With such a wealth of releases behind him, it’s hardly surprising that Joker’s music escapes easy characterisation. Keen to avoid generic formalism, he has even publically distanced himself from being labelled  as just dubstep. It’s understandable, since his music runs deep with R&B, funk and soul influences combining with his trademark pounding bass wobbles and ascending crystalline synths. Also apparent is an affection for computer games; no more evident than on the Sega throwdown album track ‘Level 6 (Interlude)’.

Old fans will be pleased to know that trademark instrumentals are there in abundance, from the Vangelis inspired album opener (‘Intro’) to established classics ‘Tron’ and ‘My Trance Girl’, which showcase the muscular synths and sharp drum snaps for which he has become renowned to the warmth of the heady height of summer album closer, ‘The Magic Causeway’, performed with Ginz. These are complimented by a number of startling vocal collaborations that also show just how far his sound has come; with inspired contributions from fellow rising stars like Jessie Ware on the Radio 1 playlisted ‘The Vision (Let Me Breathe)’, Jay Wilcox on ‘Electric Sea’ and Silas from Turboweekend and William Cartwright on forthcoming singles, ‘Here Come The Lights’ and ‘On My Mind’. He also found the time to round up Buggsy, Shadz, Scarz and Double (KHK-SP) to record ‘Back In The Days’, the definitive Bristol track he’s been promising to make.

TRACK LISTING

1. Intro
2. Here Come The Lights (Feat. Silas)
3. Tron
4. The Vision (Breathe In) (Feat. Jessie Ware)
5. Milky Way
6. Level 6 (Interlude)
7. My Trance Girl
8. Lost (Feat. Buggsy And Otis Brown)
9. On My Mind (Feat. William Cartwright)
10. Back In The Days (Feat. Buggsy, Shadz, Scarz, Double)
11. Electric Sea (Feat. Jay Wilcox)
12. The Magic Causeway (Joker & Ginz - Outro)

St. Vincent, the nom-de-stage of Annie Clark, releases the new album, ‘Strange Mercy’. Having worked together on 2009’s ‘Actor’, Clark reunited with producer John Congleton and recorded the album in her hometown of Dallas, TX at Elmwood Studios.

The eleven new tracks showcase Clark’s gift for fusing the cerebral and the visceral, her melodically elegant arrangements packing hefty emotional punches.

Clark’s virtuosity has been long recognised, and ‘Strange Mercy’ finds St. Vincent redefining the idea of the guitar hero, utilising the instrument as a pointillist artist might wield a brush. Countless judiciously placed riffs and instrumental flares, each distinct and unique, cohere into grand tableaus. On ‘Cruel’, she elicits punchy bursts like an R&B horn section. ‘Cheerleader’ froths and boils, with deep and fuzzy guitars bubbling up to the surface, while ‘Surgeon’ twirls about endlessly, Clark’s vocals dancing amid a blizzard of notes.

‘Strange Mercy’ isn’t an entirely solitary affair either, with Clark joined by a host of other musicians. Included among them are Grammy Award winning Bobby Sparks on mini Moog, clavinet, Arp and Wurlitzer, Midlake’s MacKenzie Smith on drums and Daniel Hart on violin. Also contributing were Beck keyboardist and musical director Brian LeBarton, Evan Smith on woodwinds and Phil Palazzolo.

Among discerning listeners, anticipation for new Zomby material is now high but outside of him teasing fans with a few out-takes via the internet, there hasn't been much to go by in recent times. That was until the end of last year when hauntingly beautiful new track 'Natalia's Song' appeared unannounced in a Burial and Kode9 mix for Radio 1. Catching people off-guard, it served to pour fuel on the fire and leave all anticipating what was to follow. Having signed a worldwide deal with 4AD, that wait is over. ‘Natalia’s Song’ has being afforded a proper release as a single and is also included on this, his second album, 'Dedication'. A wholly different record to its predecessor, Zomby returns from his hiatus with typical style. It is both a dark and absorbing listen that engulfs the listener, running between sparse electronics, techno hooks and minimal piano riffs. Making up for lost time, 'Dedication' continues to put Zomby at a distance from his peers. By the time they’ve caught up, he’ll no doubt be somewhere else entirely.

