Praxis of evil

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WHEN it comes to supergroups, Praxis are the supervillain.
Led by prolific experimentalist Bill Laswell and the simply bizarre guitarist de jour Buckethead, their brooding 2008 outing Profanation (Preparation For A Coming Darkness) - delayed since 2005 and even now only available on import from Japan - features input from Iggy Pop, Mike Patton, Serj Tankian and Killah Priest among others.
And this wealth of talent has created a deeply disturbing voyage through dub, metal, hip hop, ambient, experimental, jungle, rock, funk and anything else you can think of.
Although not for the faint-hearted, nevertheless it would be a crime for this murky masterpiece to pass people by.

Alessi's Ark - buy two, buy two

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IN A world where Diana Vickers can repeatedly survive the The X-Factor vote, quirky young singer Alessi's Ark should do rather well for herself.
For a start, unlike Ms Vickers and her sub-Cranberries bleating, London teen Alessi's Ark is phenomenally talented.
Her debut LP, produced by the team behind Bright Eyes, is a four-track collection of lush folk pop that sounds more accomplished than a debut release from an 18-year-old should.
From the less-than-two minute wonder The Horse to the sumptuous Let's Race, The Horse should see Alessi's Ark jockeying for position with the likes of Laura Marling in no time at all.

Angst in their pants

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FOLLOWING in the wake of Crystal Castles' hugely successful 2008, You Love Her Coz She's Dead and their commodore-abusing Inner City Angst EP has got a release.

The electro group, who assure fans that their moniker doesn't promote necrophilia, are a mixture of forthright Daft Punk-style beats and Crystal Castles' bafflingly-popular primitive computer bleeps.

However this approach pays off for the duo - although messy opening track Superheroes sounds like Bloc Party playing in a warehouse full of ringing mobile phones.

As the EP progresses the sound develops an almost glam vibe, peaking with the frenetic Blood Lust.

Quite simply, if you like Crystal Castles, you'll think these are a cut above.

Sausage Party!

IN ADDITION to their upcoming tour, Castle Donington's finest Late Of The Pier are playing a select gig at the Chameleon Arts Cafe in Nottingham on Sunday.
The sadly sold out Sausage Party, at the tiny venue above Clinton Cards in Angel Row, will see a number of limited edition CDs handed out at the door - which is sure to contain some bangers.

Vote Guns N' Roses

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AFTER 15 years of the most epic, ludicrous back story to an album ever, costing an alleged $13 million, and seeing double figures of musicians coming and going, Guns N' Roses's Chinese Democracy is finally in stores.

Well, unless you live in China, that is.

And you know what, it's alright - not as bad as I feared, yet expected.

A bit long-winded in places, with some face-melting guitar solos in others - what else did you expect from Axl and his appetite for distraction...

How long until the follow-up?

A Frankly indispensible collection

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FORMER hardcore outfit Million Dead frontman Frank Turner has, for three years now, been knocking 'em dead as an alt-folk people's poet for the post-rock generation.

With a wry, quintessentially English eye for a dry, self-depreciating lyric and an honest one man and his guitar approach to his compositions, Frank's new The First Three Years compendium really is an essential release.

Even if you already have his first two albums, the magnificently-titled Sleep Is For The Week and follow-up Love, Ire And Song, the extras here are a choice selection.

Frankly, his cover of Dancing Queen by ABBA is worth the money alone.

Go West

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AS THE title 808s And Heartbreaks suggests, this is not an album of party anthems from Kanye West.

And also, as the title suggests, Kanye has come over all 1980s synth and vocoder.

It all adds up to a real change of direction for the chart-troubling rapper.

Utilising a Roland TR-808 - the drum machine used on Marvin Gaye's Sexual Healing - for the beats and bleeps on this album, the LP has a distinctive and arresting sound, although pound for pound there's clearly less hit single here than on his previous three albums.

Nevertheless kudos must go to West for taking his work out on a limb - and for plucking Ashe family favourite Mr Hudson for a profile-raising collaboration - obviously since Graduation Kanye has grown as an artist.

Hopefully 808s And Heartbreaks will be one that the public grows to love.

Blooming boring

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FOR her debut album Yellow Flowers, London-based singer Natasha Panas has "sourced some of the UK’s finest players".
But however polished and accomplished the sound is, it's more bland than big band.
This collection of easy listening is just far too easy - aside from the David McAlmont collaboration Kennington there's nothing there to stimulate the listener.
Think smooth jazz, but smooth as in devoid of any distinguishing features.

