Browse Archive
Keane - Night Train (Island)
Night Train, Keane's little mini CD, is a decidedly mediocre affair. Recorded during their Perfect Symmetry tour the eight track EP is a mix of bland techno-pop tripe that bands like Boyzone would turn their noses up at. The nifty intro to 'House Lights' is alright, and 'Back In Time' is classic Keane, tight slickly produced indie-pop but it is straight downhill from there on in. 'Stop For A Minute', with its pseudo-African influence is pleasant enough until the awful awful awful rap by Canadian/Somali rapper K'Naan barges in: "Oh baby you are beautiful / from your crown to your cuticles." What were they thinking? 'Clear Skies' is pretty, but 'Ishin Denshin (You've Got To Help Yourself)', featuring Tigarah is like being punished by God. 'Looking Back' starts off with a Rocky theme tune-like intro (for some reason) and then just slumps along with more bad rapping from our friend K'Naan, and 'My Shadow' limps by, so dull you barely notice it. This is Keane trying to be queasily contemporary: African rhythms, rappers and quirky Japanese vocalists. They should just stick with what they're good at and leave the cutting edge to someone else. 4/10
100 Chillout Classics - 100 Chillout Classics (Rhino)
I don’t know about you but when faced with five discs loaded with a total of 100 tracks then I’m more liable to get anxious than chilled out, particularly when I start scanning the track listing and find it veering wildly and frequently between the sublime (Sabres of Paradise, FSOL, New Order) and the ridiculous (Chris Rea and the Blow Monkeys!). I know tribalism is dead and we’re all catholic in our taste nowadays but there’s surely precious few who’ll be able to chill out to Primal Scream without bleeding from the eyeballs when Dido wafts by. Worse is yet to come in the form of Simply Red and the bottom line is, if I’m grinding my teeth then the ‘Chilled out' box ain’t getting ticked. From a personal point of view this set is worth having merely for the inclusion of The Grid’s peerless ‘Floatation’ which has left a hole in my soul since the TMF turntable packed in all those years ago. A one in a hundred hit rate isn’t wonderful but, truth be told, there’s plenty (Coldcut, Leftfield) here to be enjoyed, although more likely via iPod shuffle mode than the curious sequencing of the physical discs. I’m not convinced that the world was crying out for yet another copy of William Orbit’s version of Barber’s Adagio but neither can I deny that it was a sticky thrill to hear Happy Mondays ‘Hallelujah’ Club Mix. The fact that the pleasure bubble is immediately pricked by Garbage’s ‘Milk’ encapsulates the fundamental problem with the collection but, hey, let’s not cry over spilling a little of the white stuff. 5/10
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Jeff Beck - Emotion & Commotion (ATCO)
Jeff Beck has never been one to take the easy option, his whole career seemingly an attempt to shake off the stigma of having been the man behind perennial office party singalong ‘Hi Ho Silver Lining'. It is with some trepidation then that we approach Emotion & Commotion, his first long player in seven years, but these deep seated fears prove unfounded as Beck appears to have mellowed in his dotage. The first thing that strikes the listener is the lush production carrying forth Beck’s distinctive guitar tones, which currently sit somewhere between the half-cocked wah wah honk of Knopfler and the epic sweep of Gilmour, and it’s a stroke of genius which has brought the inimitable Trevor Horn into battle. Production plaudits aside however it is the instrumental genius of Beck which demands, and receives, rapt attention throughout. Even experimental orchestrally tinged stabs at classics such as ‘Over The Rainbow’ and ‘Nessun Dorma,’ which could become horribly cheesy in the wrong hands (we’re looking at you Hank), fire the imagination and stir the soul. The irascible maestro is even laid back enough to share the spotlight now and again and thus we find Joss Stone tearing up the classic ‘I Put a Spell On You’ while Imelda May wraps her husky vocal chords around ‘Lilac Wine’. Emotion & Commotion is nigh on essential for anyone with a love of instrumental guitar and proves to be an apt title for a genuine tour de force which puts Jeff Beck right back where he belongs. 7/10
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Double U - Pineapple Dream (Wool Recordings)
Pineapple Dream is the fifth album of woozy psychedelia from Wool Recordings label boss, Franck Rabeyrolles' project Double U. Featuring the lush vocals of Stereolab’s Laetitia Sadler on opening track ‘Interludic’, this is a pleasant piece of sleepy dream-pop, akin to a less beat-heavy School of Seven Bells, or Atlas Sound but with some of the fuzz around the edges removed. Each track burns slowly through the ether as all manner of different noises reverberate off the sides. The title track sounds like Low invaded the studio, while the beats in ‘Whatever’ skip around twinkling synths and echoing guitar. The entire album has a decidedly more organic feel to it than a lot of music of its ilk, treading the line between straight up guitar-pop, and a slightly bored electronic artist who decided to pick up a six-string. An album that’s pleasant in the background but nothing more really. 6/10
65daysofstatic - We Were Exploding Anyway (Hassle)
Having finally returned to the studio after some almost non-stop gigging, Sheffield’s 65daysofstatic have produced their most expansive and powerful album. Pushing their post-rock leanings to the background has resulted in an onslaught of stunning electronica that just begs to be listened to over and over. Supporting The Cure on a US stadium tour certainly seems to have paid dividends as the epic nature of We Were Exploding. Anyway is simply enthralling. This is most noticeable on ‘Come To Me’ which merges their own driving rhythms with the instantly recognisable stylings of guest singer, Robert Smith. Ten minute album closer Tiger Girl is reminiscent of Underworld at their peak and powers us to a fitting finale to a superb album. They may have lost a few die-hard post-rock fans but that is a small price to pay as We Were Exploding Anyway will surely bring them an army of new listeners who don’t care about labels but just want to hear great music. 8/10
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Neil Cowley Trio - Radio Silence (HideInside Records)
This is the third album by a band of three. Perhaps some kind of gag could be worked up out of that, some notion a la ''the blues troupe of a seventh son of a seventh son, but no, inspiration seems to be lacking on this front. Thankfully, inspiration is not lacking on the album itself. Comprising piano, bass and drums, The Neil Cowley Trio have jaunty melodies and piano riffs to spare. Some of it could soundtrack a silent movie (must be what the press notes mean by 'Chaplinesque'), some of it grooves like Ramsey Lewis's Trio, and, with 'Portal', they come up with a closer that is reminiscent of the epic climaxes rock albums used to come to - almost (but not quite) a piano jazz version of 'Jungleland', something in that flavour. The limitations of only having three instruments inevitably makes some of it a bit on the austere side, but on the whole Cowley and pals manage to make their jazz accessible enough to rock fans without putting any of their six feet into dreaded Jamie Cullum territory, thankfully. 6/10
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Boys Like Girls - Love Drunk (Columbia)
Competent (just) but a galaxy away from being stirring, arresting, notable. Boys Like Girls' second album is, allegedly, ‘looser’ than their first, with the emphasis on sounding energised and ‘raw’. If you believe that, I know some Geordies who might be interested in that coal you’ve got on offer. Boys Like Girls are doing their bit to further the myth, gaining a foothold amongst the female (don’t pretend otherwise) teenage population of the world, that rock ‘n’ roll equals skinny jeans, hair cuts that require a reasonably advanced understanding of trigonometry and the odd token tattoo. But not too many cos they hurt. (Did I did see a picture of one of them a while back wearing a Whitesnake t-shirt? Oh grow up, for god's sake.) ‘Love Drunk’ you will know. No ? It’s the song all over the damn radio that you may have mistaken for Metro Station. Or Cute is What We Aim For. Or You Me at Six. The entire album sounds the same. Really. I don’t really feel compelled to qualify that. That’s laziness on their part, not mine. Stick in as many ill-advised little blasts of feedback as you like, but I know product being assembled when I hear it. I can smell the sweat of the design office from here. Rock ‘n’ roll are you, lads ? Give over. On ‘Two is Better Than One’ a female voice appears cooing along with lead singer Martin Johnson. Checks booklet … who could it be? Hayley Williams? Joan Jett? Kristin Hersh? Oh no. No, it’s Taylor Swift. Pass me my gavel. And because I’m professional and you’re not, I do a little research before I pass sentence. I might, after all, have BLG down as commercially motivated knobs of the highest order when in actual fact they’re highly favoured by Jello Biafra and about to go out on ‘The Anti Bloody Everything Tour’ with Gallows, Nine Inch Nails and Meshuggah. That’s when I find this nugget : “In an April 2009 interview with Paste Magazine Johnson explained that many of the songs on Love Drunk were written using templates from computer programs like Cakewalk Sonar and MasterWriter, and were market tested for album inclusion.” Which, in anyone's book, surely, makes Boys Like Girls Pro-Tools of the very highest order.
