Archives for July 2011

BBC Album Reviews editor Mike Diver selects his favourites of July 2011.

I know what you're thinking: July hasn't been particularly amazing for new album releases. And you're right. It's been a barren month. So I've chosen only six picks this time, instead of the usual 10. Some good news for albums-buying types, though - the schedule for August is fairly incredible (not to mention wallet-breaking).

My album of the month

The Horrors - Skying

(XL, released 11 July)

Recommended by: Zane Lowe, 6 Music Album of the Day

"There's no fault to be found with Skying - truly, every song here hits its mark, and while The Horrors are evidently a band happy to change its spots from record to record (and steal a few licks, too), only the most ungracious of observers could deny that they've now crafted two of the finest British albums of recent years. Their New Gold Dreams have become brilliantly real."

Read the full review

Watch the official video to Still Life (external YouTube link)

The best of the rest

North Sea Radio Orchestra - I a Moon

(The Household Mark, released 4 July)

Recommended by: Freak Zone, Jarvis Cocker

"The third NSRO album sees Craig and Sharron Fortnam changing tack in subtle but significant ways. The old poets have been sidelined in favour of self-penned lyrics that neatly reflect their very English sense of melody and the female Fortnam's light, sad, pretty, folkie-meets-chorister voice. It is genuinely very beautiful."

Read the full review

Watch a performance/recording of Berliner Luft (external YouTube link)

Zomby - Dedication

(4AD, released 11 July)

Recommended by: Gilles Peterson

"The beauty of Dedication is the way it takes a sound palette familiar to the dancefloor, but uses it to paint an unfamiliar picture. When gunshots ring out on Witch Hunt, a wisp of choral synth and flickering snare, it feels less like a gangsta move and more like a metaphor only its maker understands. He probably won't elaborate. Credit to this fine record that, when you actually listen to it, the need for explanation feels like the last thing on your mind."

Read the full review

Listen to Things Fall Apart on 4AD's official YouTube channel (external link)

Dave I.D. - Response

(!K7, released 18 July)

Recommended by: Nick Grimshaw

"For all the darkness that reaches around these pieces, like a tide washing in around one's feet, leaving them buried in the silt, there's an accessibility that suggests that Dave I.D., should he want to, could follow the path of The xx and create sparsely beautiful works that cross demographics. Look long enough and, you never know, he might just crack a smile at his great achievements here."

Read the full review

Listen to an official stream of SumR on YouTube (external link)

Little Dragon - Ritual Union

(Peacefrog, released 25 July)

Recommended by: Lauren Laverne, Gilles Peterson, 6 Music Album of the Day

"It's an uncompromising consistency, masked by the band's playful imagination and born from an unerring commitment to their art, which makes Ritual Union so rewarding. This band's gradual edging over the precipice of mainstream acceptance has been richly deserved; now, everyone should hear this dragon roar."

Read the full review

(No official video content available)

Japanese Voyeurs - Yolk

(Fiction, released 11 July)

Recommended by: Rock Show with Daniel P Carter

"Their sound has often been labelled grunge, but that's not entirely accurate: there are heavier forces at work here, riffs and ideas from metal bands. But the grunge link is understandable because Japanese Voyeurs also love a good melody, and Yolk is packed with memorable choruses that you'll find yourself singing along to before you realise what you're singing."

Read the full review

Watch the official video for Get Hole (external YouTube link)

If you're feeling like there's not been that many great new albums released in the past few weeks, you're absolutely right: July has been a lean month and no mistake. But the schedule explodes come August, with highly anticipated discs stretching from there until the darkness of winter descends again. Here is a selection of forthcoming long-player platters to keep an ear open for.

Nero - Welcome Reality

Released: 15 August

This dubstep duo from London were on the BBC's Sound of 2011 list at the start of the year, and has enjoyed chart success with their singles Me & You and Guilt. Signed to Chase & Status' MTA Records, the pair will be hoping that their dancefloor hits translate into a debut album to savour.

Watch: the official video for forthcoming single, Promises (external YouTube link)

Previous album: N/A

Wretch 32 - Black and White

Released: 22 August

Another artist to have made this year's Sound of... list, and also tipped by MTV to make waves in 2011, 26-year-old Tottenham rapper Wretch 32 has enjoyed mainstream success with his singles Traktor and Unorthodox, both of which have been top five hits. Black and White is actually his second album, but is certain to reach a far wider audience than his 2008 debut, Wretchrospective.

