Various Artists

Digital Northerner; Volume 4

This download only compilation is Fat Northerners attempt to comprehensively nail the unfounded rumour that the global electro scene is nothing more than a derivative bunch of knob-twiddlers. It couldn't be further from the truth. There's more variety and creativity in the tracks here than you might imagine, given that this could so easily be dismissed as 'dance music'. The bleeps and twiddles, grooves and beats come from near and far, with contributions from Australia and from France keeping the international fans happy. It all kicks off in true French style with Spritzer and their Daft Punk style 'Kaporsky', a real dance floor anthem if I'm any judge of such things. Joe Moskow, he of Reverend and the Makers, spreads his creative wings as he teams up with vocalist Louise Prey for a little side project work on 'Candy Darling', with it's knowing nod to the Warhol fans amongst us. Other highlights for me are Apple Jelly from just across the Channel with the ridiculously catchy 'Radio', and local trio Modernaire, who just seem to get better and better and hit new heights for me with the track 'Scalpel'.

In short; an essential purchase whether you're an established fan of this type of music or just wish to sample the delights of the modern electronic dance scene.

Download from www.fatnortherner.com

Jennifer Taylor

Various Artists

Recording the Impossible

Recording the Impossible is a 'collection of songs, sketches and poems put to music' from Paul Vickers and Andy Currie, which they claim to be inspired by Chris Morris, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Tom Waits. Its tagline reads: 'Five minds, one laboratory, a doctor, a magician, a priest, a scientist, a freak, one mission….to record the impossible'.

Now, for the record, I am a fan of modern dark comedy such as Jam, Brasseye, The Mighty Boosh, Nighty Night etc, but I simply could not get my head around this 'comedy' album. It is challenging to get all the way through the twenty one parts that that it is split into.

'Popsex' is misguided, overstretched, and lacks any real punch line. 'Birdsong' relies too heavily on punning and sexual innuendo, plus the character delivering the sketch is too dark for it to work at even the most basic level. 'The Doggy Treadmill' is seemingly pointless; 'Twinkies Cottage' is incomprehensible; 'You Like?' is a mystifying ramshackle of noise with some form of the English language over the top, and it is almost impossible to make any sense of the decoded vocal effects used throughout the album.

Perhaps this album is so postmodern that it is lost on me, and I will look back on this review in years to come with egg on my face, but I can say with confidence that I doubt this very much. It is remotely possible that the concept of this album would work on television if it was reworked and fine tuned, but as it is, it is difficult to fathom why it has been made. It appears that for now, recording the impossible is just that: impossible.

Stuart Holmes

XS.iF

The Hip Hop Disciple

If you know nothing about hip-hop, or have never listened seriously to it, this album is the perfect place to start. That's not to take anything away from this album though; it never compromises and is never afraid to push the boundaries. It has a lyrical incite which is astonishing, with simple rhymes and raps used to great effect over a mind-blowing selection of musical textures and rhythms. This is quite honestly the most accessible rap record I have listened to in ages. There is the expected social comment and street politics you would expect from the genre, but there is real humour too, and a mature outlook on life. XS.iF, a.k.a. Yemi Akinpelumi, and pronounced 'Excessive' in case you wanted to know, grew up in Africa and Nottingham but has returned to his Manchester birth place to build a career and to record his debut album, where he has built an enviable reputation playing around the city. It's been a year in the making, and features upcoming local producers Pisees and Sylence alongside the more established production input of Zetia and Ralph Godden.

'I wanted to inspire people young and old to aim high and look on the positive side of life' he said recently, and this will go a long way towards achieving that. A real treat for fans, but even more so for anyone venturing into the world of hip hop for the first time. An all round winner! If XS.iF is the hip hop disciple, he deserves to have a guaranteed congregation of followers where ever he goes.

Chris Xenra

The Wednesday Club

Soap

Grrr..... Hmmmph..... No – I can't hold it! I have to use the word! PRETENTIOUS! Phew – that's better. I'm sorry, but read the following statement from the band themselves:

'[The original album's] unique hand drawn cover art [reflected] its creators' desire to see it more as an art project than just a recording project'.

I bet they carry dog-eared Penguin paperbacks around, too – probably ones they don't even like. They might even study philosophy. But anyway, to the music; only four of Soap's twenty two tracks clock in at more than two minutes long. Several struggle to around the sixty second mark, or feature irritating 'spoken word' samples that might be funny, or bear some relevance to, someone somewhere (probably the band themselves). The restriction of any musical passages to thirty second cameos gets frustrating after a while, with 'Let's Get Megamachanical (Brackets)' being a case in point; for a minute (literally) it's Perry Farrell fronting the Beach Boys, all hand claps and summer breezes, before the anticipated climax is prematurely snuffed out.

The more conventional tracks contain moments of genuine rough, alt-folk beauty; 'Numbers 1 and 3 (Do The Broady!)' features a waspish guitar 'solo' that Pavement would've been proud of, and 'Ladtime (Crytime)' is a tired country ballad that My Morning Jacket might've rejected from their early records before they discovered reverb (and production skills....). Final track 'Self Medicate To Victory (Hep Cat)' hints at what the band might be capable of; it's uplifting in the same way that The Arcade Fire might be considered cheerful by some. But the fact remains that I've used up a significant percentage of my word count typing four off the wall song titles. Pretentious? Judge for yourselves.

Jon Cooper

Mascot Fight

Pantomime Hearse

Hey this is nice! Mascot Fight are from Derby and have produced a fun and catchy little album here. The most obvious comparison their music draws is to Belle and Sebastian. The vocals sound exactly like Stuart Murdoch, but the music itself pulls from a somewhat wider range of influences. Although a lot of their songs trade in comfortable pop sensibilities, a few songs stand out for moving into darker – and more interesting – territory. Diego Barnes and Dalian Shied Away are quite noisy affairs in parts, proving that despite any twee leanings, Mascot Fight can rock as well as pop.

Danger Man rollicks along at a decent, Libertines-like pace, and Our Skool Daze has a great uplifting guitar part that would make a good theme song to a remake of the Breakfast Club. These heavier songs suit them well, as their poppier songs, like Thinking in French sag a bit and feel a bit derivative at times. Lyrics default to wry(ish) observation, with many of their songs taking light jabs at easy targets such as tabloid journalism, lager louts and office romance. The album ends on a high note with Fifty Kwacha, a nearly instrumental track that leaves you wanting more. The whole album is over before you know it, clocking in around the half hour mark. This isn't a bad thing, as it leaves things nice and snappy and the band doesn't overstay their welcome. Really, if you like Belle and Sebastian but find them to be a bit too twee at times, then you should like Mascot Fight's similar approach, but with added guitars and edge.

Dion Curry

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