Isaac Ashe's Sound Advice

Download adds Soundgarden, Biffy Clyro, Tenacious D and more

2012-01-17T15:58:00.000Z

MORE monsters of rock have been lined up for Download festival, taking place in Castle Donington this June.

Grunge legends Soundgarden will play the UK for the first time since 1996 with a visit to Donington Park.

Band member Matt Cameron said: “We are beyond psyched to play Download 2012. It will be a huge year for the band and what better way to celebrate than bring it all to our UK family at Download. See you there!”

Also coming are Scottish sensations Biffy Clyro, while Jack Black and Kyle Gass’ musical endeavour Tenacious D will also take the stage.

Dance act Chase & Status will play a live show, and some metal’s biggest names - Lamb Of God, Trivium and Machine Head - have also been added.

In addition, thrash icons Anthrax, rising stars You Me At Six, stalwarts Devildriver, metalcore act August Burns Read, cult hero Devin Townsend and classic acts Little angels and Ugly Kid Joe are also on the bill.

To listen to a playlist of confirmed Download acts visit open.spotify.com/user/isaacashe/playlist/208qRY6qTU5tWooLwnaPNe

Albums of the Year 2011 results

2012-01-01T19:22:00.002Z

THE results are in - and with a record number of votes this year, the Sound Advice album of the year is...
Kanye West and Jay-Z collaboration The Throne's Watch The Throne.
The album notched 12 votes, beating Opeth's Heritage into second place with 10 votes.
Third was a three-way tie, with Radiohead – The King Of Limbs, Rival Schools - Pedals and Tom Vek - Leisure Seizure all scooping nine votes.
Phaleah - The Cold In You got eight, Ben Howard - Every Kingdom six, Little Roy - Battle For Seattle four, 40 Winks - It's The Trip three and DJ Shadow - The Less You Know, The Better two.
Thanks to everyone that voted!

Albums of the Year 2011

2011-11-24T14:45:00.012Z

40 WINKS - IT’S THE TRIP

BEN HOWARD - EVERY KINGDOM

DJ SHADOW - THE LESS YOU KNOW, THE BETTER

LITTLE ROY - BATTLE FOR SEATTLE

OPETH - HERITAGE

PHAELEH - THE COLD IN YOU

RADIOHEAD - THE KING OF LIMBS

RIVAL SCHOOLS - PEDALS

THE THRONE - WATCH THE THRONE

TOM VEK - LEISURE SEIZURE

Prodigy to headline Download

2011-11-18T08:58:00.002Z

THE PRODIGY have been confirmed as the third headliner for the mighty Download Festival on Friday 8 June 2012, setting the tone to one of the biggest line ups in Download history and celebrating the festival’s 10^th anniversary.

After notching up over 25 million record sales and selling out venues across the world, the masters of synth punk, The Prodigy are back doing what they do best and bringing their mind-blowing set to Donington for 2012. Expect plenty of classics from their incredible catalogue alongside some new tracks fresh from the studio.

This will be the third time the band has played Download and the first time they’ll play the main stage. The Prodigy will join headliners Metallica (Saturday 9 June) and Black Sabbath (Sunday 10 June) for one of the biggest Download Festivals EVER.

Black Sabbath back at Donington

2011-11-12T21:42:00.002Z

A REFORMED Black Sabbath headed by lead singer Ozzy Osbourne have been announced as the second headliners for next year's Download Festival.

The band, who last played together at Donington Park in 2005 as part of the Ozzfest touring festival, will join Metallica at next summer's event, then embark on a world tour.

To listen to a playlist of Download 2012 acts, click here.

Metallica to darken Download's doorstep next summer

2011-11-10T19:33:00.001Z

DOWNLOAD festival in Castle Donington will have Metallica onstage next summer, it has been announced.
The giants of metal are set to return to Castle Donington for the first time since 2006 - and will play 'the black album' in its entirity.
To listen to a rather empty playlist of Download 2012 acts, click here.

Young Knives to release Vision in Rags

2011-08-15T12:23:00.001+01:00

BELTON born indie rockers Young Knives will release their new single Vision in Rags on September 12.

The track, the third to be taken from their latest album Ornaments from the Silver Arcade, will be available to download a week earlier.

Bassist Thomas ‘The House of Lords’ Dartnall said: “The lyrics were done by chopping up the original song lyrics and re-arranging them and gluing them back onto a big piece of paper.

“The final recording of this song as we used an old analogue rhythm generator set to ‘Bossa Nova’ to get the hissy drum machine noise. You can also hear congas being played by the legendary percussionist Lenny Castro, who has played with Toto, Steely Dan, Quincy Jones and Stevie Wonder.

“All recorded in Steely Dan’s drummer’s studio over a Woolworths keyboard and a toy steel drum, while the crickets serenaded the night sky.”

Same New Kelpe brilliance

2011-06-26T20:35:00.003+01:00

LOUGHBOROUGH-spawned music maker Kelpe is set to release a new 7" single, Same New Era, next month.
But for those of you without a record player, you can enjoy the mind-bending video above.

Download Eve

2011-06-09T22:49:00.001+01:00

TOMORROW sees Download Festival descend on Donington Park for 2011.
For anyone heading off tomorrow, or anyone there in spirit if not in body, here's the most comprehensive playlist of all the bands appearing that Spotify will allow.
Hail Satan, and have a lovely weekend.

Albums of the Almost-Half-Of-A-Year 2011

2011-06-03T16:12:00.004+01:00

WITH 2011 barging recklessly into June already like a drunk in a moshpit, I thought I'd tentatively put out a longlist of possible contenders for Album Of The Year 2011 that have already been released.
Statistically, about half of them should be sitting in my rack or on my hard drive by now, surely?

40 Winks - It's The Trip
And So I Watch You From Afar - Gangs
Beastie Boys - Make Some Noise
Fink - Perfect Darkness
Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact
The Haunted - Unseen
Icicle - Under The Ice
Jamie Woon - Mirrorwriting
The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar
Lower Than Atlantis - World Record
Maybeshewill - I Was Here For A Moment, Then I Was Gone
Max Raptor - Portraits
Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
Mr President - Number One
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
Radiohead - The King Of Limbs
Rival Schools - Pedals
The Strokes - Angles
Thursday - No Devolucion
Times Of Grace - The Hymn Of A Broken Man
Vessels - Helioscope
Wagon Christ - Toomorrow (pictured)
William Fitzsimmons - Gold In The Shadow

You can listen to samples of nearly all of these with a Spotify playlist I've compiled by clicking here.
And feel free to add your thoughts below - any corkers that I've missed? Are there any of the above you wouldn't touch with a barge pole?

Getting more for your money from Spotify

2011-05-17T17:43:00.003+01:00

A LOT of you, like me, will have started paying for the privilege of using Spotify after they introduced limitations to the programme at the start of this month.
And I'm sure a lot of you, like me, want to make the most of the service now you've actually got your wallets out.
So here are some of the external sites you can use alongside Spotify to make the most - and of course, all of these work with the free version too, you skinflints...
FACEBOOK
Apologies if I'm running an egg-sucking course with this one, but hook up your Spotify account to your Facebook account and you can see what your friends and listening too, send and recieve tracks, and subscribe to their playlists. You can also add other users not connected to you on Facebook - feel free to add my profile to your player and drop a track or two into my inbox.
Also, while you're logged in to Facebook, join Sound Advice's Fan Page, cheers.
SHARE MY PLAYLISTS
If you want to find playlists, for any occasion, and fast, this site is also worth a visit - especially for things like Christmas and Hallowe'en compilations.
SPOTIMY
As well as compiling lists of lists of lists based on reviews of albums, the kind people at Spotimy spend each Monday putting together a playlist of all the week's new releases - an essential service in my humble opinion.
MORE TRACKS LIKE THIS
If you're on the hunt for new music, More Tracks Like This will take your song suggestions and find new songs based on the listening habits of Spotify and Last.FM users, and often throws up interesting suggestions.
LAST.FM
If recommendations are your thing however, you must, must, must be on Last.FM. Register for Last.FM, and the can then track your listening history in Spotify and other players and websites like Hype Machine, and provide you with personalised charts - see my page for examples - and more importantly recommend new music based on your preferences.
It's a goldmine, people, a goldmine.

Download top up line-up with new names

2011-05-16T14:52:00.000+01:00

MORE new names have been shoe-horned onto this year’s epic Download Festival line-up.

