NINcredible

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IN MY humble opinion, Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor is a true musical great.

So much so I even once named a goldfish after him - kudos, I know.

Therefore there'll be no surprises then that I rate The Slip, his latest offering, quite highly.

Although not quite hitting the recent peak of 2005's razor-sharp With Teeth, this album is a sturdy showcase of his many talents - ranging from the sonic bludgeoning of 1,000,000, through the industrial pop of Discipline to the ambient tinkerings of Corona Radiata.

And if you can't wait to get your hands on a copy of the CD in some sort of tangible form on Monday, you can download the entire album and artwork completely free of charge from here.

See, I told you he was great.

Party animals

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I EMPLORE you to go ape for Sample And Hold, the reworking of Simian Mobile Disco's debut Attack Decay Sustain Release.

For the new release, the duo of James Shaw and James Ford - who have something of a reputation as remixers themselves - have hand-picked some phenomenal takes on their tracks for this album.

Chief among them are Shit Robot, whose house reworking of It's The Beat is a real grower, and Joakim, whose intrerpretation of Hustler could just be the coolest dance track to escape my speakers this year.

And although many remix albums end up as a case of too many cooks, Sample And Hold manages to knit together throughout.

With this LP, Simian Mobile Disco are true party animals.

Mercury Music Prize shortlist

THE Mercury Music Prize 2008 shortlist has been announced as follows -

• Adele - 19
• British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
• Burial - Untrue
• Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
• Estelle - Shine
• Laura Marling - Alas I Cannot Swim
• Neon Neon - Stainless Style
• Portico Quartet - Knee-Deep In The North Sea
• Rachel Unthank And The Winterset - The Bairns
• Radiohead - In Rainbows
• Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
• The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of The Understatement

Out of that list, surely Neon Neon, the side project of Super Furry Animal Gruff Rhys and producer Boom Bip, should come out on top?

Young Knives TV cut

YOU may remember that spiffing Belton band The Young Knives came to Ashby-de-la-Zouch not long ago for a special gig, reviewed here and captured on camera here on this very blog.
Well the show was made into a one-off late night TV special, that you can see for your very eyes here.

Blindfolds Aside worth a look

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I DON'T normally post about unsigned Loughborough bands, but for an amateur act, Blindfolds Aside are an incredibly slick outfit and worth checking out.
The band, who have released a new four-track EP this week through their myspace site, shift from pummelling riffs to melodic sections with consumate ease.
Opening track Waking The Wookie is remisicent of this year's Download headliners Lostprophets, before Minotaur's brutal riffing gores its way over the speakers.
Bands of Blindfolds Aside's ilk can often falter when the volume drops, but It's Colder On The Other Side Of The Pillow shows the Loughborough band can handle both sides of the soft-loud dynamic, and EP closer The Adventures Of Dr Dogbottle And Trenchfinger has the feel of a furious live favourite.
It's no surprise on this showing that Blindfolds Aside are attracting label interest – they really are a must-see band.

Ida in the house

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AS AN album opener, there couldn't be a much better introduction to Norwegian Ida Maria than Oh My God.

The blistering single, which sounds like The Ramones fronted by Bjork, may be the high point of the album plonked right at the start, but don't let that put you off - Oh My God is one of my musical high points of the year so far.

And the rest of the album isn't too far behind, although the pace does slow though towards the end of the album - which is hardly surprising considering the breakneck speed she sets about some of the earlier numbers.

Ida, who suffers from synesthesia - a condition which inestricably links the senses, in her case her sight and hearing - unashamedly writes "pop" songs.

And pretty well too, when you consider out of the ten tracks here, a whopping five - Oh My God, Drive Away My Heart, Stella, Queen of the World and I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked - have already been put out as singles.

The mane event

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AS PEDIGREES go, the duo of ex-Rage Against The Machine vocalist Zach De La Rocha and former Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore have a lot to live up to with their latest project One Day As A Lion.

Luckily, this self-titled EP, out tomorrow, is a supurb, snarling hybrid of rock and hip-hop.

Mixed by Mario C, of Beastie Boys fame, the beats have a bounce - possibly pogo - to them, while the tracks have a real aggressive bass-driven swagger.

De La Rocha's flow is more on the periphery here than it was for Rage Against The Machine - no doubt due to his instrumental input on One Day As A Lion - but on tracks like Wild International and If You Fear Dying he demonstrates he can still let rip when asked.

You could say that this five-track taster is a roaring success - please bring on the full length release quickly.

Great Scott

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AUSTRALIAN born Scott Matthew's voice is amazing.

When you listen to this, his new self-titled album, the first thing that amazes is how much like David Bowie he sounds.

Seriously, Scott Matthew is like Stars In Their Eyes.

Luckily, secondly, his voice has an amazing warm tone to it, which coupled with this collection of mostly acoustic tracks is a winning combination.

A wail of a time with Primal Scream

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ALTHOUGH Beautiful Future is Scottish rockers Primal Scream's ninth album, the number of hits here show they are not a thing of the past.

The tone of the LP is darker than previous release Riot City Blues, with the opening gambit, the title track Beautiful Future, kicking off proceedings with the lines: "Take a drive around the city, tell me what do you see?

