Oh, You Really Were The Bomb

Hello again. Three tracks today from bands whose most recent albums I have been enjoying very much.
First up are the Silversun Pickups, a US band who I first saw/heard on Jools Holland. Since then I picked up debut album Carnavas and I think this is the best track. Also looking forward very much to their Reading performance in the Carling tent: Lazy Eye


Secondly, a brand new album out today (25/6/07) in the UK, it is New Young Pony Club, a band that made the end of year Top 20 in singles last year. I think the album is fantastic and that absolutely everyone should go and buy it...This track is the most recent single: The Bomb


Finally we have Client. Three exceptional ladies, including Dubstar's old singer (yay, Dubstar!) making electro-minimalist tunes. Heartland, their third LP came out earlier this year and I reckon this is the standout: Monkey On My Back

Download:
Silversun Pickups - 'Lazy Eye'

New Young Pony Club - 'The Bomb'

Client - 'Monkey On My Back'

Hooray (I Think)

I wanted to start audioblogging, but it has taken me nearly two hours to link to one sodding file...

That file is a stomper called 'D.A.N.C.E.' by Justice.

Pet Shop Boys Live Review

The Pet Shop Boys, London Hammersmith Apollo, Wednesday June 6th

I had waited a long time for this gig, somehow I've managed to miss Messers Tennant and Lowe every time they'd been playing. The gig at Eden was an option, but Dave, a friend of Dave's from Uni Moira and myself plumped for this one instead. The Apollo isn't exactly heaving outside, and inside is little different. It made a change to be made to feel young at a gig though, we spent a length of time attempting to spot gig-goers younger than us to pretty much no avail.

With no support act to stand through, the lights went down at approximately 8:30 and a flourescent cube lit up from centre-stage. Two dancers emerged, followed by two backing singers eventually followed by the PSBs, who charmingly met in the middle, shook hands and took up their positions. Starting up with 'We're The Pet Shop Boys' the first touch of perfection came from 'Left To My Own Devices'. Equal parts epic and poptastic this for me, surprisingly early on in the set, was the definite highlight.

As if to remind the audience of their immaculate back catalogue, the early part of the show contained uber-hits 'Can You Forgive Her?', 'Shopping', 'Rent' and 'Heart' interspersed with recent singles (and much improved live) 'I'm With Stupid' and 'Minimal'. The dancing throughout the gig was superb (on-stage that is!) and the backing singers, especially Sylvia Mason-James, who during 'Where The Streets Have No Name/Can't Take My Eyes Off You' wore two hats! Two hats! She had the kind of voice that, as soon as she lets rip, sends shivers up and down your spine. She was probably at her best at the end of 'West End Girls'.

Everything about the show was pretty damn spot-on, Tennant was on great vocal form, the music didn't miss a beat, the backdrop, choreography and lighting were all perfect. It was also a decent crowd and when the show hit it's camp high-spots 'Paninaro', 'Flamboyant' and set-closer 'Go West' the feeling of fun was overpowering. In fact, it was probably the most 'fun' I've ever had at a gig.

I worry about saying that the gig was 'fun' though, because it seems to belittle the musical achievements the PSBs have hit over the years. At frequent points during the evening the audience was treated to bursts of absolute musical perfection; sparkling pop gems, hi-NRG dance classics, tender ballads. I loved it. Best track 'Left To My Own Devices', overall 9.5/10.

I Said Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

UNKLE confirmed as Dance Stage headliners! A live set! Oh My Motherfucking Gawd. Hooray!

So, Mr Lavelle please play in this order:

Beethoven's 9th/2nd Movement Scherzo Remix
Reign
Be There
Lonely Soul
Eye For An Eye
What Are You To Me?
Burn My Shadow
The Knock
Drums of Death
In A State
Rabbit In Your Headlights

Oh, Mervyn, you have made one man very, very, very happy.

Top 20: It Ain't Changed Much!!

