Singles & Downloads
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Singles and downloads - May 2013
15 May 2013
Sad City, Carter Tutti, Jon Hopkins and Rob St John among this months new music
Sad City - ‘You Will Soon Find That Life Is Wonderful’ EP (Phonica Special Editions) ●●●● Glasgow-based producer Gary Caruth delivers an EP that is dripping with lush, undulating synth hedonism and blissed-out meditative swashes. It’s reminiscent in…
Singles and downloads - April 2013
25 Apr 2013
Releases from Book Group, Digital Jones, Panda Su and Roman Nose reviewed
Book Group - Homeward Sound EP (bookgroup.bandcamp.com) ●●●● Opening with the beatific alt-rock sucker-punch of ‘Year of the Cat’, this excellent feedback-strewn debut from Edinburgh’s Book Group (ex-Come on Gang / Kays Lavelle) is packed with…
Single of the Month: Bat for Lashes' 'A Wall'
24 Jan 2013
Releases from David Bowie, Atoms for Peace, Rachel Sermanni, Bo Ningen and Hervé also reviewed
Among several new tracks being released into the wild early on this year, perhaps the most surprising announcement was David Bowie’s return to action with ‘Where Are We Now?’ (, Iso/Columbia) followed by his first album in ten years, The Next Day, in…
Single of the Month: First Aid Kit's 'The Lion's Roar'
15 Nov 2012
Woodpecker Wooliams, Little Green Cars, Matt Corby, Jamie Flett and Kid Cudi also reviewed
As we approach the end of the year, the inevitable petering out of single/album releases is to be expected but in these final few weeks, there is always the opportunity to sow a few seeds for the coming 12 months. As usual, it’s a mixed bag. First…
Single of the Month - Rennes Les Bains Clan's ‘What You Fighting For’
18 Oct 2012
Releases by Deadline Shakes, How to Dress Well, Jets, Telepathe and more
Such was The List’s excitement at the joys contained in the Singles & Downloads sandbox this month that we thought we’d try a wee experiment. How about, we thought, if we could get to the end of this column without mentioning any of the crap? Then let’s…
Singles and downloads - September 2012
19 Sep 2012
Errors, Withered Hand and Miaoux Miaoux among highlights
We’re not just here for the nasty things in life, like reporting that vapid-folk yawn-patrol Mumford and Sons return with ‘I Will Wait’ (I wish they had) (●●, Gentlemen of the Road/Island Records). We’re here for the sexy pop goods too, such as RM…
Francois & The Atlas Mountains win single of the fortnight title
18 Jul 2012
How to Swim, Lightships and Planningtorock also reviewed
From Ashes Rise ‘Rejoice The End/Age of Sanity’ (Southern Lord, ****) Best filed alongside crust punk bands Tragedy and His Hero is Gone, this new 7” from Portland’s From Ashes Rise ticks all the modern crusty requirements with their highly emotive…
Single of the Month: Meursault's 'Flittin''
25 Jun 2012
The Dirty Projectors, Two Inch Punch, Leanne Mitchell, Skinny Lister and will.i.am also reviewed
There’s talk every year of the obligatory summer slump; when album releases take a back seat to the demand for sun-soaked holidays and piss-soaked festivals, and labels play it safe. However, judging by this month’s singles selection, there’s still…
Single of the month: Poliça - ‘Dark Star'
22 May 2012
Other releases by Liars, Tribes, Childish Gambino and Hot Chip also reviewed
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…
The Magnetic Fields' Quick is Single of the Month
27 Apr 2012
Also featuring Beth Jeans Houghton and The Hooves Of Destiny
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…
Single of the Month: The Son(s) - 'If I Hear You Talk Apostrophes Again'
28 Mar 2012
Django Django, Kate Bush and Lightships also reviewed
TS Eliot got it wrong. April is not the cruellest month. Not where our ear canals are concerned, anyway. April is killing us with its pop kindness. Take ‘Storm’ (●●●●, Because), a sojourn into sun-dappled collage-rock, courtesy of vintage exoticists…
Psyche and Wounded Knee share Single of the Month title
28 Feb 2012
Also featuring Martin Creed, Ladyhawke and Estelle
What this world needs is more high-concept ephemera created by actual, proper artists like Martin Creed, who create minute-long folk ditties like ‘Where You Go’ (Telephone) ●●● amidst light switch-flicking their way to the Turner Prize and Scotsman…
Singles of the Month: Withered Hand and King Creosote & Jon Hopkins
3 Feb 2012
Django Django, The Twilight Sad and more also reviewed
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…