The Killers' Day And Age

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LAS Vegas' stadium fillers The Killers have proved it's still their time with their third LP, Day And Age.

After the disappointing Sam's Town, Brandon Flowers's powers of to-the-point hit making seem to have returned, albeit retaining an epic 80s-tinged edge and, sadly, that silly facial hair.

Although not the albsolute classic album that the public is on tenterhooks for, Day And Age is still an interesting and enjoyable progession for the group - and you can hear it for yourself on their Myspace site today, ahead of its release.

Crocodiles And Prostitutes

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THE forthcoming Crocodiles And Prostitutes EP from Andy J Gallagher is a snappy release worth paying money for.

The London punk's raw four-track is an energetic collection of Libertines-style rockers that come tearing out of the speakers - it's blink and you'll miss it time - whetting the appetite for his debut Helicopter Dolphin Submarine album in 2009.

With this full throttle attitude, production is a bit lax in places, and Andy J's Carl Barat drawl can miss it's notes a few times.

However this is a small price to pay for music with such teeth - and I feel we're on a promise with this up-and-coming rocker's album.

Barrowmangled

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INSTEAD of spending a tenner on mild cheese, melting it down and drinking it by the pint until you feel a little sickly, then going straight to bed for a total nightmare, why not spend your cash on John Barrowman's latest LP, Music Music Music.

It evokes a similar feeling, but you can repeat the experience again and again.

From the schmaltzy original numbers such as the Gary Barlow penned What About Us to the parade of camp cover versions such as Can't Take My Eyes Off You and Uptown Girl, Music Music Music is pure, unadulterated aural torture.

A young Young

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RECORDED the same year as Canadian folk rock legend Neil Young's eponymous debut solo album was released, Sugar Mountain - Live At Canterbury House 1968 is an arresting snapshop of a rising star.

Recorded at the Michigan venue over two nights in 1968, the singer songwriter's talent is as raw as ever here, and the album and accompanying DVD is a real treat for fans.

Around half of the album's 23-track listing is Young talking to the audience, which builds a real sense of occasion between the beautifully delivered tracks, of which The Loner is my personal highlight.

Delicate and understated, this is not the Harvest Moon singer at his finest, but at the same time you can't help but be drawn into this fascinating portrait of a young Young.

The Reason reasonable

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NOT to be confused with South American beast of burden the llama, British soul singer Lemar has a new album out next week.
But with his gift of a voice, Lemar sure knows how to carry a tune.
Proving the Tottenham singer to be a ballad specialist, his fourth album The Reason shows a singer at the top of his game on touching tracks such as lead single If She Knew.
Sadly overly-produced pedestrian production dominates, and with the addition of cringeworthy tracks like Little Miss Heartbreaker, it's not unreasonable to say that Lemar's The Reason doesn't do justice to his vocal talents.

Sound Advice wants your sound advice

LEND me your ears!
Cast your eyes down the right hand column and you'll come across the lists of my albums of the year 2004-2007.
Every year I try to compile a personal 'best of', and 2008 will be no exception.
While keeping my cards close to my chest - as I already have some definites and more than a few maybes in mind - I'd like some suggestions from you, my faithful readership.
Any albums you think I should be considering, any you think I may have overlooked on these pages so far this year, any LPs you think I should avoid - I want to know.
So please, feel free to comment below.

The Late Of The Pier shows

LATE Of The Pier have announced a slew of 2009 tour dates - but sadly, no Loughborough show.
The group's Bears Don't Hibernate tour, which runs throughout February, sees the four-piece coming as near as Derby, playing The Royal on February 13.
The band will also bring their Numan-esque synth rock sounds to Bath, Exeter, Wolverhampton, Sheffield, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Middlesbrough, Leeds, Manchester, Oxford, London, Brighton, Portsmouth, Hitchin and Cambridge.
However the group are yet to reschedule their Rapture Nightclub date that was cancelled earlier this year, just ahead of the release of Fantasy Black Channel.

Yes Ministry

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SUPERCLUB Ministry Of Sound's Anthems II is a massive three-CD, 60-song voyage through some of the tracks that have made the Elephant And Castle club into a global brand.

And surprisingly, as this is the follow-up to the equally expansive Anthems, this instalment manages to keep the quality peaking.