2/10
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Jaguar Love - Hologram Jams (Fat Possum Records)
Jaguar Love, for those unaware, arose from the ashes of Seattle noise-mongers Blood Brothers. Now for reasons presumably only known to the band themselves they decided to abandon their screaming punk sensibilities and go electro. Someone must have told them it was trendy or something. Now whereas Doves managed to move from Sub Sub’s rave anthems to soaring indie choruses seamlessly the change in direction is somewhat more jarring for the West Coast duo. There’s synthesisers, there’s some sub-Prince funk wailing, there’s even some good old shouting. There’s certainly no shortage of ideas but they seem to knit together (or not) in a somewhat slapdash manner. The result is a bit like being hit round the head with a record rather than listening to it. Top marks for trying but the result is a consistently difficult listen. Better luck next project. 5/10
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Circle of One - Tied to the Machine (Copro)
It’s time again for a plucky English band to try their hand at making the kind of all-pleasing melodic-rock that seems to do so incredibly well over in the States. Circle of One’s debut full-length is an album chock full of soaring choruses, retro-rock solos and a skill that most bands would kill to have. It’s just unfortunate that they haven’t used all of this to make something a little more unique. There’s no denying that Tied to the Machine is a solid modern-rock record, but it all sounds so familiar on tracks like ‘Power of One’ and the very Staind-esque ‘Everday Miracles’. The vocalist sounds a little like Klaus Meine from Scorpions, just without the accent and all the lyrics deal with the same old well-trodden subjects of love, loss and on the rare occasion politics (never a good idea). At the end of the day this is well executed, and deftly produced. It’s just a shame the band can’t step out of the shadow of the countless other bands of their sort who can do this quite a bit better. 5/10
The Juan Maclean - DJ Kicks (K7!)
Here DJ-Kicks returns with the latest in its long line of brilliant mixes, which in the past few years have featured electronic luminaries such as Hot Chip and Four Tet. This time house aficionado Juan Maclean gets a go at compiling some of his favourite tracks, and with this CD his taste does not disappoint. Primarily an exercise in the many facets of house music, this record spans several years of the genre. Kicking off with ‘Feliz Casa’ by Mr Maclean himself, a track revisited at the end of the mix, it expertly leads into the brilliant ‘Spaghetti Circus’ from Still Going. Soulful vocals punctuated by splashes of piano, this track will immediately get you in the mood for what’s still to come. The oldest song on the album comes from Armando whose ‘Don’t Take It’ is taken straight from 1988, but fits in as well as any of the other more modern tracks on this little disc. Another highlight comes from Shit Robot, their track ‘Simple Things’ being an ebbing mix of bleeps and hypnotic percussion. Of course the track everyone wants to hear is the exclusive Juan Maclean original. ‘Feel So Good’ is a great piece of modern house music, complete with vocals from long time collaborator Nancy Wang, and perfect for the dance floor. The man himself notes that he was worried if a mix would still be relevant today, but if this is anything to go buy then there will be plenty more DJ Kicks to come. 7/10
Figure 5 - Bonfire (2 Up Records)
Reading the biography of Figure 5 leads one to believe you are about to suffer through another dreary bog-standard indie album that will rapidly disappear from the memory. Support slots with the likes of terminally rubbish bands such as The Fratellis only increase the sense of foreboding as the opening chords of ‘Secrets & Lies’ start up. It is a pleasant change to have those prejudices quickly dismissed as this is finely crafted album of Spaghetti Western tinged, psychedelic indie pop, combined with hints of The Coral, an obvious but not overpowering influence. The horn-led mariachi stomp on ‘Rock of Gibralter’ perfectly sums up the prevailing sense of enjoyment prevalent throughout. There are a few minor missteps along the way, especially on the anaemic closer ‘Outside’, but these slight mishaps can be easily forgiven as Bonfire is a thoroughly enjoyable album that exceeds all expectations. 7/10
Various Artists - Plumpton Rocks (Plumpton Presents)
It was disappointing to discover that this gig didn't come with a bucketload of drugs or slightly wasted art and design students throwing themselves at my bed, but at least my geography is improving. Plumpton Rocks is a man-made lake near the hamlet of Plompton, Yorkshire and no-one really knows where that 'u' came from. Looks like it might be worth a visit - if not a special journey. Plumpton Rocks however, is an old-fashioned multi-artist compilation showcasing four local acts from the area. James Owen Fender delivers a slightly shambling indie that mentions Teletext. Good work! Blood Oranges have an air of strummy James about them (albeit with duelling fe/male voices) but it turns out to be a little MOR than you would hope. On the (very nice it must be said) packaging Wingman looks like Zane Lowe and wields an electric guitar but gives us an acoustic number as an taster of his ouvre. Not a bad example of the format. A bit Get Cape .... The final offering from Moody Gowns is a little quirkier. Imagine if Radiohead had gone to performing art college and played about with time signatures. Not sure four tracks gives either a flavour of the local scene or enough to convince further investigation of the acts but it's cool to see a label still give a scene a platform. 5/10
The Absolute Belters - Glorious Victorious (The Absolute Belters)
Influences are often important to any new band but equally important is to not have too many of them; The Absolute Belters fall foul of the latter statement as their debut album Glorious Victorious draws on talents as wide ranging as Black Sabbath through to The Specials resulting in a bit of a mess. It's unfortunate as there is some clear talent on display here, with the vocals containing the right amount of snarl to not be drowned out by the constant, unrelenting guitars which in turn are backed up by a strong, tight drumbeat. However, despite the infectious energy conveyed by the young four-piece, it never really feels like they know what their own sound is with short, sharp punk tracks like 'Hello London' sitting uncomfortably alongside more straightforward rock tracks like the Oasis-esque 'I'll By By Your Side'. Like their press release states, they have cherry-picked elements from all of their influences but this has led to an incoherent album, not so incoherent as to render it unlistenable but disappointing all the same. One thing to remember though is that it is their debut and there's enough musical nous on show to make you believe that once The Absolute Belters find their own voice, they could be a force to be reckoned with. 5/10
Admiral Fallow - Boots Met My Face (Lo-Five)
For anyone who has felt a bit lost since Deacon Blue went on an indefinite hiatus, Admiral Fallow's debut album might just be the thing to fill that hole in your heart. Boots Met My Face is, on the whole, a mellow listen with the majority of the tracks being simple but well-crafted acoustic guitar and vocal combinations, such as on 'Delivered' and 'Four Bulbs', but the band revel in surprising the listener. Just when you think a track is settling into a gentle rythym, the rest of the band decides to come in to create a cacophony of joyful noise with everything but the kitchen sink chucked in; a perfect example of this is 'Old Balloons' which ends with a minute-long outro that even fellow countrymen Biffy Clyro would be proud of. It's these tracks that lift the album above being a nice listen into a memorable one as they showcase a band willing to avoid genre conventions and forge their own sound. Boots Met My Face won't appeal to everyone but anyone who is willing to give Admiral Fallow's brand of melodic rock a try will be pleasantly surprised. 7/10
Sound Iration - In Dub (Year Zero)
Sound Iration (London producers, Nick Manasseh and Steve 'Scruff' Guilder) were pioneers of the 80's digi dub scene. While original dub producers were the equivalent of today's remixers - taking a popular reggae track, stripping out vocals and adding echo effects -, digi dub was created from scratch using just drum machines and synths. Here at least, the result is hard to distinguish from the dub that went before. Although relaxing in that way only dub reggae can manage, it's hard to make an argument to pick this off the shelf over a King Tubby album or a Trojan compilation. Still, fans of In Dub will be pleased to know this re-issue comes with a new disc of demos, previously unreleased mixes and tracks intended for a second LP. 6/10
The Golden Filter - Voluspa (Brille Records)
Voluspa, the debut album from NYC’s electro-lites The Golden Filter is the ultimate love letter to the 1980s, a time of perceived unlimited possibilities for pop bands who’d finally got their grubby mitts on some synth hardware. The synth revolution may have opened up limitless potential but that’s not reflected here for, make no mistake, this is an album which could have been pulled fresh from a 1982 Blue Peter Time Capsule, along with a Rubik Cube and some moth-eaten glitter legwarmers. Debut single ‘Solid Gold’, a pumping floorfiller, remains the strongest track on show and highlights the difficulties many bands face when trying to craft a traditional ‘album’ when their spiritual home is the pounding club mix. They’ll tell you different of course, probably citing St Etienne, but whereas Bob Stanley used his obsessive, encyclopaedic knowledge of pop history to craft something special The Golden Filter are working from the Reader's Digest version of history. It’s not all bad news though, current single ‘Hide Me’ is a woozy hybrid of the ‘Theme From White Horses’ and ‘Enola Gay’, combining breathy, swoonsome vocals and digi delayed synth stabs to huge effect. Elsewhere ‘Stardust’ is a gargantuan synth monster which finally clears the metaphorical dancefloor with a mesmerizing attempt at replicating the middle eastern dominion occupied by latterday Sisters of Mercy. Indeed, much of the album is peppered with melodic references to the markets of Morocco, but these Arabic signatures are kept rigidly chained to the leaded house beats which belie their dancefloor origins. It’s an interesting but musically inarticulate debut which nevertheless offers promise for the future. 6/10
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Lancashire Hotpots - Criminal Record (Townsend)
Criminal Record is a different kind of Lancashire Hotpots album. There's much less of the cheeky Northerner that characterised their oddly charming first album, and more a general lampooning of society. Take a quick look at the track list and guess the jokes - you'll probably be right. Some of it's quite clever - there's some neat little musical jokes such as the nod to The Bill theme tune in "Released Without Charge" and they're certainly competent musicians, but some of it comes across like the letters page of the Daily Mail - 'Released Without Charge' is about celebrities getting away with crimes, while 'I'd Take The Cars Off 'Em' - well, take a guess. Broadly speaking, it's amiable enough, but given that they've jettisoned the Northern references that made them unique, the Hotpots are in danger of becoming the poor man's Half Man Half Biscuit. This record isn't criminal - just mediocre. 6/10
