RSSBut now come two terrific yet utterly dissimilar spinoff albums.Welcome to the Beautiful South (Elektra) is the onethat sounds like the Housemartins, except that its surface is evenmore feckless and dulcet: drummer-turned-vocalist Dave Hemmingwaytrades sugarlumps with Heaton, the political edge is gone, and keyboardscut into the jangle that new guitarist David Rotheray isn't muchgiven to anyway. Keep listening, though, and Rotheray's melodiesstart to sink in. Then you notice thatSong for Whoever ismean pop satire as well as shamelesslly pretty pop, and that theWoman in the Wall was put there by a husband who "enjoyeda pint or two or three or four." Aftershocks galore.
In one respect, former Housemartins bassist Norman Cook is lesscomplex: Beats International'sLet Them Eat Bingo(Elektra) means to be as happy as it sounds. But Cook's methodsare anything but simple. A DJ in Hull since his band disbanded,Cook has created the mixing record music lovers dream about--withbits of Afropop and Delta blues and disco and folk-strum and everykind of pop-funk hybrid segued together into a universal dance musicthat earns its billing, nothing is forbidden and everything fits.The only people immune to music this universal are copyright lawyers.
Playboy, May 1990
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