If you’re over 40, Richard Dorfmeister and Rupert Huber’s new album will leave you feeling very old. Not because this double offering houses so much that is new, but because it exemplifies an overwhelming nostalgia for a lost avant-garde.Dorfmeister and Huber record together under the name Tosca. Their new album, Dehli9 (!K7), makes some reference to a band they had as youngsters, so maybe it references the demi-monde of their youth. Major pop icons of Seventies and Eighties America lie buried in the songs: Velvet Underground when Anna Clementi sings “Standing on the corner, just me and Yoko Ono”, there’s Earl Zinger hovering somewhere between Dire Straits and Tom Waits, and there’s enough Grace Jones backing to remind you of a pumping disco full of warm leatherette and shoulder pads.As if this is not enough, there’s an overflowing nostalgia for nostalgia. This is after all what the lounge craze offers: subtle takes on old polo necks like Serge Gainsbourg and Sergio Mendes. One would have expected the Latin craze to have subsided, but no. When are the Latin and Caribbean combos going to give way to something wholesale African (is that asking too much?).Finally there’s the bonus CD. This is a beautifully restrained tribute to that other master of restraint, Brian Eno. Music for Airports and Ambient 2/Plateaux of Mirrors get a little sibling, proving that Dorfmeister and Huber are world-class copycats.Ultimately, with remaining strains of Seventies funk the album provides a youthful nostalgia for the 20th century
itself.
Heather Headley: This Is Who I Am (BMG)
The first solo album from Heather Headley is a must-have for R&B aficionados. It is a sizzling production, packed with wonderful ballads. It knocked the breath out of my lungs the first time I heard it. Her vocal ability is enormous and I was particularly impressed by her lyrics — she conveys them with dynamism. With songs that teeter between romantic triumph and confused love, she sounds as much a wronged woman as a joyful lover. Tracks such as the blistering album-opener He Is and the tacky Always Been Your Girl demonstrate her range, while the after-hours appeal of Nature of a Man is sure-fire. This Is Who I Am is Headley’s statement to the world. I hope to hear much more from Headley. Until then, I’ll keep listening to her heart and soul. — Wisani wa ka Ngobeni
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Nocturama (Mute)
There are not many singers around whose voices can match the texture and visceral power of Joplin’s. Here are two CDs with 30 tracks by the Sixties rock icon, including previously unreleased live versions of To Love Somebody and Kozmic Blues, recorded at Woodstock in 1969. It’s a compact introduction to the magic of Joplin for newcomers and a neat collection of great moments for her fans. The first CD has a more playful feel, opening with the upbeat folk of Down on Me and including the foot-tapping blues of Women Is Losers and the singalong Piece of My Heart. CD two is more introspective and emotional, with the slow, regretful sounds of Maybe, the laidback blues of Work Me, Lord and the heartfelt A Woman Left Lonely, to name a few. It also has, quite unnecessarily, a dance mix of Mercedes Benz, included like a hasty afterthought. An essential collection indeed. — Riaan Wolmarans