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Tarot - Gravity of Light (Nuclear Blast)
Marco Hietala has gained much success with his 'main' band Nightwish in the past few years, traversing the globe and selling out some pretty big venues along the way, but Tarot is where it all started for him back in the early 1980s. However, don’t be lulled into thinking this is just a side-project. Gravity of Light is the band's eighth studio album and it’s full of good old-fashioned Iron Maiden-style classic heavy metal. Soaring and triumphant vocals, plenty of guitar solos and just general all round epic songwriting is abound here. Opener ‘Satan is Dead’ is a driving, monster of a song complete with classic lyrics about hell and its horned ruler. Riff after riff rears its head with a sprinkling of euro-metal keyboards here and there, coming together brilliantly on tracks like ‘Sleep in the Dark’ and ‘Magic and Technology’. Marco should be content in the fact that if Nightwish go tits up, he’s got another - just as good - band to focus all his attentions on. 7/10
Songdog - a life eroding (One Little Indian)
Songdog hail from Blackwood in South East Wales, a town which, according to Richey James, if it had a museum it would be full of rubble and shit. It’s no surprise then to find that A Life Eroding is a predominantly mournful affair. Their obsession with cowboys, the album referencing both Roy Rogers and Gene Autry, and country music is less expected. Vocalist Lyndon Morgan, who often sounds uncannily like a young David Essex, is a feted playwright in his other life and thus has an innate talent for creating cinematic vignettes of a shadowy half life which skirts a fault line between romantic idealism and ennui drenched urban reality. It may be pissing down outside a greasy kebab shop while the world yawns in perpetual boredom, but there’s always a residual hope that a gunslinger may come riding into town to shake things up at any moment. With folk music very much on the radar this year, allowing The Unthanks and Mumford & Sons to sneak in through a chink in the armour, there’s every chance that Songdog’s fifth album could be the one to see them make some inroads in the nation’s consciousness. 7/10
Frog Eyes - Paul's Tomb: A Triumph (Dead Oceans)
Frog Eyes return after three years with Paul’s Tomb: A Triumph. And what a triumph it is. This is a record of vibrant, urgent and exciting rock music, characterised by the brilliant howl of guitarist/vocalist Carey Mercer. At times sounding like Win Butler from Arcade Fire, his vocals are aggressively heartfelt and the element which keeps the entire album together. ‘The Sensitive Girls’ is a three minute tour-de-force of frantic strumming and echoing drums, while Mercer’s voice on ‘Rebel Horn’ weaves in between the picked guitar lines which then turn into heavy riffing. They’ve also added the delicate backing vocals of Megan Boddy to their chaotic sound, her voice merging with the piano in ‘Lear In Love’ to create a fitting contrast to the yowls of Mr Mercer. However, the standout track comes in the form of ‘Violent Psalms’, a haunting little ditty full of eerie synths and mournful acoustic strumming, a welcome respite from the power that has come before. Despite the three year gap between albums, Frog Eyes have clearly not lost their way and may well have made their best record yet. 7/10
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Danny and the Champions of the World - Streets Of Our Times (Loose)
Hang on, didn’t I read that at school? Isn’t it about a kid who poaches pheasants? Well yes, you’re quite correct, but the cultural similarities with this musical project appear to pretty much end with the name. Danny George Wilson is the one-time singer with Americana heroes Grand Drive and this is his new direction. And it’s not an enormous departure from his previous work. Part Ryan Adams, part Springsteen, this is a decent enough collection of alt-country ditties, the highlight probably being the 'Glory Days'-lite of ‘Follow The River’. Just back from supporting Fionn Regan this is being re-issued. If nothing else it might encourage people to buy a few more Grand Drive records. 6/10
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Spanish Gamble - It's All Coming Down (Paper & Plastic)
Seems like the US throws up bands like Spanish Gamble on a monthly basis, taking the basic Leatherface template and throwing in a little of latter day Hot Water Music's twin guitar attack for a set of anthemic air-punchers designed to soundtrack those endless drives between one horse towns. There's something a little more slack-jawed about the vocal delivery here, rather than the usual gruffness but you can't argue with the fire behind the words. Highlights include the duelling guitars of 'We Are The Restless' ('... and we never sleep') and closing track 'I Just Wanted To Know', with its ethereal, Small Brown Bike-style opening section that points to a potentially more experimental future. Definitely worth an each-way bet, if you fancy a flutter. 6/10
Kivimetsän Druidi - Betrayal, Justice, Revenge (Century Media)
Folk metal, extreme metal or fantasy metal, whatever you want to call Kivimetsän Druidi, they make quite an epic noise. Betrayal, Justice, Revenge is the Finnish six-piece’s second album after 2008’s Shadowheart and it’s pretty typical of the metal scene that is coming out of these parts of Europe. Chugga chugga riffs and atmospheric keyboards are in order for much of the album, at times sounding pretty samey and repetitive. But what they may lose in terms of excitement, they gain back in spades due to angel-voiced vocalist Leeni-Maria. Her operatic vocals turning tracks like ‘Aesis Lilim’ and ‘Chant of the Winged One’ into grandiose slabs of fantasy filled metal. The thrashier parts of the album such as ‘Seawitch and the Sorcerer’ bring some welcome variation to the table as well while 'The Visitor' has a melodic death-metal feel to it. There is no denying this band do what they do with great aplomb and tight musicianship, but there's only so much Leeni-Maria's vocals can do to elevate this above being merely average. 6/10
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Soulcage - Soul For Sale (Hellas Records)
Radio-friendly metal is always a tricky thing and when not done properly can sound like the musical equivalent of non-alcoholic beer. Soul For Sale from Finnish band Soulcage is a pretty decent offering. Plenty of good stompin' tunes like the thumping 'Send In The Clowns' or the Faith No More-ish 'I See'. Unfortunately, much of the album suffers from too many tattooed cooks in the kitchen. 'Until You Find Me' starts off with a beautiful acoustic guitar intro but then cheesy "Van Hagar"-style keyboards burst in ruining the whole effect while 'Satellite Children' is pure schmaltz. What saves the album from descending into dullsville is the first-rate musicianship and Aleksi Parviainen powerful vocals. Not a bad record and sure to find favour with those who prefer their metal smooth and easy, like a refreshing shandy. 5/10
Mirrorkicks - Mirrorkicks (Fruit Pie)
No word of a lie, the first names of Mirrorkicks are Gerard, Edwin, Ingmar and Anil. They met at school in South London and their shared love of unconventional names led to them forming a band (actually I made that up – but it’d be as good a reason as any). They certainly don’t categorise easily. There’s a plethora of rock influences from Three Colours Red to Red Hot Chilli Peppers to a falsetto Reef. They even sound like Republica at points, which can only have come about having not heard said band. No-one would deliberately choose to go down that road, would they? They rock along in quite a gentle way to no obvious conclusion. Potential yes. Finished article? Not quite yet. 5/10
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Ikons - Ikons (Service)
Swirling synths and pulsing beats characterise this new record from Swedish six-piece Ikons (seven-piece if you include their video artist). This self titled album is a cosmic journey through rhythm and wonder, that takes in shoegaze, kraut-rock and post-punk along the way. The eight-minute opener ‘Slow Light’ is a wonderful piece of dreamy, throbbing loveliness that really sets expectations high for the rest of the album. And on the whole it does not disappoint. The band toured with Spiritualized last year, and J. Spaceman and co’s influence can clearly be heard on tracks like ‘Honey’ and the reverb drenched ‘Bye’. Echoes of Joy Division punctuate much of ‘Imperiet’, with its monotone vocals and driving bass line all coming together in what is one of the more pop moments of the record. But they played their best card first, and never does the album reach the heady heights that they climbed to on that opening track. A solid effort from these ambitious Swedes. 6/10
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Coheed and Cambria - Year of the Black Rainbow (Roadrunner)
They may appear to be named after a firm of Scottish solicitors and dress like they’ve escaped from a photoshoot with Country Living but, make no mistake, Coheed and Cambria are here to rock and they do so in remarkably po faced style. After a sedate instrumental start the listener is dragged kicking and screaming into a conceptual universe, of which Year of The Black Rainbow is the fifth instalment, full of pain, war, disaster and torture where nothing matters anymore. Listen lads, I can cope with Prog, I can cope with metal and, hell, I can even admit to dabbling with the odd concept album but when you whine about destruction, don’t you know that you can count me out? When on form, such as the soaring ‘Here We Are Juggernaut’ C&C rival the mighty Queensryche but all too often the album slumps into an identikit emo wasteland which quickly becomes tiresome in the extreme. For those who’ve already invested the time in the previous four albums then Year of The Black Rainbow, probably in the deluxe format resplendent with ‘making of...’ DVD and a (you couldn’t make this up) 352 page novel, will no doubt be an essential purchase. For the rest of us, life’s too short. 5/10
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Starkey - Ear Drums And Black Holes (Planet Mu)
Starkey unlocks another selection of lip-smacking electro beats on his debut long-player for Planet Mu. The 15-track album packs in plenty of the grimey, low-slung grooves that listeners have come to expect from the Philadephia producer, whose futuristic sounds echo the likes of Joker, Jamie Vex'd and Rustie. The fluttering single 'Stars', which featuring an uplifting vocal turn by Anneka, is among the highlights, while the swaggering bounce of 'OK Luv', whiplash synths of 'Capsule' and stretched-out sci-fi funk of 'Neck Snap' also impress. This one is destined to gain heavy rotation over the summer months ahead. 7/10
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Fortune - Staring At The Ice Melt (Division)
