Aidan Moffat plumbs the depths of his darkly humorous imagination for our amusement.
CD OF THE WEEKAIDAN JOHN MOFFAT: I CAN HEAR YOUR HEART CHEMIKAL UNDERGROUND, £9.99
IN TEN years as the singer and lyricist of the recently defunct Arab Strap, Aidan Moffat has laid bare his alcohol-fuelled e
xploits, his sexual foibles, his selfish impulses and the most unattractive corners of his psyche in often pornographic detail. But how many of us knew that his middle name was John?
For one album only (possibly), this documentor of domestic debauchery will be known by his extended appellation, in order to distinguish, Iain M Banks-style, this stand-alone spoken word album from his other artistic endeavours. Next on the Moffat agenda will be an album by his new band, Aidan Moffat & The Best Ofs, which is set to reflect the new, grown-up, contented thirtysomething Moffat. It remains to be seen whether this incarnation will be as intriguing as the young, immature, disenchanted twentysomething Moffat captured and put to bed here.
I Can Hear Your Heart has been in the works for some time. Some of its poems and stories were written years ago, others more recently to round out the collection and bolster the thematic thread. Related in the first person and described on the sleeve as semi-autobiographical, this is a portrait of the artist as "a shallow young man". We are back in that familiar Arab Strap territory – brief encounters at house parties, threesomes, alcohol-soaked degradation, and a catalogue of infidelities charted in sexually explicit detail – which can be hard to stomach, but is leavened by Moffat's off-the-cuff humour.
As always, there is the underlying puzzle of why Moffat would want to air his dirty laundry in such a frank, unflattering way. But I Can Hear Your Heart provides its own riposte because, no matter how morally dubious the actions of the narrator may be, it is still possible to empathise with his latent vulnerability and vexation.
There are conditions attached to our voyeurism. Adults only, says the sleeve. It is recommended that we listen to the album "in bed, with headphones, preferably with a hangover". Suitably marinaded in self-loathing, Moffat requests that we commence by reading the accompanying short story, Poop, which is printed in the CD booklet, to set the scene for the aural component, entitled Loop, which follows.
To start with, the gentle bustle of Atmos lulls the listener into a false sense of security, but anyone familiar with Moffat will know that soothing and comforting are not his style. He clears his throat and, over sweet retro pop backing music, he announces: "we like to f*** and shag, we're not into making love, but I hope that she'd admit we've done all of the above". The poem is called C***s and it's about whether or not language can be "bad".
Moffat is largely unabashed about deploying vocabulary others would balk at, although he does see fit to preface his anti-racism interlude All the Love You Need with a warning about its catalogue of racist terminology, which is matter-of-fact and shocking.
Mostly, Moffat uses his linguistic talent for pithy and brutally honest selfexamination. Often, his stories are little more than brief snapshots, leaving the listener to fill in the moral blanks surrounding, say, the seemingly dispassionate deception of the narrator and the warm intimacy displayed by his girlfriend in Good Morning.
Elsewhere, he is playful in his juxtaposition of words with backing music. A tale of scrapping partners unfolds over a spaghetti western-style soundtrack, while a disillusioned wander through a peep show is accompanied by the kind of romantic orchestral melodrama which usually fills a cinema when Grace Kelly or some other screen goddess walks into frame. Unsurprisingly, he also finds occasion to pastiche a cheesy porn soundtrack.
There is plenty of verbal humour here too, and most of it is pitch black, such as two answer machine rants, to be understood in the context of Poop, or the dark avian whimsy of Beak, or Hopelessly Devoted, in which Moffat envisages a future of domestic drudgery for Danny and Sandy, the Grease characters.
I Can Hear Your Heart packs a lot of content into little over half an hour, including a recitation of a Dorothy Parker poem and an abridged cover of Bruce Springsteen's Hungry Heart over Ivor Cutleresque backing, plus an extra five tracks and a bonus story on the enhanced CD.
It ends, as it begins, with a short story – actually quite a long shaggy dog story – about stumbling in on a party and pretending to be someone else for the night. It is simple, charming, believable and not especially edifying, but there for the telling. As the title, Loop, implies, this collection doesn't offer a neat ending, but it does provide plenty to chew over.
POP
BOB MOULD: DISTRICT LINE BEGGARS BANQUET, £11.99
AS FRONTMAN of influential power trio Hüsker Dü, Bob Mould helped write the underground rock manual in the 1980s and paved the way for the likes of Nirvana. More than 20 years later, he is still punting his trademark melodic grunge with a reflective streak. His latest solo album, District Line, is never exactly workmanlike but it is hard to get excited by the same old sounds. Some tracks are powered by chest-beating angst – even a touch of bitterness on Again and Again, about being condemned to repeat unhealthy patterns of behaviour. But there is some variety, not least the unexpected out-and-out dance grooves of Shelter Me.
HOMESPUN: SHORT STORIES FROM EAST YORKSHIRE HOMESPUN RECORDINGS, £12.99
CONCEIVED to create a home for a batch of "fireside" songs he had written, Homespun has become ex-Beautiful South songwriter/guitarist Dave Rotheray's principal musical outlet. Sam Brown remains his vocalist of choice, but Mary Coughlan and Eleanor McEvoy both make appearances here. Like, indeed, a more homespun take on his previous band's bittersweet brand of pop, Short Stories from East Yorkshire is a collection of folk-tinged musings which ambles along pleasantly enough, occasionally packing a wry putdown, such as "honey, when I think of all the things that you've done for me, I come up with a short short story".
