Russell's Reviews

Buy Nothing Year update 1

2012-01-02T18:25:00.003Z

With the new project two days in and having survived the first day of shopping today, I thought it might be interesting to keep a log of what I have been listening to with the new free time.

Yesterday Blur's Leisure and Girls and Boys single got a spin. It's remarkable how well Leisure has held up, and it shows a youthful zest and spark. Even then, amongst the singles There's No Other Way and Bang, there experimental side was there in places.

This was followed up by Phosphorescent's Here's To Taking It Easy, a lush new addition purchased from Rise in Swindon at the tale end of 2011.

Next came Cud's Elvis Belt, a b-sides collection from back in the day. Cud are none more indie, but those who let this put them off are missing a treat. The covers of Urban Spaceman and Lola are throwaway at best, but Slack Time, Only (A Prawn In Whitby) and I've Had It With Blondes are northern disjointed indie pop classics.

Finally something newer in the form of Veronica Falls 5 Demos EP, some cracking little arch pop tunes.

Best of 2011

2012-01-01T20:09:00.003Z

I normally can't be bothered with end of year lists, but I've finally done one, which is mainly for my brother's benefit, but here for the world to see. Here's my Top 13 albums of 2011. This may be the only list to not include PJ Harvey, but that's only because I haven't heard it and have no real interest in doing so.

1. Half Man Half Biscuit - 90 Bisodol (Crimond)
2. Luke Haines - 9 and a half Psychedelic Meditations on British Wrestling in the 1970s and early 80s
3. Frankie & The Heartstrings - Hunger
4. Jonny - Jonny
5. Summer Camp - Welcome To Condale
6. Yuck - Yuck
7. The Lovely Eggs - Cob Dominoes
8. Billy Bragg - Fight Songs
9. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
10. Gruff Rhys - Hotel Shampoo
11. Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat - Everything's Getting Older
12. The Low Anthem - Smart Flesh
13. Bon Iver - Bon Iver

Buy Nothing Year

2011-12-31T15:29:00.005Z

I have decided to set myself a challenge for 2012, which is called Buy Nothing Year. Now obviously the thought of buying nothing at all is crazy, but the idea is to not buy any new (to me, as opposed to new releases) CDs, books or DVDs in the year.

Over Christmas I have been looking at a carrier bag full of CDs to be listened to, one whose contents have fluctuated over the year, but has stayed at pretty much the same level. And unless I address this, I’ll always be playing catch up. Some albums deserve to be listened to repeated times, and some take a few listens to fully appreciate them. Hopefully doing this will free up time to enjoy the albums I already have more. It’s also one of the reasons I have virtually stopped doing reviews and gigs for now, as I was wading through so much new music and so much of it was pretty awful. Listening to eight submissions takes up the time I could have listened to a good album. On top of this, there is similar pile of books and a smaller pile of DVDs that need attention too.

The other reason for doing this is the lack of space in the house to put more and more stuff.

I’ve no doubt I’ll find this difficult, but it’ll be an interesting experiment. The main difficulty will not be stopping buying new stuff, but avoiding record fairs and charity shops.

This has been partly inspired by the following:

The National Pop Strike

Buy Nothing Day

No Music Day

And this article here makes interesting reading in conjunction with this challenge.

Richmond Fontaine – Bullingdon Arms, Oxford 16/09/11

2011-11-06T14:27:00.001Z

Empty Room Promotions have served up quite a treat tonight, bringing Portland, Oregon’s Richmond Fontaine to the back room of the Bully. They are here principally to promote their tenth studio album, The High Country, an album that on first listen seemed disappointing, but on repeated plays turns out to sneak up on you and be their best ever. This is quite an achievement for a band on their tenth album, more so when you realise it is more than a concept piece, rather a short story cut up and set to music. The album is set amongst the logging community in small town Oregon, and tells the tale of a secret love between the counter girl of an auto parts store and a mechanic. The weirdos of the community terrorise the young couple and their innocent ways. That this type of album should work so well will be no surprise to anyone familiar with their back catalogue, or indeed singer Willy Vlautin’s three novels.

Willy announces at the beginning that they are going to play the album in full, followed by a brief selection of their back catalogue. It helps that there is an audience of Uncut readers present to allow them to do such things. Deborah Kelley of The Damnations is here to reprise her vocals from the album, and to provide extra instrumentation. She seizes the initiative immediately, with her affecting spoken word opening piece, Inventory. The band run with this, on the haunting instrumental The Girl On The Logging Road and then launch into the gently ferocious The Chainsaw Sea. Angus King Tries To Leave The House swirls and kicks like a toy boat in high winds, disorientating wildly. They even pull off Driving Back To The Chainsaw Sea, the sound of a radio between retuned between awful country stations.

After a short break for beer, the band returns for a run through past favourites. In some aspects this merely accentuates the giant leap the band have made with The High Country, but it also shows they can be a great rollicking alt country bar band too, like a slightly defter Hold Steady. When they play Lonnie from the album We Used To Think The Highway Sounded Like A River, you remember what great things they have done previous to that great current album.

Secret Rivals – Make Do And Mend

2011-11-06T14:22:00.002Z

As someone who has followed the Secret Rivals path with increasing interest, from the scratchy early recordings and collapsible gigs through to the point where they unleash their debut mini album, I was intrigued to see how they had further progressed. And it is a cracking record. I don’t think anyone saw this coming in the early days, not even myself who had picked up on how much better the band were getting with each release. The vocals are much more effective, Claudia’s lead vocals are much more assured, while Jay’s back up and incitingly harsh yelps are much better controlled than the awkward shrieks of old.

The music used to have the roughness of The Wedding Present, but now slots effortlessly among the new indie wave of The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart and their ilk, while still harking back to the likes of Bis.

If Secret Rivals can keep up the momentum they are currently creating, there is no reason they can’t be the next big thing out of Oxford. Not necessarily chartbound, but a rather nice position of indie credibility.

Make Do And Mend is out now on Kittiwake Records
Secret Rivals website is here

Foxes! – The Panda Bear Song

2011-08-27T15:49:00.003+01:00

Foxes! continue to shift shape, with Kayla taking on most of the lead vocals on this EP. The Panda Bear Song is quite ramshackle yet thoroughly catchy, a sweet piece of lo-fi pop. Alex Badamchi is an old favourite, quite oddly ethereal and insistent in turns. Sailors reminds me of Sophie Ellis Bextor’s pre fame band theaudience, it has those arch vocals and perfect pop melody. Boatswain follows and rounds off their EP in similar fashion.

The Panda Bear Song is out now on Elefant

Foxes! website is here

The Magic Lantern – A World In A Grain Of Sand

2011-08-27T15:39:00.003+01:00

The Magic Lantern are a quite delightful little band. I can hear elements of King Creosote in their music, bits of Stornoway too and an overall genuinely lovely and bucolic feel, with gently parping brass abounding but in a non-intrusive fashion. They’re a band you could easily see fitting in at one of the events Fence Collective put on.

Cut From Stone burbles and flows like a babbling brook, while Laura’s Song is sad and maudlin. The music of Laura’s Song sighs with a heavy heart and elongated vocals stretching out every word. It’s a beautiful song, but not one to listen to when you’re feeling down, as it’ll pull on your emotions. The Ship That Washed Away floats along serenely before unexpectedly crashing on the rocks near the end, dissolving into a cacophonous cascade. Shine A Light On feels like a jaunty show tune, something like Neil Hannon might write, but complete with a reggae-tinged breakdown in the middle. Patriots has a raggle taggle Decemberists feel to it. There follows some more rather lovely tunes, nothing too odd about these, with The Magic Lantern seemingly settling down into a comfortable but not dull formula. Finally Romeo and Juliet (III) is a downbeat lament on a rather splendid album.

A World In A Grain Of Sand is out now on Hectic Eclectic Recordings

The Magic Lantern website is here

Pocketbooks - Promises, Promises

2011-07-20T22:11:00.003+01:00

Pocketbooks are back with a new single Promises, Promises ahead of their second album Carousel, due in September. If you like sumptuous, pristine pop, then this is just the thing for you. It follows in a similar vein to the material on debut album Flight Paths, which is no bad thing considering how good an album that was. Emma sings this time, and if anything her vocals are getting even better and the melodies sweeter.

Promises, Promises is a free download available here
The album, Carousel, is out in September but their label Oddbox Records are shipping advance copies now. Order here

A novel idea

2011-07-19T22:43:00.002+01:00

I guess some of you may be wondering why the dearth of posts in recent months. Well, time is short for many reasons, but mainly because I've finally gotten around to doing more work on the draft novel I wrote as part of NaNoWriMo 2008. Work is going well and subject to a couple more read throughs and tweaks I think it's getting close to the point where I try and get it published. If anyone has any sage advice or helpful contacts in this area they would be much appreciated! Normal service will hopefully be resumed soon. Either that or I'll be sidetracked on the fanzine I've been collating work for. One way or the other I hope you will stick with me and keep reading the blog...

Airship – Kids

2011-07-19T22:40:00.003+01:00

Kids, the second single from Airship sounds like Richard Hawley fronting an unashamedly over the top pop band. It’s a song that goes over the barricades and into the charts many times over, with a surging chorus and irresistible verses that can’t wait to be reacquainted with that chorus again. Here’s a song that the word effervescent was invented to describe.

Kids is out now on Play It Again Sam
The Airship website is here

Deportivo – Neighbourhood

2011-07-19T21:48:00.002+01:00

Neighbourhood is the second single from West London band Deportivo. Despite the clunky clichéd lyrics and slightly plodding tune, Neighbourhood isn’t all bad, but only in a kind of Athlete excitement way. The DPPLGNGRS remix starts brilliantly with chiptune bleeping, thumping synth beat and zooming electronic car noises, which transform the song into something else entirely. The Arclite Productions remix doesn’t add a lot to the tune particularly, it tries its best and perks it up a fair bit, but the first remix is the one for me.

Neighbourhood is out now. Find Deportivo on Facebook here and Twitter here

Findlay Napier & The Bar Room Mountaineers – File Under Fiction

2011-07-15T21:47:00.003+01:00

One thing about Findlay Napier, is he is dependable and has therefore delivered a solid album here. The title track is a suitable rousing opening and One For The Ditch is a closing time blues. You also get the cracking singles Raise A Glass and Valentine’s Day that I’ve gone on about before on here. There is also Spread Thin, which is an altogether more interesting thing, a bit of a quick swerve and something that goes from sounding like Arab Strap to a big old Del Amitri chorus. Fine stuff. Cut Me Off is a feisty fiddle led tune, while One For Me is a beautiful melancholic duet to close the album.

File Under Fiction is out now and available from Findlay's website

Miss Geo - The Story

2011-06-26T15:31:00.003+01:00

Miss Geo is one Abby Gutierrez from Newport, Rhode Island and The Story is her self released debut. It's a cracking piece of work, very much in the style of Juliana Hatfield, but without the neurotic aggression of said lady. While there may be nothing challenging about the music, it has to be said that oftentimes you don't need that and the pure cutesy melodies are worthy of drowning in.

Go have a listen at Miss Geo's website, which is here

Bourgeois Heroes – Ole/Hola

2011-06-01T16:24:00.003+01:00

Bourgeois Heroes have a new single out. Ole/Hola is a neat little tune, unfussy and uncomplicated. Its natural home is somewhere between the fuzzy vibe of laid back Super Furry Animals and the twee sweetness of Belle and Sebastian. When You’re Dancing is a mantra like fuzzy disco tune, without being a dancer. It just seems made for swaying in a club. A neat little brace of fizzing pop.

Bourgeois Heroes website is here
Buy or listen to the single here

Seun Anikulapo Kuti & Egypt 80 – From Africa With Fury: Rise

2011-06-01T15:36:00.002+01:00

Firstly, a confession. I don’t know a terrible lot about African music. Aside from an appreciation of The Four Brothers and The Bhundu Boys in the eighties, and Amadou and Mariam more recently, it is fairly unchartered territory for me.

What I do know is Seun Kuti is the son of the renowned Fela Kuti, and his father was a previous leader of the band that plays on this album, Eqypt 80.

The album may only be seven tracks long, but most of the tracks clock in at about seven minutes, meaning plenty of value for money. African Soldier reminds me of something Pigbag might have ripped off back in the day, an odd reference point maybe, but remember I’m starting from a fairly blank canvas here. Generally guitars are sprightly, rhythms are bouncy and horns and squealing. From the lyrics I can make out, these are songs of the fight for freedom, the fight against oppression and corporations, and inspirational words to his fellow people.

Musically and lyrically Seun has won me over, and I can wholeheartedly recommend this as a good starting point for a foray into African music.