Staring At The Ice Melt is the debut album from this French four-piece, who grew outwards from what was originally a solo project for vocalist Lionel Pierres. It's hard to avoid drawing comparisons with their fellow countrymen Phoenix, with this record at points sounding a bit like their Gallic contemporaries chewed up and spat out of a synthesiser. It doesn't come close to matching them though. The dense party-time indie of 'Bully' squelches along nicely, but the dodgy soft-rock of opener 'Under The Sun' is a closer indication of what's to come. The squashed bass of 'At Night' and rotten 80s synths of 'Highway' mark the point where those influences start to curdle into cheese, and by the time we reach the distorted hiss and heavily affected melodrama of closer 'Poison' it's all become a bit too much. 5/10
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Lee Harvey Osmond - A Quiet Evil (Latent)
First things first, there is no Lee Harvey Osmond. Lee is actually singer songwriter Tom Wilson who, aided and abetted by some Cowboy Junkies discovered the genre of ‘acid folk’ in a Toronto garage. Those expecting Trinity Sessions part two will, however, be sorely disappointed for A Quiet Evil is cut from a very different cloth indeed. Wilson’s gravel throated drawl is far more akin to Alabama 3 and it’s almost impossible to discern the contributions of Michael and Margot Timmins to this album. Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with LHO’s swamp rock meanderings, but it must be of some concern when the best track here, by far, is a faithful rendition of the Velvet Underground’s ‘I Can’t Stand It’, particularly when it pales into insignificance in comparison to Cowboy Junkies' 'Sweet Jane'. This is an album which is a textbook definition of (shudder) Americana and will doubtless appeal to fans of Dr John, Tom Waits and Calexico, but says nothing to me about my life. 4/10
Pin Me Down - Pin Me Down (Animalized Records)
It's often unlikely that a musician's side project will end up being more popular than their original band but Bloc Party's guitarist Russell Lissack's side project, Pin Me Down, might well be the exception that proves the rule. Pin Me Down's debut album is packed full of memorable electro rock tunes and will appeal to anyone who felt something went missing when Kele stopped singing about banquets and moved onto witches. Some might argue that this album doesn't really attempt anything different and that's true to an extent - Russell's spiky guitars could be interchanged with anything he's done previously - but when it's done this well with a truly superb vocalist in Milena Mepris to back up the catchy hooks, you won't find yourself complaining about its simplicity and lack of depth. Opening tracks 'Cryptic' and 'Treasure Hunter' set the standard high and while the rest of the album doesn't exactly match this opening salvo, it comes close on several occasions with 'Ticking', 'Time Crisis' and 'Meet The Selkirks' being notable silver medal finalists. Pin Me Down's debut album is an impressively assured effort and will leave Bloc Party fans in a difficult spot of being eager to see them back but equally salivating at the prospect of what Russell and Milena can come up with next. 7/10
Lange - Intercity Spring 2010 (New State)
According to the 2009 DJ Mag Top 100 Poll, UK trance artist Lange is the world's 31st best DJ. Intercity - Spring 2010, a two disc mix of new tunes from the trance world, is a proficient if unsurprising affair. Disc 1 is let down by rather too many bland male vocals, Matthew Ryan's on 'Spark' being the sort of thing that 25 years ago would have fronted a dodgy soft rock track. Disc 2 is more satisfying in its blend of shimmering sounds ('Magic Valley'), big vocal anthems ('This Feeling Inside') and genre heavyweights (Sander van Doorn, Ron van den Beuken). Never once while listening to this do you get the impression trance has moved on in the last 15 years, but the euphoria generally stays on the right side of cheese, making this surprisingly agreeable within a genre that is often easy to criticise.
6/10
Mademoiselle Caro & Franck Garcia - Left (Buzzin' Fly)
The second album from Mademoiselle Caro & Franck Garcia is unlikely to disappoint fans of French pop. While the hooks aren't exactly in your face, the arrangements are stylish and the tone that perfect, wistful blend of romance and melancholy. Recent single 'Soldiers' is probably the best track here. Listen to its subtle electronics and warm vocal and it's hard not to imagine yourself smooching in a retro French discothèque. Thankfully, its strain of dreaminess runs through much of the album like veins through a stinky cheese and it's only on the rockier 'Drive' that the spell is broken. Left is at once sophisticated and admirably daffy, the sort of thing that only continentals singing in English can achieve. 6/10
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Temposhark - Threads (Paper and Glue LTD)
The pop landscape is barren. Girls Aloud are on a hiatus. Kylie Minogue and the Scissor Sisters are mounting their returns, but we’re impatient and we want it now. Meanwhile, Lady Gaga rules with an iron fist and even JLS’s seemingly never ending source of poptastic tunes appears to be drying up. It’s tough times. We need is new blood. Enter Temposhark. Already a cult sensation online, Robert Diament presents his sophomore album, Threads; a fast-paced, pop thesis from the Backstreet Boys school of teen boppery with the added lacerating cynicism of Lily Allen thrown in there. It’s brilliant and it’s here. Is he capable of saving pop music and over throwing Her Royal Highness Lady Gaga or will we forget all about him as soon as Kylie drops her eleventh masterpiece? Hey, who cares? It's pop. Shut up and dance! 6/10
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Harlem - Hippies (Matador)
At first glance Harlem appear to be yet another hipster lo-fidelity in-joke; a guitarist and drummer who switch instruments and share vocal duties....oh deep joy. But let’s not rush to judgement for they’ve recently bolstered their line up to include a bass guitarist and, bugger me, those are recognisable tune I hear! ‘Tis true, with Hippies Harlem have unleashed their inner baby boomer beat group. Check ‘Be Your Baby’ for a faithful recreation of the kind of Palais dancefloor filler peddled by the sharp suited High Numbers (Who?) . Elsewhere they conjure up the ghosts of pretty much every act involved in phase one of the British Invasion, with ‘Torture Me’ sounding not unlike Cobain fronting up the Kinks. If you want to find out why the Beatles caught the attention of the planet then this is as close as you will get to those sweaty Cavern gigs where it all began. If you love rock n roll then forget trying to spot Paul (thumbs up for the camera) McCartney from the back of the stadium and follow the guttersnipes for a night with Harlem. 6/10
Mouse on the Keys - An Anxious Object (Denovali)
Japan has throw up some pretty crazy and unique bands in the past ten years, with acts like Boris and Acid Mothers Temple pushing the envelope and creating progressive yet enjoyable music. Mouse on the Keys do not stray from this, and with their debut full-length An Anxious Object the trio have created an exciting amalgamation of jazz, post-rock and neo classical music. Described as a concept album about the bands home city Tokyo, this leaps right for the jugular in a flurry of frantic piano and crashing percussion. ‘Spectres De Mouse’ is an exhausting, yet riveting journey through numerous time signatures and exploration of the interesting results which can be achieved with just a drum kit and two pianos. ‘Seiren’ veers into the jazz territory explored on previous EP Sezession, with its meandering trumpet breaking through the controlled chaos. Later on ‘Soil’ brings an almost cabaret feel to the sound, the clarinet screaming throughout, urging itself to be heard. This is ultimately a musicians album, one where each instrument is given a chance to show its full flowing nature. Though sometimes they may tread into decidedly self-indulgent territory, An Anxious Object is still an exhilarating yet delicate beast of a record. 7/10
Jackie Leven - Gothic Road (Cooking Vinyl)
Just to get this out of the way: Jackie Leven had a band in the late seventies/early eighties called Doll by Doll. They released two of the most underrated rock albums in British history in Remember and Gypsy Blood. Those records are dark, intense, poetic and rocking. Find them. He was absent from the rest of the eighties with a heroin addiction. Today, Jackie Leven is prolific. He once had an argument with his label boss about the number of records he was trying to release one year. Gothic Road is, approximately, Jackie Leven’s fifteenth solo album. All of his albums follow the same template. That template includes: tributes to fallen friends and heroes; celebrations of poets, poetry and literature; a great deal of Caledonian wisdom and mysticism, as well as the practical realities of romance, loneliness and madness, all with a sound that never strays too far from soulful folk, rock and blues. Proper songs from a manly voice. He can be over-earnest, and the albums can be over-long. His best solo work is probably The Mystery of Love is Greater Than the Mystery of Death, but this seems a good place to start for the uninitiated. Somewhat easier to manage than his others, at 52 minutes, and features songs paying tribute to the dead of the Kursk, Cornelius Whalen the last Jarrow marcher (Ralph McTell sings on that one), and Tilda Swinton, and that quote Mud, Bob Dylan, and Joy Division. 7/10
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We Were Promised Jetpacks - The Last Place You’ll Look (Fat Cat Records)
Edinburgh indie rockers We Were Promised Jetpacks have followed up their debut album These Four Walls with this wonderfully melancholic EP/mini album. The crashing songs of yore have been partly replaced by tender and quite beautiful arrangements laden with strings and the staccato drumming of Darren Lackie. The fragile voice of Adam Thompson leads us through driving opener ‘Far Cry’ that sets the tone for what is to come. ‘Short Bursts’ is the first of two alternative versions of songs originally on their debut and leads us in to the powerful duo of ‘The Walls Are Wearing Thin' and ‘With The Benefit Of Hindsight’. 'This Is My House This Is My Home’ closes out the EP with a combination of plaintive vocals soaring above over a sparse orchestral arrangement that leaves you wanting more of these richly textured songs. This is predominantly a download only release but a physical version will be sold exclusively at their gigs, surely incentive enough to catch them live. This is a great EP and bodes well for their future direction. 7/10
Paper Aeroplanes - The Day We Ran Into The Sea
The Day We Ran Into The Sea, debut album from Welsh band Paper Aeroplanes harkens back to those blissful, radio-friendly tunes that populated the radio in the 90s. Produced by John Reynolds (Sinead O'Connor), these 11 lively tunes feel like a breath of fresh air, with Sara Howell's crystal clear vocals giving a charm and depth to songs that could easily turn to schmaltz in less gifted hands. Opening track, 'Cliche', is something that The Sundays would be proud to call their own, while 'Freewheel' and 'Lifelight' are reminiscent of The Corrs at their very best. And the desperate longing in 'Pick Me' has a lyrical and musical maturity akin to Suzanne Vega: "Pick me I'm everything you wanted to pay for / Pick me I'm fashionable and knew I could change you." The Day We Ran Into The Sea is a lovely collection of pure pop the likes of which you thought they didn't make anymore. 6/10
