Music and Records

Ultravox - Brilliant

Dull and pompous record from the no-longer-relevant Ure and co

22 May 2012

Does the world really need another album, the first in 26 years, from the ‘classic’ Midge Ure-era Ultravox – a group of negligible lasting impact on music even at their mid-80s arena synth-pop zenith? The Trade Descriptions Act-violating Brilliant is…

Dexys - One Day I’m Going To Soar

Full of wit, panache, brutal self-examination and abundant tunefulness

21 May 2012

The title alone gives you a tingling feeling that something glorious and redemptive lies within: and so it proves on Dexys’ – formerly Dexys Midnight Runners – first new album in 27 years. Following the young soul rebels’ disastrous plunge in fortunes…

Hot Chip - In Our Heads

The elctro-pop masters' fifth album is their most smartly accessible effort to date

21 May 2012

Every self-appointed creative with a WTF haircut and a MacBook thinks they’re an ‘electronic artist’ these days. But there’s more to it than bedroom-recording cry wank vocals over presets and dropping them to Tuesday night cheek-chewers. Hot Chip’s…

Patti Smith - Banga

Unique album of punk poetry populated by rocky arias, improvised psalms and lyrical reveries

22 May 2012

You may have heard that Patti Smith dedicates a song to Amy Winehouse on her 11th studio album, Banga. This takes the form of a syrupy ballad, ‘This is the Girl’, and its intentions are honourable, but look beyond it: there are greater, more defiant…

Melvins Lite – Freak Puke

Experimental craziness from the long-running grungers' reduced incarnation

24 May 2012

You can never really expect every album by these insanely experimental men to sound the same. Even after 29 years of performing and recording together, The Melvins (or Melvins Lite, in this case) somehow manage to remain enthusiastic and creative in an…

Miaoux Miaoux - Light of the North

Gloriously melodic dance-pop in the vein of Daft Punk, Basement Jaxx and the Avalanches

22 May 2012

This is a perfect example of how good pop music can be if it’s driven by a restless intelligence. Miaoux Miaoux, aka Julian Corrie, has been turning heads with his distinctive electro-pop sound for a while, but this first album for Chemikal Underground…

Bobby Womack - The Bravest Man in the Universe

A wise yet not world-weary record from the soul legend

22 May 2012

‘As a singer grows older, his conception goes a little deeper, because he lives life and he understands what he’s trying to say a little more...’ So said Sam Cooke back in the day, and so opens electro-soul hymn ‘Dayglo Reflection’, the fourth track…

Speech Debelle: Speech Therapy

28 May 2009

Sister label Ninja Tunes has recently diversified out beyond the stoner electronica it’s been famed for with quality acts like Yppah and Fink, and now hip hop heavyweights Big Dada are proving they’re no slouches either. First came the post-Basement…

The xx - xx

10 Aug 2009

How many times have we heard the maxim ‘less is more’ rolled out for someone new just because they resist knocking everything up to 11? Too often, perhaps, but this bewitching debut starts barely there, and doesn’t get much more full on than that. A…

Friends - Manifest!

An insidiously hooky album that's sometimes brilliant, sometimes bloomin’ annoying

22 May 2012

There are songs you can’t get out of your head, and then there are songs you wish you could get out of your head. In the latter category: ‘Hey Baby’ by DJ Otzi. In the former: Friends’ ‘Friend Crush’ and ‘I’m His Girl’. The Brooklyn band’s well-blogged…

Florence and the Machine: Lungs

9 Jul 2009

Worth bagging for the staggering drive-pop grandeur of ‘Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up)’ alone, this surprisingly compelling debut from skewed London chorister Florence Welch largely justifies, and even outshines, the hype. Abounding with curious musical…

Storm Thorgerson

30 Apr 2009

Born in 1944, Storm Thorgerson’s childhood would not have been thought unusual were it not that he went to school with Roger Waters and Syd Barrett. ‘Roger and I had two connections, one of which was through our mothers, who happened to be pals, and…