From Africa With Fury: Rise is out now on Because Music

Medicine 8 – Mercury Injection / Rock Music Pays Off

2011-05-26T21:36:00.003+01:00

The new one from acid house duo Medicine 8 shows off two disparate sides to their output. Mercury Injection is a futuristic electro babble with hi energy beats and robotic sensual vocal from tattoo artist Leticia La Bruja. It’s a right catchy piece of work, one that would have the less trendy of us attempting pathetic robot dancing in the club. The Hip House remix of Rock Music Pays Off features the idiosyncratic and immediately identifiable vocals of outsider artists Wesley Willis. The vocals take the form a Grammy Acceptance Speech Willis gave on Howard Stern’s show, bent and sliced out of shape. This is pushed forward by hi energy house, like Black Box used to make, along with funky Daft Punk squelches. Whatever you say about them, Medicine 8 know what’s catchy and danceable and have delivered two great slices of it on this, their first single in some time.

Mercury Injection / Rock Music Pays Off is out now on Trashmouth Records

The Medicine 8 facebook page is here

Gorillaz – The Fall

2011-05-08T18:04:00.002+01:00

Released to little fanfare here’s a new Gorillaz album. After the opening toodling intro of Phoner To Arizona we get Revolving Doors, a blissed out tune with a reggae vibe, yet not sound. Albarn’s plaintive vocals are present and correct and there’s and a mantra of the title which goes all through the tune. This itself is lovely, but I find myself not even noticing the next few tracks go by. And this is something that goes on through the rest of the album. Apparently this album was written by Damon (and let’s not keep up the cartoon façade) on his iPad during downtime on tour and boy it shows. It’s mostly half-baked and unfinished ideas. Some of the tracks you wonder if he hasn’t booted up the Bloom app, or something similar and randomly chucked items at the screen to make the tunes. I’ve always thought of Gorillaz as more of a singles than albums band, and this is the full proof, if it were still needed. This was originally released on vinyl as a special item for Record Store Day, and before that as a download to fan club members, which is quite appropriate given that it is something for completists only.

Maybe repeated listens would enable the charms of this album to become apparent to me. I somehow doubt it though. The other thing to take into account is my mere passing interest in Gorillaz, and their experimental side more so. But it still remains that this appears to be a mere ragbag of cast offs that wasn’t particularly worthy of a wider release.

Find Gorillaz multi-media extravaganza here

Not Made In China - Not Made In China EP

2011-05-02T09:48:00.002+01:00

It’s not often you listen to a band and agree wholeheartedly with their own description of themselves, or previous press reviews, but in the case of Not Made In China you have a band who know their identity and make it clear to everyone else. The review description was The Smiths crossed with Paul Simon’s Graceland, while the band themselves note Vampire Weekend as one of their main inspirations. There is also more than a dash of twee influence here, with the cutesy female vocals reminiscent of The Sundays or even Talulah Gosh. The thing that sets them apart from the current slew of overly fey and twee bands is that they have evidently concentrated much more on the melodies than some affected knock kneed stance.

My favourite track is Retro Rejects, about the discarding of childhood toys. It has the twiddly white man take of the African sounding guitar line, great lyrics which include whole lists of toys and a nice attitude. If this sounds too much like I Love the 80s to you, then I’ve failed in my job of describing it. The rest of the EP is rather unassuming yet beautiful, and I can recommend you invest in a copy.

Not Made In China myspace is here and you can buy the EP here

T.C. Folkpunk - T.C. Folkpunk

2011-05-01T22:49:00.002+01:00

Folkpunk is certainly the name for it. The mini album kicks off with The Age Of Nefarious, a barrelling tune and the wordplay contained within is as good as the title. It has this cool trick of delaying the launch into the chorus, building up and up and up, before finally launching. The sneer and stance of Zero To Hero reminds me of the Clash, with insertions of twanged Duane Eddy style guitar. It collapses into a squawking, squealing end. Take A Look Around You is the nearest the album gets to pop, a straight forward clear melody and some words of advice. Feeling My Way Around In The Dark For You reminds me of Dylan at his best, just gone electric, harmonica wailing and having a whale of a time. She Has Everything is a more stripped back tune, but gritty nonetheless. Then we’re back onto rambunctious form with Instant Coffee Lifestyle. Whenever I Sink My Teeth Into You sees things stretch out, an almost joyous and devil may care climax to the album. It’s like the last track let’s really go for it, throw everything into it, and it comes off rather well.

You can buy the CD here and his website is here

Julius Way – The Slow Death Of Julius Way

2011-05-01T22:09:00.002+01:00

Although Julius Way has been making music for years now, he now finds himself in the middle of a genre of music that is suddenly in vogue. Think Fleet Foxes, Stornoway, older Iron & Wine stuff and any of the alt folk pastoral artists. Recorded last year in Dartmoor it has certainly taken on it’s surrounding. It may not be a log cabin in the Catskills, but we have places of such beauty here too.

I Will Live leads you in gently to the album, before the joyous clattering and clinking of Jessie’s Yurt, when everything feels so alive. Cradle is a delightful surprise, awash with fuzzy effects to start with, which pop back in now and again. The effects free bits feel a bit fey in comparison, but it leaves you in anticipation of the hazier stuff. Friends is beautifully ethereal, the gorgeous voice of Bex Baxter interweaving with that of Julius Way wonderfully. Enemy goes all medieval on us, then The Dusk does remind me a lot of the aforementioned Stornoway, strong vocals and deft touch. There is a sense that the album is a bit too long at 13 tracks for this type of music to hold your attention, but when you persevere to final track Slow Death, where Bex Baxter is back with her heavenly voice, everything seems worthwhile.

Everything you want to know about Julius Way, plus streaming and album download are here

The Voluntary Butler Scheme – The Chevreul EP

2011-04-24T21:41:00.002+01:00

The Voluntary Butler Scheme is, being Rob Jones alone, one of those mavericks that people love unreservedly, when in reality his output is wildly hit and miss. Songs like The BT Tower and The Eiffel Tower are absolute melodic gems, but like many artistes, he is prone to the noodling and avant garde. Unless you enjoy listening to abstract squiggles, this stuff is best left alone.

The EP employs a weird trick of starting with two versions of Do The Hand Jive rather than book-ending the record with them. Having them together merely accentuates how similar they are, although the Go Team remix has a tad more fizz. The tune itself is a weird one, and you can see why the Go Team have been asked to lend their hand to remixing. It’s very much their knock kneed little brother blinking in the bright lights as he steps onto the dancefloor, to their brash exuberant disco dancer. That said, it is interesting and repeated plays might throw it up as a right earworm. To The Height Of A Frisbee employs his cool trick of seemingly nonsensical rhymes and sharp dashes and changes of melodic direction to provide hooks a plenty. Satisfactory Substitute is one of his annoyances, employing well spoken samples to try and come off like the Avalanches, but falling flat and well short. DOPL rounds off the EP with an unsatisfactory pinging instrumental.

If only Jones would write more like Frisbee and his other gems and did less of the messing around, more people could come to love him.

The Chevreul EP is out now on Split Records
The Voluntary Butler Scheme myspace is here

Your new favourite band is Pris

2011-03-06T14:57:00.007Z

Pris could well be my new favourite band. They don’t have a single out, just a fascinating web presence and some top tunes. Here’s why you’ll love them too;

They deploy the classic cool line up. That being a four piece, three girls with a bloke shoved away behind the drums.
They always look like they are having ridiculous fun. Probably because they are.
Their melodies course through the veins of their pop songs, before infiltrating your heart.
They are DIY and beautifully so. Not in an ‘I can’t be arsed to learn to play my instrument way’, but in a ‘let’s have a crack at this ourselves’ way, and part of the fun is the hiccups along the way.
Because if you love Kenickie, Shampoo, Voodoo Queens and their ilk, you’ll love them. Because you obviously have great taste.
They want to kill all indie landfill bands, and leave us with a purely glamour filled pop world.
Remember when the Manics were young and glam and proper dangerous? That’s Pris.

There you are, the magnificent seven reasons to love them. If you want one more, check out the video for Blue Tack Baby below or find them on Facebook or Myspace

The Go Team! – Rolling Blackouts

2011-03-05T21:16:00.001Z

Recently I saw a documentary about New York in 1977. Crammed into an hour and a half was the emergence of disco, The Loft and Studio 54, hip hop, DJs and their street light hotwiring, punk and CBGBs, the Son of Sam serial killer, the blackout, the suburbs on fire and being looted, swingers clubs and chaotic mayoral elections. I’d wager this sensory overload is somewhat akin to an album by The Go! Team. As you’ll see from their third album, the appropriately named Rolling Blackouts, they were born for those times. Most of the stuff here could easily have been made then or soundtracked that documentary. For example Tornado sounds like a cut up blaxpoitation movie, with kids breakdancing outside the movie theatre and cops sirens blaring past, while Apollo Throwdown is like double dutching it around the floor. When the clouds part and some space is allowed in, such as on recent single Buy Nothing Day, it all makes perfect sense. When this happens the hundreds of disparate pieces gel together sweetly rather than elbowing each other for room. It does often feel like there is a tendency to throw everything into the melting pot and see what works, rather than pick and choose and use some quality control. An instance when they do take a step back on Yosemite Theme, things are spacious and less cluttered so they work much better. It’s beautifully panoramic and slow moving. There are good parts to this album, and a good band here, if only the producer or someone would step in with some good advice. One to cherry pick from.

Rolling Blackouts is out now on Memphis Industries

The Go Team! website is here

Cat Matador - The Address EP

2011-02-21T21:48:00.004Z

Cat Matador release their second EP on the 14th March, and while some people will undoubtedly go crazy for this, it leaves me somewhat nonplussed. It has all the shimmering riffs and grandiose gestures you would hope for from a epic rock band, and a coy style to offset any unintended bombast. It's just that I can't help feel this has been done many times before, and much better. I'm sure they have it in them to produce something great, you can sense the promise in the band, but this isn't it...yet. It's also a tad frustrating, as there are bits I find myself getting really into, but then they don't amount to anything and I feel somewhat let down. I'll stick with it though, and you may well find me posting again later about how wrong my initial thoughts were. Stay tuned. Have a listen to the EP on their Soundcloud page though please, I know many of you will love this.

Cat Matador's soundcloud page is here

The Missing Season - The Missing Season EP

2011-02-21T21:14:00.002Z

Here's the perfect thing ready for spring. The Missing Season are French exponents of dream pop, bliss pop, call it what you will. The stuff made by the likes of Beach House, but more specifically Midlake and Fleet Foxes. Rather than merely aping these bands though, it sounds like they are kindred spirits, taking bands like Grandaddy as their off beat starting point. The songs blend seamlessly into each other, which under other circumstances might not be the greatest recommendation, but with the type of music The Missing Season make, it is entirely the point, hitting the nail on the head, albeit very gently and with a soft hammer. The Missing Season have made an EP that is perfect for falling asleep to on a sun dappled veranda. It's a taster for an album, due later this spring. You can listen to the EP using the player below, and click through and download it for free should you enjoy it.

Findlay Napier and the Bar Room Mountaineers - Valentine's Day

2011-02-21T20:36:00.003Z

Ok, so I may be late in posting this, but it's worth writing about nonetheless. If you were full of self pity and spite on the day of the lovers, yet still carried yourself with style and grace, this is the song for you. It's the Scottish equivalent of the Ben Folds Five track Song For The Dumped, in which the downtrodden fights back. There's a great knack to what Findlay does, writing tunes that could come across as MOR in lesser hands, but investing them with verve and vigour and more hooks than a cloakroom. With the aforementioned Mr Folds having lost his way slightly recently, it may well be time for Findlay to step up and take his place. The future of caustic radio friendly pop is in good hands.

Find Findlay on Facebook here. There's a handy player there to listen to the single.

Secret Rivals – Tonight Matthew…

2011-02-20T21:18:00.003Z

Secret Rivals continue their progress with their new single Tonight Matthew… It builds on the foundations laid by previous releases, with a touch of Johnny Foreigner to this one. It has a cool, understated melody that bursts into life at points, before settling back down to a simmering intensity. It also evokes to me the less screamy/shouty side of Los Campesinos! So, while there may be nothing shockingly new about what Secret Rivals are doing, it’s a sound that is pleasing enough for us to welcome more tunes of theirs into our homes.

Tonight Matthew… is released on April 4th on Kittiwake Records

Find Secret Rivals here

The Tomatometers – Annie EP

2011-02-20T18:14:00.002Z

If you’re looking for some fresh and exciting indie pop, something that sounds exhilarating and exuberant but also harks back to the glory days of Orange Juice and the more confident yet sweetly ramshackle indie bands, then you could do a lot worse than check out the new EP from The Tomatometers. Lead track Annie is especially a delight, while Cut Short is decidedly undecided as to its direction, but has a lovely languid vocal, akin to some of Graham Coxon’s solo stuff. Breathe In_Breathe Out is a gorgeous instrumental, it’s woozy shimmers bringing to mind Pale Saints Kinky Love. An acoustic version of You Don’t Know Us rounds off the EP, showing that an acoustic guitar and an open heart is sometimes all you need. The EP comes very recommended, and you can listen to it in the Bandcamp player below.

