Album Review: Robert Pollard - Normal Happiness (Uncut)

3/5

Second album this year from former Guided By Voices lynchpin

Robert ‘Fading Captain Bob’ Pollard is sadly unlikely to eclipse GBV’s 1994 lo-fi masterpiece Bee Thousand, a crash course in 60s Brit Invasion songwriting, especially since most fans have drowned under the sheer weight of his releases thereafter. Normal Happiness delivers further effortlessly melodic guitar pop – ‘Rhoda Rhoda’ even recalls GBV anthem ‘Tractor Rape Chain ‘– but inevitably thwarts further crossover through its production values and occasionally straining vocals. As long as he offers inventive sunshine pop like ‘Boxing Apart’, however, his iconic status will remain deserved.

Album Review: Robert Pollard - Normal Happiness (Uncut)

Album Review: Johann Johannson: IBM 1401 – A User’s Manual (Uncut)

4/5
Icelandic composer’s computer inspired masterpiece

Classical composers Henryk Gorecki and Arvo Part are frequently namechecked by rock’s highbrow advocates. Rekjavik’s Johannsson, however, successfully fuses the former’s gravitas with the latter’s minimalism, making his third solo release perfect for 4AD’s revitalised artiness. While the City Of Prague Philarmonic Orchestra’s strings swell at a creeping pace, electronic noises – coaxed by Johannson’s father in the early ‘70s out of the IBM 1401 computer on which he worked as an engineer – and spoken word samples from an accompanying instructional tape provide haunting accompaniment. The closing section drifts towards saccharine Craig Armstrong territory, but, while dramatically different to Kraftwerk’s Autobahn, this is an equally unforgettable elegy to a machine.

Album Review: Johann Johannson: IBM 1401 – A User’s Manual (Uncut)

Album Review: David Axelrod - The Edge Of Music, An Exploration Of 50 Years In Music (Uncut)

5/5
So much more than a source of samples

Feted by hip hop aristocracy – Shadow constantly namechecks him, his work on actor David McCallum’s “The Edge” (included here) was sampled by Dr Dre on “Next Episode” - Axelrod’s pyschedelic soul/funk/jazz productions are as impressive as Spector’s Wall Of Sound. Trademark epic string and brass arrangements, backed by cavernous drum breaks, are represented on this 27 track double CD by a wide selection of solo material – plenty not available on Stateside’s two previous ‘Axe’ compilations – alongside equally inventive collaborations with, amongst others, Electric Prunes and Cannonball Adderly. 2000’s impressive ‘comeback’ gets a nod for his reunion with Lou Rawls, but misguided 90’s indulgences are, wisely, overlooked.

Album Review: David Axelrod - The Edge Of Music, An Exploration Of 50 Years In Music (Uncut)