Single of the month: Trailer Trash Tracys ‘Candy Girl / Strangling Good Guys’
5 Jan 2012
Florence and the Machine, Arctic Monkeys and more also reviewed
Music snobs love to flame Florence and the Machine these days. But as ‘No Light No Light’ (Island) ●●●● proves, Welch does epic, pagan pop pretty much perfectly. Her only crime is that lots of people now like it. They’d no doubt sneer at the recent…
Singles of the month: She & Him's 'Christmas Day' and Laki Mera's 'Crater (Mogwai remix)'
6 Dec 2011
The Plimptons, Smith & Burrows, Trailer Trash Tracys and more
This being ‘the Christmas issue’, there are a few festive tracks in the mix. The Plimptons (16 Ohm) ●● release ‘Christmas All Over This Town’ – Madness type fun but with love ‘em/hate ‘em vocals. Smith & Burrows, comprised of Editors’ Tom Smith and…
Single of the month: Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks’ ‘Senator’
15 Nov 2011
James Morrison feat. Jessie J, Erasure, Kelly Rowland, Vaccines and more also reviewed
At last, the collaboration we’ve all been waiting for! Yes, it’s James Morrison feat. Jessie J ‘Up’ (Island) ●● and it’s astonishing that they’ve come up with a lump of saccharine X-Factor duet fodder and not the greatest song you’ve ever heard. What…
Singles of the month: Mummy Short Arms 'Change'
20 Oct 2011
The Kills, Blood Orange, The Pierces, Wild Beasts and more
As we prepare to stare winter right in the face, we find ourselves in the throes of record labels’ last real push for glory before the Christmas single sprint. The Kills lead a heavy charge from Domino but sadly, with ‘Baby Says’ (Domino) ●, they…
Aidan Moffat & Bill Wells and Malcolm Middleton are pick of September singles
16 Sep 2011
Jens Lekman, Josh T Pearson and Django Django also among highlights
The humble lyric is oft-overlooked in the quick-fix rush of the singles market. Come hither, then, as we salute the month’s most loquacious quality popsters. No such discourse would be complete without a nod to Swedish indie-bard Jens Lekman, whose…
Single of the Month: King Creosote and Jon Hopkins’ ‘Honest Words’
24 Aug 2011
Also reviewed: Katy B, Ghostpoet, Anna Calvi, Airship and Ed Sheeran
As Mercury Price fever ensues, there’s a last-minute dash to make the most of this extra attention, however, the resulting singles are admittedly a bit hit and miss. The latter is unfortunately the case for Katy B’s scatty, 90s dance rip-off…
Single of the week: Tigers by Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
16 Aug 2011
Bombay Bicycle Club and Alpines among singles & downloads
What’s to be found in this week’s musical sack of treasures? Some whining, some honky tonk and some mildly threatening Mafia references, as it turns out. Nerina Pallot’s ‘Turn Me On Again’ (Geffen) is an ode to sexual tension, favouring a trite rhyming…
M83 and Jens Lekman among highlights of August singles and downloads
10 Aug 2011
Wynter Gordon, Toddla T and How To Swim also feature
Music must mostly be on its holidays considering how light the singles bag is this month, but in the pursuit of assessing shortplayers The List does not rest, just don’t blame us if we’re grouchy. That means you, Hard-Fi. Why must you offend us so with…
Single of the Week: Joan as Police Woman - 'Chemmie'
3 Aug 2011
Charlie Simpson, Howler, Letters, The Last Battle and more reviewed
We are to be assured that Charlie Simpson is well and truly out of short trousers on ‘Parachutes’ (CSM Records ●●●). Lyrically, things have matured past his chart-friendly pop-punkster days and his light rock would perhaps appeal to admirers of…
Singles of the month: Blood Orange - Sutphin Boulevard
18 Jul 2011
Radiohead, Seafieldroad, Bright Eyes, and more also reviewed
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…
Singles and downloads May/June 2011
31 May 2011
Battles' ‘Ice Cream’ take Single of the Month title
The phrase ‘singer-songwriter and professional footballer’ would have most reviewers frisbeeing a CD into the bin faster than you can say ‘super-injunction’, but fortunately enough for Kevin Rutkiewicz it’s a fan of his club, the mighty Dunfermline…
Singles of the month: Gyratory System and Something Beginning with L
24 Mar 2011
'New Harmony' and 'Angel Sized' best tracks of March/April 2011
You join The List in a proper strop. Blame Aaron Wright’s ‘Trampoline’ (Dset) ● and ‘Interrupt’ (Albino) ● by Toy Horses; the latter all timid boy vocals and Turin Brakes-isms; the former reminding us that we hate the bloody Kooks. We also hate the…