The line-up has been released for the Jagermeister Rock Truck acoustic stage - including acts like Bowling For Soup, Skin and more in an intimate setting.

And elsewhere new bands have been revealed, including Slaves to Gravity, Obsessive Compulsive, Verses, Heaven’s Basement, Million Dollar Reload, Maiden United, Voodoo Johnson, Red White And Blues, Modestep, Don Broco, Kill 21, Fighting Wolves, H.E.A.T and You And What Army.

You can listen to a playlist of nearly all confirmed acts here.

Park up and listen to Driver Drive Faster

2011-05-10T14:36:00.002+01:00

I KNOW this blog is pretty void of posts these days, but as reward for coming back just in case, here's a free mp3 for you all to enjoy.
Up-and-coming band Driver Drive Faster, of Manchester, are set to release It’s All Over It’s Everywhere ahead of their album Open House.
And they've been kind enough to offer up a free download of b-side Gravel Dents.
Grab it here.

A downpouring of bands for Download

2011-04-08T19:49:00.004+01:00

WITH a career spanning over two-decades, New York’s hardcore rockers BioHazard are now confirmed to take to the stage at this year’s Download.
The band influenced generations as one of the initiators of ‘metal rap’, and will bring their New York cult metal sound to Donington.
After the success of their debut album All Our Kings Are Dead, and fresh from sell-out headline dates and touring with Bon Jovi and Lostprophets, UK rockers Young Guns are also ready to rock out at this year’s festival. They are joined by the mighty Skindred, known for their ‘ragga metal’ style mixing metal, punk rock and reggae.
Finnish death metal five-piece Children Of Bodom have also been added to the bill, who return to the UK to blast out some thrashing metal at Donington, and US punk rockers Anti-Flag, who are back on the cooler side of the Atlantic to heat it up at Download. Returning to Download for the second time is comedian Al Murray’s band T-34, as well as ex-Chiodos frontman Craig Owens’ hot new band Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows (D.R.U.G.S.).
The hotly tipped LA heavy rockers Letlive, who Metal Hammer proclaimed as “one of the most important bands to hit heavy music in recent years” will jet in fresh from their US tour to get the mosh pit really jumping at Download. American metal heads Sevendust have also been added, joined by British melodic-hardcore five-piece Lower Than Atlantis and fellow UK metal quartet Deaf Havana.
In tribute to the legendary Ronnie James Dio, the Dio Disciples are also confirmed to take to the stage. Featuring members of Dio, as well as former Judas Priest vocalist Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens and former Little Angels vocalist Toby Jepson, the supergroup will pay tribute to the legendary rocker’s dynasty.
Other additions include US alt rockers CKY, German country & western band Boss Hoss, funk-rocker Dan Reed and internationally acclaimed Taiwanese rockers Chthonic. Instrumental desert rockers Karma To Burn also join the bill, accompanied by gutter rock’n’ rollers Dear Superstar, British heavy rockers Malefice and Scottish post hardcore six-piece Yashin.
Roadrunner Records’ thrash rockers Baptized in Blood will make a UK stop straight from the US to play selected dates including Download ahead of their European tour. They’re joined by the Canadian Nickelback protégé My Darkest Days, pioneers of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal Sweet Savage, Swedish rockers Royal Republic, US post-hardcore rockers Silverstein, the Metallica / Killswitch Engage influenced Skeletal Damage and indie pop punkers The Dangerous Summer.
Also announced are former Static-X frontman Wayne Static, heavy metal trio The Rods, electronic goth-metallers Houston, Belligerence, who will be performing material from their new self-titled EP, UK-rockers The Dead Lay Waiting, melodic metallers The Morning After, off-the-wall punk rockers Oaf and post-apocalypse style heavy rockers October File. Bringing their soaring melodies and epic energy to crowds at Donington are Starseed, joined by heavy rockers TRC and Envy of the State who return to the UK from a triumphant tour in the US. Returning to Donington for the second time are LA-metallers Rock Sugar, Brit punk rockers Blitz Kids and the fantastic Heights. Finally, the truly international Illuminatus bring their Anathema-likened progressive rock to Download, as well as Danish rockers Kellermensch.
As always, a full-ish Spotify playlist of all confirmed Download bands is here for your listening pleasure.

The Darkness to fall on Castle Donington

2011-03-15T08:42:00.002Z

THE Darkness, Funeral For A Friend, Plain White T’s, Kvelertak, Framing Hanley and Hyro Da Hero are all more heading to Donington this summer!
“The idea of playing Download terrifies us,” Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins said. “We played in an early slot on the main stage in 2003 and we were frightened then.
"It's reassuring to know that nothing has changed”
“On a serious note it's the most rockest of festivals and the perfect place for us to begin the next phase of our journey.”

Skunk Anansie for Download Festival

2011-03-10T09:12:00.004Z

GIMME some Skin! Another monster of rock has been added to the bill for Download Festival.
Skunk Anansie wil be gracing the Castle Donington stages with their presence, it was announced today.
A Festival spokesman said: "Right then campers - we’ve just gone and added Brit rockers Skunk Anansie to the Download line up – result!"

Seven more bands for Download

2011-03-02T12:26:00.001Z

SEVEN more acts have been added to the line up for this year’s Download festival at the ‘home of rock’, Donington Park.
A spokesman said: "New kids on the block VersaEmerge, tipped to be the next Paramore (whom they share a label with) will be making their Download Festival debut, hot off the heels from the Alternative Presstour in America where they share the bill with Black Veil Brides, who are also playing this year’s Download.
"Gossip Girl and Hollywood actress Taylor Momsen will be bringing her rock outfit The Pretty Reckless to Download, following a Top Ten album in the UK charts (for 2010’s Light Me Up). Multi million selling US rockers Puddle Of Mudd, will return to the UK for the first time since 2002 to play Download for the very first time in their 19 year career, which hasseen hit singles such as ‘Blurry’ and ‘She Hates Me’.
"Roadrunner signings Times Of Grace, featuring Killswitch Engage guitarists Adam Dutkiewicz and Joel Stroetzel, and formerKillswitch vocalist Jesse Leach will perform, along with West Yorkshire heavy metal outfit Evile, who are now writing their third album following North American dates with the likes of Kreator, Overkill and Voivod.
"Having already played the Download Festival, plus toured with metal legends such as Slipknot, Slayer and Megadeth, Suicide Silence are to hit Download once again to showcase the new material currently being written for their third full length album, with UK hardcorepunk rockers Your Demise also returning to the fray to raise hell with this year’s Download crowds."
You can listen to all of the confirmed acts at Download with this Spotify playlist.

Let's Get Rocked! Def Leppard for Download

2011-03-01T14:16:00.002Z

ORGANISERS of Download Festival have poured some sugar on this year’s event, confirming legendary rockers Def Leppard as third headliner.
The British band will line-up at the top of the bill alongside Linkin Park and System Of A Down.
A spokesman for the event at Donington Park from June 10-12 said: “Def Leppard are a global rock phenomenon with hit singles spanning an incredible three decades such as Animal, Love Bites, Pour Some Sugar On Me, Lets Get Rocked and When Love And Hate Collide.”
A further 20 artists have also been confirmed. These include Bring Me The Horizon, Disturbed, Down, Madina Lake, Black Stone Cherry, The King Blues, Bowling For Soup, Frank Turner, Trash Talk, Turisas, Loaded, Twisted Sister, Cheap Trick, All That Remains, Sacred Mother Tongue, Asking Alexandria, The Devil Wears Prada, Straight Line Stitch, Jameson Raid and Ghost.
You can listen to all of the confirmed acts at Download with this Spotify playlist.

Unholy smoke! It's the Anti-Chris Mix vol 1

2011-02-16T13:30:00.004Z

HERE it is, the most fun you can have for an hour with your clothes on.
Hell, take them off if you want, I know what you internet surfers are like.
Anyway, whatever you choose to do for the next 60 minutes, let the superb Anti Chris Mix vol 1 be the soundtrack, a mash-up from London-based DJ Anti-Chris who was on the Kissy Sell Out tour last year.
You can listen below, or download and check out the full track list at Soundcloud here.
Anti Chris - Anti Mix vol 1 by djantichris

Wave Pictures return

2011-02-02T09:45:00.000Z

WYMESWOLD'S Wave Pictures are set to return with a new album, Beer In the Breakers, on April 18.
The album has been produced by their friend and frequent collaborator Darren Hayman of Hefner and was recorded entirely live in one day at Hayman’s house in Walthamstow.
Singer David Tattersal said of the recording “We’d been enjoying playing together live more than ever on recent tours and simply wanted to record the band the way it sounds these days.
"When you do things live, you obviously sacrifice perfection in the hope that instead you will capture these kind of strange and glorious spontaneous moments that musicians create together, that no one could do on their own, and that you can only get with live performance.
"It was probably the happiest record experience we have ever had.”