Untied States - Instant Everything, Constant Nothing (Distile Records)
Instant Everything, Constant Nothing from Athens, Georgia band Untied States takes some getting used to. In a world of spoon fed tasty three minute sound bites, a band that defies the linear constraints of most music may at first seem little more than noise. Infusing elements of Syd Barret era Pink Floyd, Sonic Youth, Radiohead and Nirvana the music comes at you full force in a blistering cacophony of feedback, screaming vocals and distorted samples with Colin Arnstein's vocals riding slipshod through it all. Songs like opener 'Gorilla The Bull', the hypnotic 'Unsilvered Mirrors' and 'These Dead Birds' show real promise. Unfortunately much of the album drags even though the tracks don't clock in much over four minutes. What is lacking is the melodic timing and lyrical poetry the afore mentioned bands possessed. Instead tracks like 'Kowtow Great Equalizer' flap around aimlessly with little holding them together. It's always nice when you see bands pushing the boundaries of music instead of playing it safe, and Untied States are at least brave enough to colour outside the lines. No doubt we'll hear more from them, but they need to become less untied and start pulling their different strands together before making any real progress. 5/10
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Shakespears Sister - Songs From The Red Room (Palare)
So, after a long hiatus Shakespears Sister are back. Or, more accurately, Siobhan Fahey is back - Marcella Detroit hasn't been part of the band since 1993. Lead single 'It's A Trip' has a fun Goldfrapp meets Blondie vibe. Then comes 'A Man In Uniform' with a dirty, synthy 'Strict Machine' sound and that's when it hits you - everything on here sounds like something else. This is an album that doesn't have an original thought in its head. Here a bit of Depeche Mode, there a sprinkle of Goldfrapp, a touch of Client. 'Was It Worth It' even rips off Salt 'n' Pepa. One breathy, synthy track soon melds into the next, with the dreary synth squelches of 'Cold' a particular low point. Guitar-led 'Bitter Pill' provides some welcome upbeat, almost summery pop relief mid way through, but we've heard this all before, and better, from other acts. 4/10
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Aspera - Ripples (InsideOut)
Not usually known for its burgeoning prog scene, Norway has given birth to this young band of 20-somethings who go by the name of Aspera. Taking the template that Dream Theater laid down god knows how long ago, these guys have come to show the oldies that they can do prog just as well. While what is contained on Ripples may not be the most original of music, this is well executed and full of the fluid virtuosity that you'd expect from the best records of this kind. Soaring yet aggressive vocals, symphonic guitar work and plenty of cheesy keyboard sounds are what make up this album, but it’s actually really quite enjoyable. Tracks like ‘Do I Dare’ and ‘Between Black and White’ take intricate guitar lines and solid drumming and couple them most importantly with good songs. These young guys have the chops, they just need to make something that can elevate them above mere talented copycats. 7/10
Tiger Please - Seasons EP (Walnut Tree)
Kicking albums into touch Tiger Please are back with another EP which puts even greater distance between themselves and the chasing pack of Welsh emo-metallers. This is where Leon and the boys emerge as a fully fledged rock band, free of the stylistic limitations of fashion bound sub-genres. The Seasons EP sees them tackle the subject of love head on across four tracks, each linked to one of the four seasons. It begins in the haze of summer with the strongest track, the enigmatic, chest beating ‘Summer in the House of Confessions’ which perfectly showcases the depth and power of Leon Stanfords’s chocolate rich baritone. Elsewhere ‘Autumn Came The Fall’, which highlights the band’s ability to create sweepingly subtle soundscapes, poses the question Is love the reason we’re all alive?, before we’re sliced apart by the glacial guitar of Luc Morris which announces the onset of ‘Winter and the Storyteller’. Seasons highlights how far the boys have developed musically in the few short months since their debut, each song carefully layered with intricate melodies which refreshingly eschew the traditional ‘RAWK’ guitar solo. This is classic British rock music which brings to mind the halcyon days of the late 1980s where bands like U2, Police and Hothouse Flowers sat comfortably in the charts on a regular basis. On that basis alone Tiger Please should be welcomed with open arms; love is all you need. 8/10
Filthy Pedro & The Carthaginians - Filthy Pedro & The Carthaginians (Blang Records)
When he's not busy pretending to be Spanish, Filthy Pedro is actually Simon Parry from Anglesey who, along with Tom Mayne of David Cronenberg's Wife, is the founder of the UK Antifolk movement. This is important to understand when approaching Filthy Pedro & The Carthaginians' debut album as otherwise you'll just think it's a collection of out of tune tracks performed by people with a lack of musical competence. It still sounds that way but at least you know it's meant to sound that way which might lower the expectations somewhat. The album itself is a strange combination of insulting the mannerisms of small town communities like on 'They Kicked Me Out Of Anglesey' and historical tracks that focus on Ancient societies like on 'History Lover' and 'The Julio-Claudian Caesars'. Your enjoyment of it will mainly depend on whether you can enjoy the shoddy nature of the music, although it does sometimes stumble upon a catchy hook, and Pedro's often childish, generally offensive, lyrics such as on 'Man. I'm Old!' where Pedro states that he's "drank with Gilgamesh and Abraham, slept with the Pope that wasn't a man / I'll whoop anyone who says it isn't so". A final nail in the coffin is that the album lasts for a mammoth 21 tracks, albeit not all of them are full-length tracks, so even though you might start off enjoying the irreverence, it soon starts to drag. 3/10
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Slaraffenland - We're On Your Side (Hometapes)
There’s something in the water in Denmark. Well, there must be if they are producing such lovely indie-pop as Slaraffenland’s latest album, We’re On Your Side. Taking the virtuoso musicianship, and taste for a pop hook that fellow countrymen Mew have so finely mastered, Slaraffenland have made something that sounds altogether more organic and gentle. Tracks like ‘Meet and Greet’ and ‘The Right Place’ have so many different sounds and textures working together, yet never does the sound seem too dense, leaving plenty room for the music to breathe. They take elements of Talking Heads and good friends Efterklang amongst others, and create something that’s really quite delicate and pretty. Since the release of their previous album Private Cinema, the band have been slogging it out on the road and playing festival after festival. Could this album signal the Danes' great breakthrough? 7/10
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Tony Bennett - The Ultimate American Songbook Vol 1 (Sony)
Now entering his 84th year Tony Bennett, has trawled his back catalogue to present a personal selection of classics from the American canon. The collection, released to coincide with a UK tour and BBC Radio 2 documentary, features twenty one classic tracks from ‘Begin the Beguine’ through to ‘Take a Chance On Love’ and comes with a unique ‘Ultimate Access Pass’ which allows fans to access a wealth of online extras including a further seven downloadable tracks. As you might expect when bringing together a living legend and a cast of songwriting greats including Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and Fats Waller the results are sublime, Bennett’s honey tones breathing new life into these omnipotent classics. He’s no Frank Sinatra but he’s never less than engaging, particularly on more recent work such as the delightful Unplugged rendition of ‘Moonglow’ with k.d. lang. Now’s your chance to engage with the inimitable Mr Bennett, catch a 60th anniversary live show and appreciate the genius of one of the last living links to the great age of variety. They don’t make them like this anymore. 7/10
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Nice Nice - Extra Wow (Warp)
Distorted, fuzzy post-rock is the order of the day here - Portland duo Nice Nice's first album for Warp is a feedback-drenched cacophony apparently conceived as an offering to the god of Bang Bang. Sounding like Liars jamming in a washing machine, they pile on layer after layer of half-sung, half-shouted vocals, wild free-form drums and pile-driving riffs to gloriously noisy effect. Changing up a little, tracks such as 'Away We Glow' and 'Big Bounce' add a sort of chillwave-through-a-cement-mixer vibe - think Memory Tapes by way of Fuck Buttons on an Afrobeat tip. Things even mellow out completely towards the end of the LP... before closer 'Its Here' smacks you in the face with a baseball bat. Recommended - if you like think your ears can take it. 7/10
Mulatu Astatke - Mulatu Steps Ahead (Strut Records)
67-year old Ethiopian jazzman Mulatu Astatke returns with Mulatu Steps Ahead, following the Jim Jarmusch/Bill Murray collaboration Broken Flowers and last year's album with London's Heliocentrics. It's a seamless blend of Western jazz sounds with Latin and African rhythms and instrumentation with everything moving at a stately pace, with most tracks able to stretch subtly and comfortably out well over the five minute mark. It's this pace which is problematic: the album really could have done with one or two more uptempo numbers swinging in and rescuing it from falling into the ambient graveyard, and it is the very welcome yet too infrequent African elements that provide the most areas of interest. Having said that, the opening track, 'Radcliffe', is very atmospheric and moody, reminiscent of something from Bernard Hermann's Taxi Driver score. 6/10
The Tallest Man On Earth - The Wild Hunt (Dead Oceans)
The Tallest Man On Earth is the alter ego of Swedish folk-hunk Kristian Matsson. His Dylan-esque vocals and chirpy songs may not be the most original thing to come out of the recent world folk revival, but these ten songs do have a warmth and a spark that keep you tuned in even if you feel as if you've heard most of it already. With his nifty acoustic guitar picking and delightful nasal whine Mattsson beguiles us with songs that speak of restlessness and longing. At his best his music bears more than a passing resemblance to I Am Kloot's John Bramwell. Take the delightful 'King Of Spain'; "I never knew I was her lover / just cos I steal the things you hide / just cos I focus while we're dancing / just cos I offered you a ride." The beautiful and haunting 'Love Is All' is another winner, stark and simple with just Matsson and his guitar, but all the more powerful for that. 'Kids On The Run', with its full throated piano chords and Matsson's lovely vocals closes the album. The Wild Hunt is a lovely collection of heartfelt songs that will keep good company, serenading you on those cold rainy days when silence is too lonely and anything more is too much to bear. 6/10
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Malachai - Ugly Side of Love (Domino/ Double Six)
