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Have we got Muse for you
THEY HAD TO DO IT, DIDN'T
they? After their summer of
bloody summers, with all the
f-ed-up gigs, the mislaid
dummer, the reborn bass hero
and the acclaimed album,
Primal Scream would simply
have to cap it all by doing
something silly. Uke, how
about releasing a poorly spelt
dub album, right, and we'll
bung it out on CD, and we'll
stick it out In a bloody nice box
wfth the nine tacks spread
across five seven-inch singles?
Of course, the great thing
about the Scream is that you
just never ever know what the
crazy little cats are going to do
next. Speaking as someone
sufficiently useless that he stil
considers 1986's 'Velocity Girl'
(a Primals' B-side, natch) to be
one of the aN-time greats, the
past decade has seen the
Screamers bound their cavalier
way underground, overground
and rumbling free. They have
been psychedelic. They have
been whimsical. They have
done some work for charidee.
They have been chaiotic,
experimental and on the brink
of collapse. And how do they show our gratitude?Put It this
way: their highest chart placing
was for the turgidneo-metal
orthodoxy of 'Rocks'.
See, at the end of the
boggly-eyed dance experience,
the record-buying public will
always go for Status Quo over
Augustus Pablo. Funny little
buggers, you might surmise,
but nowhere near as funny as
the particular little bugger
'Echo Dek'. For here with is a
nine-track reappraisal of the
'Vanishing Point' album,
courtesy of Adrian Sherwood
and his On-U Sound System.
Essentially a smashing Idea-
yet another opportunity for the
good ship Scream to sail even
further out 'there', man - is
slightly scuppered by the fact
that 'Vanishing Point' itself was
so babblingly out 'there', man,
that we feared that Primal
Scream would never make it
back to Reality Island. So what
the heck can Sherwood do to
the likes of 'Kowaiski' and
'Trainspotting' that hasn't been
mercilessly done already?
The answer? Not a lot, really.
Resisting the urge to tackle 'If
They Move, Kill 'Em', the manic
'Motorhead' or the freshly
Chemicalized 'Burning Wheel',
Sherwood is left to fiddle with
the remaining eight tracks.
'Stuka' is the lucky fella that
gets not one but two work
overs, not the most extreme
example of overindulgence on
display, as Sherwood digs out
tricks from his dub rucksack
and lavishes some familiar
noises with new names.
When it's good, 'Echo Dek' is
dazzling. Around the point
where 'Revolutionary' (aka
'Star') meets 'JU-87' (aka
'Stuka') the effects are
incredible, a full bloodrush of
freaky extravagance. But take
much of 'Echo Dek' out of the
context of the Primals' lifestyle
- ie, playing It at top bastard
volume on top bastard
narcotics in a top bastard
recording studio and
screaming, "LIKE, WOW! ISN'T
THIS A TOP BASTARD
REMIX!" - and this collection
slips serenely back into funny
little bugger mode.
There are doses of mystical
mayhem - cue the tablas of
'Vanishing Dub', aka 'Out Of
The Void'. There are moments
of severe de-rocking - cue the
distinctly calm 'Dub In Vain',
last seen around these parts as
the cock-strutting 'Medication'.
There is also the smashingly
messy 'First Name Unknown',
otherwise called 'Kowaiski'.
And that's pretty much the
long, short and all-Vanisling
Points-In between of it all.
So you have 'Vanishing
Point' placed proudly between
the CD player and the leaping
dolphin matchstick holder. You
consider it to contain some
sincerely f-ed-up funky shit
You may well consider this, its
odd little brother, to be a less
than essential purchase. But
then this is what happens when
the drugs don't really work. (6)
Simon Williams
Originally appeared in NME, 18 Oct 1997.
Copyright © IPC Magazine Ltd.
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