The Bees – Free The Bees


The Bees started out as a duo recording songs in a homemade studio in a shed on the Isle Of Wight. This is how their 2001 debut Sunshine Hit Me emerged but for this, the follow up they morphed into a full band and recorded at Abbey Road in the same

studio as The Beatles. The choice of studio was probably deliberate as the spirit of the 1960s pervades the entire album. Chicken Payback sounds like something that Rufus Thomas would have recorded if early Pink Floyd had ever coaxed him into a studio. Opener These Are The Ghosts is a highlight; beginning with Beach Boys like harmony singing and then bursting into life with some psychedelic drums and guitar. The Bees might sound like a sort of 1960s cover band but they have a sound all of their own and they use their influences to create a strongly original album. From start to finish this album chugs along like the soundtrack to the best 1960s party film ever. Only the wistfully I Love You gives some respite as it soothes with its harmonised chorus and nice little horn section. It’s also probably the only song with decent lyrics but to be honest the lack of those on the rest of the songs doesn’t really detract from how enjoyable and fun this album is. One Glass Of Water highlights this brilliantly, nonsensical lyrics but utterly infectious…10/10

Beth Orton – Comfort Of Strangers


Beth Orton has been around for nearly twenty years and has produced a couple of brilliant albums in that time but is still perhaps best known for her contributions to the first two Chemical Brothers albums. Her solo work has probably been unfairly overlooked; maybe because female singer songwriters don’t get as much credit as their male counterparts or maybe because she’s never produced a great album from start to finish. Her first two albums Trailer Park and Central Reservation have some brilliant moments but also a little bit of electronic noodling that sounds dated now. Her third album Daybreaker tried to embrace a contemporary American alt-country sound but just ended up dull and forgettable. This, her fourth album strips things back to basics and features fourteen simple songs with mostly just bass, drums, guitar and piano as backing. The simplicity highlights her nice melodies and heartfelt lyrics and goes someway to banishing the over produced ghost of Daybreaker. Opening track Worms comes across like a tight Fiona Apple number with its simple piano, bass and drums and a slight jazz feel. Other highlights include the poignant Shadow Of A Doubt and the contradictory Shopping Trolley both euphoric and world-weary. While her first two albums are probably better this is more consistent and a good place to start…8/10

The Tallest Man On Earth – Shallow Grave

I went to see this guy in concert a couple of weeks ago and was well impressed. For just one man with a guitar (and piano on occasion) he managed to hold the attention and keep the energy levels high of the quite sizable crowd in Vicar Street. It always pays to go and see an artist with an audience of real fans who sing along to every song and appreciate every little aside and story, it brings music to life, sometimes reinforcing your love of an old favourite or giving an extra dimension to an overlooked gem. That was the experience I had at the gig and it made me re-examine an album that I had only listened to in passing. Opening track I Won’t Be Found is a brilliant introduction to this modern Swedish troubadour, a warm cheery guitar sound and instantly singable lyrics. Honey Won’t You Let Me In is exhibit number one to back up claims that he’s the Scandinavian Dylan bearing a resemblance to Dylan’s When The Ship Come In. If you bear that comparison in mind then you’ll get a good grasp of the music contained on Shallow Grave but don’t think that The Tallest Man On Earth is a poor imitation. Songs like the brilliant The Gardener demonstrate his ability to write great lyrics accompanied by great musicianship. The Sparrow And The Medicine features some fantastic finger picking, playing that he struggled to reproduce live. If an album of a man singing clever lyric accompanied by a strummed acoustic guitar is your thing then this is one of the best out there at the moment…9/10

ESG – Come Away With ESG


Not all self thought sibling bands turn out like the Wiggin sisters. ESG were one such outfit that managed to create music that has been sampled endlessly since the release of this their first album in 1983 . The music is simple rhythmic stuff, heavy on the bass and drums with the simplest of vocals. It’s music that still sound fresh today and tracks like Dance should be played at all the coolest parties. This is brilliantly repetitive dance funk and as a result should be played loud to get the most from it.

Perhaps the one fault would be that spread over an entire album the music does begin to grate a little because of the lack of variety but there’s just enough catchy drum breaks and shouted choruses to keep the whole thing listenable…8/10

The Shaggs – Philosophy Of The World


This is one of the strangest albums you’ll ever hear. It’s either the worst collection of music ever recorded or the best example of outsider art you’re likely to hear. Frank Zappa thought it was the third best album of all time and Kurt Cobain placed it in his top five. High praise indeed for an album made by three sisters with no musical ability whatsoever.


The strange story of this group begins with a palm reading. Apparently the girls father Austin Wiggin was told during a palm reading by his mother that he would marry a strawberry blonde, have two sons and that his daughters would form a popular music group. Well after the first two predictions came true Austin decided to buy his daughters musical instruments and paid for lessons in order to push things along. In 1969 he brought them to a recording studio to get them on tape “while they were still hot”. They recorded Philosophy Of The World in one day and then had 900 of the 1000 copies stolen by the president of the recording studio (only God knows what he wanted them for). The album sank without a trace and after playing regular gigs in a local club the group disbanded in 1975 on the death of their father. Listening to the album you get the feeling that Mr. Wiggin should have taken more heed of Shakespeare’s MacBeth before he started trying to force predictions to come true…0/10 or 10/10

M83 – Hurry up, We’re Dreaming


A double album might seem like the wrong place to dip a toe into a groups musical sea but this is good enough to warrant it. M83 have been around for a few years now and their earlier album Saturdays = Youth is also worth a listen as are probably all their other albums but I haven’t heard those so I couldn’t really comment.


