17th September - Cocteau Twins' Heaven or Las Vegas

Artist – Album: Cocteau Twins – Heaven or Las Vegas

Released:  17^th September 1990

Sounds Like: Dream Pop (what a perfect genre name)

Cocteau Twins were formed right on the cusp of the Eighties, and they spend the majority of that decade fashioning exquisite trancelike art-rock, built on Robin Guthrie’s hypnotic guitar lines, programmed drum machines and Elizabeth Fraser’s elfish, indecipherable vocals. By the turn of the Nineties though, they garnished the new decade with a fresh new approach, and where once their music was hazy and weird it became (relatively) clear and (relatively) poppy.

The move worked, and Heaven or Las Vegas was their successful album, reaching number seven in the UK charts – helped no doubt by the fact that it fit snugly with the burgeoning shoegaze craze. The title track was probably the best representation of the changes they’d made – there’s a definite verse-chorus structure to the song, Fraser’s lyrics are newly intelligible, and the whole feel is no longer blissfully directionless. Other stand outs include the dancing ‘Iceblink Luck’ (an amazing tune that I struggle to resist playing on repeat) and the epic, rolling closer ‘Frou-Frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires’.

Ultimately though, the greatest thing about the record is one of those things that remained unchanged – Fraser’s unparalleled voice. Hers is one of the best of all time, and if you’ve yet to discover her divine singing then Heaven or Las Vegas, perhaps along with her superlative contributions to This Mortal Coil’s ‘Song to the Siren’ and Massive Attack’s ‘Teardrop’, is a stunning introduction.

Albumaday... rating: 8/10

1.       Cherry-Coloured Funk – 3:12

2.       Pitch the Baby – 3:14

3.       Iceblink Luck – 3:18

4.       Fifty-Fifty Clown – 3:10

5.       Heaven or Las Vegas – 4:58

6.       I Wear Your Ring – 3:29

7.       Fotzepolitic – 3:30

8.       Wolf in the Breast – 3:31

9.       Road, River and Rail – 3:21

10.   Frou-Frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires – 5:38

Listen to ‘Iceblink Luck’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl5EqjtRuGU

9th May - Wild Beasts' Smother

Artist – Album: Wild Beasts - Smother

Released:  9^th May 2011

Sounds Like: Sexy time

Kendal based indie rock group Wild Beasts are currently producing some of the most original and intriguing sounds in modern music. Hayden Thorpe sings in a realm that lies somewhere between the epic theatricality of Jeff Buckley and Rufus Wainwright and the campy falsetto of Mika. Their dream pop, looped jangly guitars and bombastic drumming has carved out for them their own separate niche within the alternative rock arena.

To an extent, the group drop the bombast of the percussion here and draw out the music to atmospheric mini-epics. They’ve also become somewhat (read completely and utterly) obsessed with sex. Case in point, opener ‘Lion’s Share’, which contains the following perverse lyrics: “I wait until you're woozy, I won't know until your limp, I take you in the mouth, Like a lion takes his game”. Or try this verse on from ‘Bed of Nails’: “Our love, Frankenstein in nature and design, Like the Shelleys on their very first time, When our bodies become electrified, Together we bring this creature to life”. There’s always a place for lovemaking in rock (rock and roll itself derived its name from such fooling around), but rarely has an album been so singularly focused on the subject.  

Smother isn’t Wild Beasts at their most exhilarating – a lot of the songs here come and go subtly, gathering their discarded clothes and sneaking out quietly while you sleep. But the album pulsates with rhythmic endurance and is quite captivating with its sleazy and dangerous undertones. A band to watch and an album to listen to.

Albumaday... rating: 7/10

1.       Lion’s Share – 4:14

2.       Bed of Nails – 4:18

3.       Deeper – 3:01

4.       Loop the Loop – 4:06

5.       Plaything – 4:21

6.       Invisible – 2:58

7.       Albatross – 3:12

8.       Reach a Bit Further – 3:36

9.       Burning – 4:44

10.   End Come Too Soon – 7:32

Listen to ‘Bed of Nails ’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZaevasFRUg

Also released on the 9^th April:

2006: Beirut – Gulag Orkestar

11th April - M83's Saturdays = Youth

Artist – Album: M83 – Saturdays = Youth

Released:  11^th April 2008             

Sounds Like: Ferris Bueller’s Pretty in Sixteen Weird Breakfast Clubs

In recent years there seems to have been a bit of a trend to embrace all things 80s. Classic cult films such as Labyrinth and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off have become must haves in students' DVD collections, and new(ish) movies such as Drive, Hot Tub Time Machine or Tron 3D owe a lot to their 30 year old ancestors. There’s been a reconsideration of the hairstyles and clothes worn – no one’s going to start wearing piano ties or sporting mullets again (please, please don’t), but there’s echoes of a previous time in the general styles and shapes paraded on the catwalk today, whilst colourful leggings, big earrings and even shoulder pads can be seen on most streets now. Over in television land, we’ve seen new series resurrect the ghosts of Yes, Prime Minister and Red Dwarf, as well as the release of the subpar Only Fools and Horses spin off Rock and Chips just a few short years back. In politics, Mrs Thatcher may have finally giving herself up to the devil and the fiery bowels of hell this week, but her working class battering philosophies are still very much in fashion down Parliament way, where the idiotic clowns that currently run our country no doubt have posters of the 80s most evil (only) Prime Minister taken straight from old Smash Hits magazines and plastered on to their bedroom walls.

In music, there is probably more adoration than anywhere for the decade that taste only really had a fuzzy memory of. Bands like Cut Copy, MGMT and Passion Pit obsess over synthpop. Destroyer’s Kaputt, released 2 years ago, is enamoured with the smooth soul and new romantic sounds of circa 1982. Raphael Saadiq is our Prince. Calvin Harris has love for you if you were born in the 80s, the 80s. Which is nice.

But everyone immersed in this 80s fad have warped the time to suit their own needs. They (for the most part) reside in a world where everyone was named Corey and they had a totally radical time dancing Thriller and eating voul-au-vents. No duh, right? Nobody does this more than M83 on this album, which sounds like the greatest John Hughes movie ever made. ‘Graveyard Girl’, one of the albums many highlights, actually has a spoken middle from an outsider teen and references Molly Ringwald. ‘Kim & Jessie’ is swooping, murmured and epic, like The Psychedelic Furs meets A-Ha. ‘We Own the Sky’ does a phenomenal job of balancing retro instrumentation and modern indie rock. It’s just all round a great album. It may see the decade through rose tinted Ray Bans but it’s definitely righteous to be a part of.

Albumaday... rating: 8/10

1.       You, Appearing – 3:39

2.       Kim & Jessie – 5:23

3.       Skin of the Night – 6:12

4.       Graveyard Girl – 4:51

5.       Couleurs – 8:34

6.       Up! – 4:27

7.       We Own the Sky – 5:02

8.       Highway of Endless Dreams – 4:35

9.       Too Late – 5:00

10.   Dark moves of Love – 3:18

11.   Midnight Souls Still Remain – 11:10

Listen to ‘Kim & Jessie’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abqy3DdAzHI

26th Feb - Beach House's Devotion

Artist – Album: Beach House - Devotion

Released:  26^th February 2008

Sounds Like: Ethereal angels

A few years ago Beach House played at Manchester Cathedral, a gig that I still kick myself for not managing to get to (which has ruined my ankles and made me 75% less awesome at football). I can hardly think of a better pairing of artist and venue. The band's atmospheric, late-night music must've been wonderfully complemented by the cavernous, grand, divine interior of the large temple.

Continuing along the church theme (cracking segue there Joe) Devotion, Beach House’s second album, kicks off with ‘Wedding Bell’. For all that their signature sound is gossamer dream pop, this starter is actually much more straightforward; delicate, indie-folk festooned with sliding guitars and girly vocals. It’s a wonderful example of the way that Beach House have expanded (being very much a relative term) on the style of their first album.

If you want more of the same, try the brilliant, chiming ‘Gila’ or ‘Turtle Island’. But if you’d prefer a few interesting flecks on the otherwise uniform shiny surface, you’ve got other options here too. Before the respectful cover of Daniel Johnstone’s ‘Something’s Last a Long Time’, ‘All These Years’ and ‘Heart of Chambers’ represent some of the most lively tunes in the group’s canon, and they’re just as good as their more standard stuff. Heavenly, angelic music.

Albumaday... rating: 8/10

1.       Wedding Bell – 3:55

2.       You Came to Me – 4:05

3.       Gila – 4:46

4.       Turtle Island – 4:00

5.       Holy Dances – 4:19

6.       All the Years – 3:36

7.       Heart of Chambers – 4:25

8.       Some Things Last a Long Time – 2:32

9.       Astronaut – 5:05

10.   D.A.R.L.I.N.G. – 3:18

11.   Home Again – 4:09

Listen to ‘Wedding Bell’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JqYVukDpqI

Also released on the 26^th February:

2002: Norah Jones – Come Away With Me

Also released on the 26^th February:

2007: Patrick Wolf – The Magic Position