Charlie’s played on. (PS: Don't expect to be able to assess how he fares as a jazzer. The band has three drummers and you can't distinguish between them.)

Peter Thomson

Soluble Fish Sound Cues

South Indies : Bill and Carol Direen’s collaborations date back as far as the sublime ‘Feast of Frogs, a 7" EP of songs by the French cabaret singer Boris Vian — the brilliant ‘M Le President, ‘Hurt Me, Johnny; know them, love them ... . Sound Cues is a far different proposition to that record. This time we are offered an aural montage — soundtrack, | think, for a new audio-visual presentation by the Builders/Soluble Fish Ensemble. It opens with ‘How Not to Spend All Your Money by Saturday Night, Carol's warm Scottish lilt intoning a surreal poem, setting the mood. These are further poetic interludes, short and long, from both of the duo, including ‘Crambo's Song’ (published in Three Farces by South Indies). Oddball pop sticks its nose in with ‘Caroline Bay, ‘lceberg’ and ‘What a Hoombah, and atmospheric interludes — acoustic guitar and woodwind, synthesiser and percussion — appear throughout, including ‘Passengers of Change, reflecting on the transient nature of life, “births deaths and marriages / passengers of change.” But though I'm sure the complete presentation of the work would be a challenging experience on its own, Sound Cues itself can be rewarding, but not challenging. It is an intelligent (if esoteric ...) and entertaining record but does not really rise to making demands of the listener. When the Direens can extend their art to encompass that, they will make a record that will win me& over fully. Till then, I'll listen and wait. Paul McKessar

Various o The House Sound of Chicago London

House music is the gay black music from Chicago which originated mostly from a club called the Warehouse. It blends the speed of gay hi-energy with the techniques of modern DJing, and even with the benefits of studio recording, these tracks betray their roots on the turntable and ‘mixing desk. A very fast, generally 120 bpm rhythm will bring in a boogie woogie piano, and an old Isaac Hayes’ number ‘| Can’t Turn Around’ will create a House standard.

Farley Jackmaster Funk’s ‘Love Can't Turn Around' is the outcome, aside from numerous other House versions, and while the lyrics aren't profound, the singer’s rather suggestive crys give you some idea of what the title is eluding to, and his rather sordid preferences. Where House succeeds is that it's easy to dance to, and though | can't see myself “jacking” on the dancefloor, it appears to be very popular with the post-pubescents and the more athletic types. Steve Silk Hurley’s Jack Your Body’ has one of the most recognisable basslines of recent times, and ‘Move Your Body: House Anthem’ is equally good. . House is going to keep the gay clubs fuelled for some years, but in the real world it's like a hybrid that can't reproduce. That’s almost an anomaly for a music that is so unsubtly sexual, but it's not going to be influential on pop or black music like Go-Go was, because it's only a culmination of 15 years of hi-energy. :

Peter Grace

? Fog ; Robert the Record Jayrem | got a surprise with this one from Auckland’s premier underground outfit, ? Fog. This debut album, though full of obvious influences, is controlled and far from rough, but not a lot of fun.

Side ones ‘Brian’ especially references the first two Public Image LPs — atonal Lydon-style vocals and booming basslines muffling everything else. The “Mad Kiwi Ranter” (uggh! moniker) David Eggleton lets rip on side twoss ‘Supermarket, the best song, bombarding the listener with consumerist images — a theme further explored in the lesser ‘Kleensaks, musically uninspiring, The rest of the lyrical concerns appear familiar enough — vegetarianism, nuclear annihilation and personal alienation, and though thwarted by ? Fog’s own limited musical vision and lack of tangible aggression, Robert the Record is a fair statement of intent. ;

Paul-McKessar

Various . What is this Place? Ima Hitt

What is this Place? is Ima Hitt's first vinyl release. Previously distributing only tapes, this compilation of Taranaki bands from the last cou%‘le of years marks a bold step forward for the smail New Plymouth label. The New Plymouth scene is reportedly a lowkey one, but going by the 11 bands represented here, it must be thriving relatively well ... Music and recording quality varies — three of the bands recorded “properly” in studios, but interestingly the climactic contribution was not — Sticky Filth's ‘6OO Witches’ nevertheless is a fair recording of a powerful, brooding song. Other highlights include Gulag'’s ‘Sad Melody’ andthe song from Loving Homes for Rotting Gnomes, ‘Reptile! Oddities include the strange similarity (glaring!) between the Unix track ‘Standing By a Beach’ and Anthem’s ‘Hands, but luckily they're separated by the Bananamen's ‘Big Poppa’ — saves the dav!

Paul McKessar