When Justin Vernon emerged from the wilds of Wisconsin in 2008 with his Bon Iver project, and the startling debut album 'For Emma, Forever Ago', perhaps none of us quite realised the magnitude of this unique talent. Not only did he capture hearts across the globe, but 'For Emma' also attained beyond gold sales in the UK, and the follow up EP ‘Blood Bank’ debuted at #14 on the Billboard Top 200 and the Top 40 UK in 2009. In the intervening months and years, Vernon has collaborated non-stop on entirely new projects in varying genres with Gayngs’ sassy innovation on the Relayted album, and Volcano Choir, a freeform adventure with fellow Wisconsin musicians Collections of Colonies of Bees on the album Unmap. He also duetted with St Vincent, appearing on the Twilight: New Moon soundtrack, while Peter Gabriel recorded a cover of Bon Iver’s ‘Flume’ and Bon Iver reciprocated with ‘Come Talk To Me’ for a Record Store Day limited edition 7” release.

And then there was the time when Kanye West called up and invited Vernon to pop down to his studio in Hawaii to collaborate on the hip hop auteur’s astoundingly bold opus, 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'. West sampled ‘Woods’ (taken from ‘Blood Bank’) on the track ‘Lost in the World’. Vernon also appeared – alongside Jay-Z, Rick Ross and Nicki Minaj – on ‘Monster’, which proved to be one of the tracks of last year. He also appeared on four other tracks and has since performed live with Kanye on numerous occasions, including the 2011 Coachella Festival.

When it came to recording the follow up to 'For Emma', Justin Vernon headed to his hometown of Eau Claire. Bon Iver was recorded and mixed at April Base Studios, a remodeled veterinarian’s clinic located in rural Fall Creek, Wisconsin. The main recording space is constructed over a defunct indoor pool attached to the clinic.

“It’s an unique space and destination; it’s our home out here,” says Vernon, who purchased the structure with his brother in late 2008 with the sole intention of converting it into his ideal recording studio. “It’s been a wonderful freedom, working in a place we built. It’s also three miles from the house I grew up in, and just ten minutes from the bar where my parents met.”

The creation of 'Bon Iver, Bon Iver' was not solely down to Vernon. On the track ‘Beth/Rest’ and throughout the album, we hear the pedal steel of Greg Leisz (Lucinda Williams, Bill Frisell), the uniquely layered low end of Colin Stetson's (Tom Waits, Arcade Fire) saxophones, the riffing of Mike Lewis' (Happy Apple, Andrew Bird) altos and tenors, and the lush horns of C.J. Camerieri (Rufus Wainwright, Sufjan Stevens). Bon Iver regulars Sean Carey, Mike Noyce and Matt McCaughan contributed vocals, drums and production, Rob Moose (Antony and the Johnsons, The National) helped with arranging and added strings, and fellow members of Volcano Choir, Jim Schoenecker and Tom Wincek provided processing.

It’s all there right away, in the thicker-stringed guitar and military snare of ‘Perth’, and ‘Minnesota, WI.’ Anyone who had a single listen to 'For Emma' will peg Justin Vernon’s vocals immediately, but there is a sturdiness – an insistence – to Bon Iver that allows him to escape the cabin in the woods without burning it to the ground. ‘Holocene’ opens with simple finger-picking. The vocal is regret spun hollow and strung on a wire. Then the snare-beat breaks and drives us forward and up and up….The magical poise and restraint of ‘Michicant’. The vocals in ‘Hinnom, TX’ ease to the muffled depths, while the instrumentation remains sparse and cosmic.

From the tenderised piano and sprouting strings of arguable album highlight ‘Wash’, we arrive at future single ‘Calgary’ – a worship song to everything 'For Emma' mourned. At the point in the final track ‘Beth/Rest’ when Vernon sings, “I ain’t livin’ in the dark no more” it is clear he isn’t dancing in the sunshine, but rather shading toward a new light. It also provides the most ‘Woods’-like moment on the album in terms of singular voice and production.

'Bon Iver, Bon Iver' is Justin Vernon returning to former haunts with a new spirit. The reprises are there – solitude, quietude and hope – but always a rhythm arises, a pulse vivified by gratitude and grace notes, some as bright as a bicycle bell. The winter, the myth, has faded to just that, and this is the new momentary present. From ‘Perth’ to ‘Beth’ we go full circle and reach the summation to a remarkable second album.

TRACK LISTING

1. Perth
2. Minnesota, WI
3. Holocene
4. Towers
5. Michicant
6. Hinnom, TX
7. Wash.
8. Calgary
9. Lisbon, OH
10. Beth/Rest

Gang Gang Dance continue their compelling musical evolution with new album "Eye Contact", the New York based group’s first  full-length release since joining 4AD.