The Momeraths – Your Winter Bones EP

2011-02-14T22:14:00.002Z

Remember the fresh faced days of The Beautiful South, when Welcome To was just out and they were still trading off the goodwill of the dying embers of The Housemartins? Those were memorable days, before the time when every home had Carry On Up The Charts and the flashes of brilliance started to come few and far between.

This is what The Momeraths most remind me of on their latest EP. I’m not for a minute suggesting that this is the path laid out for them, just that they have the great qualities of the early days of a much maligned band. Their new EP kicks off with Chopped Onions, a chirpy indie duet. The Observer is an end of the pier, empty ballroom, loss filled waltz. Itchy Feet is a sweet one, with the world’s first non-annoying glockenspiel. Last Time Around is perhaps the best tune, reflective and slightly mournful, a bit reminiscent of Jens Lekman.

The Momeraths Bandcamp is here. You can listen to the EP there and buy it too.

The Lovely Eggs – Cob Dominos

2011-02-12T11:29:00.002Z

Christ I love The Lovely Eggs. The world needs more Lovely Eggs. The world doesn’t need any more Lovely Eggs. This one is so imperfectly perfect, that they are all we’ll ever need. Take the lead single from this, their second album. Don’t Look At Me (I Don’t Like It) is a fantastic pop song by anyone’s standards, with it’s throbbing rhythm and infectious melody and absurdist lyrics. The lyrics concern a fascinating parade of oddball characters, with strange features such as dog dirt eyes, wheelchair hearts and sausage roll thumbs. Somewhat perfectly, the latter is played by John Shuttleworth in the video. They’re also not above some short pieces to dispense with some puerile humour. See the alley-rhyming Muhammed Ali And All His Friends, the rage laden People Are Twats and the freakily twisted ending to Alphabet Song.

Another thing I love is the way they’re multi-faceted and not afraid to show all sides to their personalities. So there are funny songs, plain weird songs, sweet songs, serious songs, beautiful songs, and type of song you want. There is a wonderful kookiness about them which, having met the band, is in no way effected. It just makes it all the more endearing.

Really, just trust me on this one. Go and get this now from Cherryade Music and while you’re at it pick up the discount bundle that includes their debut If You Were Fruit. You won’t be disappointed. It’s the kick up the arse pop music needs.

Cob Dominos is released by Cherryade Records on February 14th. Get it here.

Bruce Springsteen - The Promise

2011-01-01T16:24:00.003Z

Another catch up piece. The Promise actually came out in November and most of you probably know all about it by now. However, despite that and the fact that it's by a world recognised artist, I thought it was worth a mention, due to the sheer quality of the material.
What you have is a double CD of 21 songs recorded around the time of Darkness On The Edge Of Town, but which didn't make the cut. Some have surfaced in different forms since, but some have been left buried for years. To think that while recording the follow up to the crossover album Born To Run, the record company allowed him to record forty songs, of which only ten made the final album and that there would be three years between the two albums is unthinkable nowadays, but the correct decision in hindsight. Presumably virtually no artists starting out nowadays will have the longevity that Springsteen has enjoyed. For now, simply take pleasure in the fact that Bruce has now seen fit to dust these songs down and give them the airing they deserve. That they were never intended as a complete album, makes the way they gel an even greater surprise and delight.

The Promise is out now on Columbia
Bruce's website is here

The Humdrum Express – Elevation Of Trivia

2011-01-01T16:06:00.002Z

Another new album appears from mercurial singer songwriter The Humdrum Express. It starting with Keepin’ Score, in which he goes a bit Frank Turner on us, setting the world to rights. Other tracks like What A Carry On! have an eerie new wave vibe, this one specifically a bit reminiscent of Wire or Tubeway Army. While two contrasting bands in many ways, the comparison works. A lot of this is due to the production on the album, which has the vocals sound like they have an odd tunnelling echo effect on them. Two’s Company is much better with the effect lifted. The New Doctor Who is reflective and a bit Billy Bragg, while Battle Of The Blands side swipes interminable band competitions, populated by run of the mill acts doing uninspired covers.

There’s an element of Half Man Half Biscuit’s inspired wit as he takes pot shots at message board menaces (Message Board Hooligan) and in part armchair patriot football fans and other types (What You See). Rather than using straight in your face humour though, it’s down with a lightness of touch, merely pointing out the ridiculous, and letting you make up your own mind on things. The best is saved until last with Moral High Ground. In a volte face, he chucks out I, Ludicrous style pithy observations over a skittering industrial electro-lite beat. The vocals being nice and high in the mix you find yourself knodding in agreement at the remarks and being absorbed by the cracking beats.

Elevation Of Trivia is self released and available from The Humdrum Express website

Braindead Collective - The Whites Of Our Eyes

2010-12-27T17:14:00.002Z

Normally improvisation leaves me cold, but there is something quite wonderful about this. It is the first collaboration between Oxford / London kraut-jazz-drone experimentalists Braindead Collective (featuring members of Guillemots, The Epstein, Keyboard Choir and others), and the Scotland-via-Lancashire purveyor of lo-fi creaks and drones, Rob St. John and was recorded on the coldest day of a freezing British winter in Oxford’s oldest church – St.Michael’s on Cornmarket St – by microphones strategically strewn from pews and rafters. You can listen to it via the player below, and pick up a download in exchange for a donation to Shelter.

Matt Longo - Alexandria

2010-12-27T12:11:00.002Z

After the downbeat tone of the last post, here comes something else to restore my faith. Not only that, Matt Longo gives singer songwriters a good name, a difficult thing when acoustic troubadors are ten a penny and worth even less nowadays. Wonderfully angelic vocals that leap hither and thither, some sweet melodies and an uplifting air all contribute to make this splendid mini album something special. You can listen to it on the player below. Click on the player to find all the links your heart desires and to download the album for free.

Wonderflu - Lota Schwager EP

2010-12-26T22:29:00.004Z

This is the first in a series of brief year end recommendations, in an effort to catch up the backlog that has been created by my current disenchantment with reviewing. With personal time ever decreasing, I simply don't want to spend it listening to an ever increasing number of distinctly average bands. Some things however are worth bringing to wider attention, such as this, the latest EP by Pavement-esque Parisien band Wonderflu. Normal service will be resumed sometime soon...have a listen to this below in the meantime.

Edwyn Collins – Oxford Academy 05/11/10

2010-12-18T21:46:00.002Z

Much has been made of Edwyn’s miraculous recovery from two cerebral haemorrhages and a bout of MSRA, and it is true that the fact he is even here to play the show tonight is amazing. Leaving that to one side for a moment, this is a brilliant show by anyone’s standards. Tonight we get a rich and varied selection of tunes from the beginning of Orange Juice, through seven solo albums up to the freshly released Losing Sleep. Edwyn makes his own way on stage after the band take up residence, and they give him a funky backing track to arrive to. And what a band. Paul Cook of the Pistols on drums, long time Morrissey band member Boz Boorer on keys and sax and Andy Hackett of the Rockingbirds on guitar for starters. Pick of the band is lead guitarist Tom Edwards who plays some wicked licks, but in a wonderfully understated way. It’s some achievement to stand out in this line up, as Boorer delivers some delightful teasing sax interludes and Cook looks like he’s having the time of life on drums, and having much more fun than any Pistols reunions.

Edwyn has a book to prompt him of the lyrics, but it’s an entirely natural delivery and the band adds a little beef to some of the more twee OJ numbers. The quality of the songs and show are such that I forget all about A Girl Like You until it kicks in pre-encore. For the start of the encore there is an acoustic interlude which is divine, then the band return with Frankie from the Heartstrings (who were excellent in support earlier) for a storming In Your Eyes from the new album before they deliver my favourite OJ song, Blue Boy, which sounds fantastic. Before the gig I was biased towards Edwyn’s talents and hoping it would go really well for him, while at the same time worried it would all go wrong. I needn’t have fretted; Edwyn has overcome another big challenge and then some.

Originally published in Nightshift

Various – Home Volume 2

2010-11-02T17:06:00.002Z

It’s a difficult task putting together a compilation album, but after the musical success of Home Volume 1, Rash Records are having another go at it. It is a pretty mixed bag, but as it is free to download, it’s definitely worth the few clicks effort.

First up Toodar’s song Toy is a pleasant noodle and squiggle that improves on a fairly basic acoustic tune. The Poems singer has a delightfully rich country voice, and Can You Come For Me sounds like Jealous Guy drifting across the plains. Sweet harmonies abound on Orwell’s I Need A Friend, like the delightful Teenage Fanclub. We Have The Right To Starlight by Cult Of Wedge glistens like an amateur Kraftwerk, while No One In Particular by Bobby Wotnot and Snippet is like a trippy White Town. The Men From Delmonte produce She Was Beautiful, a repetitive spoken word, ambient piece, like Little Fluffy Clouds for the downbeat thoughtful set. Louise Le May’s effort Cassandra is rather odd, like Tori Amos doing some bland piano based showtune, but it’s also rather touching and endearing. Whispers by Mr Fogg is pleasant enough, even though it is just emotive singing over a squelchy synthesised tune. Decent, but not groundbreaking. Testbild tinkle nicely with All Of The Fishes, Wim Oudjik is way out of place with some old dancehall reggae that clashes with beatboxing and Hawaiian shimmies to make it the best thing so far. Make You Happy by Better Fires is rather gorgeous. It’s a simple tune, with some delightful female vocals, like Laura Marling but with more warmth. Butterfly Perception by Mank is a noodle from a lost film and finally we get the stupidly named Tim and Sam’s Tim and Sam Band with Tim and Sam. Their Choices threatens to be a lovely sumptuous big sounding alt folk thing, a bit like Sufjan Stevens, but never really takes off.

Home Volume 2 is available as a free download from Rash Records

Round Up 4

2010-08-30T14:49:00.005+01:00

Oxford based band Dial F For Frankenstein combine the urgency and vigour of youth with a hard working essence and sound of yore. USA sounds like Midway Still, all flannel shirts and attacking guitars. There’s the fizz of the Wedding Present in there too. Combine that with a crazily catchy chorus and you have a cool thing indeed.

Flash Fiktion are a London trio specialising in walking the fashionista tightrope while staying just on the right side. With its jabbering keys new single Leni crosses Pop Will Eat Itself with Nine Inch Nails times some asymmetric haircut techno.

Apparently The Jolly Boys are a legendary Jamaican band. So quite why they’ve been roped into producing an album of bland reggae covers of pop tunes is anyone’s guess. It’s pretty tiresome, with one tune melding into another in a big sloppy mess.

Harper Simon’s Berkeley Girl is a quite gorgeous little acoustic ditty, but is rendered rather pointless by its close similarity to his dad’s work.

Frank Turner’s Try This At Home is a rollicking Levellers style protest tune, and one of his best things yet. If you know Frank, you’ll know what it sounds like. If you don’t, then you really should. The Pogues style chorus, as if they were doing Irish Rover, is enough alone to win you over.

The Duke & The King release the lead single of their new album Long Live The Duke & The King. It’s called Shaky and it’s a lovely piece of blissed out country with sweet harmonies and a touch of Laurel Canyon meets West Coast vibe. It’s a relic of older times, and a lovely one at that.

Dial F For Frankenstein's single is out now and available from their myspace
Flash Fiktion's single is out now on Split Records
The Jolly Boys album is released on 13th September by Wall Of Sound
Harper Simon releases Berkeley Girl on 13th September on [PIAS] Recordings
Frank Turner's single is out now on Xtra Mile Recordings
The Duke & The King single is out on 20th September, released by Loose Music/Silver Oak

Antartica Takes It! – Constellations

2010-08-29T22:01:00.003+01:00

Antartica Takes It! continue pops obsession with the extraneous exclamation mark onto their second album. Lead track Bossa is gorgeously twee, with children’s instruments and a sweet ukulele tune. C&F is You Can’t Hurry Love for the Herman Dune crowd; while Straight To Your Heart is a wonderfully shaky, ramalama, joyous bursting heart of a tune. This is sunshine in song form. The female sung Try Try Try is like Standard Fare in the cracked sunlight and contains some of the Research’s early spirit. The title track features a twee voice and sounds like a hyperactive Jens Lekman. Lions Of Love is an indie pop shantying Decemberists, Stay In Bed a female sung shonky bike ride and Spirit Of Love a delightful indie pop cheery tune. It’s like skipping in springtime. Thunderstruck is Lekman vs Dune and if you’re a fan of either of those acts, you should love this album.

Constellations is out now on How Does It Feel To Be Loved?

Antartica Takes It! myspace is here

Angel Corpus Christi – Elvis Elvis

2010-08-17T13:41:00.003+01:00

The latest of Angel Corpus Christi’s tribute albums, does a fine take on Elvis. It’s Now Or Never is reimagined as a sultry, sassy little bossa number. One Night is a mysterious smokey lounge thing, while Don’t Be Cruel is either Massive Attack or Primal Scream’s dub version of Higher Than The Sun, trippy, woozy and beautiful. Teddy Bear follows a similar pattern and Are You Lonesome Tonight is like a Parisian café tune.

Elvis Elvis is out now and available through her website.

