Various Artists - Reggaeton: The Cuban Revolucion (Petrol/EMI) 31/07/2006

N: Apparently "The music you were never meant to hear... welcome to Santiago De Cuba, where the electricity comes and goes, but the music never stops." Well with sounds this thick, it's surprising they squeezed passed the iron curtain. Perhaps a little like a fish out of water, or a cuban president without a cigar, this compilation is hard to believe, even in the heat of a summer we are not used to experiencing. Track after track of treacle like tunes that I'm certain if given enough airplay, may create the same nagging itch that 'Macarena' did for us back in 1996, when this reached #2 in a run that amounted to 19 weeks, enough to put anyone of their toast and marmalade!

T: You know WAY too much about "Macarena" for my liking mate, but what I think you're trying to say, in a nutshell, is that this compilation is a pile of poo.

N: That's the joy of having the Guinness book of hit singles to hand my friend and wasn't the poo, the poo in your "cat house" this morning?

T: Funny enough, here comes Piper now. What do you think of this compilation Piper?

Piper: It's shit

T: See? We told you.

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Various Artists - Back To the Bus: What Goes On Tour Stays On Tour! (DMC) 31/07/2006

T: It's always quite interesting to see where different "bands of the moment" get their influences from. The only problem with these compilations is that those of us who are clued up enough will already know these songs and what's more will also realise their brilliance. All the same, it's great to see things like the Housemartins' "Me and the Farmer" being included as I always thought they were hideously underrated, and having one of the best new bands, Five O'clock Heroes present is extremely encouraging. All the usual suspects are here too - The Clash, Iggy and the Stooges, Joy Division and Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers with their infamous "Roadrunner".
One tip for the press company (or record company - I'm not sure who's to blame for this) - spell the bleedin' song and band names right. Nobody's going to take you seriously if you call the Buzzcocks' most famous song "Never Fallen In Love" and, to a lesser extent, by spelling the Moldy Peaches name with an erroneous "u". I mean, if you're going to do that, you might as well put Slade into detension for a month while you retitle their songs!

N: I think the quote "There are only so many chords and so many ways you can play them" says a lot. Twenty years since this light of inspiration first graced our ears, and that such a collection here on this compilation is testimony to that. I'm not going to get all self righteous unlike my colleague, but just to say there isn't really a turkey amongst these - just varying degrees of greatness.

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Humanzi - Tremors (Fiction/SFR) 24/07/2006

T: Can I be honest with you? I know this band is massively respected and critically acclaimed, but this album's been on ten minutes and it's gone nowhere. I hate to say it but I'm very bored with it already.

N: Personally, I think we may have left the car in reverse. I felt we launched - Gillespie like - into territory that showed nothing but promise, but now the engine appears to have been flicked into Cruise with only a whimper of its former promise.

T: Hmm...It's actually improved considerably since I typed that last sentence! Looks like I jumped too soon, because "Out on a Wire" and "I Want Silence" are riproaring beauties thast have made me want to hear the rest of the album.

N: Likewise, but it wasn't until the album's track that I was awakened from my slumber with a burning of guitar strings and a pounding of hickory on leather. 7/10

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The Basement - Illicit Hugs and Playground Thugs (Delta Sonic) 17/07/2006

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Bruce Cockburn - Life Short Call Now (Cooking Vinyl) 17/07/2006

T: Slotting neatly between the musical and vocal styles of Neil Young and Van Morrison, Bruce Cockburn makes easy, laid back melodica that is perfect for a lazy summer day or the soundtrack to a long soak in a warm bath. It's not all like that though - we are occasionally faced with World rhythms and South American sounding inflections. Not much else to say really, just a good, solid, confident album, which shouldn't really surprise anyone seeing as it's his 29th one!

N: What certainly becomes evident about this musician is a time served apprenticeship in music. Those solid compositions are filled with wonderful twists and turns where the music eventually opens up into cavernous expanses, then close into allow vocals to be heard. They are not always this way, but those that are not are few and hardly worth a mention. The delightful 'Slow Down Fast' is barely able to hide its Dylan-esque nod to 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' and a trumpeter that is definitely worth experiencing.

T: Spot on Nick, and having heard further into the album, please ignore my comparisons with Messrs Young and Morrison! 8/10

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The Rifles - No Love Lost (Red Ink Music) 17/07/2006

On first hearing this band back in March of this year, I said; "1979 has not sounded so fresh...", well as I've now got the chance to hear their debut long player (that is if a shade over 35 minutes counts), I still stand by this statement. 11 songs filled with swiftly laced tunes that easily pass through the ears with hooks, the band are no doubt fast becoming masters of. I'm encouraged by the way this album shapes up, the bouncy pace the band strike and the casual manner in which vocalist Joel projects their sub-3-minute masterpeices.

