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CDs of the week
Evening Standard 10.07.09
Th Dead Weather
VV Brown
Dan Black
The Rumble Strips
Georgie Fame and The Last Blue Flames
Otro Mundo
Look here too
POP
THE DEAD WEATHER
Horehound
(Columbia)
****
Marriage to supermodel Karen Elson and subsequent fatherhood have done nothing to curb Jack White's restlessness. A quiet night on the sofa is probably not for him. More remarkable still is that White continues to have his finger firmly on the quality-control button.
The side-project of a side-project, The Dead Weather comprise White Stripes leader White, his fellow Raconteur “Little” Jack Lawrence, a Queen of the Stone Age, Dean Fertita, and Alison Mosshart, who sings with Jamie Hince (Kate Moss's current boyfriend) in The Kills.
Liberated from The Kills' dreary drone, Mosshart benefits immeasurably from finally having some proper songs to sing: she's a revelation on the parched ballad Will There Be Enough Water and the finger-pointing Treat Me Like Your Mother.
Ultimately, though, like everything he touches, The Dead Weather belong to White. They're more in tune with The White Stripes' animal thrill than The Raconteurs' sweeping musicality, despite Rocking Horse being an unsettling close relative of Steady, As She Goes.
White is nominally the drummer but in truth he's everywhere, whether yelping alongside Mosshart on I Cut Like a Buffalo or turning rough-hewn White Stripes-esque clatter such as Bone House into towers of melody. Best of all is a makeover of Bob Dylan's hitherto plodding New Pony, which suddenly finds itself brimming with tension, drama, soaring guitars and the year's most exhilarating backing vocals.
JOHN AIZLEWOOD
VV Brown
Travelling Like
The Light
(Island)
**
Northampton singer Vanessa Brown's striking looks have made her a victim of her own ubiquity. A favourite long before she has shown any sign of having a hit, she's been so frequently billed as the next Duffy or Amy Winehouse that you can't help but think, “Is this it?” upon finally hearing her debut album. It's mostly very catchy, yes, but the rowdy rockabilly of Quick Fix and lively jiving of L.O.V.E have the whiff of novelty rather than real soul and quickly grate. The swaying bass groove of Bottles is better but the unconvincing ballads add to the disappointment.
DAVID SMYTH
Dan Black
((Un)) (A/M)
***
GLANCE at any of 2009's ones-to-watch lists and you'd likely have seen the name Dan Black. The Paris-based Englishman is being feted as this year's leftfield singer-songwriter of choice — welcome attention for a man who spent many fruitless years fronting indie also-rans The Servant. Black's debut largely justifies the hype. Yours and Pump My Pumps are cute, clever pop songs aimed at the heart of the dance floor, while his deft use of loops and samples creates enticing musical backdrops throughout. Black's organic product — his voice — is less appetising. A thin whine, it grates horribly on the slower ballad Cocoon.
RICK PEARSON
The Rumble Strips
Welcome to the Walk Alone
(Island)
***
THE Rumble Strips have set themselves the task of locating the big, beating heart of epic pop music. Their first album was widely regarded as being in thrall to Dexy's Midnight Runners but this second effort has moved from beneath Kevin Rowland's skirts and revealed the group as brave pioneers on the trail of wide-screen music for modern youth. Charlie Waller has the heart-felt voice for the job, forever hovering between pathos and bathos, and producer Mark Ronson — with a big help from orchestral arranger Owen Pallet — has projected his vision without tipping into parody. While London, Not The Only Person, and Raindrops still whiff of dexedrine, Sweet Heart Hooligan, Daniel and Back Bone show a band edging towards their own identity.
PETE CLARK
JAZZ
Georgie Fame and the Last Blue Flames
Tone Wheels A'Turnin'
(Three Line Whip)
****
The Last Blue Flames? Is Georgie putting his tonewheel Hammond organ into storage? Let's hope not, for this album, his first for five years, finds the Godfather of British R'n'B in fine voice and vintage creative form. A dozen original songs cover thorny matters such as torture (Guantanamo by the Sea), the ecology (Survival), New Orleans (Big Easy Meat) and the tyranny of mobile phones (I'll Sing You). Styles include Afrobeat (Enksi Dumisani), samba (Second Honeymoon) and groove, including two themes (Rollin' Blue and Singing Horn) of rare warmth. Trumpeter Guy Barker, tenorman Alan Skidmore and vibist Anthony Kerr all sparkle but this is a singer-songwriter's album, and one of Fame's finest.
JACK MASSARIK
WORLD
Various Artists
Sound of the World presents: Otro Mundo
(Warners)
****
This is the 10th collection of radio-friendly tracks compiled by DJ Charlie Gillett, who is renowned for noticing interesting voices and distinctive musical personalities. Some of the highlights are from albums also reviewed in this space — husky flamenco singer Buika, Benin's Gangbe Brass Band, the gutsy Zimbabwean vocalist Chiwoniso and the Serbian Gypsy legend Saban Bajramovic, who sadly died last year. In his thoughtful notes, Gillett writes: “It is a scandal that all these artists are so completely and utterly sidelined and ignored by people [in the UK] who should know better.”
SIMON BROUGHTON
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