13th July, 1998


T in the Mud is no fun at all.

Single of the Week

"Everyone Says That You're So Fragile" by Idlewild

"I can never remember who I am", sneers Roddy during the breakneck punk ruckus that is "Everyone Says That You're So Fragile". Well, Mr Woomble, let me remind you: you are the lead singer with one of the most vibrant, exciting and essential bands on the face of the planet. Even your Gregory's Girl style haircut cannot detract from the fact that you and your blonde skinny cohorts are justified and more-than-competent heirs to the incendiary raucous baton passed on by the Pistols, The Buzzcocks and JAMC. Long may you burn.

First b is "Mince Showercap (Part 2)", a drawl through weird Thurston Mooreish sound effects and mantra-like vocals, that transcend into Roddy's trademark bark/shriek towards the end until it sounds like a post-punk musical set in an abattoir. "Theory Of Achievement" is last, a slightly more formulaic thrash through familiar Idlewild territory: stream of consciousness vocals, speed guitar and a rhythm section that could kill Kenny, the bastard.

Idlewild are the sound of teenage kicks right through the night, and I love them, stained sheets in the morning and all.

Rating: 10/10

The Rest

"Angel" by Massive Attack

Plug a headphone jack into the ground, listen hard and this is what you hear. Ominous, pulsing bass and a heartbeat rhythm that sounds like the planet sleeping. Add to that the spooky and detached vocals that could convince you of their angelic origins without too much bother and you get a masterful melange of a sound, the sound of earth's core lava swelling to the surface like a planetary orgasm, seduced by the warm caresses of heavenly seduction.

And if that don't float yer boat, it's also the song used in that advert where some footballer bloke in black and white kicks a ball into a huge big target on a wall.

A remix slightly out of the ordinary follows, in that it's produced by diamond geezers Damon and Graham from Blur. Speak and spell machines robotically voice out the song's title over an understated mix of the original in a surprisingly accomplished and hypnotic fashion, meaning that Blur rise to number two in the Most Talented People In Music chart (Bjork will always be at the top, in case you're wondering). Third extra track is the creeping paranoia of "Group Four (Mad Professor Remix)", through which the voice of the inimitable Liz Fraser flits like a scared ghost.

Rating: 8/10

"Luv Dup" by The High Fidelity

Like Spacemen 3 on happy pills, or Air on downers, the sound of "Luv Dup" by The High Fidelity is blissful monotony, e'd up depression and stoned energy all rolled up into a big pink bubble floating freely around the universe, pulsing away to an internal beat the size of an elephant. Which, when all's said and done, makes for pretty good listening, exactly the way Embrace don't. Bliss their little hearts.

"Lazy B." follows in exactly the same stumbling narcoleptic fashion, impressing with its high aspersions that it's too fazed and spaced out to aspire to, falling only some way short of Happy Mondays cool idiocy. Third track on offer is "Fake03", a gentle stoned lullaby that eventually sends even itself to sleep, floating on a warm cloud of odd-smelling smoke.

I would just like to take this opportunity to say that whilst the new chart ruling banning singles with more than three tracks from entering the top 40 makes my life as a reviewer slightly easier, it still sucks socks in hell.

Rating: 7/10

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