Sorry, sorry, no, really, sorry.

Its been a hectic few months. That combined with an almost chronic laziness has resulted in me not being able to get around to writing up things. Lets see.  Somewhere here in the mess that makes up my desk I have a list of our Top 10 albums of the year preceding this one.  I’ll have that up inside a week. I have a few gig reviews, a few new bands to look out for and some music news for you to sink your teeth into you. I may as well post them now.

Gigs

Spectrum – yes, they of Sonic Boom fame – are touring for the first time in… well, its been a while. Yes, they had the MBV support gigs last year but that doesn’t count.  So, off I toddled to The Hare And Hounds in Birmingham’s Kings Heath. A lovely small venue (basically the top room of a pub) if a little prone to overheating. Support came from Seeland, a local band and one well worth checking out. Spectrum, however, were magnificent.  Opening with Mary from last years Captain Memphis collaboration the set was just what was promise; a mix of Spacemen 3 and Spectrum recordings of which the highlight for me was the set ending When Tomorrow Hits and Revolution, encored by Suicide.  Pant creaming stuff. One minor note of criticism and not one directed at the band. If you pay money to see a gig, why spend it talking? A waste of money and damn annoying for those around you. If you want to talk whislt listening to music, go home, stick on the cd and ring your mum. She’ll appreciate it.

New Bands.

Always nice to be the one helping to drive the bandwagon than being the one scabbling around for space a few months down the line. Sadly,  I have dined out enough on my story of being at the first ever Arctic Monkeys London gig and now I need something new.  As luck would have it,  I have some inside information for you. Theres a band called Crafty Simian who have only just this week recorded their debut single. They hail from that wilderness known as ‘oop norf’ and they have a poppy, punky sound thats more reminiscant of The Stone Roses than of the crap that passes for both pop and punk nowdays. Well worth checking out, they’ll be big news. they have a tour coming up in April, do stay tuned for more Simian related news.

News.

So, I was watching Oz & James Drink to Britain last night when i wondered to myself, “what the devil are Gomez doing nowadays?”. Then, later on when I was catching up with the superb Nature’s Great Events dopcumentary series i was put in mind of The Flowers of Hell. “What is going on with my favourite psychadelic/shoegaze/classical/ambient/drone band?”. I resolved to discover the answers to these questions and lo, I did.  Gome have a new single – “Airstream Driver” – available for download from their website, whilst even more happilly, The Flowers of Hell have scheduled a date of 6th of April for the release of their second album Come Hell Or High Water. And on the 27th they shall be playing in Brighton’s Freebutt in the support role for the afore mentioned Spectrum. Spectrum. Flowers of Hell. On the same bill. At a cost of £7. Excuse me a moment, I need a new pair of jeans. Can’t make it? Nor can I (maybe these jeans will be ok after all). But they have 2 tracks to listen to from said new release, as well as a few from their old one.

But wait, there is more. Yes, more. My Latest Novel have a track – Dragonhide – from their forthcoming album, available to listen to on their Myspace.  And British Sea Power have recorded a version of The Cure’s A Forest for the NME (just saying it makes me need a wash) to celebrate Bobby Smith’s and pals Godlike Genius award. Said version would have been only available with the NME (eugh). But wait. Just take a trip to BSP’s Myspace and lo, there it is, along with The Possibility Of An Island which is some proper ambient type shit which I love, reminiscant of their take on The Pixies’ Caribou and the work of bands like Library Tapes, All Sides and The Place Promised Beyond The Clouds.
Want more? Ok, heres more. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are back and they’ve been listening to Morton Valence a hell of a lot it sounds. This is no bad thing. New album Its Blitz – due out April 13th – will take a bit of getting used to, but will be well worth it in the end. Heads Will Roll in particular is frickin awesome.

