RECORDS

Rip It Up, Issue 58, 1 May 1982, Page 18

RECORDS

Nick Lowe Nick the Knife F Beat After a lengthy absence Nick Lowe has returned with, uh, another Nick Lowe album. He's long since left his greasy, legendary Brinsley Schwarz days behind, what with being photographed talking to Andy Williams and marrying Carlene Carter. As punk emerged he showed that he still had a few picture cards up his sleeve, namely 'So It Goes', 'Heart of the City' and 'I Knew the Bride' even though his solo albums, Jesus of Cool and Labour of Lust, didn't exactly change the course of rock 'n'roll. Anyway Lowe is the dab hand at stealing other peoples' ideas and incorporating them into his own unpretentious schemes. Nick the Knife continues this habit in its predictable and stolid balance of Lowe ballads and rote rock'n’roll. 'Stick It Where The Sun Don't Shine' is Nick trying to be witty and at the same time steals a Creedence Clearwater riff. 'My Heart Hurts' is 'Sweet Jane' under Lowe surgery and reggae and calypso make ineffectual appearances in the form of Heart' and 'One's Too Many'. Using styles to write songs. Nick the Knife is, at best, Nick . the Average. Lowe is trying to survive on past cheek and present craftsmanship, and that ain't enough. George Kay The Legendary Taj Mahal CBS Like his onetime guitar player Ry Cooder. Taj Mahal is a living repository of the musical heritage

of the Americas. This latest compilation album reflects the breadth of his interests from the buck dancing swing of Mississippi John Hurt's 'Candy Man' through Elmore James's .'Dust My Broom' and the Stax soul of 'You Don't Miss Your Water' to a Caribbean update of Chuck Berry's 'Brown Eyed Handsome Man', the latter reflecting Mahal's growing fascination with his own West Indian heritage. • All the music (15 songs) derives from Mahal's time with CBS - he went to Warner Bros a few years ago - probably his most creative time. Oddly, the album ignores his debut album (where Ryland P. Cooder played both, guitar and mandolin), but perhaps the highoctane raunch of that record would have jarred with the more insinuating sounds of this collection. CBS must be congratulated on the choice of material, which does great credit to Taj Mahal. The only quibble is the lack of information on recording dates and sidemen. While such information does veer towards the academic, one feels the tone of the "legendary artists" series would have justified • its inclusion. Ken Williams The Secret Policeman's Other Ball The Comedy/The Music Island Two live recordings taken from the Amnesty International fundraiser held in London last year. The comedy album features the current who's who of British humour so the uneven standard of performance is disappointing. Some skits admittedly suffer from lack of visuals yet many are simply flabby reruns of stuff we've heard before (eg 'Python', 'Not the

News', Jasper Carrott's gags from local insurance salesmen.) Worse still, some of the funnies simply aren't: John Wells/ Neil Innes and Chris Langham barely raise a smile. Billy Connolly feebly imitates farting. . Still, I'll probably keep it for Cleese's . amazing introduction; Rowan Atkinson's beautifully delivered xenophobia and probably the Alan Bennett and Alexei Sayle bits. The music album is also a mixed bag but with more pleasant surprises. Sting's solo spot, if not as stunning as Pete Townshend's at the previous Ball, presents interesting versions of his first two Police singles. (And he later leads a massed band through a reggaematic rendition of Dylan's 'I Shall Be Released'.) Phil Collins also sounds strong solo but Bob Geldof suffers without his Rats. Donovan remains /timewarped. The real standouts come from Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton. Old farts they may be but certainly not boring when pushed along by a very fine pickup band. Beck delivers a beautiful Stevie Wonder instrumental then Clapton leads on two blues warhorses that haven't ? kicked so strongly in years. So there.you are, two albums for Amnesty; neither essential but with the music giving better returns. Then again, you could always send a donation. Peter Thomson ; Durutti Column The Return of the Durutti Column Factory . Factory has made its name from bands, who've * communicated bleakness and confrontation, but on their books ever since their outset has been the Durutti Column, a band of one, guitarist Vini Reilly. The Return of the Durutti Column, despite its title, is the first

DC album, released originally in Britain in October 1979, and in some ways it can be regarded as an escape route from the views of Joy Division, A Certain Ratio and New Order. Assisted only occasionally,by bass and drums, Reilly's forte is simplicity; this is no Steve Howe-meets-Jonn McLaughlin-at-Fred Frith's-place outing. The music is a soothing, tuneful, purely instrumental anaesthetic; discordancy seldom gets a look in. The tracks on Side One, 'Sketch For Summer', Requiem For A Father' and 'Katharine' tend to be too amorphous, waterfalls of notes, pleasant and refreshing but lacking direction. 'Conduct', which closes the first side, 'Beginning', 'Sketch For Winter' and 'ln 'D' ' are more successful. The cadences remain reflective and gentle but the melodic structures are stronger and more defined giving the songs a firmer purpose. Don't dismiss DC as mere wallpaper music. It may be easy listening but it's never bland and it's the ideal antidote for these troubled times. George Kay