Blog: Underwurld Music

After the release of Hawk, yet another brilliant album with his musical soul mate Isobel Campbell, Mark Lanegan returns with Blues Funeral, the follow-up to the now eight year old Bubblegum. In spite of this lengthy 'break', the timing could not be better, as band after band dredge up the glory (or otherwise) of the 80s, put down their guitars and pick up their MacBooks. And bringing in (again) musician and producer Alain Johannes, Blues Funeral is an intriguing prospect. The result is that instead of kicking away the current trend of electronica and making a predictable guitar-fuelled traditional rock/blues [...]

Feeder return to form with a new single Borders, as a preview for their new album Generation Freakshow, the follow-up to the disastrous Renegades project. Thankfully Grant Nicholas and Taka Hirose (now officially a duo) with session musicians Tim Trotter and Damon Wilson, have ditched the new persona and gone back to the Feeder of old, writing and performing great pop songs and delivering power, melody and energy. This bodes well for the new album which Nicholas describes as much more commercial and like Yesterday Went Too Soon and Comfort In Sound - both great albums. [...]

Last night heralded this year's BBC Radio 2 Awards , celebrating the last 12 months best of the folk music world.Veteran June Tabor swept the board and emerged as the best singer, singing the best traditional song, on the best album, with the best group, Oysterband. The album Ragged Kingdom, featuring Bonny Bunch Of Roses, is a revelation and a marvellous balance of the old and the new; a perfect example of how to bring traditional folk right up to date without going too far. And Tabor's voice just gets better with age. The Dubliners and Don McLean picked [...]

Orbital release their new album Wonky in April this year and the video for second track Straight Sun is now on YouTube. The album is produced by Flood.

There is a common misconception that some musicians are beyond criticism. One only has to listen to the latest Lou Reed/Metallica train crash (Lulu, 2011) to know that isn't true. And it's all too easy to praise so called 'legends' and overuse the word 'genius' when their legacy has outlived their present achievements (McCartney and Dylan being two obvious examples). So it is with a certain amount of trepidation that Leonard Cohen's twelfth album is received; kept at arms-length rather than embraced, admired from distance and not approached, talked about in hushed-tones instead of praised. The man who gave [...]

A great start to 2012! Thea Gilmore has given all her lovely Angels a fantastic new song, exclusive to all subscribers and no one else! Hold Still is a deep and meaningful piano ballad with huge deep echoing vocals and plenty of atmosphere. Here's what Thea says about the song: "This is a title that I've had for a while and I could never quite write the right song for it. I'm still not sure that the song quite lives up to its idea, so you may hear another [...]

A busy month with some great new albums (thanks Spotify Premium!). Tough Love by Pulled Apart By Horses leads the way followed by the wonderful Ani Difranco with ¿Which Side Are You On? Also this month: America Give Up by Howler, Given To The Wild by The Maccabees and Black Light by Diagrams. All contribute to a great start to the year and the first Underwurld Music chart of 2012! 1. Tough Love by Pulled Apart by Horses 2. Given To The Wild by The Maccabees 3. ¿Which Side Are You On? by Ani Difranco 4. [...]

There is a growing consensus that guitar music is in crisis. If there is any truth in this, Leeds post-hardcore garage quartet Pulled Apart By Horses sound like a band on the verge of pioneering the resurgence. After the release of their rough-round-the-edges eponymous debut in 2010, the band hit the festivals and were asked to tour with Muse, and growing as musicians, the follow-up Tough Love is a much more solid record, building on the might of early single I Punched A Lion In The Throat – a furious combination of lead singer Tom Hudson's terrifyingly straining vocals and [...]

The brilliant Lostprophets have announced the release of their new album, entitled Weapons, on April 2nd this year. This is followed by a UK tour. Listen to the new single Better Off Dead on the band's official Facebook page here .

Musical careers are filled with ups and downs, good songs and not so good songs, commercial success and obscurity. The professional life of Ani DiFranco has seen all of these, from her charming auspicious début in 1990 to the wonder years of the 1990s, through the desolation of the start of the last decade into the revival of the end; DiFranco has tasted the highs and the lows of being a musician. Now, aged 41, married and enjoying motherhood, her seventeenth album ¿Which Side Are You On? is a heady mix of the politically charged (the name of the album [...]

The BBC 'Sound of...' is generally a good indication of talent to listen out for in the coming year. The shortlists have introduced us to the likes of Florence and The Machine, The Ting Tings, Mumford and Sons, Adele, Vampire Weekend, Dizzee Rascal and Lady Gaga as well as less mainstream artists trying to make it big. This year the top 5 is... 1. Michael Kiwanuka 2. Frank Ocean 3. Azealia Banks 4. Skrillex 5. Niki and The [...]

So another year comes to an end and here is the final 2011 Music Chart. A very quiet month with no new albums. Fleet Foxes hold the number one spot and is still the Underwurld Music album of the year. Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes A Creature I Don't Know by Laura Marling Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will by Mogwai Slave Ambient by The War On Drugs Ashes & Fire by Ryan Adams Last Night On Earth by Noah And The [...]

The final song from Thea this year for all her lovely Angels is another double: the rather pleasant But Me and a brief take of Auld Lang Syne. But Me is full of haunting, echoing, spacious vocals set to a simple guitar backing. No write-up or explanation from Thea this time but the message is positive and upbeat in spite of a sedate and measured delivery. A gorgeous love song emerges in the last minute. Thea's take on Auld Lang Syne is equally beautiful and as expected. A cappella and only one verse but a rare [...]

The Sigur Rós front man Jónsi has provided music for We Bought A Zoo. The animated video for the wonderful Gathering Stories, co-written with director Cameron Crowe, is here ...

A new song (demo) from The xx. Dark spacious minimalism at its best...

New albums this month from Kate Bush: the wonderful 50 Words For Snow, and the equally beguiling Florence And The Machine's Ceremonials. Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes A Creature I Don't Know by Laura Marling Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will by Mogwai Slave Ambient by The War On Drugs Ashes & Fire by Ryan Adams Last Night On Earth by Noah And The Whale Codes and Keys by Death Cab For Cutie Collapse Into Now by [...]

This month's feast of sound from Thea Gilmore to all her lovely Angels In The Abattoir is a cover of Mark Knopfler's Piper To The End. Thea original had a new song ready but 'technical issues' got in the way so we will have to wait for that. Anyway... this appears on the documentary Victor that was broadcast by the BBC earlier this month. Thea says "It just so happens that Mark is a very good friend of the guy who wrote the novel 'Victor'.. a lovely man called Rick Stroud.. so imagine the [...]

There has been much talk recently about the death of the album. Kate Bush herself has spoken about this and like many musicians seems willing to accept the changing face of music. But on the evidence of 50 Words For Snow she is not giving up on the format that has shaped the musical world for generations. And six years is an unusually short amount of time to wait for new material. Ignoring the recent Director's Cut, an album that failed more than it succeeded but Bush deemed necessary to move forward, 2005's Ariel is still a fascinating and relevant [...]

Very cool new video for the single Stuck by Cassettes Won't Listen... Filmed on an iPhone and created using an XBox Kinect.

Here is the new song by Little Boots... Little Boots - SHAKE by LittleBoots It's very Goldfrapp/Kylie but cool and stylish.

• LittleBoots - SHAKE