Slipknot - All Hope is Gone

4 Sep 2008

Slipknot - All Hope is Gone (Roadrunner) Slipknot could so easily have been a gimmick. Nine masked men in boiler suits battering out heavy metal. But from first single (‘Wait and Bleed’ back in 1999) they have constantly proved their musical…

Single of the month: Poliça - ‘Dark Star'

Other releases by Liars, Tribes, Childish Gambino and Hot Chip also reviewed

22 May 2012

The pile of pre-summer releases on The List’s doorstep this month was rather intimidating, but here is a round-up of the best (and rest). Liars new track, ‘No 1 Against The Rush’ (Mute Song ●●●), is three-and-a-half minutes of slithering synths and…

Metronomy - Pip Paine (Pay The £5000 You Owe)

4 Dec 2009

Because Music Re-releases are a little pointless, aren’t they? If we didn’t give a monkeys about your album the first time around, why should we now? Well, quite frankly when it comes to Joseph Mount aka Metronomy, you should always give a monkeys.

La Roux

9 Jul 2009

Good pop music is instant, but great pop music lasts forever. Elly ‘La Roux’ Jackson, with hair like a winsome gingerbread Mr Whippy, a voice like spun sugar and on the receiving end of more hyperbole than Cristiano Ronaldo, Kanye West and Susan Boyle…

Newton Faulkner

Hand Built by Robots

16 Aug 2007

POP Until you’ve actually seen young Faulkner attack an acoustic guitar in a whirl of spider-like fingers and dreadlocks transforming it into a three-piece band in the process, it’s hard to properly appreciate this album. There’s loads of…

Biffy Clyro - Only Revolution

And evolution too chaps?

16 Oct 2009

It’s all making sense now with Biffy Clyro, since Muse showed that you didn’t need to follow the entirely conventional path and attain rock band enormodome status. And it’s not like with the demise of Oasis there will be a flood of rock geeks filling up…

Oumou Sangare - Seya

5 Mar 2009

WORLD Oumou Sangare shows why she is one of the most significant African female musicians alive in this stunning set in which she marries gutsy lyrics about arranged marriage and polygamy to her seductively zippy Wassoulou music. Sangare’s…

Sigur Rós - Valtari

A typically dazzling record from the Icelandic cosmic folk-pop outfit

22 May 2012

The rumours of an ‘indefinite hiatus’ might have left us thinking that was it for Sigur Rós, but the four years since their previous album have amounted to little more than a bit of creative refreshment time. Valtari (the infinitely less satisfying to…

Scotland The Great - Franz Ferdinand

22 Jan 2009

You’ve basically built an entire studio complex in the bowels of this beautiful old building in Govan? Bob Hardy, bass Yeah, its a great place. Nick [McCarthy, guitars and keyboards] found it. David MacKenzie the filmmaker has his office down here.

Various Artists - Cumbia Cumbia 1 & 2

Two-album reissue of classic compilations from 1989 and 1993

18 Apr 2012

(World Circuit) The sinuous dance rhythms of the Colombian music known as Cumbia are captured in this nicely packaged and documented two-album reissue of two compilations regarded as the classics of the genre, which first brought Cumbia to wider…

Pulp - It/Freaks/Separations

Reissue of first three albums from 1980s originally released on Fire

27 Jan 2012

(Fire) Testament to the 80s’capacity to incubate provincial bands until they’re ready for megastardom, Pulp’s first three albums on Fire were a career’s worth in themselves, although hardly anyone remembers. Containing, as all three of these reissues…

Chipmunk - I Am Chipmunk

2 Oct 2009

The British grime scene is defined by its fury and bravado and Chipmunk rolls out a debut album that suggests there’s scope for having some heart too. After demolishing the charts with the simpering proto-Kanye ‘Diamond Rings’ (which features Glasgow…

Siouxsie and the Banshees - At the BBC

11 Jun 2009

This magnificent three-CD set doesn’t really unearth anything brand new but gathers together huge hunks of the quartet’s varied career via radio sessions and live sets, starting with their John Peel debut in November 1977, filled with the poisoned…