There is certainly something of Coventry's Terry Hall in many of the songs and the influence of Noel Gallager when it comes to those hooks, but The Rifles should never be considered a copy-cat band, as what they do, they do extremely well and in their own unique fashion. Those "good things" I hoped for, have certainly come home to roost in what I can only really describe as a very pallatable album. 8/10

Nick James

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The Beach Boys - The Very Best Of The Beach Boys; Sounds Of The Summer (EMI Catalogue) 17/07/2006

It is a popularly held view that the 1960's saw the birth of the teenager and it has been said "... life was never the same again." Well however you choose to look at it, from personal experience or like myself, as a product of these heady days, the 1960's certainly bred some fantastic sounds. As I sit here in the midst of what is turning out to be a quite scorching summer, The Beach Boys sang songs that have not only become synonymous with the idea of youth, but also this time of year and it might even be said; have become their soundtrack.

Why EMI have chosen to release this collection at this time it's unclear, but as a compilation this is certainly value packed and suitably different to make it a viable release. All the hits are here, but which compilation is the better has to be down to personal taste. The current release does feature the incredible, although very desolate 'In My Room', certainly a personal favourite, but leaves off such a memorable tune as 'Little Honda', see what I mean?

Where '...Sounds Of The Summer' come's into its own is when you consider that the second disc is one that features video footage, including the much sought after (and previously unavailable in the UK anyway) (in)famous performances the band did from the T.A.M.I. show in 1964. It doesn't stop there however, with 10 tracks in total shot in both colour and black and white, "Little Deuce Coupe" can be seen taken from the 'Lost Concert', along with promo videos for 'Sloop John B' and 'Pet Sounds'. A 'Live Montage' is used to illustrate 'God Only Knows', with the disc ending with 2 songs ('Good Vibrations' and 'Do It Again') the band performed on the Ed Sullivan show in 1968, in addition to a colourfully laid out booklet, introduced by music critic Anthony DeCurtis.

The Beach Boys were certainly a rare if not unique outfit whose peerless blend of harmonies and musical arrangements are here for all to experience and as a set, is certainly worthwhile. Where I do feel that it might improve is with the number of songs offered, last year's 'Platinum Collection' did offer 60 tracks over 3 discs and although this does feature video, there is certainly still room for improvement. As for the music, glorious! 8/10

Nick James

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Ziggy Marley - Love Is My Religion (Cooking Vinyl) 10/07/2006

T: This is like a beach album if you ask me. The songs are so up and carefree musically that it would make a great holiday soundtrack. There are moments that bother me, like when it slips into early nineties style reggae-dance and starts sounding like that "Sex on the Beach" song, but then again I guess that fits in nicely with what I was just saying. The only picture you can conjure up in your mind though is a bunch of "beautiful people" playing volleyball on the sand. There are no lardarses here, so is it music for materialistic people, or is that just me?

N: The Marley genes certainly possess that X-factor, that undefinable quality that means Marley junior is filled with the spirit of the Buffalo Soldier. As with what you've started, this album is an easy medicine and coaxes the chill in the listener at every turn. 8/10

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Sebadoh - III (Domino) 10/07/2006

T: I'm losing it mate. I was bracing myself for some screaming death metal, and then when it all kicked in I realised I'd got them mixed up with Sepultura. Oops. And now I'm even using the word "Oops". Now THAT'S worrying...

N: Ah, Sebadoh were undoubtedly looked upon as one of the godfathers of alternative grungesque, emanating from some fifteen years or more previous, one such act that refused to sell out, and the uncluttered nature of this album is beautiful in its composition. "Violet Execution" is one such track that oozes quality as the choruses chords ring out, while Barlow screams the words above all else.

T: It's certainly got that secret ingredient that makes it a cut above the rest at times. It has murmurs of REM and the crookedness of Pavement running through its undoubtedly fine content. Straight out of the top drawer.

N: I do remember a rather naive me seeing Dinosaur Jr on the Rollercaoster tour fifteen years ago - of course the band that preceded these guys - and I wish I'd been a little more educated at the time to fully appreciate what it was I was witnessing. This album has been described as the band's "defining moment", and to call Barlow a "pussy" for playing an acoustic guitar, as it had been said, is laughable. As he then went on to say, "quiet is the new loud". Ponder that thought for a moment.

T: You're still naive now mate. Would you like to see some puppies?

