Grand Duchy - Petits Fours (Cooking Vinyl) 16/02/2009

T: This is not fair. We've just reviewed an album by a man from my joint all time favourite band (The Smiths) and now you're making me review one by the frontman of my OTHER joint favourite band...

N: ...with his wife none less! Now should bonus points be added for this alone? Although we don't know if they're still talking. Here, we hear Mr and Mrs Black (aka Violet Clark and Black Francis) rip through the stillness of time on nine tracks that make up "Petits Fours". It's quite a liberating experience, you'll find.

T: Indeed, as the album begins with the shouty version of our favourite Bostonian, with the furious "Come On Over To My House" before hitting us with his other (better?) half's Tanya Donnelly like vocals on "Lovesick", which also incorporates a guitar rhythm perhaps a little too close for comfort to Dandy Warhols' "Bohemian Like You", but still effortlessly succeeding. Look, I'm biased I know, but this is a damn fine album, and I expected nothing less.

N: Really? I feel quite shellshocked that this album really is that good, but what else should I have expected? Frank is consistency personified, but not in a samey kind of way, he's produced some quite jaw dropping numbers that, although maybe dressed in a "rock" guise, can be broken down and served up in any number of ways. Superb. 9/10

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Morrissey - Years Of Refusal (Polydor) 16/02/2009

T: It's like something has suddenly snapped inside Mozzer's head - I mean, it's probably been building up inside him for all these years, but now it's all come to a head, and he's finally had his breakdown and delivered his most impassioned two fingered salute to the establishment with "Years Of Refusal", which is kind of ironic, as Stephen Patrick has, no matter how vehemently he would try to deny it, become a PART of the establishment. "Something Is Squeezing My Skull" is a riotous opening track, spitting venom and sending sparks flying and there is little let up from thereon, perhaps only taking refuge in the shape of the second single from the album, "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris". Like his earlier "Your Arsenal", there is a stompalong quality to many of these songs - "Black Cloud", for example, even utilises an "Eton Rifles" bassline and you can just feel the tension. I think it's his best album in ages, but then, I normally think the complete opposite to all the music press where Moz is concerned, so I won't be surprised if they all give it a good pasting.

N: Approaching his third decade in music, it's clear that your "establishment" view is none more the case. I think, God bless him, if the role of monarch ever became available, he would attract his fair share of the vote. If consistency here is to be considered, I think Mozzer has been more so than not. I always tend to take the pessimistic view where Morrissey's career is concerned. I guess in my own small way, by doing this, I'll never be disappointed, and where "Years Of Refusal" is the case, I have to say this album is perhaps his best in many respects. He's lost none of his vigour. I'm quite taken aback.

T: I'm not. All his albums are great, despite what others may tell you. 9/10

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Jackie Leven - Men In Prison/Munich Blues (Cooking Vinyl) 16/02/2009

T: This is the first segment in a set of re-issues from the former Doll By Doll man, or rather, it's the first time they've been properly been released on CD, previously only having been issued to members of Jackie Leven's appreciation society. Now, I have seen Jackie live myself (these, I forgot to mention, are live performances) and he is a highly entertaining individual, although this doesn't always come across so well on CD. Perhaps they should have released purely the music, which can be haunting and melancholy, as well as tender. File under Easy Listening and pull it out once in a while for a special occasion. Ooer. But then again, they DO say it relieves stress...

N: Personally, like any live release, I always find you, the listener, has to have a personal attachment to the given performance to fully appreciate it. And given this, I feel these releases are a little too laid back for my palate. 6/10

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Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You (Regal) 09/02/2009

T: Hardly surprising that both the single and album from whence it came have made an enormous impact on the UK chart, both reaching number one and featuring on heavy rotation on various radio stations. There's less of the breezy pop that dominated "Alright, Still", but that doesn't mean it isn't any easier to swallow. Despite mixed reviews, my personal opinion is that it is a solid, fun album that is easily accessible at any time.

N: Now clear of Lily's intent, I'm really quite struck of these lyrical observations, served with an addictive musical delivery.AND she's Keith Allen's daughter! You know, the yob! Comic Strip mainstay! Keith Allen!

T: Er, calm down Nick, everybody knows that already. She's hardly been keeping it a secret, though I have to say I would have scrubbed her ode to her father off the end of the album, as it is a tad sickly. Not quite as bad as "But You Love Me Daddy" by Jim Reeves, but not far off. Allen definitely excels on her more uptempo songs and I really think she ought to stick to them, as the slowies just don't have the same pizazz. That said, it's a more than acceptable sophomore effort. And she has nice tits. I don't mean to sound sexist, but she keeps whipping them out, so I felt compelled to comment. I'll leave Nick to just gurgle on incoherently. 8/10

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Steve Cradock - The Kundalini Target (Absolute/EMI) 09/02/2009

T: There's a real sixties vibe going on here, as though Cradock has taken his favourite musical phrasings from The Band, Simon and Garfunkel, Love and The Mamas and The Papas and melded them with the spirit of the present decade. It seems to work, and is remarkably easy on the ear.

N: I think the fact "quotes from the likes of Paul Weller and Liam Gallagher" which adorns the front, might suggest just at the demographic that the band are being aimed at, which is no bad thing, as this is a huge demographic and a very reliable on. 7/10

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The Airborne Toxic Event - The Airborne Toxic Event (Majordomo) 09/02/2009

T: While there are obvious references that could be levelled at The Airborne Toxic Event, such as Arcade Fire on their excellent single "Sometime Around Midnight", The Smiths on various occasions, The Triffids on "Papillon" and "Missy" and The Clash on the album's standout "The Winning Side", the truth is the band do enough to keep their individuality, and they do it very well. Lyrically, Mike Jollett weaves some entertaining tales and provides commentaries to pop culture that we can all relate to, especially the aforementioned single with its theme of love lost and desperation.

N: I offer fair warning here though, beware not to get lost in this band's lyrical intent, as I did for a while when Jollett sang the line "...crawling the walls like a cat on heat". Yes, this is lyrical majesty, and one I'm certain hasn't been tapped before, but there are another twelve songs on this album that do possess the same storng lyrical wonder, together with cracking hooks to drive them along, and a vocal patter a la Greg Dulli. As I'm sure you've guessed already, in just a short time, I've become smitten with this album. 9/10

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