Records

Rip It Up, Issue 104, 1 March 1986, Page 20

Records

Al Green He is the Light A&M The first Al Green album to be fully released in New Zealand since 1977's The Belle Album, He is the Light is being widely touted as Al's comeback. Don't you believe it. He's never been away. Since 1979 he’s released a series of purely gospel records and I've never heard one that’s less than good. He is the Light is, of course, also a religious recording, but the excitement surrounding it is that it reunites Al with the producer of his big secular hits, Willie Mitchell. ‘Let’s Stay Together, ‘Tired of Being Alone" and ‘Take Me To The River’ were among the results of this partnership. They made Al Green the’leading male soul singer of the 705.. Praise the Lord, the hoopla is all true. Back are the relaxed, midtempo grooves and the sound of ‘Al’s voice piping high and thin over the low key funk backdrop. Sure, ‘Power’ is a retread of 1972’s ‘Old Time Loving, but with every musical detail this perfectly placed itis, as Al himself would agree, a song reborn. z

The relaxed, happy and convinced persona that it projected throughout this record makes Side Two particularly the most seamless listening I've heard in some while. Performed with this much conviction the old style sounds not dated but classic. Like sitting on your favourite comfy sofa. Alastair Dougal Various Artists » Popular Roots Virgin Frankly, if | had to choose between buying lunch and buying this record, I'd go hungry. For one thing, self-denial is good for the soul. For another, this record does the soul an even bigger

favour. : - Roots Rock Reggae. Without it, punks would not have had nearly so much fun, nor would they have emerged with so many diamonds amongst the dogshit. Without it, rappers would have been still-born, ditto scratch mix and dance version producers. Without it, there’d be a lot more teenage racists. -The 'Roots Rock Reggae Renaissance continues, as the big labels start picking up the music again. EMI did it last month, releasing the Melody Makers' sparkler, Play The Game Right. Virgin already had the drop on the with Mutabaruka, Maxi Priest and Judy Mowatt, and now it plays dirty with a 24-track double which would have given the Sugar Minott compilation a run for its money, had | heard it in time. : Virgin has a wondrous back catalogue of reggae, from its now-defunct Front Line label. Now it’s also picked up Treasure Isle, founded by Duke Reid, one of the original studio champions, and Gregory llsaacs’ African Museum. . Put on your skanking shoes, then, for U-Roy’s ‘Your Ace From Space’, step right to Tapper Zukie’s ‘M.P.L.A.’, smile to Culture’s ‘Never Get Weary’, bend down low for Gregory’'s ‘Universal Tribulation’, and look well dread for Black Uhuru'’s ‘Plastic Smile’. And there’'s more, my friend, where that came from. intelligent selection, marvel-

lously tacky cover, all the right sentiments. Buy, buy, buy ... Duncan Campbell Various Artists ZTT Sampled . ‘ ZTT ; Anne Pigalle : Everything Could Be So Perfect : ZiT For a label so obsessed by remixes, versions and limited editions, Zang Tum Tum Sampled's offerings seem rather lacking. Of 12 tracks, eight are available either on general release or on import singles, and for ZTT, that’s poor going. But this is an introduction, and, like all social introductions, one hears the good and commonplace first. Propaganda and The Art Of Noise, unsurprisingly, carry the torch. Claudia Brucken turns.in a smooth and earnest version of the Velvet's. ‘Femme Fatale, a neat compliment to A Secret Wish's arrogant and capable Josef K cover. The übiquitous John McGeoch (ex-Banshees, Magazine) guests for guitar for ‘P-Machinery, but having so faithfully scoured the Propaganda catalogue, itd be nice to hear some new originals. Maybe one day. : - The Art Of Noise’s ‘Egypt’ is short but brilliant — “We decided that the Art Of Noise should look like a spanner, because a spanner is intrinsically more interesting than the lead singer from Tears For Fears.” Closing is a quick variation on ‘Close To The Edit’ and ‘A Time For Fear, one of the lesser tracks off their Who's Afraid Of — album. Satisfactory. ; - Remember Frankie Goes To Hollywood? A live version of ‘Born To Run’ warns one not to Relax, that the lads may not be far away at all. A previously-unreleased song ‘Disneyland’ isn't, you know, grrrrreat, but it'll do. Just. Anne Pigalle is responsible for several things, not least of which being the apparent reinstatement of the word chanteuse in the English language. She is also culpable for the presence of ‘lntermis-

sion’ and ‘Looking For Love’ on this sampler, both of which should warm your tastes nicely for the album'’s full-on Colétte burlesque. Everything Could Be So Perfect breaks surface with the affrontery of the Pogues, a spotless and lovable piece of glace drama. Should one snigger or swoon? Ah, we modern idealists can do both at the same time. ‘A Crack in the Ocean’ is genuinely sad, and the single ‘Hey Stranger’ still wonderful. : As imports, both ZTT Sampled and Everything Could Be So Perfect retail for around $15.99 and | know which-one I'd prefer. Next week, we'll be talking to Pigalle, Propaganda and the Noise, and not listening to anybody else (... except Tom Waits). G'night. Chad Taylor Ruben Blades 3 y Seis del Solar Escenas (Scenes) Elektra Salsa is a sound born in New York in the 70s, a mixture of different Spanish Carribean dance music and jazz. It attracted some of the best all-time great musicians like Tito Puente, Jonny Pacheco and singers like Celia Cruz ex Sonora Matancera, who wanted to develop Latin music into a higher art form, but still remaining popular. Escenas is Salsa’s most eloquent lyricist, Ruben Blades, at his best. This album is far better than his last Buscando America where the lyrics seem to take .over and get a bit too heavy. This. record is a nice balance of his music and some very good social commentary writing, all translated into English by Blades himself. Songs like ‘Cuentas del Alma’, ‘Tierra Dura (Ethiopia)’ and ‘Sorpresas’, a sequel to his most famous song ‘Pedro Navaja’, are sure hits. If you've never been turned on to Salsa, this is a great introduction to it, but don’t stop there, there’s a lot more great things to discover in the Latin beat. Charo Oquet