Albums
Patti Smith - Twelve (Columbia)
Awful name for a (covers) record that has twelve songs on it, and the music’s just as boring.
Detroit Cobras - Tied & True (Rough Trade)
Almost exactly the same as their previous albums and that’s a relief: consistency and reliability are everything if you do what the Detroit Cobras do – re-cut lost R&B and soul tracks in a punk rock style.
Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare (Domino)
‘Brianstorm’, the pounding first single from the Arctic Monkeys’ second album, is a giant “Fuck you!” to all those people who thought the far gentler and very ordinary ‘Mardy Bum’, which was never released as a single, was the best song on their debut.
Farryl Purkiss - Farryl Purkiss (Sheer/2Feet)
Talented singer/songwriters are popping up all over the shop. Some may crack it big, others might not survive beyond their first album.
Figurines - Skeleton (Strange Feeling)
Denmark hardly ever produces good bands but, stone the crows, here’s a great one.
Lady Sovereign - Public Warning (Def Jam)
It’s not hard to work out why wee Lady Sov is the one who broke out from London’s pirate radio scene and ended up blinging it with Jay-Z: she’s got both rhyming skills and real personality.
Pop Levi - The Return To Form Black Magick Party (Counter)
Levi re-arranges everything from classic R&B, Spector-like sixties pop, Mersey Beat, psychedelic folk, and glam rock into a sparkling and mutant form of modern soul.
Indigo Moss - Indigo Moss (Butterfly)
“What gave you the right to call me a sinner / What gave you the right to call me at all.” Class line from class debut.
