Full CD Reviews

Blur - Midlife

Blur - Midlife

Dear Blur, what exactly is the point of this compilation? I can't see one. It serves no purpose, and fills no hole. There are no rare songs as such, apart from 'Popscene'. No b-sides, no rarities. There's no cohesion or order to the running order. There's not even a full selection of the singles and hits. This may offer a 'deeper look', but if that's all anyone wanted, they'd just Go And Buy The Albums, which are all dirt cheap anyway.

Florence and the Machine - Lungs

Florence and the Machine - Lungs

Florence and the Machine is one of those little bands that seeps in under the pop radar, and becomes a sensation based on pure talent. And Florence Welch and Co. produce a solid debut, "Lungs", that blends delicate polished instrumentals and different genres — there's little splatters of pop, punk and soul woven together, and cemented in place by Welch's lovely voice.

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest.html

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

In their follow-up to Yellow House, my favourite album of 2006, Grizzly Bear have taken their meandering song-suites to the logical next step, colouring between their masterfully drawn lines. But there are too many moments on Veckatimest when I miss Yellow House's space and restraint – that sense that the band are making it up as they go along. Veckatimest too often feels laboured, bogged down in baroque arrangements, to allow all of the songwriting to shine.

Julian Plenti - Skyscraper

Julian Plenti - Skyscraper

Of course Julian Plenti is… Paul Banks (of Interpol) and yet crucially, Julian Plenti is most certainly not Paul Banks of Interpol. If that sounds obtuse think of it this way. Banks' first solo project since way back in the day has nothing to do with his other band. The name, Julian Plenti was a further attempt, if not at disguise or distancing himself then at least at making a clear statement.

St Vincent - Actor

St Vincent - Actor

According to St Vincent (aka Annie Clark), Actor is all about losers – unhappy, lonely people who are struggling to tread water. Hey, any album that has makes the emoesque line "paint the black hole blacker" work has got to have something special. And Clark's second solo album is a little lot of unhappiness and melancholy wrapped in wobbling synth and vintage crackles, eruptions of blurry sound and beautiful vocals.

Tortoise - Beacons of Ancestorship

Tortoise - Beacons of Ancestorship

Tortoise are a maddening band. There's no doubt that they're massively influential and have produced some amazing music over the years, but of all their albums, the only ones I return to regularly are Millions Now Living Will Never Die and It's All Around You. No surprise with Millions… as it's widely lauded as a classic, but It's All Around You is commonly panned for being smooth and overproduced.

Live Reviews

Kraftwerk - Manchester Velodrome

Kraftwerk - Manchester Velodrome

Spoken of reverently, akin to a techno Beatles, Kraftwerk are really no such thing. An ever-evolving set of like-minded musical workers, Kraftwerk have become a quietly impersonal enterprise. The clichés are legion: scientists in a musical lab, releasing the experiments that they feel are 'true', unemotional, and working detached from their environment.

Mono - Live

Mono - Live

Okay, so it's a formula – but then so were the classic songs of Holland/Dozier/Holland. Japanese quartet Mono do adhere to a rough template. Start gently, contemplative; build gracefully (or sometimes explode unexpectedly); and climax in a crescendo of noise. They're not alone in doing so, either – it's become a guitar-based, instrumental post-rock cliché. What they do have that sets them apart is a strong gift for melody.

Kraftwerk - Manchester Velodrome

Nine Inch Nails - Jane's Addiction

In one way, you could say it shouldn't really be like this: Jane's Addiction, playing to a 95% bored hockey arena, with tiny pockets of furious exorcism and a feeling that – with barely 100 people seemingly making the most of the first London appearance by the original line up of the band in 18 years – these returning legends are in an uphill struggle.

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