Although together in their current incarnation for a decade, Gang Gang Dance only really came to the public’s attention with the release of the EPs "Hilluah" and "Rawwar" and crucially, 2008’s genre-bending long-player "Saint Dymphna". The latter in particular has come to be regarded as a landmark record in forward thinking pop circles, showcasing the group’s love of improv and experimentation and drawing inspiration from the local New York art community with which the band have close ties. "Saint Dymphna" also served to highlight previously untapped talent from the UK underground with a then unknown Tinchy Stryder providing vocals for the avant-grime track "Princes". A pioneering piece of work, it – coupled with their incendiary high-octane live performances – served to establish Gang Gang Dance as one of the most exciting and innovative acts of their generation.

After a personnel change (Tim DeWit departed shortly after the release of "Saint Dymphna", allowing drummer Jesse Lee to join the band), Gang Gang Dance returned to the studio in 2010 with long-term collaborator Chris Coady (producer of "Saint Dymphna" and "Rawwar", as well as recent releases by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Zola Jesus, Beach House and TV On The Radio) and work began on the group’s fifth album. "Eye Contact" sees the new line-up subtly build upon the melodic aspects of "Saint Dymphna". The album opens with a brief speech, 'I can hear everything. It’s everything time', then segues effortlessly into the audacious eleven-minute slow-burn "Glass Jar". It’s an ambitious beginning yet it is a coherent statement of intent. Elsewhere, "Eye Contact" features a guest appearance from Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip, whose signature vocals take centre stage on the track "Romance Layers".

New to 4AD, Iron And Wine deliver the perfect way to start any year.

It’s been over three years since Iron & Wine released "The Shepherd’s Dog", a collection of songs that Sam (Beam) himself described as an attempt to replicate something in the vein of Tom Waits’ "Swordfishtrombones".

While Waits fans might gasp at such a notion, making the kind of records that had brought much of their early successes would have been all too easy and living up to folks expectations never sounded all that interesting to Sam.

After all, the most fascinating journeys are the ones where you have no idea where you’re headed, and that’s what the experience of making the record turned out to be. In the end, they were rewarded with a warm reception from both fans and critics alike.

"Kiss Each Other Clean" is the next logical step and should have been done sooner had life not got in the way. As is well documented, Sam resides outside of Austin, Texas close to the middle of nowhere where he and his wife tend to a rather large homestead.

As one journalist who visited him once said, “he lives exactly as you hoped he would”. Good for us, sometimes difficult for him.

When possible, recording sessions were taking place over the course of 2010 in Chicago with Brian Deck at the helm again as well as a number of familiar names who pop up to contribute musically.

Not one to rest on laurels, "Kiss Each Other Clean" takes off where "The Shepherd’s Dog" left us with layer upon layer, rhythm upon rhythm and of course some acoustic guitar and whispering vocals for good measure. In a recent interview Sam said that the resulting ten tracks make for a “more focused pop record”, albeit with “straight-up jazz, blues and African elements” experimentally thrown in.

If we are to believe Sam on his earlier Waits-ian comparison then it’s safe to say that "Kiss Each Other Clean" could be the second phase in his own trilogy a la "Rain Dogs". One thing is certain, he’s yet to show any sign of letting up.

The album opens with the slow drums and mournful vocals of “Terrible Love” but from the start there’s a simmering intensity that builds and eventually explodes into crashing cymbals, pummelling drums, distorted guitars and layered vocals. A dramatic entrance to The National’s fifth album. But it’s not all this heavy, as with their previous releases it’s an album of mood swings. Where “Terrible Love” was explosive, second track “Sorrow” is mournful and melodic.
And while the album changes mood and tempo, at times warm and intimate at others dramatic, propelled by off beat drum rhythms, there’s always a palpable intensity. I read recently that they find it hard to finish songs, with one or other band member frequently rejecting material. Whether the atmosphere created here is the cause or result of this I don’t know, but either way it works perfectly. Despite Matt’s melancholy, there’s something really uplifting about this collection of beautifully crafted mini epics.

TRACK LISTING

High Violet
Terrible Love
Sorrow
Anyone’s Ghost
Little Faith
Afraid Of Everyone
Bloodbuzz Ohio
Lemonworld
Runaway
Conversation 16
England
Vanderlyle Crybaby
Geeks

Bonus Disc
Terrible Love (Alternate Version)
Wake Up Your Saints
You Were A Kindness
Walk Off
Sin-Eaters
Bloodbuzz Ohio (Live On The Current)
Anyone’s Ghost (Live At BAM)
England (Live At BAM)

"Halcyon Digest" is the fourth studio album from Atlanta’s Deerhunter, released by 4AD.

