Tweet-ville U.K. featuring Dizzee Rascal, Codes, Slow Club, Mumford & Sons, Wolfmother and Tubelord

Since I've got a whole heap of albums that have yet to grace the pixels of Hitsville U.K., and I want to clear the space they're taking up in my mind, here's a handy little thing to help me (that I may have nabbed from Jamie Milton of Music Fan's Mic, who may have nabbed it from someone else...don't really know); an album review in the space of a tweets, or to those of you not keeping up with modern trends and technology, 140 characters. Call me lazy for doing this (and I'll call you correct) but it's simple and allows me to just give a brief overview etc etc. I'll get on with it now.
(Ratings, track recommendations and other stuff not included in the 140 limit, just so you know)

DIZZEE RASCAL - TONGUE N' CHEEK
"Bonkers leads to this; a go at proper pop "Cheeky" misogyny, stale beats, phoned-in flows, the odd Credit Crunch reference. Yawn, mostly"
RECOMMENDED LISTENING: "Bonkers", "Dance Wiv Me", "Holiday", "Dirtee Cash", "Can't Tek No More"
5.5
CODES - TREES DREAM IN ALGEBRA
"Odd title, epic stadium rock. Would be a new U2 (zzz) if not for ambition and creativity. Bit samey halfway through but one to look out for"
RECOMMENDED LISTENING: "Malfunctions", "Guided By Ghosts", "In Algebra", "Starry Eyed"
7

SLOW CLUB -YEAH SO
"Twee-er than B&S, but even better. Simple folk ditties mix with bittersweet indie rock to lodge in your thoughts for long after listening"
RECOMMENDED LISTENING: "When I Go", "It Doesn't Have To Be Beautiful", "There's No Good Way To Say I'm Leaving You", "Because We're Dead", "Apples And Pairs", "Our Most Brilliant Friends"
8


WOLFMOTHER - COSMIC EGG
"Big-haired Aussies return with new members but no new ideas. Same retro-rock as debut, but no equally great songs a la "Dimension", "Woman""
RECOMMENDED LISTENING: "Cosmic Egg", "New Moon Rising", "Sundial"
3

TUBELORD - OUR FIRST AMERICAN FRIENDS
"Another quiet-LOUD band. Noticeably more depth, talent and ideas than most new bands. Clever, thrilling, few negatives cept little diversity"
RECCOMENDED LISTENING: "Somewhere Out There A Dog Is On Fire", "Stacey's Left Arm", "Propeller", "He Awoke On A Beach In Abergavenny", "Cows To The East, Cities To The West"
8

NEU! featuring Rihanna, Ash, Yeasayer and Them Crooked Vultures

RIHANNA - RUSSIAN ROULETTE
The world's second biggest popstar (after Beyonce) makes her post-Chris Brown-gate (can't think of a better name right now) comeback with Russian Roulette, the lead single from her fourth album Rated R. The girl obviously loves alliteration, but instead of reasserting herself in the public conciousness with a huge crossover hit à la "Umbrella", "Don't Stop The Music", "Disturbia", "SOS", "Shut Up And Drive" etc. "Russian Roulette" is a downbeat, brooding ballad. On first listen, it may seem a little anonymous and meandering, but endeavour and you'll find that a great modern pop song doesn't have to be huge beats and incessant whirring aimed squarley at girls at 18th birthday party, drunk on WKD. Slow and sultry, it worms its way into your memory with a fantastic soaring chorus, which sounds oddly familiar. The only problem now is airplay. The powers-that-be weren't exactly to pleased about the Russian roulette reference in Lady GaGa's "Poker Face", so an entire song on the game itself, coupled with a gunshot at the end? Good luck with that one Rihanna.
[Available to hear on Rihanna's website]
7.5

ASH - JOY KICKS DARKNESS
As you may have guessed from the artwork, this is Ash's second single from their A-Z series (For those not in the know, Ash gave up making albums to concentrate on singles and are releasing 26; one every two weeks). After the synth-poppy True Love 1980, the Downpatrick trio have gone back to what they do best; powerful pop-rock. "JKD" has a rawer edge than most early Ash singles but, unlike "Girl From Mars" et al, isn't an immediate pop song. Which probably isn't the best thing for a singles-only band to be releasing. But the blistering rock-out coda more than makes up for it, along with a rather awesome guitar solo. Two down and 24 to go, there's a lot to look forward over the next year.
7

