NZ

Rip It Up, Issue 200, 1 April 1994, Page 37

NZ

3DS Beautiful Thlngs/Hey Seuss (Flying Nun) Wow-wee! This is a beautifully packaged Ltd Edition CD featuring several of the 3Ds’ finest. The first CD contains the pop anthem ‘Hey Seuss’ and the anarchic epic ‘Man on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown’, both from The Venus Trail. A brand new track, the subtly demented ‘River Burial’ is last up. CD two features the versions of ‘Beautiful Things’ and ‘Summer Stone’ that were released last year on a Merge Records 7-inch single. On the final track the 3Ds envelope Smelly Feet’s (aka Brent Hayward) ‘Song Forthe Whole World’ with theirtwisted pop coating. Pure genius all round. POP ART TOASTERS (Flying Nun CD EP)

Here is one from the old boys network. The Pop Art Toasters were formed last year by Martin Phillipps (The Chills) and David Kiigour (Clean, GU, Stephen etc) primarily to play a bunch of obscure late 60s pop songs. On this five-track EP they are joined by Mike Dooley (Toy Love), Alan Starrett and Noel Ward for a run through of several little-known gems. Major highlights are a breezy version of the Dovers ‘What Am I Going To Do’ and a remarkably Chills-like rendition of ‘Go Ahead’, a song originally performed by the Squires. Also included is the ethereal ‘I Won’t Hurt You’, ‘Circles’ by the Who and ‘Everyone's Gonna Wonder’ by NZ’s own Avengers. It’s great to hear Martin Phillipps’ voice again. FUEMANA Closer (Deepgrooves CD Single) Mmm... super smooth swingbeat from South Auckland’s Fuemana. This re-working of Roberta Flack’s ‘Closer’ contains a piano hook and a deceptively catchy verse-chorus combination that are instantly memorable, although it doesn’t benefit from Matty J’s spoken word involvement halfway through. ‘Cool Calm’ almost sounds like Soul II Soul and the final track ‘I Love U ’ is the ideal soapbox forthe beautiful soul voice of Phil Fuemana. BABEL A Is For Atom (Deepgrooves CD Single) Babel were one of the very few lucky recipients of a QE II Arts Council grant last year. The result of which is this very busy five-track debut release. Following on from the clever spoken word ‘lntro’ comes ‘Jack In The Box’, a song that draws a comparison with the more laconic moments of NIN. Vocalist Kieren Cooney (Salad Daze, Balance) couldn’t get much further away from the style of his past if he tried. ‘Crib’ is full of oddly familiar and interesting samples while ‘The Diabolical Dr. Screwball' contains elements of early H. Chickens. First prize though, goes to the heavy funk groove of ‘Mr Fathead.’ MAREE SHEEHAN To Be Free (Kia Tu Mahea) (Tangata CD Single) Maree Sheehan’s follow up single to last year’s superb ‘Fatally Cool ’ is a rapid blast of fast tempo pacific beats combined with a brilliantly catchy vocal melody. Backing vocals are provided by the Waka Huia choir who sang on Crowded House’s Together Alone album. Their performance, combined with the almost techno speed of the Polynesian flavoured percussion, propel a song that positively deserves to be a hit. BLACKJACK Spinning Wheel (Hark Casslngle) Yet more anthemic power rock from Hamilton’s Blackjack. ‘Spinning Wheel’ is a semi-delicate ballad driven more by the vocals of Gavin Dempsey rather than wailing guitars. On side two, ‘Young, Single And Dangerous’ is a classic example of your standard, dime-a-dozen rock song about fast chicks with f.m. boots. MELON TWISTER Stylo (Manu CD Single) This is a very different Melon Twister from the band I saw at bFM's 1990 Bomb-a-Thon, much more importance has been placed on the rhythm section to propel songs. This is most evident on the potential dance hit ‘Stylo’ and the heavy grooves of ‘What’s In It For Me.’ Two versions of ‘Wine’ don’t cut the mustard, sounding very mid 80s UK influenced despite the jazzy saxophone backing. The choice cuts here are the two versions of ‘Stylo’, particularly the ‘styli mix’ that features the scratching of DJ DLT. PROUD

An Urban-Pacific Streetsoul Compilation (Second Nature CD) This is a 14-track collection often South Auckland artists who appeared during the recent nationwide PROUD tour. Styles range from the soulful rap of Sisters Underground and Di-na-ve to the extremely smooth Semi MCs to the acappella doo-wop of Vocal Five. On side two MC Slam’s

‘Prove Me Wrong’ contains some fine scratching, though the beats don’t match his staunch vocal delivery, and Puka Puka’s drum epic ‘Pacific Beats’ is stunning. Most memorable are the harder edge rap numbers from Radio Backstab & DJ Payback (‘Bassed on a Lost Cause’), the Pacifican Descendants’ oldie, ‘Pass it Over.’ JOHN RUSSELL