"Empty houses, burning cars, naked bodies hanging from a tree."

Empty houses - check.

Burning cars - check.

Naked bodies hanging from the trees... err, not noticed many in Loughborough, Bobby.

However despite the return to placard-waving political Primal Scream on this release, the band have not forgotten to pen some hideously catchy tracks - single Can't Go Back chief amongst them - and arrange some well chosen special guest appearances from Lovefoxxx of CSS, Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and folk legend Linda Thompson.
Sadly the album still has a lot of the trademark Primal Scream filler, the sub-Rolling Stones droney tracks best forgotten.

So I will - here's to a beautiful future and album number 10.

Future silence Of London

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DESCRIBING The Future Sound Of London's new album, Environments, as ambient is an understatement.

For the two-track 49-minute album is five minutes old before anything approaching a dictionary definition of 'music' can be heard.

Ocassionally a sparse scrap of electronica slips into the void, but for the best part this vacuous album is like listening to a BBC Sound Effects album - a dog barking here, a monk chanting there, a Spanish guitar a bit later on, a lot of wind, and very little else.

Quite honestly, I am baffled to think of an environment where you would want to listen to Environments at all.

In fact, listening to the album first time round I found myself inadvertantly whistling their 1992 hit Papua New Guineau to myself, just to pass the time.

Time I will never get back.

Let me Beat you Up

HARDCORE Isaac Ashe fans will know that I write a music column, Upbeat, for the NuNews, Ashby Trader And Echo, Burton Trader, Coalville Echo and Trader Xtra newspapers.
You can now view this online, at echoupbeat.blogspot.com, if you really want to.

CSS A-OK

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BRILLIANT Brazilian band CSS's second album Donkey sees a bit of kick added to their '80s-tinged electro pop sound.

The group, especially on tracks such as Rat Is Dead (Rage) and Give Up, have an almost Pixies style grungey-pop undertone to their trademark throbbing electro indie, which really sets their sound off.

And on these tracks Lovefoxx and co are at their invigorating, fun-time, party-starting best.

However Donkey's burden is the smattering of less forthright tracks, that are left relying on too much of a self-conscious cool.

For example the deliberately ridiculous Reggae All Night is at points almost as cringeworthy as actually using the word "cringeworthy" is.

That said, Donkey is still a solid collection of party pop, one which will leave CSS's fans braying for more.

New Wave

NOT content with releasing their debut album Instant Coffee Baby this year, Wymeswold band The Wave Pictures are putting out a six-track EP next month.
Just Like A Drummer, which is released on August 4 on Moshi Moshi Records, features the title track alongside five new songs.
And to cap it all, rumours abound that their sophomore album will be released before 2008 is out!

Richter, scaled down

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GERMAN composer Max Richter's fourth album, 24 Postcards In Full Colour, is a case of wish you were there.

Ambient classical composer Richter is capable of creating some of the most beautiful moments captured on CD, and 24 Postcards In Full Colour is no exception.

Tracks such as In Louisville At 7, A Song For H/Far Away and Cradle Song For A (Interstate B3) are all staggeringly captivating.

However Postcards is the right word to use - the LP is 24 tracks long and yet barely more than half an hour, making listening at times as frustrating as it is enjoyable.

Although a stunning collection of work, it is a shame that at least for a couple of tracks, Max Richter hasn't decided to take us on the entire journey with him.

Quantic blooming great

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BUDDING talent Quantic - real name Will Holland - has created a blooming brilliant album in Flowering Inferno.

A cross-pollination of hip hop beats and dub, reggae and cuban influences, the album is the perfect soundtrack to a hammock and a glass of rum.
Sadly, this sunny Sunday evening as I write this, I don't have a hammock to hand, so I'm over compensating, so do forgive any typos that ocur...

The album, his fifth under the Quantic pseudonym, is a funky affair, with single Cuidad Del Swing a real standout.

The 10-track collection is also titled Death Of The Revolution, and you can see why - as a mission statement, Make Dub Not War, track three's title, about sums it up.

Dead cool

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PSYCHEDELIC indie folk outfit The Dodos are not as rubbish as their band name, album artwork and spelling might suggest.

On first impressions coming across the group's bashed up acoustic sound is like trying to make conversation with a hobo.

However, the ramshackle groove takes hold, and it turns out you and said down-and-out are actually getting on like a house on fire.

Because some of the San Franciscan duo's tracks on Visiter, the band's second album and UK debut, such as Jodi and Fools, are beyond their dishevelled demeanor cunningly crafted pop nuggets.

The Dodos have landed over here - and don't be surprised if they take off.

Cop a Wire

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WIRE were always one of those bands that if somebody asked me "have you heard Wire?", I would reply "I've heard of Wire."

Because obviously, they did all their good work while I was but a concept - I was born in '82, by which time Wire had already had three albums over a five-year period and split up once.

Not any more am I unwise to the ways of Wire.

For this week I've turned my attention to the group's 11th album, Object 47.

Mainly due to a lack of the new Polar Bear album arriving...

And what can I say - well, nothing.

The London rockers' album was good, professional, without being excellent, and failed to leave any lasting impression after it had run its course.