Treading a careful path between cheesy nostalgia and genuine anthem, the tracklisting reads like a who's who of the last two-and-a-half decades of dance - Orbital, Snap!, Faithless, Robert Miles, Underworld, Sash!, Daft Punk, Armand Van Helden, Planet Perfecto, former Loughborough schoolboy Felix Buxton's band Basement Jaxx, Modjo, D:Ream, The Prodigy...

Obviously with 60 tracks here there are a lot you could live without, but if this doesn't get you throwing shapes at some point, nothing will.

Classic nineteen - Afreaka! unique

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DESPITE sounding like a group of hairy, leather-clad death metallers that deserved to be forgotten, Demon Fuzz are a real hidden gem.

Mixing the Latin-influenced rock of Santana and the funk and grooves of Sly And the Family Stone with afro-beat, prog rock and psychedelia influences, Afreaka! is one-of-a-kind.

Sadly quite literally - for the 1970 release was the British band's only effort.

Ambitious, eclectic, experimental and hugely underrated, you really should make Demon Fuzz the devil you know.

A liberal helping of local acts

WYMESWOLD three-piece Wave Pictures' Instant Coffee Baby and Castle Donington-based Late Of The Pier's Fantasy Black Channel have both been shortlisted by The Guardian for their First Album Award.
The groups' LPs are up against albums by acts such as Duffy, The Courteeners, Friendly Fires, Laura Marling and The Tings Tings for the debut album gong.
The winner will be chosen by the public, so you can help the local acts by clicking here and placing your vote.
Voting closes on November 30, with the result announced in the paper on December 19.

Mullet over

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EUROVISION flop James Fox must be off his rocker of he thinks Rocking Chairs And Lemonade will relaunch his career.

For the debut LP, the latest from the Welsh singer who represented GB in the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest, is a cheesy collection of wannabe-Jack Johnson strummers that's completely mind numbing and pointless.

On this flat effort, Fame Academy contestant Fox, whose real name is Richard Mullet, should call it a day.

To coin a phrase, nil points.

Seal approval

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GRIZZLED singer Sealhenry Olusegun Kwassi Olumide Adelo Samuel, better known as Seal, likes to do things simply.

The singer, who rose to prominance back in 1990 on Adamski's club hit Killer, is no young pup and has been around the block a few times, and with this latest LP, Soul, a collection of classic soul cuts, he puts all this nous to good use.

With a voice as distinctive as his scarred cheeks, he effortlessly makes songs by legends such as Al Green, Sam Cooke and James Brown his own here - which is no mean feat.

Obviously such soul staples are always going to be a case of orginal is best, and at times, such as on If You Don't Know Me By Now and Knock On Wood, the album dips its toes into elements of cheese.

But overall, Soul is a passable reincarnation for Seal after his dance-orientated outing System last year.

Stereophonics' sound

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IT SAYS a lot that songs like Madame Helga, Mama Told Me Not To Come, Same Size Feet and Hurry Up And Wait are only available on the deluxe two-disc version of Decade In The Sun, the Stereophonics' new best of package.
Not that it will come as a surprise to fans - for gravel-gargling frontman Kelly Jones's group have released a slew of classic rock anthems since their debut hit the charts in 1997, with five out of their six albums peaking at number one.
Tracks like Just Looking, Dakota, Mr Writer and Local Boy In The Photograph sound as good as ever here, and the two new tracks - You're My Star and My Own Worst Enemy - fit well into the track listing.
My only quibble is, with a decade of hits behind you, why slip these two unknowns in?

Villager in the Cool runnings

IT'S official - local boy done good Samuel Eastgate, better known as Samuel Dust of Late Of The Pier, is the fifth coolest person in the world.
The Castle Donington band's frontman has sailed in at number five in the NME Cool List 2008, ahead of the likes of Caleb Followill, Liam Gallagher, Zach de la Rocha, Guy Garvey and M.I.A.
Announcing his new-found coolness - for Sam is a new entry this year - the magazine wrote: "It takes a true maverick to grow up in Castle Donington and become, not a denim-clad rocker or downcast screamo fan, but rather a purveyor of hyper-energetic, splatter-gun electro.
"In Dust we trust."

Play us a Dune

DAVID Tattersall, frontman of Wymeswold band The Wave Pictures, features on the latest album from French indie pop duo Herman Dune.

The album, Next Year In Zion, was released in October, and is the band's happiest work to date.

Operahouse change

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THE Change In Nature EP, the latest blueprint from newcomers Operahouse, also signals a change in approach.