Ugly Side of Love, debut album by Bristol duo Malachai has an air of attention deficit disorder, a mish-mash of musical styles that simply confuses. Songs like the overblown 'Warrior' and 'Snake Charmer' are like early Chicago outtakes while 'Blackbird' and 'Snowflake' sound like the band are trying to achieve a cool Alice In Chains meets Beck thang yet fail miserably. The most annoying thing is that as soon as the band hit on a decent tune they then throw in a random, and completely unnecessary, sample or hip hop scratching loop. Take the semi-decent track, the Last Shadow Puppets-esque 'Fading World.' I thought the CD was faulty until it dawned on me that it was supposed to sound like that, like the needle skipping on a turntable. The whole album feels like it was mixed by Rain Man. Awesome cover art though. 4/10
MGMT - Congratulations (Columbia)
When in doubt put flowers in your hair and reinvent yourselves as the lost sons of Haight Ashbury. Not the sort of advice the dear departed Malcolm would have meted out to his protégés but MGMT have put their trust in Pete Kember, aka Sonic Boom and are doing things the counter culture hard way. Not that this album dares take a walk down la rue de la Spacemen 3; forget incessant droning repetition, this may well be an exercise in psychedelia but the emphasis is very much on the delia. In true Delia style they’ve cooked up a West Coast treat which might be described as White Rabbit Pie. Jefferson Airplan are an obvious reference point, with tracks like the rock operetta ‘Siberian Breaks’ replicating the soundtrack to a fuzzy headed Woodstock daybreak. Elsewhere, such as the unexpected ‘Song For Dan Treacy’, there are echoes of the wacky psych-frenzy of Gorkys while, perversely, ‘Brian Eno’ sounds like nothing so much as a Television Personalities classic, it’s angular abrasion the polar opposite of Eno’s elegance. Best of the bunch is the much derided ‘Flash Delirium’ which successfuly blends the mania of Syd with the spacedust frenzy of Tom Tom Club to create a deliciously perplexing audio scribble. It’s not a uninterrupted parade of (bong) hits however and the dreadful ‘Lady Dada’s Nightmare’ is as pointless and pretentious as you might expect. Catastrophic miscalculations apart though, there’s no doubt that MGMT are heading in the right direction. 7/10
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Frames - Mosaik (SPV)
Frames aren’t a rock group. They are purveyors of great musical innovation, storytellers without words and as close to rock music as Sigur Ros are to the Beatles. Their debut album, Mosaik, uses thrash metal guitars, but it does so with the precision and purpose that Beethoven employs his ballsy string sections. The academic axe-wielding is neatly coupled with movements of sublime synths and drums to create swirling sound storms, almost as if Air were in a wild horses-style fight with The Trans-Siberian Orchestra. As a debut, this German four-piece Frames have set the bar intolerably high. Admittedly, it would benefit from some more variety in the arrangements but it’s hard to imagine that a band who have forged such a unique and engaging sound as their first volley are ever going to stop experimenting. 7/10
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The Hungry and the Hunted - Magic Bullets (Hungery and Hunted)
London band The Hungry and the Hunted fancy themselves revolutionaries, outlaws, desperadoes. The CD cover and booklet is riddled with photos of bullets and gun-toting cowboys and militants. On their Myspace page Che Guevara and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid are listed as "influences". Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if the songs lived up to at least some of this bravado. The music is fast paced and furious a la Motorhead but with not an ounce of that band's might or muscle. The cheesy guitar solos and half-baked lyrics only exasperate things, while vocalist Azam Khan's throaty howl just makes you want to pass him a cough drop. All the songs sound pretty much alike and you might find yourself shutting off after a while rather than taking to the barricades. The Hungry and The Hunted they may be, but they need to find a cause that's worth fighting for. This ain't it. 3/10
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Elliott Smith - Roman Candle (Domino)
As is often the way with these things, Elliott Smith's suicide in 2003 significantly raised the profile of an artist whose five album track record had failed to make him a household name. Roman Candle, released back in 1994 contains only nine tracks (four of which have ‘No Name’) and comes in at a little over half an hour. The original made Moldy Peaches records seem over-produced and this revised ‘more listenable’ re-release remains so delicate a puff of air might cast the songs into the darkness. Smith purists will undoubtedly be up in arms about perceived tampering with musical legacies but the ‘new’ version will hopefully open up a new wave of fans to the sometimes painful, often astounding back catalogue of the troubled troubadour. Raw for sure, but still oh so beautiful. 7/10
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Natascha Sohl - Dirty Little Word
Born in tres chic Paris and raised in the grimy old UK Natasch Sohl betrays none of these roots on Dirty Little Word, an album which oozes Hollywood glamour and excess from every pore. Opening with ‘Naked’, a monster of a tune which half inches the chorus from Lady GaGa’s ‘Poker Face’ and splices it with Natalie Imbruglia’ sultry vocal style, is a statement of intent. This is an album which catches you unawares and stares you down into quivering submission with an unflinching gaze of unwavering confidence. ‘Dirty Little Word’ is the epitome of anthemic power pop upon which America constructed MTv before hard rock hairspray become a balck market commodity. ‘Nothin Else Matters’, sadly not a Metallica cover, pushes the hubba bubba pop bubble further with a riff laden track which draws heavily and appropriately upon ‘Kids in America’. Ms Sohl is the perfect antidote to the prissy, pious, posing of Paramore and deserves to dominate the airwaves in 2010. 6/10
White Belt Yellow Tag - Methods (Distiller Records)
Featuring Tom Bellamy of the much missed The Cooper Temple Clause hopes are high for White Belt Yellow Tag, despite the rather clumsy name. Initial signs are encouraging as recent single ‘Remains’, which is also the opening track of Methods is an immediate, pounding indie classic which draws heavily upon Doves and the Bunnymen. Standout track is the rousing ‘You’re Not Invincible’ which treads a stylistically similar path to the flag waving exploits of British Sea Power. Herein lies the problem with WBYT, they sound like everyone but themselves; their true identity remains cruelly shrouded beneath layers of falsetto heavy, Coldplay lite lumpen indie for the masses. There’s probably a great band struggling to escape this awful fate but, as yet, they’re a long way from the light; let’s get together again when they’ve written some songs or discovered an identity. 5/10
Various Artists - Ashes To Ashes: Series 3 OST (BBC)
The return of nostalgia tinged TV cop drama Ashes To Ashes heralds a new opportunity for bathing in the warm, rose tinted glow of Top 40’s past but, for some, the 1980s remain a decade of unspeakable horrors. The decade that dare not speak its name. These people should be regarded with nothing less than extreme suspicious for, as this collection goes some way to demonstrating, the 1980s were the apex of western culture. Indeed one could quite easily write a book on nothing more than the decade defining tracks which have been omitted but, for the sake of brevity, let us concentrate on the treats on offer here. Before we do, however, let’s just note that, in addition to a phalanx of hits from yesteryear, the album is punctuated by some unnecessary dialogue and incidental music from the series which do little more than infuriate the listener. Skip buttons at the ready then people, let’s press on and head straight to the wine bar dancefloor with Sir David of Bowie[/b] whose ‘Let’s Dance’ set the disco-pop tone for the decade and opened the door for Micheal Jackson and Madonna. As we’re here we may as well have a bash at a bit of bodypopping to Herbie Hancock’s ‘Rockit’. Second thoughts, looking miserable in a big overcoat could be less taxing so onwards to Echo & The Bunnymen and The Cure before taking an unexpected yet very welcome detour with Robert Wyatt’s ‘Shipbuilding’ opus. It is, of course, worth owning the album just for those few tracks alone if you don’t already have them but once you add in hits from The Jam, FGTH, Spandau Ballet and The Buggles you’d be certifiable insane not to. Now, where’s my deely boppers? 7/10
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AC/DC - Iron Man 2: Motion Picture Soundtrack (Sony)
Arguably the greatest rock n roll band of all time, it remains a mystery as to how AC/DC have endured for so long without having found the time to release a greatest hits package. Aside from the live albums this collection, featuring tracks from both the Bon Scott era and the current line-up, is probably the closest you’re gonna get although, for narrative reasons, the album contains lesser known tracks such as ‘Guns For Hire’ and ‘Cold Hearted Man’ at the expense of classics such as ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’. We’ll forgive them that though as the the clang of an Angus chord through a Marshall stack is possibly the most divine sound known to man, and it is hard to complain when faced with fifteen tracks of heavyweight heavy metal mayhem. It’s unusual for a Hollywood blockbuster to draw so exclusively upon the back catalogue of a single artist but, c’mon, this makes perfect sense; the ultimate metal band for the ultimate metal man. You can almost write the script, or at least draw up a storyboard, of the movie just by ticking through the tracklist. ‘Back in Black’, ‘Thunderstruck’, ‘If You Want Blood’, ‘TNT’, ‘War Machine’ – KERBLAM! One’s thing’s for certain, it ain’t gonna be subtle and I’m fairly certain that we won’t be seeing Helena Bonham Carter in a bonnet at any point during proceedings. The album leaves us stranded on the ‘Highway to Hell’, and surely that is an invitation to another sequel. Greatest hits part 2 anyone? 10/10
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She & Him - Volume 2 (Double Six)
History is littered with terrible albums made by actors who fancy a go at singing. Rest easy, gentle listener - this isn't a Dogstar record. No, Zooey Deschanel (for she is the She here) has penned a dreamy, retro collection of summery tales of heartbreak, ably produced by Him, collaborator M Ward. Those for whom sweetness is anathema should avoid this collection like the plague - there's no denying that both Zooey's vocal and musical style could be considered unapologetically saccharine. Lead single In The Sun bounces along with a joyous call and response chorus (aided by long time Music Fix favourites Tilly & The Wall). The album's highlight comes with Lingering Still, a song with a limpet of a chorus with Zooey's honeyed vocals complimenting the country twang of the music. It's a credit to her song writing too that covers including Skeeter Davis' Gonna Get Along Without You Now sit comfortably alongside the original compositions. A record for a heartbroken summer's day in 60's California, Volume 2 pays tribute while avoiding falling into pastiche.
