Albums
The Fiery Furnaces - Widow City (Thrill Jockey)
Chicago’s brother-sister outfit The Fiery Furnaces may have arrived on a wave of excitement and hype with their accessible 2003 debut, Gallowsbird’s Bark, but since then they’ve seemed hell-bent on constantly challenging the many fans that album won them by prolifically releasing music that laughs in the face of normality and approachability.
Clinic - Funf (Domino)
A collection of odds and sods and B-sides from a band whose odds and sods and B-sides are actually worth hearing.
Frank Black - 93-03 (Cooking Vinyl)
So, the solo work is not as good as the Pixies material, but here’s proof that Daddy Frank is only poor when compared to himself.
Jennifer Gentle - The Midnight Room (Sub Pop)
Truly eccentric fare from a once band that sounds like it ought to be woman but is now just an Italian man called Marco. I know, scary.
Blanche - Little Amber Bottles (Loose)
The length of time it’s taken for the second album from Detroit’s Blanche to arrive suggested they were struggling.
Elvis Perkins - Ash Wednesday (Beggars)
Impossible for Elvis Perkins to avoid taking on the tragic circumstances of his life - his dad, actor Anthony (Norman Bates in Psycho), died of AIDS in 1992, and his mum was a passenger in one of the 9/11 planes - and so he doesn’t.
Beastie Boys - The Mix-Up (Capitol)
It starts with an instrumental track and you’re thinking, ‘Okay, reasonable intro, but let’s get on with it,’ then you eventually realise ALL of this album is sans-rhymes and comprised entirely of songs the boys are playing themselves.
Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist (Warner)
A crushing disappointment. In fact, about as bad as it could be, because not only is this over earnest and bombastic, it’s dull.