20. 'All My Friends'
19. 'Down For So Long'
18. 'Destroy Everything You Touch'
17. 'California Soul'
16. 'Kill All Hippies'
15. 'And I Was A Boy From School'
14. 'Atlantis to Interzone'
13. 'Live In Sunshine'
12. 'Head'
11. 'Faraway'
10. 'Monster Hospital'
9. 'Over And Over'
8. 'Alala'
7. 'Someone Great'
6. 'Heart Of Hearts'
5. 'Swastika Eyes'
4. 'Shoot Speed / Kill Light'
3. 'Whoo! Alright-Yeah...Uh Huh'
2. 'Pass The Hatchet I Think I'm Goodkind'
1. 'Let's Make Love And Listen To Death From Above' - CSS

Live Review: Wallis Bird / Lee Gordon Trio

A random one, this. Karen knew by association one of the members of the band playing second on the bill, the Lee Gordon Trio. Off to Earl's Court to a little place called the Troubadour (below), strangely placed below a restaurant. Once there, two drippy Irish singer-songwriters bored the pants off everyone present. Upon reading the guff distributed throughout the venue I noticed that both these singers had been signed by Island Records: why?! Completely immemorable. Both 1/10.

The Lee Gordon Trio were an interesting mix of acousto-electric guitars, a double bass (see below!) and drums. They kicked out some cool tunes, including a nicely rewrought version of 'All Along The Watchtower'. I think the singer had problems with his voice but he seemed to do well enough, if sounding a little too Americanised at times. It was great to see a double-bass in action though. To me they sounded a bit like Jimmy Eat World...I'll let you blogosphere readers decide if that's a good or bad thing. 6/10 but with potential.

Last on was a strange girl, blessed with the Irish gift of the gab. Backed by a tight (German!!) rhythm section and joined occasionally by a backing singer/violinist, Wallis Bird was a real unexpected treat. The songs wavered from jamming funk'd up tunes, to real low-beat ballads. At one point she announced 'Are you ready to rock?!' quickly followed by 'Not really, this is a ballad. Oh no, not a fucking ballad' she teased. But seriously; her band was exceptional, the bass pinning people to the walls of this tiny venue. The last track was an absolute killer, one of the best new songs I've heard this year. I think it was called 'Go On Home' but could just as easily been called 'Your Daddy Is A Liar'. An !!!-inspired break down was both preceded and followed by a raucous chorus, I can't wait to get my hands on this on record. 9/10 and one of the finest small venue sets I've ever seen.

Purchases 24th April - 8th May

The Decemberists - 'The Crane Wife', 2006, Download, 10 tracks, Capitol
I first heard this band on an indie album chart show on 6music back in 2005. The name kind of stuck in my head, and coupled with consistently good reviews across the board, the band stayed on my radar. I'm glad they did as 'The Crane Wife' is pretty good. I love the way that seemingly humble instruments are massed to sound epic, in a kind of 'New Adventures In Hi-Fi'-era R.E.M. did. There's also hints of Placebo in here, along with persistent name-droppers Belle & Sebastian. I've only heard this a few times, so the track names are not sticking out at me yet, but certainly the epic three-parter 'The Island' is a belter. This is a consistently good album, and yet another band to add to the 'further investigation' pile. Best track: 'The Island', overall 7/10.

Saint Etienne - 'Good Humour' 1998, CD, 11 tracks, Creation, £2.00, MVE Notting Hill
A definite piece of back-catalogue collecting here, putting in the last remaining articles in the Et's collection. Really, this is more of the same from Cracknell, Stanley and Wiggs. There's nothing on here as good as 'He's On The Phone' or the classic 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart', but instead is filled with more fluffy synth-pop numbers seemingly designed to lift you from everyday city life. But Saint Etienne do this so well, and the album works, as do most of the rest. You have to be in the mood for such sugary treats, and with summer coming that mood will take hold more and more often. Best track: 'Sylvie', overall 7/10.