Cleemann – 45 Minutes Mostly About Caring

2010-08-16T13:49:00.001+01:00

Cleemann is the project of Copenhagen based musician Gunnar Cleemann and 45 Minutes Mostly About Caring is the first album of a trilogy. Lead track Ambitious is sumptuous and delicate. It’s a slow motion groove with some dreamy European inflected sighed vocals. Righteous is a bit like Antony (of The Johnsons fame) vocally. Most of the songs on here are generally brooding parting of stormcloud moments, when the beauty reappears. Then you get Repairman, which is a bit Richard Hawley. Passing by the loveliness of both parts of Absent, we get the sublime Edwyn Collins silkiness of Collide. Optimist is gossamer light and entirely beautiful, mainly due to the voice which has a dream like quality. It sounds like this should soundtrack some artistic work by Michel Gondry. A delightful album from another plane in a dream world.

45 Minutes Mostly About Caring is out now on Series Two Records

Round Up 3

2010-08-04T13:35:00.002+01:00

Secret Rivals new one, It Would Be Colder Here Without You (self released), is the best thing they’ve done so far. The Oxford band keep improving as they hone their sound over time, the scratchy messiness replaced with a far more assured band letting the melodies shine through. Its mid eighties indie pop, with a Bis shouty bit at times and a touch of new wave effervescence. Rather lovely indeed.

Liechtenstein follow up a splendid debut album with a new single, Passion For Water (Fraction Discs). It’s a sweet little thing, with a repeated line making up a hummable chorus. Trying to come up with a comparison is difficult, because it sounds so minimal and retro, yet refreshingly modern and new. Spending Time With You skips with joy in its heart, as you’d expect from the subject matter, and a sixties girl group shimmy. On The Tram is a rush and a jabber and the land is theirs.

Next up is the Almost Verbose EP (February Records) by Brilliant At Breakfast. Splashdown is lounge music with gorgeous coquettish female vocals, an even more sensual Sarah Cracknell if you will. Beautiful stuff indeed. Strawberry TV is an infectiously catchy breezy bit of summer pop like The Lucksmiths used to make. Nobody Ever Died Of A Broken Heart is some delightful whimsy with a scary pay off, while If Monday’d Never Come is brisk twee pop, like the Concretes gone fey.

On the same label is the Secret Charisma EP, Complications (February Records). The title track is a bit of chirpy indie pop, with weird vocals that waver in and out. Intentional or not, it makes me a bit sea sick. I’m not entirely sure it works. Angel, Please is rickety indie, kind of like skiffle updated for the C86 set. Lord Thomas however is fantastic, some kind of ghostly folk song. It’s something that’s been plucked from the realms of folklore and resurrected through a haze of wistfulness.

The Spectrals 7^th Date (Slumberland Records) is sluggish in a good way, just swaying and tinkling with a knowing cool. Oddly, Don’t Mind on the flipside is almost a continuation of the a side. It’s similar in style and attitude and has a melody that doesn’t lift its head from its slumbers.

The Wendy Darlings release the Not A Match Made In Heaven EP (Marineville Records). Zero Zero Seven is a cracking shrieked fuzzy thing, all that is best in girl led indie pop. Suffer Girl is a bit Velvets cool, with an excitable side. Sunday So Bored is shambolically and energetically great brisk pop, while Seven Years Bad Luck is a slinky shimmy, a bit like The Hot Toddies song HTML. Gorgeously understated and affecting.

The final thing this time is by Looking Glass, The First Real Target EP (self released). What do you get if you take the best bits of Midlake, Sufjan Stevens and Fleet Foxes and roll them into a lovely rustic ball? Looking Glass, that’s who. It’s an interesting EP that is obviously designed as an artefact rather than with any commercial purposes, as the tracks get better as the EP goes along. Cracking stuff.

All releases are out now.

Battle For Prague – Red Sky Stares EP

2010-07-31T21:26:00.002+01:00

Here’s the second EP from Battle From Prague, recorded on analogue equipment in a Victorian Manor House. That was intended to capture their live sound, which on this showing is definitely a good thing. Lead track Modern Spirit is a snarling beast, wired to rock and roll. It has an indie rock cool about it, fresh enough to make you love it but also drawing on American guitar rock influences. We Used To Drink reminds me of Wilco with a tad of Stephen Malkmus tired drawl to the vocals. It’s like Wilco in that its unassuming and gentle, but has hidden depths that are revealed with further listens. I also think of Archers of Loaf when I hear this, but without the wilful amateur playing. Saboteur falls somewhere between the two, most reminding me of Hope of the States and their song Enemies:Friends, while finally Peccadillo is not as good as the other but still decent, earnest Yank alt rock.

Red Sky Stares EP is out now as a free download or a CD to buy from the band's Bandcamp page

Round up 2

2010-07-30T13:50:00.002+01:00

Attention All Departments, the new single by The Winter Olympics is a monster of a song, a pulsating electro, snarling rock beast. It’s ridiculously over the top, especially the vocals, but it has grandiosity its hard not to love. It hunts you down and as you cower in the corner expecting to be beaten, drags you onto the dancefloor. Flipside They Launched A Probe is more bombastic stuff, like a coy indie band having their soul possessed by hard rockers.

Amadou & Mariam release the wonderfully joyous Africa as a download single; accompanied by some fairly pointless and not very different remixes by Bob Sinclar and Radioclit.

The oddly named Life & Times Of have their debut single out as a free download. Ballet falls somewhere between Radiohead and Wild Beasts and on first listens struggles to find its own identity. Greasy Magpie flounders moodily in its own dark corner of the world without achieving much.

For a band formed like so many nowadays under the influence of C86, Young Michelin have taken those inspirations and made something rather lovely, rather than merely aping their forebears. It is chirpy indie pop with a decidedly electro feel, and features words sung in the band’s native tongue of French. Indie poppers of the world get behind Young Michelin. They’ve released one of the best EPs (EP Eponynm) of the year and a decidedly simple and joyous pleasure.

Slumberland have reissued Sound Of The Westway, the sole album from the Swiss all girl group from the eighties, Chin Chin. Pretty much all you need to know if that it’s a shambling delight, and will please fans of The Shop Assistants and The Flatmates.

Finally Fraction Discs release the latest single from Twig. It’s a lush rickety splendour, both Hourglass and Scattered Dreams reminiscent of Edwyn Collins finer solo stuff, with the emphasis on the vocal similarity.

The Winter Olympics single is out now on Office Rock Records

Amadou & Mariam single is out now on Because Music

The Life&Times Of single is out for free download on August 2nd from their website

Chin Chin's album is out now on Slumberland Records

Twig's single is out now on Fraction Discs

I Am Kloot – Sky At Night

2010-07-22T13:54:00.003+01:00

Perennial underachievers I Am Kloot are back with a new album, their fifth so far. The underachieving is not necessarily down to them, but the failure to connect than with anything but a hardcore following. Of course, the fanatical should be enough in itself. In the past I’ve heard the odd track but never been inspired enough to investigate further. However if any album should be the one that gives them access to a wider following, it’s this one. Northern Skies is Nick Drake fronting Elbow, a simply sublime and beautiful pop song. To The Brink follows, another sumptuous Northern pop song. String laden and reminiscent of Richard Hawley, it also reminds of Elbow, whose Guy Garvey and Craig Potter are on production duties. It’s only when we get to track 4, the bluesy Lately that the quality dips. It’s something that wants to be really soulful, but ends up a bit turgid. When they follow it with a lovely acoustic number like I Still Do, you wonder why they found the need. There’s then a selection of songs when they go all muso and bland on us, which is a major disappointment. There are too many songs that seemed to have been noodled away at in a dark smoky room. Radiation is a rather splendid thing, soulful vocals and a beautiful melody that build in a way like the Polyphonic Spree but uncluttered by excess instruments. Same Shoes wraps up the album in melancholy fashion.

Sky At Night is an odd album, at times brilliant, emotional and catchingly melodic, at others over wrought and dull. It’s well worth wading through to seek out the good bits though.

Sky At Night is out now

I Am Kloot website is here

Round Up 1

2010-06-30T13:53:00.003+01:00

This post marks the return of the round up, something that I used to do for singles on my old website. Due to an overwhelming amount of music being sent me, and time constraints in my personal life, some things will get full reviews, the rest covered in the round ups. It’s not necessarily any reflection on quality, merely what I think I can impart to the reader on each release. At least this way stuff that would have otherwise been discarded gets a few words in passing.

Maths and Physics Club have a new LP, I Shouldn’t Look As Good As I Do out on Matinee. Which, when you see them geekily crammed into an old Beetle on the cover, is as ironic as you like. It’s also virtually the perfect pop album. Ten tracks in length, sumptuous melodies abound, an effervescent atmosphere and a general cheery vibe. Those indie fans downbeat after the Lucksmiths split last year, and looking for a replacement could do much worse than Maths and Physics Club.

Also new on Matinee is Cats On Fire’s collection of old stuff called Dealing In Antiques. After kicking off with a cover of Your Woman that sounds like a cross between Kele from Bloc Party and Robert Smith fronting a crisp indie pop tune, the album features lots of lovely indie pop, beautifully sung. Although at times this can be a bit weedy and samey, when they do get it right it sounds great. Such instances are Don’t Say It Could Be Worse which reminds me of Ballboy, and They Produced A Girl which a more ballsy Drums.

Those who were The Wookies, are now Golden Hours. The first single under their new moniker isn’t a patch on their previous efforts. Pioneering is reasonably interesting, like a subdued and less frenetic Futureheads. Wash The Night Eyes is merely alt-80s ok-ness.

The second EP in a trilogy from Breton, Sharing Notes, is also out soon. It’s an interesting piece of work with lead track The Well falling somewhere between Gorillaz, Bloc Party and Scroobius Pip. The title track is pretty good dirty trip hop, while Episodes is like first album Foals, jittery and knowingly fashionable. Finally 15X is an annoying post-Rapture groove. Intriguing stuff, some good, some not so.

Finally Harper Simon releases Wishes And Stars off his debut album. It’s rather good, but a tad too much like his dad Paul for my liking.

The Cats On Fire and Maths And Physics Club albums are out now on Matinee Recordings

The Golden Hours single is out now on Broken Tail Records

The Breton EP is released by Breton Labs on 5th July

The Harper Simon single is out now on [PIAS] Recordings

Tender Trap – Dansette Dansette

2010-06-23T13:49:00.002+01:00

Tender Trap return with their third album, keeping up the four year gap between them. As befits a new, expanded line up which now includes Allo Darlin’s Elizabeth Morris, the album sounds much more rounded, with a fuller impressive sound. While the subjects are still very much teenage it sits very well with Amelia’s voice, especially on current single and top notch tune Do You Want A Boyfriend? Lead track Dansette Dansette is rather appropriately a slice of delicious sixties girl pop, while Suddenly is much more adult sounding luscious pop. It has confessional whispered and half spoken vocals and some lush backing vocals. Girls With Guns carries the most non threatening threat. It’s a rumble of almost rockabilly guitars and chiming percussion. These are the highlights of what is easily the best Tender Trap album yet, the majority of the songs being highly melodic gems.

Dansette Dansette is out now on Fortuna Pop!

Tender Trap myspace is here

The Lodger – Flashbacks

2010-06-21T23:16:00.003+01:00

The Lodger are back with their third album, dealing out well crafted melodies with ease. If you like indie pop you’ll love this, especially if you’re one who looks back to the late eighties/early nineties with much fondness. They can be Going Blank Again era Ride (Back Of My Mind), The Brilliant Corners (Have A Little Faith In People) or a less idiosyncratic Orange Juice (Time To Wait). The End Of The Affair slots into some sort of middle ground, so fares best as it grabs your attention instead of making you wonder whom it sounds like. What can you say about the rest of the album? It’s thoroughly pleasant indie pop that I’d happily listen to again and enjoy. But is it something I’d dig out deliberately to play? Probably not. Nothing against it, it just doesn’t have that certain something that grabs your lapels and shakes you down. Which is weird as it’s also probably a cut above a lot of current indie pop around. This probably means it’s a grower, one worth persevering with to reap the rewards.