8/10
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Noisia - Split The Atom (Vision/Division)
Noisia have garnered much praise for their DJ and production work with the like of Hadouken and Foreign Beggars but have now unleashed their own sound on debut album, Split The Atom. Despite guest appearances from Amon Tobin , Joe Seven and others this feels like nothing more than a drum and bass megamix with a dash of electro thrown in for good measure. There are some nice ideas on display, especially on ‘Sun Hammer’ featuring the aforementioned Amon Tobin but even that falls back in to the unengaging drum and bass rhythms so prevalent on the whole album. If you were in a club at 3am then Split The Atom would most likely get you up and dancing frantically but sat on your living room sofa as three o’clock in the afternoon is not the time and place to listen to this disappointing debut.
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4/10
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Black Francis - Nonstoperotik (Cooking Vinyl)
Black Francis, the bald hollering Pixies frontman returns with yet another solo effort to add to his ever growing catalogue. After last year’s excellent Petit Fours under the Grand Duchy moniker (created with his wife Violet) expectations are high that he’s going to come up with the goods again. The album itself is themed around sex, but Mr.Francis has worryingly become the anti-Prince and is in desperate need of some Viagra. Nonstoperotik is quite possibly the most dour and middle-of-the-road thing he’s ever done. Considering some of his solo albums have been underappreciated gems (pick up Teenager Of The Year and Dog In The Sand if you see them in the racks) this is quite a let down (in every sense of the phrase) . It never really goes anywhere and fails to muster any emotion or energy on any of the eleven songs on offer. Special mention must go to ‘When I Go Down On You’ which is the audio equivalent of watching softcore porn with your parents. Get the missus out of the bedroom and back in the studio, please!
5/10
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BK & Anne Savage - Pandemic - The Album (Riot! Recordings)
Pandemic - The Album (as opposed to Pandemic - The Frisbee or Pandemic - The Beer Mat) may mark a collaboration between two heavyweights of the hard dance genre, but does nothing to shed any light on its puzzling appeal. Whether superficially impersonating 'old rave' via breakbeats and DIY screechy vocals, covering well known dance tunes (such as Shades of Rhythm's 'Sweet Sensation') or pounding the unfortunate listener with beats that won't so much test their energy reserve as their pain and boredom thresholds, this is an utterly charmless affair. Bits of it even sound like Scooter. Yes, [insert strong expletive of choice] Scooter. I suspect anyone capable of enjoying this will be a good few years off legally seeing the inside of a club and probably off their nut on oink oink. 2/10
Burn The Fleet - Burn The Fleet (Walnut Tree)
Southampton’s Burn The Fleet are not a band with whom I’m familiar but it bodes well that they are signed to the quite excellent Walnut Tree records, who are carving out a niche in promoting high quality British rock music. This taster EP is thankfully no exception and leaves the listener eager to hear more tales of the high seas. Burn The Fleet breaks rule number one in the songwriter’s handbook and eschews writing about ‘what you know’ for creating elaborate vignettes of imaginary lives which places them somewhere along a continuum between Alan Bennett and Iron Maiden. We may not find a re-run of the ‘Rhyme of The Ancient Mariner’ here but opening track ‘Nautilus’ does tell the tale of a man taken by the sea, his wife left to hopelessly scour the horizon. It’s a theme familiar from traditional folk songs but certainly not something generally associated with crunching guitar bands. Elsewhere the EP deals with the decline and fall of western civilisation in justifiably epic style before casting a withering eye over the cultural wasteland which we’ve created, in which art and originality are cast aside in favour of instant gratification. It’s a record with undeniable depth and perception which loses points only because the musical arrangement is lacking a spark of originality which could set them apart from a saturated emo market. The talent is clearly there, they just need the confidence to break free of the shackles of the genre. 7/10
Free & Bad Co - Free & Bad Co (Rhino)
Released to coincide with Bad Company’s 2010 UK tour dates this album of remastered classics presents the highlights of Paul Rodgers' career in one neat package. There can be few bands who’ve suffered so much at the hands of others than Free and Bad Co, with most people under the age of forty knowing their greatest hits second hand via a million dodgy pub bands. You might think that you know songs like ‘Can’t Get Enough’ and ‘Feel Like Making love’ but it’s not until you hear the creamy analogue burr of these expertly remastered versions that you can really appreciate quite how great they really are. The album is presented in counter chronological order and so, depending on your perspective, the album either gradually improves or declines as it regresses from the soulful pop/rock of Bad Co back to the organic blues rock of Free. Rodgers certainly takes centre stage on the Bad Co material whereas on Free tracks, such as the inevitable ‘All Right Now’, we find him sharing the spotlight with the guitar mastery of Paul Kossoff. Oddly enough, and perhaps through the curse of over-familiarity, ‘All Right Now’ feels the weakest track on the album and it is lesser known tracks such as ‘Rock n Roll Fantasy’, which lays out the ZZ Top blueprint, which are most engaging. What this collection confirms, above all, is that Paul Rodgers is one of the most under rated rock talents that Britain has ever produced. 7/10
Sarah Blasko - As Day Follows Night (Dramatico)
Sarah Blasko's third album, her first in the UK, is a stripped back affair. Where her previous albums had been more layered, this is a more sparse effort, piano led and tinged with folk and jazz. Recent single, 'We Won't Run' is a catchy thing, driven along by primal drumming. The jaunty pop of 'Hold On My Heart' is simultaneously jaunty and slightly spooky. Elsewhere, 'Bird On A Wire' sounds like a long lost jazz standard, carried along by double bass while strings swell underneath. Her voice is a bluesy, witchy creature, and in combination with the atmospheric instrumentation the album summons the feeling of being in some otherworldly jazz club. A confident, grown up pop record with a real sense of musicianship. 8/10
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A Sunny Day In Glasgow - Nitetime Rainbows EP (Mis Ojos Discos)
Last year’s Ashes Grammar was a master class in dreamy soundscapes and electro-pop wizardry, and here A Sunny Day In Glasgow have returned with an EP featuring a rejigged, and unbelievably more enchanting version of one of the standout tracks from that album, ‘Nitetime Rainbows’. This seven-track release takes in some brand new songs as well, namely the partner piece ‘Daytime Rainbows’ with its lashings of electric guitar and lovely female melodies. ‘So Bloody, So Tight’ has been described by the band as their favourite song yet, and no wonder. Its driving beat is buried under a sea of fuzzy effects and washes of acoustic guitar and synth, hopefully looking forward to what may appear on their next full-length. There are also three remixes of the title track, the highlight coming from experimental folkster Benoit Pioulard, with his ‘acid wash edit’, which basically turns the whole sound up a notch and creates four minutes of blissful, noise-soaked ambience. 7/10
Posted on 30 April 2010 by Olivia Schaff
100 Chillout Classics - 100 Chillout Classics (Rhino)
 £5.99 |  £7.99 |  £7.99 |  £7.99 |
Posted on 30 April 2010 by Steven Burnett
Jeff Beck - Emotion & Commotion (ATCO)
 £6.45 |  £8.89 | £8.95 | £8.99 |
Posted on 29 April 2010 by Steven Burnett
Double U - Pineapple Dream (Wool Recordings)
Posted on 29 April 2010 by Freddy Palmer
65daysofstatic - We Were Exploding Anyway (Hassle)
£7.73 | £7.95 | £9.99 |  £11.99 |
Posted on 28 April 2010 by Greg Belton
Neil Cowley Trio - Radio Silence (HideInside Records)
 £7.90 |  £7.99 | £8.95 | £8.95 |
Posted on 28 April 2010 by John Weddell
Boys Like Girls - Love Drunk (Columbia)
2/10
£5.43 |  £6.49 | £6.95 | £6.99 |
Posted on 27 April 2010 by Gary K
Jaguar Love - Hologram Jams (Fat Possum Records)
£8.79 | £8.93 |  £8.93 |  £8.93 |
Posted on 27 April 2010 by Chris Horner
Circle of One - Tied to the Machine (Copro)
Posted on 27 April 2010 by Freddy Palmer
The Juan Maclean - DJ Kicks (K7!)