Watch: the official video for Unorthodox, featuring Example (external YouTube link)

Previous album: Wretchrospective (not reviewed on the BBC)

Other Lives - Tamer Animals

Released: 29 August

Other Lives could well be set to be this year's Fleet Foxes: an indie-folk act from across the Atlantic whose sublime sounds are tailor-made for mainstream audiences. Hailing from Oklahoma, the five-piece's music has already decorated several stateside television shows, ranging from Ugly Betty to Grey's Anatomy. Darlings of the music press before their new collection has landed, expect Other Lives to fill the weirdie-beardie-shaped hole in your collection in the second half of 2011.

Watch: the official video for For 12 (external YouTube link)

Previous album: N/A

Bombay Bicycle Club - A Different Kind of Fix

Released: 29 August

This Crouch End outfit were unlikely stars of 2010 as their second LP, Flaws, racked up the plaudits and broke into the UK top 10. Their third collection hasn't wasted its time in coming together, emerging just 13 months after its predecessor. A Different Kind of Fix will see the four-piece return to their electric roots after the mellowed-out acoustic vibes of Flaws. Will the public be as receptive? We shall see, soon enough.

Watch: the official video for Shuffle (external YouTube link)

Previous album: Flaws (review)

Lil Wayne - Tha Carter IV

Released: 29 August

The release date of this set has moved around more times than hands and feet in a game of Twister, but it now looks like the final Monday of August will bear witness to the long-awaited follow-up to Lil Wayne's globe-conquering Tha Carter III, released in 2008. Said set sold over a million copies in its first week of release in the US alone, and combined amazing commercial success with a phenomenal critical reception. The rapper's albums since - misjudged rock LP Rebirth and the mixed-bag affair of I Am Not a Human Being, both released in 2010 - haven't matched the brilliance of Tha Carter III, so the pressure is on for Lil Wayne to deliver an overdue classic. Has a prison spell dulled his edge? Don't bet on it.

Watch: the official video to 6 Foot 7 Foot (external YouTube link, features content and language which may offend)

Previous album: Rebirth (review)



Red Hot Chili Peppers - I'm With You

Released: 29 August

Studio album number 10 from the funk-rock veterans sees guitarist John Frusciante replaced by new member Josh Klinghoffer, and the band's double-disc monstrosity of 2006, Stadium Arcadium, forgotten for a leaner 14-track collection. Lead single The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie might have a curious title, but it's purely Peppers-by-numbers stuff. Not that their millions of fans around the world will mind, as any return to the mass-appeal sounds of their By the Way LP will be welcomed.

Watch: N/A

Previous album: Stadium Arcadium (review)

DJ Shadow - Less You Know, the Better

Released: 5 September

In the year that his highly influential (and frankly unprecedented) debut Endtroducing... celebrates its 15th anniversary, Californian samples-and-beats master DJ Shadow finally releases his fourth long-play set. Arriving five years after the too-many-cooks misstep of The Outsider, Shadow fans will be hoping for something a little more in keeping with the ambitious instrumental hip hop that made the man's name.

Watch: N/A

Previous album: The Outsider (not reviewed on the BBC)

St Vincent - Strange Mercy

Released: 12 September

St Vincent is Annie Clark, a Dallas-born artist who has been involved in both the Polyphonic Spree and as part of Sufjan Stevens' touring band. Her two solo LPs to date, 2007's Marry Me and 2009's Actor, were both met by great critical acclaim, and this third set could be the one to take a truly alluring talent into the mainstream. It's about time.

Watch: teasers for Strange Mercy on 4AD's official YouTube channel (external link)

Previous album: Actor (review)

Laura Marling - A Creature I Don't Know

Released: 12 September

Brit-winner and Mercury Prize-nominee (twice) Laura Marling has gone from indie-folk outsider to a seriously hot commercial property in the past 18 months or so. Her previous album, I Speak Because I Can, is certified gold in the UK, and all concerned will be expecting this third collection to fare better still. Initially announced for a 2010 release, this album has seen its release date moved almost as many times as Lil Wayne's new disc - but it's unlikely anybody's going to mix the two up on the high street.

Watch: a video preview of A Creature I Don't Know (external YouTube link)

Previous album: I Speak Because I Can (review)

Kasabian - Velociraptor!

Released: 19 September

Britain's biggest band - so says their PR blurb - have again worked with Dan the Automator, who manned the mixing desk for their previous LP, 2009's psychedelia-meets-stadium-rock effort West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum. If the sound of their fourth disc's lead track, Switchblade Smiles, is anything to go on though, this is going to be a rather more adventurous affair, the Leicestershire four-piece embracing electro alongside a smattering of classic rock references (and a smidge of mariachi sonics, no?). Reportedly heavily influenced by hip hop, too, Velociraptor! could well be the set to make this band's doubters of the past eat their dismissive words.

