Search - Ian Brown :: Unfinished Monkey Business

An Excellent Album

11/05/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album is a truely impressive debut from Ian Brown, quite possibly the coolest man on the planet. That it came from nothing is even more impressive. After the collapse of the Stone Roses in 1996, Ian had to learn everything from scratch; guitar, bass, drums, programming, producing. This album displays the different levels Ian achieved - there's lo-fi experiments, acoustic demos, and full-blown productions. The 3 stand out tracks on this album are "My Star", "Can't See Me", and "Corpses In Their Mouths". The first of these is an excellent take on the "Dear Prudence" riff, with military drumming and neo-asian guitar riffs. Ian voice is on top form, gruff but melodic. His lyrics, too, display a keen intelligence. "Can't See Me" is a loose limbed, monkeyed up jam in the vein of "Fools Gold" from almost 10 years previously. Ian scats a great lyric and joins 2 of his ex band mates for this highlight. "Corpses" is probably the best, one of the most menacing sounding songs for a long time. Ian's lyric is a veiled threat against someone (I wouldn't want to be that someone!), while the music flows around him with Spanish guitar motifs and an extended harmonica solo.These highlights are well spaced apart on the album, giving room for more experiments. "Sunshine" sounds like an acoustic demo, and although is very basic, shows a man learning his craft and getting there. "Deep Pile Dreams" is a stoned, meandering electronic track, a soundtrack for late-night philosophising. The 2 parts of "What Happened To Ya" are acoustic/electric jams, with long guitar workouts. "Nah Nah" is another albeit minor highlight, if only to hear Ian sing the word "gosh". All in all, "Unfinished Monkey Business" has a great lo-fi, stoned appeal that reveals more levels on repeated listenings. Ian's voice is on top form, the `pop' songs are great, the experiments are so way out yet so appealing, and he looks great on the cover. Definitely worth investigating. King Monkey Rules OK."

AS GOOD AS IT GETS

james durrant | Big Pink | 01/03/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"IAN BROWN RETURNS TO BEING KING OF BOTH MONKEYS AND COOL PEOPLE WITH THIS STUNNING SOLO DEBUT. CANT SEE ME IS THE BEST SONG OF 1998, WITH MY STAR AND CORPSES BEING THEIR OR THEIR ABOUTS. DEEP PILE DREAMS CONTAINS MORE INSANE RAMBLINGS AS DOES THE FANTASTIC NAH NAH. THIS IS HOW GOOD ALBUMS ARE GONNA BE (EXCLUDING GOMEZ AND SUPER FURRY ANIMALS) IT IS ENJOYABLE AND COOL AND BREATH TAKING. SET TO BECOME ANOTHER STONE ROSES CONNECTED CLASSIC"