Records

Rip It Up, Issue 87, 1 October 1984, Page 20

Records

Hunters and Collectors The Jaws Of Life White Label Crisis Almost by defintion crisis leaves in its aftermath a change in perspective, it makes those involved think about themselves. The basis of this record lies in the incident related in the opening song '42 Wheels! the time when a truck driver who had been refused service at an Alice Springs hotel turned his truck into a weapon and drove it into the pub, killing and injuring patrons Hunters' singer Mark Seymour claimed in an interview here last year that that incident affected all Australians. That it and several other incidents around the same time shook up Australian culture. Hunters and Collectors have been through their share of crisis too. An abortive trip to England, awful relations with Virgin UK and then, on their return to Australia, the cold shoulder from a fickle Melbourne public were enough to drive percussionist Greg Perano and guitarist Martin Lubran to leave the band. Out the other side of that experience the remaining Hunters seem stronger and wiser The indigenous culture mapped out on this album is one of beer guts, suburbs, racing and pubs; a hell of a lot closer to the mark than shaky notions of the Urban Tribe were.

Although this album was again recorded at Conny Plank's studio

Hunters and Collectors in West Germany it doesn't have the thunderclap sturm und drang that The Fireman's Curse got a little twisted up in. Seymour's voice is the lead instrument and the horn section gets space to display some imagination. The undercurrent is R&B rather than funk there’s even a good cover of Ray Charles' 'I Believe’.

The pace is fairly evenly divided between rhthmic growls like 42 Wheels' and 'Betty's Worry Or the Slab' and disarmingly successful ballads like the aching 'Hayley’s Doorstep! Nowhere does the band appear po-faced they apparently want to be considered a bunch of blokes these days and they pretty much succeed. In Seymour’s phrasing there's more than a hint of humour and a healthy quantity of that humour is turned back in on himself. Hunters and Collectors have produced a few great songs in the

past but the albums have never worked as a whole. Jaws Of Life may well be the first Hunters and Collectors album you can listen to right through. Russell Brown Bunny Wailer Roots Radies Rockers Reggae Third Degree Peter Tosh Captured Live EMI The two surviving ex-Wailers have chosen widely divergent paths, befitting their personalities and convictions Wailer the Mystic, Tosh the Militant. If Marley was the Paul McCartney of reggae, Tosh was Lennon and Wailer was Harrison.

The thing about Bunny Wailer, aka Neville Livingstone, is that he is such an engaging songwriter and a captivating singer, managing to offset his personal

reticence. He last played live nearly two years ago (the magnificent Live LP), refuses to tour outside Jamaica and lives in the hills tending his farm. When he goes into a recording studio, he seldom fails to produce a little magic. It's difficult to date these tracks. Many are familiar riddims (the title track was pinched a few years back by Stiff Little Fingers, and the track ‘Rockers’ was in the movie of the same name). -Either it’s a collection of previously unreleased material outside of JA, or he's remade some old favourites. Whatever, it all sounds irie, from the biblical ‘Cease Fire' to the mellow party-time ‘Whirly Girly'. Essential buying, and a third big thanks to Virgin for another fine release.

Tosh seems to want to have a buck each way with his recorded output. I continue to sense that he remixes bland crossovers for consumption in Babylon. Having heard a bootleg of his 1983 gig in Swaziland, this album, recorded at LA's Greek Theatre, sounds utterly pallid. The rhythm section barely asserts itself, Tosh doesn't seem to be trying. It’s as though he’s trying to openly display his contempt for a Babylonian audience. In Africa, he was fearsome. It would help too, if he shed his addiction to synthesisers and returned to a rootsier sound. Duncan Campbell Bil Derine Split Seconds Full Moon The front cover of Bill Direen’s second album reads "bilderine’’; sounding like some kind of gas or patented solvent. A single substance and no matter how many guises Bill Direen may take he’s definitely a single substance.

Where last year's Beatin Hearts was a collection of songs stretching back six or more years recorded in a few weeks in Auckland, Split Seconds is a compilation of original recordings and, naturally, it hasn't the cohesion of mood of its predecessor. Even in its moments of abandon there was a spareness about Beatin Hearts but Direen seems to have deliberately announced that this record will be different by placing the noisy studio jam ‘Baby Come Back’ (complete with backwards vocals at the end) first up. The band sounds like it's having fun again on 'Love In the Retail Trade’ and then suddenly we're plunged into 'Skulls’, a beautiful but hard-edged song which seems to be from the same period as the near-chamber music of the Soloman's Ball ER 'Just Like All the Rest’ is Direen the comic actor, funny voices and a hint of sadness. It pales, however, in comparison to a remixed version of the shimmering ‘Girl At Night', which blends words and music into a kind of descriptive poem; reminding us every now and then that she’s "just a girl at night”. 'Avenue' isn’t as notable but ‘lnside’ finishes the side with some tender singing. It might be expected that a collection of recordings taken from practice sessions and home or small studio recording would be plagued with sound problems but the only offender here is the rocky 'Remember Breaking Up; where the vocals are strained and the song sounds a little the same way. Blenheim Song No. 28' has appeared before on last year's Krypton Hits tape and it’s a delightful Direen, ducking ih and out of echoes probably the kind of thing that Morrissey of the' Smiths wishes he was one tenth