The quartet of Bradford Cox, Lockett Pundt, Joshua Fauver and Moses Archuleta have established themselves as one of the most innovative and important bands to emerge from the US in recent years and "Halcyon Digest" is sure to bolster this newfound status of theirs.

Deerhunter are renowned for their prolificacy; in the two years since signing to 4AD, the group has released a double album ("Microcastle" and "Weird Era Cont.") and a five-track EP ("Rainwater Cassette Exchange") as well as numerous unofficial tracks that appear on a regular basis – albeit only for a short duration – on the band’s blog. Furthermore, the band’s own solo projects (Bradford’s Atlas Sound moniker and Lockett’s Lotus Plaza) have released albums at a similar rate.

With every release, Deerhunter widen their sphere of influence and critically they continue to impress.

STAFF COMMENTS

Darryl says: Another effortlessly brilliant album from Deerhunter, currently America's greatest exponents of indie art-rock.

TRACK LISTING

1. Earthquake
2. Don't Cry
3. Revival
4. Sailing
5. Memory Boy
6. Desire Lines
7. Basement Scene
8. Helicopter
9. Fountain Stairs
10. Coronado
11. He Would Have Laughed

"Penny Sparkle" was made over the last year with the band journeying between New York and Stockholm to work with production duo Van Rivers and The Subliminal Kid (Fever Ray, Glasser) with additional production work undertaken with Drew Brown (Beck, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Radiohead). As with their previous album, "23", Alan Moulder (Depeche Mode, My Bloody Valentine, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) was enlisted to mix it.

Kazu Mazino from the band speaks of the record: “I can't say what Penny Sparkle is about just yet. I remember talking to Ed (from 4AD) one day and telling him that I had a vision that I was traveling to far away places to complete it. (Then) I landed in snowy slippery Stockholm... and here. Henrik and Peder in Stockholm and Drew in NY and after with everyone in NY again. I fell in love with the music like falling for someone you've known for a long time. It was dreamy and sometimes was very stormy. At times, I felt like a shepherd who was trying to herd five stallions into a yard (unsuccessfully). I felt like I was a link to everyone. I remained still and the others were constantly moving around it. I am not sure what Penny Sparkle is but I hope I offered to them as much as they offered me. I know that we have never made a record this way and if I could go back in time, I would do it exactly the same way again”.

The album opens with the slow drums and mournful vocals of “Terrible Love” but from the start there’s a simmering intensity that builds and eventually explodes into crashing cymbals, pummelling drums, distorted guitars and layered vocals.
A dramatic entrance to The National’s fifth album. But it’s not all this heavy, as with their previous releases it’s an album of mood swings. Where “Terrible Love” was explosive, second track “Sorrow” is mournful and melodic.
And while the album changes mood and tempo, at times warm and intimate at others dramatic, propelled by off beat drum rhythms, there’s always a palpable intensity. I read recently that they find it hard to finish songs, with one or other band member frequently rejecting material. Whether the atmosphere created here is the cause or result of this I don’t know, but either way it works perfectly. Despite Matt’s melancholy, there’s something really uplifting about this collection of beautifully crafted mini epics.

STAFF COMMENTS

Martin says: A bona fide classic, and possibly the summit of The National's already majestic canon. Moody, introspective and deeply involving, "High Violet" manages to be both clever and inventive and at the same time focused in it's somewhat bleak expression. A work of troubled genius whose (very) high points, "Afraid of Everyone", "Bloodbuzz Ohio" and the sublime "Conversation 16" would grace pretty much any album, ever. It is really that good.