N: Behave. And immerse yourself in the sprawling mass of III, and it is here that, if you were at first puzzled by its being, you will finally "get" what it is all about. 9/10

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Depeche Mode - Speak and Spell [Collectors Edition] (Rhino) 06/06/2006

Basildon, Essex; dateline 1980 and 3 young men saw an opportunity, their relative closeness being more than just a geographical one. The story had in fact started some years previously, when in 1976, keyboardist's Vince Clarke and Andrew Fletcher had first teamed up to form the group No Romance In China. This had been short lived and when, in 1979 Clarke formed French Look with guitarist/keyboardist Martin Gore, Fletcher soon signed up. By now the time was post-punk and when "New Romantic" was a keyword, the three started to produce music around the guitars/vocals of Gore and Fletcher, with Clarke on keyboards, another name change ensued and the Composition of Sound was born. Meeting up with David Gahan the group soon abandoned their guitars for synthesisers and changing their name to Depeche Mode built a loyal following of fans in the London area. Within a year they signed to Mute Records in the UK and following the band's first 3 single releases (Dreaming of Me, New Life and Just Can't Get Enough, which broke the UK's top 10) they released their debut album 'Speak and Spell'. With all this going on in the UK, America was not left out and signing to Sire Records, Depeche Mode found their initial exposure with club audiences. 'Just Can't Get Enough' was a major dance hit and received airplay on American alternative radio.

This release of Depeche Mode's first album, has seen reissues before, as has most of the group's back-catalogue. I myself acquired a 'Mid Price' of this album in the UK, an issue which had featured 5 "extra tracks", but for some reason those responsible had chosen to include an ambiguous slice of the original artwork on a 75 percent black background. It's nice to see that from the first look of this album, Rhino have remained true to the original release by choosing to include the artwork unhindered and in its full glory. Coming presented in a digipak, the twin disc set of CD and DVD slide out from a card sleeve to reveal a fold-out gatefold housing the two discs. The statuary booklet that comes with the set includes lyrics and early black and white photographs of the band.

The content of the CD is again true to the original release with the exception of 'Dreaming Of Me', their first single which was left off the original release, this time finding its place alongside the other 11 tracks. I'd forgotten just how important an album this was, being not only from a group who later attained "super group" status, whose albums numbered double figures and it is said played to 2 and a half million people, worldwide on their last tour, but when listened to, is almost spooky as I sit here in 2006, shades of groups who have obviously taken direction from the band, not to mention Yazoo and Erasure, but that's not surprising as Clarke's writing credits are 10 of the 12 tracks here.

The DVD content is one that not only includes presentations of the full album in PCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround and DTS 5.1, but also includes additional tracks; 'Ice Machine', 'Shout', 'Any Second Now' and 'Just Can't Get Enough (schizo mix)'. Aside from this is the 30 minute presentation "Depeche Mode: 1980-81 (Do we really have to give up our day jobs?"), a fascinating short film including not only archive footage of the group, but interviews with members of the band (past and present) recounting their relative passage and those who worked with them, talking quite candidly, as well as Vince admitting their earliest wish was to become another Cure, OMD or The Human League, from Basildon. I've watched it 3 times and still find it highly entertaining, oh in addition to some of the worst haircut's you're ever likely to encounter. As a set this has to be one of the best value reissues I've seen and for fans, essential. The reissue campaign by Rhino of deluxe 2-disc sets is one of 3 in this wave, which also includes 'Music For The Masses' and 'Violator'. Superb! 9/10

Nick James

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Dashboard Confessional - Dusk and Summer (Vagrant) 03/07/2006

N. We are told that, following selling 2.5 million albums and spending nearly 2 years writing and recording, Dashboard Confessional finally release 'Dusk and Summer' - their fourth studio album. Ok so enough of the preamble, this band who have enjoyed moderate chart success in the UK, are reminding me at times of bands like Roxette and the softrock brigade, their market possibly radio 2 listeners, but then I'm forced to listen to Radio 2 at times, but only for the loss of a digital radio in the car, otherwise I'd be tuning into 6 music, no honestly and I'm crap on the Ken Bruce music quiz when I catch it!

T: Soft rock or not, even though this doesn't hold tremendous appeal for me, you have to hold your hands up and admit when a band does what they do well, and there's no doubt whatsoever that Dashboard Confessional do exactly that. They remind me more of an American version of Turin Brakes than anything else, and I have no doubt whatsoever that the emo kids will love it. I think what I'm trying to say is that this is a damn well made, well produced album that will delight its own fans but is unlikely to resonate too heavily with me personally.

