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Albums of the week (released 14th July 2003) - Tiscali Music News
Albums of the week (released 14th July 2003)
2003-07-17
For this week's albums, read on!
Sinead Quinn - Ready To Run (pictured above)
In a music world dominated by pumped up pop princesses, Sinéad Quinn is refreshingly real and the perfect antidote to some of the more vacuous divas of recent times.
Strong, self-assured, and unfazed by fame, she is not about to compromise herself for anyone, and won't be sticking to the rules in her pursuit for chart success.
23 year-old Sinéad came to the public's attention on a grand scale when she appeared in last year's massive BBC hit series, Fame Academy. Gutsy and gorgeous, she's the girl the guys fell in love with and the girls wanted to be like. Sinead fast became Northern Ireland's leading lady and has been nicknamed 'The Mighty Quinn' by press. So it was no surprise when she quickly established a huge fan base, winning everyone over with her laid back quirkiness and breathtaking, crystal clear voice.
She also became something of a role model along the way.
Never backward about coming forwards, Sinead is always prepared to stand up for what she believes in.
Her music showcases her headstrong attitude, packs a strong emotional punch, and is delivered by Sinead's trademark sexy Irish humour. Includes the singles 'Can't Break Down' and 'What You Need Is'.
More music news
Buy this album here
Nitin Sawnhey - Human
Just when you thought he'd reached his creative peak with the "album of 2001" - 'Prophesy', Nitin Sawhney has got us dumbfounded again with 'Human'.
From the twangy slide guitar, Bollywood-inspired opener 'The River', to the traditional sub-continental offering of the 'The Boatman', Sawhney has blended in the contributions of Arabic diva Natacha Atlas and the mellow, downtempo vibes of Aqualung on two tracks - 'Eastern Eyes' and 'Falling', and with the uplifting vocals of Reena Bhardwaj throughout, 'Human' creates a pan-Asian hedonistic listening experience.
Join the music club
Buy this album here
Michael Buble - Michael Buble
This kid can really swing, that, in a nutshell, sums up the extraordinary appeal of a 25 year-old Vancouver vocalist with a gift for making the some of the greatest songs of all time, entirely his own.
The thirteen tracks of Michael Bublé announce in no uncertain terms the arrival of a major new talent with a flair for infusing familiar and beloved music with a fresh, original and utterly unique sensibility entirely his own.
Check out the latest music here
Buy this album here
Dolly Parton - Ultimate Dolly Parton
Who would have guessed that one of twelve children brought up on a farm in Locust Ridge, Tennessee, would have made it onto the Grand Ole Opry by the age of 13?
That would be achievement enough for many, but for Dolly Rebecca Parton, that was just the beginning to one of the greatest careers in contemporary country.
Celebrate this career with this definitive compilation, too many classic tracks to mention, every one a gem.
Download Dolly Parton in the music club
Buy this album here
Manic Street Preachers - Lipstick Traces: A Secret History Of Manic Street Preachers: 2cd
'Lipstick Traces' is a comprehensive collection of B-sides, cover versions, and rarities. A 2 disc set comprising of 18 B-sides and 2 previously unreleased tracks on the first disc with 14 covers version on the second, the album draws on material from the Manics' entire career. The 2 unreleased tracks are 'Forever Delayed' and 'Judge Yourself'.
Covered here is everyone from the Beatles ('Rock 'N' Roll Music'), and Guns N' Roses ('It's So Easy'), to Art Garfunkel ('Bright Eyes') and Burt Bacharach ('Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head').
Download the Manics here
Buy this album here
Sleepy Jackson - Lovers
The Sleepy Jackson are impossible to pin down. Just when you think beautifully-crafted pop songs are the sum of their musical aspirations, along comes a psychedelic burn-out or a country-ish ballad to counter songwriter Luke Steele's pop sensibility.
That diversity has been the secret of The Sleepy Jackson's success so far. As one rave review put it: "Luke Steele's lack of direction IS his direction; gospel to his rare artistic perception''.
Since emergingfrom Perth, Western Australia 18 months ago The Sleepy Jackson have steadily built a fan-base in Australia and Europe on the strength of Steele's broad songwriting palette and his dynamic stage persona (think Jimi Hendrix meets John Lennon).
The band's debut UK release, the self-titled debut album, was rich in artistic motifs, quirky spoken embellishments and acknowledgements of rock 'n' roll greats from The Beatles to Gram Parsons.
