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Liam Carey reviews
V o l u m e # 1 0 1 1 J u n e 2 0 0 3
THIEVES LIKE US
Those self-styled miserable blighters Radiohead, after the double-whammy of Kid A and Amnesiac reduced the band’s fanbase with their brand of introspective, unloveable avant-garde rock, return full of promise with Hail To The Thief. Having done much to dispell their stereotypical image with a good-natured appearance on the terminally frivolous Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, they then spend several pages in the current issue of Q magazine reinforcing said stereotypical image. Hmm. A case of bloody-mindedness, or cocking a snoop at the poor imitation of its former self that Q has become by taking the piss?
Back to the music, pre-release hype suggested an album more akin to the Radiohead sound of old, abandoning the indulgent artiness of their last two albums. Not so. Hail To The Thief, perhaps inevitably, falls somewhere between Amnesiac and 1997’s OK Computer. Lead single There There overcomes initial similarities with REM‘s Bang And Blame to fashion an evocatively menacing mien all its own, aided by the year’s outstanding promotional video in which a twitching, sleepy-eyed Thom Yorke happens upon an otherworldy forest only to be lured into putting on golden clothing that painfully turns him into a tree.
Yikes.
FIGHTING SPIRIT
One of the most successful albums of 2003 has been Stripped by former bubblegum-popstrel-turned-provocative-artiste Christina Aguilera. Its first single, Dirrty, showcased an aggressive sexuality with its pseudo-pornographic video, and exemplified the fashionably risque attitudes to image and base lyrical preoccupations of today’s pop. Yet, its follow-up (and another UK chart-topper) Beautiful was a remarkably traditional, genuinely emotive ballad that recalled The Beatles‘ latter-period work in its powerfully minimalistic arrangement.
Credit where it’s due, then. For her next trick, Aguilera moves into the defiant rock-diva territory beloved of Anastacia with another cut from Stripped. Fighter (out this week) is either unlistenable, cliched nonsense or the voice of an uncompromising talent, depending on your point of view and personal taste.
BRINGING THE CHARTS TO LIFE
The single of the decade is current UK #1 Bring Me To Life by Evanescence. According to Dotmusic’s chart analyst James Masterton, that is. In recent months, the preminent voice on all things chartwise has made some bizarre statements in his exclusive Top 40 commentaries, but he has surely outdone himself this time. What used to be a straightforward trawl through that week’s movers and shakers, as Masterton the fact-fiend cast his eye over chart developments, has regrettably become a vehicle for increasingly personal and thinly-disguised views, with an agenda both tainted with arrogance and almost perversely determined to buy into the current hyperbolic mindset of the media and music industry at large.
Now, this is no fault on Evanescence’s part to be unfairly lauded with the tag of magically resurrecting the credibility and quality of the UK chart single-handedly. Bring Me To Life is a fine record, and with the exception of Linkin Park‘s In The End, quite probably the finest example of its genre to yet materialize. Yet quite how anyone, least of all someone such as James Masterton, could seriously deem a perfectly effective but hardly original track to be such a momentous event in the history of contemporary music raises more questions over the continuing validity of the already over-commercialised and editorially suspect Dotmusic than it does about the merits of Evanescence themselves. A photogenic female vocalist with Tori Amos tendencies backed by what for all money may as well be Linkin Park could never be viewed as the genuine future of anything.
Could it?
FUTURE SOUNDS
The best music on the horizon:
- ROYKSOPP – SPARKS: The seminal Melody AM has yet another single lifted from it, in this case not a re-issue. Following the twice-released Eple and Poor Leno, and the completely reworked Remind Me, Sparks is surely the last tracked to be lifted from the UK Top 10 album. As usual, the single – out on June 16th – is available on two CDs and a 12″ vinyl edition.
- DAVID SYLVIAN – BLEMISH: Having seen out his contract with Virgin after more than 20 years with the label (last summer’s esoteric compilation Camphor serving to fulfill his obligations), Sylvian embarks on a new phase of his career. Blemish, released on June 23rd through his own imprint, boasts a distinctly un-Sylvian sleeve and showcases a new, less perfectionist approach to recording.
Page Content copyright © Liam Carey, 2003.
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Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.