TRACK LISTING

1. Terrible Love
2. Sorrow
3. Anyone’s Ghost
4. Little Faith
5. Afraid Of Everyone
6. Bloodbuzz Ohio
7. Lemonworld
8. Runaway
9. Conversation 16
10. England
11. Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks

Since 2000, Copenhagen-based quartet Efterklang (plus an ever evolving number of collaborators) have been quietly honing their craft, fusing left-of-centre electronic beats with grand orchestral gestures. Self-sufficient by nature and necessity, the band have, until now, always written, recorded and produced every element of their music from the comfort of their Copenhagen bunker. In this time, they have also released records through their own Rumraket label, working with the likes of Grizzly Bear, Amiina and Slaraffenland. So far, the results have been nothing short of revelatory; in particular, 2007’s hugely ambitious "Parades", an album that was difficult to define but even harder to fault, it raised their profile enormously, and with "Magic Chairs" they continue their evolution, exploring previously unchartered territory.
The result is an intimate and immediate record that exudes warmth. The grandiose classical structures heard so prominently and admired so highly in previous albums "Tripper" and "Parades" have been replaced by something far more streamlined, deconstructed and altogether melodious. Opening track "Modern Drift" is a statement of intent with its intricate and looping arpeggios whilst "I Was Playing Drums" is arguably their most accessible pop song to date, the echoes of its refrain linger irresistibly in the ear. ‘Magic Chairs’ still bears the occasional signature moment (an electronic buzz here, a choral flair there) but, all told, it is an album that is an even bolder step forward.

STAFF COMMENTS

Darryl says: Featuring a host of guest musicians including Peter Broderick, "Magic Chairs" is an immense melodic strewn avant epic, that snuggles nicely in your collection between the latest Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear albums.

Possessing an expansive sound that marries a coarse folk ingenuity with the bold pop sensibility of an R&B siren, "BiRd-BrAiNs" was assembled with a staunch DIY aesthetic. Recording herself using a digital voice recorder and produced using shareware mixing software, Merrill Garbus was described by Stereogum as 'a selfcontained Sublime Frequencies compilation, jumping between blues, African tunes, shiny reggae-esque sprawls, and lo-fi folk', infusing the worldly sonic palette of M.I.A. or post-punk pioneers The Raincoats. The album ranges from the surreal to the sublime, with "Lions" described by Pitchfork as 'halfway between a singsong schoolyard rhyme and a graveyard blues', whilst "Jamaican" could be the blueprint to a Timbaland-produced gem with its ricocheting drums pattern and intoxicating tape loops.

"The Life Of The World To Come" is The Mountain Goats' 6th album for 4AD, and is less a profession of religious faith than an immersion in Biblical poetry and imagery. With John Darnielle remaining The Mountain Goats' creative hub - this time flanked by Peter Hughes and Jon Wurster - "The Life Of The World To Come" was recorded in three studios across three states and features string arrangements from Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy), who has also worked in a similar capacity with the varied likes of Arcade Fire, Fucked Up and The Pet Shop Boys.

"Actor" takes the ambitious compositional and sonic underpinnings of St Vincent's debut as a starting point and never looks back. The arrangements are more masterful, the songwriting grander, the performances ever more confident and inspired. St Vincent aka Annie Clark developed an idiosyncratic writing process for "Actor", immersing herself in some of her favourite films – 'Badlands', 'Pierrot le Fou', 'The Wizard of Oz', 'Stardust Memories', 'Sleeping Beauty' - and beginning each song as a secret film score, then slowly giving it independence as its structure and lyrics came fully into focus. The resulting eleven tracks are as cinematic as pop songs can be, but the movie is a private one, revealing its storyline in hushed, cunning couplets and cascades of scathing guitar. Here is a record to listen to with your eyes closed. Melodies are transposed and inverted. The fantasy of Disney is juxtaposed with the sweep of Morricone, David Mamet's unsettling dramatic form and the alienation of Philip Roth. Igor Stravinsky scores Roger Corman's horror flicks. "The Strangers" starts off as a deceptively dulcet elegy for a lost love, then suddenly capsizes under a flood of distortion. "Actor Out Of Work" is a devastating sonic kiss-off, complete with slyly poisonous lyrics and steamrolling guitars. The strings and woodwinds at the opening of "Marrow" might be escorting Dorothy to the Emerald City, or straight into the flying monkeys' clutches. The crackerjack band, including supporting turns by McKenzie Smith and Paul Alexander of Midlake, has the crunch of a tank and the grace of a chamber ensemble.

You'd be hard-pushed to find an album with as many well-crafted, supremely catchy pop songs as this. Original yet soothingly familiar, these tunes manage to break your heart and take you to the top in equal measure. They're written and sung by Tracyanne Campbell and there can't be a sweeter, more believable voice in pop right now. It's like she's your best friend, singing in your ear, but what she's singing is the pages of her diary! This is actually Camera Obscura’s 4th album, but the others just led up to this one; this is the one where they’ve distilled their thing. The production’s perfect too: Concrete’s producer Jari Haapalainen perfectly capturing the old-school indie classicist vibe. Every song's a gem, there's not one duffer, but the gorgeous slowie "James" and the euphoric, horn-driven "Honey In The Sun" deserve a special mention. Mancunian legend Paul Morley's a massive fan too: that's good enough for me!