There’s a lot of really good indie/electro/pop coming from continental Europe these days and M83 are well up there at the top of the pile. If you like 1980s new wave mixed with a bit of shoegaze and a bit of indie credibility then look no further. The second track Midnight City probably encapsulates the best elements of the French bands approach; hazy vocals low in the mix, swirling synths, a catchy riff and a little bit of sax in the fade out. The album isn’t as steeped in the 80s sound as Saturdays = Youth with tracks like Raconte-Moi Une Histoire (featuring a little girl telling a story about a strange little frog; a piece of music that could quite easily feature on a Lemon Jelly album) and Soon, My Friend (with it’s acoustic guitars and harmony singing sounding like an outtake from Pacific Ocean Blue) mixing things up a little. In fact as a result of the extra space that the two CDs provide there’s a lot more variety to the tempo and the mood than the previous album…8/10

Gaz Coombes Presents - Here come the bombs

So Supergrass are gone.com or at least taking a break for the fore see able future. But Gaz is still plugging away. For those people who were/are fans of supergrass this doesn’t feel completely different. His brother is still heavily involved in this project so it has a comfortingly familiar sound. Its maybe not as fun as some of their earlier stuff and has a sprinkle more of an electronic feel than we are accustomed to. But to be honest its a good thing. The Album almost feels like this is where Supergrass may have gone had they stayed together. All in all its quite good albeit not different enough to make Gaz really stand out as a solo artist. 7/10

Frank Black and the Catholics - Frank Black and the Catholics

Somewhat of a rediscovery on my part. I used to own this years ago on cassette and acquired a copy again recently in a slightly more contemporary format.

For any Pixies fans out there that may not be too clued in on what the lead singer did after the band first called it a day, Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV aka Black Francis went out on his own under the moniker Frank Black and after releasing a couple of solo records renamed his backing band the Catholics and added them to his name on subsequent releases.

This eponymous 1998 album was the first under this new band name but is still mostly seen as a continuation of Frank's solo career. If you liked the Pixies there's a good chance you'll dig this too, but don't expect the same level of raucousness. Maybe some decent 'rockusness' though (sorry) as these are more straight ahead rock songs. Simpler in a way than some of the earlier Frank Black (and unnamed Catholics) stuff I'd say, or at least more conventional maybe.
The idea here was that all songs were recorded live to two track tape allowing no overdubs. Raw simplicity was the aim and it panned out pretty well. The guitar sound from track to track doesn't change too much and the feeling I sometimes get from listening is that it sounds like the band set up and then just ploughed through the recording in one go without adjusting much in the way of instrumentation or settings. But still he's got some super hooky riffs and melodies in there. Gotta love it.

The first track 'All My Ghosts' is a stand out for me so I include it here. Plus, I saw them live in the early 2000s and they put on a great show. They really impressed the audience that night and got a great response but when they broke into the Pixies' 'Where Is My Mind' during the encore the crowd just lost their shit. It didn't take a genius to realise that Pixies fans made up the majority of their audience or that a reunion a few years later would be such a popular and lucrative move. It's hard for a follow up band to live up to something as Pixieish as the Pixies so really that's the only reason it loses a star.
3 very shiny stars ***

I Am Kloot - Natural History

I first came across this band a few years ago on a free sampler CD and was so intrigued I decided to check out their debut album Natural History. I wasn't disappointed, it's packed with catchy clever songs that veer from soft tender ballads like No Fear Of Falling to the jazzy Sunlight Hits The Snow through the off kilter quirky genius of To You. The album is a nice mix of acoustic guitar, crashing drums and odd sound effects all held together by some great lyrics. They share certain similarities with their Manchester contemporaries Doves and Elbow but for some reason they've never had a breakout hit and they remain relatively obscure which is a shame...9/10



It's also worth checking out their other albums and I could have easily recommended any of those above this one. Particularly their second album, the self titled I Am Kloot, which picks up where Natural History left off with a slight expansion to the sound and a heavier and more polished feel and their last album Sky At Night which has a more introspective sound.

3 Feet Tall from I Am Kloot



Northern Skys from Sky At Night

Django Django - Django Django

These guys seem to be gaining popularity fairly lively. They sound a bit like Hot Chip meets the Super Furries only no where near as annoying as Hot Chip. A lot of the tracks have a fresh sounding feel to them. All heavy on the drums which in this case is a really good thing. Might not light everybodies fire but i really enjoyed the first few listens. The biggest single they have so far is Default which I'm sure most of you will already of heard  by now. 8/10

A Joyful Slog - Music Documentary

Here is a great way to discover new music - dip a toe in the bubbling waters of the DIY music scene in Ireland. This is a very well made documentary by some guys I know that has just been released which will give you a taster of just some of the great bands out there in the undergrowth. One of the bands featured - Adebisi Shank - comes highly recommended by me. Their frenetic live shows are, how shall I say it, off the hook.

