Schtung

When Schtung first started playing at the wine bar at Barretts a short while ago their music echoed through the cavernous darkness of an empty room. I went down to see them last Saturday afternoon and the place was packed.

Why this sudden transformation around a band that most people in this country have still never heard of? It is, in fact, a very curious situation and one interesting enough to get a basically lazy chap like me sufficiently motivated to write an article.

Schtung used to be a four-piece instrumental bond and played as such for two years. Due to their conspicuous lack of success they altered their lineup to include two new members and re-wrote most of their material to incorporate lyrics and vocals. In its present form the band is only two and a half months old and has managed to move up from the Railway Tavern to Barretts; an insufficient step but a significant one nevertheless. (I find the thought of Schtung playing at the Railway Tavern slightly akin to visions of Pink Floyd letting it all hang out at a Waiouru Rugby Club Hop:)

Trying to describe Schtung's music is difficult in the same way that it's difficult to describe the music of any band that has created its own type of music: one must constantly refer to other groups for comparison. At different times I have thought Schtung similar to Genesis, Supertramp. Yes, and Split Enz. But what they really have in common with those groups is the fact that musically, a fundamental common factor really doesn't exist! They have created their own highly distinctive type of music—as recognisable as it is uncopiable.

The six members of the band are Robby Sinclair (bass), Paul Jeffery (keyboards), Andrew Hagan (guitar/keyboards), Morton Wilson (guitar), Jeff Boudler (drums), and David Bo-water (saxes and flutes). All their music is original and (by rock 'n'roll standards) complex.

Because of its complicated nature, arrangement is a major factor in the achievement of the final product and so Andrew Hagan stressed to me that although all the songs to date have been written by either him or Morton Wilson, they only write the initials, the "visual images", which are then interpreted and arranged by Schtung. In effect this means that the band is more than just a collection of people playing musical instruments—it is a firm family of musical minds as well, and this is evident in their music.

When they perform they cannot relax in the comfort of a basic never ending riff; instrumentation and tempo are always changing and they need to concentrate and co-operate to pull it off. When they're too tired to do that the music suffers severely. When they're not the effect is stunningly impressive.

Schtung's music, then, is complex, diverse, constantly changing and developing, dropping from ear-shattering keyboard climaxes into the cool beauty of floyd like guitar or flute; vocals changing from sharp projection to velvet smooth menace. Their collection of songs now numbers about fifteen and within that there is similar variation: smooth guitar-featured instrumentals like "Aujourd'hui" and "You Don't Even Make Me Angry Any More": keyboards/vocals—dominated tracks like "We Wonder Why We Don't Appear" and woodwind/vocal tracks like "National Scandle". The only fundamental common factor is that they're all good and will get better as Schtung, its present lineup still in its infancy, practise and progress.

There is now a fanatical clique of [unclear: Schtung]—freaks down at Barretts who sit from beginning to end of every performance, in hazy-eyed disbelief, soaking up music they know is too good to stay in their pub much longer.

The answer to my original question then, is that there is an undiscovered goldmine currently playing in humble circumstances in Barretts Hotel. All their material is their own and no-one has yet offered them a chance to make an album. In a couple of years most New Zealand record companies are going to be pretty pissed off that they missed the opportunity.

—Jonathan Scott

Joan Armatrading: Joan Armatrading

With the memory of the magnificent "Lonely Lady" single that Joan Armatrading put out about four years ago still afresh I eagerly put this record on hoping to find such similar works.

But it wasn't to be. Nearly all the tracks on here are bland soul flavoured numbers with some disco beat touching up, and like most who subscribe to this formula, unless the melodies are particularly strong, the result is as dull and turgid as cold rice pudding.

Generally the vocal efforts are weak and the arrangements sound sloppy but I suspect the latter is the fault of the poor material rather than of the producer/arranger as there are one or two instances such as the chorus on 'People" and the intro and guitar solo on "Tall in the Saddle" where quite a nice effect is produced.

For those then who want the real sensuous soul/blues I recommend you forget about this and try either Phobe Snow or Maria Muldar.

- Geoffrey Churchman

Record kindly supplied by Colin Morns Records, 54 The Terrace