CD REVIEWS
The Age
Saturday February 5, 2011
CLASSICALCLARA HASKIL EDITIONClara Haskil(Decca) RATING: 4/5CLARA Haskil (1895-1960) was one of the greatest postwar Mozart interpreters, noted for her purity of tone, delicacy of touch and musical insight. Remarkable for her lack of egotism, her playing is elegant, subtle, limpid and deeply spiritual. She suffered constant physical pain from scoliosis and the handicap of severe stage fright, and only achieved international fame in her last 15 years. This 17-CD set containing every note she recorded for Decca, DG, Philips and Westminster is one for the collector. For example, it contains four accounts of the great D minor concerto, showing her developing understanding. It also has her unparalleled Mozart violin sonatas with Arthur Grumiaux, and plenty of Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann and Scarlatti. This budget set offers both fascinating history, and wonderful music. BARNEY ZWARTZELECTRONIC POPZONOSCOPECut Copy(Modular/Universal) RATING: 3/5CUT Copy want to be loved. Not just admired, raved about, or hired by impressed fellow artists looking for some remix magic. They've got that. No, Dan Gifford's electronic pop band from Melbourne want to be cherished and eventually remembered as the band that mattered. And there is nothing wrong with that ambition. The only question is whether that need overwhelms execution.The route to love Cut Copy have taken with this, their third album, is something of a yes-but-also approach. They've moved away from the shiny dance-floor hooks that made 2008's In Ghost Colours such an inviting album but they've introduced more overt moments where Gifford's love for pop music shines through. Where I'm Going might once have had a more pulsing beat and a simple climax but here it is creamier, carrying a vocal line as Beach Boys as you could get. Hanging Onto Every Heartbeat makes a path altogether too smooth, but in Take Me Over, an African rhythm carries a pretty melody. I'm not entirely convinced. OK, it's not love, but what's wrong with a good friendship?BERNARD ZUELPOST-PUNKCONTENTGang of Four(Yep Roc) RATING: 3/5ABOUT 30 years on from their heyday, when they turned post-punk into a show trial for the nascent consumer culture, how should Gang of Four sound? Content, their first studio album since 1995's Shrinkwrapped, instantly sounds like the Leeds quartet, even with only two original members, vocalist Jon King and guitarist Andy Gill. Arrangements are modelled on their first albums, 1979's Entertainment and 1981's Solid Gold: Gill's incendiary guitar shards, with funk pockets and staccato beats.Few bands have found a better balance between singer and guitarist, the pair forsaking the anthemic for agitprop. Much of Content operates in the faceless public landscape Gang of Four once defined, where social rituals and purchases provide scraps of standing. CRAIG MATHIESON
© 2011 The Age