February 2013: Albums Summary

Another month, another hefty batch of new music blessed upon to us. For the shortest month of the year, February this year has been jam packed with new albums, some good, some disappointingly fulfilling. Here's our monthly round up of all the releases we covered, and our verdicts on the best and worst of the rest:

Reviewed

The Joy Formidable - Wolf's Law (6/10)

Unknown Mortal Orchestra - II (7/10)

Frightened Rabbit - Pedestrian Verse (8/10)

Veronica Falls - Waiting For Something To Happen (8/10)
Beach Fossils - Clash The Truth (7/10)
Mazes - Ores & Minerals (7/10)

Atoms For Peace - AMOK (6/10)

Johnny Marr - The Messenger (7/10)
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Push The Sky Away (7/10)

Album Of The Month

My Bloody Valentine - m b v (9/10)

"There’s something for everyone to take away from m b v. Loveless fans, those hoping for more in the direction of ‘City Girl’ and people who’ve been to see MBV live and wanted a recording that even attempted to rival the shattering noise of their shows. Kevin Shields mentioned in an interview that when Loveless came out, it fitted in with journalists’ usage of flowery language and this time around, it’s not going to be any different. My Bloody Valentine have still yet to disappoint." Aurora Mitchell

The Rest

Eels - Wonderful, Glorious (8/10)

10 albums in and ‘Wonderful, Glorious’ sees Eels arrest a late period slump with their best record since 2005 and arguably their most focused since 1998’s ‘Electro-Shock Blues’. Out go the songs about suicide bombers and endless bluesy choogling and in comes a sense of wide-eyed wonder as E discovers that maybe he’s found his place in the world. His songwriting is sharper, punchier and wittier than he’s been in years; taking in twangy Duane Eddy guitar on ‘Bombs Away’ and no shortage of the catchy, entertaining arrangements he’s perfected over the course of two decades over triumph and heartbreak. Playing sad songs with happy chords has always been his raison d’etre but ‘Wonderful, Glorious’ managed to be both a life-affirming triumph and a reminder that we’ll always need a man like E around. Max Sefton

Darwin Deez - Songs For Imaginative People (7/10)

Many people have dismissed Darwin Deez somewhat unfairly, as a gimmick. A kind of comedy hipster prototype who does little else than add some twee sensibilities to the fabled indie music legacy of his homeplace NYC. It's fair to say, Darwin's second album crushes all those murmurs, even with the opening line of the self-conscious (800) Human as he spits "Are you sick of not existing?". There's plenty of moments of impeccable songwriting throughout the record, with the carefree Pavement-esque "life is a greenhouse gas" bounce of Free (The Editorial Me), and the more thoughtful tracks like All In The Wrist, a story about teaching a prison inmate to read. It's not necessarily as danceable or accessible as his debut, but Darwin Deez is clearly an imaginative man writing great songs for imaginative people. Toby McCarron

Iceage - You're Nothing (5/10)

As statements of intent go, Danish punks Iceage's debut album New Brigade was a pretty explosive one. Ruthless, nihilistic and youthfully exuberant, it was crammed with energy and rebelliousness, shrugging off fractured limbs as by products on Broken Bone and spitting unabashed hatrid into the face of order elsewhere. Now streamlined soundwise, Iceage sound regretful and defeated. The sheer waywardness of the debut has been replaced by self-loathing and angst in a way that's more confusing than exciting as lead singer Elias strops his way through sloppily played out numbers with an air of hopelessness in his voice. There are moments of promise with lead single Ecstasy's off kilter approach, but You're Nothing does not deliver the venom it promised. Toby McCarron

Jamie Lidell - Jamie Lidell (7/10)

Jamie Lidell's self titled effort for Warp is a joyous 'will it blend?' type experience. Merging his soulful and often impressive vocals, with deep lying electro grooves and elements of straight-up disco, he comes across as a modernised Prince like figure. There are moments however, where the pure unabashed pop can be cringe-enducing or even contrived, but the big bombastic danceable songs like 'You Naked' and 'What A Shame' are catchy enough to lift up any album. Toby McCarron

Foals - Holy Fire (4/10)

A divisive record this, and one that sees Foals have a bit of an identity crisis. On one hand it's clear they still want to be a clever uplifting indie band who are perpetually on the grasp  of stadium wide adoration with neat guitar lines and catchy hooks as displayed so expertly on their debut album 'Antidotes'. And from the two singles dropped from Holy Fire, 'Inhaler' a big dumb nu-metal like beast of a track, and 'My Number' a naive catchy as hell indie pop banger, it looked like Foals might finally be ready to have some fun and stop taking themselves too seriously. But unfortunately, Holy Fire just comes across largely as a watered down version of Foals' second record 'Total Life Forever'. Where that album had meaning and profound themes of love, death and the future, Holy Fire just sounds a bit weak. Tracks like 'Bad Habit', 'Out Of The Woods' and 'Stepson' are bland and unmemorable largely due to the deliberate air of hopelessness Foals try to intersperse around the record. An interesting idea, to base an album on the concept of giving in and folding over, but not very exciting to listen to and winds up more Holy Dire than Holy Fire. Toby McCarron