Young Knives return

2011-02-01T12:48:00.003Z

THE best ever band to have two-thirds come from Belton near Loughborough, Young Knives, are back with a new single and album.
The three-piece will releasing their third album on April 4.
Ornaments From The Silver Arcade, the follow-up to 2008’s Superabundance, was recorded in Los Angeles with producer Nick Launay, who has worked with The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Cribs.
And a new track, I Love My Name, was aired for the first time this week.
Check it out below -
Love My Name (radio edit) by helpmedarling

Albums of the Year 2010 revealed

2011-01-03T20:55:00.007Z

NEWS just in - okay, three days ago - is that this year's Sound Advice Album of the Year vote has ended in a three way tie.

So this year's plaudits are shared between Bonobo's Black Sands, Four Tet's There Is Love In You and Kvelertak's Kvelertak.

All very worthy LPs, and all worth checking out, though for my money Bonobo just edges it.

To see the full shortlist you picked from, click here, and let's hope 2011 is an equally diverse and interesting year for music.

Let's All Dance with Barbie

2010-12-10T09:56:00.002Z

CHRISTMAS, as you may have noticed by now, is coming.
And anyone struggling for presents for the pop princess in their life should check out the Barbie Let's All Dance compilation - I've already had a word with Santa and I can confirm my eldest daughter will have a copy of this stuffed in her stocking on Christmas Day.
As we all know, Barbie is one trendy lady, and her latest collection features tracks by some of the biggest names in pop - Alexandra Burke, JLS, Cheryl Cole, Girls Aloud, Britney Spears, Rihanna, Justin Bieber and many more - and a bonus poster to boot.
'Tis the season to party, and Barbie's Let's All Dance will provide the perfect soundtrack until the kids have gone to bed.

Xmas Is Awesome playlist

2010-12-10T09:03:00.002Z

'TIS finally the Season for decked halls, fattened geese and other such festivities.
So Sound Advice has put together a selection of Christmas crackers - a fine selection of cheese and altrernative Christmas choons - on Spotify to soundtrack the holidays.
Click here to have a listen.

Download Festival unveils Linkin Park as headliner

2010-12-06T21:00:00.000Z

MORE monsters of rock have been lined up for next year’s Download Festival in Castle Donington.
Nu metal figureheads Linkin Park will headline at the festival, on at Donington Park from June 10-12, 2011.
Musician and film producer Rob Zombie will also be performing, organisers have announced, alongside System Of A Down and Avenged Sevenfold, who were both revealed last week.
Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington said: “We are very excited to be playing Download again next year.
“It’s one of the best festivals in the world and it’s always an honour to play in front of such a great crowd. We can’t wait!”
You can listen to all of the confirmed acts at Download with this Spotify playlist.

System Of A Down return to Download

2010-11-29T09:27:00.003Z

HERE’S an early Christmas present for metalheads - the first acts heading to Download Festival in Castle Donington next year have been unveiled.
Armenian-American rock goliaths System Of A Down will be returning to headline one night of the festival, while metalcore legends Avenged Sevenfold will also be appearing.
A festival spokesman said: “You said it would never happen – well you were wrong, pal!
“The rumours are true – pinch yourself Download fans, because you ain’t dreaming – System of a Down are reforming, and are going to be headlining Download in June 2011.
“Result!
“This is now the third time that System of a Down have played at the legendary Donington Park site.
“SOAD’s heavily politicised brand of rock has seen them sell in excess of 20million albums worldwide, and the band are known worldwide for their tremendous live performances and unique sound.
“The band released five albums between 1998 and 2005, which spawned the singles and rock club staples Suite-Pee, Chop Suey, Toxicity, B.Y.O.B. and Hypnotize.
“Having been away for five years, this reunion at Download will be one of the most talked about events of the rock and metal calendar.”
A band spokesman said: “We are excited to announce that System will be playing some dates together in 2011.
“We have no master plan of sorts – we are playing these shows simply because we want to play together again as a band and for you, our amazing fans. We look forward to seeing all of you!”
You can listen to all of the confirmed acts at Download with this Spotify playlist.

Tasty offering from Simian Mobile Disco

2010-11-15T09:00:00.001Z

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A NEW album from Simian Mobile Disco is a mouth-watering prospect at the best of times, but this first taster of their own record label Delicatessan will have you smacking your lips.
This is no slur on their exceptional oeuvre to date - I am a massive fan - but Delicacies steps away from the gimmicky, guest vocalist side of the duo.
Instead - much like the Chemical Brother's 2010 album Further - intense, heads-down, dark dance is on the menu.
Nom nom nom.
Pounding, engrossing, extended electronica pervades, making a sound more akin to Deadmau5 or even Autechre in style.
It's well worth getting your teeth into, and chewing until your jaws ache.

Listen to the Sound Advice Monster Mash-up

2010-10-29T19:26:00.004+01:00

HALLOWE'EN is traditionally the time for things to come crawling out of their hiding places - so allow Sound Advice to arise from its tomb and stretch its limbs for a day or two.
Because I've put together a Hallowe'en Monster Mash-up playlist, mixing the cheesy with the slightly less cheesy on Spotify, and I feel duty bound to share it.
Click here to have a listen - if you dare.
Mwahahahahahaha.

Coritani - Death And Rebirth

2010-09-15T16:54:00.001+01:00

CORITANI'S new CD is heavy going - but that's what you'd expect from a band who are, to quote Vivian from the Young Ones' jacket, very metal.
Each track is an epic patchwork of chugging riffs, throat-ruining growls and thumping drums, with only one of the five tracks shy of five minutes.
Stylistically, the band's sound is a brave take on traditional heavy metal, groove metal and sludge - with no relent and no concession throughout, although the band clearly don't take themselves so seriously, with tracks like Electric Donkey Zombie Sheep and stand-out Trevor The Ice Turtle.
Death And Rebirth - a reference to the group's rising from the ashes of the outstanding Evangelion - is a snarling beast of an EP, and if you don't run scared it really gets its teeth in.

Ben Matravers - Step One

2010-09-15T16:52:00.001+01:00

LONG Whatton's Ben Matravers Step One starts out on the right foot with Say.
The opening number is an emotional effort which communicates through a Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly-style guitar and vocal laced draped with fleeting ornaments like guitar harmonics, warm hums and tinkling keys.
Pianos take over with Blood On My Hands, with the singer-songwriter stripped bare of Say's production bar a desolate echoing effect, before title track Step One steps up proceedings with a full band, a less introvert approach and, I imagine, a dark twinkle in his eye.
My Place Is Here rounds off the four-track EP with a guitar picking exercise which teeters between being melancholy and upbeat throughout.
A dark, folk-tinged, atmospheric effort, I can't wait to see how Mr Matravers steps things up from here.

So long and thanks for all the discs....

2010-09-01T15:28:00.003+01:00

REGULAR readers of Sound Advice may have noticed that, of late, the blog has been pretty irregular.
After nearly three years of reviewing, a combination of ridiculous DMCA complaints downing posts, a lull in readers and my laptop dying losing me a huge wad of albums yet to be reviewed and my schedule of when they needed to be reviewed, the posts have stopped.
So for now, Sound Advice is on a hiatus, and is unlikely to return in its current form.
I'd like to say a massive thank you to everyone who's read, commented on, linked to or otherwise engaged with the site - it's been a real pleasure and has introduced me to some amazing music.
In the meantime, check out my football blog Goaltastic at http://blogs.loughboroughecho.net/goaltastic/ and feel free to have a vote on my hideously early Albums of the Year vote, which runs until December 31.

Which is the top Album of the Year 2010?survey software

PVT A-OK

2010-08-07T00:01:00.001+01:00

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AUSTRALIAN band PVT don't like doing things by the book - in fact, when they formed they were a completely improvisational act.
And this boundless approach to music making is evident of PVT's latest Church With No Magic, which seesaws between electronica and rock.
The LP by PVT, previously known as Pivot, has an ever present electro throb and piston-like beats balanced in varying degrees with a Robert Smith-like vocal and Joy Division synths throughout.

