Usually there isn't all that much in the way of mid
summer releases and this year is no exception with a few
of these coming up in September. What about the top ten, you
say. Ah well, I seem not to have noticed them.
Archive have been around for a little while but this album, Lights from Warners, is the first I've heard.
It has rockalong grooves with nice electro and atmospheric vocals
with a touch of sauce to them. It's a nice trip and undumbed-down
enough to let some of the atmospheric long bits roll.
The Knife were recently
in our interview section and in September they have a new
single called We Share Our Mother's Health. It comes with
three remixes and is their usual interestingly-crafted electro
dance.
And just what ideas are conjured up by a band name like
The Victorian English Gentlemens (sic) Club? Silence
punctuated by soft snores? Muted piano with a trilly soprano
voice? In fact they sound a bit like Siouxche (sp?) backed
by the B52s. Their new album is quirky and fun. It's out
on Fantastic Plastic.
Another album is from Everything on Black.
It is thoughtful guitar pop/rock with some anthemic moments
and a little of Bono in some of the lyric moments.
Radiohead fans will get all excited by Thom Yorke's solo
album called The Eraser, and with good reason too. It's
melodic electronica with wandering voice and is going to be
raved about all over the place.
Spektrum have a single
(7" and 12") out on Nonstop. It's an electro-dancy groove thing
called May Day. From Defdrive we have a single with Berlin's Kissogram
providing My Friend is a Seahorse and 33Hz from NY putting in
Hot Flashes. The first is a nice hynotic piece that Hawtin fans
will enjoy. The second is also minimal but has a more gurgly
funk thing going.
The Boy Least Likely To
has put out Hugging My Grudge. It has a 70's sort of pop feel and
I think I can hear the ghost of the Wichita Lineman warbling
in the background. Another vaguely retro single comes from
Little Man Tate. It's called House Party at Boothy's and it's
coming soon to a pub near you. There's also The Dears with
Ticket To Immortality. It's guitar pop with some nice arrangement
moments. And! Liam Frost and the Slowdown Family bring us The
City is at a Standstill. This comes from Lavolta Records and
goes in this paragraph quite well with its orchestral changes
and such. Vaguely in this line is also >The Immediate
with their July single Stop and Remember which is from a forthcoming
(maybe out now) album called In Towers and Clouds. This area
of well-crafted guitar rock/pop is very crowded at the moment.
To succeed, an extra dimension is needed. Getting that dimension
can be a bit of a destroyer. Newsworthy drug habits are a bad idea.
Jackson Analogue bring us Stop. This an R n B tinged belter
with some nice Blues Brothers moments.
Junior Boys are a newish Domino signing and bring us In The Morning
and the standard three remixes. It is voice and dancy electro
and will do well in the morning and the night.
Kobai have a track called Serotonin
out. It is metal lite but isn't bad at all and has a grooveful
remix to go along with it.
Tom Neville's label, Love Minus Zero
brings us his alter-ego Xavier Lacoeur and Gower Ramsey's Dark Disco
Place and Henry Goes to the Circus.
Another from Domino (Artic Monkeys) is Bonnie Prince Billy
with Cursed Sleep from Then The Letting Go. It has slow soulful
voice, slow dirty guitar and is punctuated by violin. Great for
late!
Man Like Me have been building
a fan base around London clubs with their (they're a duo) energetic
and enthusiastic stage act. The single (with four remixes) is Wine
& Dine and is right in line with their usual cabaret hip-hop.
Mstation Pop etc Commentary, Reviews
pre Dec 04 reviews are here
Sat, 02 Sep 2006
