360 records from the year 2000: 160 - 156

160. Webb brothers: Maroon

It’s rare to hear the unmistakable signs of sophistication and compositional flair on a current indie group’s record. (Though it could just be there are so many of those albums released, the good get tarred with the same brush as the ever present bad. It could be that a piano just always sounds more compositionally focused than a guitar. Whichever way you look at it, it’s still good to hear.) The Webb brothers do a nice line in, not exactly ballads, but songs that start slow and moody and build to a definite dramatic climax. The arrangements are pretty neat too, they’ve got the dynamics down. Most songs involve an acoustic guitar disappearing at the tipping point under an electric crunch. It’s been done (in the’70s) but it’s still nice to hear. There’s a little voice inside me nagging that it’s more unfulfilled than fulfilled promise. They still miss those couple of undeniable songs to put them over.

At its best: I can’t believe you’re gone, Low grade fever, Fluorescent lights, Suddenly awake

159. Goran Bregovic: Music for films (1990-98)

I think highly of Bregovic’s soundtrack music. His up tempo music sounds like Eastern European wedding music played by New Orleans jazz bands (‘Poursuite’, ‘Wedding cocec’, ‘Sheva’ for example). His sad music sounds like Guernica for the late 20th century: parents grieving their children in bombed out cities. It’s hard to escape the notion that this music wouldn’t exist without the Yugoslavian civil war. It makes me cry, and I’m pretty sure it would most people (try ‘Ederlezi’ or ‘War’ if you feel up to it). Sometimes it’s slow but not so much sad, more like a revery. ‘Dreams’ or ‘Old home movie’ on this album will do nicely, ‘Lullaby’ is Django Reinhardt’s funeral.
His music’s great, and some of the most noteworthy of his works are here. You’d think this would be higher. But this is not the best place to hear his music. The context is all wrong, and soundtrack music depends on the right mood, the right context. It plays like a series of dramatic highlights without pause or tension. Somebody’s thrown it all together, and it ruins my mood (apart from the great opening sequence of ‘Poursuite’ and ‘Ederlezi’, but by track 4 it’s just a mess). Track-by-track, great music, but I’d go for the original movie scores. I can’t enjoy this compilation, and that’s all wrong.

At its best: Poursuite, Ederlezi, Underground tango, Cajesukarije cocec, Wedding cocec, War, Old home movie, Yay a ringe ringe raja, Sheva

158. Terry Riley: in c (Ictus ensemble / Blindman quartet)

A Belgian performance of Riley’s second best known work by the Ictus ensemble and the Blindman quartet. It’s a valiant effort, and I think it would convince me if I saw them do it live, at the right volume and in the right frame of mind. On record it’s certainly decent, but it’s more like a gentle, casual version than the overwhelming, hypnotic experience I was hoping for. It’s a long piece, and you need to get lost in it to make it to the other end (preferably changed from when you came in). That part got lost in the translation. Still, I’ve got to hand it to them for trying.

Edit: Well, I certainly do get lost in it now. Finding new melodies in there every time.

157. T-Model Ford: She ain’t none of your’n

You can always tell blues from blooze from the metre. T-Bone, as real as it gets in 2000, drops and adds beats, bars, phrases all over the shop. He had to switch drummers in the middle of the recording after a fight – it isn’t hard to imagine. Most of these songs consist of nothing more than T-Bone’s electric distorted guitar and vocals and the drums, and the drummer is hanging on for dear life. On two tracks there’s an added organ which gets equally lost. But it’s all very exciting. Maybe a little much to take all in one sitting, and its strict back-to-basics program (no fussin’, no sidetrips) gets a little wearying for me – I’d never make a great blues purist. But this is something which is dying out, and Fat Possum caught these guys raging against the dying light. It’s important stuff.

At its best: She asked me so I told her, Take a ride with me

156. Doctor rockit: Indoor fireworks

On Wikipedia it says: Matthew Herbert (born 1972), also known as Herbert, Doctor Rockit, Radio Boy, Mr. Vertigo, Transformer, and Wishmountain, is a British electronic musician. He often takes sounds from everyday items to produce electronic music.
Which is as close to an explanation as you’re going to get.
There is only one review of this record on Amazon.co.uk. Sophie gives it 2 stars: I bought this album on the strength of Cafe de Flore alone-and it's the only one of there that I like!! It has a real Parisian theme to it- like walking in to the cafe where Amelie works!! The rest of the album can be consigned to the bin as being too eclectic and way out for my tastes.
It’s never a boring record. That may sound like faint praise, but I’m easily bored (especially after trawling through 360 records from 2000). And this record sounds like no other record made that year. It’s good someone is making stuff like this.
In the end though, I have a feeling Herbert should have a better record inside him. Maybe it came out sometime. This one, it’s great, but when it’s over and done, I’ve gotta agree with Sophie on one point: my favorite is ‘Café de Flore’.

At its best: Roman candle, Café de Flore, I met somebody else, Song with words