TRACK LISTING

1. French Navy
2. The Sweetest Thing
3. You Told A Lie
4. Away With Murder
5. Swans
6. James
7. Careless Love
8. My Maudlin Career
9. Forests And Sands
10. Other Towns And Cities
11. Honey In The Sun

From Minnesota via Los Angeles and now based in Chicago, twenty-three year old Anni Rossi is an exciting prospect. Having been classically trained since aged three, Anni is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist and has been performing as a solo artist for the past few years. Fresh from signing to 4AD, Anni headed straight to Electrical Audio in Illinois to record "Rockwell" with Steve Albini and the results show it to have been a wise move. Mostly using tracks from her existing live set, the energy, depth and eccentricities of her live show have all been successfully translated onto record, making the document she set out to make – something she feels she has never achieved previously. Until now, the viola has formed the centrepiece to her music, often finding itself to be the only instrument used, but more come to the fore here. In particular, drums and cello slightly elevate her sound, appearing occasionally to fill in corners. The fact it was all recorded in one day will surprise most but so will the unlikely cover version of Ace Of Base's "Living In Danger", a version so sublime you wouldn't know what it was unless told.

This 19 track live CD is available in independent stores only and features four brand new, unreleased tracks - "Drink Nike", "Distant Jabs At A Soul", "V.D.F.A." and "Cloak The Dagger", the latter two songs having been a regular fixture of the band's live set throughout the summer.

In 1964, a computer - the IBM 1401 Data Processing System - arrived in Iceland. The computer's memory emitted strong electromagnetic waves and by programming the memory in a certain way and placing a radio receiver next to it, melodies could be coaxed out – captured by the receiver as a delicate, melancholy sine-wave tone. When the IBM 1401 was taken out of service in 1971, it wasn't simply thrown away like an old refrigerator. Instead it was given a little farewell ceremony, almost a funeral, when its melodies were played for one last time. This 'performance' was documented on tape, along with recordings of the sound of the computer in operation. Upon hearing about this in 2001, Jóhann started to write music which responded to those themes, basing it on those thirty year old recordings of the IBM 1401 computer, ultimately collaborating with choreographer Erna Ómarsdottir to produce a piece that has since been shown all around Europe, in more than forty cities. Now the music has been recorded and the last song of the IBM 1401 can be preserved.

Despite - or perhaps because of - his glacial work rate, Scott Walker remains one of the most influential figures in rock music. He is an icon, a man who turned his back on superficial pop stardom to create some the most resonant and compelling music ever made. Although Scott started writing "The Drift" in the late 1990s, he didn't start recording until late 2004. Working with longtime studio collaborator Peter Walsh (who also co-produced "Climate Of Hunter" and "Tilt") he brought an astonishing array of sounds and textures into the studio - tubax, shawm, flugelhorn, a 36 piece string orchestra, a huge wooden box, and much more besides. The result is a record of immense power and range and almost unfathomable emotional depth. Tracks like "Cossacks" and "Hand Me Ups" rock with a dark, insistent force that's quite unlike anything else in the Walker catalogue - while the vast open spaces of "Clara", "Jesse" and "Cue" open up to admit beauty and horror in equal measure.

TRACK LISTING

Cossacks Are
Clara
Jesse
Jolson And Jones
Cue
Hand Me Ups
Buzzers
Psoriatic
The Escape
A Lover Loves

The debut release from the Pixies, and what a mini album this was. I can still remember the first time I heard this, thinkin' what sort of man could make such a screaming noise with his voice without collapsing in pain!!! And when you couple that the amazingly intense, highly strung and at times violent music then it's no wonder that the Pixies went on from here to become one of the best bands ever!!!! A classic and no messin!!!

The Steve Albini produced "Surfer Rosa" was the first full length release from The Pixies. Abrasive, clever, and totally unique, it defined their sound and became one of the most influential albums of the 80s.

