Creation-06

Creation Records

Albums 051-060

Rating Key

••••••

CRE 051
The Bounty Hunters - Threads, A Tear Stained Scar

1) Everything's For Her
2) Threads
3) From Your Eyes
4) Another Change Of Heart
5) All The Luck
6) Hooked To Your Heart
7) I'll Be Your Angel Again
8) A Picture Of You
9) Hanging Your Arms
10) In What She Says

•••

Extra tracks on CD release
11) Kings And Queens
12) Crashing Round My Heels
13) It Only Happens With Her
14) Song About You

Dave Kusworth had been in The Jacobites with his close friend Nikki Sudden in the mid-1980s releasing the albums The Jacobites in 1984 and Robespierre's Velvet Basement in 1985. When the two went their separate ways, Kusworth founded The Bounty Hunters, a band that pretty much carried on in the same vein, owing homage to both Keith Richards and Johnny Thunders. Kusworth's voice is lighter than Sudden's and lacking the dark edge that makes the latter's recordings so distinctive, so The Bounty Hunters sound more mainstream and Threads, A Tear Stained Scar' is the closest the label ever came to releasing a classic rock album. The opening track is the best with a Creation-style chiming guitar intro which quickly lifts into something much heavier, graced with one of Kusworth's better vocal performances. 'Threads' is also decent, with lots of Stonesey raucous riffing and a lyric that has completely lost all sense of perspective where a relationship is concerned. It remains upbeat, with 'From Your Eyes' containing a nice variety of touches, and almost turning psychedelic at one stage. The arrangements are enthusiastic throughout, though Kusworth's blues sound warmer than Sudden's, and one or two tracks fail to hit the mark. 'I'll Be Your Angel Again', however, is thoughtfully constructed and less frantic, and the brassy ending works for once on 'A Picture Of You', a breathy number that builds up slowly. An oddity for Creation, but not without promise.

CRE 052
Momus - Don't Stop The Night

1) Trust Me, I'm A Doctor
2) Righthand Heart
3) Lord Of The Dance
4) Lifestyles Of The Rich & Famous
5) How Do You Find My Sister?
6) Don't Stop The Night
7) Amongst Women Only
8) The Guitar Lesson
9) The Cabriolet
10) Shaftesbury Avenue

••

Extra track on CD release
6) The Hairstyle Of The Devil

Nick Currie's third offering for Creation saw Momus turn electro and this may well have been due to the changes he could see beginning to affect the label in 1989, the ecstasy culture pushing the one-time retro guitar label into the grips of the growing acid house movement. There is no doubt that some at Creation saw acid house as the nearest thing to punk rock in how it impacted on people's lives; others were attracted by the drugs that went hand in hand with it, whilst others still defiantly turned their backs on it. Momus, as ever, was an intrigued observer and 'Lord Of The Dance' is telling when it comments, "Dance, dance, if you're a believer ... ecstasy is transitory, passion is impermanent." However, the whole album has a dancy feel. 'Trust Me, I'm A Doctor' is built around electro pulses that develop into a big electric barrage and a piano finale, whilst 'Righthand Heart' is a reworked track from the previous album with a funky backdrop and a rap in the middle. 'The Hairstyle Of The Devil' (single 64) saw Currie hit the charts for the first time as it edged into the top 100 and is one of the most musical numbers, its synthy disco beat having more than a feel of Abba about it, and the title track is almost Bowie-esque, with Currie singing rather than narrating. On the whole, though, this album feels less satisfying than his previous ones, lyrically less incisive and perhaps too quick to shock.