Audience Participation

The days grow shorter, the leaves have left the branches of the trees and people all around me are coughing like asthmatics on a treadmill. This can mean only one thing; winter is all but upon us and the year is drawing to a close. And as sure as you will find a rubbish piece of music journalism in the NME, so will you find that all around us many hundreds of thousands of lists, all ending with ‘…of 2008′ will appear. The Guest Room is no different. However, we are a kind and generous bunch and so we give you a chance to make a difference to at least just one of these little lists.

See, although we are generous and kind and wonderful (we could go on, but we don’t have the time) we are small in number and short of time. As much as we would like to listen to every album released in the past year (although we’ll give Razorligth a miss, ta) we just can’t do it. This is where you – the reader – come in. Do you have an album which you feel is worthy of a spot in the end of year ‘Best Albums of 2008′ list which we have not reviewed or feel we may be unaware of? The just drop us a message in the comment box, listing the album and the band and we’ll seek it out, listen to it and cast judgement. Likewise, if you have an album which is particularly bad (although to make things easier, lets ignore X-factor type stuff. We know its rubbish, theres no point talking about it) then let us know and again, we shall seek out, listen and cast judgement. We can’t guarantie that all – or indeed any – of your suggestions will end up on the list. But we do promise to give everything a thorough listening to and a fair and balanced chance.

Let the discussions commence!

A bit late, but never mind

Well, the last few months have been a bit busy, what with university and all. More importantly, there have been a lot of albums out which need reviewing. Some are good, some are very good and some are so bad they make babies cry.

Oasis – Dig Out Your Soul

We all know how things go with Oasis. New album comes out. Noel says its the best thing since Definately Maybe. Press says its good. Then when nobodies looking they change their mind and say its rubbish. Fans love it and non-fans say it sounds like everything else Oasis have ever done. General concensus is that they are past their best. Criticism is laid on everything they’ve done since Morning Glory. Happens every time. And it’ll happen again this time. And once again, I can go on about how the critics are wrong. In fact, if I were to start to tell you about why I believe Oasis from 1997 onwards are much undervalued we’d be here for, well, ever. So I won’t. I’ll do what I’m supposed to do, which is just review the album. For starters, its a complete departure from the usual Oasis sound. There are no anthemic stadium-sized numbers. There are no big riffs. There are no songs which are likely to be very popular on mainstream radio. Even the driving, pounding lead-off single The Shock of The Lightning is far from being radio friendly. In fact, we’re it not for Liam’s distinct voice – and even this is reigned in, he no longer feels the need to spit and snarl, but actually sings – you’d be hard-pressed to tell that this is an Oasis album. What there is instead is a different approach. There seems to be more care and attention given to the lyrics and the production. This is a solid album, but also much more than that. This is a band who have become tired of being labelled as producing the same stuff over and again. There are things we’ve not heard from them before nor expected to hear from this band. Just listen to To Be Where Theres Life. Its funky. FUNKY! What the fook? It works though. More than anything though, this is a psychedelic album. Maybe not to the extent of Who Feels Love, but even so, its there, running through the album, feeding it and giving it a different kind of energy to what we’d expect. Theres not just a willingness, but an eagerness to do different things. The Noel sung Falling Down is a case in point. There is nothing here which you can point to and say “this sounds like Song X from Album Y”. Most importantly, it sounds like a proper album. Even i will admit that the last few efforst have sounds like a collection of songs rather than, but Dig Out Your Soul . All the songs are crackers (apart from Get Off Your High Horse Lady) that fit together really well.

Yeah, sure, the critics will point out that theyre still just copying from their influences, albeit from different aspects. Who the hell doesn’t? The only difference is that the Gallaghers are much more open about it and always have been. And Dig Out Your Soul is about more then Liam and Noel. Gem Archer and Andy Bell are having bigger influences in the band all the time. They may only have 2 songs between them on here, but don’t think for a second that theyre not influencing this new direction in some way.