Black Box Recorder - 'Facts Of Life', 2000, CD, 13 tracks, Jetset, £2.00, Soul & Dance Exchange, Notting Hill
I have always wanted this album, but have never found it cheap. Far better than it's successor 'Passionoia' this album contains the solid gold pop gems 'The Art of Driving' and the title track. The rest of the album deals with typical BBR subject matter, sheer Englishness (before the binge-drinking Burberry madness that constitutes national identity in 2007) in the form of our wet summers, useless motorway systems and bad sex education all delivered with Sarah Nixey's inimitable bored tone. Genius. Best track 'The Facts of Life', overall 8/10.

Album Leaf - 'Into The Blue Again', 2006, CD, 10 tracks, Sub Pop, 50p, MVE Notting Hill
Bit of a strange one this. I bought this after hearing it playing downstairs in the main music exchange. The opener is a real haunting, cinematic piece hugely reminiscent of Craig Armstrong. The rest of the album is less dramatic and certainly more wistful...like an acoustic Air. Upon doing a bit of research it looks like this artist is akin to Sigur Ros, and that the back catalogue is more worthy than this, his most recent album. I'll have to check the rest of it out methinks. Best track: 'The Light', overall 7/10.

Rolling Stones - 'Let It Bleed', 1969, Download, 9 tracks, London
A bona-fide classic, and so far the favourite of the Stones albums I own. Every track on this has really stood the test of time, from the deep-burn of opener 'Gimme Shelter', blues shamble of 'Country Honk' through to the epic closer 'You Can't Always Get What You Want'. For me, the desire for this album came out of my love for the opener. 'Gimme Shelter' resides comfortably in my top 10 cuts of all time due to it's winding melody, impending sense of social collapse, fraught lyrics and emotive wails of guest vocalist Merry Clayton. Most of the rest of the album sees Jagger and co returning to rock's blues roots to great effect, although for me the album is overshadowed slightly by the sublime opener. Best track 'Gimme Shelter' (surprised?!), overall 9/10.

Manic Street Preachers - 'Send Away The Tigers', 2007, Download, 10 tracks, Columbia
A return to form from the Manics? No. This album whilst not quite continuing the downward trend experienced since the classic 'Everything Must Go' sees the band scrabbling for a return to the sonic bluster of that era. Lead-off single 'Your Love Alone Is Not Enough' is poor, even with the lyrical talents of moonlighting Cardigans warbler Nina Persson. Other tracks, whilst hunting for the classic buzzsaw Manics sound, come off more like stadium rockers Aerosmith, or U2, see 'Autumnsong' and 'The Second Great Depression'. There are some good tracks on here, opener and title track 'Send Away The Tigers' punches it's own weight, and 'Imperial Bodybags' is classic proto-political Nicky Wire. To put the album as a whole into some sort of perspective, it is far better than 2004's disastrous 'Lifeblood', although that shouldn't be that hard. Hopefully this will have some longevity to it, for example 'Know Your Enemy' has aged well and I still enjoy it now...whereas I'll probably never listen to 'Lifeblood' ever again. The album's artwork is also a bit dodgy...I mean Severn Bridge...Richie Edwards...tchhhh. Best track 'Send In The Tigers', overall 6/10.

This weeks (delayed) Top 20 tunes

20. LCD Soundsystem - 'All My Friends' (-6)
19. Kings Of Leon - 'Black Thumbnail' (New)
18. Ladytron - 'Destroy Everything You Touch' (-)
17. El-P - 'Tasmanian Pain Coaster' (New)
16. Marlena Shaw - 'California Soul' (-8)
15. Hot Chip - 'And I Was A Boy From School' (-)
14. Metric - 'Monster Hospital' (+2)
13. LCD Soundsystem - 'Someone Great' (+4)
12. Primal Scream - 'Kill All Hippies' (+1)
11. Klaxons - 'Atlantis To Interzone' (-1)
10. The Rapture - 'Live In Sunshine' (+2)
9. Sleater-Kinney - 'Faraway' (-)
8. Hot Chip - 'Over And Over' (+3)
7. CSS - 'Alala' (-)
6. !!! - 'Heart of Hearts' (-)
5. Primal Scream - 'Swastika Eyes' (-)
4. Primal Scream - 'Shoot Speed / Kill Light' (-)
3. The Rapture - 'Whoo! Alright-Yeah...Uh Huh' (-)
2. Yo La Tengo - 'Pass The Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind' (-)
1. CSS - 'Let's Make Love And Listen To Death From Above' (-)