Summit intense to listen to

2010-08-06T00:01:00.001+01:00

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IF YOU'RE not too into your sludge metal, a first encounter with Thou is more like "ow".
However for fans of the genre such as myself, the up-and-coming act don't so much tick the boxes as slowly crush them.
Downbeat, deep, dark and deadly, the fact the throat-vocal heavy metal group drag five tracks out over an hour tells you all you need to know about Summit.
However among this intense, thick miasma of metal, flecks of experimentation appear, such as acoustic instruments and choirs.
With Summit Thou haven't peaked, but they're inexorably on the up.

You'll love Love Ends Disaster! in the end

2010-08-05T00:01:00.000+01:00

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IT’S ALWAYS nice to have a local band doing good - and Love Ends Disaster!, having swapped Loughborough University's Freefest for Reading and Leeds, are doing just that.
With their debut album City Of Glass, you can see them emulating the likes of Belton’s The Young Knives, Castle Donington’s Late Of The Pier and Wymeswold’s Wave Pictures.
An inventive collection of indie rock which sounds like a cross between Talking Heads and The Rakes, the group seem at home in the studio.
Eschewing standard songwriting formula, the group throw off-kilter riffs at the listener and frequently explore unexpected musical avenues.
As a result it’s a rock LP that intrigues the listener rather than knocks them for six - but it grows on you eacha nd every listen you give it.

Okay Bells

2010-08-03T00:01:00.002+01:00

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THEY may not be as festive as their name would imply, but dance act Sleigh Bells sound like they’re trying very hard to get some form of festivities going.
The problem is on Treats they’re trying too hard - with speaker-busting levels of samples and sound effects taking their toll, even the sturdiest of speakers will struggle not to fart out these tracks.
On the occasions everything gels - like the Funkadelic-sampling Rill Rill - Sleigh Bells really are a treat.
The rest of the time they need to treat their work with a less is more attitude.

Classic fifty - Pretty nifty

2010-08-02T00:01:00.001+01:00

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FOLK, especially English folk, doesn't get a fair outing.
Bands like Shooglenifty, alongside peers including Seth Lakeman, Lau, Jim Moray, Patrick Wolf - all of these oft-ignored folksters deserve plaudits beyond plaudits.
Folk fusion band Shooglenifty are an instrumental act playing traditional reels and whirls and suchlike, but they add to this on Venus In Tweeds a dance element, making a sort of post trad folk.
It may not be traditional folk, but the Scottish band are what folk music is all about - it's accessible, upbeat, entertaining and you can work up a sweat to it.

Safe In The Steep Cliffs top

2010-08-01T00:01:00.001+01:00

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ALTHOUGH I’m a month behind the release of Emancipator’s Safe In The Steep Cliffs, I’m bursting to blog about it.
The DJ came to the fore supporting Bonobo recently after a steady ascent to fame, and you can see how he landed the job - with similarities between this LP and Bonobo’s brilliant Black Sands.
Equally chilled out and possessing the same head-nodding beats, the LP is an abundance of warm, string-soaked, orchestral cinematic electronica, and deserves an equal amount of plaudits.

Autoluxurious

2010-07-31T00:01:00.000+01:00

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THE sun-soaked climate of Los Angeles normally reflects in the sunny output of its bands - but not in Autolux's case.
The group's second album, Transit Transit, is a downbeat collection of slow, shoegazing rock more in line with Radiohead than The Beach Boys.
Not that this is a bad thing, and while it takes the listener a while to tune down to its rhythms, Transit Transit reveals itself to be a moving piece of work when you do so.

Classic forty nine - Dreadbanging

2010-07-30T00:01:00.000+01:00

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WHAT do you get if you mix dub reggae and heavy metal?

Dreadbangers?

No, the offspring of that unholy union is Dub Trio's third album, Another Sound Is Dying.

The album, which is instrumental apart from the standout No Flag featuring Mike Patton of Faith No More on vocal duties, fuses heavy metal riffs fuller than Rik Waller leaving an all you can eat buffet with ponderous Mogwai style space rock and skanking Lee "Scratch" Perry dub sections.

On paper this should be a shambles, but on record it actually works.

The movements from one section to another never seem to jar, and there is a unlikely unity that carries through the whole LP.

Incog-not bad-o

2010-07-29T00:01:00.001+01:00

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TRANSATLANTIC RPM, the new album from Incognito, packs in more energy than a jet engine.
Having invited along a guest list including Jamiroquai bassist Stuart Zender, icon Chaka Khan, spoken word goddess Ursula Rucker, Motown legend Leon Ware and more, the tracks here are all slick as they come.
Sure, a lot of it is very cheesy, but you can't help get caught up in the sheer exuberance of it all.

Kelpe taster

2010-07-28T00:01:00.002+01:00

LOUGHBOROUGH knob-twiddler Kelpe is releasing a new EP in September.
The Margins EP will be put out by Bristol label Black Acre on vinyl and as a download.
Kelpe said: “I’ve grown pretty fond of a lot of Black Acre’s material recently, having released artists such as Loops Haunt, Blue Daisy, Tokimonsta, Fantastic Mr Fox, Brokenchord and a load more.”
As an appetite whetter, Kelpe has also uploaded a taster of some of the EP tracks, which you can hear below -

Baths go public

2010-07-27T00:01:00.001+01:00

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CERULEAN, the debut album from Baths, is worth dipping into.
Showering the listener with subtle beats and awash with delicate, acoustic-based samples, if you want to gauge Baths' temperature imagine an ever-so-slightly more tubthumping version of Daedalus.
Glitchy productions akin to impossibly 'now' acts like Toro Y Moi and Junk Culture over echoey hints of indie rock a la Broken Social Scene, Baths deserves to tap into some of these more established acts fanbases.

Analog Africa gives you wings

2010-07-26T00:01:00.001+01:00

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FASTEN your seatbelts and prepare for a ride back in time... on board Analog Africa's Afro-beat Airways.
A musical black-box of previously lost recordings from 1970s Ghana and Togo, the names may not be jetset - the likes of Orchestre Abass, Ebo Taylor And The Sweet Beans, De Frank Professionals and Apagya Show Band all feature - but these were all high-flyers in their time.
The result is a mixture of afro-funk, synth disco, afro-beat, boogie, and anything else energetic and afro-centre you can think of.
So if you're looking for a departure from your usual listening, check in with Analog Africa's latest as soon as you can.

Mercury shortlist

2010-07-20T16:50:00.003+01:00

THE 12 album shortlist for the Mercury Prize 2009 has been revealed.
Contesting the competition this year are -

● Biffy Clyro – ‘Only Revolutions’
● Corinne Bailey Rae – ‘The Sea’
● Dizzee Rascal – ‘Tongue N’ Cheek’
● Kit Downes Trio – ‘Golden’
● Foals – ‘Total Life Forever’
● I Am Kloot – ‘Sky At Night’
● Laura Marling – ‘I Speak Because I Can’
● Mumford And Sons – ‘Sigh No More’
● Paul Weller – ‘Wake Up The Nation’
● Villagers – ‘Becoming A Jackal’
● Wild Beasts – ‘Two Dancers’
● The XX – ‘XX’

From the list, I'd like to see Sound Advice Album of the Year Only Revolutions walk away with the gong.
What are your thoughts? Comment below or head over to Sound Off and let me know.

Praise Tom Jones

2010-07-18T00:01:00.001+01:00

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NORMALLY if the thought of a grizzled old Welshman excites you, you’d probably be a grizzled old Welshwoman.
But everyone should make an exception for Tom Jones - who for the hundredth-odd time has come back with the cool once again with new album Praise And Blame.
A tour through a collection of spiritual American standards from Johnny Cash-esque confessionals like What Good Am I? to the pumped up numbers like Don’t Knock, Jones strips back his art to its most exposed, raw sound yet - Sex Bomb this ain’t.
Instead it's something fresh, something challenging and something progressive, and I applaud Jones for doing it.

Pain Sailing

2010-07-17T00:01:00.000+01:00

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ATTENTION Owl City fans - sort it out.
Oh, and you’d probably like to know there’s some new material coming out from Adam “Owl City” Young, under a new pseudonym, Sky Sailing.
The idea behind the name change is that An Airplane Carried Me To Bed is more acoustic and traditional than Owl City’s more emopop computerised leanings - but fear not.
Young’s vocal without the swathe of effects is still very much as annoying as before, and the music is a mushy and wet as ever.
In fact, you do well to spot daylight between the two projects output - news which will surely either delight or dismay you.

