On the record - Basement Jaxx find a dark place

Sep 21 2009 By Polly Weeks

What's hot and what's not in this week's new releases.

Basement Jaxx - Scars

It's been a decade since the release of Basement Jaxx's breakout single Red Alert, and Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe are still producing some of dance's most effervescent and catchy tunes. But fans can expect something a little different on their latest offering. Opening title track Scars is dark and deeply addictive, setting the tone for a more grown-up Basement Jaxx - a little less jigging around on the disco dance floors and more standing against the wall looking moody. The Brixton-formed duo have roped in impressive vocals from the likes of Yoko Ono, Santigold and Sam Sparro. Raindrops, the perfect release for 2009's sun-absent summer, is a highlight along with the bluesy funk of She's No Good and defy-you-not-to-dance Twerk. Basement Jaxx loyalists won't be disappointed by this storming album. Red Alert - go buy!

Rating: 9/10

(Review by Lisa Haynes)

Motley Crue - Dr Feelgood Deluxe Edition

The godfathers of 'Hair Metal' originally released this album in 1989. It marked a comeback following bass player Nikki Sixx's infamous near-death overdose from heroin and the band all going into rehab. With the firm hand of iconic metal producer Bob Rock, the band produced their biggest selling album. Twenty years later, this remastered classic still kicks ass. From the rip-roaring Kickstart My Heart and title track, crowd-pleasing Same Ol' Situation and raunchy She Goes Down, there's something for every glam-metal rocker. The sound on this edition is crisp and you don't need to turn the volume to 11 to appreciate Mick Mars's guitar riffs, and Sixx and Tommy Lee's pounding drum and bass. A strong album, and the extra demos and unreleased tracks are a bonus.

Rating: 8/10

(Review by Laura Wurzal)

Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band - Between My Head And The Sky

With the help of her son Sean Lennon and a selection of eclectic musicians such as Yuko Araki and NYC improvisers Erik Friedlander and Daniel Carter, the 76-year-old artist has reassembled a new Plastic Ono Band. The result is an album that is contemporary, fresh, fun and funky. Songs like Waiting For The D Train, The Sun Is Down and Ask The Elephant are fabulous dance tracks, and are a perfect medium for Yoko's trademark wailing singing style. The jazzy Memory Of Footsteps and melodic I'm Going Away Smiling are quite exquisite. A variety of textures and styles make this album very enjoyable to listen to and, dare I say, far superior to the music she made with her late husband.

Rating: 7/10

(Review by Laura Wurzal)

The Isley Brothers - The Motown Anthology

With a career dating from the early 1950s and spanning the better part of 50 years, The Isleys are an R&B institution. Not a 'Best Of', this double CD collects almost everything the original three brothers recorded during their stint on Tamla Motown between 1965 and 1968. Never particularly happy on the label, The Isleys recorded a series of classic Holland-Dozier-Holland tunes while there, but had only one hit - This Old Heart Of Mine. After leaving Motown they recruited a few young family members and discovered funk, but that's a different story. With a wealth of B-sides, mono versions and covers, there are plenty of up-tempo Northern Soul nuggets to be discovered here.

Rating: 9/10

(Review by Steve Kerr)

Newton Faulkner - Rebuilt By Humans

The clever choice of title is bound to reawaken memories of dreadlocked guitar virtuoso Newton Faulkner's impressive 2007 debut, Hand Built By Robots, and this new long-player certainly sticks resolutely to the catchy, chilled-out sonic template laid down in his earlier work. With such cheerfully whimsical tunes as Resin On My Heart Strings, I'm Not Giving Up Yet and first single If This Is It - a stirring anthem for late summer - to rival his ubiquitous signature song, Dream Catch Me from his first album, it isn't only devoted fans who are likely to feel their spirits lifting a little.

Rating: 7/10

(Review by Patrick Gates)

Various artists - The Firm (original soundtrack)

Director Nick Love, echoing his earlier controversial film The Football Factory, has remade Alan Clarke's seminal dissection of violence spuriously linked to sport, The Firm. Timing is everything, it seems, given recent fearsome hostilities between Millwall and West Ham 'supporters'. In fact, the new movie's soundtrack showcases an eclectic selection of 1980s classics and lesser-known gems. Bookended by typically hard-nosed dialogue from the film, the likes of Soft Cell's Tainted Love, The Rocksteady Crew's Hey You! and Rick Jones's Super Freak (familiar to many from its sampled use on MC Hammer's U Can't Touch This) paint an upbeat sonic picture of an era riven with social and political conflict.