The Lodger's website is here

Flashbacks is out now on Slumberland Records

Various – Fast Forward: An Indie Music Companion To World Cup 2010

2010-06-16T13:34:00.002+01:00

Indiecater Records have taken about the mammoth task of putting together a World Cup compilation, featuring bands representing in the form of song the 32 teams in this years World Cup. Thankfully most of them haven’t taken this too literally and have put forward a loose interpretation. Let’s see if we can get through them all. Cop On The Edge commence proceedings, representing South Africa with a fun cheesy tune, which sways a bit like Hammond led garage pop and reels off a list of notable South African sportspeople. According to the chorus they’re ‘gonna win the cup for Charlize Theron’. Mad claim undoubtedly, but a fun sunny pop tune anyway. Standard Fare give their song a Mexican tilt, but it’s not a patch on the top quality pop of their recent debut. It’s still good but a bit twee. Showstar provide a rabble rousing Uruguay, while The Very Most have playfully called the French tune Irlande, and it’s another one of their sumptuous summery pop tunes. The Dirty 9s’ Ballad Of El Diego is suitably grandiose and a tad operatic in its celebration of Argentina, with a little of The Divine Comedy at their most knowingly overblown. Grand Pocket Orchestra’s Nigeria is fantastically like a drunk version of something from The Lion King. The South Korean song is Pearse McGloughlin’s quite beautiful rolling piano ballad Jongmyo Shrine, while At Last An Atlas do a pondering electro buzz tribute to Greece, a bit like The Research being quietly electro shocked. Detox Cute’s England song is suitably twee and toothless and Boca Chica do a lovely French sung Algerian song that combines flute and a walk by the Seine. It’s very bohemian and delightful. Lightholler do Slovenia in a misty eyed European movie way, Betty and the Cavalero do Meet Me At The Red Light for Germany as a gentle squeeze like Duke Special and Sleep Good’s Australia is an instrumental bouncy Saint Etienne. Hunter Gatherer’s Serbia buzzes with the intent of a darkest Europe industrial electro thing, but never really carries through its threat. The Invisible Clock Factory do Ghana, in a similarly minimal but unexciting way. Their way is repetition why is cool, but nondescript. Burning Codes present Holland as a half hearted spiritual, Cleemann’s Princes Of Denmark is a wonderful soaring alternative eighties pomp tune and Goatboy give us a squelching romp for Japan. Spirit Spine’s Cameroon song continues the instrumental theme, a rousing glitch fest bringing it home. Le Man Avec Les Lunettes do a gorgeous summery twirling Sufjan Stevens style thing for Italy, while Harry Bird does Paraguay as a baby Bob Dylan. Adam and Darcie do some swoonsome girl pop for New Zealand and Escape Act’s Slovakia evokes a trip to the host nation in an updated by Paul Simon kind of way. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin do Brazil in their alt folk way, but it sounds tossed off at a minute and half of little in the way of ideas. Francis Bacon’s Ghost do a suitably dark and sinister reeperbahn slow trudge in the form of Kim Jung II for North Korea, Storkboy Choons provide Ivory Coast with a rattling lights housey instrumental and Tap Tap represent Portugal with strained vocals and a brittle tune, but a lovely happy melody and some squirming guitar lines. The Yellow Melodies Spain song is like power pop early Beatles, while Candy Claws ethereal Swiss tune, is a bit too featherlight to carry anything off. My Brother Woody do Honduras in the style of Athlete and a band that have never heard of football before and got their thoughts about it off the internet. Finally Manwomanchild provide an excellent climax in the style of a europop Denim as a tribute to Chile. What seemed an expansive and ambitious project has reaped dividends in a big way.

Fast Forward: An Indie Music Companion To World Cup 2010 is out now on Indiecater Records and can be bought from their website

Stornoway – Beachcomber’s Windowsill

2010-05-19T13:22:00.004+01:00

Every now and again a band arrives on the scene and immediately makes you want to eagerly devour everything they do. For me Fountains Of Wayne, eels, The Divine Comedy and Luke Haines in his many guises are such acts. To that list I’ve added Stornoway. It was apparent as soon as I received their self released Early Adventures EP that this was a rather special band. There’s another thing, where the usual revisionist record company historians have deemed March’s I Saw You Blink as their debut single, discounting the self released three EPs and single. I guess it makes for a better story when a band suddenly appears fully formed. No matter, as many of those songs make up this debut album. After leading off with the bands best known tunes, Zorbing and I Saw You Blink we arrive at Fuel Up which shows another side to the band with a keen ear for a crafted folk pop melody. Fuel Up and the following The Coldharbour Road are gorgeous tender ballads, the former of which comes close to making you cry. We Are The Battery Human is close to a reel, whirling gently around harmonising singing making for a joyous song of hope. Here Comes The Blackout is an optimistic and reflective request for people to love not fight, not some hippy sentiment, rather a lovely gesture. Watching Birds is splendid, motoring along then exploding into a psychedelic out of control carousel chorus, all powered by a hyperactive youth orchestra. Then there is more melancholic beauty in On The Rocks, then The End Of The Movie, Brian’s voice quivering with emotion as the song swells to a sumptuous chorus, all gorgeous strings and harmonies. If you’re one of the people who have joined the massed infatuation for Mumford and Sons and Laura Marling, please check out this album, it surpasses them and then some. Album of the year so far, and I honestly can’t see anything catching it.

Beachcomber’s Windowsill is released by 4AD on 24th May

Stornoway myspace is here

The Drums – The Drums

2010-05-13T13:42:00.002+01:00

For a band much talked up and about, it will come as a surprise to many to find out that the Drums are more than a tad twee. It’s kinda cute but a bit one dimensional by nature. This renders the last few tracks a bit of a slog, the twee genre being far better suited to the shorter format of mini albums or EPs. Still, there are some decent songs on here. Current single Best Friend manages to be upbeat and melancholic, brittle and fragile sounding, just like the emotional lyrics. Me And The Moon follows in a similar vein, but with a slightly more chugging, motorik rhythm. There’s also rather less substance. Let’s Go Surfing, is echo skiffle, twee rockabilly if you like, while Book Of Stories is rather eighties minimalistic percussion wise and a big widescreen melody. Forthcoming single Forever And Ever Amen is lovely and incandescent, but also rather hollow. Down By The Water is choirboy fresh slacked out Jesus and Mary Chain, and the last thing of note before the descent into similarity.

The Drums website is here and the album is released by Moshi Moshi on June 7th

Boy Mandeville – Christina

2010-05-05T13:49:00.002+01:00

From Cambridge to North London, a small journey for this four piece. Now they release their debut single on Voga Parochia. A-side Christina combines the in vogue Vampire Weekend sound with the middle of the road quirk of the Mystery Jets second album. There are twiddly guitars and chirpy vocals a plenty, and its rather fine melodic indie pop. Raisin Snake has chirpy afro beat guitars and an awesome bit where it stretches out in the sumptuous way that Grandaddy used to. There’s not much to choose between the tracks, both are good and a pleasant way to spend a few minutes.

Voga Parochia release Christina on June 7th

Boy Mandeville myspace is here

Echo Boomer – EP

2010-04-20T13:58:00.001+01:00

A new EP from Oxford’s Echo Boomer and a drift in sound is apparent. The Circle is like Fyfe Dangerfield solo, with a particularly bouncy eighties beat. It’s studied and terribly over commercial, but there’s something rather cool about it. It’s also pretty retro, but still stands out from other retro stuff. Learning To Lie is odd. It’s very much eighties big music, all windswept and tortured, with a wailing guitar solo in the middle too. You Are is gorgeous widescreen turbulence, and something definitely influenced by Guillemots second album, in that the tracks that moved to more middle of the road, but with a quirky identity. It springs along, in a Bladerunner landscape, with an airy, ominous vocal. Finally Broken Bird is a slightly too sappy, a true middle of the road piece. It has its own charm however, its languid gait making you smile despite yourself.

The EP is self released and available from the band's myspace

Godzilla Black – Godzilla Black

2010-04-19T13:45:00.003+01:00

After a bunch of EPs here is the first album from Godzilla Black. Opener Fear Of A Flat Planet has a juddering bass line pulsing through it, and funks like Funkadelic on an African holiday. It has mini breaks of respite while a heartbeat thuds and percussion tinkles, and then it tribally kicks back in with some voodoo sounds. Immense. The Bad Place is deranged and highly charged electro industrial funk. From Here To Clare is frenetic like a psychotic early B-52s, while Insect Day is some jittery fun, but not too noticeable. Burning Wires gets more experimental, being jabbering electro gabba, First Bite In is a neat Link Wray style instrumental and The Drought is a crazed metal, with added sax funked up near instrumental. The vocals that there are don’t add much. Sadly Imaresident is dull sludgecore and Amazing is just weird, mysterious rambling. Finally Enjoy Yourself is a ridiculous mess, the kind of thing that happens with too many bad drugs and some spare tape left in the studio.

Godzilla Black is available for streaming and as a free download here

David G Cox – David G Cox

2010-04-16T13:49:00.002+01:00

David G Cox has a voice somewhere between Tom Waits and Stephen Meritt. The Serpent’s Tale is a dusky jazz odyssey told down a back alley, between the dumpsters. The choir of the dark side help out with some spiritual backing vocals. She Moves Through The Blue is even better, a kind off lounge lizard act, David’s slippery but gruff voice meanders through the music. Duet has a Greek slow quickstep beat, and a sultry duet vocal wise. Merry Go Round sounds like Cathal Coughlan on a slow boat to nowhere, which is rather good if you were wondering. Song 7 is Spider and the Fly spookiness, double bass and brushed drums, spooky hemmed in rockabilly. Forever And A Day is a twiddly folk thing with intertwining female vocals, coupled together so close and so warm. Please Don’t Cry could be the best thing here, a bare piano melody and a cracked voice, Mercury Rev type sadness. The Ballad Of the Yellow Moon is a sweet m/f tender folk ballad, while Bogart and Bacall is like Tim Burgess doing a Nick Cave murder ballad with seaside organ. When The Blue Sky Turned Red is an affecting little duet, more of David singing with ebbing and flowing female backing vocals, it twists and turns gently. House Of Cards is another jazzy, sleazed up thing, that turns all freestyle and a bit Ghost Town to complete the album.

The album is out now on Dreamtrak. David's myspace is here

The Blanche Hudson Weekend – The Rats In The Cellar EP

2010-04-15T13:29:00.002+01:00

And neatly we move on from the last Manhattan Suicides final release, to the first from The Blanche Hudson Weekend, featuring Caroline and Darren from said band. It leads off with Grip Of Fear, a female vocalled and oh so cool song, all black leather trousers and pouting. It’s reminiscent of Some Candy Talking, mainly in attitude, but once or twice musically also. But that’s no bad thing as the band evidently have enough style and musical skill, not to mention enough of their own identity to pull it off. Sharks follows that and is rather slouchy, with it’s just got out of bed hair and demeanour, so achingly cool, but lovely too. Final track Only Snow takes the Sharks blueprint and improves on it somewhat. A fine EP for fans of the fuzz pop melodies.

The Rats In The Cellar EP is out now on Oddbox Records

The Blanche Hudson Weekend myspace is here

The Manhattan Love Suicides – Dandelion Session

2010-04-14T13:31:00.002+01:00

The Manhattan Love Suicides ceased to be last summer, and their final recordings as part of a session for Dandelion Radio are now released on Odd Box. Everything is in place on amazing opener Misery City, which is a combination of high speed thrills channelling Mary Chain, Birdland and sixties Nuggets too. It’s derivative but highly authentic and heartfelt too. Even if it wasn’t, this is rock n roll at its best. An acoustic version of Veronica is like a spruced up and fresh faced version of the Velvets with Nico, while Never Far From You is a fuzz laden Talulah Gosh. Time Enough At Last slouches and fuzzes elegantly and an acoustic Things You’ve Never Done has a tender quality and the best singing on the album beautifully brought to the fore. I’m Not A Young Man Anymore reminds me of the primal beat of Altered Images Dead Pop Stars, done over by an even dark side. It drones on for a wonderful seven minutes. To complete this release there are also mono versions of all the tracks for those of you who prefer their sound that way.

Dandelion Session is out now on Oddbox Records

The Manhattan Love Suicides myspace is here

Various – Home

2010-04-13T13:28:00.002+01:00

Home is another compilation of new, unsigned bands and it’s available as a free download. There’s some interesting stuff contained within. The Big I Am’s track is rather lovely in a heartfelt and bucolic Del Amitri sounding way. Fair warms the cockles of the heart. Big Hands Big Hearts deliver a piece of bouncy twee electro fun, while My Little Pony’s Skipping Down the Street is as twee as it sounds, but its infectiously melodic and with a backbone. It‘s all very Welsh and loveable. Head Of Light Entertainment’s Lady Godiva’s Horse is playful and joyous, Snippet’s Man Without Mobile is offbeat quirk, a bit like the Voluntary Butler Scheme and If I Grow Old by Dan Whitehouse is like one of Just Jack’s more recent tunes, only less oddball. Beachy Head Music Club provide a sombre version of Carter USM, all sardonic vocals and English home truths. Sleep by Stealing Sheep is a sweet shoop shoop of a song that reminds me of Blue Roses. Bobby Wotnot is like Johnny Cash being channelled by a mellowed out Beck, while Wim Oudijk delivers something between Beefheart and an easy listening jazz odyssey. Richard O’Flynn falls somewhere between Damien Rice and Marc Bolan’s hippy folk days, so it’s difficult to decide whether I like this one. Overall though, there is some fine stuff and it’s certainly worth a listen.

