Disc of the day
Heaven 17 - Penthouse And Pavement
From Sheffield, synth pop and funk to stick it to Thatcher. Currently being played live!
Features Disc of the day
Primal Scream
Vanishing Point
(Creation, 1997)
Party guys Bobby G and the gang’s progress through the void.
1994’s Give Out But Don’t Give Up was mostly slop-sink siphonings of low energy Stones knock-offs, both Sly and Rolling. But by their fifth album rock’n’roll lifers Primal Scream (not that one, this one), now joined by Stone Roses bassist Mani, were operational once more. Filching its title from 1971’s speed fiend road movie Vanishing Point, here was rock action, wiry grooves and heavy electro-magnetic atmospheres, conveying charges both positive and negative. In the former category are the three singles, Burning Wheel, Star and Kowalski - the people-powered Star featuring Augustus Pablo and the Memphis Horns, while the bass-shuddering Kowalski gives it up for the hero of Vanishing Point augmented by movie samples courtesy of Cleavon ‘Super Soul’ Little. Less forgiving is Out Of The Void, an out-of-body transmission from the far side of Screamadelica where the DTs kicked in two days ago, they can’t turn the strobe off and the curtains are nailed shut – what else can Bobby G say but “I’ve got the fear” (how he must have jumped to hear the persistent ringing of doorbells during the nightmare dubscape of Stuka). Claustrophobic closer Long Life is more of the same, a belated realisation of the psychic cost of the f*cked, bombed‘n’sorted hedonism of Scream lore. But despite this, Vanishing Point is more pleasure than pain, and, compared to the cudgels to the head of 2000’s LP XTRMNTR, it’s also a good deal easier to listen to. Interested parties, also check the speaker-busting Adrian Sherwood-mixed dub counterpart, Echo Dek.
Ian Harrison
Posted by Danny_Eccleston at 10:18 AM GMT 15/10/2008
Further Listening
The Aloof – Sinking (EastWest, 1996)
Alabama 3 – Exile On Coldharbour Lane (One Little Indian, 1997)
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Heaven 17 - Penthouse And Pavement
From Sheffield, synth pop and funk to stick it to Thatcher. Currently being played live!
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An absolute classic in the Screams canon. I was travelling in Oz and Asia when this album first came out and being a huge fan I had to track it down. First off was listening to the Kowalski single in a shop in Cairns, then listening to it again, then again. What a skull blitzer from out of knowhere that was. Then I was in Jakata and found Vanishing Point itself on cassette. Such a great place to hear it for the first time especially as Burning Wheel crept in, sat on a balcony overlooking a bustling alleyway, headphones on, exotic smells and sights all around. It became a staple listen during long bus journies, lazing in hammocks, bombed on local brews. A few months after being back home and it was the St Valentines Day all nighter at Brixton Academy with Spiritualized in support where I could here it played live. And best of all it still sounds essential today.
Great choice!
Posted by John at 12:07 PM GMT 15/10/2008 Report Abuse
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Despite the presence of a couple of duds (namely 'Medication' and 'Motorhead' if you ask me), i think people will possibly end up looking back on this as their best album. I just feel that it's going age much better than the admittedly-great 'Screamadelica' and even the storming 'Xtrmntr', the former being very much tied to a particular moment in time and the latter feeling a bit opportunistic in hindsight in terms of its political posturing. 'Vanishing Point' steers mercifully clear of any such problems, coming across as genuinely psychedelic and cinematic, being as exhilirating ('Burning Wheel', 'Kowalski')), delicate ('Star', 'Get Duffy', 'Long Life') and downright disturbing ('Stuka') as the road movie from which it draws its inspiration. Most underrated album of the 90's??? Damn right if you ask me.
Posted by GrayD at 9:53 AM GMT 16/10/2008 Report Abuse
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