Pick of the week
This is Happening
LCD Soundsystem
EMI Music
Rating: 4/5
Much attention has surrounded James Murphy’s change of heart – it is claimed this album is his last.
Despite this, his music, at least, seems to be pitched in a familiar direction. Akin to Grammy nominee Sound of Silver, this latest offering is brimful of colourful dance-punk rhythms, elaborate feel-good backdrops and upbeat narrative.
And the synth lines are as fresh as ever too: check ‘Dance Yrself Clean’ and ‘All I Want’ in particular. Apart from a few tracks (a dubious attempt at minimalism in ‘Somebody’s Calling Me’ being an obvious culprit), the album is an impressive play, rather aptly ended by ‘Home’ – a track encompassing the essence of what is, or perhaps has been, LCD Soundsystem.
–Moneeb Nasir
Bursting with melody; lacks big sound
Infinite Arms
Band of Horses
Columbia
Rating: 3/5
Infinite Arms is a good, solid album; you can take that remark as you wish.
It bursts with strong melodies but lacks the big sound that fans may expect from the band.
It is, however, a remarkably refined album, owing perhaps to the recent change of line-up and label. It kicks off with two killer openers, which somewhat make up for the fact that the rest of the album provides nothing more than a straight-talking pop rock record, albeit a great one.
–Jenny Hamada
The dead, wearing t-shirts and trainers
In Modern History
Jim Moray
Niag Recordings
Rating: 4/5
You’ve got your own problems. You don’t want to hear about someone else’s problems – especially a load of randoms who died three hundred years ago – right?
Well, according to Jim Moray, wrong. Moray attacks the cutting edge of traditional music not with scissors but with power tools.
He brings the stories of yesteryear crashing into modern composition with surprising, affecting and sometimes beautiful results. The music of minstrels dressed in trackie bottoms.
–Tom Moyser
