| CD Reviews Roisin Murphy: Ruby
Blue
By Amanda Diamond
Former Moloko front-woman Roisin Murphy has made an experimental comeback
in her new solo album Ruby Blue.
But fans of Moloko who might be looking for something similar from Roisin
will be disappointed.
For Ruby Blue is an altogether different bag.
Her first foray as a solo artist is a somewhat eclectic mix of thumping
percussion peppered with synthesised sounds fused together in a multitude
of unconventional ways.
If it’s a crime to be too experimental with an album then this is it.
Ultimately, it smacks of trying to be too clever for one’s own good.
Ruby Blue — although it possesses some jazz, blues and soul elements
— has just too much of a whiff of 1980s cheese for my liking.
And Roisin’s collaboration with Mathew Herbert — who produced the album
— has only meant that weird sounds like banging a notebook on a microphone
and later mixed into a track adds to an overall confused sound.
But on the plus side Roisin’s low and soulful inimitable voice adds a
nice flavour to the album.
Often her voice appears to be used as another instrument adding depth
and interest to the experimental sounds.
The album doesn’t really stick to a genre and moves sporadically from
dance, trance and pop to blues, jazz and soul.
For some artists this can add a quirky and interesting dimension to the
finished product — not in this case.
Roisin has said she “hasn’t really got a clue why she has made with this
album”. And frankly, neither do I.
Ruby Blue is released on June 6 by Echo Records
Bad Machines: Telling Lies
By Amanda Diamond
If Indie-electro-pop is your thing then this album is definitely for
you.
A brilliant and lively offering from music novices The Bad Machines,
Telling Lies is a bonanza of rock guitars shot through with chilled melodies.
Michelle Margherita’s silvery vocal chords deliver the astute lyrics
while the other half of the outfit — Paul Scott — grinds the guitar and
the keyboards.
Together they provide a mixture of indie guitar riffs with a splattering
of rock and pop sealed in an electro-beat wrapping.
Michelle’s sublimely engaging vocal and Paul’s shift between guitar and
keyboards make for an album of catchy tunes easy on the ear and ready to
be put on repeat.
The lyrics — of love and hate, broken promises and lovers’ tiffs — are
given a new dimension when you know the duo used to be a couple.
Words that are bitter sweet — and just plain bitter — resonate through
synthesised beats and strapping guitar cords.
The bold rock anthem of the first track — Two Heads — is cooled down
by the time the track three ballad Does It Ever Really Happen starts to
play. Then the tempo goes through the roof again by track five.
The balance of lively rock with trance-ballads gives the album a perfect
equilibrium.
Think of Dubstar mixed with Lush and perhaps a little Portishead thrown
in for good measure — and that is just a flavour of The Bad Machine’s Telling
Lies.
Their sound draws the listener in immediately and although there are
a couple of dud tracks on the album most are quality tunes that ought to
be played often and at high volume.
Telling Lies is released on May 23 by independent label Lojinx.
The Levellers: Truth And Lies
By Jon Myles
Interesting fact: The Levellers were the first band since Fairport Convention
in the 1970s to have their own weekend music festival. Reason to be grateful:
They have very little else in common with Fairport Convention.
Indeed, it could be said they have precious little in common with any
other group around at the moment. But eight albums into their career they
are still doing it their own way — and very good it sounds too.
Fast, spiky and totally committed — Truth And Lies has already spawned
the excellent single Make U Happy and has a host of other crowd pleasers
up its sleeve in songs such as Last man Alive and What A Beautiful Day.
Okay, it won’t change your world — but it should make you happy.
Various Artistes: Max Speed
By Phil Savva
This double-CD collection brings you a massive 38 full-on dance tunes
from the past decade or so that is guaranteed to have you partying till
dawn and beyond.
Whether it’s your own house party of you’re just getting ready to go
out and ‘large it’ this will jack up the adrenaline and get you in the mood
to ‘par-tee’.
With a number of dancefloor heavy-hitters featuring here it’s difficult
to find a duff track.
Fatboy Slim (Right Here Right Now), The Chemical Brothers (Hey Boy Hey
Girl), Heaven 17 (Temptation) vie for attention with the Ibiza classics
such as Energy 52’s Cafe Del Mar, Binary Finary’s 1999 and Fragma’s Toca’s
Miracle.
If you searching for the ‘oldies but goldies’ then you need look no further
than Spiller’s Groovejet, K-Klass’s Rhythm Is A Mystery and Underworld’s
Born Slippy.
And just to keep you right up-to-date there are chart hits from The Lovefreekz
(Shine), Reflekt (Need To Feel Loved), Shapeshifters (Back To Basics), Tiesto
(Adagio For Strings) and the Stonebridge classic Put ’Em High.
Guaranteed to give you the ‘feel good’ factor. Go get it!
|
