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combination as they inject some cardboardy beats and fizzy bass under down-a-well- spidery guitar lines and floaty intonations. Warm and comforting, but somehow distant, xx unfolds into an understated beauty. (Mark Robertson) INDIE MODEST MOUSE No One’s First, and You’re Next (Columbia) ●●●●●
Yeah, yeah so an eight- track EP should technically get lumped in with the singles but eight tracks of Mr Isaac Brock’s genius is worth 100 of our lousy words so that’s what you’re getting. Culled from a bunch of limited singles from the last few years this stinks of pure stopgap to accompany their imminent US tour, but we can catch up on a clutch of rare rambles from Brock. Part drunk at the pulpit, part soothsayer pirate, part Mick Jagger karaoke singer, Modest Mouse make something wholly conventional sound odd, beautiful and unpredictable, mostly due to Brock’s unique bark of a singing voice. So quit scouring eBay for those long lost MM 7”ers and pick up this disc. It’s got a song called ‘Guilty Cocker Spaniel’ on it ferchrissakes. (Mark Robertson) ALT.COUNTRY RICHMOND FONTAINE We Used to Think the Freeway Sounded Like a River (Decor Records) ●●●●●
After a year’s sabbatical to recuperate from the
sudden death of his mother, Oregon-based, singer-songwriter/ storyteller Willy Vlautin, and his Richmond Fontaine band (DON’T file under F) return with their eighth studio album.
Right up there with
their finest works (Post to Wire and Thirteen Cities), the JD Foster- produced We Used to Think is a sombre, introspective record likely to appeal to Calexico, Wilco or Replacements fans.
Vlautin’s third person tales of disenchanted everyday people come no better than ‘The Boyfriends’, ‘Lonnie’ and ‘You Can Move Back Here’. (Martin C Strong)
ROCK JULIAN PLENTI Julian Plenti . . . is Skyscraper (Matador) ●●●●●
It’s not always surprising when a guitarist or keyboard player unveils solo desires, but when the frontman of a band steps up, it seems a bit weird. Now, as Julian ‘Strokes’ Casablancas attempts to convince us that he really is the brains behind his outfit, we get this from Julian Plenti – aka Paul Banks from Interpol.
This album enjoys much of the same motorik, metronomic vibe that makes his day job so entrancing, but this is more playful, like if his band of New Yorkers got a Snow Patrol makeover, swapping moments of melodic ambition for the brooding menace. Much of his music here is still bathed in that familiar melancholy, but the chiming acoustics and quivering strings on ‘Skyscraper’ suggests film score before moshpit and ‘Games for Days’ lets rip like Interpol never have – and prove this is more than just a detour. (Mark Robertson)
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process, and is an increasingly fluent and inventive improviser. Both his fiery, highly energised playing and his maturing writing style are amply showcased in seven new compositions featured here, augmented by trumpeter Ryan Quigley’s poignant ballad, ‘The One’. As well as Quigley, an excellent band also features both Paul Harrison and Steve Hamilton on piano or Fender Rhodes, Mike Walker’s imaginative guitar work, and the propulsive drumming of Alyn Cosker, with Mark Hodgson on bass. Available from www.paultowndrow.com (Kenny Mathieson)
ELECTRO POP THE XX xx (Young Turks) ●●●●●
How many times have we heard the maxim ‘less is more’ rolled out for someone new just because they resist knocking everything up to 11? Too often, perhaps, but this bewitching debut starts barely there, and doesn’t get much more full on than that. A quartet of sheepish over-achievers from the same southwest London comprehensive school that gave us Burial, Hot Chip and Kieren Hebden, they share a singular musical view with their alumni: moments of discordant, detached dissonance, but ultimately still lovestruck by pop. Although a mix of Folk Implosion, Everything But the Girl and Geir Jensen’s eco ambience is not something you’d expect to ever hear it’s a truly winning
REGGAE VARIOUS Reggae Chartbusters Volumes One-Six (Trojan/Universal) ●●●●●
With its origins in New Orleans R&B (through tinny transistors broadcast from the US), reggae music took hold in Jamaica in the early 60s, evolving from its up tempo, ska-beat cousin. While today, it is something of a specialist genre – which appears in the Top 40 only when indulged in by contemporary R&B, soul and hip hop artists, – there was a time when reggae was as prolific and powerful a force as any pop music around. These compilations snatch a look before during and after these halcyon days. Split into six budget volumes (and sold individually), Reggae
Chartbusters, gathers together an array of classic UK hits like Jimmy Cliff’s ‘Wonderful World, Beautiful People’, Desmond Dekker’s ‘Israelites’ and Tony Tribe’s rendition of ‘Red Red Wine’. Lest we forget lesser-known beauts like ‘Liquidator’, ‘Return of Django’ and ‘Skinhead Moonstomp’, perfect for some strictly come mod-dancing.
Volume two follows the same pattern: ‘You Can Get It If You Really Want’, ‘Montego Bay’, ‘Love of the Common People’, ‘Young, Gifted And Black’ and ‘Rivers of Babylon’, all subsequent reggae to pop standards, while any purist would choose The Maytals’ two-some (‘Monkey Man’ & ‘54-46 Was My Number’) over the lot there’s still much to commend this disc.
From the early 70s, volume three comprises two tracks each from The
Pioneers, Greyhound, Bruce Ruffin and the magnificent Dave & Ansil Collins (including their chart-toppers ‘Double Barrel’ & ‘Monkey Spanner’); ‘Johnny Too Bad’, ‘Starvation’ and ‘Cherry Oh Baby’ will be more familiar to UB40 fans. Volumes four and five follow reggae through a transitional period in the
mid-70s when the likes of John Holt, Ken Boothe and Dennis Brown hit paydirt with that most swoonsome of reggae offshoots: lovers rock. Ploughing through the whole 119 tracks here at once might seem a something of a chore, albeit a fascinating one, but really these collections are best served up at parties . . . lots of ’em. (Martin C Strong)
GRIME VARIOUS Fabric Live 47: Toddla T (Fabric) ●●●●●
For those of you who slept on this young scamp’s debut from May this year, Skanky Skanky, here’s a summation of his loves and passions in one fast and furious mix for the ever reliable Fabric stable.
He sets his stall out with a track that speaks volumes about the man
on the decks: Philly’s cover of the Human League’s ‘Love Action’, which throws a drilling raga shuffle underneath some sultry harmonies, mixing up the musical patron saints of his hometown with the urban digitalism of this band and subsequent natives. Roots Manuva gets religious on ‘Amen’ and Andy George’s refit of Toddla’s own ‘Madbadman’ are just a pair of early highlights here, the mix geting more shouty and thumping with each tune. And that’s a good thing. Points awarded for resisting any real novelty items but take ‘em off again for lack of any other real surprises. (Mark Robertson)
JAZZ PAUL TOWNDROW Newology (Keywork Records) ●●●●● Scottish saxophonist Paul Towndrow’s fourth album is his strongest yet – and he managed to get through recording it without the storm-induced power cut that afflicted its predecessor. The opening track, ‘Heroes in Transit’, is a tribute to the great jazz saxophonists, and the alto saxophonist has clearly absorbed influences ranging from Charlie Parker through to Ornette Coleman and beyond. He has developed his own signature in the