Watch: the official video for Switchblade Smiles (external YouTube link, contains flashing images)

Previous album: West Rider Pauper Lunatic Asylum (review)

Ed Sheeran - +

Released: 12 September

Britain's brightest new pop talent - and not just because of his hair ("best ginger ever" reads one YouTube comment) - Ed Sheeran's already tasted success as his debut single for the Atlantic label, The A Team, reached number three on the domestic chart in May. His flexibility is quite remarkable, able to switch from almost-folk acoustic fare to gritty grime lyricism, and + seems sure to be the first entry in a catalogue of compelling long-players.

Watch: the official video for The A Team (external YouTube link)

Previous album: N/A

Björk - Biophilia

Released: 26 September

More than just an album, Björk's Biophilia is a multi-platform, multi-media project which will be released as a series of apps, as well as on conventional formats. She premiered material from this collection at the Manchester International Festival earlier this year, to great acclaim. Its lead single, Crystalline, recalls classic electro-organic Björk, albeit with a fantastic jungle breakdown at the track's close. There's no other artist like her, and this album is sure to be one of a kind in 2011.

Watch: the Biophilia app intro, as narrated by David Attenborough (external YouTube link; the video to Crystalline will be online on 26 July)

Previous album: Volta (review)

Nicola Roberts - Cinderella's Eyes

Released: 26 September

Cheryl Cole aside, no member of Girls Aloud has really made an impression in a solo guise - and even Cole's hold on the charts has loosened of late. But Nicola Roberts could well deliver the best GA-alumni album yet with Cinderella's Eyes, a collection that's been shaped by contributors including Metronomy's Joseph Mount and Frenchman Dimitri Tikovoi (whose credits include The Horrors and Goldfrapp). On duty for this set's lead single, Beat of My Drum, is feted Philly producer Diplo, and the results are expectedly upbeat, twitchy and percussion-savvy. Holy Moly called the track "a barnstorming British pop moment", and the Guardian named it one of 2011's best singles. A few more like it and Cinderella's Eyes will be an album that even the biggest indie snob will find impossible to ignore.

Watch: the official video for Beat of My Drum (external YouTube link)

Previous album: N/A

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

Released: 17 October

The self-titled debut from Noel's new project is, inevitably, one of quarter-four's most-anticipated releases. Recorded in London and Los Angeles, the 10-track set features material that might have one day made the Oasis cut, had the brothers Gallagher not fallen out with each other so dramatically. Can Noel trump Liam's Beady Eye and deliver the better of the two post-Oasis projects? As he was the creative heart of the Britpop legends, it's certainly a possibility. Interestingly, Noel has also mentioned that he's a second album on the horizon, too, which is a "far out" collaboration with experimental electro duo Amorphous Androgynous. Double the bang for your buck...

Watch: the High Flying Birds press conference from 6 July (external YouTube link, contains language which may offend)

Previous album: N/A

Drake - Take Care

Released: 24 October

Drake's Thank Me Later was my favourite album of 2010, and the Canadian rapper's down-tempo debut certainly wasn't short of fans come the best-of rounds at the end of last year. With production talent including Kanye West, Q-Tip, The Neptunes and Dr Dre involved in the making of this second collection, it's certain to be a very big deal indeed. While new songs have surfaced in 2011, Drake is yet to confirm the tracklisting for Take Care. Bated... breath...

Watch: the official video for Marvin's Room (external YouTube link, contains language which may offend)

Previous album: Thank Me Later (review)

So the shortlisted albums for the 2011 Mercury Prize are confirmed, and what a lovely spread they make. Personally, I am really pleased to see albums by Ghostpoet and Metronomy in there - both are uniquely British collections, packed full of character and containing a raft of memorable songs. But everyone has their own favourites, of course - and if you need a little steering, or just want to be introduced to an artist for the first time, follow the links below to read about all of the nominated records and listen to previews.

Adele - 21

Anna Calvi - Anna Calvi

James Blake - James Blake

Elbow - Build a Rocket Boys!

Everything Everything - Man Alive

Ghostpoet - Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam

PJ Harvey - Let England Shake

Katy B - On a Mission

King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Diamond Mine

Metronomy - The English Riviera

Gwilym Simcock - Good Days at Schloss Elmau

Tinie Tempah - Disc-Overy

Listen to the nominations as they happened on Lauren Laverne's 6 Music show. For more Mercury Prize content, head to the 6 Music homepage.

BBC Album Reviews Editor Mike Diver selects his top 10 records released in June 2011.