Little Boots: Hands

28 May 2009

Much touted at the turn of the year, Little Boots has rather had her electro-pop fembot pixie thunder stolen by Lady Gaga, and this debut album doesn’t do anything to turn that around. Suitably retro of feel, with shadows of Yazoo, New Order and the…

O’Death

Head Home

9 Aug 2007

ALT.COUNTRY O’Death are five guys with barely a shirt between them, who, despite hailing from New York, evoke the deep south in their punk country songs: toothless yokels and moonshine-fuelled barn dances. Greg Jamie’s weathered vocals swings from…

Steve Kuhn Trio - Wisteria

Accomplished, crisp and cool recordings by Kuhn, Steve Swallow and Joey Baron

22 May 2012

Pianist Steve Kuhn has worked with both bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Joey Baron in many contexts over several decades, but they had never played together in a trio setting prior to recording this last year. You would never guess that, though – they…

Graham Coxon - A+E

Latest lo-fi gem from Blur guitarist delivers arch and ugly meditations

26 Mar 2012

(Parlophone) What need for Blur these days? While their will-they-won’t-they recorded reunion is a brand of comeback cock-teasery perfectly suited to the age of stone-bleeding revivalism, what will their eventual decision to just get on with it offer…

N-Dubz - Against All Odds

13 Nov 2009

(Universal) Despite musically approximating a holiday fling between Cascada and East 17, London’s cuddly rap anarchists N-Dubz have become the UK’s best-loved chart stars. Little wonder in light of Against All Odds: every chord progression and…

Idlewild - Post Electric Blues

16 Sep 2009

(Cooking Vinyl) With a bulky back catalogue soaked in boisterous, if melancholic, guitar rock the expectation for Idlewild was always for them to make their Automatic for the People: a weighty album which crystallised all their most extreme emotions.

Monsters of Folk - Monsters Of Folk

3 Sep 2009

With a band made up of such indie big guns as Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes), Jim James of My Morning Jacket and singer-songwriter M Ward, you’d imagine there would be an almighty scrap over who took frontman duties. Not with Monsters Of…

Gwilym Simcock - Perception

4 Jan 2008

JAZZ Perception (Basho Records) Simcock’s flowing pianism and fertile musical imagination are constantly to the fore in a selection of his own impressive compositions on this much-anticipated and highly accomplished debut album, rounded out by…

Sigur Rós - Hvarf-Heim

13 Dec 2007

ROCK (EMI) Released to loosely accompany the Icelandic outfit’s superb recent film, Heima, this two-CD album is a revelation. The Hvarf half contains outtakes and rarities from 12 years of full-band studio sessions and is full of the sumptuous epic…

Jose Gonzalez

20 Sep 2007

FOLK In Our Nature (Peacefrog) For most people, Swedish-Argentine troubadour Gonzalez will always be known for his song ‘Heartbeats’ soundtracking that Sony Bravia ad with the bouncy balls in San Francisco, and that’s his main problem. What makes…

Neneh Cherry & The Thing - Cherry Thing

Inventive and charismatic return from Cherry in this free jazz/post-punk collaboration

22 May 2012

Neneh Cherry’s first album in 16 years is perhaps closer in spirit to the jazzoid post-punk of Rip Rig & Panic than the glorious hip-pop of Raw Like Sushi, but hot damn, it’s good. The Thing are renowned for their wild takes on cult rock and free-jazz…

SAY Award shortlist announced

Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat, Mogwai and Rustie nominated for inaugural Scottish Album of the Year

17 May 2012

The Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) shortlist has been announced today. After some toothcomb sifting and careful deliberation, the judging panel have whittled down the nominations from a beefy 20 to a lean top 10. Through some hi-tech gadgetry, savvy…

Zulu Winter - Language

The indie rockers' debut is disappointingly unadventurous

23 Apr 2012

(Play It Again Sam) With their unabashed love of Czech new wave cinema, Steve Reich, TS Eliot, Ayn Rand and modern dance troupes The List won’t even pretend to have heard of, we expected something a little more adventurous from Zulu Winter’s debut…

