RSSFronting the Go-Betweens with Robert Forster, Australian-borncitizen of the world Grant McLennan was the facile one in a bandthat evolved into a song-lovers' religion--and also into a realband, which is why the tunefulness of his first three solo albumscouldn't conceal their lack of tension. But onHorsebreaker Star(Beggars Banquet), the tunes simply take over. The 19 tracks (theU.K. version is a double CD with 24) vindicate the long discreditedL.A. singer-songwriter leader-with-backup aesthetic. The songs rollout so effortlessly that you end up more taken with McLennan'saccrued eloquence than with its felt, pithy, inexorably melodiccomponents.
OnAbove and Below (Epicure), New York percussionist LeonParker applies deceptively simple polyrhythms to a fetching batchof original tunes, cut for context with well-chosen Monk andEllington chestnuts. Call it jazz from a worldbeat perspective.Hard to resist.
Playboy, Feb. 1995
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