Malachai - Return to the Ugly Side
by Sarah Maybank
published: 19 / 2 / 2011
Label:
Double Six Records
Format: CD
intro
Seductively bleak second album from Bristol trip-hop duo Malachai, which both encapsulates and serves as the perfect soundtrack for the recent tensions in the Middle East
Was it fate or just accident that Malachai should release an album seething with urban angst, just as cities across the Middle East erupted in a chain reaction of shared anger? Who knows? But nothing will better encapsulate those weeks in early 2011 when Cairo, Tunis, Algiers and Tehran exploded under the yoke of economic hardship and political and religious repression. The album is pure cinema, and its title, 'Return to the Ugly Side', tells you all you need to know about the subject matter. From its ominous, scene-setting opening strings, which spring straight from the mouth of the 'Jaws' soundtrack, to the film noir-ish How You Write, each track shimmers with tension, world weariness or plain desperation. And we haven't even got to the rat-a-tat machine gunfire percussion of 'Monster' yet. So how come the whole thing's not just a massive downer? While 'Return to the Ugly Side' determinedly draws a veil over the sunny side of life, Malachai work their magic just like the master of darkness himself, Tricky. Just like a black-hearted 40's femme fatale, this will draw you in and cloak you in its seductive bleakness so completely you won't want to break out and turn on the lights. Vive la revolution.
Track Listing:-
1 Monsters2 Anne
3 Mid Antarctica (Wearin' Sandals)
4 Rainbows
5 In The Hole
6 (My) Ambulance
7 Distance
8 Monster
9 The Don't Just
10 How You Write
11 Let 'Em Fall
12 No More Rain Maureen
13 Snake Eyes
14 HyberNation
Label Links:-
http://www.doublesixrecords.com/https://twitter.com/doublesixrecs
https://www.facebook.com/Double-Six-193166824052248/
https://www.youtube.com/user/doublesixrecords
https://plus.google.com/104074355299038154754
bandcamp
most viewed articles
current edition
Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies - Sala Apolo, Barcelona, 29/11/2023 and La Paqui, Madrid, 30/11/2023Anthony Phillips - Interview
Difford and Tilbrook - Difford and Tilbrook
Rain Parade - Interview
Oldfield Youth Club - Interview
Autumn 1904 - Interview
Shaw's Trailer Park - Interview
Cafe No. 9, Sheffield and Grass Roots Venues - Comment
Pete Berwick - ‘Too Wild to Tame’: The story of the Boyzz:
Chris Hludzik - Vinyl Stories
most viewed reviews
current edition
Marika Hackman - Big SighSerious Sam Barrett - A Drop of the Morning Dew
Rod Stewart and Jools Holland - Swing Fever
Ian M Bailey - We Live in Strange Times
Loves - True Love: The Most of The Loves
Paul McCartney and Wings - Band on the Run
Autumn 1904 - Tales of Innocence
Roberta Flack - Lost Takes
Banter - Heroes
Posey Hill - No Clear Place to Fall
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart