In League With Paton

Fish Tank (Dir: Andrea Arnold, 2009) Afterschool (Dir: Antonio Campos, 2009) Britain’s Andrea Arnold could be an amazingly resourceful woman...

Mew – No More Stories Are Told Today I’m Sorry They Washed Away No More Stories The World Is Grey I’m Tired Let’s Wash Away (Columbia, 2009)...

‘Be My Baby’, ‘Leader of the Pack’, ‘Then He Kissed Me’, ‘I Can Hear Music’, ‘River Deep Mountain High’, or even the much less cool ‘Sunshin...

The busy part of the year seems to have started early this year, and suddenly I find there's lots within my radar. Release dates in brac...

Susanna and the Magical Orchestra - 3 (Rune Grammofon, 2009) Whilst I’ve written very favourably about Susanna Wallumrod both as a solo arti...

Pearl Jam - London O2 Arena 18th August 2009 The feeling at the end of this epic performance was, for Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder ‘beyond words...

Steve Lehman Octet – Travail, Transformation and Flow (Pi, 2009) It cannot be said that the title of this album does not prepare the listene...

The Low Anthem – Oh My God, Charlie Darwin (Bella Union) Many writers are comparing this with Fleet Foxes, if only because both acts are sig...

Apostle of Hustle – Eats Darkness (Arts and Crafts, 2009) With the incorporation of ‘world’ rhythms into western alternative rock currently ...

Can I really be bothered with Mercury Music Prize analysis and predictions again? It's no surprise to see a female-dominated shortlist, ...

Acoustic Ladyland – Living With a Tiger (Strong and Wrong, 2009) The name Acoustic Ladyland had a certain logic when the group emerged as an...

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble – Hypnotic Brass Ensemble (Honest Jon’s, 2009) I’m not sure there’s much mileage in this conceit beyond one album, b...

Need...more...time...to...write...about...great....records.... Zed-U – Night Time on the Middle Passage (Babel) Steve Lehman Octet - Travail...

Acoustic Ladyland - Clore Ballroom Sunday 14th June Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra/The Bad Plus - Saturday 20th June Ornette...

Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca (Domino, 2009) ‘Bitte Orca’ would appear to be Dirty Projectors’ breakthrough album – the one that somehow mak...

James Blackshaw - The Glass Bead Game (Young God, 2009) In spite of (or perhaps because of?) once naming a song ‘The Sound and The Fury’, I’...

Antony and the Johnsons - London Hammersmith Apollo, 27th May 2009 This was my first full live encounter with Antony and the Johnsons. I’m p...

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest (Warp, 2009) Having studiously ignored the leak of Grizzly Bear’s latest magnum opus that set the internet alight...

The Field - Yesterday and Today (Kompakt/Anti, 2009) Junior Boys - Begone Dull Care (Domino, 2009) Fever Ray - Fever Ray (Rabid/V2, 2009) Ev...