Now The Sleepy Jackson present their first album, 'Lovers', and this much anticipated full-length debut merely confirms Steele as an artist of extraordinary depth and songwriting talent.
The album includes two of Steele's finest moments to date, the beautiful George Harrison-esque 'Good Dancers' and the lusciously melodic 'This Day'.
Add to those the garagy stomp of the current single 'Vampire Racecourse' plus the acerbic, gently harmonic 'Acid In My Heart', the psychedelic poetry of 'Apples' and the soulful skirmish of 'Don't You Know' and you have one of the albums of the year.
And Steele is in no doubt that 'Lovers' is just the beginning.
"It's going to get bigger, broader and maybe a bit more screwed up", he says.
'...'Lovers' is an essential purchase, as integral a part of your summer fun activities as kites, frisbees, picnics, beach parties, shandy or sweaty sex with the covers off. Now that's something to "ba ba ba" about. Phoneme-nal' - X-Ray Album Of The Month
'Lovers is a summery album, but it has won the title not through the default route of a few whimsical, waltzing acoustic guitars, though, but by condensing the gamut of feelings that one gets when enjoying the beauty of a sunset when a little tired and spaced out, the hint of sadness that such a perfect day has ended tempered by the sure and certain knowledge that another day just as good awaits. And with a copy of Lovers to hand, then one surely does' - **** Bang
Tiscali Radio
Buy this album here
Star Spangles - Bazooka
Formed out of teenage boredom in suburban upstate New York, The Star Spangles followed their hearts to NYC's lower east side, where bound by an almost unhealthy lust for classic Bowery icons the Ramones and the Heartbreakers, as well as past masters like Gene Vincent and Chuck Berry, they crashed on floors and and copped equipment, playing their first gig atop the Gershwin Hotel in 1998 before frontman Ian Wilson fell over, threw up, and passed out cold.
Soon the moptopped foursome with the permanently affixed sneers and suitjackets were playing their gloriously ragged, attitude-charged songs at every rock dive that would have them. But the late-90's NYC that formed them bore little relationship to the city's subsequently trendy rock scene, a development that the Spangles avoided like the plague. Wearing the Carnaby Street-worthy threads they've worn since age 14 but rejecting offers for fashion spreads in glossy magazines, the Star Spangles were stylish but never fashionable.
Recorded by the while the band was in their late teens and finished off in the bedroom of Ramones producer Daniel Rey, 'Bazooka!!!' (that's three exclamation points,), is filled with raw chords and raw nerves, with an eye to flash and grit. 'Which One Of the Two Of Us Is Gonna Burn This House Down' is a sonic mouthful, tipping its hat to the Replacements with a whisky rasp, a timeless hook and a small city's worth of "whoa-oh-oh's". Bratty, sugar-high melodies like 'Stay Away From Me' and 'Angela' imagine a scene where Cheap Trick borrows moves from the Clash and the Heartbreakers can't afford cab fare home. And 'I Live For Speed' is not exactly an amphetamine ode, but is autobiographical nonetheless.
Check out the latest gig listings
Buy this album here
Martina Topley Bird - Quixotic
The name might not be that familiar, but in the mid-90's, with her then partner Tricky, Martina Topley-Bird redefined music with the highly acclaimed 'Maxinquaye', 'Pre-Millennium Tension' and 'Angels With Dirty Faces' albums. You see, she was that voice - the voice that trembled and tore through 'Aftermath', that ripped through Public Enemy's 'Black Steel…'. That, people, was Martina.
'Quixotic' is Martin's solo debut set and comes some years after her time with Tricky.
However, time has done nothing to depreciate the appeal of that voice.
Similar to (although sounding nothing like) Bjork, Martina's voice defies categorisation in any conventional sense – this is something more feral, more emotional.
It's too easy to mention the likes of Billie Holiday but also completely unavoidable.
If you need reminding, just run through the opening bars of, say, 'Ponderosa' on 'Maxinquaye'.
In many ways, 'Quixotic' is the album Tricky should have made next. Inspired, disturbing, joyful and growling, this is a set held together with stealth, guile and the kind of healthy self-belief that only comes from thorough understanding and unconfined beauty. You know how you think Bjork must be unaware of just how amazing she can sound? Well, Martina's like that too. Co-production credits here go to Tricky himself, David Holmes and Martina's co-writers, Nick Bird, Steve Crittal and Alex MacGowan whilst string arrangements come from David Arnold. A truly stellar album, 'Quixotic' aims for the stars and travels far beyond.