With previous releases such as Born A Boy, the group had a punky kind of feel, but here the group have set their sights on a sound as grand and epic as their name suggests.

Sadly their new dance-rock approach merely comes across as an attempt at The Verve, but with less, err, verve.

Not that I blame them for trying - If they could carry off the The Music-meets-Arcade Fire sound they're aiming at, this would be an indispensible EP ahead of their full-length debut.

But in execution Operahouse, on Change In Nature, are more 'am dram'.

Threatmantics' antics

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THREE-piece Threatmantics are not your conventional set-up.

Instead of guitar, drums and bass, the Welsh group make their raw brand of rock on viola, guitar, drums and keyboards – with Huw Davies playing both drums and keyboards simultaneously.

With scuzzy production values, a unique approach to their music's instrumentation and a performance with more energy than a coffee-drinking two-year-old, Upbeat Love manages to leap the hurdle of their songs being largely forgettable and be worth a listen.

This expanded EP is promising start for a band who you should jump at the chance to catch live - if they're half as enthusiastic as this record implies, Threatmantics' antics will be a frantic proposition.

Classic eighteen - Surely Manson

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HEY buster, are you sick of Ray Parker Junior? Does the thought of Michael Jackson not thrill you this Hallowe'en?

Then dust off a copy of Marilyn Manson's classic Smells Like Children and both trick and treat your party guests.

The 1995 LP is only really an EPs worth of material, made up mostly of deeply unsettling remixes of tracks from Portrait Of An American Family as well as brilliantly chosen and executed covers of tracks such as Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams and Screamin' Jay Hawkins' I Put A Spell On You.

However the true brilliance of this album is the choice of skits in between, that drag the album up to nearly an hour of complete strangeness.

From the minute-and-a-half of children crying intro The Hands Of Small Children to the talk show Sympathy For The Parents to the psycotic Scabs, Guns And Peanut Butter, via a load of tracks I can't name here without a parental advisory, these visions of madness are sure to help anyone have a unhappy Hallowe'en.

Razorlight dull

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HALF English, half Swedish rock band Razorlight used to exude the kind of cutting edge brilliance that their name would imply.

Debut album Up All Night spawned six singles and their eponymous follow-up saw a further five, including trans-atlantic fight America, which was a chart-topper.

However on listening to latest effort Slipway Fires' tracklisting, it's hard to see where the singles are going to come from.

Show me a Razorlight fan that didn't raise an eyebrow when they first heard slow burner Wire To Wire as the album's lead single instead of their usual raucous rockers, I'll show you a man with no eyebrows.

But after listening to the album, it turns out that Wire To Wire is the most infectious track here.

The rest, with the possible exception of Hostage Of Love, is underwhelming, piano-driven filler.

Razorlight used to be a cut above - on Slipway Fires they're just dull.

Pink - So What?

YOU may have noticed I have been a bit of a crawling, fawning sycophant of late, handing out ○○○○●s and ○○○○○s willy nilly to every Tom, Dick and Gary Lightbody.
So in order to stave off having to rename my blog Isaac Ashe's Isn't Music Brilliant or something similar I thought I'd write this little post, to prove I don't like everything.

In fact, this song is really getting my musical goat at the moment - who in the hell is actually buying Pink's ridiculous nursery rhyme-meets-messy divorce that is So What?

If I wanted to be involved in a divorce, I'd have trained to be a solicitor.

And who exactly calls Jessica Simpson "Jessica Simps"? Surely it's either Jessica Simpson, or Jess, if you're friends.
If you're reading this and you own a copy, you ought to be ashamed of yourself, log off right now.

Rock from the Heart

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UNCANNILY, if there is such a word, just as I was penning a Classic Collection blog post about the Eagles Of Death Metal, unbeknownst to me, on the other side of the pond Jesse "The Devil" Hughes and co were preparing to release a new LP.

Only out on import in the UK so far, the Josh Homme-produced Heart On is everything you'd expect from the group by now, and is described by the band themselves as their "latest fabulous weapon, a top-secret music missile, a sonic warhead sexually tipped for her pleasure, shot from the deck of USS EODM Mantastic Fantastic."

An erotically-charged, frenetic flurry of glam stoner rock that's more fun than a clown's birthday party, their latest offering is still seedy but less scuzzy than before, and as attractive as ever.

They start with the big guns blazing, before hitting more mature territory and - dare I say it - what's almost a ballad, and just when you think that the Eagles Of Death Metal are starting to take themselves a bit too seriously, they hit you with Prissy Prancin'.