Yann Tiersen Live Review

Yann Tiersen Live Review, Sunday April 29th, King's Cross Scala

I had no idea what to expect from this gig. I knew of Yann through Dave, one of those obsessions that he has from time to time. I must admit that most of the songs he had played me previously had gone one ear and out of the other, with very little lodging in my grey matter. So, I thought, the composer of the Amelie theme and consipirator with the Divine Comedy would come up with some twee nonsense sung in French.

Wrong. The stage is set as if to confim my fears. A jet black accordion, two toy pianos and a violin join the usual bass, drums and guitars as we await (impatiently) for the arrival of the Gallic multi-instrumentalist. From the outset the noise of this tight band is tearing up the Scala, contorting with hordes of feedback and rolling basslines. My first thought is Mogwai being chased by Hope of the States...no bad thing and certainly very different to the songs I'd heard on record.

Two or three songs in and Tiersen takes up the violin. He doesn't just play the instrument, he thrashes it. Hairs flail from the bow as it is repeatedly sawn across the strings of the poor thing. The violin led tracks are, for me, the highlight of the evening. The noise is at times completely a-melodic and cacophonous, edging the crowd back half a step every time the bow is cut loose.

On the worded tracks Tiersen sings in a low, hushed tone perfectly suited to the French language, maybe in the mould of say, Serge Gainsbourg. However, I don't think these had the impact of the instrumentals. I thought they possesed a greater power, more immediacy and better sound than the 'songs'. We aren't treated to a great deal of toy piano or accordion action either, both limited to just one song at the back-end of the set. A great shame as both were immensely effective.

The major drawback of the set, and it is unfortunately quite a detrimental one, was that a vast majority of the songs were overlong. The same was true about the set itself, and the encore was almost completely unneccesary. A lot of the time, the indiscriminate wail of feedback or the crazed trashing of the violin began to grate long before the songs had run their course. The few tracks that were short were exactly the ones I felt needed more time to 'breathe' and be explored further. All this left me a bit disappointed and non-plussed. The rest of the crowd lapped it up, composed mostly of thick rimmed-spectacle wearers and fans of pullovers. The onset of the violing repeatedly left sections of the crowd in raptures and the silences that accompanied more tender passages were deafening.

I ended the gig feeling that maybe the five-piece setup wasn't the best way to hear these songs. And although I had been pleasantly suprised by the intensity of the performance, the length and similarity left me cold. Dave suggested that if Tiersen toured with an orchestral backing it could be well worth seeing, and I'd probably agree. For this performance I can only rate it 6/10. The best track 'The Courtier' one of the shorter violin pieces.

You Can't Normalize...

Still reeling from the shock of living in a post-Coopers world, here is this weeks top 20 playlist. I don't think it's changed that much.

Oh well.

20. 'Love Burns' - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (-2)
19. 'Lust In The Movies' - The Long Blondes (+1)
18. 'Destroy Everything You Touch' - Ladytron (-6)
17. 'Someone Great' - LCD Soundsystem (-3)
16. 'Monster Hospital' - Metric (-)
15. 'And I Was A Boy From School' - Hot Chip (-)
14. 'All My Friends' - LCD Soundsystem (-1)
13. 'Kill All Hippies' - Primal Scream (-2)
12. 'Live In Sunshine' - The Rapture (+5)
11. 'Over And Over' - Hot Chip (-3)
10. 'Atlantis To Interzone' - Klaxons (-1)
9. 'Faraway' - Sleater-Kinney (New)
8. 'California Soul' - Marlena Shaw (-1)
7. 'Alala' - CSS (-1)
6. 'Heart Of Hearts' - !!! (+4)
5. 'Swastika Eyes' - Primal Scream (-)
4. 'Shoot Speed / Kill Light' - Primal Scream (-)
3. 'Whoo! Alright-Yeah...Uh Huh' - The Rapture (-)
2. 'Pass The Hatchet I Think I'm Goodkind' - Yo la Tengo (-1)
1. 'Let's Make Love And Listen To Death From Above' - CSS (+1)

Also today, in memoriam of the sublime Cooper Temple Clause, I thought I'd recount their ten greatest songs.