Full feature on Martina Topley Bird
Buy this album here
Acoustic Alchemy - Radio Contact
Without question, this is the finest Acoustic Alchemy outing since their 1987 smooth-jazz classic.
Back then, the current leader, Greg Carmicheal, co-led the group as a duet with his partner, Nick Webb, who died from cancer in early 1998.
With a new, expanded version of Acoustic Alchemy, Carmichael has significantly retooled the sound of the group as the band return to a more guitar based sound with mellow patterns and light, funky licks throughout.
Win Suzanne Vega signed albums
Buy this album here
Danger Mouse - Jemini
This is the genuine article.
A modern hip hop masterpiece: a fabled mc (Jemini The Gifted One) plus a super-talented new producer (DJ Danger Mouse), with help from a clutch of the greatest innovators in hip-hop history - Organized Konfusion's Prince Poetry, Tha Alkaholiks, The Pharcyde and New York's illest J-Zone.
Jemini's fifteen minutes of fame came in 1995 when his 'Brooklyn Kids' 12" blew up and his reputation as a live performer was getting out of control with him at the center The Lyricist Lounge.
On 'Ghetto Pop Life' Danger Mouse takes it back to '95, the end of the last golden era of rap, chopping funk, classic rock and country to make danceable boom-bap beats with a quirky edge - think Prince Paul or Pete Rock.
Jemini flips rhymes in two voices (hence the name) and with an unmistakable flow he weighs up the ethics of drug consumption, dissects his position as a Black American in the era of Bush imperialism and of course spends plenty of time explaining why he's so sick on the mic. 'Ghetto Pop Life' stands up a cultural snapshot of life in 2003 and as a fresh party record with a summertime feel and a sense of humour.
Buy Ibiza Club tickets
Buy this album here
Fallen To - Which Side Of The Line: 2cd
Since the release of their critically acclaimed debut album 'The Mark', Fallen To have gone from strength to strength. Their debut single, the muscular and groove-led 'No Allies', quickly sold out it's initial pressing after the video stormed it's way across MTV2 and KerrangTV. Indeed the clip was in MTV2's Most Wanted Chart for THREE MONTHS, reaching the coveted number one slot for a jawdropping 10 consecutive days. How many new bands can lay claim to that kind of achievement? Now Fallen To release a double CD mini album, 'Which Side of the Line'. Each CD has a very different feel, proving that there are many sides to the music they write and perform.
Buy this album here
Also released this week
John Williams - Gt Hits 1969-1999: 2cd
Buy this album here
For this week's albums, read on!
Sinead Quinn - Ready To Run (pictured above)
In a music world dominated by pumped up pop princesses, Sinéad Quinn is refreshingly real and the perfect antidote to some of the more vacuous divas of recent times.
Strong, self-assured, and unfazed by fame, she is not about to compromise herself for anyone, and won't be sticking to the rules in her pursuit for chart success.
23 year-old Sinéad came to the public's attention on a grand scale when she appeared in last year's massive BBC hit series, Fame Academy. Gutsy and gorgeous, she's the girl the guys fell in love with and the girls wanted to be like. Sinead fast became Northern Ireland's leading lady and has been nicknamed 'The Mighty Quinn' by press. So it was no surprise when she quickly established a huge fan base, winning everyone over with her laid back quirkiness and breathtaking, crystal clear voice.
She also became something of a role model along the way.
Never backward about coming forwards, Sinead is always prepared to stand up for what she believes in.
Her music showcases her headstrong attitude, packs a strong emotional punch, and is delivered by Sinead's trademark sexy Irish humour. Includes the singles 'Can't Break Down' and 'What You Need Is'.
Nitin Sawnhey - Human
Just when you thought he'd reached his creative peak with the "album of 2001" - 'Prophesy', Nitin Sawhney has got us dumbfounded again with 'Human'.
From the twangy slide guitar, Bollywood-inspired opener 'The River', to the traditional sub-continental offering of the 'The Boatman', Sawhney has blended in the contributions of Arabic diva Natacha Atlas and the mellow, downtempo vibes of Aqualung on two tracks - 'Eastern Eyes' and 'Falling', and with the uplifting vocals of Reena Bhardwaj throughout, 'Human' creates a pan-Asian hedonistic listening experience.
Michael Buble - Michael Buble
This kid can really swing, that, in a nutshell, sums up the extraordinary appeal of a 25 year-old Vancouver vocalist with a gift for making the some of the greatest songs of all time, entirely his own.