capable of. 'Crossword; with its succession of down/up/across puns, might have been a rather deliberate attempt at a pop-rock song were it not for the exuberance of the playing, especially the keyboards, which seem to be Allen Meek’s (the sleeve isn't exactly forthcoming with details, but Meek has added to many a Direen song).

But it's ‘Circle Of Blood' that begins the album’s superb finishing flourish. The singing as it reaches its climax is some of the most affecting since Son Of Kronos' "You don't want it, give it back / Sit and watch the walls collapse / You don’t wanna lose your mind." ‘The Spell’ is similarly occultish, although this time haunting rather than disturbing. ‘Surprise' and 'Darling' close the record and they seem to be the products of the recent collaboration with Alec Bathgate. The former is a quiet, guileless (and guilelessness hasn’t exactly been a dominant trait for Direen) love song that sounds like something a teenager might write. It's short and sweet and I can’t think of many people who could have gotten away with it. ‘Darling’ is full of wry.humour, both in word and sound, with its neat lumpy two-chord rhythm guitar and frivolous rhyme schemes. A good way to end the record.

So Split Seconds is a quite different, perhaps harder to take in at first, record than Beatin Hearts, but equally satisfying. And that’s very satisfying. This is simply one of the best albums to be released this year and if you haunt the import bins in preference to claiming local music like this then you're a fool. But that’s your choice; isn’t it?

Russell Brown

Iggy Pop Choice Cuts RCA ' Firstly, Choice : Cuts -'is*! a marvellous title for an Iggy Pop compilation. It conjures up visions of James Jewel Osterburg gyrating over stained stages, twisting his wonderfully wasted torso into absurd contortions as blood drips from a fresh wound on to the dazed masses below. So what do you get for a cover? A photo of a record wrapped in brown paper with a portion ripped back revealing that the disc is gold. The torn tab reads “featuring China Girl" Now as far as I know Iggy's never had a gold record anywhere so itls obviously alluding to what’s-his-face. Aha, the track listing confirms it. Side One, the craziest from The Idiot, Side Two, Lust For Life's liveliest. Both 1976-77 collaborations with David Bowie and Pop’s only albums for RCA. Well excuse my manner darlings but it all seems so terribly supermarkets . If it's a bid to introduce Iggy to the mainstream by cashing in on Bowie's success (which, of course, it is) then it seems an extremely belated one considering it was last year that ’China Girl’ scored. It’s also cheapening. Iggy, fresh from the asylum, lends an imbalance to 'China Girl' that Bowie, despite his undisputable cleverness, could never convincingly achieve. Among the gems on this album it stands as average anything up a notch ('Lust For Life’, 'Funtime’, ‘The Passenger’) enters the sublime. It’s easy to resent the marketing

of the man by way of association

Maybe that’s too idealistic. Shayne Carter

The Fixx Phantoms MCA The Fixx have an image identity problem. They came in wearing expensive haircuts when the Blitz brigade was long since passe. So marketeers tried to place them among the silly-synth set, except that Fixx usually lead with their guitar. Then their first single (to reach this country anyway) 'Saved By Zero', was far too mild for the long grey raincoat and -teenage angst brigade 'One Thing Leads To Another’ and the band was without an identifiable audience. Now there’s a new album and the problem remains. Someone selected Are We Ourselves’ as the single. And while it’s by no means the best track available it does sound distinctly Police-ish (hence its selection?). -The pity is that, whereas last year’s album boasted little more than the singles and some potential, Phantoms shows a band strong and confident in its identity. Their sound is primarily characterised by Cy Cumin’s vocals and by the skilful guitar work of Jamie West-Oram. The fact that all four members collaborate in the writing may account for both the variety and yet overall distinctiveness of the material. This is a straightforward pop band yet one that commands an impressive range of rhythm and tempo. Some numbers are immediately appealing, (‘Woman On A Train' for example) while others require several hearings. Ultimately though, the majority of these tracks contain something to recommend them.

So The Fixx should neither need nor want comparisons with such pop major leaguers as Police. The Fixx may still be only second division contenders but Phantoms suggests the likelihood of promotion. Peter Thomson

John Cale Caribbean Sunset Festival “Lou’s had his ’Walk On the Wild Side’. I want my 'Walk On the Wild Side’.