Genius.

A star turn

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SNOW Patrol's 2003 album Final Straw has the honour of being the first album I ever reviewed as a pro.

Sure, I'd had a long history of boring my family, friends and anybody else that happened to be in earshot with my musical musings.

But as a greenhorn reporter at the Coalville Times who'd inherited the Mike Test music reviews section from departing reporter Mike Whelan, reviewing Snow Patrol was the first thing I did.

With hindsight, changing the name of Mike Test should have been the first thing I did, but actually the then editor confusingly kept it as Mike Test for a few weeks, then changed it Isaac Test, which makes no sense at all...

Anyway, then, as now, I was, and am, in awe of the slickness with which Snow Patrol went, and still go, about their business.

Latest offering A Hundred Million Suns is another welter of chart-troubling rockers and emotive ballads from the Dundee band.

Less immediately anthemic as their previous two offerings, A Hundred Million Suns is a slow-burner of epic proportions sure to put a little warmth your way.

Blog Party

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SINCE the wilds of time before Silent Alarm, I have been a massive advocate of Bloc Party's.

I remember waiting impatiently for the group's debut to be released, and again when follow-up A Weekend In The City was released.

However this cheeky new LP snuck up unexpectedly - but what a nice surprise.

As we've come to expect from Bloc Party by now, Intimacy is engaging and cerebral musically, but still kicks out the jams in all the right places despite a greater reliance on computers than before.

Straddling a fine line between their indie roots and their electronic tendancies, Intimacy is both a breath of fresh air and comfortingly familiar - if you're not yet intimate with Bloc Party, it's time to pucker up.

Number two priority

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FEELING flush? Then ahead of World Toilet Day on November 19, do pull up a stool and have a listen to Empty Boat's Waitless, an unlikely combination of world music and lavatories.
Musicians from across the world and as young as seven have mucked in to produce this upbeat album which melds African, Latin and jazz influences, all in the name of khazis.

Because every copy of this album sold will result in a deposit being made to Pump Aid which will enable the charity to provide sanitation for life for one African in need.

Overall the music, although eminently listenable, is fairly bog standard, but being privy to the information that it's helping such a good cause, I urge you to go for this LP.

Now That's What I Call a long time

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BLIMEY! The Now That's What I Call Music! series is nearly as old as me - and this year it celebrates a quarter-century of compilations.

To mark this milestone, like most 25-year-olds, it's decided to throw a party - captured on the three-CD collection of hits through the ages that is Now That's What I Call Music! 25 Years.

And what a collection it is - from Phil Collins and UB40, who both appeared on Now That's What I Call Music! volume one, through Diana Ross and Micheal Jackson and Take That and Oasis to contemporary chart-hogs such as Rihanna and Sugababes.

You may turn your nose up at such a pantheon of polished pop, but listening through it's undeniable that, love it or hate it -

A) you will know nearly all the words to all these songs, and...

B) these CDs would be great at a party.

Now that's what I call full marks.

TV On The Radio on the Internet

I DON'T normally blog about singles, so I'll keep it brief, but I thought I'd point out that the impending Golden Age, the first to be taken from New York-based five-piece TV On The Radio's latest LP Dear Science, above, is a glittering multi-layered slice of funky Prince-like rock that's well worth seeking out.

Rip The Whip

I KNOW you all like something for nothing, so why not download The Whip's cracking new free mix album by clicking here.
The Mancunian dance punks' 10-track mix includes the cracking Soulwax remix of the Chemical Brothers' Hey Boy Hey Girl and their own reworking of Hadouken!'s Decleration Of War.

Classic seventeen - Raw talon

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DON’T be fooled by this band’s ferocious moniker - they may sound like the scariest bird since Rosemary West, but instead of wanting to prey on you, the scariest thing the Eagles Of Death Metal want to do is a little humping.

The brainchild of Jesse “The Devil” Hughes, backed up by Queens Of The Stone Age’s Josh Homme on drum duties, Eagles Of Death Metal originated from a drunken bet to create the death metal version of the all-conquering Americana of The Eagles.
However the sound morphed from the original blurred vision - that appeared on The Desert Sessions Volume Two, if you’re interested - to their debut Peace Love Death Metal, a pulsating mix of handlebar moustaches, skin-tight leather trousers and ballsy, camp stoner rock.
Imagine what it would sound like if the Scissor Sisters invited Lemmy to play bass, and all took viagra an hour before the recording...