Andy Sheppard, Michel Benita, Sebastian Rochford - Trio Libero

Highly compatible trio make album of lyrical material

22 Feb 2012

(ECM Records) Saxophonist Andy Sheppard seemed a good match-up with ECM long before he actually made his debut with the label a couple of years ago. He now follows that release with this excellent trio project featuring Algerian bassist Michel Benita…

Singles of the Month: Withered Hand and King Creosote & Jon Hopkins

Django Django, The Twilight Sad and more also reviewed

3 Feb 2012

Come hither and let us imagine a world, a perfect world – a realm in which Kim Wilde is engaged in a goth-disco tryst with The Sisters of Mercy. Think about it. Harder. Got it? Congratulations, you are now playing ‘Lafaye’ (●●●●, Full Time Hobby), the…

Susana Baca - Afrodiaspora

20 May 2011

(Luaka Bop) Grammy award winning Afro-Peruvian singer Susana Baca was an early signing to Talking Head David Byrne’s Luaka Bop label and her latest, long-awaited album sees her explore rhythms of the African-Latin diaspora. Her attractive, clear…

Moon Duo - Mazes

Psych-rock romance from Sanae Yamada and Wooden Shjipper Ripley Johnson

21 Mar 2011

(Souterrain Transmissions) It transpires that psychedelic rock and romance make for intoxicating bedfellows. This mesmeric debut full-length album from Wooden Shjips axe-master Ripley Johnson and his inamorata, Sanae Yamada, is heady with cosmic…

Souad Massi - Ô Houria (Liberty)

1 Nov 2010

(Wrasse Records) If people were not so hung up on language Souad Massi, who sings in Arabic, French and English would be a superstar. From ‘Everything Remains To Be Done’, a stunning duo with Francis Cabrel with Speed Caravan’s Mehdi Habbad cracking…

Bruce Haack - Farad (The Electric Voice)

15 Sep 2010

(Stones Throw) Listening to the bizarre, bewitching and above all unique work of ‘lost’ electronic music pioneer Bruce Haack, it’s tempting to trace his influence through Cabaret Voltaire, Brian Eno, Kraftwerk and any number of psychedelic…

Oasis - Time Flies

10 Jun 2010

(Big Brother) A roughly chronological greatest hits, with the earlier and latter days of Oasis’ career divided across two CDs. Throw away forgettable CD two and you can add another star.

Admiral Fallow - Boots Met My Face

14 Apr 2010

(Lo-Five) Let’s celebrate it from the rooftops: the Deacon Blue revival is finally upon us. If The Last Battle (and of course Frightened Rabbit) herald a renaissance in melodic Scottish rock, then leading the charge are Glasgow pop heartbreakers…

You Me At Six - Hold Me Down

7 Jan 2010

(Virgin) Chances are, if you liked YMA6’s first effort Take Off Your Colours, you’ll find plenty to like here. Spiky pop-punk riffs, catchy choruses and guest vocalists from The Blackout and Kids in Glass Houses ensure there’s nothing to disappoint…

Tricky - Tricky Meets South Rakkas Crew

4 Dec 2009

(Domino) Hip-hop Bristolian Tricky re-invents himself once again with the help of this musical collision with Florida-via-Jamaica-via-Toronto outfit, South Rakkas Crew – producers of Beenie Man, Bounty Killer and Sizzla. With that mercurial ‘Straight…

Ian Brown - My Way

16 Sep 2009

(Fiction) To complain about Ian Brown’s production-bandaged voice or swaggering Manc intonation is to not really get it, quite frankly. Predictable, dullard technical proficiency is cooed over on X-Factor every week, if that’s what you want, but the…

Brendan Benson - My Old, Familiar Friend

16 Aug 2009

(Echo) After a four-year sojourn as right-hand man to pal Jack White in The Raconteurs, Detroit singer-songwriter Brendan Benson here returns to the day job, creating pristine and boisterous guitar pop influenced by The Cars and The Kinks. This fourth…