So spake John Cale recently when discussing this, his ninth solo album. Certainly it’s Cale providing an explanation for the orthodoxy of Caribbean Sunset. What he misses is that in his search for the ever-elusive hit he’s produced an album of exceptional dullness. Five of the nine tracks are cowritten with guitarist Dave Young. It's the first time Cale has shared credits since the Velvet Underground and on the strength of this, hopefully the last. Each of the songs, ranging from the Velvet copyist putdown 'Praetorian Underground’ to the truly horrendous The Hunt’ can be unflinchingly filed under flop. And Young leads a band so colourless they border on invisibility.

On the rare occasions when Cale does get fired up, as on 'Magazines’, the band sounds almost embarrassed by his passion. Describing them as unsympathetic would be a little like labelling Natassja Kinski’s looks as "pleasant”. But it’s no use hammering the tools when the craftsman is making such a mess of the job as with Caribbean Sunset. Cale is operating within purposefully narrowed horizons. What he obviously doesn't realise is that this time he’s played it safe to the point of maddening mediocrity. Shayne Carter

Coconut Rough Mushroom Heaven knows what might have happened if Andrew Snoid had chosen to stay with one-time local greats Pop Mechanix. Paul Scott wrote simple yet very effective songs which should have been heard by a much wider audience. Well, things didn’t go exactly as planned and Snoid left to join the Swingers who, in turn, had the unquestionable songwriting talents of Phil Judd to call on. Ultimately and inevitably, both bands folded in Australia and Snoid returned here.

After a brief recess he began to get the basis of Coconut Rough together and things gelled quickly. Initial reaction was over the top (as they say) but it soon became apparent that behind the impressive exterior was a songwriting interior of varying strengths and qualities. That is to say both Snoid and ace guitarist Mark Bell write okay tunes but neither is in the class of Judd or Scott.

Naturally the standard of musicianship is particularly high, with keyboardist Stuart Pearce shining throughout, but nothing here is exceptional. Perhaps the most compelling piece of music is Judd’s ’Magic Ijlour’, where Snoid proves that he can sing quite well. At this stage it must' be said that none of the other songs are

helped by David Marrett’s rather inoffensive and weak production. But don’t get me wrong, this album its few moments. For instance, 'Bone China’ and 'As Good As It Gets’ are two of Snoid’s better efforts to date, in fact the latter was always superior to the ad jingle mentality of ’Sierra Leone’. The crunch, though, comes on Side Two, where only Bell’s haunting 'Everything Or Nothing’ saves it from being a total disappointment. ‘Tango (It Takes Two)' and 'Once In A While’ are just plain lousy. The new, slimline Coconut Rough that is playing live at the moment is an entirely different proposition to the band that made this record. Already they have dispensed with some of the material presented here and replaced it with seemingly stronger songs which suggests that they rushed into doing this album. Alister Cain

The Brian Smith Quartet Southern Excursion Ode If guys this good blew in from, say, New York we'd queue up to pay big bucks for their one-off concert. As it is I’ve been used to catching them mid-week in a pub without even paying cover charge. Plentiful seating too. While this excellent group has so

far attracted only a very small live following, Southern Excursion deserves to rectify things. Smith and co play neo-bop mainstream jazz, strong and sinewy with no concession to pop or funk crossover. Which is not to suggest that this album’s inaccessible. On the contrary, each of the seven pieces here six original, one Ellington is as attractive as it’s honest.

The rhythm team of Frank Gibson and Billy Kristian pulsates with drive and energy. Both are superb craftsmen of course, and if in times past each has sometimes indulged in overplaying, here they are both robust and sympathetic. Pianist Geoff Castle is also in top form. From the sensitive comping on a ballad like ’Marianne’ to the crackling fireworks of 'One For Monk' (both his own pieces) Castle is as impressively fluent as I've heard since his arrival here from England. And then there is Brian Smith. Given his striking talent and exemplary pedigree overseas, New Zealand is damned lucky he came back. There’s many a local saxophonist would kill just for Smith’s tone and technique, let alone his sheer musicality. Whether on tenor or soprano Smith always blows such satisfying solos and this album contains some corkers. (There’s also one track featuring his flute.)

When considering local music we reviewers often lean toward generosity. Encouragement is important after all. This album needs no special pleading however. Southern Excursion is so good it evokes pride, in a way similar to that felt for our Olympians. If they only gave gold medals for music. - Peter Thomson

Primitive Art Group Five Tread Drop Down

Braille You name the noise; it's here and they fit together to form a curious whole. Primitive Art Group’s two EP set works on two layers the first layer one of improvisational/experimental jazz for the fun of it, but underneath an inventive, intuitive understanding of their art/craft. The overall feeling of these records is one of selfdetermination and accomplishment, but not without a sense of humour ('Troubles With Maurice’, ‘The Big R 1), without which all would be lost.