I'm sure, with such a long an illustrious career, Wire will have some real die-hard fans who'll be irritated by my nonchalant attitude, but on this showing I don't think I'll be tapping back into Wire for a while.

Hooray for Moray

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FOLK visionary Jim Moray is as slippery as his eel-like moniker would suggest.

For Jim, who called off a date at Loughborough Town Hall to apply the finishing touches to Low Culture, is equally at home with traditional English folk as he is experimenting with grime.

And I don't mean doing unspeakable things in a mudbath...
For example on this album Jim Moray's experimental leanings are mainly sated by a collaboration with Bubbz, a British rapper.
And I don't mean he's traditional sword dancer...
That said, overall he is still more Seth Lakeman than Patrick Wolf, and Low Culture has more moments of folk than moments of 'what the folk?' in it.
Interesting, individual and easy-on-the-ear, Low Culture deserves high praise indeed.

Immortal combat

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TALK about a persecution complex.
From American foreign policy to ghetto life to the setup of the record industry, Immortal Technique doesn't so much have a chip on his shoulder but several King Edwards taking root.
His aggressive, techically tight flow of diatribes is backed on The 3rd World by snarling, brutal hardcore backing beats from Slim Shady's number two, DJ Green Lantern.
As well as presenting it in a professional way, it's obvious that Immortal Technique, real name Felipe Coronel, really does have a lot of sense to say, in between the macho posturing and threatening to shoot people.
As a result this really is an album full of hooks - it's just a few jabs that are needed in between.

Pop goes the Levi

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FORMER Ladytron bassist Pop Levi's bubble may have burst with Never Never Love, the follow-up to the well-received The Return To Form Black Magick Party.

The LP kicks off with a Pop Levi special glam stomper in the form of Wannamama, and the signs point to another thrilling collection of catchy leftfield pop that sounds like Marc Bolan fronting the Scissor Sisters.

But Liverpudlain Pop slows the tempo soon after and things never never really get going again.

There are glimpses of Levi's potential 'jean'-ius - such as the album's title track and lead single Never Never Love - but they fall too few and far between.

On this offering, Pop Levi is not pop chart material.

A lovely bunch of songs

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EL BAILE Aleman, on paper, should be the musical equivolent of eating a chalk and cheese sandwich.

Zany German dance artist Uwe Schmidt covering Kraftwerk songs under the pseudonym Senor Coconut, with added cha-cha-chas - makes you cringe in anticipation, and that's before you're halfway into the spoken word intro...

But this Senor Coconut interpretation of the synth-wielding pioneers is actually pretty tasty.

Although performed solely by Schmidt - who you may also know as Flanger, Geez 'N' Gosh, Los Negritos, Mono™, Atom Heart, Machine Paisley, Bi-Face, Masters Of Psychedelic Ambiance, Lisa Carbon, Fonosandwich, i, The Roger Tubesound Ensemble, and many, many, many more - and put together on a computer desktop, the album has a swinging live sound, like the cheesiest, and possibly chalkiest, Latin combo you can imagine plucking away in the corner with big fat grins on their moustached faces.

Tracks like Tour De France and The Robots just shouldn't work this well, but they really do.

The only problem is that all the tracks work in the same way, and there's only so many times a joke bears repitition - you could say that Senor Coconut milks it...

Beck in time

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DESPITE the Modern moniker, this album sees Beck under the influence of the past.

Despite thoroughly up-to-date production from producer Dangermouse, the album is a wash of rock 'n' roll and psychedelia influences.

For example Gamma Ray sees Beck bopping to an Eddie Cochran-esque stomp, while Chemtrails has the distinct whiff of the Beach Boys circa Pet Sounds about it.

However the whole of Modern Guilt, as the title would suggest, is not the happy, good time party album these two would create on paper.

Instead nothing is overcooked and the album clocks in at the half-hour mark, giving it a concise, tight feel - historically one of Beck's problems.

Beck and Dangermouse should have nothing to feel ashamed about with Modern Guilt.

He Saul, he conquered

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AFTER what could be viewed as either a massive success or a massive failure first time round, tangible copies of the incredible The Inevitable Rise And Liberation Of Niggy Tardust hit the shelves next monday.

Spoken word rapper Saul Williams 'did a Radiohead' with this album, produced by Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor, and gave listeners the option of either paying for the album or downloading it for free.

A whopping 154,449 people downloaded the album, a huge number compared to the 30,000-odd sales of his previous eponymous album.

Unfortunately only 28,322 decided to pay for it.

However I am baffled as to why - because this album is his magnum opus, a creative explosion with more unexpected twists than a pole dancer with no bones.

Williams' firebrand style is paired up with Reznor's prolific creativity - the man has already put out four EPs this year in addition to this work, with a new album out in a week's time to boot - and no avenue is left unexplored.

From the off, the more traditional Saul Williams of Black History Month flows into Convict Colony, which could sit unnoticed on a Nine Inch Nail's album.

Then follows Public Enemy homage Tr(n)igger and a cover of U2's Sunday Bloody Sunday.

It's a lot to take in, especially with the challenging combination of William's aggressive flow and Reznor's bludgeoning backing, but it's worth every penny.

Unkle relatively good

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ARE you sitting uncomfortably? Good, because Unkle's fourth studio album, End Titles... Stories For Film, is an unsettling, sweeping, cinematic slice of brooding electronica.