TRACK LISTING

1 Bone Machine
2 Break My Body
3 Something Against You
4 Broken Face
5 Gigantic
6 River Euphrates
7 Where Is My Mind?
8 Cactus
9 Tony's Theme
10 Oh My Golly!
11 Vamos (Surfer Rosa)
12 I'm Amazed
13 Brick Is Red

During their brief career (1987 – 1992) Pixies released one mini-album ("Come On Pilgrim"), four full length albums ("Surfer Rosa", "Doolittle", "Bossanova" and "Trompe Le Monde") and a handful of singles. Posthumous releases have included "Complete B-sides" (self explanatory) and "Pixies at the BBC", a compilation of radio sessions. "Wave Of Mutilation: Best of Pixies" runs (almost) chronologically and expands on the previous compilation, "Death To The Pixies". The recordings still sound completely fresh and unique and inevitably there are half a dozen tracks from "Doolittle", the record that NME proclaimed the 'second best album ever'. There's also a couple of B sides, the live favourite "Into The White" and, to end the sonic assault on a poignant note, a cover of Neil Young's "Winterlong".

Originally out in 1990, "Heaven Or Las Vegas" was the Cocteau Twins' last LP for 4AD, and the pinnacle of their releases to date. Everything you love about the trio's music is present here: phased, shimmering guitar soundscapes, subtle synth washes and textures, and of course Liz Fraser's swooping, soaring vocal. If you had to pick only one Cocteau Twins LP to own, then this has to be it!

Classic Cocteau Twins album re-issued by 4AD, with it's original tracklisting, remastered by Robin Guthrie and featuring repackaged artwork.

As a member of the seminal Dead Can Dance, Lisa Gerrard made nine strikingly original and influential albums over a ten year period. Lisa then released two acclaimed solo albums "The Mirror Pool" and "Duality". In recent years Lisa has become a much sought-after soundtrack composer. Scoring and contributing to scores for Gladiator, Heat, Whalerider, Ali, The Insider, Mission Impossible 2, Black Hawk Down and El Nino De La Luna, amongst many others. Patrick Cassidy is widely recognised as Ireland's most important classical composer. Patrick has released three highly-regarded albums: "Cruit", "The Children Of Lir" and "Deirdre Of The Sorrows", the latter two recorded with The London Symphony Orchestra. In "Immortal Memory", they have crafted a timeless album of transcendental beauty.

Superb intelligent indie-styled singer songwriter stuff, kinda like Nick Drake and Tim Buckley mixed with Sebadoh.

"Treasure" is arguably the Cocteau Twins finest album, bassist Simon Raymonde joined the band in 1983 and after a couple of brilliant EPs came "Treasure". Opening with "Ivo", one of their best album openers featuring a brilliant Robin Guthrie guitar solo and followed by one of my all time favourite Cocteau Twins tracks in "Lorelei" the pace never slackens, the quality of the songs never lets up right to the last note on the albums climax "Donimo" which ultimatly explodes into a heavenly choral wall of sound.

Formed by guitarist Robin Guthrie and bassist Will Heggie in Stonehaven in 1979 and with the addition of Guthrie's then girlfriend Elizabeth Fraser as vocalist, the Cocteau Twins signed to 4AD in 1982 releasing their debut "Garlands" later that year. Anchored by a Roland 808 drum machine and Heggie's swooping bass lines, guitarist Guthrie created an atmospheric sound providing a perfect platform for Fraser's remarkable vocals.

Easily the darkest and most straightforwardly post-punk album Cocteau Twins ever recorded, "Garlands" has a spare, desolate, insistently minor-key sound that owes a clear debt to Joy Division; however, what keeps the proceedings from sounding derivative are Robin Guthrie's spiraling guitar textures (far more primal than on future albums) and Elizabeth Fraser's vocals, which somehow manage to evoke beauty and dread simultaneously. While the album suffers a bit from the use of a drum machine and several songs that are overly repetitious (something rarely found on their later albums), "Garlands" manages to create a sound that, while not indicative of where Cocteau Twins were heading next, still played an important role in defining the 4AD sound of the early 80s.

Now remastered by Guthrie with new artwork.

Creating one of the most distinctive sounds in 80s music, The Cocteau Twins were one of the 4AD label's greatest bands. In Elizabeth Fraser, the band had an utterly unique performer who eschewed conventional lyrics for the sound and textures that were layered onto Robin Guthrie's banks of distorted guitars, tape loops and echo.

