The Maccabees 'Given to the Wild' (Fiction) Some bands just aren't as big as they should be. Two remarkably astute albums in and The Maccabees are still battling for 'big 'n' great' status, least among those outside their cult fanbase. It's not like the songs haven't always been there, too. Heck, 'Latchmere' and its wave machine is still more a choon than anything off 'Born This Way'. And 'Given to the Wild' - by way of sugared, spacious soundscapes, now-customary tingly guitar-picking and singer Orlando Weeks realising his inspiriting Patty Mayonnaise-indie howl more than ever - [...]
1. Coldplay 'Mylo Xyloto' - The happiest these have ever sounded results in yet another remarkable album, inhabited with fervency, bald-faced pop and one typically heartening concept. 2. Beirut 'The Rip Tide' - Stupendous effort from Zach Condon and his reliable trumpet. Rest of world music, over to you. 3. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds 'Noel Gallagher's High [...]
11. The Wombats 'This Modern Glitch' - Much, much too fun to care about the haterz. 12. Panic! at the Disco 'Vices & Virtues' - A hooks-stuffed reminder of what made these so striking in the first place. 13. Death Cab for Cutie 'Codes and Keys' - Fresh enough to lock down their place in [...]
21. Benjamin Francis Leftwich 'Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm' - 2011's preeminent folk record (from a man). 22. Manchester Orchestra 'Simple Math' - Intense and tranquil all the same. Stunning. 23. You Me at Six 'Sinners Never Sleep' - Boys grow into men for prime pop-punk. [...]
31. Beady Eye 'Different Gear, Still Speeding' - Actually not that shit at all. 32. Kaiser Chiefs 'The Future Is Medieval' - Actually not that shit at all. 33. TV on the Radio 'Nine Types of Light' - Probably their best album yet. [...]
41. Kasabian 'Velociraptor!' - Not as good as they think it is. 42. M83 'Hurry Up, We're Dreaming' - Double album? Really? 43. The Strokes 'Angles' - A sadly underwhelming comeback. 44. Red Hot Chili Peppers 'I'm [...]
There is non-music and there is music. There is the BRIT School and there are 'Guitarist wanted' ads in NME. And there is The X Factor and there is Coldplay. These are borders about as stern as Gaza. They are worlds not meant to collide. Ever. But, following yesterday's much-dreaded confirmation that Chris Martin and his men are to perform on next weekend's X Factor finale, one such line is about to be crossed in full ITV1-schlocky techno glitter. The thing is, Coldplay have never negotiated the perimeter before. They may be the most love-to-hated band [...]
Rihanna 'Talk That Talk' (Def Jam Recordings) Given the quota of super-duper producer masterminds hitched to propa pop at present, one does wonder how much sweat the fronts really put in to their ditties. Especially when this front, Rihanna, is on her sixth record in seven years and has deployed a good dozen ideas folk to operate on it. 'Talk That Talk' does struggle to keep steady, too - Bangladesh-produced dancehall-pivoted 'Cockiness (Love It)' is three eternities away from 'Drunk on Love', a more typical, sultry RiRi anthem only with The xx (yes, really) pledging the [...]
Rihanna 'Talk That Talk' (Def Jam Recordings) Given the quota of super-duper producer masterminds hitched to propa pop at present, one does wonder how much sweat the fronts really put in to their ditties. Especially when this front, Rihanna, is on her sixth record in seven years and has deployed a good dozen ideas folk to operate on it. 'Talk That Talk' does struggle to keep steady, too - Bangladesh-produced dancehall-pivoted 'Cockiness (Love It)' is three eternities away from 'Drunk on Love', a more typical, sultry RiRi anthem only with The xx (yes, really) pledging the [...]
Coldplay 'Mylo Xyloto' (Parlophone) "I think this will be our last record," recently declared Chris Martin, leader of the biggest (soft) rock band in the world and a man so troubled he refuses to believe his Grammy-winning, multi-million-shifting band actually have any fans unless 70,000 of them are chanting 'Yellow' back at him inside Wembley Stadium. If it wasn't for Martin's you're-only-as-good-as-your-la st-song paranoia, however, we wouldn't already have four very consistent Coldplay albums. And now, just over two years after said-Wembley shows wound up their 'Viva' era, here comes record number five - but does it [...]
Coldplay 'Mylo Xyloto' (Parlophone) "I think this will be our last record," recently declared Chris Martin, leader of the biggest (soft) rock band in the world and a man so troubled he refuses to believe his Grammy-winning, multi-million-shifting band actually have any fans unless 70,000 of them are chanting 'Yellow' back at him inside Wembley Stadium. If it wasn't for Martin's you're-only-as-good-as-your-la st-song paranoia, however, we wouldn't already have four very consistent Coldplay albums. And now, just over two years after said-Wembley shows wound up their 'Viva' era, here comes record number five - but does it [...]
Blink-182 'Neighborhoods' (Geffen) When Blink-182 announced their comeback at the 2009 Grammys, they strutted on stage with a near-pompous 'Guess who's back' swagger, as if we should all just blank out the past five years without them. Heck, Mark Hoppus even yelped: "Blink-182 is back!" This kind of self-importance would look ugly on about 99% of all pop-punk, but not Blink. They've done too much good - and 'Neighborhoods', albeit not quite the masterwork fans would have itched for, patently illustrates why these need to never cross swords again. Opener 'Ghost on the Dance Floor's spirited [...]