Passion Pit: Manners

28 May 2009

No need to rely on the erratic Scottish sunshine with Passion Pit around. The Massachusetts fivesome evoke dreamy summer days with this heavily-anticipated debut offering, which turns out to be everything the hype had us hoping for and more. A…

The Horrors - Primary Colours

30 Apr 2009

ROCK This second album is so wildly different from The Horrors’ schlocky, B-movie, overhyped garage debut that it’s hard to believe it’s the same band. Gone are the irritating punk rants and big hair, replaced by ghosts of The Cure, Joy Division and…

dEUS - Vantage Point

24 Apr 2008

ROCK (V2) Belgian artrockers dEUS have a large cult following, but this fifth album deserves a wider audience. Expansive and eclectic, Vantage Point sees the fivesome refining their mix of powerfully emotive themes with leftfield, intelligent rock…

The Just Joans - Buckfast Bottles in the Rain

Underwhelming concept album from the indie-poppers

23 Apr 2012

(weePOP!) Naming themselves after a notoriously annoying tabloid columnist might be mistake number one, but it isn’t the worst of The Just Joans’ crimes. Claiming to have created an ‘audacious artistic undertaking’ of Bowie and Zappa-like proportions…

Two Wings - Love's Spring

A warm-hearted fusion of vintage Americana and English folk-rock

23 Apr 2012

(Tin Angel Records) The strident classicism of Two Wings may come as a surprise to those familiar with the avant-folk of Hanna Tuulikki’s other group Nalle. That project’s eerie soundworld is replaced by a warm-hearted fusion of vintage Americana and…

Lone - Galaxy Garden

UK producer's fourth album draws on Detroit techno, Chicago house and 90s rave

18 Apr 2012

(R&S) Impressively, given Matt Cutler is still only a relatively tender aged 27-year-old, ‘Galaxy Garden’ is actually his fourth album recorded as Lone. However, in something of a musical departure from its hip hop, 80s boogie and rare groove-inspired…

The Scottish Album of the Year Award, and why it's worth taking seriously

FOUND, Mogwai, Rustie and more longlisted for inaugural award

12 Apr 2012

It isn’t the punchiest tagline to slap on your press release, but the Scottish Music Industry Association’s assertion that the recently-announced Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award will be ‘a qualitative arts prize for music which is discerning…

Trembling Bells feat. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - The Marble Downs

New collaborator on band's eccentric psych-folk rock

26 Mar 2012

(Honest Jons) Over three albums in as many years, Trembling Bells have refined their heady mix of courtly psych-folk, Yorkshire country and colliery band jazz, losing some of their rickety charm, while gaining in dynamism and panache. For their…

Rufus Wainwright - Out of the Game

Mark Ronson-produced album's expanded instrumentation feels misplaced

23 Mar 2012

(Polydor) Releasing career retrospective House of Rufus last year and now drafting in ubiquitous producer Mark Ronson, all signs point to reinvention for Wainwright. Never one to shy away from the idiosyncratic in his operatic and multi-genre-infused…

Seamus Fogarty - God Damn You Mountain

Dreamy, mesmerising folk music with Americana feel from Irish singer-songwriter

23 Mar 2012

(Fence Records) We’re beginning to suspect Fence Records have some secret laboratory in Fife where they genetically splice brilliant musicians to create new wonders. In the case of Irish singer-songwriter Seamus Fogarty, that would involve DNA…

Lee Ranaldo - Between the Times and the Tides

All-rounder rock record from Sonic Youth guitarist that soothes and soars

22 Feb 2012

(Matador) Between the Times and the Tides is legendary Sonic Youth guitarist, vocalist and co-founder Lee Ranaldo’s first ‘solo’ effort to be turned out in nearly four years. In characteristically collaborative fashion it sees Ranaldo joined by a…

School of Seven Bells - Ghostory

Third album from New York electro-phantoms, now a duo

24 Jan 2012

(Full Time Hobby) Ghostory – geddit? It’s the way in which our histories are colonised by ghosts. It’s the way in which persons come to haunt our tales of yore. It’s the third album from New York electro-phantoms SVIIB. At best, it is euphoric – all…

