Thursday, September 17, 2009 metrolife 13 Staying In Music Reviews Album Of The Week Dizzee Rascal: Tongue N Cheek XL/Dirtee Skank FRINGE REVIEW Where Did It All Go Right? There were a number of scorching UK festival dates this year, where it felt like Dizzee Rascal happily sealed his status, and set the tone for this fourth album. He bounced on stage at events like Glastonbury (where he arrived in a pinstriped suit) and swiftly stole the show with a killer combo of charm, energy and super-sharp rhymes; the crowds reactions were best summed up by his mega-hit rave-up: Bonkers. On Tongue N Cheek, Dizzee proves that he wasnt merely flirting with grime-pop; hes properly committed, whether hes reworking a 1990 Brit hit on Dirtee Cash, or creating a blissful three-and-a-half-minute break on current single Holiday. Both Dizzee and Calvin Harris lay claim to the 2008 chart-topper Dance Wiv Me (and its already appeared on Harriss album, last month), but that good-time groove reliably goes down a treat here. Even when Dizzee lapses into lazy raps as on Freaky Freaky (where basically, it sounds like hes anybodys), he does it with an affable rakishness. Hes happy to play up his cartoonish traits, yet doesnt forget to remind us of the occasion when he put the world to rights on BBCs Newsnight. And while this is a bold contrast from the gritty confessionals of his earlier material, theres no mistaking the big personality behind the party tunes. This time around, it feels like the boy from Bow has seized the spotlight with an infectious grin. Arwa Haider Basement Jaxx: Scars XL Basement Jaxx never set out to be pop stars they were a shadowy pair for their earliest productions, but their irresistible dance anthems soon exploded, fuelled by their love for their Brixton neighbourhood and the frisson of their secret parties. Something seems unnervingly different on this fifth album; for the first time, those excitable qualities have ebbed away. Theres still no mistaking that trademark Jaxx sound gorgeously melodic, surreally discordant but more energy is frittered on skittering through genres (electro dancehall, 1990s-style deep house, burlesque) and famous guests than actually making those components gel; Kelis and Chipmunk are interesting but mismatched on the title track. There are definite highlights nonetheless: a sweetly hoarse Lightspeed Champion on My Turn; Yoko Onos peculiarly classy loopiness on Day Of The Sunflowers (We March On). Scars has all the star turns; its just missing the grass roots passion. AH Nick Cave And Warren Ellis: White Lunar Mute When it comes to film soundtracks, some creative partnerships have epic potential. Long-time musical cohorts Nick Cave and Warren Ellis are a marriage made not so much in heaven as in a captivating kind of underworld, and their film collaborations have provided a smouldering contrast to their band projects. The duos movie music from 2005 onwards is collated, together with rare and unreleased material, on the handsomely presented double pack White Lunar. The first disc transforms Gothic western and outback backdrops into something far more expansive, with music from The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford and The Proposition (which includes the only vocal-inflected track here, The Rider No.2), and the score from Proposition director John Hillcoats upcoming adaptation of Cormac McCarthys American masterwork The Road. Disc two centres on the duos scores for a wildly varied range of documentaries, with tracks such as the highly strung Rats Tooth Forceps (from neurosurgery-themed doc The English Surgeon) and the eerie Srey Leak (from The Girls Of Phnom Penh). An elegiac vein runs right through the instrumentals; these grizzled dudes craft soundtracks with an elegant, imaginative touch. AH Illa J: Yancey Boys Delicious Vinyl The untimely demise of visionary producer James Yancey (aka J Dilla) in 2006 has ensured his legendary status in those underground hip-hop circles where beats are best served jazzily interplanetary. Now little brother John (Illa J) bearing an uncanny resemblance to his sibling carries on the Yancey story with an album using a collection of previously unreleased Jay Dee beats. These have been excavated from Delicious Vinyls archive and date from between 1995 and 1998, when Detroits Dilla was working on the Pharcydes Labcabincalifornia and A Tribe Called Quests Beats, Rhymes And Life, among other albums. The lean, warmly laid-back sound is indeed steeped in a Native Tongues feel-good spirit, funkily bumping and bubbling under Illas gently impressive blend of singing and rhyming. Illas approach on this posthumous collaboration remains reverent; meditative with hints of cheeky humour. Although extra-terrestrial abilities, such as friend Frank Nitti claims for the Yanceys on Alien Family (its like they the Jackson 5... from Mars) are not necessarily in evidence, this is a strong debut resonant with classic hip-hop echoes, and none the worse for it. Siobhn Murphy Today: Kelly Osbourne, from her autobiography Fierce On her fake friends: I have lent s**t- loads (of money) to so-called friends. So much, I have no idea. In the beginning, I lent the money because I cant bear the thought of people going around saying, Kelly is a tight bitch. On Amy Winehouse: Believe it or not, she gives the best f**king advice. Amy really made me look at heartbreaks in a different way. I truly believe that the only reason she does drugs is because its the only thing she has control of in her life. On her tattoos: I now have 16 tattoos and I hate them. There is no story behind my tattoos apart from stupidity! On her drug addiction: I suffer terrible anxiety since Ive given up drugs. I can sit in a room and feel like the walls are closing in on me. That feeling will probably stay with me forever. On boyfriend Luke Worrall: Luke is the love of my life. When he proposed, I said yes straight away. Were a little team and I couldnt imagine my life without him. On her skin: Im simply not meant for a tan. If I go into the sun, I get an awful heat rash. I burn really easily too. Now Im pleased that I cant sunbathe because sun really ages you. The last thing I want to look like is an old leather boot. Cherry Ko Fierce by Kelly Osbourne is published by Virgin Books, 17 30% My drug addiction 35% Im happy with my size 35% Luke Worrall Me, Me, Me: Inside the minds of celebrities Its hard to think of a more pleasant and batty way to wind down after a long day than in the company of Ponydance, a comedy dance theatre troupe who slink, shimmy and gyrate their way across Pantibars basement floor in the infectious Where Did It All Go Right? Two energetic performers hoof it up to a variety of mostly camp disco classics while glances are stolen, temperatures raised and ennui eventually gives way to passion. Add a jealous cloakroom attendant to the mix, however, and the path to true love is guaranteed to throw up more than a few bumpsngrinds. This slight but agreeable show is the perfect blend of cheese, cheek and charm with highlights including Paula OReillys frantic turn to Kylies Cant Get You Out Of My Head and a frenzied, strobe-lit encounter between the two lovers (Leonie McDonagh and Neil Hainsworth) that comes to a sudden and titter-raising end. If its plot youre looking for, go elsewhere but if you fancy a feel-good giggle and surely thats what Fringe is all about then Ponydance are for you. And if the thought of a lissome blonde stunner grasping your hands to her breasts fills you with dread dont sit in the front row. If you quite fancy the prospect, however, make sure to arrive early... Daragh Reddin Until Sun, Pantibar, 7-8 Capel Street D1, 6pm, 10 to 12. Tel: 1850 374 643. www.fringefest.com index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html