Obviously Unkle have been watching a few video nasties.

For the album, featuring input from Queens Of The Stone Age's Jose Homme, Black Mountain and White Denim among others, is a dark affair.

With strings and swells and ambient sections punctured by skittering, forceful drums and breakbeats and a heavy rock influence evident throughout, the epic End Titles... Stories For Film represents a return to the A-list for Unkle after 2007's take-it-or-leave-it War Stories.

Go with the Flobots

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ALTHOUGH not yet handed a UK release, you should be up in arms if you can't get to hear Flobots' LP Fight With Tools.

Flobots are a band bubbling under in the US and set to explode into the big time with a sound that fuses hip hop and alternative rock, demonstrating a mass appeal similar to Linkin Park, NERD and Rage Against The Machine.

However, as sophomore album title Platypus would suggest, Flobots are a totally unique beast.

The Denver group have an approach to making hip hop that's more stripped down than Lil Kim, with MCs Jonny 5 and Brer Rabbit's barbed, intelligent diatribes backed by a raw live band of guitar, bass, drums and most strikingly violin and trumpet.

The result is music that is individual, intelligent, exciting, and well worth the extra few quid it'll cost to buy it on import.

No mistaking The Corrections

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STICK with The Corrections, and you won't go far wrong.

The Dalston-based group is the reincarnation of promising non-starter The Fallout Trust, and the sound of debut LP Repeat After Me taps a similar vein of electro-influenced angular indie.

Tracks such as OCD and Barcode are real standout indie stompers on what is an impressive debut, only spoiled by the occasional ponderous slow number such as Straightjacket Sheets plonked at regular intervals in the track listing stopping the album's momentum.

On this evidence, The Corrections are one to keep a close eye out for, no mistaking.

Make a date with Singles

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SINGLES 2001-2005 is a strange compilation album from a band I would soundly advise you to check out, Biffy Clyro.
Despite the trio - often paradoxically referred to as a Scottish Nirvana - having just unlocked the charts with their latest album and major label debut Puzzle, their previous label Begger's Banquet are releasing this collection of singles from their three previous albums, without the Biff's consent, to fulfill contractual obligations.

And some wags might say to cash in too...
But despite the bitter back story, the quality of the group's back catalogue can only leave a sweet, sweet taste in the listener's mouth.
From the grungey dirge of Justboy and Questions And Answers through to the twisting, melodic metal thrashouts of There's No Such Thing As A Jaggy Snake and Eradicate The Doubt, this chronological chart of the band's rise is a great starting point point for listeners only familiar with Puzzle.

Gorge yourself on Pork And Beans

IN CASE you missed it, Weezer's latest single, the tasty Pork And Beans, has the best promo video I have seen in years.
You simply must click here to sample the delight.

Hard rock from the Stone Gods

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RISEN pheonix-like from the ashes of The Darkness, Stone Gods really know how to rock.
In true Spinal Tap style, the East Anglians play with a fist in the air and a tongue in the cheek.
And at points this LP, Silver Spoons And Broken Bones, is laugh-out-loud funny - particularly on Burn The Witch and Start Of Something.
And like fellow mock rockers such as Three Inches Of Blood the group can clearly also play.
The problem is that although a funny one at first, the joke soon wears thin, and I have my doubts if, like The Darkness before them, Stone Gods will be the rock of ages.

Hot Sauce

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G LOVE And Special Sauce’s latest album Superhero Brother is a case of if it ain’t broke...
For following 2006’s fizzing Lemonade LP, the trio of G Love, Jimi Jazz and Houseman are back with more of their trademark super smooth grooves.
And why not? It is the summertime after all.
The LP is another slab of their inimitable brand of blues, hip hop and surf rock, while opening combo Communication and City Life, as well as band manifesto Who's Got The Weed, show a funkier streak to this album.
In fact, Superhero Brother is something of a marvel.

Catch The Subways

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WELWYN Garden City's most rockingest band The Subways first album Young For Eternity was produced by former Lightning Seed Ian Broudie.

All Or Nothing sees former Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins producer Butch Vig take the controls.

No surprise then that on this LP, the trio is a heavier proposition than before - and riproaring tracks like Girls And Boys and Alright show The Subways are on track, heading along the right lines.

And if their invigorating new producer decides to stay on board, The Subway's next stop will likely be a truly great album.

It's just a shame that the band didn't literally go All Or Nothing when putting the LP together, as in fact, it's the slower numbers such as Move To Newlyn that are holding this album back.

Dirty Pretty average

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NOT only does The Libertines hang round Dirty Pretty Things' frontman Carl Barat's neck like a lead weight on Romance At Short Notice, but the former Pete Doherty right hand man is also charged with trying to outdo debut effort Waterloo Or Anywhere's success.

And although this effort fails to scale the peaks of his previous outfit, it's a surprise to this reviewer that he has even made it to base camp 'Listenable', let only penned a few sizzlers.

After a stuttering start in Buzzards & Crows the album picks up momentum, and although single Tired Of England is a bit lame, the ska-tinged Clash-style indie exhibited on tracks like Chinese Dogs, Best Face and Kicks Or Consumption is some of Dirty Pretty Things best yet.