Benin hiding

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AS FAR as I'm aware, Isaac Ashe's Sound Advice doesn't have much of a readership in Benin.

So I'll wager not many of you will have heard of the country's prolific yet parochial Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou.

However I guarantee this compilation of the group's recordings will cast a spell over fans of funk.

The Vodoun Effect, a collection of tracks played in secret by the west African collective for minor labels back in the early 1970s while officially contracted elsewhere, cherrypicks tracks from the 500 or so known recordings by the band in their unique, energetic sound that literally drips with funk like sweat from James Brown mid-Sex Machine.

A cross between traditional African music and an extended Eddie Bo, James Brown style jam outs, the music is based on a musical style developed as an accompaniment to Vodoun - or voodoo - rituals.

As a result the LP, the first of a two-part series, is an energetic, lively collection that label Analog Africa made the right decision in resurrecting.

Okay Plus

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AMERICAN jazz trio The Bad Plus have built a career out of the cover version, playing jazz to a rock and pop audience.

If you don't yet know them, their reworkings of songs by artists ranging from Aphex Twin to David Bowie to Interpol to Blondie that litter their LPs have lifted them above the competition for sure.

However this gimmick has proved yet again to be both a blessing and a curse on latest LP For All I Care.

While some here - such as How Deep Is Your Love - are ingenious, others - Lithium - come across as a band trying too hard, and the original material in between, sadly, is nothing exceptional.

So get on iTunes and cherrypick those cover versions - For All I Care, the rest can wait.

Subthing happy

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IF YOU'RE happy and you know it, buy this disc.

If you're happy and you know it, buy this disc.

If you're happy and you know it and you really want to show it, if you're happy and you know it I really do advise you to check out The Submarines.

Because in Honeysuckle Weeks, the LA-based duo have crafted an LP that is chirpier than The Magic Numbers taking laughing gas on their birthday.

Sure, some of the group's bouncy indie pop precariously straddles the line between chirp and cheese, but for the most part this album is a surprisingly enjoyable affair.

Love Tattoo sketchy

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ROCKABILLY revivalist Imelda May may well have penned herself a hit album with Love Tattoo.

The Dublin-born star oozes the same kind of retro appeal as risen stars such as Amy Winehouse, and has more personality than a hundred Duffys, and Love Tattoo is a refreshingly different collection of 1950s-style country-meets-rock 'n' roll compositions.

However, despite some cracking tracks such as Johnny Got A Boom Boom, Imelda May's is missing that all important contemporary twist.

Earlier this year I waxed lyrical about Vincent Vincent And The Villains' debut Gospel Bombs, which was a halfway house between The Libertines and Eddie Cochran.

In comparison Imelda May plays the past well, but sadly here she is not elaborating on it.

Sash cash in

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TWO CDs, that's right, two entire CDs, containing a whopping 29 tracks, make up The Best Of German DJ trio Sash!.

However having listened intently to this release, covering over a decade of the group's Euro dance singles, I can safely say that The Best Of Sash! could have probably been an EP.

From the pumping Encore Un Fois to Ecuador, a track that's done more to raise the profile of the South American country than its own tourist board ever has, through the ridiculous Move Mania to the trancey Mysterious Times, there's plenty here to get excited about again.

But although Sash! have produced a brilliant five or six tracks, the rest is well and truly album rather than dancefloor filler.

A Cut above

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HERE'S one worth stumping up for! As a prelude to the release of their debut album You And I, Cut Off Your Hands' latest EP Happy As Can Be hits stores next Monday.

And it's a reason to be cheerful.

Produced by former Suede axeman Bernard Butler, this four-and-a-hidden-track release demonstrates the band's ability to mix melodic, angular rock with uplifting indie epics - in particular on the former single that is the EP's title track.

Judging by this, New Zealanders Cut Off Your Hands' debut should be one to get to grips with in 2009.

Emily Jane alright

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SAN Franciscan Emily Jane White's debut LP Dark Undercoat definately gives the impression there's something a little shadier underneath.

On the surface the folk singer's stripped-down songs are delicate compositions, but on closer inspection they become a little disturbing.

Especially with lyrics like: "Not much to do when you've got time on your side, you sit and think about your wasted life."

S Club 7 it ain't.

Like PJ Harvey's White Chalk, Emily Jane White's barren soundscape creates a real feeling of suspense - like a good horror movie - but ultimately there's no killer blow here.