CRE 053
The Times - E For Edward

1) Manchester
2) Valvaline
3) Snow
4) Catherine Wheel
5) Crashed On You
6) Count To Five
7) All Your Life
8) French Film Bleurred
9) No Love On Haight Street
10) Acid Angel Of Ecstasy

••

Extra tracks on CD release
11) Gold
12) Sold
13) Life

Yet again there was neither title nor band name on Creation's 53rd album release, though the cover did feature a girl with a bag on her head. E For Edward was the second album release from The Times and on this occasion Ed Ball was responsible for the whole lot – writing, playing, arranging and producing – yet strangely the collection is eclectic and has no thread running through it to give it any coherence. 'Manchester' (single 71) is a synthy tribute to the city and a bit crap, though things get better with 'Valvaline' which has a dancy intro and backbeat with a crunchy guitar garnish, though it seems to get quieter halfway through and lacks a decent ending. 'Snow' seems to be a My Bloody Valentine tribute with good singing and backing vocals, but an annoying electro rhythm section, and 'Catherine Wheel' is a pure T-Rex pastiche that even mentions "solid gold" and "action". 'Crashed On You' is a slower number with a dispassionate vocal, before 'Count To Five' takes you by surprise as it is really good; a ballad to acoustic guitar and strings that has a nice vocal and a decent electric climax. 'All Your Life' has hints of the Biff Bang Pow! sound, 'French Film Bleurred' has a Momus-like narrative, and 'Acid Angel Of Ecstasy' is dark and trippy and a bit cringey. A better moment is 'No Love On Haight Street' an intricate song with Duncan Dhu Spanish guitars. Overall, the album has little identity of its own; everything sounds borrowed, and 'Count To Five' shows that Ball should have been doing far better than this.

CRE 054
Primal Scream - Primal Scream

1) Ivy Ivy Ivy
2) You're Just Dead Skin To Me
3) She Power
4) You're Just Too Dark To Care
5) I'm Losing More Than I'll Ever Have
6) Gimme Gimme Teenage Head
7) Lone Star Girl
8) Kill The King
9) Sweet Pretty Thing
10) Jesus Can't Save Me

••

Primal Scream's debut for Creation was a long time coming and it could not have been more different from their Elevation release Sonic Flower Groove. The departure from the band of James Beattie and his 12-string guitar had seen the band adopt a far heavier approach and Primal Scream is a full-blooded rocker in the vein of The Stooges and the MC5. Unfortunately for the band, the change in approach had seen most of their audience desert them and the release was met with almost total antipathy from both press and public. The opener 'Ivy Ivy Ivy' (single 67) is actually pretty decent with Bobby Gillespie's profoundly unrocky vocal acting as a nice counterbalance to the tirade of guitars. The other high point is 'I'm Losing More Than I'll Ever Have', also intended for a single release, a Stonesy sounding slower number with a nice vocal which builds up into a good brassy climax that became more familiar when the track was radically remixed into 'Loaded' (single 70). 'You're Just Too Dark To Care' is another decent stab at a ballad, all acoustic and steel guitar with some passion in the vocal, but most of the rest is a struggle. 'You're Just Dead Skin To Me' is lethargic, 'She Power' is a classic rock stomp that needs more originality, 'Sweet Pretty Thing' is also too generic, and 'Lone Star Girl' would have fitted the band's old style much better than it does the new. The album came with a bonus seven-inch single.

CRE 055
Edward Ball - L'Orange Mechanik

1) The Conqueror Worm
2) The Raven
3) The Lake
4) Annabel Lee
5) The Bells
6) The Valley Nis
7) The Sleeper
8) Spirits Of The Dead
9) A Dream Within A Dream
10) The Haunted Palace

••••

Three of the initial publications from the newly formed Creation Press were accompanied by musical releases, the exception, ironically, being the book from musician Henry Rollins. To accompany the new publishers' version of Poems by Edgar Allan Poe, Ed Ball was commissioned to put together a record inspired by the American's verse. Poe (1809-49) was a larger than life character, famous not just for his poetry but his short stories and literary criticism, and was one of the originators of detective fiction. Always broke, he often traded art for popular appeal, though his Gothic, macabre poetry still shows glimpses of immense talent. Often focusing upon death, darkness and despair, Ball's interpretations of Poe's works do not make for easy listening; however, it is a fascinating and original listen and well worth a few spins. At times it works well. 'The Conqueror Worm' – a study of how death always triumphs – begins methodically and atmospherically and retains its menace as it slowly builds, whilst 'Annabel Lee' – inspired by the death of Poe's wife (he married his 13-year-old cousin) – carries an undercurrent of lamentation broken by distorted wind effects and a sadly dancing piano. On the other side, the electro rhythm of 'The Raven' feels wrong, though the choral effect works nicely, and 'The Haunted Palace' deserves better than the repetitve organ line played over a low drone. A top Creation oddity.

