| This Week's Highlights |
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analysis w/e 14.5.11 |
DVDs out 9.5.11 |
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@ DVDfever Youtube |
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May 11 2011 
DVDfever co uk
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Retro electro, with guitars. Paul Haig’s career has been a stop start affair. He cut his teeth and brushed with fame as part of Scottish post-punksters Josef K, a band synonymous with austere and downbeat songs. Unlike their Postcard label mates Orange Juice they failed to manage a subtle mainstream crossover. As a solo artist it’s never really ‘happened’ for Haig, now 49. In musical terms he’s moved towards a popier niche sounding like compatriot Billy Idol with retro-sounding punk elements which pack a really punch. This is Haig’s third album in as many years, so he’s had a real purple patch in terms of output. Relive is a melting pot of slightly less programming and more attention on real time playing, with a mini ‘road movie theme.’
Opener, Trip Out The Rider is crunching start with dollops of electro pop-rock blasts with a driving riff which gives a huge nod to Talking Heads cum New Order that includes creepy lyrics about “watching out for the things that lie by the roadside, like roadkill – the stuff out of horror films.” The title track keeps the pace intact with a continuation of 80s infused energy while, Ambition, written almost 20 years ago, is more epic in soundscape but the underlying thrust is definitely dance-floor orientated, again giving a healthy nod to New Order’s funky grooves. By comparison, So Contemporary is an out-and-out pop song with strong indie elements courtesy of some jangly riffs a la Orange Juice, or even Fine Young Cannibals. Josef K’s Malcolm Ross helped out on Round And Round giving it a clipped and almost dislocated funk guitar style that compatriots Franz Ferdinand favour boosted by the song’s principal hook, a whopping chorus. Dropping the beats per minute he slips in a well crafted ballad Listen To Me, one The Velvet Underground would have loved, or Lous Reed would be happy to cover. The most fascinating inclusion is a superb cover of Pere Ubu’s Without A Doubt, perfectly suiting Haig’s electro tendencies, with closer Eyes Wide Open tying the threads of paranoia and social dissolution to a climax via a jaunty beat and jangly riffing. The verdict: Love New Order? You’ll love this.
Weblink: myspace.com/paulhaig (Info and free audio streams)
The full list of tracks included are :
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B 37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier. PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
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Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2010.