YEASAYER - AMBLING AMP
The indie press darlings sure are a savvy lot. Releasing this single as a free download towards the end of the year, just before all the "Best Of 2009" lists are compiled, is a surefire way to win over those easily-won-over music hacks and boost them to the upper echolons of said charts. I shouldn't be so cynical, because if this was released on 1st January 2010, it would still make the Top 20 of 2010, at the very least. "Ambling Amp" is a genius slice of skewed pop, a bouncy "proper pop song" (basically stuff sung on X Factor and popular with those awful people known as the general public) hidden behind avant-garde sound effects and bubbling synths, making it sound like it's been concocted in a laboratory, which it probably has been. Perfection like this is beyond mere mortals. Okay, that was overly-hyperbolic, but this an amazingly good song, that even the milkman could whistle...probably. And it's a free download. Life is good sometimes.
[Available as a free download here]
10THEM CROOKED VULTURES - MIND CHASER, NO ERASER
Considering the components that make up TCV, this should be great, appealing to metalheads, indie kids and ageing rockers alike. Or it could follow the supergroup rule...basically that 99.9% of supergroups are a bit shit. Or, for an analogy relating to the members, it could be pretty damn good (Josh Homme/Queens Of The Stone Age), alright but a bit bland (Dave Grohl/Foo Fighters) or boring enough to enduce jaw-breaking yawns worldwide (John Paul Jones/Led Zep). The answer is that "Mind Chaser, No Eraser" is a bit more Foo Fighters than QOTSA. It says something when the best bit of a song is the comedic (I'm guessing) brass band tacked on the end. With the only two tracks available sounding like the latter-day bollock-less Foos, things aren't looking good for TCV's album. At least this was free and I didn't have to part with the hard earned money...that I'm sent every month.
[Available for free on iTunes]
5

Delphic - Acolyte artwork

Released on 11th January next year, Delphic's debut should be a delight, judging from early singles "Counterpoint" and "This Momentary". With albums from Vampire Weekend, Los Campesinos!, Lightspeed Champion and now this, the first few months of 2010 are shaping up to be amazing.

TRACKLISTING

01. Clarion Call
02. Doubt
03. This Momentary
04. Red Lights
05. Acolyte
06. Halcyon
07. Submission
08. Counterpoint
09. Ephemera
10. Remain

Lightspeed Champion second album news.

New-rave-godfather-turned-alt.-folkster Dev Hynes, better known as Lightspeed Champion, has announced the details of his sophomore album, along with a sneak preview of lead single "Marlene". Titled, rather amazingly, "Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You", it's due to be released on the 1st February 2010.

Tracklisting

1. "Dead Head Blues"
2. "Marlene"
3. "There’s Nothing Underwater"
4. "Intermission"
5. "Faculty Of Fears"
6. "The Big Guns Of Highsmith"
7. "Romart"
8. "I Don’t Want To Wake Up Alone"
9. "Madame Van Damme"
10. "Smooth Day (At The Library)"
11. "Intermission 2"
12. "Sweetheart"
13. "Etude Op.3 ‘Goodnight Michalek’"
14. "Middle Of The Dark"
15. "Bridge And A Goodbye"

Very interesting. At first I thought this would turn out to be this year's "The First Days Of Spring", going off the plaintitive guitar strums, reverb and organ in the background, but the QOTSA-style rock out means this is going to be very, very different

Them Crooked Vultures - New Fang

A few days ago, I posted the cover art for Them Crooked Vultures' eponymous debut album. If the thought of Josh Homme, John Paul Jones and Dave Grohl collaborating doesn't get you excited, then you've got no soul. "No Fang" has been uploaded to YouTube as a taster for the album and as expected it's a bluesy rock-out with a very heavy Led Zep influence. But, it feels a little bit too clean and neutered to be the sum of its parts, until the breakdown at the end. Let's just hope this is one of the weaker tracks of the album, and the rest is face-melting retro-rock that neither Wolfmother. The Darkness nor Tenacious D could create in their wildest dreams.

Editors - In This Light And On This Evening

I was in HMV the other day, looking to add to my vinyl collection/addiction. Whilst having a quick flick through the CDs (remember them?) I came across Editors' rather good second album "An End Has A Start". I was horrified to notice a "One For The Lads" promotional sticker slapped on the case, as if it were a Pigeon Detectives album or a Jeremy Clarkson "Edgy & Cool Driving Songs for The Middle Aged" compilation. Now anyone who knows Editors and their music will realise this is a horrific mistake; Editors are the purveyors of gloomy rock and slightly-epic stadium indie, with the occasional nod to Joy Division. They aren't for the typical "lad". I doubt you'll hear anyone of that persuasion enthusing about Chris Urbanowicz's guitar riffs or Tom Smith's doom-laden voice in the way they would about Oasis/The Prodigy/Kaiser Chiefs/*insert generic indie-pop-rock band with a few catchy hits here*.