CRE 056
Love Corporation - Tones

1) Fleshtones
2) Monumental
3) Lovetones
4) Tones Of Incorporation
5) World
6) Palatial

••

Creation's headlong plunge into the world of acid house in reality took some time to work its way into the release schedule, with the first offering in the new genre only coming out in January 1990 despite the influence of the ecstasy culture having gripped the label for some months. Ironically, the first album to take the plunge was another release from Ed Ball, recorded at the other side of the studio while he was making The Times' E For Edward album. Acid house had first appeared in the nation at the end of 1987 when clubs began to open up that attempted to reproduce the ecstasy-fuelled Summer highs of Ibiza, and the grip it soon gained over the nation was startling, mirroring the impact of the punk revolution of the late 1970s. To the indie kids who had supported the label from the early days, Creation's change of tack flew in the face of everything in which they believed. A six-track mini-album lasting 33 minutes, a third of this was taken up by the last track 'Palatial' that was remixed for a single release by Danny Rampling, founder of one of the original acid house clubs, Shoom (single 77). This has a relaxtion tape narrative played over plenty of 'dap-dap-dapping' and seems to last for ever. As for the remainder, there are plenty of samples, warbling, buzzing and fizzing played over ditty, dinky and dangy backdrops.

CRE 057
Church Of Raism - Church Of Raism

1) Crimes Against Pussycat
2) Caustic Descent
3) Shade Sickness
4) Assassination Of Liberty
5) Night Scar
6) Venus Mass Immemorial
7) Dogstar Pact
8) Ditchfinder

••

"The Church of Raism has come to perpetuate the mulatto trident and disclose a runic undergound poised in pincers, to exorcise the senescent sack, to usurp the catamenial diocese and vandalise the hidebound human trough." Of course it has. Raism by James Havoc was the first venture from the newly founded Creation Press which quickly published other books from Edgar Alan Poe, Tony Reed (editor) and former Black Flag main man Henry Rollins. These all focused on the darker side of life, with this CD release, put out to publicise the venture, taking the same path. Put together by former Strawberry Switchblade singer Rose McDowall, Primal Scream's Robert Young and Felt keyboardist Martin Duffy, along with contributions from Havoc himself, there are seven tracks ranging from 43 seconds to over eleven minutes, and little that you will listen to again. After a minute and half of noise, 'Caustic Descent' has some narrative over piano and bad radio reception, before 'Shade Sickness' plays to organ and bad radio reception. 'Night Scar' is just over two minutes of McDowall singing nursery rhymes to acoustic, before we are presented with five minutes of 'Venus Mass Immemorial' which sounds like medieval monks warming up with some female warbling and another unconvincing tit-willy-bum narration. 'Dogstar Pact' sounds like a stroll into a Cherokee camp and eleven minutes of bass and drum follow with some crazy guitar filling it out and plenty of angels and lepers thrown into the mix.

CRE 058
Biff Bang Pow! - Songs For The Sad Eyed Girls

1) She Kills Me
2) The Girl From Well Lane
3) Baby You Just Don't Care
4) If You Don't Love Me Now You Never Ever Will
5) Someone To Share My Life With
6) Religious
7) Hug Me Honey