For years now Oasis have been proving that when it comes to simple, straight up Rock’n'Roll, theres nobody better. Now they’ve shown that 14 years after they wowed the world with their debut, they can still step things up and take things in different directions and play with the best of them, even if nobody else will really admit to it. 9

The Verve – Forth

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about The Verve’s forth album (imaginatively named, um, Forth). Back in the day, when I was about 12 and Euro 96 was fresh in the memory and the only troubles in the world revolved around getting money for a pack of Space Raiders, there was a lot of talk about The Verve being the best band on the planet at the time with Urban Hymns getting a lot of praise. of course, people being people they sort of ignored the fact that it wasn’t even the best Verve album. But never mind, it was good. But they had already split once and a second split was soon to follow. This lasted about a decade, during which Richard Ashcroft produced a few mediocre albums and dueted briefly with Coldplay at Live 8. Soon it was time for another comeback. Which brings us to 2008. An album was written and recorded. Headline sets were announced for a number of big name festivals. A new single – Love Is Noise – was unleashed as a set closer upon the nation and it was – and still is – fantastic. The Verve were back, and we loved them. And then they spoiled it by releasing the album. And the people wept. We’d have been quite happy if Love Is Noise turned out to be the best track on there. Fair enough. But it was much more than that. It was the only good track on there.

Things start off badly with Sit And Wonder which sounds like The Music on a bad day. Then Love Is Noise. hope restored. Jumping. Glowsticks. Delight. For the remaining 8 tracks we see The Verve become just a glorified Achcroft backing band, or a band just peddling out tracks which sound like discarded B-sides from the Urban Hymns era. A dissapointment and a strict lesson in why Comebacks are never a good idea. If you’re going to do it, do it like Pink Floyd; keep it brief and keep it live. As it is, the forth album by Verve, entitled Forth. Did the ever expect any other score? 4

The Aliens – Luna

In case you don’t know The Aliens are, give or take, The Beta Band. Which explains why this is just a bit crazy. Their debut album, Astronomy For Dogs had a very poppy, sixties feel to it, but never quite convinced as an album. Luna is completely opposite. It definately feels like an album, and whilst there are poppy moments, theyre darker. Magic Man and Sunlamp Show are both pretty much straightforward songs in style, but Billy Jack and opener Bobby’s Song are both over 10 minutes long and change tack about once every 2 minutes, with Billy Jack in particular being rather dark and slightly disturbing. We’re all for that here at The Guest Room. As you would expect, traditional song structures are few and far between. Radio airplay is not high on the agenda. The residents at The Guest Room like this also. We are also staunh supporters of utter mentalism in our music. Theres more than enough here. In short, this is good stuff. Very good stuff. 9

Noah And The Whale – Peaceful, The World lays Me Down

Less mentalism here, and a bit more twee and charm here. Of course theres no way that you’ve managed to get through the year without having heard Five Years Time. its been everywhere, but fortunately its one of those songs that you actually don’t mind hearing over and again. Thats actually one of the problems here. Its not that the rest of the album is bad – far from it – its just that next to Five Years Time very few of the other tracks do themselves justice. Girl of the moment Laura Marling features a fair bit and her voice is more complimentary here than on here guest slot with Mystery Jets. But somehow, theres still something missing.

There are some really good songs on here – Shape Of My Heart and the title track in particular – and I want to like this a lot more than I do. But in places, its just too twee. 6

Silver Jews – Look out Mountain, Look Out Sea

Silver Jews are perhaps best known as ‘Stephen Malkmus’ other band’. Whilst Malkmus was indeed a founding member of T’Jews, it really does a great disservice to David Berman. Berman is the only permanent member of the band and Malkmus doesn’t even feature on all of the albums, including this one. But enough about him, lets talk about Berman, his band and their latest album.

