Albums

Rip It Up, Issue 154, 1 May 1990, Page 21

Albums

JEAN-PAUL SARTRE EXPERIENCE The Size of Food (Flying Nun) Jean-Paul Sartre Experience aim high. They want to ensnare some big space, capture the paradox of a wide vista within the claustrophobic confines of a darkened room. They are enigmatic, pretty damm unique. This band has had two creative peaks in their seven-odd year career. The first was a debut EP for Flying Nun which saw the band scraping colours away from a spacious, unnaturally broad

canvas. The second is this, the late 1988 recording of The Size of Food. Bass player David Yetton returned from brief exile in the northern

hemisphere in early 1988, and by the time that JPS gotto recording this LP at Wellington's Writhe studio, the band were grappling with ideas for a new sound within an already established set of songs. Which means that these songs were recorded at just the right time. Though not as vast a stylistic sweep as the Love Songs album, The Size of Food is nevertheless an eclectic grab-bag, a lot more angular than the

almost-homogenous blast of JPS Experience sets that I've witnessed in recenttimes.

The good thing is, JPS Experience don'tturn this album into anything too obvious. Like the first EP, its edginess keeps the listener interested. The easy ways out are poppy'lnside and Out', Chilton-y'Shadows' and bombast-y 'Get My Point'. The only thing I leave is Window' (though the wild sound

discrepencies between all three formats from brassy CD to murkey vinyl

, ought to be cause for some concern). That just leaves you to struggle with the existential dilemma of'Slip'and vertiginous buzz of'Thrills'. Have fun. PAULMcKESSAR THE BATS Law of Things (Flying Nun) The new deal from Flying Nun has been kicked off with a couple of damm good IPs, and if these rustic popsters and those moody young lads from the JPS Experience share not too much besides a Christchurch heritage, a Wellington recording studio, an album title with "of" in the middle of it and an awful long delay in getting released, that must be a great thing. Maybe people will even get tired of Flying Nun cliches. > . i ‘ Given all that, the Bats are not big on surprises. They're pretty solid in ; defence and forward movements are always fluidly wrapped around Scott and Woodward's guitars, propelled from the back by the much-praised in Oz, Grant-Kean rhythm section. But on record, you're not gonna find any gaps through which to slip into the Bat's world. Next time I really want to see them with a producer. What Law of Things has is a similar satisfying glow to that of the last Bats LP Daddy's High way where songs drift or scoot along, quickly settling into a feel and developing an idea within the three minute pop song format. And you can't deny the quality of the best tracks here: 'Mastery', 'Cliff Edge', 'Smoking Her Wings' and 'Ten To One'. , I like the Bats and I like their records. This, like Daddy's Highway, deserves to be popular and if there should be room for any Flying Nun band on yer radio it is the Bats. Maybe one day someone out there in radio-land will wake up and smell what's left of the coffee. Meanwhile, slurp up and enjoy. PAULMcKESSAR

BAILTER SPACE Thermos (Flying Nun) Bailter Space's new album is best played very loud indeed, yet there's not a noisy bone in its imposing body. It sounds like the music of a single living organism, drawing breath in as the guitar spirals skywards, exhaling occasionally through resonant major chords. The illusion is only undone by John Halvorsen and Brent McLachlan's rhythmic core which is more monumental than skeletal, too impregnably metallic for any mortal creature. Contradictions like these give Bailter Space the elusiveness that makes them great, the sense of mystery that suggests there's more Chrome in them than Clean, former line-ups notwithstanding. This has been evident in all the band's record sleeves — machinescapes which look familiar but due to angles or perspective are unrecognisable. It's most apparent, though, in Alister Parker's brilliant lyric writing. He knows that as more is

explained the number of implications of each word is reduced. Ashe refuses to kill nuances of meaning with unnecessary information every repeated phrase is steeped in significance. Thermos may not paralyse with instant wonder as Bailter Space do live but it fulfils its intentions as successfully as it possibly could and that mean's it's < forty minutes of indispensable sound. MATTHEW PUBLIC ENEMY Fear Of A Black Planet (Def Jam) Chuck D, always the rebel without a pause, articulates on the problems of the Afrocentric point of view. Once again the themes of power, struggle, . media exploitation, self-knowledge, education and history get the hardcore groove treatment. Twenty jam-packed tracks that are flat out funky, not just a collection of samples but self-contained units of noise put together by the Bomb Squad: Shocklee, Ryder and Sadler. There's

everything here, the fast beats to the rhyme of 'Power To the People' and 'Brother's Gonna Work It Out' and the newer, slinky feel of 'Pollywannacracka'. There are also touches of reggae in 'Reggie Jax' and 'Revolutionary Generation'. Terminator X uses his hands like a Shailow temple Kung Fu master. Witness 'Leave This Off Your Fuckin' Charts' and the intro to 'Anti-Nigger Machine'. You know that with PE the beat always rocks. The other thing you know is that it's consciousness raising time. Like they say on 'Brother's Gonna Work It Out' — "Here's a music servin' you so use it'. It's action orientated, designed to motivate and agitate. They use a confrontational approach on 'Welcome To The Terrordome' with their comments on Professor Griff's statements and the media reaction. Things like 'every brother ain't a brother/ cause a black hand squeezed on Malcom X the man' and this line that caused a problem: 'crucifixion ain't no fiction / so called chosen frozen apology made to whoever pleases still they got me like Jesus'. This is a classic PE song, as is the well known call to arms'Fight The Power'. They're hot when on the attack, the metaphors come outquickerthan a greased flick knife. Check out Who Stole The Soul' about America eating its young; the debasing of black role

models in James Brown, Wilson Pickett and Redd Fox. Excellent bit with Flavor Flav doing a bit of the Chi-lites' 'Have You Seen Her'.

The title track and the crazy 'Pollywannacracka' are about racial mixing, the 'black seed' and the white fear of 'some colour inyourfamily tree'. Main surprise is 'Revolutionary Generation' with its look at 'Sisterhood', women in hip hop have never had a reality outside of being an object, a bitch or ho. Not all are guilty of this. PE

come on strong with this unruly rap. .. Is this one better than Nation Of Millions? Well, only time will tell. Just that this one is a sharpening of their ideas, a new perspective on things. You're either going to turn in fear or welcome it with an open mind., . KERRY BUCHANAN LLOYD COLE . Lloyd Cole (Polydor) I'm a passive Lloyd Cole listener: when my friends go to play his records, I don't stop them. Lou Reed likes Lloyd Cole, don't forget, although Lou has yet to have me over for coffee. Lloyd is in relaxed voice on Lloyd Cole, which is a relief. Despite a career of attractive singles and sly lyrics, another LP of the sort of singing most of us can muster in the shower is not what the world needs. 'A Long Way Down' and 'Un dressed'have Lloyd rhyming laconically while the drums and guitars doodle on in a cruisy country style. The harmonica hints at Dylan but the words are vintage Cole: "You look so good. when you're depressed / Even better in your current state of undress." Yessir, Lloyd knows his niche. Misty ennui, starry-eyed heartbreak and a cynicism that's distant but never detached. He's still pulling the rockist "sweetheart / baby blues / dusty roads" pose out of thin air, but he loves it, so it rings true. The Commotions essayed it; now it fits Cole comfortably, with instinct and grace. • Scritti man Fred Maher (always a good reason for checking out a record) drums and co-produces with a precious clarity that shows off 'Waterline' and the sweet 'lce Cream Girl'. 'Mercy Killing' dips into a serious Ry Cooder style. You can't hang a man for that—especially if he was only pretending to be a cowboy in the first place. CHAD TAYLOR