Romance it ain't, but I still like you Carl.

Carpet flawed?

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KID Carpet is a very apt name for this keyboard-wielding singer-songwriter.
No, not the Carpet bit, the Kid moniker.
For Casio Royale, the Bristol-based Kid Carpet’s second LP, is clearly product of a man having a lot of innocent, wide-eyed fun with his computer-beeps and beats art.
The overall sound may be a little one man fiddling with his organ for his own pleasure at times, but funtime tracks like Can’t Stop The Pop and Solitaire make the likes of Mika look like an old grumpy boots.
That said, other’s like So Much Fun and Hitting The Wall show a heavier edge, making an interesting if contradictory switch from subject matter like kiss chases to packets of fags.
Perhaps he’s just going through an awkward phase...

LOTP album named

CASTLE Donington goofball indie dance act Late Of The Pier's forthcoming album has been named Fantasy Black Channel.
The Erol Alkan-produced album, out on August 11, will feature 11 tracks including Hot Tent Blues, Space And The Woods, The Bears Are Coming, Focker and Bathroom Gurgle.

Feeder on the menu

TOP rock band Feeder have announced a Loughborough date in their first full UK tour in nearly three years.
The Welsh rockers, known for their hits Shatter, Buck Rogers and Lost And Found, will be kicking off the tour on October 20 in Stoke On Trent, before heading to Loughborough University on November 1 via gigs including Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow, Liverpool, Birmingham, Llandudno, Bristol, and London.
Tickets go on sale from today for the tour, which has been announcined following the release of Feeder’s sixth studio album Silent Cry, which reached number eight in the UK album charts.

Seth bomb

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THE folkin' hot Seth Lakeman is not only the posterboy of folk music - probably by default by being the only person in the folk music scene without a bushy beard, a tankard of Goblins Twaddle and jingly little bells on his shoes - but he is also a damn fine songwriter too.

Okay, I concede Eliza Carthy doesn't have a bushy beard, but she can down a pint of Twaddle with the best of them, so I've heard.

Poor Man's Heaven, Lakeman's fourth solo LP, is more of the same rhythmic folk demonstrated on debut The Punch Bowl, the Mercury-nominated Kitty Jay and the top-40 charting Freedom Fields.

Here Seth's sound is punchier, slightly rockier than before, and throughout the album more consistent than Freedom Fields, though it perhaps lacks the emotional peaks of its predecessor.

Nevertheless, if Poor Man's Heaven is this enjoyable, thank God I'm on a crap wage.

Day job

IN CASE you weren't aware, blogging about music is not my full-time job - I in fact spend most of the time between 9am and 5pm writing for the Loughborough Echo.
Part of that daily grind is spent compiling The Guide, the entertainments section of the paper, and now you can see some of the fruits of that labour at the Echo's spanking new website.
That's right, I said spanking new.
To cynically get more hits on Google.
Anyhoo, click here for the website's entertainments section for examples of my work - that should be enough to tide you Isaac Ashe-aholics over until I get back from holiday next week.
It can't always be all work and no play for us hacks y'know.

The Rascals are cheeky Monkeys

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MILES Kane, ertswhile Arctic Monkeys colloborator, is back to his day job The Rascals.

And listening to the Wirral group's debut effort, it seems that working with the Sheffield prodigies has rubbed off on the group.

A lot.

The album, Rascalize, sounds like the product of a fumbling one night stand between Arctic Monkeys and The Coral.

But although it is a raw sounding effort, this is not a shambles by any stretch, and fans of the aforementioned groups will find a lot of merit here.

However Rascalize is nothing new, and what there is rarely raises above average.

Basically, if are the sort of person that is likely to buy an Arctic Monkeys b-sides compilation, then go ape.

With A Buzz In Their Ears They Play Endlessly

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SIGUR Ros's fifth studio album Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust is exactly what you expect from Sigur Ros.

It's an acheingly beautiful melange of ambient, classical, indie and folk influenced post-rock and a worthy addition to their back catalogue.

However, although the album is, as the artwork suggests, a slightly stripped down version, this is nothing desperately new from the Icelandic four-piece, despite Nine Inch Nails producer Flood on board.

Ultimately Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust - which translates as "With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly" - pushes as many envelopes as an unemployed postman, which is disappointing for a group which were so fresh and inventive five undeniably spectacular yet spectacularly-similar albums ago.

Isaac is Pleased

I WOULD like to say a quick "thank you" to Pat Ashe for donating a cassette tape to the Isaac Ashe's Sound Advice Ashemobile Soundsystem Appeal.
That brings the grand total of tapes received to one tape.
Pat kindly donated At Your Table, a tape by Southampton's Please Will, an electro acoustic artist with a real DIY ethic not unlike Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly or Jamie-T.
Copies of the tape, which I highly recommend, are available to buy from Please Will's Myspace page at the link above.
If anyone else has any cassette tapes they no longer want, they can donate them to the Isaac Ashe's Sound Advice Ashemobile Soundsystem Appeal by either dropping them off at the Loughborough Echo offices or posting them to -
Isaac Ashe's Sound Advice Ashemobile Soundsystem Appeal,
Isaac Ashe,
Loughborough Echo,
Princes' Court,
Royal Way,
Loughborough,
Leicestershire,
England.
LE11 5XR.