Rodrigo y Gabriela - Area 52

Orchestral backing and lots of special guests leads to a fun if over-wrought latin-funk-rock record

6 Jan 2012

(Rubyworks) For their fifth studio album the Mexican acoustic rock duo have teamed up with 13-piece orchestra C.U.B.A. to rework nine previous compositions. The radically increased personnel (which is also augmented by several guests including Cuban…

Chris Isaak - Beyond the Sun

Listenable but redundant take on some of Sun Records' finest

5 Jan 2012

(Vanguard Records/Rhino) During its 1950s heyday, Sun Records churned out standards by the bucketload from the likes of Elvis, Cash and Orbison. During the recording of Beyond the Sun, David Lynch’s favourite bequiffed rockabilly star was presumably…

François and the Atlas Mountains - E Volo Love

Breezy, summery pop from the former Fencer

5 Jan 2012

(Domino) Graduating, as James Yorkston and King Creosote did before him, from Fence to Domino, La Rochelle’s François Marry has produced an album here that’s worthy of the increased exposure. A set of breezy summertime pop songs which seem strangely…

Korn – The Path of Totality

Blistering new dubstep direction from the nu metal overlords

25 Nov 2011

They’ll forever be known as ‘the godfathers of nu metal’, but on Path of Totality Korn have taken a massive side step. Sure the guitars are still heavy as hammers but they’ve gone dubstep. And we’re not talking the odd breakbeat this is a full on…

Caetano Veloso & Maria Gadú - Multishow Ao Vivo

Concert from Brazilian singer/guitarist and up and coming singer

10 Nov 2011

(Universal) This superb stripped-back concert sees Brazilian hero and singer/guitarist Caetano Veloso partnered by up-and-coming female singer Maria Gadú. Armed only with acoustic guitars, their deceptively light, shapely and meaningful voices blend…

The Hazey Janes - The Winter That Was

Unoriginal effort from the Dundonian indie-poppers

12 Oct 2011

(Armellodie Records) For those looking to uncover evidence that the reservoir of originality has truly dried up on contemporary music, this new effort from Dundee’s Hazey Janes might well seal the deal. After an intriguing, brief opening salvo which…

Singles of the month: Blood Orange - Sutphin Boulevard

Radiohead, Seafieldroad, Bright Eyes, and more also reviewed

18 Jul 2011

It’s a good month for Scots musicians, both electronic and otherwise. Probably the best ever, in fact, for 24-year-old Aberdonian Emeli Sandé with ‘Heaven’ (EMI) ●●●●, her instantly recognisable, ‘Unfinished Sympathy’-like major label debut after…

Conquering Animal Sound - Kammerspiel

Compelling and gorgeous debut of eerie and astral electronica from Glasgow duo

11 Feb 2011

This gorgeous debut from Glasgow duo Conquering Animal Sound is draped in eerie, astral electronica, iridescent guitar ripples and heavenly, disembodied vocals. Evoking the pastoral machine music of Mice Parade and Múm, and fusing it with DIY pop and…

Michael Chapman - Trainsong: Guitar Compositions 1967–2010

11 Feb 2011

(Tompkins Square) Maverick guitarist and singer-songwriter Michael Chapman has attracted fans such as John Peel, Jack Rose and Thurston Moore through the years, and little wonder. From his roots in the 60s Cornish folk circuit to an unlikely revival…

Mama Rosin - Black Robert

Quirky, rootsy music from Swiss, Cajun punk trio

11 Feb 2011

Quirky, rootsy music from a Swiss, Cajun punk trio reassures us that wild creativity 2011 style is flourishing. This fresh take on North American French traditions gets these three young guys compared to Parisian gypsy-punkers Les Negresses Vertes for…

The Streets - Computer & Blues

Possibly final album is sound of an era’s voice wringing out last words

8 Feb 2011

(679) After nearly a year off for family reasons, this allegedly final long player from The Streets is more full of focused energy than its disappointing precedent Everything is Borrowed. It’s not all perfect, as Mike Skinner’s liking for…

Jonny - Jonny

Radiant pop songs from ex-Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci man Euros Childs and Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake

14 Jan 2011

(Alsatian) Incredibly, this long-threatened collaboration between ex-Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci man Euros Childs and Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake yields zero sunshiny melodies, no gorgeous harmonies and not a trace of heartwarming quirk. None at all.