Posted on 26 April 2010 by Freddy Palmer
Figure 5 - Bonfire (2 Up Records)
Posted on 26 April 2010 by Greg Belton
Various Artists - Plumpton Rocks (Plumpton Presents)
Posted on 26 April 2010 by Douglas Baptie
The Absolute Belters - Glorious Victorious (The Absolute Belters)
Posted on 24 April 2010 by Ian Sandwell
Admiral Fallow - Boots Met My Face (Lo-Five)
Posted on 24 April 2010 by Ian Sandwell
Sound Iration - In Dub (Year Zero)
Posted on 23 April 2010 by John Donnelly
The Golden Filter - Voluspa (Brille Records)
£7.25 | £7.93 | £7.93 | £7.93 |
Posted on 23 April 2010 by Steven Burnett
Lancashire Hotpots - Criminal Record (Townsend)
£5.52 | £5.99 | £5.99 |  £5.99 |
Posted on 23 April 2010 by Mike Gray
Tarot - Gravity of Light (Nuclear Blast)
Posted on 22 April 2010 by Freddy Palmer
Songdog - a life eroding (One Little Indian)
Posted on 22 April 2010 by Steven Burnett
Frog Eyes - Paul's Tomb: A Triumph (Dead Oceans)
£5.95 | £7.43 |  £7.45 | £7.47 |
Posted on 21 April 2010 by Freddy Palmer
Danny and the Champions of the World - Streets Of Our Times (Loose)
£7.11 | £7.11 | £7.43 | £7.45 |
Posted on 21 April 2010 by Chris Horner
Spanish Gamble - It's All Coming Down (Paper & Plastic)
Posted on 20 April 2010 by Douglas Baptie
Kivimetsän Druidi - Betrayal, Justice, Revenge (Century Media)
£6.21 | £7.11 | £7.89 | £7.93 |
Posted on 20 April 2010 by Freddy Palmer
Soulcage - Soul For Sale (Hellas Records)
Posted on 20 April 2010 by Olivia Schaff
Mirrorkicks - Mirrorkicks (Fruit Pie)
£6.45 | £6.90 | £7.99 | £7.99 |
Posted on 19 April 2010 by Chris Horner
Ikons - Ikons (Service)
£7.43 | £7.45 | £7.63 | £7.63 |
Posted on 19 April 2010 by Freddy Palmer
Coheed and Cambria - Year of the Black Rainbow (Roadrunner)
£8.95 | £8.95 | £9.93 | £9.93 |
Posted on 18 April 2010 by Steven Burnett
Starkey - Ear Drums And Black Holes (Planet Mu)
£7.95 | £7.99 | £7.99 | £7.99 |
Posted on 18 April 2010 by Simon Harker
Fortune - Staring At The Ice Melt (Division)
£6.99 | £7.93 | £7.93 | £7.93 |
Posted on 18 April 2010 by Simon Harker
Lee Harvey Osmond - A Quiet Evil (Latent)
Posted on 17 April 2010 by Steven Burnett
Pin Me Down - Pin Me Down (Animalized Records)
Posted on 16 April 2010 by Ian Sandwell
Lange - Intercity Spring 2010 (New State)
6/10
Posted on 16 April 2010 by John Donnelly
Mademoiselle Caro & Franck Garcia - Left (Buzzin' Fly)
£7.25 | £7.93 | £7.93 | £7.93 |
Posted on 15 April 2010 by John Donnelly
Temposhark - Threads (Paper and Glue LTD)
£7.99 |
Posted on 15 April 2010 by Joe Nockles
Harlem - Hippies (Matador)
Posted on 15 April 2010 by Steven Burnett
Mouse on the Keys - An Anxious Object (Denovali)
Posted on 14 April 2010 by Freddy Palmer
Jackie Leven - Gothic Road (Cooking Vinyl)
£6.99 | £7.95 | £7.99 | £7.99 |
Posted on 14 April 2010 by John Weddell
We Were Promised Jetpacks - The Last Place You’ll Look (Fat Cat Records)
Posted on 13 April 2010 by Greg Belton
Paper Aeroplanes - The Day We Ran Into The Sea
Posted on 13 April 2010 by Olivia Schaff
Untied States - Instant Everything, Constant Nothing (Distile Records)
£8.69 | £9.45 | £9.53 | £9.63 |
Posted on 12 April 2010 by Olivia Schaff
Shakespears Sister - Songs From The Red Room (Palare)
£7.95 | £7.99 | £7.99 | £8.79 |
Posted on 12 April 2010 by Mike Gray
Aspera - Ripples (InsideOut)
Posted on 12 April 2010 by Freddy Palmer
Tiger Please - Seasons EP (Walnut Tree)
Posted on 11 April 2010 by Steven Burnett
Filthy Pedro & The Carthaginians - Filthy Pedro & The Carthaginians (Blang Records)
£6.99 | £6.99 | £7.99 | £7.99 |
Posted on 11 April 2010 by Ian Sandwell
Slaraffenland - We're On Your Side (Hometapes)
£7.90 |
Posted on 11 April 2010 by Freddy Palmer
Tony Bennett - The Ultimate American Songbook Vol 1 (Sony)
£4.95 | £9.47 |  £9.47 | £9.49 |
Posted on 11 April 2010 by Steven Burnett
Nice Nice - Extra Wow (Warp)
Posted on 10 April 2010 by Simon Harker
Mulatu Astatke - Mulatu Steps Ahead (Strut Records)
Posted on 10 April 2010 by John Weddell
The Tallest Man On Earth - The Wild Hunt (Dead Oceans)
Posted on 09 April 2010 by Olivia Schaff
Malachai - Ugly Side of Love (Domino/ Double Six)
Posted on 09 April 2010 by Olivia Schaff
MGMT - Congratulations (Columbia)
£5.49 | £5.99 | £5.99 | £5.99 |
Posted on 08 April 2010 by Steven Burnett
Frames - Mosaik (SPV)
£7.93 | £7.93 | £7.93 | £7.93 |
Posted on 07 April 2010 by Joe Nockles
The Hungry and the Hunted - Magic Bullets (Hungery and Hunted)
£9.99 | £10.99 |
Posted on 07 April 2010 by Olivia Schaff
Elliott Smith - Roman Candle (Domino)
£7.11 | £7.93 | £7.93 | £7.93 |
Posted on 06 April 2010 by Chris Horner
Natascha Sohl - Dirty Little Word
Posted on 05 April 2010 by Steven Burnett
White Belt Yellow Tag - Methods (Distiller Records)
Posted on 04 April 2010 by Steven Burnett
Various Artists - Ashes To Ashes: Series 3 OST (BBC)
£4.99 | £4.99 | £7.93 | £7.93 |
Posted on 04 April 2010 by Steven Burnett
AC/DC - Iron Man 2: Motion Picture Soundtrack (Sony)
£9.89 | £9.93 | £9.93 | £9.93 |
Posted on 03 April 2010 by Steven Burnett
She & Him - Volume 2 (Double Six)
8/10
£5.99 | £5.99 | £5.99 | £7.93 |
Posted on 03 April 2010 by Mike Gray
Noisia - Split The Atom (Vision/Division)
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4/10
£6.99 | £7.33 | £7.33 | £7.93 |
Posted on 03 April 2010 by Greg Belton
Black Francis - Nonstoperotik (Cooking Vinyl)
5/10
£6.99 | £7.25 | £7.99 | £7.99 |
Posted on 02 April 2010 by Adrian Mules
BK & Anne Savage - Pandemic - The Album (Riot! Recordings)
Posted on 02 April 2010 by John Donnelly
Burn The Fleet - Burn The Fleet (Walnut Tree)
Posted on 02 April 2010 by Steven Burnett
Free & Bad Co - Free & Bad Co (Rhino)
Posted on 01 April 2010 by Steven Burnett
Sarah Blasko - As Day Follows Night (Dramatico)
£9.93 | £9.93 | £9.93 | £9.95 |
Posted on 01 April 2010 by Mike Gray
A Sunny Day In Glasgow - Nitetime Rainbows EP (Mis Ojos Discos)
Posted on 01 April 2010 by Freddy Palmer
