Tom Kitching, Of Montreal, The Shires, Carole King: Album reviews
WITH his insistent, attacking technique and a brilliant ear for arrangement, Kitching has brought an adventurous, almost indie sensibility to English folk fiddle playing
TOM KITCHING
Interloper (Fellside)
The stop-start rhythms and beautiful, lilting melody at the end of Rufty Tufty set the tone for the 11 jigs, hornpipes, Morris tunes and mazurkas that follow. Some are centuries old, some new but all crammed with unpredictable runs and little touches from Kitching and his cohorts, Marit Falt on latmandola (a relative of the mandolin), Freya Rae on flute and clarinet and drummer Jim Molyneux. A beautiful, enthralling debut.
OF MONTREAL
Aureate Gloom (Polyvinyl)
Of Montreal mainman Kevin Barnes sounds a bit like Howard Devoto of Magazine and his 13th album has something of that august band’s giddy sense of adventure, each track appearing to be pieced from four or five songs cut together, with sudden changes of pace and mood.
Aluminium Crown, with its New York new wave swagger, the flower power touches in Virgilian Lots and gorgeous chorus on Last Rites At The Jane Hotel are highlights on an album packed with ideas.
VERDICT: 4/5
THE SHIRES
Brave (Decca Nashville)
Slick and tuneful country-pop courtesy of great-looking duo Ben (from Herts) and Crissie (from Beds). It may be a little saccharine for some tastes but there’s no doubting that the first UK signing to Decca’s Nashville label have the heartfelt verses and massive, catchy choruses required to sell millions of records. As for their dream of building the new home of country music in drizzly Britain (Nashville Grey Skies, a stand-out track)... Good luck with that one.
VERDICT: 3/5
CAROLE KING
A Beautiful Collection – The Best Of (Sony)
Patchouli oil, bean bags and a worn-out copy of Tapestry: no hip household was complete, in 1971, without King’s earnest, fragile masterpiece, which sold 25 million copies. Released to accompany Beautiful, a new musical about the singer song-writer, this is less a definitive Best Of than Tapestry plus some live tracks.
VERDICT: 3/5
GANG OF FOUR
What Happens Next (Membran)
Led by guitarist and songwriter Andy Gill, Gang Of Four have been around, in one form or another, since 1977. Gill has assembled another new line up of musicians for this 9th album and the result is a thunderous, urgent set taking a doom-laden look at the world. Isle Of Dogs, with its whining riff and skittering drums, is excellent.
VERDICT: 3/5
