Buy new or used through Amazon
Arctic
Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
-- Yes, the hype for a certain part of the prospective audience was
deafening, so what. The question is, does it communicate what it
wants to? Answer: YES! In spades, I say. Basic rock 'n roll is a lot
more difficult than this makes it seem. Some whining on the West side
of the pond about it being "too English".. so what.
Buy new or used through Amazon
Various
Artists - Mary Anne Hobbs Warrior Dubz -- Wherein a BBC
Radio 1 DJ who is not John Peel makes the best comp of the year. Mary
Anne Hobbs has an "experimental" show very late at night
once a week called "Breezeblock". Over the last 18 months
or so she has been playing really really tough underground stuff
taken from the various scenes at the underground of Tech / Dub /
Garage / D+B / Breaks / Electronic / Leftfield / Dubstep / Whatever.
With this compilation she picks some of the best tracks and also gets
some of the best producers to contribute exclusive tracks. Some parts
of scene are in danger of devolving towards ambience, but as long as
there are nasty words and nasty beats it'll be OK.
Buy new or used through Amazon
Scritti
Politti -- White Bread, Black Beer Green Gartside's
latest. Does that make is 5 LPs in 25 years or something? Production
is lusher than one might imagine from the publicity line "produced
at home" and the songs are intensely personal. Flayingly so at
times.
Buy new or used through Amazon
Spank
Rock - YoYoYoYoYo -- Imagine Lil Jon and UK Garage
reduced to the essentials. Some of the rhymes are just a little
sophomoric, but the beats are awesome. If I could afford a boomin'
trunk of funk in my ride, this would be on loop.
Buy new or used through Amazon
New
York Dolls - One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This
-- More basic rock 'n roll, and better that it has any right to
be. The sheer delight with which Johanssen sings is just too
infectious. (Also, don't miss "New York Doll". A
surprising and touching documentary about Arthur "Killer"
Kane and his journey from the New York Dolls to Mormonism and back)
Buy new or used through Amazon
The
Coup - Pick A Bigger Weapon -- Favourite rhyme of the
year: "I'm here to laugh, love, fuck, and drink liquor/And help
the damn revolution come quicker."
Buy new or used through Amazon
Lady
Sovereign - Public Warning -- Build your own review:
"Sassy", "fiesty", "short", "Jay-Z's
new project", "not the female Eminem", "catchy",
"smart-ass", "english", "little girl, big
mouth", "dis", "funny", "does not give
a shit". But the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
Several tracks are re-recordings of superior older material, but if
Jay-Z sticks with her past disappointing sales I'll be back for more.
Skream - Skream
Burial - Burial
Kode 9 + The Spaceape - Memories of the Future
Booka Shade - Movements
Which
just go to show that vocals/words/rhymes/flow can be overrated. Dark,
dank, squiggly, sinister. I can't think of the rest... These sounds
and beats just envelope you and take you places that you don't always
mean to go but can't help liking once you get there.
Belle
& Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
Neko
Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Gnarls
Barkley - St. Elsewhere
Robyn
Hitchcock + Venus 3 - Ole Tarantula
Basement
Jaxx - Cazy Itch Radio (last chance to redeem yourself,
guys)
Hot
Chip - The Warning
Toumani
Diabate Symmetric Orchestra - Boulevard de l'Independance
Coldcut
- Sound Mirrors
Reasons
to have broadband: BBC Radio 1 Breezeblock Dubstep Special (3
hours of brutal special mixes) --- eMusic --- Live cricket coverage!