Its rather tragic that the world at large hasn’t heard of either Silver Jews or David Berman. He is a lyricist of increadible depth and wit. Also a published poet, this is reflected in his own lyrics. He has a way with words that very few do or have ever done, showcased best here with Suffering Jukebox and My Pillow Is The Threshold. The music is… I hate to say simple, because people might get the wrong idea, so lets just say ‘bereft of poncy nonsense’ and a perfect vehicle for Berman’s insights. perhaps we could draw comparison with Bob Dylan here; nothing fancy in the music, though that is good in itself, but the real magic is in the words. Theres no glamour here. No disco beats. No funky haircuts. Berman and his Silver Jews will never be in danger of finding the mainstream limelight. But if you’re interested in listenign to someone who has actually got something to say, don’t listen to anything else. 8

The Inexorable March of Autumn

The days grow shorter and the nights stretch out before us like a vast blanket. The leaves will soon begin to change colour, from vibrant green to enchanting yellow, from yellow to vivid red, before falling from the branches in the frosty wind. Yes, autumn is very nearly upon us in full swing and i have been emersing myself in my Wind In The Willows DVDs, can you tell?

Summer was a bit of a damp squib but at least the autumn promises to be, if not nice then at least a proper autumn. My advice? Watch it from indoors, with a nice cup of tea with some nice music in the background. And whilst the sound of rain on a window is a nice one, it does get tiresome after a while, so i have very kindly made a compilation to get you through to Winter. Oh, and don’t worry, i’ve not forgotten, there will be more reviews up very shortly. No, honest. till then I give you The Inexorable March of Autumn and The Long Nights That Follow.

Drinking with The Seldom Seen Award

Well, since we’ve been away a lot of things have happened. REM toured England (and Wales) quite wonderfully, Stepehen Malkmus and his Jicks visited as well (and proceeded to have a little trouble with doors) and British Sea Power, amongst others, got a Mercury Award nomination. And then proceeded not to win it. The award instead went to Elbow for their album The Seldom Seen Kid. Those of you who know me (and maybe even those who don’t) can probably guess my reaction; shock, outrage, righteous indignation, chairs flying, threats to the awards panel… all things i would have done had I not – whisper it – actually agreed with them. Earlier in the year I said that it would take something very special to match BSP’s Do You Like Rock Music? Elbow have managed to produce exactly that. On the face of it, The Seldom Seen Kid is exactly what you would expect from Elbow. Stylistically its no great departure from what has come before, but rather a further evolution in their sound. What it has evolved into is an album which is not just one of the best albums of the year, but one which in time I believe will be seen as one of the best albums of the decade and – perhaps – of all time. A bold claim, I know, and one I hesitate to commit to for now, but which I will be returning to in months and years along the line. The Seldom Seen Kid is a  record which sounds delicate and emotional in places, weary and poingant in others, but also deeply ambitious throughout. This ambition is shown nowhere better than on the epic The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver, around which the album is built around. What makes it all work is that Elbow are singing about things close to them, things which have affected them in recent times; births, deaths, everything in between. Without meaning to sound like too much of a twat, its this anchor of personal experience which, ahem, invests the album with an emotional honesty and stops it from ever becoming preachy, smug or overblown. The ambition is tempered by the emotion and this results in one of the most beautiful and fragile records of recent times, a record for you to emerse yourself in. Forced into giving it a mark, for me, right now, its a 9 but its quite likely that it might even turn into a 10 if time treats it well.

In other record releasing news, Jim Moray‘s Low Culture also hit the shops and it did not dissapoint. For the most part, the electronics which helped get Jim noticed were put away, a decision which pays off, allowing the songs and Jims musical talent to shine through. Moray, however, isn’t afraid to challenge the listener, soemthign he does doubly so on Lucy Wan. Not only is it the story of a incestuous love affair ending in murder, but also features – shock, horror – a rapper.  I know, it doesn’t sound like much, but remember that this is folk music, a genre which sits about as comfortably with rap as Gary Glitter in a Mothercare. Rufford Park Poachers and I’ll Go List For A Sailor are fine examples of just how fun folk can be and put efforts by many contemporary bands to shame. 7

Also to be noted are the things which haven’t happened since we were last here. The Flowers Of Hell still havnt released their second album (although a 3 track EP is available) and neither have My Latest Novel. Also nothing as of yet about the new album from Spectrum, although Sonic has said that they will be playing some shows in the UK come December.

