I never got the appeal of Green Gartside, never understood how he came to be so respected. Granted, my knowledge of Scritti Politti’s output is limited, but the singles releases, in particular ‘The Word Girl’ and ‘Absolute’ struck me as nauseatingly sugary, not to mention limp and as wet as a puddle. This single has compelled me to reconsider on that score at least, but then again, this isn’t even a Gartside composition.
You could be justified in asking ‘what’s the point’? Why would Gartside embark on a project to completely re-record all of the parts to ‘A Failed Scheme’ by obscure East London act Lark, going so far as to borrow the band’s own kit to do it, before whacking the original vocals back on top? An obsessive exercise in deconstruction and reconstruction simply doesn’t explain or justify it, but then to describe it as a form of cover version or remix wouldn’t be particularly accurate either.
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Ultimately, though, it probably doesn’t matter, and the point is making a decent record, which this most certainly is. It’s an impressive work of production: the guitars are rich, dense, solid, and there’s an overall chunkiness to the recording – as befits the heavy-duty 7” vinyl format. There’s a lunging swagger to the gritty blues-based riff, while a stomping rhythm and a relentless piano note just keep on going and the drawling, semi-manic vocal delivery just finishes it perfectly.
Lark on MySpace
Scritti Politti on MySpace
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