1/2/10
Massive Attack - ‘Heligoland’
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British trip-hoppers return for a rare release, their fifth.
Massive Attack seems to have been around forever. Since the early glory days of
‘Blue Lines’, ‘Protection’ and ‘Mezzanine’, the band have led a somewhat low-key existence with founder member, Mushroom
leaving after the 1998 smash. This new record should give a definite indication
of where the duo is headed.
Opener, ‘Pray for Rain’ features Tunde Adebimpe of little-known Americans, TV on the Radio. It’s comprised of typically dark and mirky foundations, with their guest’s prominent and lasting vocal stains – almost like the musical personification of rain running down a window.
‘Babel’ guest, the singer Martina Topley-Bird will be known to the group from her
dalliances on various trip-hop efforts, not least with long-time collaborator,
Tricky. Her child-like innocent sound drifts in and out a wave of suggestive
sound. More dancey than perhaps expected, it just feels like it’s lacking something. Her second input, ‘Psyche’ isn’t drowned out so much by an overwhelming
melody, more a confusing one. In the end, it just drags out as a bizarre wall of
sound.
First single, ‘Splitting the Atom’ features the unofficial third member, Horace Andy in a typically-haunting
manner. The beat is kinda 80s retro - think the first computers, and creates a
fairly mediocre effort in truth. Andy returns in a more prominent way on the
progressive ‘Girl I Love You’. There’s a grandeur about this track as it hits its groove, which really cements its
place as a standout.
Everyone’s favourite whiner, Guy Garvey of Elbow turns up on the peculiar futuristic
musings of ‘Flat of the Blade’ to ill effect. Garvey’s wails add little to an unsettling and unnecessarily depressing piece.
Cult American singer Hope Sandoval turns up for the soulful understatement that
is ‘Paradise Circus’. Stripped down to a minimalistic musical setup, the track really excels thanks
to Sandoval’s purring and endearing sound. The production from the group should be
highlighted too as back to their best.
Del Naja takes lead on just two efforts. First, ‘Rush Minute’, about a recovering addict, works much finer than many of the guest
contributions that are far too plentiful. This, once again, sounds something
like their best. Starting with a rhythm similar to ‘Addicted to Love’, ‘Atlas Air’ eventually finds its way into a decent tune. The song is more atmospheric and,
at the risk of enormous repetition, very much like what we love them for.
Sometime-Blur-Sometime-Gorillaz maestro, Damon Albarn pops up in a particularly
melodic way on ‘Saturday Come Slow’. It’s very much like his work with the animated group that appears here, alongside
an epic Massive Attack backing. And I’m pleased to say this is one of the better tunes.
Key Tracks:
- ‘Rush Minute’
- ‘Saturday Come Slow’
- ‘Atlas Air’
- ‘Girl I Love You’
Worst Tracks:
- ‘Splitting the Atom’
- ‘Flat of the Blade’
In terms of calibre, it’s not their finest or worst work, but a decent record in its own right. There
are more than a couple of efforts that can sit proudly on the platinum
collection, but it feels like it should have been more. 7.5/10 CM
Verdict
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The Next Big Pop Thing
Combine the worst bits of Katy Perry, Avril Lavigne and GaGa and what do you
get?
American songstress Ke$ha came to prominence via that other “leading light” of music, Flo Rida’s awful ‘Right Round’ video. Now given the go-ahead to unleash her talent, this is her inner animal.
Roxy Music-stealing title ‘Your Love is My Drug’ is pumped upto the nines with annoying powder pop and irritating beats aplenty.
Dr. Luke’s brainchild, ‘Tik Tok’ you’ve probably heard before. Of course it was synonymous with music channel
rotation at the back end of last year and it’s certainly not improved with age. Trashy, bottom-bag annoying pop is the order
of the day here.
Future Chav-anthem, ‘Take It Off’ starts with a stereotypical Middle-East wail rework as it morphs into
a mighty electro beast. As Ke$ha says: “it’s a dirty free-for-all” and I couldn’t have put it better. It’s just poor-man’s GaGa as the thumping beats pound away.
Songwriting supremos Max Martin and Shellback lend a much-needed hand on ‘Kiss n Tell’. Whilst the beat is pretty stellar, it’s backed up by Ke$ha’s cringe-worthy attempts at rebellious lyrics that would make even early Avril
Lavigne blush. ‘Stephen’ showcases Ke$ha’s whining side in a bubblegum pop ballad about her aforementioned desire. It’s kind of like Taylor Swift if she’d inherited the mental age of a 12 year old.
Still things really hit rock-bottom on single, ‘Blah Blah Blah’ featuring the “expertise” of fellow bizarrely-named, 3OH!3. It’s loud, it’s pointless, it irritates to the max and the worst thing is these types of song
do so well. ‘Hungover’ is indeed the come-down from that noise assault, but yet again she just sounds
like a poor version of Swift in this attempt at a ballad. Still, it’s one
of the best tracks...
‘Party at a Rich Dude’s House’ goes for the insanely-paced rock chick anthem but really does more to expose
her lack of talent, if really any further proof was needed. There’s a hint of Streets album-track, ‘Everything is Borrowed’ on ‘Backstabber’. If there was a place for Ke$ha in the music industry, she could certainly do
worse than go for the grand surroundings of such a tune.
Some serious Auto-Tune flows through ‘Blind’ as she goes for the P!nk route once again. Honestly, someone needs to remind
this girl of her ability and more importantly, her ceiling. ‘D.I.N.O.S.A.U.R.’ could win the award for worst song with its bizarre Daphne n’ Celeste influence, absolutely awful. The title track goes for some odd
Cascada-like buzz which was never gonna work and ‘Dancing with Tears in My Eyes’ should be checked by Chipmunk for plagiarism to his smash, ‘Diamond Rings’.
Key Tracks:
- ‘Backstabber’
Worst Tracks:
- ‘Tik Tok’
- ‘Party at a Rich Dude’s House’
- ‘Take It Off’
- ‘Stephen’
- ‘D.I.N.O.S.A.U.R.’
- ‘Animal’
- ‘Kiss n Tell’
This was definitely worse than expected. Whether Ke$ha herself is above this, we
may never know, but what she is styled as is seriously in danger of having a
short shelf-life. The electro pop experiment has officially started to detonate
with more records like this around. 1/10 CM
Verdict
(c) ChrisOnline.biz 2010