Home is released by Rash Records and is available as a free download from their website

The Consulate General – Person Number

2010-04-12T13:39:00.003+01:00

The Consulate General is one Alexander Chen, living in Gothenburg, but of Taiwanese-American extraction. Along with various musical guests they do indie pop with an electronic tinge, a genre which on the basis of the opening salvo is sweet enough, but doesn’t amount to a great deal. The tinkling ping pong ball instrumental that is Patricia Soriano manages to be much more special in only 45 seconds. 65 Or Older squeezes and hugs your soul and is based around a cheap keyboard demo mode and some eerie and childlike music. Liesa Lietke is a squelching squirming instrumental, while Lonesome Sunday is very good, sweet and spiritual, like a fine mellow Boo Radleys thing. We bypass a lot of ok tunes until Sweet Solano, which is understated loveliness. It’s like Flying Pickets updated with African drums and gentle strings. As so often these days, there’s a very good EP here, made into a mixed bag album.

Person Number is out now on Circle Into Square

The Consulate General website is here

iHat

2010-04-08T13:41:00.002+01:00

Here is the first product review on the site. The iHat, despite its name, is not an official Apple product and in fact retails for £13. It's ideal stocking filler material for when that time comes around. Basically it's a kind of skull cap looking affair, with headphones built inside, so your ears and head keep warm and you have an unsightly lead trailing from the back of your head, like you are some kind of robot. Being external rather than in ear headphones there is a lot of external noise coming through, which spoils your listening somewhat. Overall, it's a pretty nifty idea poorly executed. Someone could pick up this and run with it, producing something decent, but for now we have the iHat which is fun, cheap and not to be taken seriously.

Buy the iHat from Mobile Fun here

Jonsi – Go

2010-04-08T13:30:00.002+01:00

The lead track on the first solo album from Sigur Ros frontman Jonsi is Go Do. In fact all three tracks from that single are included on this nine track album, so rather than bother you again explaining what they are like, I’ll direct you to my single review instead. The first new track is Animal Arithmetic, which whirrs round like fast rotating child’s windmill, then as things drop away here is Jonsi breathlessly, impatiently trying to make his point, repeatedly. As he finally does so, the music ebbs away beautifully. Tornado sounds more like the dead of winter, everything pristine and beautiful, but with a malevolent menace, waiting to spring into life and cause chaos at any minute. Swishes carry Jonsi’s voice over a sombre piano melody. Boy Lilikoi skitters away and Jonsi floats away on his train of thought. There’s a nice bit where the tunes ebbs away and pipish noises herald the tune back in, ushering its arrival. Sinking Friendships is angelic choral sounds, which explode into life midway through, before settling down again to caress the melodies with waves of sumptuous electronic sounds. Around Us is all waterfalls and fast flowing rivers. You can’t help but think of the harsh beauty of nature in Jonsi’s music. Finally Hengilas is dark and brooding, sumptuous and makes you want to cry. Beautiful stuff indeed.

Go is out now on Parlophone

Jonsi's website is here

The Momeraths – A Single Cup Of Tea EP

2010-04-07T13:42:00.002+01:00

This is the second EP by The Momeraths, with one single in between. A Single Cup Of Tea has to be one of the most delicate songs of recent times, especially when its one that’s not overly twee. Cascading waterfalls of boy/girl vocals brim over a music box tune. The voices intertwine again on Millipede Stomps, clipped male vocals that are soulful like early Paul Heaton. It gathers speed in the bridge like something from Promenade era The Divine Comedy. The Boyfriend Song is a juddering twee boneshaker of a song, hurtling along gently at breakneck speed and finally The Photographer is a whirling cute jig.

A Single Cup Of Tea EP is self released on April 12th

The Momeraths myspace is here, where you can buy the single and download the title track for free.

Eliza Doolittle – Eliza Doolittle

2010-03-23T13:53:00.003Z

Weird one this. Eliza Doolittle is a 21 year old whose debut album kicks off with Moneybox, where she sounds like someone trapped somewhere between Lily Allen’s street mateyness and Marina & The Diamonds over the top affected vocals. This combined with a chirpy, almost ragtime tune sprinkled with tinkling sounds, makes for a weird listen indeed. What follows however isn’t bad at all, if hardly likely to set the world alight critically or commercially. Go Home is a delightful shoop shoop, sixties pop shimmy for instance, something I never saw coming after the first track. Mr Medicine you see is pure Lily, but lacking a certain edge. Same with Missing. Some may think this is an easy and cheap comparison to make, but it’s a true one and it’s inevitable that a second wave of songstresses will come forward, as it happens with most scenes. A Smokey Room is slightly sassy, but still not riveting. And so it goes on. It’s all thoroughly pleasant, but terribly derivative. You see, Nobody is a lovely little tune, full of the joys of spring, but also one I’ve heard done better before. Pack Up swings in a lovely way and has some great bluesy backing vocals courtesy of an unidentified gent. It finishes with Empty Hand, a rather sweet lullaby to ease you out. So overall it’s nice enough, but not ground breaking.

The album is released by Parlophone sometime in June and is preceeded by a single, Skinny Genes, on April 5th.

Eliza Doolittle's website is here

You Me At Six – Liquid Confidence

2010-03-23T13:31:00.002Z

You Me At Six are a very popular band I’m lead to believe. They’re also utterly cack and hideous in a screamo gone Nickleback way. I really don’t know what else to say about it. Radio 1 will doubtless play it loads and make it a hit for the kids who want something soulless to scream along to. The instrumental version is even more pointless, adding nothing apart from the strange feeling that they forgot to switch the singer’s mike on.

Liquid Confidence is released by Virgin on 19th April

You Me At Six website is here

Jonsi – Go Do

2010-03-22T13:55:00.002Z

If Sigur Ros have been going more minimal and glacial of late, then Go Do is the more uplifting side, courtesy of lead singer Jonsi. There’s an electronic pulse that suggests the incidental music on a surreal children’s program. Jonsi’s ethereal warblings are more beautiful than ever. He sounds positively glorious and life affirming. All manner of electronic effects and noises caress the tune, yet they never become intruding. The song is something weirdly odd, but with enough of a melody to be on the Radio 1 playlist. The idea of the general public’s head being messed with appeals immensely. Kolnidur (I wish you could do a thorn on this computer, to make it look correct, but a d will have to suffice) moves at a funereal pace, before there is a false epiphany as the songs threatens to burst into life and then doesn’t, but once the surprise is over Jonsi is floating on clouds above your head. He’s worked a wonderful wrong footing as the song appears to build ever so gradually to a squeaking end. The final track on this single, Grow Till Tall paints an evocative picture of flowers growing in slow motion by camera trickery; it’s a song that reminds you of the beauty of nature. I’ve no idea what it’s really about, but that’s the beauty of Jonsi.

Jonsi website is here

Go Do is released by Parlophone on March 22nd, followed by the album Go on April 5th

David Gibb – This Young Boy

2010-03-16T13:52:00.003Z

Like a chirpy extra folky Frank Turner, eighteen year old Derbyshire based singer David Gibb takes a rambling look at the follies of youth. The chorus is especially pleasing, pretty singalong and going with the old way of using repetition to win people over. The chorus is in fact the main bit of the song, and somehow reminds me of the Levellers in their pomp, before they got old and disillusioned, somewhat appropriately. There’s an album and EP in the back catalogue, which would appear to be well worth checking out.

This Young Boy is self released on 10th May. Go to David's myspace for details of how to get a copy.

Findlay Napier and the Bar Room Mountaineers – Raise A Glass

2010-03-16T13:40:00.003Z

Findlay is a Glasgow based folk musician, currently cultivating an alternative folk scene in the city. This song is like the Decemberists peculiar old folk tales relocated to Scotland. It has emphasis on the fiddles and accent, and a sometime harsh and strident vocal tone, like Chris TT. Fine rousing stuff.

Findlay's myspace is here and website here. Go to the website and sign up to the mailing list to receive a free copy of the single.

Thunder Bunny – My Love, Thou Art A Monster

2010-03-10T13:44:00.002Z

Here is a new EP from New Jersey based Thunder Bunny. Hustle It shakes and shimmies like a glacial Mary Chain, the beauty being somewhat smothered in the squalls of guitar effects rendering the whole thing more of a mess than the drugged up beauty that was intended. Yes, I Remember These Bones is a churning dirge that goes nowhere. The Whole World Gathered To Watch Him Fade Away is sluggish but fine Ride like indie, but without the killer hook and proof that more time is spent on song titles than melodies. Finally The Hungry Ghost (part 2) is eight minutes of discordant mess and nonsense.

My Love, Thou Art A Monster is released by Spanner Records on March 15th

Thunder Bunny myspace is here

The Loves – Sweet Sister Delia

2010-03-01T13:56:00.002Z

The title track of the new single from The Loves is fantastically infectious; in the way the Pooh Sticks used to channel sixties bubblegum pop. The chorus repeats the title over and over, sometimes doubling up the word sweet in a joyous chant, in a way that reminds me of something I can’t quite put my finger on. There’s also a ropey 4 track demo of Low from 2001, of which you can see why it hasn’t seen the light of day before, and a faux country number credited to Simon Love and the Turkeys called God Saves Our Souls, a drawled redneck piece of cheese. Worth it for the lead track though.

Sweet Sister Delia is out now on Fortuna Pop!

The Loves myspace is here

Danny And The Champions Of The World – Streets Of Our Time

2010-03-01T13:39:00.003Z

Danny And The Champions Of The World is the new act fronted by Danny Wilson and this is their debut album, released by home of alt country Loose Records. Lead track Henry The Van is an elegy to a defunct tour van, lovely harmonies and maudlin yet reminiscing vocals set to a whirring banjo tune that ticks along nicely. Swathes of cymbal swishes accentuate the sadness of the song. Restless Feet is a much more standard country tune, with a hometown sweetness and warmth, but nothing remarkable. Follow The River is a funky trad country thing, Danny’s voice decent enough on this one. Wandle Swan has some lovely lap steel licks, and a hurried demeanour, plus an excited melody. The title track is pretty much one of Neil Young’s downbeat beauties, even down to the vocals. Yr People Here is a false rapture, Bluebird is how it should have been done, a sunset soundtrack, propelled by the ever delightful banjo and Parakeets ends the album on a standard country note.

Streets Of Our Time is released on April 19th by Loose Records

Danny And The Champions Of The World myspace is here

Amys Ghost – Paper Boat

2010-02-23T13:46:00.002Z

Here’s the new single from Reading five piece Amys Ghost. Yep, no apostrophe apparently. Stabbing strings herald in Paper Boat, with pretty standard female vocals. They aren’t that quirky which makes a nice change. The strings and cymbal crashes burble along nicely as waves of vocals wash over the top. It’s a sweet little number, wonderfully constructed, but lacking the killer hook. A gallant effort nonetheless. The dub remix of Call Your Name isn’t that dubby, more trip hoppy minimal Massive Attack, but it strips the heart from the tune. Finally there’s Grandma Singing These Eyes, featuring a tiptoeing piano and weird off key vocals, sung apparently by Amy’s grandma. Nice sentiment, but better left in the home recordings really.

Paper Boat is out today on First Circle Records

Amys Ghost myspace is here

The Half Rabbits – From The Horizon To The Map

2010-02-23T13:33:00.002Z

After six years in existence, The Half Rabbits debut album finally sees the light of day. The only slight disappointment is that six of the ten tracks have been previously released in one form or another. Some re-recordings has spruced them up, and it still provides a good introduction to the band, or place to catch up from. Lead track These Rumours is like a harsher Editors, pulsating guitars, crashing drums and a spiralling tune. Of This City is lighter, reminding me of Tim Booth vocals wise, with popping drums and spacious dark rock. Stay Positive is elastic and far reaching, uplifting and jagged. How Right You Are is stripped back from its original into a Doors-esque Spanish lullaby, where the vocals arise from the slumbers periodically. Antidote is slightly psychotic blues, jabbing this way and that, while Magnet Mountain issues a supply and demand rallying cry over a blistering rock tune. Man Down ends the album in a low rumble, brooding and moody. A nice summation of The Half Rabbits so far then.

From The Horizon To The Map is out on Punk Elvis Records on April 17th

More details from The Half Rabbits website

The Pocket Gods – Plan Nub, Behind The Fridge

2010-02-22T13:55:00.003Z

Here’s the third album from The Pocket Gods, following on from Lo-Fi Sci-Fi. After a brief intro we get Trailer Park On Mars which is surf pop fun and Billy Childish Enters The Space Race which is I, Ludicrous style shonky nonsense. Perfect Blue is twee exuberance, while I’m The Ed Wood Of Indie Pop is summed up by the title, a shaky scenery kind of fun indie pop song. Then there’s the half arsed Alien Xmas Song, sounding really odd out of season. The paean to Carry On Behind is reminiscent of BMX Bandits, cheesy lyrics, coy vocals and sweet melody. Nipple Fight is scuzzy Ramones indie punk, Nub Country Life is slacker indie pop, like one of Primal Scream’s lighter moments and Joe Meek is gorgeous life affirming indie pop with shuffly bells on, like Teenage Fanclub but happier. Finally, at least before the outro, Zeta Reticulli is sombre, like Suicide gone indie.