Eat Dr Ape - Love and Lust in Wonderland

6 Oct 2010

(EDA Publishing) While you’re listening to this seven-track affair drone on, why not play the band-name anagram game? It quickly throws up at least one intriguing alternative title which curiously matches the threatening ambience of the CD cover.

Weezer - Hurley

6 Oct 2010

(Epitaph) Weezer have been underachieving for most of their career, reaching a nadir with last year’s risible Raditude. A recent switch from Geffen to an indie label has injected a modicum of energy into Hurley, but it’s still a long way from the…

Crystal Fighters - Star Of Love

1 Sep 2010

(Zirkulo Records) Think Gaga’s a tad eccentric? Then try Crystal Fighters for size. This East London quintet named themselves after an unfinished opera written by singer Laure’s grandfather during his descent into insanity, and now pride themselves…

Alasdair Roberts and Friends - Too Long in this Condition

Scottish guitarist re-animated murderous and bawdy Scottish ballads

5 Aug 2010

(Navigator) The List can think of no other artist who has dished out props to their manicurist within the immortal confines of their sleeve-notes. But that’s what Glasgow-based folk bard Alasdair Roberts does on his excellent sixth album, Too Long in…

Kylie Minogue - Aphrodite

24 Jun 2010

(Parlophone) There is so much goodwill aimed in the direction of the Antipodean pop princess, she is permitted to release an average album every so often. And All the Lovers is an extremely average album. It starts brightly enough with the title…

We Are Scientists - Barbara

1 Jun 2010

(Masterswan) Scientists are often not the most exciting of people, and on this showing, We Are Scientists live up to their name. When not playing music however, they’re hugely entertaining and endearing, but ‘Barbara’ fails to find their much…

Coca Tenorio - Todo Transito

15 Jan 2010

www.cocatenorio.com Women singers composing their own great songs can be hard to find especially one who, as the title of her album Todo Transito (Everything in Movement) suggests, divides her time between the tropical coast of Esmereldas, Ecuador…

Ghana Special - Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Ghanaian Blues 1968–81

4 Dec 2009

(Soundway) A thrilling soundscape of 33 tracks from Ghana between the ‘golden age’ of 1968–81, this maps the optimism and energy of new independence from British colonialism heralded by cutting-edge modern Afro-sounds and Ghanaian blues. Presented in…

Tomasz Stanko Quintet - Dark Eyes

13 Nov 2009

(ECM Records) Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko has been one of the mainstays of the ECM catalogue, and this latest release features the debut of another new line-up, with two musicians from Finland, pianist Alexi Tuomarila and drummer Olavi Louhivuori…

Every Time I Die - New Junk Aesthetic

16 Sep 2009

(Epitaph) Every Time I Die’s last two albums were aptly entitled Gutter Phenomenon and The Big Dirty, showcasing the American noiseniks’ gruff and salacious sound. Their latest effort is little different. An unpredictable smorgasbord of neck-whipping…

Noah and the Whale - The First Days of Spring

21 Aug 2009

(Young & Lost) A sublime paean to the restorative powers of nature, space and time, The First Days of Spring elevates London’s Noah and the Whale from punctuation-denigrating indie-poppers – see 2008’s mini-hit, ‘5 Years Time’ (sic) – to philharmonic…

Bap Kennedy - Howl On

23 Jul 2009

Belfast-born singer-songwriter, Martin (or Bap) Kennedy, has been treading the rocky boards for nigh-on 20 years having led minor hitmakers, Energy Orchard, on their unsustainable UK Top 60 debut in 1990. Once sharing a stage with mentor, Van Morrison…