The Story So Far

Hello again to all you readers in cyberspace. Firstly we’d like to apologise for the long long time since our last post; at this time of year school and university deadlines take seniority. However, to hell with all that now. We’re back and we have a hell of a lot of news for you.

Jim Moray has announced that his third album – Low Culture – will be released on July the 14th. It’ll be available to pre-order from his website soon and you can hear two tracks on there now. http://www.jimmoray.co.uk/

My Latest Novel have announced that they will be going into the studio next month to record their second album which, they say will look like this, albeit not in this order; Allinallinallisall – If The Accident Will – The Greatest Shakedown – Dragonhide – Hopelessly Endlessly – A Bar To Sorrows Drown – Lacklustre – The Nothing Song – I Declare a Ceasefire – Argument Against the Man/Man Against The Argument – Untitled Hymn.  http://www.myspace.com/mylatestnovel

Luxembourg have, regretfully, split up. They blame musical differences but tell us to feel free to blame Boris Johnson if it makes us feel any better. I’m blaming Lalit Modi (google it) but whatever the reason, they still left us a parting gift; the unfinished second album (entitled Last Holidy Before Divorce; Scenes From An Unfinished Sequel) can be downloaded. http://www.last.fm/music/Luxembourg/Last+Holiday+Before+Divorce:+Deleted+Scenes+From+An+Unfinished+Sequel

Now, heres one for the future; Manchester’s Air Cav are releasing their latest single – a double a-side – Embers/Pickign At The Bones on the 7th of July. Its available to pre-order now. Check them out, because theyre the best new band i’ve heard since Morton Valence and they will create something special. http://www.myspace.com/aircavmusic

Thats all for now; but there will be much more news very very soon. Stay tuned.

Directions To A Disappointment

As you will no doubt have guessed from my previous post, I was more than a little excited about The Black Angels‘ follow up to the excellent Passover. It has been just over 2 years since that great debut hit the shelves and its little brother was one of the most highly anticipated records of the last few years. There was genuine excitement about what the group from Texas would come up with.

It saddens me greatly, then, to inform you that Directions To See A Ghost is really rather disappointing. Not a bad album, I hasten to add, but not a really good one either. As i speculated before, it does sound darker and denser, but it also sounds tired and incomplete and leaves you wondering whether the album was rushed, either by the band or, as so often happens, by the record company. There are good songs here, deep down, this could have been a dark and menacing masterpiece, but whilst it has no doubt been recorded by a marvelous band, it sounds like its been recorded by a tired band, and theres a vigour thats really missing.

Before fans start to panic, be assured that there are some really good songs here and that all is not lost. Opener You On The Run sets a tone which the album generally fails to live up to. 18 Years is another rare occasion on this album when they pull off what they were trying to achieve. Deer-Ree-Shee so very nearly follows, but trails off towards the end, whilst lead-off single Doves again promises more than the album can deliver. And thats the story of the album, really – so much promise and potential but very little of it realised. The album sounds like a very good demo, and in years to come the band – who i have no doubt will go on to fulfill their very generous talent – will wish that they had taken a longer rest before going into the studio. I already wish they did. 6

By contrast, Dead Meadow are now onto their sixth album and still going strong. Old Growth sees them take a more relaxed and laid back aproach, with a cleaner sound than what you might be used to from them. Less feedback and distorted dirty drones (dirty being meant in a positive fashion here. I LOVE dirty drones) means more variety. More riffs and solos that can be described as almost ‘pop-y’. More ‘traditional’ songs such as the gentle Down Here. Its not an entirely new direction, they went down a similiar route at the start of the band’s existance, but now they had more time to sit down, make it cleaner and work on it. This is as varied an album as they have ever done, but its not variety for variety’s sake; everything here fits. Its a gentler, more reflective album and it works. It just works. 8

Spaceman!

