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Pop Levi - Pop Levi - Motorcycle 666 After what can only be described as a massive kiss of death, Pop Levi is bouncing back from being tipped by Lauren Laverne four years ago. Since then, he's kept himself busy by making more obscure films than most people would admit to, and having a nice line in accessible indie. "Motorcycle 666" is like a male-fronted version of the Gossip, all driving guitars, insistent bass and rhyming couplets while the drums keep time. It's indie disco fodder and should live long enough in the memory of drunken revellers to go and download the morning after. It's a bit pointlessly long,... M83 - M83 "Midnight City"from the album Hurry Up, We're Dreaming2011iTunesIt's been a long and fruitful journey for M83's Anthony Gonzalez. Started in the early '00s, the once-duo-but-now-solo project has been pumping out albums of top-tier electronic shoegaze for the better part of a decade. That said, M83's been kind of quiet since the release of 2008's excellent Saturdays=Youth, but it seems that the time off was a necessary evil: Gonzalez recently announced the imminent arrival of Hurry Up, We're Dreaming, an epic double LP due out October 18. With that release date slowly approaching,... The Chemical Brothers - The Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole If their debut, 1995’s Exit Planet Dust, set the Chemical Brothers stall out as purveyors of large beats and chunkin’ funk, then Dig Your Own Hole shot them right into the stratosphere. With its number one singles, Grammy award and multi-platinum status, Dig Your Own Hole took Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons from the backrooms to the stadiums. In a year that saw some incredible albums such as OK Computer, Ladies & Gentleman..., and Homework, Dig Your Own Hole sits easily in such company, a joyous melange of psychedelia, acid house, hip hop, funk and colossal beats... Jeff Buckley - Jeff Buckley - Grace While Jeff Buckley’s sole complete studio document has achieved two million sales worldwide since its mid-90s release, its impact at the time was far from impressive. And that’s from both critical and commercial perspectives, as although today it’s regularly held in high regard come top-albums lists, a mixed reception greeted it on its initial emergence. Listening today, almost 17 years to the day after that first release, it’s easy to hear why reviewers weren’t universally moved by Grace. Its best-known track isn’t even one penned by Buckley, Hallelujah being a cover of Leonard Cohen’s haunting masterpiece. Nor is Corpus... Caribou - Caribou (Latitude 2011) Electronica music is always bound to go down well at a festival; it's danceable, atmospheric and energetic; the perfect way to keep spirits high and leave the crowds buzzing. Few are better in this field than Canadian Daniel Victor Snaith, with many musical monikers and projects under his belt, but none more popular and with a larger discography than Caribou. Snaith's set exuded professionalism; entertaining the packed Word Arena with synthesised tracks and complicated time-signatures causing awkward middle-class Latitude-goers (who were already cautiously coming out of their shells) to bop their heads all the more awkwardly, which only added to the... Garage A Trois - Garage A Trois: Always Be Happy, But Stay Evil In addition to creating thoughtful yet bruising instrumental rock, the players in Garage A Trois "drummer Stanton Moore, keyboardist Marco Benevento, vibraphonist Mike Dillon and saxophonist Skerik "sure know how to title an album. Always Be Happy, But Stay Evil, the name of Garage A Trois’ fourth proper full-length, perfectly encapsulates the vibe of the band: the music is fun, energetic and hopeful, but there’s a darkness to it that begs listeners to stay on their toes. The dangerous “Resentment Incubator”"penned by Dillon, the album’s main songwriter"is dominated by distorted, metallic keyboard lines and gruff, no-nonsense saxophone riffs. “Shooting Breaks”... Tricky - Tricky - Maxinquaye Bristol rapper Adrian Thaws, aka Tricky (once he’d dropped the cumbersome "Kid" from his moniker), was hardly an unknown force when he released this debut album in early 1995. His whispered, husky vocals had appeared on Massive Attack’s 1991 disc Blue Lines, and he featured again on the trio’s next LP, 94’s Protection. Maxinquaye, though, was something else. It’s hard to imagine how he could have stepped out of Massive Attack’s shadow in a more dramatic fashion. Named after the artist’s late mother, Maxinquaye is a (quite deliberately) suffocating delight of oily beats and murky atmospherics, bruised lyricism... The Black Keys - The Black Keys - The Big Come Up (2002) Persistence has never been more than a hit away for The Black Keys. Thanks to the success of their 2010 release "Brothers", blues and grit on a simple two-man platform is quickly becoming the here and now again. But spend some time with The Black Keys debut release, The Big Come Up, and you may realize just how oblivious you've been all these years.Back to back, tracks four and five "Countdown" and "The Breaks" respectively, have an undeniable sound. Of the thirteen total, two cover songs can be found. "Leavin' Trunk" written by Sleepy John Estes and "She Said, She... Joss Stone - Joss Stone - LP1 Steadily rising Brit-soul teenager Dionne Bromfield " currently 15 years old " would be wise to study the career path of Joss Stone, who broke into the mainstream at the age of 16 with 2003’s The Soul Sessions. Study it, carefully, and then walk in the opposite direction for a few albums. For while Stone’s a multi-million-selling artist, her catalogue to date is a classic example of diminishing returns. Her second set, 2004’s Mind Body & Soul, diluted the singer’s natural grit for a mainstream-pleasing pop-soul sound to a chorus of general indifference, and 2007’s Introducing... couldn’t... Gavin Degraw - Gavin Degraw - Free (2009) I had the fun of seeing this guy at the El Rey in Los Angeles while he was promoting this album. The El Rey is a smaller venue with great acoustics so it highlighted his sound and vocals tremendously. The set begins with a cover of "Indian Summer" that is down deep bluesy. It has a gospel-like feel going in, but soon turns into a rough version of the song with his guitarist building the songs strength. "Free", the albums title tack, is your classic track the listener can relate to. "Free" is a slow start with a feel good climb.... |