Kaki King rules

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"THERE are some guitar players that are good and there are some guitar players that are really good.

"And then there's Kaki King."

That is the view of Dave Grohl - you may have heard of him - on Atlantan guitarist and songwriter Kaki King, whose fourth album Dreaming Of Revenge is a real confirmation of a major talent.

Kaki King packs each track with more layers than an onion, creating a rich tapestry of fret tapping, string slapping, picking, strumming and even drumming her guitar.

With a more accessible sound and her vocals more evident than on previous outings, and less of the ponderous virtuoso tracks which although impressive were sometimes a chore to sit through, Dreaming Of Revenge is sweet.

Cage The Elephant are heavyweights

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WITH thier eponymous debut, Cage The Elephant deserve to be the musical mammoths their name would suggest.

With this raucous rabble-rousing party album, the Kentucky band sound like a cross between G Love And Special Sauce and Arctic Monkeys.

No seriously - imagine that Liam and Noel Gallagher had formed a band in sunny LA instead of drizzly Manchester, and you're somewhere close to Cage The Elephant's sound.

Their mix of Kings Of Leon-style rock with Beck-style hip hop comes out of the speakers like a stampede on tracks like In One Ear and then struts around like it rightfully owns the place, as on current single Ain't No Rest For The Wicked.

Quite frankly, if you haven't heard this summertime classic yet, then 'tusk, tusk' to you.

Cassette in my ways

WHAT with my high-flying journalism job at the Loughborough Echo and my evident love of music, you would probably guess that I drive around in a flashy car with an even flashier stereo.

Sadly this is not true - I in fact am driving a car that would have been mediocre in the 1990s that is equipped with a soundsystem that would have been even more mediocre in the 1980s.

That's right, I still rock cassette tapes in the Ashemobile.

Now you can't just stroll into Zavvi and pick up the latest sensation's new chart-busting album on cassette.

Instead I am forced to mostly tape my own stuff, or beg, borrow and buy cassette tapes from every available source - Matt Jarram, that includes that big bag of tapes you promised me...

For the best part that means charity shops, car boots and table top sales, and the stuff you pick up is either brilliant or just plain ridiculous.

For example, recent acquisitions include Rollins Band - Weight, Alanis Morrisette - Jagged Little Pill, Reef - Glow and The Simpsons - Sing The Blues.

I'll leave you to decide what is what...

However it's not all bad - this strange black market of music has fulfilled one of my longest-standing musical ambitions, one that as a small child I never thought I would achieve.

That's right, I am now the proud owner a copy of the soundtrack to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.

Herbaliser is mint

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HAVING been around for some time, since 1995 in fact, English hip hop duo Herbaliser are grand old sages of the scene.

So it's no surprise that the former Ninja Tune outfit's sixth studio album Same As It Never Was is a slick affair.

Mixing their trademark abstract hip hop and breaks with good time funk, sassy soul and a splash of contemporary jazz, Same As It Never Was is for the best part a Mark Ronson-style party album.

The album, amazingly for a group so long in the tooth, sounds fresh and is, quite simply, mint.

Big Mac

RADIO One DJ Annie Mac will be having a One Night Stand at Loughborough Students' Union on June 17.
Organised by Shivoo and Just Insane Music, the BBC DJ will be playing a very rare two set show of house followed by drum and bass.
Playing alongside Annie Mac will be The Count & Sinden, DJ Fu vs Jungle Drummer, Sigma & MC Master X, The Qemists & MC ID, Transit Mafia and Samiad.
Edd Kiggins of Just Insane Music said: "Dance music has never been so exciting in Loughborough, and this is the last showcase at the Loughborough Students' Union until the new term starts.
"So book Wednesday off work and put on your dancing shoes."
Tickets available from here or here, as well as Zavvi in The Rushes and the Custard Bar in Ward's End in Loughborough.

Wavey Davey

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SINGER songwriter Cathy Davey could be Ireland's answer to PJ Harvey.

However, at other points on this, her sophomore album, the follow-up to 2004's Something Ilk, the Dublin songstress sounds like Ireland's answer to Katie Melua.

Blessed with a voice equal parts cutesy and sultry, Tales Of Silversleeve soars on tracks like Collector and Reuben, and you can see at these highs how Davey picked up the Meteor Award - Ireland's answer to the Mercury Music Prize - and a nominee for an Irish Choice Award - Ireland's answer to the Brits.

However whether or not the album's patchiness ruins the LP overall is the question...

Cutting edge TV

FOLLOWING on from the ferocious fingerbiting incident involving Castle Donington's Late Of The Pier on The Nokia Green Room on Channel 4, Belton boys The Young Knives made an appearance this weekend.
You can find out more at superblogger Chris Neadham's site here or by looking for a repeat of the show in your copy of the Loughborough Echo, which does have a TV section you know.

Fratelli show

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HEY you guys! The Fratellis are back.
The Scot rock outfit have compiled another LP of their trademark indie with more hooks than a Peter Pan convention with Here We Stand, the follow-up to 2006's fantastic Costello Music.

But sadly the chart-troublers have suffered from the dreaded second album syndrome.