Anyway, the point of that long -winded and ever-so-slightly discriminatory anecdote was to illustrate that despite the indie/hipster set's usual negative point about Editors (that they went a bit Coldplay and aimed for to be on those Clarkson comps), the band was still pretty far from universal fame/acceptance. Such a thing is now probably even further away due to third album "In This Light And On This Evening". Like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs earlier this year, Editors have gone all synth in the two years since "An End Has A Start". A bold and brave move, yes, but one that works? Most certainly.

The opening title track starts off with a low, throbbing synth and stays this way for the next two-thirds of the track before exploding into an apocalyptic breakdown which wouldn't be out of place in a futuristic, sci-fi film (the band have mentioned that the album is influenced by such films, and in particular the Terminator theme). The track consists of only one, repeated verse (" I swear to God, I heard the Earth inhale, moments before it spat its rain down on me/ I swear to God, in this light and on this evening, London's become, the most beautiful thing I've seen. ") with Smith's vocals sounding reverential, brooding and resigned at the same time. It sets the tone for the remaining 8 tracks, which all seem to twist and turn in many different directions. It doesn't exactly reach "Paranoid Android" or "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" proportions, but there were certainly a lot of ideas floating around in the album sessions.

Whilst the move towards electronic music will certainly lose them a few fans, "In This Light..." has some of Editors most accessible, poppy material. "Bricks And Mortar" would be a fantasic single, if it could be trimmed down from its 6:21 running time and the amazing-but-preposterously-titled "Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool", which is possibly Editors' best chorus yet. Lead single "Papillion" continues down the poppier route, but brings with it the morib lyrical side of the band. Never before in my mind have lines such as "You will choke, choke on the air you try to breathe" or "The world turns too fast, feel love before it’s gone" felt so at home in a pop song, and the chorus of "Darling, just don’t put down your guns yet/if there really was a God here/he’d have raised a hand by now" could have easily come from the pen of Richey Edwards.

Although for all the positives of the album, the novelty of 'Editors + synths' does grate after a while, with only Smith's lyrics and voice keeping some songs afloat (for example "The Big Exit" is saved just before the "skip" point by the powerful middle eighth, which is basically Smith singing alone, the electronic beeps barely in the background). Overall, "In This Light And On This Evening" is a great album, a near-classic. The only thing stopping it from reaching "classic" status is the overused synth elements (and the decision to not include "No Sound But The Wind") but from here, Editors can do pretty much anything with their sound, be it guitars, keyboards or something for the lad population, although I hope that road is blocked. Forever.
FOR FANS OF: Joy Division, White Lies, Interpol, Kraftwerk, Bloc Party
ESSENTIAL TRACKS: All, except "Like Treasure"
9

ALBUM NEWS: Los Campesinos - Romance Is Boring

Los Campesinos! have announced the details of their forthcoming second/third album (I can't be bothered explainin). Named "Romance Is Boring", it's out on February 1st 2010. Cannot wait.

The tracklisting is as follows:

1. In Medias Res
2. There Are Listed Buildings
3. Romance Is Boring
4. We’ve Got Your Back (Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown #2)
5. Plan A
6. 200-102
7. Straight In At 101
8. Who Fell Asleep In
9. I Warned You: Do Not Make An Enemy Of Me
10. Heart Swells/100-1
11. I Just Sighed. I Just Sighed, Just So You Know
12. A Heat Rash In The Shape Of The Show Me State; or, Letters From Me To Charlotte
13. The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future
14. This Is A Flag. There Is No Wind
15. Coda: A Burn Scar In The Shape Of The Sooner State

Taken from LC!'s blog:
"The album was recorded and mixed between March and June of 2009, in Seattle, Connecticut and Monmouthsire, with producer John Goodmanson. It features guest appearances from Jamie Stewart, Zac Pennington and Jherek Bischoff.

It is a record about the death and decay of the human body, sex, lost love, mental breakdown, football and, ultimately, that there probably isn’t a light at the end of the tunnel."

Once again, I cannot wait for this. Early contender for Album of 2010, and I've only heard two tracks so far.

Them Crooked Vultures - S/T artwork

This should be amazing. How can Josh Homme, John Paul Jones and Dave Grohl collaborating not be?
(released 16th November 2009)