NEU!
TRACKS - 01.02.09 - Esser, Frank Turner, Tommy Reilly, The Wombats

Esser - Work It Out
The crown prince of good music in 2009 returns with yet another hit in a long line of perfect funky pop nuggets bound to be indie disco staples by 2010. "Work It Out" is all electro bleeps, robotic choruses and estuary vocals not seen since Damon Albarn started wearing tracksuit tops and prattling on about Parklife. It may not be as immediate as "Headlock" but it's certainly one of the best in Esser's arsenal, which is certainly saying something considering previous singles
8.5

Frank Turner - Reasons Not Be An Idiot
Apart from an amazing way with song titles (e.g. "I Knew Prufrock Before He Was Famous", "A Decent Cup Of Tea", "Thatcher Fucked The Kids", "I Really Don't Care What You Did On Your Gap Year"), Turner also makes some highly entertaining folk rock with lyrics to either make you chuckle heartily or frown at their realism. I urge you to check out his album "Love, Ire & Song" sometime soon.
7.5

Tommy Reilly - Gimme A Call
Seeing as he's the winner of the recent Orange Unsigned Act competition, there's got to be something suspicious about the young lad (see what I mean here, better explained than I ever could). But this is a sweet acoustic number that will lodge itself in to that space between your ears faster than Usain Bolt on a hyperspeed treadmill. Shall be interesting to see what he comes out with next.
7

The Wombats - My Circuitboard City
Yes, I know, I've already reviewed this and it wasn't exactly glowing with praise. But after a few weeks of listening to it, and it not being raped by TV and radio, it's a real grower. The sound has developed to a more downbeat but just as bouncy indie and the lyrics (now that I know what they are) have retained the same wit and verve from their first demos (example: "Welcome to my circuitboard city of yellow and black/We'll score WD40 so our hearts don't crack" and "Grandad George said the heroes are the ones that run away/But I wear no medals as I'm sprawled in a toilet on my birthday"). You shall be singing the hooks for weeks on end once you hear it twice.
7.5

RANDOM MUSINGS, OBSERVATIONS AND NEWS INVOVLING THE WORLD OF MUSIC

+ New Wombats video for "My Circuitboard City" on their website. The song's actually grown on me a bit...still can't equal anything from the debut though

(Not real video, obv.)

+ I'm sure I walked past Dan Haggis (of The Wombats) in American Apparel in town the other week.

+ White Lies' album is possibly the best of the year. Despite there being 356 days of it left. It'll take a third Arctic Monkeys LP/the return of Richey Edwards/a collaboration between The Clash, The Smiths and The Beatles, with God on keyboards to better it.

+ I'm sure Danny Boyle and Morrissey are the same person. Just with a pair of glasses as the difference.

THE WOMBATS - MY CIRCUITBOARD CITY
Could the ever-cheerful 'Bats finally be maturing and moving away from the bouncy, sugar coated indie pop of "A Guide To Love, Loss And Desperation"? Going by this next single, it would certainly appear so but it doesn't seem like the best thing to do right now. A move like this would be best later in their career, in 4th album territory maybe, when absolutely everyone is sick of chirpy Scousers pratting about (not just miserable NME hacks). But right now, it'd be best to stick to what they do best. The song itself is a bit more "Is This Christmas?" than "Kill The Director", only without Les Dennis and bells. Few angular riffs here, chanty vocals there, and a bit of a boring chorus in "I can't wait to wallow in self pity/In my circuitboard city tonight". Who knows, the album may be superb like the debut, but the signs aren't looking so good right now.
6.5/10

808s & Heartbreak

Well Kanye won't win any prizes for album title subtlety, seeing his fourth offering is basically made up predominantly of the Roland TR-808 drum machine (as it can be used to"evoke emotion"....go figure) and a turbulent year for West himself; the death of his mother and a split from his fiancée. So you can forgive him for the overwhelming woe-is-me feel of the album.

Two other main factors of the album are the use of AutoTune/Vocoder and the complete lack of rapping. Seriously. Gutted for all the kids who like to think they're from "da ghetto" then buy this album, just because it's Kanye, and get just one track featuring a rap (new single "Heartless"). If anything, the album is rooted in classic 80's pop, than 21st century hip-hop. West has already said that he has a soft spot for pop and that some of the "greatest" singers of all time were pop artists, specifically Madonna and Michael Jackson (obviously he hasn't heard their last few releases).

But for all the background and bumfluff, for all the concepts and melancholy, 808s & Heartbreak just comes off as a bit bland really. Opener "Say You Will" is fine musically, but Kanye's vocals are instantly forgettable, as are most of the tracks on the album. In fact, the collaboration tracks (with Kid Cudi, Young Jeezy, Mr. Hudson and Lil' Wayne) are the best here, seemingly as they're not all Kanye moping about. Lead single "Love Lockdown" is pretty much a work of genius from the "college dropout"; distorted vocals and tribal drums gel together suprisingly well, but from here, 808s... is downhill, right down to the final track "Pinocchio Story" a freestyle from a gig in Singapore. Pretty pointless really, it's a dirge of a track and I lost track of what Kanye was on about half way through, so I switched to The Wombats.

Anyways, 808s & Heartbreak is a suprising curveball, a confident change in direction for one of the biggest rappers around. Yet, despite the actual heartbreak behind it, you'd think West would find something positive out of the whole experience instead of turning into a sort of hip-hop Morrissey. At least he can make misery seem interesting, he's been doing it for 26 years.

6.5/10

Speaking of The Wombats, they're releasing a Christmas singe. No, wait...come back! It may not seem so much at first but it's a grower. Despite the Les Dennis cameo. Just ignore the first ten seconds when you hear it, then go buy it. Or Glasvegas' Crimbo mini-album. They're more deserving than whichever sorry excuse for humanity wins X Factor of the Xmas Number One (except that Diana one, she's rather fit) and also better than the other over-sweet festive sludge being released around this time.

7/10 (The Wombats - Is This Christmas?)
8.5/10 (Glasvegas - Please Come Back Home)
xxx