Wild Beasts - Two Dancers

23 Jul 2009

Imagine Antony Hegarty from Antony and the Johnsons fronting vintage Talking Heads. It might just work, right? Wrong, at least in the hands of Kendal kids Wild Beasts, it is. Maybe it’s all in the execution, which is at best seriously underwhelming and…

Clutch - Strange Cousins From The West

25 Jun 2009

(Weathermaker) Clutch are one of those bands who constantly find themselves outside the circle of mainstream music, and unfortunately, it seems they’ll never transcend the fringes. This is their ninth studio effort and, rather unspectacularly, keeps…

James Blackshaw - The Glass Bead Game

11 Jun 2009

A supernatural 12-string axe-slinger, James Blackshaw’s extraordinary muse educes Philip Glass, John Fahey and Peter Walker: he is awesome. The Glass Bead Game, Blackshaw’s first album for Young God, (home to Devendra Banhart and Akron/Family)…

Broken Records: Until the Earth Begins to Part

28 May 2009

Positively brimming with ambition, confidence and diverse songsmithery, this debut album from the Edinburgh seven-piece folk rock outfit sees them leaving behind early comparisons to Arcade Fire and growing into their own skins beautifully. Opener…

William Orbit - My Oracle Lives Upstairs

30 Apr 2009

DANCE The man best known as the studio button-pushing monkey for Madonna’s Ray of Light album has apparently given up production duties of late to concentrate on his own muse. On this evidence, it’s a big mistake, because Orbit is not an inspired…

Big Ned - Big Ned

16 Apr 2009

(Optimo Music) The third release and first album from this new label isn’t what anyone who still believes Optimo is just a club night will be expecting. The brainchild of D James Clark and John Murray (and band), Big Ned is a seedy, guitar-propelled…

PJ Harvey & John Parish - A Woman A Man Walked By

19 Mar 2009

ROCK From topless indie pin-up to tormented folk mythologist, cult pop monarch Polly Jean Harvey has long exposed and scrutinised the predicaments of the human condition. She’s populated copious roles over her swaggering, nigh-on 20-year career…

Antony and the Johnsons - The Crying Light

22 Jan 2009

BAROQUE POP Mr Hegarty returns, with his mesmerising whine and theatrical warble grabbing the back of the neck like frosty fingers. The follow up to the Mercury prize-winning I am a Bird Now explores the spaces between male and female, shelter and…

Songs of the Year 2008

11 Dec 2008

‘Skinny Love’ Bon Iver One man’s heartbreak becomes our joy from the album of the year. ‘Like the Rest of Us’ Atmosphere The leftfield dwelling purists may sneer but this is beguiling, introspective hip hop brilliance. ‘Run Run’ Those Dancing Days…

Those Dancing Days - In Our Space Hero Suits

13 Nov 2008

Appearances can be deceptive. And in our image-obsessed age it’s great to hear someone like Linnea Johnson, who looks a cherubic Swedish folk-singer, but has a voice like heavily polished mahogany. Coming off somewhere between Liz Frazer and Alison…

Popup - A Time and a Place

2 Oct 2008

INDIE If it has felt like a long time coming for Popup’s debut long player to land in our arms then maybe it’s because we’ve been aware of them being damn good from very early on. Furious early demos, bursting with barely contained energy, recorded…

Metallica - Death Magnetic

18 Sep 2008

METAL That Metallica have become metal’s answer to the Rolling Stones – an endlessly touring megalith who’s albums have be come increasingly irrelevant as their live shows have become greater spectacles – should not negate getting the most out of…

Terry Callier - Welcome Home

3 Jul 2008

SOUL JAZZ (Mr Bongo Recordings) Terry Callier, a true great, overlooked back in the day, but now receiving the recognition he deserves after UK DJ’s picked up his classic 70’s cuts. Welcome is a live recording from The Jazz Café, a taster prior to his…

Lykke Li - Youth Novels

3 Jul 2008

EXPERIMENTAL POP (LL Recordings) Every now and again a new artist pops up that’s captivating, edgy and touching all at the same time; Lykke Li (pronounced Licky-Lee) is all of these things. The album, produced by Björn Yttling (of Peter, Björn and…