A Ghost Upon The Horizon

A year that just keeps getting better and better has, predictably, given us yet more good news from the music world.

The Black Angels follow up their superb debut album with an LP entitled Directions To See A Ghost. Available digitally from the 15th of April (not so long now) and in the good, old fashioned format of CD (and, one would presume, glorious vinyl) from the 12th of May. Judging by the new song on their Myspace, it seems to be a darker, denser record, although until the actual release date, we won’t know for sure. http://www.myspace.com/theblackangels

Meanwhile, an album which passed even me by (and for this I blame the American way of writing dates down the wrong way) is Dead Meadow‘s sixth album, Old Growth. Not much i can tell you about this right now, I’m afraid, although it should be well worth buying; certainly their fifth effort Feathers is well worth investing in, being as it is one of my favourite records of recent years. They have a tour in progress as well, though it seems that England isn’t on their list just as of yet. http://www.myspace.com/deadmeadow

Day For Airstrikes are heading into the studio to start work on their third album. 2006′s Widows was a bit mental, hopefully this new release will see a bit more of the same. http://www.myspace.com/dayforairstrikes

And FINALLY (as in, ‘yes, at last’, not ‘the last thing we talk about’), after months of setbacks of one sort or another Avrocar finally release Against The Dying Of The Light. You can order it now from http://www.makeminemailorder.com/

In fact, whilst you’re there, its also worth ordering the limited edition vinyl copy of Millimetrik‘s Northwest Passages New Era. Sent out by Pascal himself, its a nice little record to have in your collection. And alos, its pretty bloody good too. In fact, just about anything on Make Mine Music is worth some exploration. http://www.myspace.com/makeminemusic

The living legend that is Sonic Boom is currently touring the antipodes with Spectrum. Been doing a lot of touring recently, so with any luck, we may see an album release very very soon. http://www.myspace.com/spectrumofficialpage. Meanwhile, his collaborative album with Captain Memphis is out on the 22nd of April and available to pre-order now fromBirdman Record. Even with Shipping, its ridiculously cheap. http://www.birdmanrecords.com/spectrum/index.html

And finally (as in ‘the last thing we talk about’, not ‘yes, at last’) just a reminder that the Wheaton Aston Festival will be running from the 16th to the 18th of May. A lovely little festival, with some great bands (including Guest Room favourites Epic45), cheaper than a night out in a crappy disco, in a lovely part of the world; what more could you want? Well, for it not to clash with Roger Waters, all the way in London would be nice. Still, maybe next year. http://www.wheatonastonfestival.supanet.com/

Spring Is Here

Spring is here and so, very fittingly, we get snow. Only in England. However, spring brings not only snow and (hopefully) sun, but also a new compilation for your listening pleasure. So, for you dear readers, The Coming OF Spring.

Reviews!!! Lazarus, Reviews!!!

A year that started off slowly has really started to kick in now, with some very good albums coming out recently, including a return to form for old favourites, a return from a man who has never been out of form and a new direction for a namesake. Read on!!! Lazarus, Read on!!!

REM – Accelerate

Every single review I have read about Accelerate says that it is a return to form, a redemption for that most iconic of modern rock bands. With the first part I can find no argument; this is a return to form, of that there is no doubt. This could easily sit alongside some of their albums from before they went global. There is a vim and vigour here not seen in a long time, with Michael Stipe almost spitting out his lyrics in a mixture of anger and indignation. One is almost tempted to think that a certain band’s recent release may have reminded Buck, Mills and Stipe that yes, they do like Rock Music and they would very much like a piece of it. If there is a criticismto be made, it is in the last song, I’m Gonna DJ. The phrase “DJ” has never sounded good in any song, ever (with the possible exception of Jet asking him to roll over).