And the tone combined with the lack of wax and wane in the music somestimes results in the LP feeling like a bit of a dirge.

However overall Dark Undercoat shows a bright talent to keep an eye on.

Moshi for charity

WYMESWOLD'S Wave Pictures are to join acts such as Kate Nash, Justice, LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy and Hot Chip to celebrate Moshi Moshi Records' 10th anniversary.
Tickets to the gig, to be held at the O2 Arena in London on October 25, are available on 0871 230 1094, with all proceeds going to homelessness charity Shelter.

Ill skills

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DESPITE having more than a passing resemblance to that lovely chap who walks the streets of Loughborough entertaining passers-by with nothing more than a tin whistle and some unpredictable banter, Seasick Steve is worth making an acquaintance with.

The Californian song and dance man's third album, I Started Out With Nothin And I Still Got Most Of It Left, is another slice of simple blues.

Because Seasick Steve - named simply because he tends to get seasick - has a simple good time blues manifesto.

Sure, with a move to Warner Bros Records there's a up in quality here - most obviously he's acquired three more strings for his guitar - and there's some high profile guests such as Nick Cave and KT Tunstall, but basically if you like a bit of blues, you'll need to check out Seasick Steve.

Because I Started Out With Nothin And I Still Got Most Of It Left is simply brilliant.

Back from the dead

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WELSH emo band Funeral For A Friend's fourth album sees the group tackling some big questions - what is the meaning of life? Why are we here? And what the were we thinking with Tales Don't Tell Themselves?

Luckily, Memory And Humanity is a real return to form for the group.

Being put out by the group on their own label, Join Us, you can hear on this LP the group have a real hunger once again.

There's their distinctive sound here first heard on Casually Dressed And Deep In Conversation, with shredding riffs and harsh vocals the order of the day, but the sound is more polished than previously - which is more fitting for the philisophical nature of the subject matter.

With Memory And Humanity, you may well remember why you fell in love with Funeral For A Friend in the first place.

Rising stars

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IMAGINE a world where The Offspring had not been original pranksters, churning out corny punk rock anthems, and instead had had a sit down, a bit of a think, and had become original politicians.

This is the world in which Rise Against inhabit.

Mixing the pop punk sensibilities of The Offspring - and an eerily similar vocal style - with the rockier edge of AFI and the political manifesto of Rage Against The Machine, the Chicago-based group's fifth studio release Appeal To Reason gets my vote.

Way too normal

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PIANOMAN Ben Folds, an artist that I revered back in the days of Whatever And Ever Amen, left me a little disappointed with this latest release.

In fairness, there are some excellent points on Way To Normal - at times it's poignant, at other times laugh out loud funny - but it never reaches the highs that Mr Folds and his Five used to hit on a regular basis.

And a lot of the time, as a result, the songs sometimes come across a little contrived - from a songwriter of clear talent his latest album Way To Normal is, sadly, way too normal.

Look into Iris

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AS THIS 2004-released CD by Swedes Jeniferever is technically an EP, with only four tracks to its name, I've shied away from dropping it into my 'Classic Collection' selection.
However Iris is not a release to be taken lightly.
Weighing in at over 40-minutes, each track is an understated epic, starting with spacious, sophorific beginnings and rising to joyous horn-and-string-soaked climaxes.
Slow and delicate but never laboured, this post-rock prelude to their debut LP Choose A Bright Morning is sure to please fans of groups such as Sigur Ros and Mogwai.
And only it'll only cost you half the price of a run of the mill album to boot.

Classic sixteen - Idlewild one

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BEFORE they became Scotland's answer to REM and thier members began releasing solo folk projects, Idlewild used to rock, and rock hard.

100 Broken Windows, the group's 2000 breakthrough release, is a brilliant collection of hook-laden tracks that hinted at the softening to follow, but wrapped in an aggressive barrage of grungey overdrive.

And with catchy tracks like Actually It's Darkness, Roseability and These Wooden Ideas, it's no wonder that 100 Broken Windows broke the band.

One to get them talking

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UP-AND-coming rockers A Silent Film could well do well following in the wake of Elbow's recent success.

For the Oxford-based group's debut sound is closely aligned to Guy Garvey's group, as well as adding hints of Snow Patrol, Athlete and even Pablo Honey era Radiohead.

A slew of epic, emotive piano-driven rock that gets grander as the album goes on, debut offering A City That Sleeps is never going to break down any musical barriers, and is a little naive at times.

