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Records

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Bola - Volume 7

Bola - Volume 7

The Ghanaian musician's sound is an inspired meeting of tradition and experiment

(4 stars)31 May 2012

A blog and now a label, Awesome Tapes From Africa has been exploring the cassette stalls of Western Africa for raw and unusual sounds since 2006. This is their second commercial release, a reissue of a 2009 tape by Ghanaian musician Bola. His sound…

Olympic Swimmers - No Flags Will Fly

Olympic Swimmers - No Flags Will Fly

Less than original but still worthwhile Scottish post-rock debut

(3 stars)31 May 2012

The fact Olympic Swimmers’ debut album arrives in a summer when their Google search rankings might not be the best isn’t their biggest hindrance to standing out. Situated between the pillars of Scottish alternative music – Idlewild’s shrewd melodies…

Melvins Lite – Freak Puke

Melvins Lite – Freak Puke

Experimental craziness from the long-running grungers' reduced incarnation

(3 stars)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…

Poliça

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…

Bobby Womack - The Bravest Man in the Universe

Bobby Womack - The Bravest Man in the Universe

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

(3 stars)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…

Peter Zummo - Zummo with an X

Peter Zummo - Zummo with an X

Minimalist experimental reissue from the regular Arthur Russell collaborator

(4 stars)22 May 2012

An excellent reissue of the out-of-print debut from Peter Zummo dating back to 1981, a long time session musician and collaborator of Arthur Russell’s – who also lends his distinctive cello and baritone stylings throughout. With its feet firmly set in…

Friends - Manifest!

Friends - Manifest!

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

(3 stars)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…

Ultravox - Brilliant

Ultravox - Brilliant

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

(1 star)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…

Neneh Cherry & The Thing - Cherry Thing

Neneh Cherry & The Thing - Cherry Thing

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

(4 stars)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…

Patti Smith - Banga

Patti Smith - Banga

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

(3 stars)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…

Miaoux Miaoux - Light of the North

Miaoux Miaoux - Light of the North

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

(5 stars)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…

Ben Zabo - Ben Zabo

Ben Zabo - Ben Zabo

Vibrant and inventive Malian Afro-beat, occasionally let down by naff blues guitar

(3 stars)22 May 2012

Described as Malian Afro-Beat, Ben Zabo’s music expands its scope well beyond the Fela Kuti-inspired sounds of 1970s Bamako to incorporate the bwa rhythms and melodies of his own Bo region, alongside elements of funk and rock. Slick production has…

Sigur Rós - Valtari

Sigur Rós - Valtari

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

(4 stars)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…

Steve Kuhn Trio - Wisteria

Steve Kuhn Trio - Wisteria

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

(3 stars)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…

Oriole - Every New Day

Oriole - Every New Day

Distinctly Latin-influenced sounds from the F-IRE collective

(3 stars)22 May 2012

The latest offering from the ranks of the London-based F-IRE collective features music written by Oriole’s founder, guitarist Johnny Phillips, during a six-year stay in Cadiz. The distinctly Spanish/Latin melodic and rhythmic feel has an appealing…

Hot Chip - In Our Heads

Hot Chip - In Our Heads

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

(4 stars)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…

Dexys - One Day I’m Going To Soar

Dexys - One Day I’m Going To Soar

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

(5 stars)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…

SAY Award shortlist announced

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…

The Magnetic Fields' Quick is Single of the Month

The Magnetic Fields' Quick is Single of the Month

Also featuring Beth Jeans Houghton and The Hooves Of Destiny

27 Apr 2012

What’s the consensus on imitation to the point that it rivals, perhaps even betters the source? Well, Glasgow’s Marvel Heights almost achieve such an accolade, kicking off this month’s singles run-down with their straight-outta-Paramore, angsty rock…

Zulu Winter - Language

Zulu Winter - Language

The indie rockers' debut is disappointingly unadventurous

(3 stars)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…

PAWS - Misled Youth

PAWS - Misled Youth

A pacey, frantic and melancholy EP from the Glasgow garage pop-rock trio

(4 stars)23 Apr 2012

(Fat Cat) Grrr, Paws are good. Be it gigging in weird places (the Glasgow trio have played in bathrooms, skate shops and on top of double decker buses) or the bedroom recordings released on painstakingly put-together, hand-numbered limited edition…

The Just Joans - Buckfast Bottles in the Rain

The Just Joans - Buckfast Bottles in the Rain

Underwhelming concept album from the indie-poppers

(2 stars)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

Two Wings - Love's Spring

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

(3 stars)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…

Star Wheel Press - Life Cycle of a Falling Bird

Star Wheel Press - Life Cycle of a Falling Bird

A timeless album from the Americana heartbreakers

(4 stars)23 Apr 2012

Bonnie Prince Billy is not the only alt-country bard to have dibs on Glen Lyon. Americana heartbreakers Star Wheel Press are based in Aberfeldy (BPB’s erstwhile stomping ground), and have quietly amassed a dedicated following since their lovely debut…

Martin Speake & Colin Oxley - Two Not One

Martin Speake & Colin Oxley - Two Not One

An album of light, buoyant jazz ballads, ideal in small servings

(3 stars)23 Apr 2012

(Pumpkin Records) The airy combination of alto saxophone and guitar and a leaning toward ballad tempos gives the music on this duo outing a light, buoyant feel which does pale a little over the whole album, but works beautifully on any individual…

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