The thirteen tracks of Michael Bublé announce in no uncertain terms the arrival of a major new talent with a flair for infusing familiar and beloved music with a fresh, original and utterly unique sensibility entirely his own.
Dolly Parton - Ultimate Dolly Parton
Who would have guessed that one of twelve children brought up on a farm in Locust Ridge, Tennessee, would have made it onto the Grand Ole Opry by the age of 13?
That would be achievement enough for many, but for Dolly Rebecca Parton, that was just the beginning to one of the greatest careers in contemporary country.
Celebrate this career with this definitive compilation, too many classic tracks to mention, every one a gem.
Manic Street Preachers - Lipstick Traces: A Secret History Of Manic Street Preachers: 2cd
'Lipstick Traces' is a comprehensive collection of B-sides, cover versions, and rarities. A 2 disc set comprising of 18 B-sides and 2 previously unreleased tracks on the first disc with 14 covers version on the second, the album draws on material from the Manics' entire career. The 2 unreleased tracks are 'Forever Delayed' and 'Judge Yourself'.
Covered here is everyone from the Beatles ('Rock 'N' Roll Music'), and Guns N' Roses ('It's So Easy'), to Art Garfunkel ('Bright Eyes') and Burt Bacharach ('Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head').
Sleepy Jackson - Lovers
The Sleepy Jackson are impossible to pin down. Just when you think beautifully-crafted pop songs are the sum of their musical aspirations, along comes a psychedelic burn-out or a country-ish ballad to counter songwriter Luke Steele's pop sensibility.
That diversity has been the secret of The Sleepy Jackson's success so far. As one rave review put it: "Luke Steele's lack of direction IS his direction; gospel to his rare artistic perception''.
Since emergingfrom Perth, Western Australia 18 months ago The Sleepy Jackson have steadily built a fan-base in Australia and Europe on the strength of Steele's broad songwriting palette and his dynamic stage persona (think Jimi Hendrix meets John Lennon).
The band's debut UK release, the self-titled debut album, was rich in artistic motifs, quirky spoken embellishments and acknowledgements of rock 'n' roll greats from The Beatles to Gram Parsons.
Now The Sleepy Jackson present their first album, 'Lovers', and this much anticipated full-length debut merely confirms Steele as an artist of extraordinary depth and songwriting talent.
The album includes two of Steele's finest moments to date, the beautiful George Harrison-esque 'Good Dancers' and the lusciously melodic 'This Day'.
Add to those the garagy stomp of the current single 'Vampire Racecourse' plus the acerbic, gently harmonic 'Acid In My Heart', the psychedelic poetry of 'Apples' and the soulful skirmish of 'Don't You Know' and you have one of the albums of the year.
And Steele is in no doubt that 'Lovers' is just the beginning.
"It's going to get bigger, broader and maybe a bit more screwed up", he says.
'...'Lovers' is an essential purchase, as integral a part of your summer fun activities as kites, frisbees, picnics, beach parties, shandy or sweaty sex with the covers off. Now that's something to "ba ba ba" about. Phoneme-nal' - X-Ray Album Of The Month
'Lovers is a summery album, but it has won the title not through the default route of a few whimsical, waltzing acoustic guitars, though, but by condensing the gamut of feelings that one gets when enjoying the beauty of a sunset when a little tired and spaced out, the hint of sadness that such a perfect day has ended tempered by the sure and certain knowledge that another day just as good awaits. And with a copy of Lovers to hand, then one surely does' - **** Bang
Star Spangles - Bazooka
Formed out of teenage boredom in suburban upstate New York, The Star Spangles followed their hearts to NYC's lower east side, where bound by an almost unhealthy lust for classic Bowery icons the Ramones and the Heartbreakers, as well as past masters like Gene Vincent and Chuck Berry, they crashed on floors and and copped equipment, playing their first gig atop the Gershwin Hotel in 1998 before frontman Ian Wilson fell over, threw up, and passed out cold.
Soon the moptopped foursome with the permanently affixed sneers and suitjackets were playing their gloriously ragged, attitude-charged songs at every rock dive that would have them. But the late-90's NYC that formed them bore little relationship to the city's subsequently trendy rock scene, a development that the Spangles avoided like the plague. Wearing the Carnaby Street-worthy threads they've worn since age 14 but rejecting offers for fashion spreads in glossy magazines, the Star Spangles were stylish but never fashionable.