It's not true that you need a university education and a beard to listen to jazz (and its offshoots) and it seems a great pity that Primitive Art Group’s audience will probably limit itself. For those who know little about free jazz, Primitive Art Group are certainly worthy of a listen. Fiona Rae

Various Artists 20 Reggae Classics (Music World) Music World have a most intri guing back catalogue of 60s reggae. Having reissued two great Maytals albums and some of the best Trojan collections, they now assemble the original versions of a host of popular remakes. Just about every track will be familiar, but how nice to hear the way they started out. Go for authenticity every time. DC Eurythmics In The Garden (RCA) An almost inevitable reissue, I suppose. The first LP Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart made after the split of the Tourists. They surprised everyone, first by opting to record in Conny PlankS Cologne Studio, then by producing what was to become a platinum sound. Name checks here include Robert Gorl and Holger Czukay. The sound is eerie, vaguely psychedelic, but the direction is clear with hindsight. More than just a curi-

osity. DC Michael Schenker Group Rock Will Never Die (Chrysalis)

01' Sour-kraut’s done well to keep himself active during a four year solo career in which his band (a continually changing lineup of heavy rock mercenaries) has churned out four increasingly unremarkable studio albums. The

highpoints have obviously been the live performances and following the excellent One Night At Budokan comes this second live album, recorded in London. Thought the are still pretty dull (intros and outros for guitar solos) they’re considerably peppier than the studio versions and SchenkerS guitar playing is as hot as ever. For an altogether headier mixture, however, I'd recommend holding out for Gal Moore’s live album. due soon. CC

Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels Greatest Hits (RCA) A good compilation of Mitch Ryder’s 60s hits, with no serious ommissions. Ryder's rasping vocals backed by the power of the Wheels make this some of the most satisfying white R&B of the period and even if the recording sounds dated the excitement is here. Far superior to his limp comeback albums. One irritating aspect is the failure to include a track listing on the cover. Nevertheless, a must for 60s buffs.DP Jefferson Starship Nuclear Furniture (RCA)

In which former radicals turned AOR stars go through slump, reassess position in rock’s superstructure and emerge successful once again. Nowadays, of course, they're about as revolutionary and menacing as a sponge pudding, but show here they still have an ear for a commercial pop song. A very consistent album, light and

breezy, with Grace Slick still able to send a shiver down your spine with her superb vocals. Old hippies dont die, they just mutate. CC The Idles, Tuesday (Jayrem)

If the Idles aim to be New Zealand’s answer to Duran Duran they're a country mile short. Their songs have a mid-seventies rambling feel; the rhythms plod predictably, the vocal delivery owes more than a little to Graham Parker’s sneer and the guitar lines lack flash. Live the material is more effective than their EP was but the stage patter is awkward and embarrassing. C’mon Idles, be brave and experiment. Rock’n’roll means more than packing ’em in on a one-night stand. DT Alexis Korner

Juvenile Delinquent (Charisma)

This collection of final recordings by Alexis Korner, the "daddy” of British R&B includes one of Pete Frame’s exhaustive rock family trees. It shows clearly what a pivotal figure Korner was and his recent death closes a chapter. Alexis Korner’s crusade for the blues in Britain changed music. His importance to the emerging Rolling Stones and an absurdly long list of others has been documented. That said, it would be nicer to remember Korner for more than this not entirely unpleasant collection of quasifunk, Ralph Steadman’s cover cartoon and the affectionate

tribute of the liner notes notwithstanding, there isn’t enough. KW Clannad, Legend (RCA)

Clannad are not your bona fide traditional Celtic folk minstrels (they've too much contemporary lushness and multi-tracking for that) but anyone who heard their heart-wrenching title song to British TV’s Harry's Game last year will know that they've got soul. Legend is another soundtrack, this time to a film on ’Robin of Sherwood’, and although that sounds like mediaeval pap the music has some delightful moments, namely lush tearful ballads like ’Now Is Here’ and ‘Strange Land’ and strong instrumentals such as ’Together We’ and 'Lady Marian! Leader Paul Brennan tries to claim authorship of these ditties but there isn’t a note here that hasn’t started life in Carolan’s back catalogue. A minor quibble, this is a nice album. GK

One The Juggler Nearly A Sin (RCA)

A band of three to four gypsies tripping through Bowie vocal mannerisms and half-arsed Stones’ riffs. Vocalist Rokko sounds like he’s just discovered Ziggy Stardust, which is not a bad thing, but what is worrying is that the whole album has a smug, obsolete yet semi-hip 70’ texture. They’re not smart enough to be Duran Duran so the next best thing is ripping off somebody else’s decade. I’m worried. GK