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CRAIG
DAVID
The Story Goes…
(Warner)
When Craig David debuted a few years back, he seemed to be
the UK’s answer to American R&B hunks like Usher.
The difference was that David was coming out of the hopped-up
sound of UK garage, and had a slim, boyish appeal compared
to his six-pack-bearing brethren across the pond. With his
third album, however, David seems to be trying to compete
head on, even going so far as to lift the intro to Beyonce’s
“Crazy In Love” on “Just Chillin,” and
striving mightily for Usheresque sex appeal on bass-heavy
songs like the pheromonal “All The Way.” There’s
no doubting that David remains one of the best contemporary
R&B singers around, and when he stops trying to be what
he isn’t, he may yet produce something with the likable
charm of his 7 million-selling debut, Born To Do It. In the
meantime, he can still call in his cards with the women of
Japan, who as yet seem to prefer their men six-pack-free.
DG
SQUADCAR
Misses
(Valentine)
Efforts by gaijin bands to sing in Japanese can be disastrous.
But indie-pop four-piece Squadcar have managed to slip Japanese
song titles and lyrics into their new album with a deftness
that evokes their Tokyo roots and their state of lonely expatriation.
“Korekara” and “Nankaimo,” for example,
are typical of the overall Spartan approach that pervades
the six-track album. Canadian leadman Dan Jury’s lyrics
take “break up, make up” clichés and subvert
them just enough to make them interesting again. Add in Aussie
Glenn Carmichael’s vocal harmonies and catchy guitar
hooks, and the spare rhythms of UK drummer Andy Mulley and
Japanese bassist Masa Kimura, and you’ve got an album
of pleasant surprises. DG
MADNESS
The Dangermen Sessions: Volume One
(V2/Columbia)
Leaders of the “Two-Tone” ska revival of the late
’70s and early ’80s, Madness return with their first
album in six years in the form of a salute to the artists
who influenced them. Deftly produced by UK dub legend Dennis
Bovell, the songs covered by the septet include predictable
early Jamaican ska numbers like Prince Buster’s “Girl,
Why Don’t You?” and reggae classics such as Bob
Marley’s “So Much Trouble In The World.” Speaking
to their broader influences, the album also reaches from the
Kinks’ transvestite ode “Lola” to the Supremes’
“You Keep Me Hanging On.” Mellow in comparison to
the frenetic work of their heyday, The Dangermen Sessions
has the easy vibe of a band content with its minor position
in the grand scheme of musical things, and should go down
well with fans of domestic ska acts like the Determinations.
DG
SOUL FLOWER UNION
Lorosae Mon Amour
(BM Tunes)
Japanese pop music isn’t entirely the politics-free
zone it appears to be. For over a decade now, Takashi Nakagawa’s
Soul Flower Union have been calling attention to the oppressed,
playing benefits for earthquake victims and, on a recent single,
opposing the war in Iraq. Like their musical soulmates The
Clash, Soul Flower Union blend together elements of roots
rock, punk, folk and world music (which in their case means
Okinawan or reggae). Their first all-original album in some
years, Lorosae Mon Amour shows they’ve been busy, with
14 rollicking songs that keep the pace moving along quite
smartly throughout. Nakagawa’s political diatribes are
delivered in a reedy, vibrato-laden tenor, the only aspect
of Soul Flower Union that might put off Western listeners.
Soul Flower Union play Liquid Room Ebisu on Oct 1. DG
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