Although tracks like Lupe Brown and Stragglers Moon have hit all over them, the overall album suffers from too much forgettable filler.

As a result Here We Stand sees The Fratellis literally at a standstill.

Ash you like it

SMOKIN' rock band Ash will be hotting up the area with a headline gig at Loughborough Students' Union and a spot at Download Festival this weekend.
The Northern Irish group, known for hits such as Burn Baby Burn, Goldfinger and Girl From Mars, are playing the second stage at Download in Castle Donington on Saturday, June 14, just before headliners HIM.
And the following day the band, named after the first word they liked in the dictionary, are playing at Loughborough Students' Union alongside Krish and Penfold Gate.
Nikki Shipley, Loughborough Students' Union spokeswoman, said: "The band Ash, made up of vocalist Tim Wheeler, Mark Hamilton on bass and Rick McMurray on drums, formed in Northern Ireland back in 1992, having all attended the same school.
"Ash have just released their latest album Twilight Of The Innocents, which they have planned as their last album.
"Denying rumours that they intend on splitting, they have started a new tour including the Download Festival 2008, this sounds like it could be one of your last chances to see Ash as we now know them.
"Whether you're a fan of the original '90s sound, or the newer retro vibe, Loughborough Students' Union promises to deliver a night to remember."
Tickets to see Ash at Loughborough University are available here and here and cost £12.50 with an NUS card and £13.50 without.
To see the band at Download, log on here.

Rock and roll call

FOR the thousands of metallers converging on Castle Donington on June 13 for Download 2008, here is Isaac Ashe's Sound Advice's top five must-sees this year –

• Biffy Clyro
Main stage, Saturday
Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro's last album, Puzzle, was a career-best that launched them from unknowns to one of the brightest lights on the metal scene, and are one of the best live acts I've ever seen. Mon the Biff!
• Dillinger Escape Plan
Third stage headliners, Friday
For pure primordial metal mayhem, escape the crowds and catch this brutal band's headine set, before nipping across to catch the end of Kiss's show, just so you can say you saw them.
• Coheed And Cambria
Main stage, Sunday
Forget music with a message, Coheed And Cambria's entire back catalogue is based on a novel penned by the group. This concept band's expert musicianship is without a doubt Sunday's highlight.
• The Subways
Second stage, Friday
The Hertfordshire band's sophomore album, All Or Nothing, is released later this year, so expect a taster of the album in their Download set. I have had a cheeky sneak listen to tracks from the new LP, and if they're half as good live as they are on record this will be a blinder.
• Pendulum
Second stage, Saturday
Drum and bass act Pendulum – whose latest album In Silico is a scorcher – will surely be worth going along to, whether you're into drum and bass or not, just to see people's reactions.

Goldie looking plain

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NEVER one to be shy, drum and bass legend and part-time Bond villain Goldie - real name Clifford Joseph Price - has joined the likes of Groove Armada's Tom Findlay and The Scratch Perverts to put together his own Watch The Ride mix.

And the results, although ground-shaking, are not ground-breaking.

An enjoyable yet forgettable hour-plus of furious drum and bass for ardent drum and bass traditionalists, it is just a little disappointing that a mix entitled Watch the Ride ultimately doesn't go anywhere in particular.

Do not Disturbed

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HARD rockers Disturbed are back with a fourth effort, Indestructable.

Demonstrating the Chigaco group's trademark pummelling riffs and throbbing bass-heavy beats as well as a frontman as powerful vocally as ever in David Dreiman, on paper Indestructable is hard to beat.

Indeed, fans of the band will lap up tracks like the brutal Inside The Fire and the incendiary Perfect Insanity like a baby on a teat.

However for me the group, who are appearing at this year's Download in Castle Donington this month, despite the riffing and postering and scary artwork, remain too safe.

The same way that being strapped down on a rollercoaster dulls the excitement, Disturbed are so polished you can see your face in them, where they need to retain a rawness and a sense of danger.

Sweet Dreams

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WELLER, Weller, Weller, huh? Tell me more...

The Modfather and all-round Britpop father figure Paul Weller is back with some of his favoured familiars - Oasis' Noel Gallagher, Little Barrie, Ocean Colour Scene's Steve Cradock and ex-Blur guitarist Graham Coxon - for a lengthy excursion, his first in three years.

And 22 Dreams has rightfully been hailed as the Jam man's best work since the '90s' Wild Wood and Stanley Road.

Tracks such as Echoes Round The Sun and Have You Made Up Your Mind demonstrate a reinvogorated Weller back at the top of his game.

That said, you an have too much of a good thing, and 22 Dreams could still have benefitted from being trimmed down to a refreshing snooze rather than an entire duvet day.

Shake your rump to the Plump

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LONDON'S Plump DJs just got even plumper - thanks to the release of their fourth album, Headthrash.

The duo of Les Rous and Andy Gardner have always been among the greatest creators of breakbeats around, but sometimes they lacked the accompanying tune for their club-thumping 'choons'.

However on Headthrash, out June 2 on the brilliant Finger Lickin' Records label, there is some real meat on these always exquisitely crafted bones.