Beirut 'The Rip Tide' (Pompeii Records) The last time Beirut set foot in the limelight, it almost felt like Zach Condon's curious solo venture encountered the odd indie folk hit by chance. But now, after taking in third album 'The Rip Tide', it's incontestable this man and his trumpet knew entirely what they were doing in fashioning good-old nuggety indie-jazz-folk-pop (if you wlll). 'Santa Fe' is probably the only track on here a tad misguided in its accordion-fused peppiness. But that's only a tad. Everything else is stupendous. Rest of world music, over to you... [...]
Benjamin Francis Leftwich 'Last Smoke Before the Snowstorm' (Dirty Hit) These days, one can't stroll a mile without bumping into the next singer-songwriter/folk supremo/lone chansonnier to take over from the last one. And he may well be all of the above, but there's something striking about Yorkshire's Benjamin Francis Leftwich, made blatant by this ten-track debut album. 'Pictures' opens up with a Marling-territory milieu, which pretty much sets the grounds for all else to come. 'Atlas Hands', whose rights no doubt T-Mobile are scrapping for this very minute (don't do it, Benjamin!), is defo one to [...]
Benjamin Francis Leftwich 'Last Smoke Before the Snowstorm' (Dirty Hit) These days, one can't stroll a mile without bumping into the next singer-songwriter/folk supremo/lone chansonnier to take over from the last one. And he may well be all of the above, but there's something striking about Yorkshire's Benjamin Francis Leftwich, made blatant by this ten-track debut album. 'Pictures' opens up with a Marling-territory milieu, which pretty much sets the grounds for all else to come. 'Atlas Hands', whose rights no doubt T-Mobile are scrapping for this very minute (don't do it, Benjamin!), is defo one to [...]
Bon Iver 'Bon Iver' (4AD) "I'm pretty convinced it's my record of the year already," says Adele of Bon Iver's self-titled second album. Not that we need the hottest songstress on the planet's say-so or anything - Justin Vernon and company's latest venture does all its earth-shattering on its own footing. Unlike the debut 'For Emma, Forever Ago', this wasn't tailored in a far-flung Wisconsin cabin, but instead comes off more assured and slick (but not too glossy). 'Holocene' is bonnier than Pippa Middleton in a tutu, mingling slow-burning finger-picking with awry saxophone. And 'Calgary' sees [...]
Bon Iver 'Bon Iver' (4AD) "I'm pretty convinced it's my record of the year already," says Adele of Bon Iver's self-titled second album. Not that we need the hottest songstress on the planet's say-so or anything - Justin Vernon and company's latest venture does all its earth-shattering on its own footing. Unlike the debut 'For Emma, Forever Ago', this wasn't tailored in a far-flung Wisconsin cabin, but instead comes off more assured and slick (but not too glossy). 'Holocene' is bonnier than Pippa Middleton in a tutu, mingling slow-burning finger-picking with awry saxophone. And 'Calgary' sees [...]
Death Cab for Cutie 'Codes and Keys' (Atlantic) For a band to seem relevant seven studio albums in is quite a feat. But then we've been wise to Death Cab for Cutie's adroitness for well over a decade now - and 'Codes and Keys' is the latest example of such. The title track, a bushy-tailed, piano-led sketch nagged any faster could spring from Duran Duran's 'Rio', is one of the finest things these have ever formed. Same more or less goes for the instantly wistful 'Monday Morning' - Ben Gibbard's tone as soothing as ever - [...]
We already know that the world is made up of two lots of species: Those near-neurotic about The Wombats' zappy indie-pop, and those much hostile to The Wombats' phony infernal shtick. But see, what we may not know - or at least, the latter won't be versed in - is that this Mersey-based trio are in actuality way deeper than your regular pack of Smarties. Frontman Matthew Murphy was addicted to anti-depressants (as laid out in latest single 'Anti-D'), for goodness sake! That, a few extra bits of sombre wordplay ("Last night I dreamt I died alone through all my [...]
Elbow 'Build a Rocket Boys!' (Fiction/Polydor) Elbow may have detected some added pressure assembling fifth album 'Build a Rocket Boys!'. But if securing 2009's Mercury Prize did have any mastery over their practice, the North Manchester five-piece only appear to have prospered under it. Their rich, unshackling babel is felt from beginning to end, with a now-at-peace Guy Garvey having to dig deep to come by his blues - no right-minded Elbow devotee wants to hear about the sun's rays, anyhow. An eight-minute intro that actually feels like four precedes the anti-media-anti-hoody 'Lippy Kids', the handsomest [...]
Shout and Twist
Lana Del Rey - Without You (Kill Paris Remix) [Dubstep]
Miike Snow - “Paddling Out” Jacques Lu Cont Remix (MP3 Stream)
Iron & Wine and Patty Griffin
Download: James Blake Live Album (Unofficial)
Circo Voador anuncia shows de The Kooks, Foster The People, Friendly Fires, Gogol Bordello e mais
