REVIEW: Ian Brown, Unfinished Monkey Business (Polydor UK)
- Tim Kennedy
This album has one hell of a history. The Stone Roses were all set to become the biggest UK band of the 90s back in 1989. They played great rock music, they had dance credibility, they looked incredibly cool - like football 'casuals' with guitars. They came out of nowhere, when rock music had no credibility and house/ hiphop were the musics of the moment. All of a sudden a thousand bands got in on the act, then it all turned sour. Blur actually appeared at this time, apeing the Roses so embarassingly that their stage show was a Roses tribute.
The band changed but most surprising of all was that instead of 'Squire/Brown' on the credits for the most controversial second album Second Coming only Squire appeared. The band sounded great, but whispers about Browney's voice got louder. Now Squire has his own Indie/Zep rock'n'roll band. Oasis took the glory that could have been the Roses'.
But instead of disappearing from the scene, Ian has returned with a very different kind of music. This album seems to carry on where the Roses left off in 1990. The B side of 'One Love' - 'Something's Burning', a mysterious groovy reggae-ish number, and 'Fools Gold' (the song that launched a host of dance/ rock crossovers -none quite so successful as the original) are the nearest Ian got to these songs with his old band.
The production on this record is very creaky, but it just makes listening to Unfinished Monkey Business all the more fascinating. When you liste to demos by your favourite band, or maybe the solo work of Syd Barrett, you hear the germ of something magical -the excitement isn't yet driven out by endless retakes and overdubs.
This work features the band that was the Stone Roses after Squire, with replacement guitarist Aziz Ibrahim making some great contributions in particular, but most surprising is to hear Reni drumming on one of these tracks. "Can't See Me" is the true descendant of "Fools Gold" - a superb drum loop and great groove. This alone is worth the price of Unfinished.... But there is much much more. Elsewhere Maddix, who replaced Reni in the Roses, takes up the sticks.
Much of the lyrics appear to be aimed at John Squire - and in bad humour, too. Many of the interviews in the UK press have also seen much badmouthing of his former henchman too (no doubt some of it exaggerated afterwards by eager hacks). Other lyrics are merely puzzling (one "Lions" features the repeated mantra "No lions in England").
The music styles vary from loping funk, to guitar workouts featuring the oriental patterns of Aziz Ibrahim. We also get elegaic gloom of Joy Division proportions. One track is built around riffing heavy guitar and appears to be satirising his old buddy's penchant for Hendrix - the title is "Ice Cold Cube" - Squire's band nickname.
Elsewhere there is acoustic guitar/vocals, alone and stark, seemingly meandering, recalling the solo work of Syd Barrett in that one wonders if this is greatness or lunacy - or both.
Other songs are built around primitive beatbox, like the Flying Lizards. Yet another is a sad Durutti Column guitar ballad. Even the blues are conjured up briefly, he uses styles with wild abandon, then dumps them just as suddenly.
The bewildering array of musical genres employed here build up a mad collage of sounds, which astound the ear. This is not an album where you can listen to one song then predict what the others are like.
This work doesn't relate to much of the music being played elsewhere in the UK. Ian has his own agenda. He is a true innovator and this album is greatness forged from chaos. He could have melted away forever into Lee Mavers (ex-La's) country, but he returned, and any fan of the Stone Roses will see the spirit of that band defiant amongst these strange but wonderful songs.