10. 'Been Training Dogs' - See This Through And Leave
9. 'Panzer Attack' - Warfare EP
8. 'Music Box' - Kick Up The Fire, And Let The Flames Break Loose
7. 'Derelict' - Blind Pilots EP
6. 'The Same Mistakes' - Kick Up The Fire, And Let The Flames Break Loose
5. 'The Devil Walks In The Sand' - Hardware EP
4. 'A.I.M.' - Kick Up The Fire, And Let The Flames Break Loose
3. 'Did You Miss Me?' - See This Through And Leave
2. 'Written Apology' - Kick Up The Fire, And Let The Flames Break Loose
1. 'The Lake' - See This Through And Leave

CSS Live Review & Purchases 17th April - 24th April

Firstly this week's acquisitions.

Kings Of Leon - 'Because Of The Times', Download, 13 tracks, Columbia
The first two KoL albums are pretty much the same, a couple of great singles, a nice vibe and some cool sounds. All in all though there was little substance. Third album 'Because of the Times' is a different beast. The Southern drawl is still there, accompanied in places by the occasional whoop and holler. It is the backing that really stands this apart from it's predecessors. From the subtle opening rolling riff of stand-out 'Knocked Up' to the raucous Zeppelin-esque blues stomp of 'Black Thumbnail' the quality of the band's musicianship really shines. In fact, it is that rock leviathan Led Zeppelin that this album reminds me of most. There is an air of dusty trails and mysticism about the songs here much the same as Led Zep, and Caleb's electrified yelp is a spit of Robert Palmer's own. I thought when LCD Soundsystem's 'Sound of Silver' hit my stereo that there could be no contender for album of the year. King's of Leon present the first challenge. Best track: 'Black Thumbnail'. 9/10.

El-P - 'I'll Sleep When You're Dead', CD, 13 tracks, Definitive Jux, £9.99, HMV Richmond
As previously written on the main blog this is a product of brilliant customer service in above shop, I think it was the manager. Superb description too, 'bleak, leftfield, underground mashed-up hip-hop' were the words that came from his mouth. Upon first listen on a quiet afternoon in leafy Kew this transported me to dark, grimy streets of downtown, anywhere-USA. This album is bleak. The only other word I could possibly use to describe it is dark. The beats in the background at times are a little too skittish, just when you want the tracks to explode they scuttle back into the gloom. The rhymes themselves are literate, and at times thought provoking. There is also good use of guest appearances, Omar and Cedric from the Mars Volta add a distinctive 'Son et Lumiere' sheen to opener, and standout, 'Tasmanian Pain Coaster'. Another highlight is the sharp 'Up All Night' with the brilliant line used for the title below. Even Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power) shows up, bringing the album to a prominent close. When your opening lines include 'Bring me the dramatic introduction machine...' it is clear that El-P hasn't allowed the enveloping darkness cloud his wry sense of humour. This is a rare foray into the world of leftfield hip-hop for me, and based on this evidence it's a journey that I should really take more often. Best track: 'Tasmanian Pain Coaster'. 7/10.