•••

Extra tracks on CD release
CRE 020
Oblivion

After the electric explosions of their last two releases, the new album from Biff Bang Pow! when it finally arrived in 1990 showed a marked change of pace. Coming in at just seven tracks, this was a collection of largely acoustic songs that again focused on the down side of love: loneliness, uncertainty and pain. Yet again a release with no band name or title on the monochrome cover Songs For The Sad Eyed Girl featured no drums or bass and seemed largely a vehicle for Alan McGee to get a few things off his chest. Again, unlike the previous release, there are no attempts to hide the vocals away and there are few places in which they could have been hidden. The opener is a decent ballad to acoustic and tambourine, well sung, but dragged out for a minute too long. 'The Girl From Well Lane' had been previously issued as an unreleased demo on The Acid House Album and remains one of the outstanding numbers here despite being recorded live. There is a bit of nice electric guitar on 'Baby You Just Don't Care' which could have done with more of it and 'If You Don't Love Me Now', a solemn number with maraccas and cello, is possibly the low point as it fails to captivate to any great degree. 'Someone To Share My Life With' is pleasingly simple and warming, whilst 'Religious' (or 'Religous' as the cover would have it) is not hugely exciting though there is some electric guitar and neat keyboard work. The closing track is fine, again embellished with keyboards and a harmonic chorus.

CRE 059
Momus - Monsters Of Love

1) Morality Is Vanity
2) Ballad Of The Barrel Organist
3) Third Party, Fire And Theft
4) Hotel Marquis De Sade
5) Murderers, The Hope Of Women
6) What Will Death Be Like?
7) Eleven Executioners
8) Gilda
9) The Hairstyle Of The Devil
10) Monsters Of Love

••

Creation's ability to drag a compilation album out of nothing was second to none, and that point was never so well made as on this retrospective from Momus. The subtitle, 'Singles 1985-90', could leave you to believe there were five years of classics to dip into to provide a thoroughly comprehensive review of Nick Currie's career. The truth was somewhat different as Momus had only released four singles in that period and the May 1986 release from El, 'Nicky', was not represented at all. This left the two EPs released by Creation themselves, 'Murderers, The Hope Of Women' and 'The Hairstyle Of The Devil' and the artist's debut single from October 1985, 'The Beast With Three Backs'. All three tracks from that EP were included, with the lead track 'Ballad Of The Barrel Organist', unsurprisingly another downbeat tale, decently sung as an acoustic ballad. It is sometimes a struggle to make out the words on 'Third Party, Fire And Theft', to keyboards and backing vocals, which defeats the purpose of listening to Momus in the first place, and 'Hotel Marquis De Sade' relates the sexual adventures of the middle classes in typical Currie fashion. Two new tracks grace the compilation, the Weimar-tinged opener with appropriate accordian, and 'Gilda', a bouncy keyboard number with a doo-wop chorus and double bass. As a retrospective, this leaves a lot to be desired.

CRE 060
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless

1) Only Shallow
2) Loomer
3) Touched
4) To Here Knows When
5) When You Sleep
6) I Only Said
7) Come In Alone
8) Sometimes
9) Blown A Wish
10) What You Want
11) Soon

•••••

Work having commenced in the Autumn of 1989, the second album from MBV on Creation finally saw light of day in November 1991 and though it had been allocated the number CRE 060 in the release schedule, it actually emerged at the same time as Teenage Fanclub's Bandwagonesque album, which had the catalogue number CRE 106! One of the reasons for so many releases coming in between was the label's desperate need to bring in funds to keep Kevin Shields in the studio and anything Creation could get their hands on was chucked out in 1991 to bring in a few extra quid, a remarkable 39 albums seeing the light of day in that twelve months. And following the release of Loveless, the label quickly dropped the band as it could not face going through the same strain again; this one album had brought it to the brink of ruin. The record itself was a triumph, sounding like nothing on earth and possibly justifying the 19 studios and quarter of a million pounds the label alleged it had cost to make. Even more unearthly than the previous Isn't Anything, Loveless was drowned in twisted and meandering loops of guitar effects shadowed by half-submerged vocals from Shields and Bilinda Butcher. Again, it worked at both ends of the spectrum: 'Only Shallow' is carried along by a driving rhythm with waves of looping guitar distortion steadied by Butcher's gentle vocal, whilst the less effected 'What You Want' has a pleasant Shields vocal with nice backing harmonies. There are plenty of high points, especially with the inclusion of the lead tracks from the two intermittent EPs included. The band even gets to sound like the Cocteau Twins on 'Blown A Wish', though with the backing put through the blender. Butcher sings, "Try to pretend it's true", and maybe that's the key. Suspend your disbelief and sail away.

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