CD Review

CD Review Alabama 3

Shoplifting 4 Jesus (Hostage Music)

The first thought that comes to mind when describing Alabama 3’s Shoplifting 4 Jesus is that old Monty Pythons catchphrase: "Now for something completely different".

A band of eight, whose core members are believed to have met in rehab, and describe their sound as ‘country acid house music’, their music always had a very slim chance of sounding normal.

Genres a plenty are packed into Shoplifting 4 Jesus, along with loads of different sounds (including a cameo from Motorhead’s Lemmy) and a plethora of different voices to rival So Solid Crew – it’s a very diverse album.

The songs sound…

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CD Review The Rosie Taylor Project

Twin Beds (Odd Box)

One time Leodensian (now London-based) sextet the Rosie Taylor Project arrive with their second album Twin Beds, continuing their blend of poetic lyricism with gentle acoustic tunes. The result of this combination is a record that superficially sounds very thin, but will offer more to those prepared to concentrate on the lyrics.

Tracks such as ‘For Esme’ and lead single ‘Sleep’ give the album some sonic substance, with the latter in particular offering up an infectious rhythm, but often the instruments are too fleeting to give any of the songs any real musical bite. All too regularly the melodies are…

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CD Review The Ting Tings

Sounds From Nowheresville (Columbia)

With their much-delayed second album, the indie-pop duo seem to be asking their fans one question: was the wait really worth it? Almost four years on from the release of their debut We Started Nothing, The Ting Tings don’t appear to have had a single new idea.

This sophomore album sticks very close to the guidelines established by its predecessor; vapid lyrical hooks plastered over funky, rhythmic drum beats, repeated ad infinitum. While the tracks remain impossible not to tap toes to, each one is instantly forgettable, lacking the catchy sing-a-long moments from 2008’s effort.

Clearly positioned as a singles…

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CD Review Beth Jeans Houghton & The Hooves Of Destiny

Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose (Mute)

Anyone familiar with Beth Jeans Houghton will know that this record was a long time coming. I’ve read that she fell in love with LA at some point during recording, which must be distracting. But it must have also taken a while to assemble and properly process the number of ideas and motifs that she has fitted into this utterly wonderful record.

In some respects she conforms perfectly to an established musical type: the kooky female singer-songwriter who people will immediately compare to Kate Bush.

But that doesn’t really tell the whole story of Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose. Songs stop,…

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CD Review Pulled Apart by Horses

Tough Love (Transgressive)

Pulled Apart by Horses are synonymous with the most hyperactive live performances you can imagine; if you’re lucky you’ll come away from the gig with the same matching battle scars as the band.

Tough Love is the Leeds bands’ second album and takes you back to the front of the stage at one of their gigs, squashed against other sweaty fans, screaming at the top of your lungs and grabbing at the band like a ravenous zombie.

Each track packs such a punch that you’re dizzy after hearing the record. The album does exactly what is says on the…

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CD Review Matthew Bourne

Montauk Variations (The Leaf Label)

Matthew Bourneand The Leaf Labelare a very good match. Matthew Bourne is a graduate of and part-time professor at Leeds College of Music with a PhD in Performance from the University of Leeds. He creates piano-led music which veers between classical composition and avant-garde jazz and already won the Perrier Jazz Award in 2001 (aged 23), and a BBC Jazz Award for Innovation the next year.

Leaf Label are (now) based in Leeds, and have a long proud history of releasing records by exceptional experimental and avant-garde acts, including Four Tet, Susumu Yokota, Caribou,

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CD Review Enter Shikari

A Flash Flood of Colour (Ambush Reality)

The St Albans four piece Enter Shikari have always been known for pushing the envelope, infuses their post-hardcore sound with trance synths and, more recently, edging into the dubstep market. Understandably, their music can easily divide opinion. Their third album, A Flash Flood of Colour may be a sign that they’ve not only pushed it, but shredded the envelope.

A Flash Flood of Colour is interesting, but the constant change in music styles seems more confusing – though each track stays true to the Enter Shikari sound, the complete journey of genres you are taken on appears more random than…

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CD Review Howler

America Give Up (Rough Trade)

As the latest American band to be described as the ‘Saviours Of Rock’n’Roll’ by the NME, there are two inevitabilities about Howler: they sound like The Strokes and they will be hit by an almighty backlash in about a month’s time.

I’m not starting the backlash here though, because Howler are pretty good. Young, dumb and lacking in originality they may be; but as Noel Gallagher might say, “at least they can write a fookin’ tune”.

Opener ‘Beach Sluts’ is like the Raveonettes if they were fronted by a horny teen instead of a pair of Danish goths. In ‘Back…

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CD Review Spectrals

Bad Penny (Wichita)

Spectrals made quite a splash on the Leeds scene back in 2009 with a handful of hyped shows and a lo-fi cassette release riddled with fuzzed up Crystal Stilts-esque surf guitar. It was pretty damn cutting edge, and what’s more, it was all the brainchild of a teenager from deepest darkest Heckmondwike who went by the name of Louis Jones.

Flash forward to 2011 and Jones, now signed to Witchita, has put together his debut long player, Bad Penny- overseen by producer Richard Formby.

It’s certainly an accomplished effort, all laidback swooning guitars and glossy production. Jones’ voice is…

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CD Review Magazine

No Thyself (Wire-Sound)

Post-punk pioneers Magazine release their fifth studio album after a break of almost 30 years. No Thyself takes its title from a bastardised version of Socrates’ guiding principle, ‘Know Thyself’. So, has the accumulated life experience proved beneficial to their music? On the evidence presented here, it would appear not.

Vocalist Howard Devoto has publically stated that the album’s main themes are sex and death – notably, Magazine’s founder member and former guitarist John McGeoch died in 2004. When they reformed in 2009, Devoto drafted in ex-Cure bassist Norman Fisher-Jones (AKA Noko) on guitar, who had worked with him on…

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