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DVDfever.co.uk – Paul Haig: Relive CD reviewElly Roberts reviews
Rhythm Of Life
- Released: November 2009
- Rating: 6/10
- Vote and comment on this album:View Comments
Retro electro, with guitars.
Paul Haigs career has been a stop start affair.
He cut his teeth and brushed with fame as part of Scottish post-punksters Josef K, a band synonymous with austere and downbeat songs. Unlike their Postcard label mates Orange Juice they failed to manage a subtle mainstream crossover.As a solo artist its never really happened for Haig, now 49.
In musical terms hes moved towards a popier niche sounding like compatriot Billy Idol with retro-sounding punk elements which pack a really punch. This is Haigs third album in as many years, so hes had a real purple patch in terms of output. Relive is a melting pot of slightly less programming and more attention on real time playing, with a mini road movie theme.
Opener, Trip Out The Rider is crunching start with dollops of electro pop-rock blasts with a driving riff which gives a huge nod to Talking Heads cum New Order that includes creepy lyrics about watching out for the things that lie by the roadside, like roadkill the stuff out of horror films. The title track keeps the pace intact with a continuation of 80s infused energy while, Ambition, written almost 20 years ago, is more epic in soundscape but the underlying thrust is definitely dance-floor orientated, again giving a healthy nod to New Orders funky grooves. By comparison, So Contemporary is an out-and-out pop song with strong indie elements courtesy of some jangly riffs a la Orange Juice, or even Fine Young Cannibals.
Josef Ks Malcolm Ross helped out on Round And Round giving it a clipped and almost dislocated funk guitar style that compatriots Franz Ferdinand favour boosted by the songs principal hook, a whopping chorus.
Dropping the beats per minute he slips in a well crafted ballad Listen To Me, one The Velvet Underground would have loved, or Lous Reed would be happy to cover.The most fascinating inclusion is a superb cover of Pere Ubus Without A Doubt, perfectly suiting Haigs electro tendencies, with closer Eyes Wide Open tying the threads of paranoia and social dissolution to a climax via a jaunty beat and jangly riffing.
The verdict: Love New Order? Youll love this.
Weblink:myspace.com/paulhaig (Info and free audio streams)
The full list of tracks included are :
1. Trip Out The Rider
2. Relive
3. Ambition
4. So Contemporary
5. Good Thing
6. Round And Round
7. Listen To Me
8. Horses
9. Without A Doubt
10. Eyes Wide OpenView the discussion thread.blog comments powered by Disqus= 0) {query += ‘url’ + i + ‘=’ + encodeURIComponent(links[i].href) + ‘&’;}}document.write(”);})();//]]]]>]]>
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.