What A City That Sleeps might do however, judging by fine nuggets such as the magnificent You Will Leave Your Mark, is wake up the record-buying public rather fast.

Buy Belleruche

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ONE that passed me by on it's inital release last year was Belleruche's debut, Turntable Soul Music.

Penned by dj Modest, singer Kathrin deBoer and guitarist Ricky Fabulous, the album is a fantastic halfway house between Cut Chemist and Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings.

If the London-based trio's album, a collection of rich, soulful trip hop, did the same to you, check it out now.

LOTP interview

I MENTIONED in a previous post that an interview with Late Of The Pier was in my pipeline.
You can now see the result of this chinwag on the Loughborough Echo site by clicking here, or in this week's paper, you skinflints.

It's a steal!

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FOR their fifth studio release, Washington DC-based trip hop duo Thievery Corporation are about to go global.

Sadly it's unlikely to be global in a Baby One More Time way - instead the group have enlisted the help of international talent ranging from Brazilian vocalist Seu Jorge to Afrobeat artist Fela Kuti to Indian sitarist Anushka Shankar for their latest LP, Radio Retaliation.

Melding trip hop, hip hop and dub with a world of other influences, the album is political without aggression, and without losing their trademark chilled out charm.

In short, Radio Retaliation is one i'd recommend you tune in to.

Shri delight

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LEADING British Asian musician Shri, full name Shrikanth Sriram, releases his third solo LP Seven Steps next Monday, marking an expansion as a solo artist.

And listening to the album, it's clear these steps are onwards and upwards.

Having worked with leading lights of the scene such as Nitin Sawhney and Talvin Singh, as well as notably teaming up with DJ Badmarsh, as well as putting out two LPs alone, Shri is now a producer as polished as a showroom car.

Fusing sturdy breakbeat and electro with rich, textured subcontinental instruments and influences, tracks like Just For A Minute and Pulse show Shri is equally at home in both fast and slow gears.

There are a few blips on this track list - the sketchy Mad B-Line for instance - but for the most part, Shri's latest is Seven Steps in the right direction.

Rap from the Bay area

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HAILING from Cuba's Guantanamo, yes, that Guantanamo, Madera Limpia - duo Yasel Gonzalez Rivera and Gerald Thomas Collymore - mix traditional Cuban music with modern rap.

It's a kind of Buena Vista Social Club meets The Roots.

And it's absolutely fantastic.

Granted, the duo rap in Spanish - and the only Spanish I know I've learnt from my daughter watching Go Diego Go - so I have no idea whether the pair are addressing social ills or undressing Cuban chicas in their lyrics.

But musically the mix of traditional Cuban styles, all brass and dance, with menacing beats and growling basslines lifted from hip hop and rap shown on La Corona just fits.

The album, the group's second, really is a crowning achievement.

Young Knives shed light on LP three

ECCENTRIC rock three-piece The Young Knives have revealed their third album's working title as Royal Daylight.
The group, who hail from Belton and Ashby-de-la-Zouch, are currently writing for the album, the follow-up to this year's supurb Superabundance.

Max out

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BRITS Max Pashm's new album may have been created in a London studio, but the sound is a little more exotic than that.

The group, which describes their sound as "KlezmerBalkanGreekGypsyPunk with Electro-beats", is a melting pot which fuses influences ranging from Robert de Niro speeches to Zorba The Greek-style traditional tunes to contemporary breakbeats.

Sadly the result on Never Mind The Balkans... is not always as exciting as it sounds, if that makes any sense.

Too often, for example on Anarchy and The Tongue, Max Pashm take the whole thing too far and it's just a bit cringeworthy.

That said, for the best part the album is an inventive take on the traditional music of a region not normally given much of an airing on these shores - for example on Once Upon A Time In Hellas and I Nervo - and it works really well.

Cold War Kids hot stuff

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LESS obvious than Kings Of Leon's release, today also saw the sophomore album from Cold War Kids go on sale.

Loyalty To Loyalty is the follow-up to the magnificent Robbers And Cowards - an album I emplore you to check out - and it sees the group's ramshackle blues-indie continuing with vigour.

Probably best demonstrated in the stomping I've Seen Enough and the White Stripe'd Something Is Not Right With Me.

Perhaps a leveller for the band - less peaks but less troughs too - Loyalty To Loyalty won't disappoint the group's loyal following, and might perhaps gain them a few more to boot.