In League With Paton

The Notwist - The Devil, You + Me (City Slang, 2008) I'm really quite perplexed by the lack of attention afforded this release by the UK...

Nico Muhly - Mothertongue (Bedroom Community, 2008) At last, versatility and the search for connections between musical forms are becoming l...

James Hunter - The Hard Way (Universal Classics, 2008) I often wonder why some retrogressive facsimiles of classic pop music irritate me whi...

The Shortwave Set - Replica Sun Machine (Wall of Sound, 2008) A degree of credit must go to The Shortwave Set for their audacity and ambitio...

Bill Frisell - History, Mystery (Nonesuch, 2008) The American guitarist and composer Bill Frisell continues to divide opinion. There are sti...

Much of the past couple of weeks has been passed in various sweaty gig venues, indulging in a real plethora of quality live performances. Ti...

Skyphone – Avellaneda (Rune Grammofon, 2008) Scorch Trio – Brolt! (Rune Grammofon, 2008) Box – Studio 1 (Rune Grammofon, 2008) Since its inc...

Spiritualized - Songs in A&E (Spaceman, 2008) Somewhere, somehow, Jason Spaceman lost his spacesuit. After all the justified acclaim tha...

The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of Understatement Regular readers might be shocked to realise that I’m beginning to wonder if my indiffere...

Portishead - Third (Island, 2008) I’ve resisted the urge to write a knee-jerk reaction to Portishead’s first studio album in eleven years. T...

Elvis Costello - Momofuku (Lost Highway, 2008) At first glance, ‘Momofuku’ looks like one of those back-to-basics rock records everyone keep...

Fleet Foxes – Sun Giant EP (Sub Pop/Bella Union) Brethren of the Free Spirit – All Things Are From Him, Through Him and In Him (Audiomer) An...

Jamie Lidell – Jim Sam Sparro – Sam Sparro A lot of people are going to react violently against this album. Jamie Lidell’s previous album, t...

Bjork - Hammersmith Apollo, 14th April 2008 Bjork’s Volta tour finally arrives in London with discussion focussing more on the singer’s rece...

It's unfathomable to me why the shockwaves following Michael Eavis' announcement that Jay-Z would be the Saturday night headliner at...

The B-52s – Funplex Was (Not Was) – Boo! What on earth is going on here? Two of the most memorable singles of my childhood years were ‘Walk ...

diskJokke - Staying In (Smalltown Supersound, 2008) Although part of a movement amusingly dubbed Oslodisco in his home country of Norway, I’...

The Long Blondes – Couples (Rough Trade, 2008) The consensus already seems to be that this Erol Alkan-produced follow up to the poptastic ‘S...