Plan Nub, Behind The Fridge is released on the band's own Nub Country Records on April 1st

Further details are on the band's myspace

The Tomatometers – Boys Would Always Look Down

2010-02-22T13:28:00.003Z

This is the third release from The Tomatometers, which is basically one guy called Bruno. The title track is rather pleasant indie pop, Bruno’s voice rather assured, but also fragile, providing a lovely counterpoint to the gorgeous understated melody. You Don’t Know Us wends its way merrily along, twisting and turning and evading your capture. The tune may be a bit on the twee side, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but the voice is strident enough to pull it off. The End Of The Road is mournful and a little discordant, the sombre attitude proves rather fun. Finally the acoustic version of the title track proves a welcome addition, stripped back and beautiful.

Boys Would Always Look Down is self released and out now. Find out more about The Tomatometers and order a CD here

Rachael Dadd – Moth In The Motor

2010-02-16T13:34:00.002Z

There is some nice ethereal trad folk from Rachael Dadd on the Moth In The Motor EP. The Age Of The Clock is especially lovely, a piano led number that brings to mind a slightly less hysterical Tori Amos. Caught In The Weight pootles along pleasantly enough, but comes to life in the non chorus bits of multi tracked sounding vocal flights of fancy. Until We Fall Apart and Table are examples how this kind of gorgeous light music can become rather non descript sadly. The Incident Of The Capsized Boat is a musical journey of the sounds of the title. The title track is great, Rachael really going for it, chucking in discordant noises over the piano, warbling and rocking out. Elaine jiggles and wriggles the EP to a close.

Moth In The Motor is out now on Broken Sound

Rachael Dadd's myspace is here

The Superions – The Superions

2010-02-16T13:22:00.001Z

Here is a new EP from a band featuring Fred Schneider from the B-52s. It has the same weird themes as his other band, but is more quirky electro space rock than sixties homage. The vocals are more restrained and somewhat better for it. They are almost robotically intoned, nay read over the top of various blippy, early eighties futuristic pop tunes. The subjects vary from being seduced by aliens in Those Sexy Saucer Girls, or the perils of shoplifting on Who Threw That Ham At Me. There are four versions on this seven track EP of their first single Totally Nude Island and a further version of Who Threw That Ham At Me. The Casper & The Cookies remix of the latter, adds a little zing to the song. Of the Totally Nude Island remixes, the best is the Marshmallow Coast remix, which is spectral and spacey, and seems to slow the song down and help it breathe, making it more sinister in the process.

The Superions EP is out now on Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records

The Superions myspace is here

Sourpatch – Crushin’

2010-02-15T13:48:00.002Z

A four piece from San Jose, Sourpatch do the twee knock kneed version of C86, but it’s endearingly cute rather than lamely pastiche. The songs are kept short, the melodies no more complicated than is necessary and the musicianship rudimentary, because they know that’s all that’s needed. There are many reasons to recommend this album, but here are just a few. Never (Ever Ever) Enough is a racing melody, cruising female vocals and a zippy tune. He’s Succeeding skips along like indie skiffle, Outer Space has an effervescent zing and the shambolic and somewhat out of tune Toothache that charms despite itself. All good stuff.

Crushin’ is out now on Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records

Sourpatch myspace is here

Pavement – Quarantine The Past: The Best Of Pavement

2010-02-15T13:32:00.002Z

Well you should now all about Pavement by now, but if not then here is a good place to start. They summed up slacker better than anyone with their louch demeanour, jagged guitars and surreal lyrics about Geddy Lee’s speaking voice (see Stereo) and the like. For me In The Mouth A Desert and Summer Babe conjure up pleasant memories of discovering the band through Slanted And Enchanted, chancing on the vinyl after a review in the NME. Suffice to say, it amazed and astounded me. It’s hard to argue with the sheer class of stuff like Cut Your Hair and Range Life. As ever, there’s the odd quirk to this compilation, a mere best of would be too straight forward for Pavement. So gems like Major Leagues and Carrot Rope make way for decidedly average tracks from other compilation albums, such as Unseen Power Of The Picket Fence. No matter, as this should really lead you on to getting the rest of the back catalogue if you don’t own it already. Maybe start with Terror Twilight and get those two missing gems.

Quarantine The Past: The Best Of Pavement is released by Domino on March 9th

Pavement website is here

The Swansea Recreation Centre – Etienne Brule: Hero To The Max

2010-02-14T17:54:00.004Z

The Swansea Recreation Centre is a new band from London and Etienne Brule: Hero To The Max is their debut album. Lead track Earthly Hands is a wistful noodle, accompanying some warbled jazz singing. It’s hardly there, but weirdly affecting. Turns out the vocals aren’t a one off, as they continue their foray into outsider music on Thanks For The Guitar, with something that sounds like a offcut from Songs In The Key Of Z, with Joe Meek dozing off on the mixing desk. Passionada, Passionada, We Shall Build A Great Armada is a French nursery rhyme melody, topped off by mumbly vocals to make a sweet little autumn evoking tune. Snail Steppin’ is quite a jaunty thing, propelled by what sounds like a toy banjo. It’s let down a lot by the irritating vocals, which sound like a nerdy smurf, and the computer game noises that smother the tune at points. What Masculinity! descends rapidly into a horrid dirge but Herman The Hitman Hesse is better, featuring some good gentle female vocals, and a burbling, meandering tune that somehow does the trick. Patty Lewis at IBM is like a cheerier Magnetic Fields and the album finishes with seven minutes of meandering title track, like wailing ghosts in the dark. Weird stuff indeed. Sometimes wonderful, sometimes awful, but always intriguing.

Etienne Brule: Hero To The Max is self released and out now.

The band's myspace us here

Victoria And Jacob – With No Certainty

2010-02-12T13:23:00.003Z

The latest single from electro pop duo Victoria And Jacob starts with a click and a whirr and Victoria’s sumptuous girlish vocals. With No Certainty is somewhat reminiscent of Imogen Heap, but with much more heart and an impish quality. You can imagine Victoria as an elfin character, casting her vocal spell and taking you to another world. There’s A War is slow and ponderous, over a bubbling or blipping backbeat, slowly moving, making you think. Finally What’s Your Face follows a similar electro ethereal pattern, but has a wonderful mantra like quality, accompanied by some tinkling bells that really hypnotise you. Lovely stuff.

With No Certainty is released by Voga Parochia on April 5th

Victoria And Jacob myspace is here

The Exhibition – 4 Track Demo EP

2010-02-11T13:28:00.003Z

Straight outta Barnsley, The Exhibition release their third demo EP, ahead of the release of their debut single later in the year. The Boy And The Tearaway has a touch of Elbow dramatics and some of Interpol’s dark effortless cool. It’s more of a mood than a song, gravitating through the dark space, churning away in a minor turmoil, grasping for an elusive something. Bright New Worlds has more melody, and is something like Kaiser Chiefs with a bit more subtlety. It’s refreshingly catchy for something alternative and threatens to jangle at times, but instead has more steel and shakes its stuff brilliantly. Things That Hide In The Dark jabbers contentedly, shaking its stuff round an indie dancefloor. Jagged guitars, drum rolls and epic yodelling indie vocals make it a sure fire alt disco hit. Last track Reaction is a good tune, but suffers from being not as good as what went before. Cherry pick the mid section of this EP if you want, but you ought to listen all way through as its good stuff indeed.

Download the EP for free from Of National Importance Records

The Exhibition myspace is here

Archive Of Everything – Infinite Loss

2010-02-08T13:51:00.003Z

The second album from one Chris Blundell, who alone is Archive Of Everything, starts with 15 Million In The Bank. It’s a plinky plonk cheap synth melody and has a surging chorus that overloads the system. Road To Retribution is a slow ponderous piece, while Ode To The Beast is clattering lo-fi electro, which lets up now and again for some Guy Garvey gone upbeat vocals. I Just Want To Talk is over needy and desperately pleading, a bit over bearing. What Happens To All The Fallen Leaves is a nicely wayward and windswept, but lacking in substance, while You Can’t Avoid Infinite Loss staggers uneasily in an electronic run down haze. After the simplistic thrash of A Fucking Riot we get the atmospherically beautiful Can You Please, with sighing keyboards, achy vocals and a maudlin demeanour making it a sweet thing. So Simple provides an understated end to the album.

Infinite Loss is self released and out now. For more details see the Archive Of Everything website

Erland And The Carnival – Erland And The Carnival

2010-02-04T13:50:00.003Z

Formed by a former Orkney resident, Simon Tong from The Verve and the drummer from Paul McCartney’s Fireman project, Erland And The Carnival’s debut album is an intriguing prospect. Lead track Love Is A Killing Thing is a Fleet Foxes spiritual over The Cure’s 10:15 Saturday Night. There follows the mariachi fun of My Name Is Carnival and You Don’t Have To Be Lonely which mixes up an over earnest James with dance hall era Specials organ runs. Trouble In Mind reminds me of Laid era James, sublime sweet pop, sumptuous and caressing. Tramps And Hawkers fancies itself as an olde worlde tale, a new twist on trad folk. It almost achieves its goal, but falls a little short. Nice attempt though. The Derby Ram is something similar, a somewhat beardy and beery number, but lacking somewhat in authenticity. Was You Ever See is a calypso standoff, with some lovely beckoning keyboards and weird breaks. It’s very slight, but rather nice. The Sweeter The Girl The Harder I Fall is a Tim Booth lead sea shanty, while One Morning Fair is something a bit darker, still a tad like James, but swirling in the pits of despair, or on a queasy fairground ride. Gentle Gwen lifts her skirt to medieval times and shakes it round the dancefloor and The Echoing Green swirls away like a whirly gig to close proceedings.

Erland And The Carnival is out now on Static Caravan / Full Time Hobby

Erland And The Carnival myspace is here

Pale Sunday – Shooting Star

2010-02-02T13:48:00.002Z

Its four years since we heard from Brazilian indie poppers Pale Sunday, with their album Summertime. On initial listens to this EP, it’s good to have them back. First track Shooting Star is bright and breezy pop, featuring a singer with a quite different, unassuming voice. He seems confident in himself, but he’s thankfully not a show off. Melodically it has the charm of The Lucksmiths, and the style to carry on where they left off. Are You Scared To Get Happy? takes the foot off the gas, but is effortlessly cool, a gentle hum of bass and a cool melody taking us there. The singer provides a lovely counterpart to the tune again, sighing his way beautifully through the vocals. Before I Found You reminds me of the melodies of Velvet Crush, those sun kissed tones, and is a beautiful thing indeed. Finally, Unknown Half could be a long lost Teenage Fanclub offcut, maybe even a demo of What You Do To Me. Sweet stuff indeed.

Shooting Star is out now on Matinee Recordings

Pale Sunday myspace is here

The Electric Pop Group – Seconds

2010-02-02T13:41:00.003Z

Seconds is appropriately the second album by Swedish popsters The Electric Pop Group. Think of early jangling Primal Scream and you have the lead track Not By Another. The vocals are much less twee than Bobby’s were back then, just simply delightful and affecting. The rest of the album follows a similar pattern. There are wistful, achingly sighed vocals a plenty, and the sound of skinny boys swaying and fringes flopping in the wind. There are lots of tender guitar lines and sumptuous melodies to drawn you in and get you hooked. And just because it doesn’t deviate much from type, doesn’t mean it can’t be good. Just ask the Wedding Present.

Seconds is out now on Matinee Recordings

The Electric Pop group myspace is here

Northern Portrait – Criminal Art Lovers

2010-02-01T13:47:00.002Z

The boys from Copenhagen return, hoping to capitalise on their fine EPs of 2008. The main problem they have over the longer format, is trying to hide their main influence, or at least make it seem less like plagiarism. And once the Smiths comparison is lodged in your mind it’s difficult to shake, which is a shame, because it takes away from anything Northern Portrait have. The Munchhausen In Me is a rather lovely song, redolent of early Trashcan Sinatras, but the sense of taking on someone else’s identity is still there, especially come the yodelling at the end. When Goodness Falls has a lovely initial identity, and then collapses into pastiche. Crazy surpasses all of these, by being simply brilliant. It has a beautiful rich croon, pinpoint jangling guitars and is reminiscent of The Man From Delmonte. The Operation Worked But The Patient Died wafts past in an air of nothingness, while Life Returns To Normal is a world weary, but reassuring jangle pop tune. What Happens Next? Is another Smiths take done to perfection, is it good enough though? Gene were considered pastiche, but had the tunes and range to carry it off. Not sure about these guys though. That’s When My Headaches Begin is wonderfully epic and over reaching and probably should have been the closer. New Favourite Moment is good though, a lovely slice of classic stylish indie pop. The jury’s still out, as the tunes are very good, but often too much like someone else’s.