PAUL VICKERS & THE LEG: TROPICAL FAVOURITES SL RECORDS, £10.99
LOCK up your toy box – Paul Vickers, erstwhile frontman of the underappreciated Dawn of the Replicants, has a playdate with sonic rioteers The Leg, featuring ex-members of oddball Edinburgh outfits Khaya and Desc – and this time it's super-indulgent. Vickers gets to live out his Captain Beefheart fantasies more than ever on the more dissonant numbers such as Somewhere Between No & Yes, and bonkers adult fairytale Powerful Soup, but there are also more wistful moments such as Paperboat. As always, trusty Edinburgh independent SL Records is on hand to release such recreational eccentricity into the community.
CLASSICAL
OLIVIER MESSIAEN: ORGAN WORKS DELPHIAN, £13.99
OVER the course of 2008, Delphian is recognising the centenary year of Olivier Messiaen with a series of recordings surveying the French iconoclast's entire organ output. Two things make this latest release essential listening: the brilliance of the wonderful Rieger organ in St Giles' Cathedral with its deliciously pungent tone and clarity of attack; and the virile and imaginative playing of Edinburgh-born organist Michael Bonaventure.
The combination is electrifying in the two significant works that make up this absorbing double disc – the extensive Livre d'orgue and Méditations sur la mystère de la Sainte Trinité. They are among the most challenging of Messiaen's extensive organ catalogue, the bare-faced exposure of the Livre and the dramatic subtleties of the Méditations demanding complete understanding of the composer's sound world.
Technical perfection aside, it is the sheer musicality of Bonaventure's interpretations that brings his performances alive, and which make complete poetic sense of even Messiaen's most abstract gestures. Moments that openly bow to serial dogma are given soulful shape; they sing rather than preach. And, where the composer's famous birdsong figurations make their many appearances, Bonaventure colours them with shades of ecstasy and lustre.
If previous encounters with Messiaen's unique style have left you unmoved, here's a golden opportunity to resolve that.
MOZART: REQUIEM LSO LIVE, £7.99
ANOTHER recording of Mozart's Requiem would have to be really special to warrant recommendation, given the plethora of existing versions. Or – as in the Scottish Chamber Orchestra's new version of the unfinished work by musicologist Robert Levin – it would have to have something unique to say. Under Sir Colin Davis, this issue by the London Symphony Orchestra is fine in a routine way. The well-balanced solo quartet of Marie Arnet, Anna Stephany, Andrew Kennedy and Darren Jeffrey offer a stylish veneer. But hold your ears for the scooped attacks on Rex by the London Symphony Chorus. The LSO do a competent job, but lack edge.
JAZZ
KEITH JARRETT: SOMEWHERE BEFORE – THE ANTHOLOGY WARNER JAZZ, £12.99
THOSE who know Keith Jarrett's work only from his three decades on ECM may be surprised by the raunchiness and diversity of much of the earlier material on this two-disc anthology, drawn from a variety of sources on the Vortex and Atlantic labels from 1968-75. That places the music on either side of his jazz-rock stint with Miles Davis, and offers a snapshot of the pianist developing as a leader in his own right. Much of the first disc features a trio with Charlie Haden and Paul Motian, and collaborators on disc two include saxophonist Dewey Redman, vibraphonist Gary Burton and bass guitarist Steve Swallow. Jarrett's mature style has yet to evolve, yet there are hints of things to come.
FOLK
FAIRPORT CONVENTION: LIVE IN MAIDSTONE 1970 (DVD) VOICEPRINT, £9.99
A CLASSIC Fairport Convention line-up captured on film by renowned film-maker Tony Palmer in 1970. Palmer has overseen this restoration of the original cinema footage, which also includes two songs from former Fairport singer Ian Matthews, with Matthews Southern Comfort, and narration by the late John Peel. The Fairport line-up is one of their strongest, with Richard Thompson, Simon Nicol, and the three Daves – Swarbrick, Pegg and Mattacks. It is the only known footage of the line-up that made the Full House album, and they are in sparkling form on a set that includes three fiery instrumentals alongside Sir Patrick Spens and Now Be Thankful. The live sound is acceptable, but playing time is short at just over a half-hour of music plus a 15-minute interview with Palmer.
WORLD
VUSI MAHLASELA: GUIDING STAR WRASS, £10.99
DESCRIBED as the Bob Dylan of South Africa, Vusi Mahlasela has been keeping up his compatriots' spirits since the dark days of apartheid. Hailing from the Mamelodi township in Pretoria, he joined a co-op of poets, musicians and actors in 1981 called Ancestors of Africa, and was soon in trouble with the security forces. That propelled him towards the writers' wing of the ANC, and he found himself in demand as a singer at rallies. This CD is vintage Vusi, with its messages of hope and reconciliation. Ladysmith Black Mambazo guest, but the dominant voice is Vusi's, backed by the sound of his subtle guitar-picking.
AL TURATH ENSEMBLE: JARDINES DE JAZMIN PNEUMA CLASSICS, £13.99
WE HEAR plenty of music from Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, and Iraq, but Syrian music doesn't often filter through, so this record by one of Aleppo's top ensembles is welcome. What they present is a melange of ninth-century devotional poems, Sufi songs and folk songs, backed by violin, oud, zither and drum. It's austere and angular, with unison singing, but the whole thing is very atmospheric.
