Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25059
column: blue note text: mark schwartz, lily moayeri, gabriel levy o 0 D© [J@WD@\Yi\ � Martyn Bennett: Bothy Culture (Rykodisc) Martyn Bennett's fusion of Celtic music and techno is tradition for trainspotters. Reared in Newfoundland, 2,500 miles away from the nearest Shetland pony, Bennett was bound to do something wild with his talent. Aliens always do when they come home. Think about young Beck at the back of a barrio bus, or James Brown in Africa figuring, "So that's what it's all about." Bennett, a Royal Scottish Academy of Music graduate and Glaswegian raver, makes the kind of modern traditional music that has nothing to do with crossover or sales figures. Legit house beats and manipulations work in tandem with strings, uilleann pipes and, yes, bagpipes in a mix that never sounds canny or crass. Bennett's muse is as enigmatic as the ageless stone heaps-bothys-strewn across the Scottish countryside, and as wild-eyed as the e'd laddies crouching underneath them after a night of rag ing on the heath.-Mark Schwartz Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Michael Brook: Star Rise (Real World) The late king of Qawwali was a big man, and fittingly this tribute compilation remembers him at his heaviest. Star Rise summons nine ambassadors of the New Asian Kool as Britain's Indo-techno fusion underground has been dubbed-to pay homage to Kahnsahib with mixing desk and dub plate. All the hallmarks of this exciting, emerging scene are here: the junglistic grooves (Asian Dub Foundation's guitars 'n' tabla mayhem), ambient textures (State of Bengal's "Shadow"), heavy dub (Black Star Liner's ragga bass lines) and old school hip-hop (Joi's backbeat cannonade), with Khan's one-of-a-kind voice providing the Eastern flava. Unfortunately, all this good has a reductive effect. Excerpted from the lengthy, entrancing journeys that are Qawwali performance, Star Rise makes of Nusrat little more than a thematic device. In the end, that may be the best way to listen to the album-while few of these remixes shed new light on Nusrat, each one is a bold new expression of his legacy to a new generation of artists and listen ers.-MS Air: Moon Safari (Source/Caroline) Refreshing, light and expansive-this is Air. The French duo has moved from the soundscapes of their collected singles EP, Premiers Symptomes, to gorgeous melodies and pretty female vocals on their debut full-length, Moon Safari. Air makes their presence felt-albeit unobtrusively-with an organic approach to what others of their ilk create digitally. Lazy, sensual horns settle easily alongside technologically produced twitters. A studio-constructed steady backbeat provides the setting for lush strings. Poetic instru mentals breathe energized life into delicate vocal samplings. Moon Safari takes a melodious voyage through blissful sonic terrain. Full yet spacious, Air allows plenty of breathing room amidst their lavish instrumentation.-Lily Moayeri Spacehog: The Chinese Album (Sire/Warner Brothers) Spacehog burst on the scene in 1995 from Leeds, England, via New York City, USA. with Resident Alien-a singular interpretation of music from Queen, Iggy Pop and David Bowie. Their sophomore effort sees them expanding their horizons to include influences from John Lennon to Andrew Lloyd Weber. The result: no two tracks sound alike. The journey begins with dark beats setting the background for the ominously delivered warning: "One Of These Days:' and flips into joyful declarations of farewell on "Goodbye Violet Race: "Skylark: a whimsical Lennonesque magical mystery tour shifts into the dramatic "Sand In Your Eyes." Spacehog's far-reaching musical excursions allow them to stay in a category of their own, a space in which neither British nor American bands fit.-LM David Poe: David Poe (550 Music) For those of us who are suckers for unrequited love songs, David Poe takes our sighs a little bit further. Rarely does somebody skate love's jagged edges as closely as Poe does on his self-titled album. He weaves his way through twangy pop ballads that evoke the catchiness of Sting and the melancholy usually reserved for Morrissey (or the love-worn in the shower). Poe's lyrics really drive the tears home. Check out "Blue Glass Fall": "Pieces of blue glass fall/the love of a fool is strong/to patiently wait so long." Throw on the disc, grab a bottle of bourbon and pout.-Gabriel Levy Touche Artists: A Touche of Class (Twisted America) Anybody who has merged with a couch at 5AM in the back of some European discoteca-wrapped up in a blanket of soothing down"tempo concoctions and silky deep house beats-will appreciate A Touche of Class. This continuously mixed compilation features more than 70 minutes of superb underground house from Dutch indie record label Touche and comes with everything but the couch. However, fans of trendy "electronica" bands, beware: this CD is not a fanfare of Brooklyn block-rockin' beats but a leisure ly stroll down afterhours lane. It calls upon the remote neighborhoods of sleepy European dance music and seamlessly melds one part of town into another. Especially smooth are lullabies from Booka Shade ("Silk") and 51 Days {"Tracktion"). Bring this CD home and become one with a couch all over again.-GL •