N: No, as you say, personally this doesn't ring any bells particularly, but I can see that in this case, the "machine" has worked well in making DC more than passable to the general masses, although I can't say that I find this particularly credible, but back again to the point we've been making - listen to this album and make your own mind up. 7/10

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Muse - Black Holes and Revelations (Warner Music) 03/07/2006

T: One of the few current bands who have been showered with accolades that actually DESERVE them. Indeed, it speaks volumes that after the Guinness Book of Hit Singles ran a poll to see what the most popular albums of all time were amongst its readers, both "Absolution" and its predecessor "Origin of Symmetry" made the grade. They're also practically the only band around at present who will confidently and unashamedly belt out what is, is essence, a concept album. In fact they're the kings of concept. They seem to have taken the step up, with this album, from being an "alternative band" to being world beaters. They can now be bracketed alongside Manic Street Preachers, and U2 in their "Rattle and Hum" period. Some of the tracks here are astonishing - the new single "Supermassive Black Hole" you'll already know, but aside from that, I've heard few better finales than "Knights of Cydonia", and "Assassin" is an absolute belter of a tune. Muse have yet to set a foot wrong, and while this is not their strongest album, it's still a damn good one.

N: Funny you should mention U2, because on first hearing the latest single, I was really quite excited, although did think "Another band who are doing a U2". Strains of "Achtung Baby" ran through my mind. Now, on hearing the full album, I'm torn. Am I ok with the fact that they have remained true to themselves, or disappointed they didn't do something a little different? Wait though, perhaps they have, but wouldn't they be better placed going the whole hog, buying that Rick Wakeman cape, and pronouncing themselves "the new wizards of music"? With who we've referenced here, Muse have shown themselves to be worthy musicians, and however my comments may be connstrued, this is a great album. 8-9/10

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Aberfeldy - Do Whatever Turns You On (Rough Trade) 03/07/2006

T: I've said this before about Aberfeldy and it appears they didn't listen - this is way too middle of the road for my liking. Then again why SHOULD they listen? They've sold plenty of copies of "Young Forever" and they've evidently cornered the MOR market. Not only that, but they're supporting the most recent addition to the rhyming slang dictionary - James Blunt - on his summer European tour. Anyway, you can't actually dislike the band particularly, but in the main, they sound like a watered down Del Amitri to me...

N: When they describe the ultimate summer album, this might be that album. Light and fluffy, easily listened to, but just as easily forgotten, I'm afraid to say. 5/10

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Robots In Disguise - Get Rid (President) 03/07/2006

T: Looking like a more indie version of Shampoo, Robots In Disguise actually sound like...er...a more indie version of Shampoo. They're certainly darker anyway. I would imagine that if you bumped into Saffron from Republica at a Bondage Party, she'd sound a bit like this. Some of the tracks here are really quite infectious - not least the French sounding "The DJ's Got a Gun". Can't imagine this making my "Best of 2006" list, but hey, no hot blooded male can complain about the front cover, which displays the arses of these two female singers in tight fitting jeans...

N: Described as music filled with funk-punk, this band, whose original idea came from a drunken night at an indie karaoke, turned half hearted attempts at a number of jobs into a music career, and the Robot Empire was born. These two homegrown girls produce what is undoubtedly original and quirky music, but when Tone references Shampoo, this might be the way Robots In Disguise end up. 6/10

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Dr Feelgood - Down By The Jetty (EMI) 26/06/2006

N: My first encounter with Dr Feelgood must have been in 1979 whilst practising my weekly routine of tuning in to Radio One's Top 40 singles rundown. "Milk and Alcohol" was a tremendous tune, and truly worthy of its number nine placing. The years passed by, bnds came and went, but this had left its mark, so when some time in the nineties I was asked to review the band for whichever paper I was writing for at the time, I strolled along to meet these aging musicians, who put on what I seem to recall as a solid show in front of several hundred fans and newcomers alike. Now the final piece of the jigsaw slides into place as this album is unearthed by EMI for re-release.

T: MY first encounter with Dr. Feelgood was a very sordid one. At least he SAID he was a doctor...seriously though, don't forget that this band was going LONG before "Milk and Alcohol". If you listen to some of the stuff they did around 1975, you can almost hear an embryonic punk, soon to sweep the nations under the guidance of the Sex Pistols and The Damned. Although Dr Feelgood's roots were firmly implanted in to the Bluesy rock 'n' roll that was their trademark, there's no question that there was a kind of a punk ethic in their sound that keeps them sounding pretty fresh even now.

N: That being the case, I remember now, on talking with the band they recalled tales of their early years in Southend, the town MY family originated from, and I can't even remember if anything worthwhile was gleaned from what was talked about. But you can buy some great fresh fish and cockles from the old town. But returning to the matter in hand, this early document, filled with the musical pretensions of punk, was recorded at "Abbey Road", and was most reknowned for having a radical monoral sound - something not originally planned by the band, but with the passing of time, and time spent reworking this album, this reissued collectors' edition comes with both that original recording and a remastered stereo recording on twin discs, in addition to five bonus tracks, four of which were previously unreleased...

T: (yawns)

N: ...in addition to seven live bonus tracks. 8/10

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