Mann - Mann - Mann's World

These days, one feels almost pathetically grateful for a new urban pop artist who doesn't default to the overdriven, Eurohouse chart template. When the first few tracks of Mann's debut album demonstrate the 20-year-old rapper's penchant for old-school G-funk and an actual light touch, it's enough to make you predisposed to look on it favourably.

It's not a feeling that bears much scrutiny. The album is helmed by one JR Rotem, whose discography to date places him firmly into the ‘generic hack’ category of producers: Rihanna's SOS, Iyaz's Replay, so many Jason Derülo singles that you begin...

Steely Dan - Steely Dan - Aja

If ever a record knew its worth, it was Aja, the sixth album by Steely Dan. Released in late 1977 when half the world seemed to be down the disco and the other half were pogo-ing, here came an album that oozed detached sophistication, using every trick that keyboard player and vocalist Donald Fagen and guitarist Walter Becker had mastered over their first decade together.

Following on from 1976's The Royal Scam, any notion of Steely Dan being ‘a band’ had gone, with a huge stream of well over 40 highly skilled session musicians creating textures to support...

Fool's Gold - Fool's Gold

"Street Clothes"from the album Leave No Trace2011iTunesOn its debut album, the L.A. band Fool's Gold presented an unusual marriage of influences, pairing African melodies with Hebrew lyrics. The record won over legions of fans and caught the attention of critics, who described it with words like "beguiling" and "joyous."Fool's Gold's newest album is called Leave No Trace, and there's little trace left of Hebrew on it â€" the lyrics are mostly in English. In a conversation with NPR's David Greene, vocalist Luke Top and guitarist Lewis Pesacov, the band's two founding members,...

Gomez - Gomez - Whatever's on Your Mind

It’s a long time since Gomez won the Mercury Music Prize. Thirteen years, to be precise, since they beat The Verve, Massive Attack and Pulp to the award back in 1998. And after one spin of this, their seventh studio album, you’ll think it was even longer ago. Perhaps in another life altogether.

To be fair, Gomez have been sliding towards middle-of-the-road mediocrity for a while now. Those first three albums - Bring it On, Liquid Skin, and In Our Gun - were rife with a sense of raw, youthful experimentation, blending British and American folk...

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...

Def Leppard - Def Leppard - Mirror Ball

So, hot on the heels of headlining Download, the Leps (Def Hoople, or Mott the Leppard as they now seem to be known) release this, a mix of live tracks recorded from their 'The Sparkle Lounge Tour' plus 3 new studio tracks and a bonus DVD containing live performances and backstage footage.

There is no doubting the legacy of tracks on this album and what they have given the rock world. The first British band in the 80's and NWOBHM band to really have a go and crack the US and succeed big time, they are only one of five rock...

El Schlong - El Schlong - Time/Place

Kiwi metallers El Schlong, probably have one of the most ridiculous band names I have ever heard, but in their eyes, that's unimportant. Here's hoping they take their music a bit more seriously.

They're fronted by a female singer, Leah, but from the sounds of her work, I would have put money on these tracks being sung by a guy. She is also solely in charge of the guitar work in the band, which thankfully, sounds a lot more pleasant than her voice.

Despite their stupid name, El Schlong can actually find their way around very selected instruments pretty well, and are...

St. Vincent - St. Vincent

"Surgeon"from the album Strange Mercy2010iTunesA couple of Annie Clark's recent live performances under her St. Vincent moniker included covers of Big Black's "Kerosene" and "Big Black Mariah" by Tom Waits. There's a neat thematic link there, not just in the leap from one Big Black to the other, but also in her decision to remodel the work of artists who construct alluringly grotesque worlds out of basic "rock" tools. The best St. Vincent material does that, too. Here on "Surgeon," our first taste of the forthcoming Strange Mercy (Sept. 13), everything feels...

Tesseract - TesseracT (Sonisphere 2011)

The Red Bull Bedroom Jam stage is the ideal venue for TesseracT. It is the most intimate stage at Sonisphere, and being enclosed, perfect for the ear assault carried out by one of the leaders of metal's latest sub-genre's, Djent. For those still catching up on all the modern sub-genre's created in metal, Djent is the style generally associated with the likes of Meshuggah, and describes the sound made when by heavily palm-muted, distorted guitar chord.

Whilst the band is still breaking through and the genre is still in its foetus stage, the following is greatly underestimated. The Red Bull stage...

Coldplay - Coldplay - Parachutes (2000)

Lightly tasteful tablature stories and fables is the best way to describe the debut album that put Coldplay on the maps of the music industry. 

Just like the reality of a Parachute, this album will seem to be taking its time. Truth is, the combination of musical professionalism and lyrical content is truly going the speed of light. Track three, “Spies", resembles an overcast system hovering over beautiful tropic skies. From one environment to another, using every format of creative instrumental technique to blend into one 5 minute and 18 second song. “ And if we don’t buy here, They’re going to find us,...