THE RUTHLESS RAP ASSASSINS/A GUY CALLED GERALD
BOARDWALK, MANCHESTER

IN the spirit of optimism which had Mancunians dancing along to the poetry of John Cooper Clarke in 1978, the various 1989 music-scenes in Manchester have united behind its new resident ranter, Edward Barton. The result of this across the board support has been the LP, "Edward Not Edward", a compilation of bands covering his songs. On the LP there are people such as Stump and Inspiral Carpets having a go at his piercing style, but tonight, perversely, we have two of the city's finest dance music artists.

A Guy Called Gerald's arrival on stage for some live mixing is proceeded by a long tape of primal beats and rhythms, chugging into the crowd. It is Edward Barton's world famous "Barber Song", but you'd never have known it. Gerald climbs on stage, and Edward opens his mouth. Wino House is born. and is joined by the man himself. People begin to look worried. The backing beat begins to swell and metamorphose as Gerald throws in some weird bongo rhythms, a furious house beat fills the stage. Edward's extreme range of vocal delivery combined with furious beats makes for a very strange and threatening brew. De La Soul can keep their flowers, The Beatmasters can keep Hip House, and MC Marvellous can certainly keep his dick, this is something weird and wonderful, and yet another intriguing direction for our home-grown dance mechanics to explore.

After that, The Ruthless Rap Assassins obviously have to pull out all the stops on their number. A reinterpretation of another Barton song, this one has the refrain, "This is a z-bend, but this is not a Z Car", repeated ad nauseam over an extremely-poppy ragamuffin beat. Like a Mancunian Eric B & Rakim, the Two Assassins drag in a wide range of unusual samples, spreading them liberally over a thick and funky slice of beats. Breaking with the theme of the evening, one Assassin leaves the stage while the other raps one of their own songs, a slow-paced parable of inner city life, his metal hat badge catching the stage lights reflects into the crowd, an illuminating beacon for 1989 rap.

MIKE NOON