Losing original member Heggie might at first have seemed a troubling blow, but in fact it allowed the duo of Fraser and Guthrie to transcend the darkened one-note gloom of "Garlands" with "Head Over Heels". The album introduces a variety of different shadings and approaches to the incipient Cocteaus' sound, pointing the band towards the exultant, elegant beauty of later releases. Opening number "When Mama Was Moth" demonstrates the new musical range nicely; Fraser's singing is much more upfront, while Guthrie creates a bewitching mix of dark guitar notes and sparkling keyboard tones, with percussion echoing in the background. Other songs, like the sax-accompanied "Five Ten Fiftyfold" and "The Tinderbox (Of a Heart)" reflect the more elaborate musical melancholy of the group, while still other cuts are downright sprightly. "Multifoiled" in particular is a charm, a jazzily-arranged number that lets Fraser do a bit of scatting, while "In the Gold Dust Rush" mixes acoustic guitar drama into Fraser's swooping singing. Perhaps the two strongest numbers of all are "Sugar Hiccup," mixing the mock choir effect the band would use elsewhere with both a lovely guitar line and singing; and "Musette and Drums," a massive, powerful collision of Guthrie's guitar at its loudest and most powerful and Fraser's singing at its most intense.

Now remastered from the original tapes by Robin Guthrie.

"Victorialand" is an altogether more relaxed affair than some of their early work as the Cocteau Twins reverted to a duo of Fraser and Guthrie in Simon Raymonde's absence. Without Raymonde's hectic bass the rhythms are subtler as layered guitar lines and lush soundscapes fill the air. Over all Liz Fraser's wonderfully fine voice weaves in and out. A few saxophone textures, a little tabla and the effect is complete. Highlights include the albums majestic opener "Lazy Calm", the multi textured "Fluffy Tufts", and the haunting and darker closing number "The Thinner The Air".

On ‘Tallahassee’, The Mountain Goats' 4AD debut originally released in 2003, John Darnielle strips his music of the tape hiss that surrounded his previous work like a security blanket made of static, opting for a clean sound that emphasizes the album's sometimes stinging, sometimes sublimely beautiful words and melodies.

Though the lo-fi soulfulness that gave his songs an extra, homemade charm before is missed, it wouldn't have fit the ambitious tale he sets out to tell here: the album revolves around a troubled husband and wife who move to Tallahassee to run away from themselves and, ultimately, drink themselves to death. Darnielle has written about this couple before, but ‘Tallahassee’ takes their relationship -- and his songwriting -- to a new level of vulnerability and intensity.

Even among albums chronicling difficult and dying relationships, such as ‘Blood On The Tracks’, ‘Shoot Out The Lights’, and, more recently, ‘Sea Change’, ‘Tallahassee’ takes a unique approach. Far from being morose or wallowing in sorrow, the album celebrates both the peaks and the valleys of a turbulent relationship; it's less like an autopsy of a love affair than an affectionate, occasionally drunken and rowdy, wake for it.

Ultimately, ‘Tallahassee’ is about the staying power, for better or worse, of this couple's love; likewise, the album itself has plenty of staying power, only getting better and growing richer with each listen.

Originally released in 1990, "Bossanova" was seen as something of a let-down initially, (it was always going to be tough following such a huge album as "Doolittle") but Frank Black has since said it's his favourite. There are rockers here but it's on the mellower moments that they really excel.

If you don't already own this CD - why on earth not??? "Come On Pilgrim" was their first mini album, released in 1987, it was followed by the Steve Albini produced "Surfer Rosa". Abrasive, clever, and totally unique, it defined their sound and became one of the most influential albums of the 80s. With the tracks from both albums now available on one CD, you'd be a fool not to buy it!

Formed in London in 1988 and centered around childhood friends Emma Anderson and Miki Berenyi, Lush expertly fused melody and guitars; a sound that was christened ‘shoegaze’ well after they released their first records, a scene they outlived by sharpening their pop sound as they went.

Coinciding with news of the band’s upcoming reformation, ‘Ciao! Best Of Lush’ is finally being pressed on vinyl, previously having only been released as a CD back in 2001.

Unusually for a greatest hits compilation it runs in reverse order, starting with four tracks that appeared on their third album, ‘Lovelife’ (1996), five (six if you include a B-side) from their second ‘Split’ (1994), then four from their debut ‘Spooky’ (1992) before finishing with four early works which includes two from their first ever release, 1989’s mini-album ‘Scar’.

TRACK LISTING

Ladykillers
Single Girl
Ciao! (ft Jarvis Cocker)
500 (Shake Baby Shake)
Light From A Dead Star
Love At First Sight
Hypocrite
Desire Lines
Lovelife
When I Die
Nothing Natural
Untogether
For Love
Monochrome
De-Luxe
Sweetness And Light
Thoughtforms
Etheriel