Wipers - Is This Real?

This debut album is not exactly a new record but it might be new to you. It did a fine job of introducing Portland band the Wipers to the world back in 1980 and more than 3 decades later it still has the ability to make you sit up, smile, nod and say yes.

The band was formed by a kid who was lucky enough to possess his very own late 70's version of Garage Band - a record cutting lathe. You can imagine the enthusiasm that the ability to make your own records would generate back then. You might think this is reflected in the relatively short length of the songs on the record. It's like he just kept saying, "Okay, done. Next song!" But the really great thing here is the quality doesn't suffer. Each tune is an infectiously energetic post-punk sparkler. Stripped raw vocals with drums racing headlong through a variety of catchy, interesting riffs.

With this record and some of their subsequent albums the Wipers had a huge influence on many later bands most notably bands from the so-called grunge era. There was even a tribute album released in '92 and one of their most vocal fans were Nirvana who covered two songs from Is This Real? and in whom, I would go so far as to say, there is some Wipers DNA. But even with these props and the fact that they're great, most people have never heard them or heard of them. Make sure you have.
4 stars ****

You'll Never Beat the Irish

Felt this should be spread around as much as possible.


Go on the Boys in Green

Can - Tago Mago

Heard the song below on the Paul McCloone show and thought it was good so decided to go and check out the album. I was shocked to see when it was first released after i had listened to. it sounds so modern now for something that was released over 40 years ago. The album seems to have two distict half. The second half seeming to be a bit more mental than the first. Some of the tracks are just outright wierd. but on a whole there is some really good music here. 7/10

Alabama Shakes - Hold On

Seen these on Jools Holland last night and thought they were good. Haven't had a chance to check out their album but going by this performance I will.

Maverick Sabre, Lonely Are The Brave

Seen this bloke on soccer am a few months ago and thought he was just some rapper by the way they were taking about his music. Then seen a live performance of one of his songs on the Jo Whiley sessions and thought it was very good. He has a great voice and doesn't sound like a 21 year old who grew up in Wexford. So I downloaded the album and was quite impressed. It's not my normal type of music but I liked it. I'd give it 8/10. The video below is of the song I heard when I first thought he was good.

Black Keys - El Camino

I'm guessing this might not come as a new find to some but it might for others. When i first heard this album it reminded me of early Kings of Leon stuff before that became a little more main stream. Then after a bit of reading turns out El Camino was also recorded in Nashville where the KOL call home. Anywho its like the early sound of Kings of Leon had a threesome with The White Strips and The Clash and this was the offspring. This being their 7th album sounds different to previous ones mainly do to Danger Mouse See here for previos Post who produced the album. Its a good rocky album of which I'm sure you have all heard Gold on the Ceiling. Enjoy 8/10

Julianna Barwick – The Magic Place

This is one of the strangest albums I’ve heard in a long time. It’s instrumental music constructed mainly from Julianna Barwick’s vocals which she’s looped and distorted into a wash of ambient sound. There are snippets of some instruments such as piano and organ but they merely flesh out the vocal atmospherics. It probably sounds terrible but it is on fact very listenable particularly after you get your head around the unusual sound. I was expecting a regular gentle folky album and when I first played it I was about eight minutes and three songs in wondering when the intro to the first song was going to end. It’s probably not an album that you’d stick on and listen to very regularly but it suits a certain mood and shouldn’t be overlooked. If you ever feel the need to calm an upset child then this is the perfect music for you…6/10

MAP – Music Alliance Pact

This isn’t an album or a band but rather a music blog that’s worth checking out. It’s not technically a blog but more a collection of thirty five blogs from around the world that come together once a month to recommend one unknown artist from their country. So if you have an inkling to listen to indie music from Indonesia or Breakbeat from Brazil then this will suit you down to the ground. The music can be a little hit and miss, a lot of it isn’t great but every now and again you’ll come across a gem, however it’s always interesting particularly if you just want to listen to something a bit different. All of the tracks featured on the blog every month are available as a free legal download as a single zip file. You should be able to find the blog if you search for Music Alliance Pact but you can also find it at sedesplease.com and the guardian’s website.

Gil Scott-Heron – I’m New Here

Gil Scott-Heron was a proto-rap pioneer of the early 1970s, a beat poet with a penchant for bongo drums and weed. He was an artist with more influence than record sales and even with that his influence wasn’t that great (his only song that you may recognise is The Revolution Will Not Be Televised). I’m New Here was Scott-Heron’s come back album of sorts after years in the musical wilderness surviving drug problems and imprisonment. It finds him reflecting on his early life, his childhood in Tennessee and his grandmother who raised him. The sound of the album reminded me of the Rick Rubin produced final albums of Johnny Cash albeit with a more electro feel. It also shares those albums' poignancy considering Scott-Heron passed away last year. The standout tracks are Me And The Devil on which he sounds like a futuristic black Tom Waits and New York Is Killing Me with its simple hand clapped beat…9/10