We Come From The Same Place – Allo Darlin’ – Sounds like early Belle And Sebastian, or maybe Los Campesinos, without the quirky lyrics or the over arrangements, so basically the melodies remain in tact and indelible and the hooks are grabby and the vocals, by Elizabeth Morris, are lovely on this very fine pop-rocker – Twee on dudes – ALBUM OF THE WEEK A-
Sleeping Operator – The Barr Brothers – Sometimes it is too soundscape to be folk as you and I know it, but sometimes they pull it off on an occasional perfect track, “Even The Darkness Has Arms” is the keeper here – B-
Rip This – Bass Drums Of Death – inspired rock, , called lo-fi mostly because of their past, this is straightforward rocker after straightforward rocker – B
Take Me When You Go – Betty Who – She has a lovely voice and a soulful 80s vibe (the name being checked is Whitney Houston, but that’s a bit of a stretch), on the other hand, the production is very much of the moment, the songs need to be a little stronger – B-
Guitar In The Space Age – Bill Frisell – The older he gets, the more gorgeous and subtle his tone, so what he does is reinterpret with an ear for the details, hold out for “Surfer Girl” – B+
Evergreen – Broods – Bland opening for Lorde a couple of weeks ago, this is soundscape mood music as pop maneuver – C+
Our Love – Caribou – For fans of electronic pop, its moment passed two years ago – C+
Kauia – Childish Gambino – Gives insincerity a bad name – C
You’re Dead – Flying Lotus – Impenetrable, deep sounds of electronic chatter, which seems to lift your ears elsewhere but doesn’t stick to your memory. Try “Coronus, The Terminator” -if you like that you’ll get him. Me? I can take it or leave it – B-
FMLYBND – FMLYBND – They call it electronic grunge and I agree except for the grunge part, they are a mutation or two away from Onerepublic- B
Absent Sounds – From Indian Lakes – Joey Vannucchi’s rural indie is catchy enough – B
Sirens – Gorgon City – Part of the scene that brought us Clean Bandit and Rudimental, this is excellent EDM pop with house beats to burn. The English really have a handle on this sound and if Gorgon City release the Katy B track they could break here with ease – B+
Body Diamond – Great Good Fine OK – This is where releasing EPs helps so much, four terrific synth soul tracks with lovely falsetto vocals – A-
Hozier – Hozier – This guy is big time, great singer with a big voice that sounds a little like Van Morrison but he uses it on singer-songwriter stuff but then arranges them as big pop songs – A-
The Lord’s Favorite – Iceage – A witty band name from Denmark and a sound which has some of the slow drone and hard rock of Pissed jeans but morphed into indie rock – B+
Standing In The Breach – Jackson Browne – Yet again, this album has a handful of great songs and a whole lotta boring ones, plus, as political thinking he is a lightweight though as an emotional barometer he works well enough. Jackson the lover wouldn’t sneer at the heavy handed political “Which Side” – B
Old Boots, New Dirt – Jason Aldean – He has been a major country star all decade and he has the voice for it for sure, but he is too obvious as a songwriter and his band, session players everyone, seem to dial it back at his request. Still, if there was just something as good as “Dirt Road Anthem” he might get away with it. Actually, he will get away with it any way, but will still suck – C
Playland – Johnny Marr – Better than last years effort though it isn’t a surprise any more. Songwriting better, guitar playing steady, album predictable but not unpleasant – B-
Point Of No return – Keyshia Cole – Gets Juicy J for a track called “Rick James”, then finds Wale -a hugely underestimated rapper for “On Demand” and Future for album highlight “Love Letter”. Wait, is that 2 Chainz? Modern r&b with a better than average singer and a few good tracks – B
Category 5 – Linus Young – Electronic rock duo who are much more exciting than you probably imagine. Try “Crystal ball” – B
The Way – Macy Gray – Excellent voice, she sounds like Lady Day with a cold, and these originals are a little all over the place though calling a song “Miss The Sex” reminds you she always got reality – B
Ask Me To Dance – Minnie Driver – Opening with Elliot Smith and continuing with the most original Stevie Wonder cover you will ever hear, Minnie isn’t just an actor putting on airs she doesn’t deserve. But she isn’t quite good enough to be considered the real thing – B-
Graveyard Whistling – Nothing But Thieves – Boy band vocals added to serious rock ballads – B
Wonder Where We Land – SBTRKT – Ezra Koenig? Jesse Ware? A$AP Ferg? The definition of hip by a dubstep Londoner who should work a little harder on his BPMs – B
Negative Qualities – Single Mothers – Fast loud rules and with hooks that hit, and a singer somewhere between metalcore and 70s punk – B
Modern Vintage – Sixx AM – Hair Metal with glam to burn and at least one top notch track, “Gotta Get It Right” – B-
24 Karat Gold – Songs From the Vault – Stevie Nicks – Dave Stewart helped her polish them off, and man is it annoying. Shoulda remained under lock and key – C
Aquarius – Tinashe – Ordinary singer, ordinary r&b, lotsa guest stars – C
Hungry Ghost – Violent Soho – 90s inspired rock, if you consider Bush 90s rock or inspired – C
V For Vaselines – Vaselines – Sure, they deserve out attention and here it is, but this is not your daddys V, very ordinary rock – C+
Everything Will Be Alright In The End – Weezer – One week on and it sounds worse if anything – C+
Phantom Pop – Wild Party – Power pop with so much bounce and excitement it deserves its own genre. “When I Get Older” is a killer and it rhymes with “I’m gonna be there to hold her,with a smart beat and great back up vocals – A-
Crash The Gates – Yellowcard – Rock and roll circa 2014 personified, all tempo and bruise – C
Taiga – Zola Jesus – Love love love her voice, not so sure about her songs – B