Art attack

2010-07-16T00:01:00.000+01:00

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MUSICAL experimentalists Art Of Noise’s retrospective Influence should probably have been pluralised to Influences.
Because since forming in the 1980s the studio-dwelling group have fraternised with synthpop, hip hop, dance, jazz, rock, and seemingly anything else to hand they could sample and put to their home-made beats.
And this 39-track collection of hits, collaborations, fan favourites, movie and TV themes, remixes, B-sides and unreleased material is more than enough to sate the appetite of even the most avid fan.
Standouts for me are Rakim-collaboration Metaforce, Dragnet and The Holy Egoism Of Genius.
But with this many sonic landscapes to explore, I’ll be finding plenty more to enjoy each listen I’m sure - Art Of Noise really did make the creation of uncategorisable, eclectic noise into an art.

Infra-nomenal

2010-07-15T00:01:00.000+01:00

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CONTEMPORARY classical composer Max Richter's new album Infra is so good it makes me want to do a little dance.
Adapted from his score for a ballet, the album once again sees Richter's sublime slow-burning string and piano work fused to his delicate electronic studio tampering.
With almost a minimal amount of sounds, Richter draws emotion from the listener to create a compelling ebb and flow throughout the album..
Infra is simply mesmerising, an eerie, atmospheric sound as timeless as it is futuristic.

Wave Pictures festival Q&A

2010-07-14T12:10:00.003+01:00

WYMESWOLD'S The Wave Pictures have carried out a Q&A ahead of their appearance at this year's Summer Sundae festival in Leicester -

Q) Summer Sundae Weekender kicks off in August. What’s your favourite thing about summer festivals?
A) Getting to see loads of your favourite bands for freeeee!
Q) What can we expect from your show?
A) Lots of sweat, a little bit of dancing and at least one check shirt.
Q) Summer Sundae is renowned for showcasing emerging talent. Which new band are you most looking forward to catching?
A) Looking forward to seeing Fool's Gold. I've heard a lot of good things about them...
Q) The festival has also been graced by legends like Patti Smith, Billy Bragg and Chrissie Hynde. What’s your fondest festival memory?
A) We had such a splendid time at the first ever End of the Road festival in Dorset. Watching Josh Ritter cast the field into total silence was incredible.
Q) The festival turns 10 this year, how did you celebrate your 10th birthday?
A) I probably had some friends round to eat cake and watch a crap video.

Simpler Simon

2010-07-14T00:01:00.003+01:00

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LIKE compatriots Turzi (see yesterday) French act Emilie Simon knows her way around a computer - and sometimes even inside of one.
Live Emilie has an experimental side - playing with a gadget known as "the arm" which locks onto her limb allowing her to tinker with her sounds.
However the established singer-songwriter’s fourth album The Big Machine - inspired by her time living in New York - sees her aiming at the mainstream, embracing the poppier elements of her electronic sound and singing in English.
And the results of her latest studio jaunt sees the talents which have seen obvious comparisons made with the vocal gymnastics of Kate Bush and the musical ambition of Tori Amos tempered by the limitations of Little Boots-style cheery electropop backing.
As a result long-time listeners may be a little turned off, but nevertheless there’s enough to like on The Big Machine in tracks such as The Way I See You and Rainbow to see her gather enough new fans to replace them.

Baltimore Turzi please

2010-07-13T00:01:00.000+01:00

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FRENCH band, Scottish vocalist, American subject matter, English influences - if Turzi can recreate this form across an album he'll have the world at his feet.
Gallic knob-twiddler Roman Turzi and friend's Baltimore EP - inspired by rioting in the city in 1968 following the assassination of Martin Luther King - features the vocals of Bobby Gillespie and a sound which fuses acid house beats and a Manchesteresque swagger.
The track, which has a definite touch of the Swastika Eyes about it, then gets a generous helping of hit-and-miss remix for the rest of the EP, the highlight being the dark Lynch Mob Assault On Baltimore reworking.
I advise you buy, beg, borrow or loot yourself a copy from Monday.

Champ a winner

2010-07-12T00:01:00.001+01:00

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THEIR first release A Lesson In Crime, although undeniably brilliant, could be seen as naive, approaching the EP with so much gusto that tracks were saturated with ideas, over before they begun, and the whole effort finished in a quarter of an hour.
Tokyo Police Club’s second, the LP Elephant Shell, took on these flaws with the Canadians taking a little more time - but you could hear they were still growing.
And now the triumphant Champ is their most measured, mature effort to date.
Insidiously catchy, full of high-pitched guitar licks and chunky drumbeats, it’ll be a crime if Tokyo Police Club tracks like Not Sick and Bambi don’t get the recognition they deserve.

Mission accomplished

2010-07-11T00:01:00.001+01:00

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VETERAN band The Innocence Mission release their latest LP My Room In The Trees tomorrow.
And Eight albums in, the American act have grown from a dream pop sapling into a blossoming band, perfecting their gorgeous, rich sound.
However with folky guitars swathed in sweeping strings, My Room In The Trees is so perfect, for better or worse it passes so seamlessly it barely registers with the listener, like a breeze though leaves.

Oxytocintellating

2010-07-10T00:01:00.001+01:00

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AN ACT in its infancy, if Kid Adrift's Oxytocin EP is anything to go by - and I hope it is - he could grow into something special.
The Scottish musician crafts forceful rock pop songs laced with subtle hooks and brimming with character.
But rather like Mr Fogg's alt-pop Moving Parts earlier this year and Album of the Year Stateless from 2008, these are then pumped full of atmospheric production, electro beats and other studio jiggery-pokery.
A few listens to Oxytocin, and Kid Adrift will be part of your musical furniture.

Flaws awesome

2010-07-09T00:01:00.000+01:00

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BOMBAY Bicycle Club's new album Flaws is an acoustic effort which was recorded in tandem with their debut I Had The Blues But Shook Them Loose.
But despite the self-depreciating name, Flaws can have very few criticisms made of it.
Even more impressive than their indie rock introduction, the band show a real emotive side to their subtle sound when stripped-back, which should be appealing to fans of Mumford And Sons and Laura Marling.
In a way, it'll be a shame if they plug back in - it's like comparing the joys of a countryside cycle with motorbike commute.

Noon better

2010-07-08T00:01:00.001+01:00

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NOONDAY Underground's cut-and-paste sound is a cut above - although it'll likely go over the heads of most.
The pseudonym of Paul Weller-collaborating Simon Dine, Noonday Underground takes an Avalanches-style approach to making music.
Instead of crafting "proper songs", The K-O Chorale is a collage of samples from odd musical backwaters - Disney soundtracks, church choirs, surf rock bands, operas etc. - that doesn't really do what most albums do.
Instead the result is a slightly bonkers woozy mish-mash that floats around leaving smiles in its wake.

Yard fails to measure up

2010-07-07T00:01:00.002+01:00

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I'M A massive fan of Reef - the band are even a proud owner of a Classic Collection LP in the form of Replenish - so it's hard for me not to compare Yard to their body of work.
StringerBessant, a duo of distinctive Reef vocalist Gary Stringer and Reef bassist Jack Bessant, is undoubtedly a different beast - but also undoubtedly a lesser beast at present.
Because the almost entirely acoustic act come across as a bit wet and wussy for nearly all of the album.
Things only pick up around track 10 onwards, songs like Lord Please Come, Make It and Song Worth Singing, tracks tellingly are the ones which finally hark back to their more exuberant predecessor.

Get Amongst The Pigeons

2010-07-06T00:01:00.000+01:00

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BRIGHTON beatmaker Amongst The Pigeon's Repeat To Fade EP is worth playing over again.
A more sturdy, flowing collection than his eclectic LP Music To Brush Your Teeth To, the six-track release starts slow with ambient Mocha To Go and then progresses nicely throughout.
A little of the comical quirkiness of previous Amongst The Pigeons has been lost, and any song about a waltz such as Michael Jackson's Last Waltz should surely be three beats-per-minute, harrumph.
But nevertheless with tracks like the moody The Darker Side Of... and skankin' The Kids Of Today this excellent collection should be racing into your collection.

Free Royksopp track

2010-07-05T12:23:00.003+01:00

ELECTRONIC gods Royksopp have a grown up new album Senior out this, the follow-up to the rather juvenile Junior.
And to celebrate this fact a free track, Hus No 9, is being handed out.
The band said: "Between two pages, in a dusty old book we found this little number.
"It’s called Hus Nr. 9, and is currently haunting the halls of the RYXP mansion."
Click here to enjoy.