Criminal Art Lovers is out now on Matinee Recordings

Northern Portrait myspace is here

Various - The Matinee Grand Prix

2010-01-31T22:12:00.003Z

A new compilation from Matinee Recordings starts with their Danish recruits Northern Portrait doing Stirling Moss. They come over all The Man From Delmonte, lovelorn and wistful, a beautiful sigh. Following that the fuzzy Boy In The Bubble Car by Strawberry Whiplash races along like The Shop Assistants, all girly yet tough and cute at the same time. The Lucksmiths were wonderful and all, but Get To Bed Birds is a bit pedestrian by their standards. The Electric Pop Group seem to be intent on turning into The Stone Roses, mainly vocal wise. That said, obviously Believers is a lovely little jangle. Danger Overboard by Amelia Fletcher’s latest band Tender Trap, is one with the staccato drums, pondering melody and Amelia sounding her usual lovely self. The chorus is endearingly amateurish, harking back to Talulah Gosh days. Simpatico do an Editors lite on Australian Idle, which surprisingly works pretty well. Its tender, ponderous and very darkly gothic early eighties sounding. Cats On Fire produce one of the loveliest tracks with The Hague, a gorgeously picked tune, high on melody quotient, and basically very simple. They remind me a bit of Kings Of Convenience on this one. Bubblegum Lemonade fittingly make bubblegum pop transplanted to the mid eighties on Cuts Like A Dream. I Keep To Myself by Maths And Physics Club is a bleepy, shuffly cute little indie popper and The Guild League’s Bookmark, is a maudlin show tune, that proves Tali White’s new band should outstrip his old. A marvellous collection that should inspire you to investigate the label’s back catalogue further.

The Matinee Grand Prix is out now on Matinee Recordings

The Very Most - A Year With The Very Most

2010-01-30T21:41:00.003Z

Idaho's The Very Most have compiled their seasonal EPs from last year to form an album, A Year With The Very Most. There's also an added bonus of a cover of Lake's Kite. The reviews I wrote of the EPs can be found below.
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

The album is out now on Indiecater Records
And to whet your appetite here are some free downloads:
April Is The Kindest Month
You're In Love With The Sun
Autumn Air

Hexicon – Something Strange Beneath The Stars

2010-01-30T14:46:00.002Z

Hexicon is the work of Michael and Paul from Allo Darlin, and Something Strange Beneath The Stars is the first single from their debut album The Blossom Sighs. Although it features overly sweet vocals, it has lovely parpy brass, rudimentary drums and twee as anything melody, replete with nice harmonies and schoolkids chanting. There’s a slow, swaying bit where they sound like a fey Super Furry Animals which all adds up to a nice tune spoilt a bit by the vocals. The other track is Still Here, a gorgeous little alt indie country number, with some sweet sumptuous vocals, and a tune redolent of Goldrush.

Something Strange Beneath The Stars is out now on Haircut Records

Hexicon myspace is here

The Wednesday Club – Katapult

2010-01-23T21:57:00.009Z

The Wednesday Club are a quartet from Leeds, and this is their first album. Trust Thing is a chirpy little song, with an African spring to the guitar, but an indie pop heart to the melodies. Marks And Lines is a swayer complete with fun, silly lyrics. Faulty Orbital Shaker is a standard indie popper, but with lovely warm buzzing guitar lines, while Steven’s House is gorgeous and reminds me of The Chesterfields. European Veins is a pretty faithful take on early Jesus and Mary Chain, Kindred Spit spins off in another direction, the singing all oddball and spooky, while Hit By Teeth is sombre and reflective, a sweet sigh amongst the more upbeat stuff. Biscuit Cramps is a wobble headed shock start thing, Harper Lee a brief yet beautifully formed melody, Delomelanicon a deliciously sluggish thing and closer Citalogasm is a odd ride through an other worldly fairground. Ramshackle, yet lovely pop all round.

Katapult is released by Odd Box Records on February 1st
The Wednesday Club myspace is here

Race Horses – Goodbye Falkenburg

2010-01-22T22:41:00.002Z

As Race Horses are a band from Aberystwyth (although now residing in Cardiff), who write concept EPs and now release a debut album which is a collage of an old sailor’s memories, you’d expect them to be an interesting listen. That they are, but much, much more besides. Lead track Man In My Mind is a Super Furry Animals type pop moment, complete with xylophone crashing down the stairs to accentuate the heady pop rush. Cake combines Beatles early pop, with some of the psychedelia of the later era. At the end of the day, it’s the pop that wins through. Pony is effortlessly Welsh skewed sunshine surf pop, while Isle Of Ewe is off kilter upbeat folk, seen through a psychedelic sheen. Cacen Magmu starts dementedly, before turning into a brass comforted homefires pop tune, which alternates with Sgt Pepper Beatles. Glo Ac Oren is slow paced, reflective and with beautiful harmonies, Man In My Mind/In A Party Near You is harmony filled breakneck pop, lyrics jabbered ten to the dozen and Scooter reminds me of much maligned Liverpool band The Stairs, and a little if early Coral. Intergalatic Space Rebellion is a surf keyboard space instrumental and Captain Penelope Smith is ELO style odd psych, with a similar strange imagination and ear for a melody. Marged Wedi Blino is a light flavoured chirpy pop thing, which turns into a hymnal elegy, a suitably epic way to round off a fantastic album.

Goodbye Falkenburg is out now on Fantastic Plastic

Race Horses myspace is here

Allison Weiss – Allison Weiss Was Right All Along

2010-01-22T22:20:00.003Z

After five releases from Athens, Georgia based singer Allison Weiss, she now delivers her first full length album. Lead track I Was An Island is a cute waltz through sun kissed times, a musical box equivalent of Evan Dando’s hippy acoustic moments. Fingers Crossed shows her thrashing out the starting gate, a west coast punk song mixed with a classic rush of blood Cali pop tune. From You To Me is sweet commercial alt pop, but July 25, 2007 is a high point, being a gorgeous little lo fi folkish tune. This shows off Allison’s voice in a lovely way, as it works so much better when restrained and gentle. Try To Understand is a Juliana Hatfield skewed pop thing, and then we’re back to the lovely acousticness of Why Bother, proving that this is what Allison does best. Yer Going Down is a rama lama blaster, while Ghost Stories is wistful and reflective. Let’s Leave picks up pace, a fun end to a lovely album.

Allison Weiss Was Right All Along is self released and out now. Listen to her music and buy her album from her website

Run Toto Run – Catch My Breath

2010-01-17T21:51:00.002Z

Lost and Lonely Singles Club issue the new Run Toto Run single, Catch My Breath. Things burble and squeak around Rachael’s vocals, a steam powered musical box of a melody. Her vocals are perfect for those who find Joanna Newsom too winsome, or Bjork too kooky. They have a lightness and a studied cool, but also a refreshing assurance of well mannered confidence. The Magic Arm remix adds a few electronic bleeps and gurgles and slows things down til it sounds like a space age Saint Etienne, with a touch of glowing aura. The Shoplifters remix is concentrating on the vocals, with minimal beats pushing things along, which works lovely.

Catch My Breath is released by Lost and Lonely Singles Club on January 18th
Run Toto Run myspace is here

Field Music – Field Music (measure)

2010-01-16T21:59:00.003Z

The Brewis brothers are back with a new album, a double no less, after diversions with The Week That Was and School Of Language. The album starts in subdued fashion, an eerily crawling song called In The Mirror. Them That Do Nothing falls somewhere between the jolliness of Wings and the odd craft of ELO, while Each Time Is A New Time is an updated Burning Down The House and then some. After the twisty, turny title track we get the churning Effortlessly. Clear Water is ELO chirpy headed brilliance, while Let’s Write A Book is funked up, how Prince would sound if he were a band from the North East. You And I plods delightfully like a languid and darker Fleet Foxes, The Rest Is Noise stalks the land and builds and builds into electro fountains, then bounces like an early eighties delight and Curves Of The Needle is a near narcoleptic arch star struck piece. The Wheels Are In Place is a euphoric rush, gushing with beauty, Precious Plans is tinkling sweetness and Share The Words is more funked up fun, a bounce in its step and an early eighties funk to its soul. The stirring epic oddness of It’s About Time rounds off a unique and rather good album.

Field Music (measure) is released on 15th February by Memphis Industries

Field Music website is here

Matt Whipp – Trouble / So Long

2010-01-16T21:46:00.002Z

Something a little bit different here. I know very little about Matt Whipp, and his Myspace page isn’t forthcoming either, but he asked me to take a listen to the songs on his page and write about them. So that’s what I’m going to do.

Trouble is a lovely delicate acoustic number, beautifully sung. It’s hard to stand out in the singer songwriter genre nowadays, and I’m not entirely sure what aspect of Matt enables him to do so. The voice definitely helps, being weary and lo-fi, yet rather endearing. On So Long his voice has a touch of a Brian Molko whine (not in a bad way though), and the melody burbles along in the background, moments accentuated by some fine picking bits. Good stuff, and definitely worth checking out further tunes.

Matt Whipp's myspace page is here

Vienna Ditto – Long Way Down

2010-01-15T22:41:00.002Z

Vienna Ditto are a fairly new band, hailing from various places around the South East of England, and Long Way Down is their debut single. Singer Hatty sounds like Sophie Ellis Bextor, a good thing, trust me. She has clipped, well eloquent tones, sassy and cool. Musically there’s twanging, David Lynch guitars, Joe Meek space machine noises, a Nuggets garage rock vibe and proper rock n roll stalking guitars, like Duane Eddy. Hatty command your attention in this one, but ducks out for some cool guitar now and again. It meshes together perfectly into a very fine debut single. The additional demos contained here prove its no one off too.

Long Way Down is out now on Weird City Electric Company

Vienna Ditto website is here

NonMiPiacellCirco! – Just A Bunch Of Unresolved Cases

2010-01-15T22:09:00.005Z

Sometimes music is just weird for the sake of it. The NonMiPiacellCirco! (it translates from Italian as I Don’t Like The Circus) album is most definitely weird, and wilfully all over the place, but is all the better for it. It’s an interesting and challenging listen, but one that remembers the melodies and ultimately rewards you. Lead track Archimedes is a lovely orchestral piano line and crooning vocals, chasing the melody around at slow pace. Imagine an Italian cross between a twee indie pop singer and Julian Cope and you’re getting close. V? is interesting, an incantation of lyric over an electronic hum. It’s dark and faintly disturbing. Taos Buzz is airport static with numbers of hours chanted over it, and then it changes tack to interference and metronomic rhythms. Step By Step, Side By Side is the Muppet Show played on kazoos and cheap Casio, while a gothic interloper intones over the top. Ghosts is another disjointed thing, started with a rather eloquent spoken word bit, before droney melodies lick in. Like Dying is a free jazz annoyance, while Sky Theory is broken hoovers and drills and ghostly words. Strange things abound, making Just A Bunch Of Unresolved Cases well worth a listen.

Just A Bunch Of Unresolved Cases is out now on Movimento Flaneur
NonMiPiacellCirco! website is here

Robin Aigner – Bandito

2010-01-15T13:52:00.002Z

Brooklyn based singer Robin Aigner releases her fourth album, Bandito. Lead track Pearl Polly Adler is an olde worlde place where Joan As Policewoman strikes out with Rufus Wainwright. Its also very Regina Spektor, featuring delicately and strategically placed instruments and a deft touch coming in from somewhere in the mists of time, certainly nowhere like the present. Delores From Florence is semi sea shanty, a song sung in an inn to send sailors on their way, with tales of trips past. She’s the feisty inn entertainment. See You Around is a more straight forward song, but Robin’s beautiful voice holds you captivated. It’s crisp and even, yet full of character, a brilliant asset to the songs. Banjo led Annie And Irving is a trad backswoods tale come to life. Mediocre is smoky jazz country, it slides beautifully around a well worn club, but still comes over as classy. Get Me Home is a cool duet, like one of those lo fi songs where the singers banter with each other, back and forth, but a much fuller version. Great Molasses Disaster sees Robin in charge again, a lovely song to complete a fantastic album.

Bandito is self released and out now

Robin Aigner's myspace is here

Lost Boy Scout – Stag

2010-01-13T22:30:00.003Z

Following the demise of his band And What Will Be Left Of Them, Peter Adams releases his debut solo album on Pop Art London. It’s the first of a mooted four in a year. Lead track Baby, Put Down The Hammer is like a one man Futureheads, not quite as frenetic, but similar in spirit. Star Signs is a snotty punk pop tune, in which at times he unleashes psychotic vocals, but mostly it’s a pleasant fast melody. Poor Birdie is sparser and funkier, a welcome change of pace, with a nice repetitious chorus and the best thing so far. Rory Storm & The Hurricanes is so catchy and reminds me of something I can’t place, so I spend most of the song being bugged by that. Bedlam buzzes and fuzzes and jerks all over the shop in an Archers of Loaf way. After a couple of standard tunes, Guitar In My Hands come on all balladeering with a wry glance, but bursts into Wedding Present style guitar thrashes at times, then back to strumming like nothing happened. We Need New Words To Describe The Effects Of Holding Hands In The Rain is a sweet acoustic ballad to round off a fine album.

Stag is out now on Pop Art London

Lost Boy Scout myspace is here