As for redemption, it was never really neccesary. Around The Sun, their last effort, was a dissapointment, yes. Up and Reveal before that were below par, yes, but both had moments which were up their with the very best things they’d ever done and neither was anywhere what you might call ‘bad’. This is a band whch didn’t create a bad album till their thirteenth effort, 21 years after the release of their first, whilst leaving some gems along the way (too many to mention). Redemption is just not neccesary, for themselves. If there is redemption to be found, it is in REM being one of the many bands who try to reclaim the sound and success of their youth and in being one of the few bands who manage it. 8

The Duke Spirit – Neptune

The Duke Spirit’s debut album Cuts Across The Land announced them as one of the most exciting new bands in the country (with one of the hottest front ladies in the country – not that it matters, but its true). It was an album which showed many promising moments, with some really great songs, although it did tend to plod along without really going anywhere in parts. Neptune builds on this promise; the high points match those of the first album and cut out most – but not quite all – of the meandering. It is essentially, the first album, but a bit better. Therin lies the problem; there is perhaps not a big enough step on from the debut. But as the first album was so good, I’m not going to complain too much.

There are generally 3 types of bands; The first and rarest kind releases a geat album to announce themselves and maintain a standard around that level throughout their career. Many bands announce themselves with what many see as their ‘defining work’ before trailing off. The Duke Spirit are the third sort of band, a band who are building up to something very special indeed, whilst creating some really rather good stuff along the way. This band will be worth keeping an eye out for in the years to come. In the meantime, Neptune will keep us waiting with a very nice soundtrack indeed. 7

Stepehen Malkmus & The Jicks – Real Emotional Trash

Stepehen Malkmus never seems to get the respect or admiration which he richly deserves. Sure, all those who have heard Pavement acknowledge his genius, but they generally get left behind in conversations regarding music in the 1990s. Maybe its because in Britian, at the height of Britpop, they had to compete with more popular American bands such as Nirvana and REM for the ears of a public who concentrating mostly on music from their own shores. Whatever the reason, Malkmus will always be consigned to an afterthought to most people and this is a pity. If more people were aware of Pavement, then more would be aware of The Jicks and more people would listen to Real Emotional Trash and more people would go away with a sense of fullfilment and satisfaction from listening to an album. It still sounds like Malkmus, but not in a tired “oh, not this again” sort of way. he has more ideas in his head than is perhaps healthy, and working withThe Jicks since the split of Pavement has put a new fire in his belly which is still burning strong. He may never create anything that quite lives up to Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, or Wowee Zowie, but much like REM, after all these years he is still going strong and putting lesser bands to shame. 8

Spiritualized – Songs In A&E

After releasing Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space (the second best albm of all time) Jason ‘Spaceman’ Pierce stated he wanted to make a more toned down record. He created the even more bombastic and over the top Let It Come Down. Yet again he stated his desire to make a record which wasn’t quite so grand. And he sort of managed it, with Amazing Grace, although it was nowhere near as stripped down and as Garage Rock as he may have intended when he started writing it (four and a half minute semi-improvised jazz break downs can do that to an album). Since then, J. Spaceman caught pneumonia and spent quite some time at deaths door and this reflects itself in Songs in A&E. It was always meant to be an acoustic companion piece to Amazing Grace and, despite his track record, it has generally turned out that way. And boy was it worth it. At first listen, it migth be off putting to fans from his Spacemen 3 days, so big a departure is it from the neo-psychadelic-gospel-rock we are used to from him. But give it a few listens and the novelty (how many times have you head that word used when describing an acoustic album?) soon wears off and the quality of the record shines through. It is stripped down, it is sweet and gentle, lush, beautiful and delicate and I love it and its growing on me with every listen. 8