Flowering Inferno hot stuff

2010-07-05T00:01:00.006+01:00

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WILL Holland's Quantic's Flowering Inferno's Dog On A Rope LP is so summery you'd be advised to slap on some factor 50 before pressing play.
The thrust of the album has a Caribbean and South American flavour, led by an orchestra of horns, accordians and more.
However this is kept contemporary by globe-trotting genius Holland's dub and hip hop production, which, although more trad than previous outing Death Of The Revolution, prevents proceedings from ever becoming twee.

Teej-riffic

2010-07-04T00:01:00.001+01:00

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YOU'LL be shocked at the quality of I Got Electrocuted, the first release from relative-unknown DJ Teej.
An EP of five charged tracks, the newcomer - who has yet to play live - shows plenty enough promise to mark up as 'one to watch'.
Rocky opener I Got Electrocuted, written after Teej was hospitalised after being electrocuted by his equipment, is a raw, powerful affair, then Plural takes things further by touching on post-rock.
Heart Timing is a more modest, droning affair, while Speed Sound Ashes and Flying Deep move onto dancier territory.
Overall, I Got Electrocuted is worth charging you account for.

Randy tweaked

2010-07-03T00:01:00.002+01:00

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THE excellently-named Canadian synth-punk Randy Twigg is Redone from Monday with a series of remixes of her Undone LP.
The knob-twiddling here does have a pretty full-on, low-rent feel - but after listening to the loud and lairy originals you wouldn't be expecting anything subtle.
Luckily the likes of Mt Sims, Syntronics, Kid 606 et al offer plenty of variety - with the likes of house, jungle, dubstep, techno and more piled onto the shouty Twigg sound.
In fact, Redone does it more than the original LP for me.

Windmill sails on same old course

2010-07-02T00:01:00.002+01:00

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WINDMILL'S EP sees the problems with the woozy sound of the one-man band's album Epcot Starfield both improved on and compounded.
Matthew Dillon's infuriating vocals, which sound like a drunken Arcade Fire doing an impression of Owl City, remain on the title track, one of the livelier cuts from the aforementioned LP.
Then it's onto the remixes - with the Pocket Remix and Gentleman's Losers Remix of Big Boom improving on Windmill's at-times plodding sound, while the Saroos Remix of Imax Raceway provides an even more nebulous take on the sound, making it almost impossible to get a grip on.

Half time report - Albums Of The Year 2010 so far

2010-07-01T00:01:00.016+01:00

TODAY is halfway through 2010 - my hasn't time flown - so I thought the time was right for a recap.
Because theoretically around half of my Albums Of The Year 2010 should have been released by now.
But however much as I'd like to be some sort of omniscient music resource, I'll wager a lot of damn good albums have already passed me by this year.
So here's my plea - if I seem to have missed any releases you really think I should have covered by now, drop me a comment below or visit the Sound Off forum and let me know your favourites so far.
For your reference, here is a list of my five-out-of-five-rated releases, minus EPs and compilations, from January through to the end of June -
● Autechre - Oversteps
● Bass Clef - May The Bridges I Burn Light The Way
● Bonobo - Black Sands
● Blockhead - The Music Scene
● Castrovalva - We Are A Unit
● Chemical Brothers - Further
● Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip - The Logic Of Chance
● Dead Weather - Sea Of Cowards
● Deftones - Diamond Eyes
● Foals - Total Life Forever
● Four Tet - There Is Love In You
● Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma
● Gonjasufi - A Sufi And A Killer
● Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
● Hesta Prynn - Can We Go Wrong
● Jaga Jazzist - One-Armed Bandit
● Jonsi - Go
● Kvelertak - Kvelertak
● Massive Attack - Heligoland
● Owen Pallett - Heartland
● Polar Bear - Peepers
● Six Gallery - Breakthroughs In Modern Art
● Sleepy Sun - Fever
● These Monsters - Call Me Dragon
● Tobacco - Maniac Meat
● Trentemoller - The Great Wide Yonder
● Valgeir Sigurdsson - Draumalandid
● Whitefield Brothers - Earthology

Second city band second rate

2010-06-30T00:01:00.001+01:00

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SECOND city act Sick City Club aren't exactly nauseatingly repulsive, but debut LP Talking With Lies is no mouth-watering prospect either.
An indie act with an epic tinge, the Birmingham-based group sound a bit like an optimistic version of The Editors or a happy-go-lucky counterpart to The Enemy.
If you're into your indie, then you're in for a treat - otherwise Talking With Lies has nothing out of the ordinary to appeal, and that's the truth.

Eyeing up the Deftones

2010-06-29T00:01:00.002+01:00

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PR COMPANIES take note - being a pretentious music critic, I rarely write about albums after their release date.

However I have to make an exception for Diamond Eyes, the Deftones' 2010 release - mainly as I have listened to it more than any other album this year, with the possible exception of Bonobo's Black Sands.
The first record from the Sacramento heavy metal band since bassist Chi Cheng suffered horrendous injuries in a car crash, you would have expected this outing to see them venting their feelings, with angrier, angsty, riff-driven material the order of the day.
But, acerbic tracks like CMND/CTRL excepted, Diamond Eyes is the group's most mature and complete album to date.

Kvelertak on track

2010-06-28T00:01:00.001+01:00

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IT IS generally thought that the British Midlands is the spiritual home of heavy metal - but bands like Kvelertak prove it probably holidays in Scandinavia.
I checked out the self-titled album by Norwegians Kvelertak on the strength of the cover art, and as the last time I did that I discovered the amazing Six Gallery's Breakthroughs In Modern Art I should probably chance it a bit more.
Because Kvelertak is simply amazing - led by chugging guitars and Norwegian vocals, the LP is undoubtedly very metal.
However their sound encompasses all manner of influences, from Mastodon-like prog metal to Backyard Babies-style glam to throat-shredding Gallows punk, and they're not afraid to break out the acoustic guitars when needed.

Richard James is lame

2010-06-27T00:01:00.002+01:00

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RATHER than being hot to trot, We Went Riding, the second solo album by Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci co-founder Richard James, is pretty lame.
The LP is mostly made up of folk of the bland, uninspiring variety, occasionally lumped in with some timid rock and a splash of sun-kissed psychedelic pop.
Completely underwhelming, We Went Riding can canter off into the sunset as far as I'm concerned.

Cross post: Green Day Rock Band on Xbox 360

2010-06-26T00:01:00.001+01:00

GREEN Day are the latest band to join the privileged minority to join the Rock Band franchise - and fans can rest assured the latest game isn’t a load of dookie.
Taking on the tried and trusted format spanning three eras of the band in the form of sets, there are plenty of tracks to be strummed through and years worth of extras to be unlocked.
Nearly all the top hits are here - Basket Case, American Idiot, Wake Me Up When September Ends - but a word of warning, there was no 21 Guns or Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life), although I guess they’ll be there but need to be unlocked.
If they’re not, then the game’s producer is a chump.
Taking the longview, although the game may feel a bit jaded for anyone who’s not a fan, for Green Day-lovers it’s a case of welcome to paradise, with plenty of difficulty levels to challenge players - the top levels are blatantly harder than picking up a real guitar and bashing out some of their early power chord wonders.
So make sure you have a copy when I come around.
(Originally written for Games And Gizmos blog.)

Ghost of a chance

2010-06-25T00:01:00.001+01:00

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ON THE evidence of War Kids, Faroe Islanders The Ghost will have a battle on their hands growing to be an international act.
Because while the LP may be a lively-spirited affair, the quality is lacking in their sound.
With a lack of punch to their rock akin to lightweights Keane, a pop sensibility without the hooks and an Alphabeat-esque Euro cheese edge courtesy of a cheap keyboard, the cheery feel of a lot of War Kids just doesn't exorcise The Ghost's shortcomings.

Carlou D worth a C grade

2010-06-24T00:01:00.000+01:00

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SENEGALESE singer and guitarist Carlou D's music on Muzikr may catch many listeners by surprise.
As D is best known as a member of African rap outfit, you would expect a hint of hip hop here.
But while the social commentary you would expect of an MC coming out of a developing nation is here - with songs about slavery and poverty as standard - there's not a head nodding beat or a fast-paced patter throughout.
Instead we're treated to some fairly run-of-the-mill roots music, with pleasing faster tracks like Ila Touba juxtaposed with slower, more Westernised tracks like the jazzy Yaay Fall.

