In League With Paton

Neon Neon - Stainless Style (Lex, 2008) A concept album based on the rise and fall of playboy engineer John DeLorean relying heavily on recy...

Chris T-T – Capital (Xtra Mile, 2008) I came to this new album from Chris T-T, his first with a full band since 2003’s ‘London is Sinking’,...

This is really one of my public 'notes to self', as I have quite a lot of catching up to do here...The list includes: Chris T-T - Ca...

R.E.M. - Accelerate (Warner Bros, 2008) Here we go, then, the argument goes something like this…. We’ve all lost faith in R.E.M. They lost t...

Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid I have a strange relationship with Elbow. Initially, I dismissed them far too rashly as a blandly anthemic band ...

Clearly it takes the exploitation of the lucrative Tweenie market to mobilise people power in the US, but this report from New York makes fo...

The Edge of Heaven (Fatih Akin, 2007) The Diving Bell and The Butterfly (Julian Schnabel, 2007) The Turkish German director Fatih Akin’s thi...

Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago (Jagjagwar/4AD, 2007/2008) Reclusively isolated in a North Wisconsin hunting cabin, Justin Vernon has, with...

Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks - Real Emotional Trash (Domino, 2008) I’ve struggled a little with Stephen Malkmus’ solo material. This may sa...

Hercules and Love Affair – Hercules and Love Affair (DFA, 2008) This Hercules and Love Affair album seems to have divided opinion somewhat, ...

Dirty Projectors @ The Forum 29/2/08 Yeasayer @ The ICA 6/3/08 I hate writing pretentiously about ‘scenes’ or ‘risings’ (and it is pretentio...

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – Dig! Lazarus! Dig! (Mute, 2008) This latest instalment in the increasingly prolific saga of Nick Cave, so far ...

Toumani Diabate – The Mande Variations (World Circuit, 2008) A true master of his craft, Toumani Diabate is capable of adapting the Kora to ...

Vandermark 5 - Beat Reader (Atavistic, 2008) The Chicago jazz scene is frighteningly alive right now. From the inter-connected post-rock art...

All those with an interest in the creation and manipulation of sound may well feel saddened by the recent deaths of Teo Macero and Joe Gibbs...

Nick Lowe - Jesus of Cool (1978, Reissued by Proper 2008) I’ve felt for a while that Nick Lowe is one of the most underrated and unfairly ma...

Wildbirds and Peacedrums - Heartcore (Leaf, 2007) The title is such a straightforward and obvious play on words that it seems staggering tha...

Gwilym Simcock @ The Vortex, London 24/2/08 The sedate, candlelit, table-and-chairs set up at London’s Vortex Jazz Club provides an appropri...

I know I’m a few years behind the times with this piece, but one of the joys of blogging is that you can openly admit when you’ve been a lit...

Mariee Sioux - Faces in the Rocks (Grass Roots, 2007) Now here’s a classic example of how the blogosphere can be a force for good (eat that ...