Recorded by the while the band was in their late teens and finished off in the bedroom of Ramones producer Daniel Rey, 'Bazooka!!!' (that's three exclamation points,), is filled with raw chords and raw nerves, with an eye to flash and grit. 'Which One Of the Two Of Us Is Gonna Burn This House Down' is a sonic mouthful, tipping its hat to the Replacements with a whisky rasp, a timeless hook and a small city's worth of "whoa-oh-oh's". Bratty, sugar-high melodies like 'Stay Away From Me' and 'Angela' imagine a scene where Cheap Trick borrows moves from the Clash and the Heartbreakers can't afford cab fare home. And 'I Live For Speed' is not exactly an amphetamine ode, but is autobiographical nonetheless.
Martina Topley Bird - Quixotic
The name might not be that familiar, but in the mid-90's, with her then partner Tricky, Martina Topley-Bird redefined music with the highly acclaimed 'Maxinquaye', 'Pre-Millennium Tension' and 'Angels With Dirty Faces' albums. You see, she was that voice - the voice that trembled and tore through 'Aftermath', that ripped through Public Enemy's 'Black Steel…'. That, people, was Martina.
'Quixotic' is Martin's solo debut set and comes some years after her time with Tricky.
However, time has done nothing to depreciate the appeal of that voice.
Similar to (although sounding nothing like) Bjork, Martina's voice defies categorisation in any conventional sense – this is something more feral, more emotional.
It's too easy to mention the likes of Billie Holiday but also completely unavoidable.
If you need reminding, just run through the opening bars of, say, 'Ponderosa' on 'Maxinquaye'.
In many ways, 'Quixotic' is the album Tricky should have made next. Inspired, disturbing, joyful and growling, this is a set held together with stealth, guile and the kind of healthy self-belief that only comes from thorough understanding and unconfined beauty. You know how you think Bjork must be unaware of just how amazing she can sound? Well, Martina's like that too. Co-production credits here go to Tricky himself, David Holmes and Martina's co-writers, Nick Bird, Steve Crittal and Alex MacGowan whilst string arrangements come from David Arnold. A truly stellar album, 'Quixotic' aims for the stars and travels far beyond.
Acoustic Alchemy - Radio Contact
Without question, this is the finest Acoustic Alchemy outing since their 1987 smooth-jazz classic.
Back then, the current leader, Greg Carmicheal, co-led the group as a duet with his partner, Nick Webb, who died from cancer in early 1998.
With a new, expanded version of Acoustic Alchemy, Carmichael has significantly retooled the sound of the group as the band return to a more guitar based sound with mellow patterns and light, funky licks throughout.
Danger Mouse - Jemini
This is the genuine article.
A modern hip hop masterpiece: a fabled mc (Jemini The Gifted One) plus a super-talented new producer (DJ Danger Mouse), with help from a clutch of the greatest innovators in hip-hop history - Organized Konfusion's Prince Poetry, Tha Alkaholiks, The Pharcyde and New York's illest J-Zone.
Jemini's fifteen minutes of fame came in 1995 when his 'Brooklyn Kids' 12" blew up and his reputation as a live performer was getting out of control with him at the center The Lyricist Lounge.
On 'Ghetto Pop Life' Danger Mouse takes it back to '95, the end of the last golden era of rap, chopping funk, classic rock and country to make danceable boom-bap beats with a quirky edge - think Prince Paul or Pete Rock.
Jemini flips rhymes in two voices (hence the name) and with an unmistakable flow he weighs up the ethics of drug consumption, dissects his position as a Black American in the era of Bush imperialism and of course spends plenty of time explaining why he's so sick on the mic. 'Ghetto Pop Life' stands up a cultural snapshot of life in 2003 and as a fresh party record with a summertime feel and a sense of humour.
Fallen To - Which Side Of The Line: 2cd
Since the release of their critically acclaimed debut album 'The Mark', Fallen To have gone from strength to strength. Their debut single, the muscular and groove-led 'No Allies', quickly sold out it's initial pressing after the video stormed it's way across MTV2 and KerrangTV. Indeed the clip was in MTV2's Most Wanted Chart for THREE MONTHS, reaching the coveted number one slot for a jawdropping 10 consecutive days. How many new bands can lay claim to that kind of achievement? Now Fallen To release a double CD mini album, 'Which Side of the Line'. Each CD has a very different feel, proving that there are many sides to the music they write and perform.
Also released this week
John Williams - Gt Hits 1969-1999: 2cd
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