It's been another month of very high standard, so finalising a top 10 has been difficult. Some of these came quickly - Bon Iver's latest is incredible, likewise current sets from The Antlers and Destroyer. Others fought for their spot, seeing off some impressive competition from the likes of Devon Sproule, Silkie, Foster the People, Battles, Atmosphere and Brontide (not to mention chart-conquering collections from Beyoncé and Arctic Monkeys). But, once the dust settled, this is what I was left with...

(Note that I do not include reissues here, but expanded releases from Marvin Gaye and Suede are among the month's best 'new' old albums.)

My Album of the Month

"There can be no doubt that certain critics will have come to this album expecting it to fall short of the precedent set by its predecessor. That it doesn't, and actually far surpasses the still-echoing resonance of that debut set, is indicative of its standing as one of 2011's most absorbing, affecting and downright brilliant LPs. It just goes to show that there's really only one act capable of 'doing a Bon Iver'."

Read the full review

Watch the video to Calgary on YouTube (external link)

The Best of the Rest

"This album is paced like a perfect DJ set - it reads the listener with incredible insight, combining the immediate and familiar with intense passages of warm-up, breaking to allow for moments of blank space and reflection. The mix of shiny vocals with tight, accelerated textures is steeped deep in a glorious combination of two-step, UK funky, dubstep, US RnB and Chicago house."

Read the full review

Watch the video to Wildfire on YouTube (external link, contains scenes which may upset)

"The Antlers' 2009 album Hospice was one of those niche successes. The sort that has the blogs purring, the odd clued-up broadsheet too, but doesn't quite stretch beyond the word-of-mouth glass ceiling. For Burst Apart, the New York trio have made their sound a little fuller - in the sense that an aircraft hangar's fuller if you throw in a sofa. No surprises then, just a collection of mesmeric, epic stillness."

Read the full review

(No official video available.)

"The effect Shabazz Palaces have on the listener can sometimes be bewildering - Youlogy, for instance, sounds like two Edan tracks playing simultaneously. When it works, though, this is an insidiously funky listen. Two highlights come at the end: the penultimate Yeah You rides a beat soaked in saturation and echo, while Swerve... concludes the record on a sussed, lyrical note. Hip hop on Sub Pop? Frankly, it's hard to know why they didn't think of it before."

Read the full review

Listen to Swerve... on Sub Pop's YouTube channel (external link, contains language which may offend)

"If there's a case to be made for formulating something serious out of classic pop and old-time hokum, Gillian Welch and her songwriting partner David Rawlings make it as well as anybody. So while just a bit of drums and bass would probably have broadened the record's appeal, we must give thanks for this stubborn duo's independence of mind. After all, it's the quiet ones that get you in the end."

Read the full review

(No official video available)

"100% Publishing is a clever balancing act that allows the casual listeners in and retains them with riffs and tunes you can't ignore, but makes sure it's insubordinate enough to keep the regulars happy. Most importantly, though, once again Wiley has kept grime moving forwards with some truly audacious sounds."

Read the full review

(external link)

"Over the space of five albums, Wolf has confirmed himself as one of the UK's genuinely interesting pop stars. Lupercalia manages to walk the fine line between upbeat and irritating, between unabashed happiness and over-sentimentality. The fabric of the songs seems imbued with joy, and it's testament to the quality of the songwriting that you don't feel alienated by what are incredibly personal lyrics. It's an all-inclusive love in, basically, and all the better for it."

Read the full review

Watch the video to House on YouTube (external link)

"The spectre of occult Scottish pranksters Boards of Canada casts a shadow over Com Truise's compositions. It's not the only string on his bow: he's a dab hand at deep, Vangelis-style beatless blowouts, such as opening track Terminal. He's not attempting anything revolutionary on Galactic Melt, but he demonstrates a sight more depth than a lot of stuff that's been tagged as chillwave."

Read the full review

Listen to Brokendate on Ghostly's YouTube channel (external link)

"Sam Baker's Album operates within recognisable Brainfeeder territory: instrumental tracks with sound so compressed you feel like you just got off a long-haul flight without performing the Valsalva manoeuvre; unquantized, misshapen beats. But within these familiar parameters Baker successfully applies his creativity, making funk-derived sample-based hip hop sound fresh."

Read the full review

(No official video available)

"This album is as much as about atmosphere as hit singles, as the strident guitar line of the conversational Song for America proves. Few tracks clock in below five minutes, while the closer, Bay of Pigs, a come-down hymn which makes a case that the second summer of love never ended, registers in at many more, yet wastes not a second. Kaputt is a genuine classic, unlike anything any other artist will release in 2011."

Read the full review

Watch the video to Kaputt on YouTube (external link)