STACK #132 Oct 2016

MUSIC

REVIEWS

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Corb Lund Things That Can't Be Undone Canadian Corb Lund knows how to ride em’, rope em’ and write em’. Coming from generations of rodeo riders and ranchers, he is surely one of very few real cowboys making country music these days. With his trusty long time band The Hurtin’ Albertans and the production skills of Dave Cobb (Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson), Lund delivers his ninth album: It’s a little bit rock, a little bit soul and whole lot of country with influences from across the '60s and '70s. Lund’s storytelling is his gift, sharing his outlook on the losses and changes in his world. This guy's the real deal. ( NewWest Records) Denise Hylands

Mustered Courage White Lies & Melodies

Garbage Garbage: 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition Pop being the mongrel breed it is, worlds were always going to collide back in the grunge/electro apartheid years of the early '90s. But Supervixen was a bracing sound nonetheless: the grinding and belching guitars of the new punk revolution, dive-bombing into the crisp, cut-and-paste frontier of trip-hop. The marriage was coldly

Mustered Courage are one of the first bands to join the new roster of Lost Highway Records Australia. They’ve toured the US twice, played at the legendary Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and have won themselves a Golden Guitar: they’re a bluegrass band with a difference. On their third album they’ve expanded their sound by adding a drummer, which has enabled them to drop in some hip hop beats, an R&B feel, and some good ol’ rock 'n' roll. Incredible pickers either slow and soft or lightning fast, these guys can play and sing with rich, heavenly harmonies. No ordinary bluegrass band. ( Lost Highway Australia/Universal) Denise Hylands

premeditated by producer Butch Vig, (producer for Nevermind ), and a couple of other studio boffins who had quite the hard drive groaning with cunningly crafted samples before one of them spotted singer Shirley Manson on the telly. The x-factor was the pop smarts that made such a rip-snorting string of singles of Vow , Only Happy When It Rains , Queer , Stupid Girl and Milk between early '95 and late '96. All of them are here on the band's unsurpassed debut, with their Clash and Single Gin Theory samples melting into a thickly layered wall of sound that owes as much to (wo)man as machine. This deluxe edition includes nine more non- album singles and B-sides of mixed quality, from the mighty industrial clamour of Subhuman , to the hit Romeo + Juliet soundtrack standout #1 Crush and the bland gothic wallpaper of Alien Sex Fiend . Remastered, natch, "from original analogue tapes", the whole deal remains a fabulous headphone experience: Savour the delicious squelchy business afoot in Driving Lesson and the rumble of Jabba the Hutt's belly in Butterfly Collector . Probably. (Liberator) Michael Dwyer

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New Order Music Complete Two years in the making seems to have paid off; New Order (still sans ‘Hooky’) still feel just as relevant as ever. As always there’s a ‘clean air’ feel about Sumner’s vocal delivery, and an urgency in NO’s electronic foundations. Plastic even offers a Donna Summer-esque disco groove amongst the never-ending new wave overtones. As is their shtick, the band endear rather than annoy; even the patchy Tutti Frutti wins you over before you’re aware of your body moving along to it. Expect this album to work, and work big – owning a superior dance floor near you. ( Create Control) Chris Murray

Tom Jones Long Lost Suitcase The Pontypridd stallion has quietly built up some head of steam these last three albums. There's been less Sex Bomb action but a lot more power and dignity with roots-rock producer Ethan Johns. This episode follows the stately gospel of Praise & Blame via Spirit In the Room to a set of raw blues and country moaners and belters. There's a deathly sparse read of Willie Nelson's Opportunity To Cry and a big Chicago roar for Sonny Boy Williamson's Bring It Home ; a sublime pool of tears for Gillian Welch's Elvis Presley Blues and a fiddling folkie tilt at the Stones' Factory Girl , with Jones yelping at the top of his estimable range. Timeless tales and throat strings of this calibre resonate big time. ( Caroline) Michael Dwyer

Deep Purple Long Beach 1971

Claptone Charmer What do we know about Claptone? He’s a Berlin-based producer of exceptional electronic music. He hides in anonymity behind a gold beak mask. He’s just released a debut album: it’s called Charmer , and true to its word, it’s a charming record. Claptone himself might be something of an enigma, but there’s nothing mysterious about the appeal of these experimental club tracks, house and synth-pop productions. Joining the German producer on record are friends and collaborators Peter, Bjorn and John, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Finnish musician Jimi Tenor and others. ( Different Recordings/Liberator) SimonWinkler

Gillan. Blackmore. Lord. Glover. Paice. Most Deep Purple fans know which of these five men hated each other's guts but here's ample proof of which one most deserved a slapping. Blackmore's soloing is as scintillatingly concise as ever; Gillan's freewheeling banter, meanwhile, is even more daft than his lyrics. "A speed king is somebody who moves very quickly from one place to another and always gets there first," we're told midway through the tune of that title. Cue organ solo. Still, the way he wails up his cosmic breakfast on Strange Kind of Woman and a 27-minute Mandrake Root (go, Paicey!) makes this another keeper for those staying abreast of the classic Purple rarities program. ( Sony) Michael Dwyer

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