Live Review - CSS @ London Astoria 23rd April 2007. CSS had a storming 2006, and now are coming to the end of what must have been a long promotional tour of duty. The Astoria is heaving as me, Justin and Steve lever our way into the melee just in time to see Lovefoxxx bound on to the stage with all the energy of a troop of Duracell bunnies. I'm not really sure if it's actually CSS during the first song, confusing them with the unfortunately-missed Tilly and the Wall. It isn't until the first few bars of 'Alala' and the ensuing mayhem that it brought that I realise that these are the headliners. They rocket through the songs with sheer abandon, tossing paper plates (?!) out into the crowd for good measure. 'It's Monday. I can't believe there's anyone here!! Do you not have work tomorrow?!' screams the diminuitive singer and I look around to see a plethora of faces and glowsticks thinking to myself, school maybe but not work. Justin disappears into the moshpit and I don't see him again until he emerges sweaty and smiling after the finale. Strangely, just before he disappears I have a tap on my shoulder and Ruth from work is there with her man, Jason. Most surreal as neither of us knew the other would be there! 'Fuck Off Is Not The Only Word' inspires more jumping and singing, as do the throwaway 'Off The Hook' and the downright filthy 'Art Bitch' and 'Meeting Paris Hilton' Merely forty minutes have passed when they proclaim that it was their last song, and off they bounded. A brief interlude of the usual clapping ensued then on they ran again, kicking off the encore with a promising new track. The second tune of the encore was a real belter, some kind of bastardised mashup between J-Lo's 'Jenny From The Block' and The Stooges' 'I Just Wanna Be Your Dog' leading straight into a stage-diving finale of 2006's single of the year 'Let's Make Love And Listen To Death From Above'...a good encore. Barely an hour has passed since we set foot into the Astoria but there's no feeling of being short changed. The sheer energy, feel good Brasilian vibes and enthusiastic (for London) crowd made for a highly enjoyable evening. After all, what more can the band do off only one album? One slight downside was a the lack of a romp through 'CSS Suxxx' which would have opened the set nicely. So, it's a 7/10 for the gig, and the best track was definitely 'I Just Wanna Be Jenny From The Block'...here's hoping it graces a b-side sometime soon.

We May Have Been Born Yesterday, Sir...But We Stayed Up All Night.

Along with the latest additions to the musical collection I thought I'd run down weekly the most played songs on my deliberately non-ipod mp3 player. For some reason they don't seem to be the most reliable of play counts, but still.

They are:
20. Lust In The Movies - The Long Blondes
19. Beauty*2 - Ladytron
18. Love Burns - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
17. Live In Sunshine - The Rapture
16. Monster Hospital - Metric
15. And I Was A Boy From School - Hot Chip
14. Someone Great - LCD Soundsystem
13. All My Friends - LCD Soundsystem
12. Destroy Everything You Touch - Ladytron
11. Kill All Hippies - Primal Scream
10. Heart Of Hearts - !!!
9. Atlantis To Interzone - Klaxons
8. Over And Over - Hot Chip
7. California Soul - Marlena Shaw
6. Alala - CSS
5. Swastika Eyes - Primal Scream
4. Shoot Speed / Kill Light - Primal Scream
3. Whoo! Alright - Yeah...Uh-Huh - The Rapture
2. Let's Make Love And Listen To Death From Above - CSS
1. Pass The Hatchet I Think I'm Goodkind - Yo La Tengo

The Year Dot to 16th April 2007

I could start with listing the 1500+ articles of music that I already own. But I'm not going to do that.

This blog will work as a sort of online catalogue of what I own, what I think of it, and the thinking (if there is any) behind these purchases, who the recommenders were and all that.

So, I'll start with the last week's haul, which has to be said, is larger than normal.

Beck - 'Guero' CD, 2005, 15 tracks, Polydor, £3, Greenwich Music & Video Exc.
As I mentioned in the main blog, this is a real return to form for Beck. Although Beck would probably be pissed off with that comment, because I like most other normal non-Beckalites think that his form is 'Odelay'. The music on this is back to the ramshackle lo-fi noises of his debut, with off kilter lyrics and head nodding beats. Best track: 'E-Pro' 8/10.