On System Addict they bake emotive swells and hip hop vocal samples into their already-tasty nu skool breaks pie, Shifting Gears sees funky, soulful string samples come into play and SNAFU sees the group's trademark beeps and squelches go into skittering overdrive.

Quite simply, Plump DJs are the phattest around.

Ladytron electronica a tonic

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VELOCIFERO, Liverpool-based Ladytron's fourth album, is the sound of a computer that's turned on.

Here the electro poppers have crossed sultry, sleazy vocals with mechanical drones and dark, industrial beats, while retaining adding an aloof air of mystery - for example on Kletva, which is sung entirely in Bulgarian.

The group have clearly picked up the baton of edgy, sexy, dancey, indie-y pop from Goldfrapp - who decided this year with Seventh Tree to go sunbathing instead.

In contrast Ladytron's Velocifero is music for the nighttime - and a dark night at that.

Wombat ball

STREWTH! The Wombats are coming to Loughborough.
Liverpool three-piece breakthrough indie band The Wombats will be bringing their chart-busting sound to Loughborough Students' Union on June 10.
Admission to see the band, best known for hits such as Moving To New York, Let's Dance To Joy Division and Backfire At The Disco, costs £15 for non-students, or £14 with an NUS card.
Nikki Shipley, Students' Union spokeswoman, said: "With the UK tours selling out fast, here at Loughborough Students Union we promise not to disappoint.
"In our 1,600 capicity room we fully intend to have a fully packed venue all adding to an amazing, one off experience that is not to be missed.
"It is certainly going to be an awesome start to the summer months and promises to be a highlight of the year!"
Tickets are available online here, or from Loughborough Students' Union reception.

Royworld out of this world

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ECCENTRIC indie poppers Royworld, who take their name from a Welsh bowling alley, are ready to strike with their debut album Man In The Machine.

For this Buggles-esque release of 80s inspired melodrama is top of the pomps - epic, dynamic and full of more hooks than the classified section of the Angling Times.

Singles like Elasticity and Dust are both radio-friendly and challengingly complex, and completely different from their contemporaries.

Even the band's structure is a little off-the-wall, with their poignant songs co-written by singer Rod Futrille and his brother Crispin, who is not even in the band.

Ultimately these songs are big compositions, and it would be an injustice if by the end of the year, Royworld are not playing the arenas they would be so at home in.

In the meantime, you can catch them near Loughborough in Nottingham's Rock City on June 3, and Leicester's Summer Sundae festival on August 8.

Salutations

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CUT loose and lay back this summer with Loose Salute, music's answer to the lobotomy.

For the band's goodtime surf indie is like sunshine encapsulated, but like The Shortwave Set's album earlier this Spring, the result is just a bit gormless.

For some people sitting on a sandy backside jobless and grinning in a VW campervan is an idyll.

For me this image is not as nice as Loose Salute would have it.

Sure, it's nice for a break, but not all the time.

The Lab ab fab

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THE Lab's One, a 10-track sampler from the Manchester-based label, is a successful experiment.
Compiled under the "naive notion that good music will prevail," the selection is a mixed bag, from the driving rock of North Dakota's The Wooden Sky to the acoustic tinkering of Vandaveer's Crooked Mast.
Some of it is forgettable, for instance The Panda Band's effort which just doesn't gel for me, but with the likes of the We Are Scientists-esque Secret Broadcast, Snow Patrol-style Soft, the simply awesome Snowden and the star in waiting that is Rod Thomas, The Lab may well have lined up several of my new favourite bands in one fell swoop.
The CD is available from June 2, or you can listen to it here!

Hold a candle for Wax Tailor

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FRENCHMAN Wax Tailor's blend of trip hop and hip hop, thrip hop if you will, that is Hope And Sorrow finally gets a UK release next month.

The Tailor-made sophomore album from Wax, whose real name is the decidedly Gallic Jean-Christophe Le Saoût, sees a select group of carefully-selected collaborators - such as funk vocalist Sharon Jones and rappers The Others - join the DJ for a slick, cinematic outing.

The result is a mixture of rich, textured, string drenched beats and head-nodding hip hop that proves there's life for trip hop beyond the city limits of Bristol.

Kraak & Smaak traaks laaking

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DUTCH dance collective Kraak And Smaak's breakthrough album Plastic People has plastic bagged them some attention in this country since its release earlier this month.

And deservedly so, as their unmistakably European brand of souped-up house with a funky slant in the vein of Etienne de Crecy or Cassius is made for the dancefloor.

Tracks like Squeeze Me and Man Of Constant Sorrow show a group clearly having fun plying their trade.

However not all the tracks have such an appeal, and when the melodies or vocals are less demanding of attention, such as on California Roll or Thinking Back, the drumbeats need to step into the fray more.

Unfortunately they don't meaning that by the end of the LP, attention can stray - but don't just listen to a haak like me.

Plastic People is still a craaking album, and one of the best dance albums to land on my desk so far this year, so why not go Dutch.

Yoav to check him out

THE star of last night's Later... With Jools Holland was undoubtedly Yoav, the Israel-born South African one man band.
I've had a quick listen now of his 2008 album Charmed And Strange, as he only got to perform one track on the show, and the Kaki King meets Timbaland meets Incubus sound, all done on one guitar and attached pedals, is definitely one to check out.