Classic forty eight - Burnin' desire

2010-06-23T00:01:00.002+01:00

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I CANNOT be the only person that as the Summer sun begins to shine in earnest dusts off their reggae LPs.
In fact, with the sun scorching me every time I step outside at the moment and my musical habits matching with a sun-kissed vibe, I feel obliged to drop a Bob Marley album into the Classic Collection.
It was a toss up between the contrasting feelings of my two favourites Kaya and Burnin' - with the belly-fire of the latter winning through.
The 1973 album is a confrontational, politically-charged "Summer of discontent" album, that as well as being packed with talent such as Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh, the album is packed with instantly recognisable tracks like Get Up, Stand Up, I Shot The Sheriff and Burnin' And Lootin' - perfect if you're looking to lively up yourself this Summer.

Grasscut a cut above

2010-06-22T00:01:00.002+01:00

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GRASSCUT is a curious beast - imagine the music of the future being broadcast through a 1940s wireless radio, and you're sort of at 1 Inch / 1/2 Mile.
The English production duo may mix forward thinking post-something style sounds which sit somewhere between art and electro, but the entire LP is pervaded with a retro feel.
Sometimes they take a blade to 1980s synth pioneers like Kraftwerk, at others they cut up rousing patriotic Vera Lynn-style oldies, sometimes looking even further back to classical influences - all melded together in a thoroughly innovative, interesting, forward-thinking way.
Quirky, evocative and individual, Grasscut's style is sometimes a little severe, but it always sounds on the absolute cutting edge.

Unbeatable Meat

2010-06-21T00:01:00.000+01:00

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LISTENING to Tobacco may be a dirty habit, but it is very moreish.
I can't promise that the Pennsylvanian solo artist, also a member of Black Moth Super Rainbow, won't make you smell, increase your phlegm production or turn your fingers a funny colour - anything's possible with his scuzzy lunatic mash-up of electro, hip hop and alt rock.
Featuring Beck on two tracks, his second album is a fractured and slightly unhinged landscape dominated by deep fuzzy bass and whirring synth lines loosely pinned together with stuttering beats.
Maniac Meat - you'd be crazy not to tuck in.

Classic forty seven - Pause for One Hot Minute

2010-06-20T00:01:00.003+01:00

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LIKE previous Classic Collection contribution Bad by Michael Jackson, The Red Hot Chili Peppers' One Hot Minute is a great album overlooked because of the company it keeps.
Sandwiched between Blood Sugar Sex Magick and Californication, the LP, the group's only outing without John Frusciante as guitarist is better than just being an enigmatic sidenote on their illustrious back catalogue.
As well as the distinctive heavy metal leanings of former Janes Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro - best exemplified on One Big Mob - there's plenty more of note.
It's an album containing some of Flea's most furious basslines like Coffee Shop, moments of emotion like Kurt Cobain tribute Tearjerker and comedy as in Pea, raw funk like the awesome Falling Into Grace and Walkabout, and big hits like Aeroplane.
So spare a few seconds for One Hot Minute - I guarantee it's spicier than you may remember.

Prynn demand

2010-06-19T00:01:00.004+01:00

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"ELECTRO-HIP-HOP-ART-ROCK" singer Hesta Prynn’s introductory EP Can We Go Wrong is released next week - I suggest you make its acquaintance, you can't go wrong.
New yorker Prynn, real name Julie Potash, is a sassy frontwoman, interspersing ice-cool Debbie Harry vocals with a fast-paced hip hop swagger.
And this is over Miike Snow-style dark pop, beefed up with laid-back electro beats.
Cool as a frozen cucumber, it’s clear to see why Prynn can already count members of Wu-Tang Clan, Slipknot, Tegan And Sara - and me - among her fans.

Lissie uninspiring

2010-06-18T00:01:00.000+01:00

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LISSIE, whose now-redundant surname is Maurus for the record, is a hotter tip than a rubbish dump that's on fire.
The singer has been touted as 2010's top female singing sensation, the American Midwest's answer to similarly-single-named Duffy, if you will.
And yes, her vocals are sublime, with a distinctive warble weighted with a hint of Sheryl Crow gravel.
But for me her country pop is all a bit, well, meh - catchy without hooks, cool without being edgy, twee without being corny.
She may be driving towards becoming a household name, but she's doing it down the middle of the road.

Good Example, bad Example

2010-06-17T00:01:00.000+01:00

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IN SOME instances, it’s difficult to fault Example’s clup pop hip hop on Won't Go Quietly, and in others it’s hard to find any merit.
Case in point - the Hammersmith rapper opens the album with From Space then singles Won’t Go Quietly and the excellent Watch The Sun Come Up, before launching into the dire Time Machine, undoing all his own good work.
The best tracks here are paragons of pop circa 2010 - the aforementioned opening trio, Kickstarts, Sick Note - but over the course of a full album, Example is an illustration of inconsistency.

Micah P Hinson

2010-06-16T00:01:00.001+01:00

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OLD before his time, while Micah P Hinson may look like a missing member of Linkin Park, he sounds more like Leonard Cohen.
Singing from experience - his press people kindly describe him as having been “homeless, destitute and incarcerated” before becoming a musician - grizzly Hinson’s eponymous LP with the The Pioneer Saboteurs is an emotional collection of string-soaked Americana.
Hinson takes aim with both barrels and has a raw, uncensored take on the world, and he clearly cares about the subject matter, an approach echoed in the outstanding instrumental tracks which punctuate the album.

Light entertainment

2010-06-15T00:01:00.002+01:00

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THOUGH not a dazzling album, nevertheless Light Pollution would brighten up any collection.
Opening with droning psychedelic pop track Good Feelings, the LP continues to tread a fine line between an Amusement Parks On Fire dirge and Embrace-style epic indie pop throughout.
It's like they don't know whether to gaze at their shoes or stare blinking in wonderment at the heavens and as a result the album is an up and down affair.

Banan the bomb

2010-06-14T00:01:00.001+01:00

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EXPERIMENTAL jazz orchestra Jaga Jazzist release Bananfleur Overalt, an appealing new EP from their 2010 album One-Armed Bandit, next Monday.
As the release carries a few tracks from the full-length - Toccata, One-Armed Bandit and Bananfleur Overalt itself - so as with the original the Norwegians' sound melds jazz, electronica and rock with a mind-bending array of other genres.
And added to the originals are a smattering of remixes, the jewel in the crown being an 11-and-a-half Prins Thomas working of Bananfleur Overalt, which turns the original's jazz meandering into a lounge disco classic.
Although not worth picking up unless you have their recent LP in your collection, nevertheless this is a timely reminder of the expansive work of Jaga Jazzist.

Carrack on regardless

2010-06-13T00:01:00.002+01:00

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PAUL Carrack - no, me neither.
However the Sheffield singer songwriter, whose album I Know That Name is rereleased in an augmented version next Monday, has been a member of bands including Roxy Music, Ace, Squeeze, and Mike And The Mechanics, sessioned for bands including The Smiths and The Pretenders, and released a number of solo albums as well.
So chances are you've probably heard his polished, soulful voice at some point - and here it's clearly a gift.
I'm not crazy on the songs, which are mostly soul and rock by numbers, with some gospel, even a reggae number, but nevertheless there's no reason why Paul Carrack shouldn't be asking for a little more limelight to shine his way.

Too nice Brothers

2010-06-12T00:01:00.001+01:00

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PERNICE Brothers, a band led by siblings Joe and Bob, aren't exactly Liam and Noel Gallagher.
Where most sibling outfits are fuelled by family feuding, The Pernice's indie rock sound is, well, just too nice.
Their sweet indie pop sound is delicate and carries some clever lyrics along nicely, but even when the group are rocking their very hardest, such as Jacqueline Susann, it's all just a bit wet.
Someone needs to come along and steal their lunch money or something.

Blitzen Trap sprung

2010-06-11T12:00:00.002+01:00

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DESTROYER Of The Void, the latest album from Blitzen Trapper, left a bit of a hole where previously I had a liking for the group.
After reviewing their previous effort Black River Killer, in comparison this new collection never goes for the jugular.
Instead the psychedelic folk Americana of the group which has garnered so much critical praise, feels like it's been wheeled out for an airing rather than dusted down and improved upon - not that it's bad, they are excellent at their sound, it's just this could have been so much more.
They'll need to find some new ideas next time round, and pack in a few more hooks, or you feel the group will be their own destroyer.