Human League - 'Travelogue' CD, 1980, 17 tracks, Virgin, £4, Greenwich MVE
This was brought on the strength of two things, the excellence of another early Human League single 'Empire State Human' and the recommendation from the book Rip It Up And Start Again which details the rise of post punk and new pop. This album is slightly disappointing when compared to their later stuff but is an interesting insight into where the 'League came from. Best track: 'Being Boiled'. 5/10

Rogers Sisters - 'The Invisible Deck' CD, 2006, 10 tracks, Too Pure, £3, Greenwich MVE
The Rogers Sisters are a band that first came to my attention on the brilliant 'Yes New York' compilation of 2003. They are spiky, and the previous mini-album 'Three Fingers' of 2004 is pretty good and includes versions of songs in French and Japanese. I haven't had chance to listen to this yet.

Electrelane - 'Rock It To The Moon' CD, 2001, 11 tracks, Let's Rock, £3, Greenwich MVE
These are an all-girl English group in a similar vein to Mogwai and Broadcast dealing in albums chock full of brooding lyricless soundscapes. They are group who have consistently been in my recommend lists on Amazon, so when I saw this I thought I'd give a whirl. I'm not disappointed, but at the same time it feels a bit listless and lacks direction. Their later album 'The Power Out' is supposedly a better bet and I shall reserve judgement on the group until then. Best track: 'Long Dark'. 6/10

The Cooper Temple Clause - 'Head EP' CD, 2007, 5 tracks, Sanctuary, £3.99, HMV Oxford Street
I think this will be the last release off TCTC's latest album 'Make This Your Own', in itself a big let down. 'Head', at least is a good tune and the inclusion of three unheard Coopers tracks as well as a pointless remix made this an essential purchase on the day of release. As I've said 'Head' itself is excellent, reminiscent of the Coopers of old in comparison to their new, FM-friendly sound shown on earlier singles 'Waiting Game' and 'Homo Sapiens'. The other tracks on this are standard Coopers B-side fare, a dark instrumental number that never goes anywhere, a lightweight acoustic track, and a track called 'Mayhem's Theme'. I'd have thought with a track name like that it would be an absolute belter but unfortunately not. And the 'Head Rhysmix' is crap. Best track: 'Head', 6/10.

Battles - 'Atlas' 12", 2007, 2 tracks, Warp, £4.99, HMV Kingston
Sometimes you come across a track, and a band, that really blows you away. If you reverse that feeling you will come close to the complete apathy that accompanies this track. To use the music as a journey metaphor, some journeys might have a crap journey but the destination is ace, ie the track might be long and pre-ambly but leaves you satisfied that the length was worthwhile with some sort of climax. 'Atlas' is like being on an overcrowded train stuffed full of screaming babies and your final destination is Skegness and you get there and find everything closed. The track goes on and on for 7 minutes plus, bleeping and sweeping it's way to absolutely nothing, it just fades out. Drowned in Sound recommended this to me and all I can say about it is it's bollocks, and the remix on the b-side is even worse. Warp has produced some brilliant music, Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Autechre, Maximo Park. They've dropped a clanger here. Best track: none, 0/10.

Billy Bragg - 'Life's A Riot With Spy vs Spy' LP, 1983, 7 tracks, Go! Discs, £0.99, Ebay
I bought this for one reason, the track 'New England' which I first heard being covered in spectacular fashion by Kirsty Macoll. I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of the album, and I don't really know what to expect. Bragg is famous for his exceptionally left-leaning political stance, indeed he headed up (along with Paul Weller) Red Wedge, the musical movement that attempted to increase interest in voting Labour in the mid-80s. This doesn't really sit well with my political outlook; but his back catalogue is supposedly one of sheer class and consistency. This is critically recommended as a place to start, so start I shall.

Faultline - 'Your Love Means Everything' LP, 2002, 12 tracks, Elektra, £0.99, Ebay
This album comes highly recommended from Droz, and I have heard it a few times round his place. I thought this was too good a bargain to pass up, and is a nice addition to the collection. From what I remember the premise is similar to that of One Giant Leap, and electronic producer bringing in a host of vocal talent to embellish his tracks. The vocalists on this outing include Michael Stipe, Chris Martin and Wayne Coyne.