Rating: 7/10

(Review by Patrick Gates)

Hockey - Mind Chaos

The debut album from Portland-based four-piece Hockey, with its distorted, dirty basslines, sounds like it should be on the DFA record label. Added to lead singer Dave Grubin's Dylan-esque delivery and the electro-funk, synth-pop production, the result is an authentic throwback to the muscle music of the 1980s which is rich in social commentary on the power-mad, money hungry, fashionable decade of the moment. There are nods to Bruce Springsteen on Too Fake and Song Away, The Clash and INXS on 3am Spanish, Talking Heads on Work and Learn To Lose - and even Rod Stewart on Work. With cool abandon, Grubin sings, "What kind of accomplishment is throwback?", on Wanna Be Black. With regards to this album, the answer is a solid tour de force, reminiscent of the best energising grooves of the '80s.

Rating: 7/10

(Review by Tori Mayo)

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - White Lunar

Nick Cave has been a busy man of late. Not only has he dabbled in musical projects such as The Dirty Three and Grinderman, he has also written a second book and created film soundtracks. Along with Warren Ellis from The Bad Seeds, Cave has composed music for 2005's The Proposition and 2007's The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, and these soundtracks plus other rarities are found on White Lunar. Working outside of the constraints of the traditional rock song gives Cave and Ellis more room to be experimental, and what results is a refreshing change: film scores from an alternative perspective.

Rating: 7/10

(Review by Catherine Wilson)

Black Sabbath - Vol 4, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Sabotage, Never Say Die, Technical Ecstasy

You can plot Black Sabbath's decline and disintegration by the de-metallification of their cover art across these five albums. In the early 1970s, the Gothic script and demonic fantasy art of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath shows the godfathers of metal at the height of their powers. By late in the decade, however, we get the brightly coloured sci-fi conceptualism of Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die! and a corresponding drop-off in quality. Still, any self-respecting metal fan should own Vol 4 and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, and even on their ropey later albums there are still occasional moments of big, dumb, riffing brilliance. Remastered but still pretty muddy by today's standards, there are no extra demos, alternate versions or other goodies included here. Whether you'll bother to replace your existing CDs will depend on your devotion to the band.

Rating: 8/10

(Review by Steve Kerr)

Richard Hawley - Truelove's Gutter

The Sheffield crooner's sixth album is both his most traditional and most experimental yet. Gone are the rousing rockabilly anthems of its predecessor Lady's Bridge, leaving the hushed ballads more reminiscent of his earlier material. But his new offerings are, on the whole, longer and - fortified in places by a plentiful string section - meander into uncharted musical territory. His voice, more transatlantic than ever, takes the lead in many tracks as if he's resting his head on your shoulder and singing the heartfelt lyrics right into your ear.

Rating: 8/10

(Review by Lisa Williams)

Singles by Polly Weeks

Shakira - She Wolf

The Hips Don't Lie singer returns with this commercial dance tune. It's not as addictive as some of her previous releases but should keep the Colombian star high up in the pop rankings.

Lady GaGa - Love Game

Not the best song on the album, and it features some very questionable lyrics, but the pop princess will no doubt have success with this pop-dance number - which will bring her some more attention ahead of her US tour with Kanye West.

Ian Brown - Stellify

The former Stone Roses frontman returns with a new single, and an album on the way. He's not doing anything particularly ground-breaking, but this is a good solid indie offering with some trumpets thrown in for good measure.

On the road

Upcoming tours

Rock band Fightstar, fronted by former Busted lead singer Charlie Simpson, will be hitting the road for a nationwide tour. Kicking things off on October 21 at the Cambridge Corn Exchange, they end up at Belfast's Spring and Airbrake on November 6. See www.myspace.com/fightstarmusic for full details.

Sweden's biggest rock band, Europe, have just announced a nine-date UK tour for February 2010. Tickets go on sale on September 18 at 9am. Visit www.myspace.com/europe for full dates.