Growmg Pains (Geffen) Selling a frightening 600.000 in its first week of release in the US. the queen of R88 makes her presence felt With a lung Or two of lusty jams, With Usher among the guests on board.
Dead Meadow Old Growth (Matador) More magical psychedelia from this inspired bunch of gas huffers from Washington DC. Lightspeed Champion Falling off the Lavender Bridge (Domino) After the frenzy of Test ICicles this rather flaccid. noodly alt.country indie is something of a disappointment.
Jack Johnson Sleep through the Static (Brushfire) Releasing an album of sun kissed acoustic pop destined to soundtrack days in the sand and nights by the campfire.
One Night Only Started a Fire (Mercury) The debut album from this dashing North Yorkshire five piece shows their skills for balls-out indie anthems.
Lenny Kravitz It is Time for Love Revolution (Virgin) Is it that time already? Big Len back reminding us what old fashioned leather-trousered. hairy-chested rock'n'roll is all about? Stop nodding off at the back there!
Baby Dee Safe inside the Day (Drag City) Respected acolyte of Antony ‘Johnsons‘ Hegarty and one time tree teller, this the second album of enchanted tunes from Dee enjoys production from the charming Will Oldham. Daniel Wylie and Cosmic Rough Riders Greatest Hits (Neon Tetra) These perennial Glasgow underdogs never quite got the recognitioin they desrved and this album draws together the fruits of their labours from a decade of recordings.
ALSO RELEASED Mary J Bilge
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EELS
Meet the Eels GeWHMOOOOO
we}. W
Mark Everett has always been the outsider on the inSide — the indie kid on the lilHJfN label. the shy freak adopted by the LA cool crowd, the bearded freak on Top of the Pops. This collectIOn of his band's finest moments confirms Everett's genius. blending an underground aesthetic, a poet's heart and supreme melodic sensibilities. from the scratchy early trip hop of 'Susan's House' to the unhinged blues of 'Souliacker Part 1' to sublime ballads like 'lt’s a Motherfucker'. 24 idiosyncratic pop gems (including a psychotic cover of ‘Get Yr Freak On') and a DVD of fantastic Videos make this essential listening for anyone not familiar With how good rock music With s0ul and humour can sound. ([30ng Johnstone)
INDIE ENVELOPES
Here Comes the Wind (Brille) O...
Envelopes are more than a little unconventional. and in a wodd where past- plundering dullards like The Courteeners are tipped for the top. yOu've got to be grateful for every bit of eccentriCity you can find. Here Comes the Wind is the second release from this kooky indie pop giiintet and it finds them on their most imaginative form to date as they combine skew whiff guitars With snatChes of electro. orchestral hits. squelchy samples. yelped vocals. yodelling and even references to
88 THE LIST 3t Jan—1.1 Feb 2008
SRCKEN CRT, AIDAN JOHN MOFFAT l Can Hear Your Heart
lC'er‘rka Shirk/z". .'
Sometimes a relationship has run its course and all you can do is split up. something former Arab Strappers Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton know all too well. Since going their separate ways, Middleton has produced his best solo work yet, and on this showing, Molfat is thriving too. Soon to come is Moffat‘s full band offering, The Best-Ofs, but first is this compelling spoken word album set to music, with an accompanying short story.
As you might expect from Moffat's track record, this is far from easy listening, but then the best albums rarely are. The press accompanying this ambitious and fascinating project comes with X- rated warnings, and rightly so. Unleashed from the restraints of Arab Strap, Moffat has dived headlong into the world of seedy, drunken sex and hopelessly flawed romanticism that so obsesses him. and it's thrilling but unnerving stuff.
The musical accompaniment that soundtracks all this is a blend of scratchy classical samples, oddball jazz, party noises, offbeat folk and electronica, all of which adds to the unsettling nature of Moffat’s words. And what words they are. Uncompromising yet darkly humorous and deeply perceptive. pieces like ‘Beak‘, ‘Good Morning‘ and ‘Hopelessly Devoted' (in which he imagines Sandy and Danny on the rocks post-Grease) are truly moving, and elsewhere, the pornographic trawl through sex’s dark side accumulates to create a disturbing but powerful artistic vision. Throw in unlikely but perfectly contextualised covers of Dorothy Parker and Bruce Springsteen. and you've got a significant piece of work, both musical and literary. (Doug Johnstone)
‘Total Eclipse of the vR‘EMPIRE feted afrobeat influence Heart'. are all there to be fOund WEEKEND
in this succinct (34 minutes) album but the unpolished, loose feel gives this a charm all its own. What. on initial listen, can come over as naivety is actually a studied attempt to impress some different sonic ideas on the four- boys-in-a-band forrnat. Sorr‘iehow, they manage not to sound completely cOritri red on an oddly hey/itching debut,
iMark Robertson)
It's a strange mixture indeed but when added to the band's renowned knack for melody. exploswe choruses and pretty ditties makes fOr something quite glorious. (Camilla plat
Vampire Weekend iXL Recordingsi 0...
Indie rock has taken many '.'/llflll turns in its ragged adolescence but the predilection for smartening up and tuning up has been one that's arrived to infrequently for iriost. Vampire "i‘v’eekend look like dropouts from an Abercrom‘tgie and Fitch ad campaign, all Crisp shirts and loafers and sound llleaT‘yL tuneful. funky lin a starchy. white '00; kind of way: and educated lit lists their unixerSity speCialisn‘s On the press release. Juliar‘ Cope. The Pol‘ce. The Strokes. Josef K, Paul Simon and of cJurse the much
his bands so thriliing, but it also contains swathes of average fare. The worst offenders are the lacklustre opener 'Stupid Now' and the ill- iudged foray into beats. Shelter Me'. which sOunds like a Death Cab cast-off. Those blips aside. there are sohd riffs and heartfelt words scattered arOund. but it's a pale imitation of MOuld's undoubted career highs. lDoug Jonnstone
ROCK
BOB MOULD District Line (Beggar's Banquet) 0..
Mould is rightly regarded as a legend for his work in seminal hardcore Outfit Husker Du. and the bristling grunge-pop of Sugar. but his solo outings have been hit and miss. District Line is no different. showmg glimpses of the songwriting which made