Giraffage - Needs (7/10)

An often overshadowed figure in modern electronic music, is San Francisco based producer Giraffage who dropped his second mixtape 'Needs' this February. An eclectic mix of sounds beckons, with sequenced samples dizzyingly flying up and down and off the walls. Stuttering beats, and some rather sleek slow jams set Giraffage up as a contender to the crown of best new electronic producer along with contemporaries XXYYXX and Bondax. Also, good luck getting the infectious 'Money' out of your head. Toby McCarron

The Courteeners - Anna (1/10)

The less said about this the better...

Get Loaded in the Park - 11/06/11

Despite the heavy showers attempting to turn Clapham Common into the Glastonbury site, the festival carried on with few interruptions. Although the sound was marred by the council limits, the spirit of the annual celebration of all things alternative lived on and triumphed over the adversarial weather. The weather encouraged more punters to buy the incredulously expensive alcohol and brought a hazier atmosphere to the park. There were no fashion statements to be made as waterproofs and wellies started off the festival season early but of course, there were the exceptions in girls who braved bare legs.


Get Loaded started off leisurely with a short set from New Zealand's finest avant garde indie jazz pioneer Connan Mockasin who was subject to sound issues due to receiving the first slot of the day. Nevertheless, Connan persevered with his live band, strumming out his unique brand of disjointed psychedelic pop. However, his almost childlike falsetto voice didn't come across strongly with the crowd as he ploughed through tracks from his album 'Forever Dolphin Love'. Despite not having widespread appeal, there is a certain charm to Connan's set which both enthrals and perplexes. Next on was Darwin Deez, Brooklyn's chirpiest self confessed hipster, bringing London the usual wacky dance routines and even a 3 minute rap performed by Darwin himself, channelling his inner most gangster. Although over enthusiastic guitarist Cole left the band, the Deez's new live guitarist brings even trippier dance moves to the live quartet.


The next change over sees annoying twee at its best with Los Campesinos! who stumble through essentially what would be classed as their greatest hits set. Gareth Campesinos! wails belligerently to cater for the diehard teenage girl fanclub who hang on to his every word and chant them back almost religiously. It's clear that Los Campesinos!' festival performances are arduous for those unfamiliar with their niche brand of twee pop. 

Born and bred in Wandsworth, Patrick Wolf considered this appearance as a homecoming, citing his former labour, making sandwiches in Clapham where he was fired from his job after a day. However, the performance displays a vast contrast from these days, Patrick now displays the kind of exuberance one can only get from a love of his career. Patrick Wolf stands out above the rest of the acts thus far, charming the audience with his energetic nature and showing that you can put on a show regardless of weather conditions. He closes with new album Lupercalia's lead single 'The City', providing an anthemic bombast to the otherwise folky proceedings of his back catalogue, with a giant 80s chorus that would make Hurts tremble in their suits.

Over at the rammed Gigwise tent (due to the rain), O. Children capitalise on the additional spectators. Tobi O'Kandi bellows his trademark baritone over tried and tested Joy Division reminiscent goth pop. Although the sound is slightly scuzzy, tunes such as 'Dead Disco Dancer' and 'Ruins' permeate more deeply than some other Joy Division imitation bands (I.e. Editors). Afterwards, French pop's most recent export Yelle has landed in the UK with sparkly disco pop aplenty  in the same vein of 2009's Little Boots. The live band arrive on stage in safari attire, resemblant of the cover to her recent album 'Safari Disco Club'. Yelle herself looking like the abominable snowman with a weighty disguise used for her intro. She rapidly whips off her costume to reveal a red catsuit and began more lively proceedings. Despite the language barrier, she commanded the London crowd, shrieking 'Dance London' and 'Show me some love!'. The crowd responded obediently, losing their minds to the distinctly French electro pop. Imagine Justice with Marina Diamandis singing in French.

Last but not least, distinct Sheffield duo Slow Club take to the Last.fm stage and commence with a new acoustic song. They proceed with the slower songs from 'Yeah So', their debut album, plus new single 'Two Cousins' which is now available to download from their website (www.slowclubband.com). Nevertheless, the amount of people sheltering from the rain and mindlessly talking during the slower songs took away from the potency of Slow Club's live performance and disrupting what would otherwise be a flawless set or indie-folk loveliness. 

By Toby McCarron and Aurora Mitchell