More Club hits

2010-06-11T00:01:00.001+01:00

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MOODY indie rockers Club Smith continue the process of climbing into the charts with their The Process EP.
As with their last release, The Loss, the sound takes its lead from morose indie harbingers of doom like Joy Division, White Lies and The Editors.
And the tracks here have an even more 1980s retro feel to them than before, with a whiff of The Cure detectable.
Atmospheric, claustrophobic and exciting, and destined for great things, you really should be signing up with Club Smith.

Take a dip in the Lakeman

2010-06-10T12:00:00.001+01:00

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FOLK posterboy Seth Lakeman's new album Hearts And Minds isn't going to win over the hearts and minds of many new fans.
However for his faithful, it will fill their hearts and minds with joy.
Treading a similar sturdy rhythmic folk route as previous triumphs like Kitty Jay and Freedom Fields, there's nothing here to shock traditionalists.
Instead there's just another batch of top notch rousers like See Them Dance and emotional numbers like Stepping Over You to keep Lakeman in his place at the forefront of English folk.

Keep TAB's on

2010-06-10T00:01:00.004+01:00

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TAB The Band, named after members Tony, Adrian and Ben's initials and not to prevent confusion with a certain sparkling beverage, deserve to generate a bit of buzz with the fizzing Zoo Noises.
The group, who you can coo over at this weekend's Download Festival in Castle Donington, play bluesy rock which teeters between growling Jon Spencer Blues Explosion riffs and more melodic Rolling Stones fodder.
Although maybe a little overlong in places, nevertheless with riffs this effervescent, they should sell TAB The Band in bottles.

FM tune in to Download

2010-06-09T13:24:00.004+01:00

HARD rock band FM have stepped in as replacements for RATT at this year's Download Festival.
The glam rockers had pulled out after their singer Stephen Pearcy was rushed in for emergency hernia surgery.
Andy Copping said: "Thanks chaps."
To hear FM and other acts playing the festival, listen to this Spotify playlist.

Get Washed Out in

2010-06-09T12:00:00.002+01:00

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I RECOMMEND you let the music of Washed Out, one of the pseudonyms of Atlantan Weatherly Greene, lap over you like waves on a beach.
The act's EP, Life Of Leisure, is a woozy, laid back six-track collection which drifts out of the stereo like half-remembered dated memories arriving out of nowhere in the back your mind to haunt you, like Alf's face.
And Alf is looking relaxed.
The sun-bleached sound of Life Of Leisure isn't going to get teh heart racing - at times it's more like incidental music to a documentary about holidaymaking in the 1980s - but it is worth a trip.

Wurz up

2010-06-09T00:01:00.001+01:00

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WORKING as a journalist, I know first hand that politics is a particularly unpredictable subject - but not many people could have foreseen the dying throes of a Labour Government throwing 1970s novelty act The Wurzels into the limelight.
As a protest at taxes being hiked on cider, earlier this year a Facebook campaign was set up to try and get their classic I'm A Cider Drinker into the charts, and tens of thousands of people signed up.
So cashing in, a new collection, A Load More Bullocks, has been put together - and, although I must declare an interest as I hail from Somerset and I regularly drink cider, I have to say it's worth a listen.
Sure, some covers don't really work and Spinal Tap cover Sex Farm, a parody of a spoof, is all a bit much.
But I defy anyone not to smile the first time they listen to their West Country reworking of Kaiser Chief's Ruby.

The complete Download

2010-06-08T18:40:00.002+01:00

THE final eight acts have been added to the line-up of this year’s Download.
Coming up this weekend, June 11-13, organisers have topped up the bill with Sacred Betrayal, Heights, Never Means Maybe, Stand-Up Guy, You And What Army, This Is Divine, No Mean City and Hearts Under Fire.
A spokesman said: “The following will all be playing on the Red Bull Bedroom Jam Stage, and have been selected by an expert panel of judges to perform at Download 2010.
“And so ladies and gentlemen, that completes your Download 2010 line up. See you in the mosh pit.”

Literally Music For The Fire

2010-06-08T12:00:00.003+01:00

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EVER been searching for something on the web, thought you'd found it and then clicked onto a website that's just a massive list of words desperately trying to get some sort of attention from search engines?
Listening to Music For The Fire by eclectic collaborative project People Like Us & Wobbly is the musical equivalent of those pointless wastes of webspace.
Sure some of this pointless mish mash of samples, such as Giant Love Ball, is diverting - infinite monkey syndrome I suppose - but for the most part this is gibberish.
At least they had the self-awareness to name it Music For The Fire - that may well be where my promo CD's heading.

RATT out

2010-06-08T08:50:00.002+01:00

RATT have pulled out of this year's Download Festival in Castle Donington.
The glam rock stalwarts were forced to cancel after vocalist Stephen Pearcy was rushed in for emergency hernia surgery.
Organiser Andy Copping said: "Get well soon Stephen."

Fervour over Further

2010-06-08T00:01:00.001+01:00

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A BEST-OF compilation can be the death knell for a band - but for the Chemical Brothers, whose greatest hits Brotherhood was released in 2008, it seems to have spurred them on to wring even more from their big beat sound.
Initally I had thought recent single Swoon sounded a little aimless as a standalone, but on the LP as part of the eight tracks, which will each have an accompanying animated video, they all fuse with the feel of a DJ set.
With this focus and without the vocal collaborations that pockmarked previous outings, the melodic electronica feel harks back to their introduction Exit Planet Dust.
And with the extreme energy levels of pulsating psychedelic track after pulsating psychedelic track this album comes flying out of the speakers with the ferocity of a bull on Red Bull.
On Further, their seventh studio outing, the duo may well have taken their sound, well, further than ever before.

The Amazing amaze again

2010-06-07T12:00:00.001+01:00

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AFTER the amazing The Amazing by The Amazing, the Swedes return with a mini-album Wait For A Light To Come - and strike a light, if it isn't amazing as well.
Starting out on a folk bent, the group soon exhibit the laid back psyche and classic rock influences which made their debut a success, before really letting rip on Defect.
Though not quite up to the standard of last year's introduction, nevertheless it's another warm, thoughtful retro outing, and it's amazing that The Amazing haven't amazed a few more people by now.

Killing For Company out of Download?

2010-06-07T10:29:00.002+01:00

STUART Cable, former Stereophonics drummer, has been found dead at home.
South Wales police have confirmed that the 40 year old's body was found at around 5am today in Aberdare, Wales.
Stuart's cause of death has not been established but there are no suspicious circumstances.
The sad news means that his current band, Killing For Company, are likely to pull out of their Download Festival slot this coming weekend in Castle Donington.

The Herbaliser is mint

2010-06-07T00:01:00.001+01:00

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AFTER spicing up the world of hip-hop since 1994, The Herbaliser have decided the thyme is right for a best-of.
And Herbal Tonic dill-ivers a diverse collection highlighting the many flavours of their back-catalogue.
Whether laying down harsh battle beats for the likes of Jean Grae and MF Doom, peppering hip hop tracks with brass-infused funk, lacing the atmosphere with brooding soul or spewing out breakbeat-based dance that hits you like a mace, the recipe always works.
And now a sage old act, you'll rue not adding a hint of The Herbaliser to your collection.

At the Pictures

2010-06-06T13:11:00.001+01:00

THE Wave Pictures' six track Sweetheart EP is out tomorrow.
Check out their video above.

Cast effective

2010-06-06T00:01:00.000+01:00

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LEGENDARY rocker Rory Erickson, once part of the group The 13th Floor Elevators who blazed a trail for psychedlic and garage rock in the '60s, returns alongside Okkervil River to release his first album in 14 years.
But instead of a straight retread of his past glories, Love Cast Out All Evil is instead a collection of confessional country and western akin to the Indian summer of Johnny Cash's career.
Of course, this collection can't compare on the low-key numbers - Cash could make a grown man weep with the likes of Hurt.
But Erickson laces the rest with echoes of his past work, hints of punk and metal and splashes of psych, and covers biographical subject matter such as mental illness and jail time, making a collection that's more than engaging enough.

Storyline album is telling

2010-06-05T00:01:00.000+01:00

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THE tale of Storyline may yet to be told in earnest, but on the evidence they should yet get the chhe next chapter, their eponymous LP, is a collection of that plots a course between Paramore rock and Kelly Clarkson pop.
It's a broad brush approach from the as-yet unsigned American act - there's even a cover of cheesy pub rock staple Summer Of '69 - but it is done well enough, and without pretension.