I don't know about everyone else, but I take comfort in the knowledge that no matter what the prevailing music trends may be, there will always be groups of creative misfits making wondrous lo-fi indie pop from the comfort of their bedrooms. East Anglia's Alto 45 are such are band, and their debut album '101101' is such a record. They already count Steve Lamacq and the late great John Peel as fans, and I'd like to think that when this album is released in May, they'll be counting a lot more converts to their world of joyously ramshackle DIY guitar pop.

Alto 45 continue a time honoured trend that has been forged over the years from Belle and Sebastian's early jangle pop days, to Grandaddy's commendable use of vintage seventies synths, back to Graham Coxon's wilfully skewed explorations of anti-sociability through the use of scratchy distorted guitars and mumbled lyrics. Happily all of these ingredients are present and correct here, while the lyrical themes deal with skateboard accidents,
getting drunk with friends, religion, lost love, paranoia, and world domination- basically all of life's important issues, only explored with a refreshing lightness and delivered in a pleasantly Roddy Woomble-esque voice by singer James Boyce.

The album features plenty of instantly satisfying indie stompers, like second track 'The Plan' - a sprightly pace, cheap keyboards gurgling away, and lyrics that give step by step instructions on how to conquer the land. However, with this being the geeky realm of 4-track DIY aesthetics, it isn't achieved through any aggressive tactics, instead step one is "go underground" and step two is "go to school". Suddenly a world run by Alto 45 sounds like it would be quite pleasant.

The three standout tracks occur midway through the album. 'Leaving Suburbia' is a mournful anti-love letter ("I like you but I don't want you. We are still on our own") set to a soundtrack of creeping dread and some severe guitar contortions which reach a deafening peak before retreating to make way for an extended outro featuring a lonesome melodica and the sound of a robot malfunctioning. At six minutes long it verges on post-rock, only it's
a lot more fun to listen to than that tag often suggests. Next is 'Christian Song', which manages to bate the tenements of the said religion in a way that's so charming you imagine it could convert nuns- in the most
non-threatening way Boyce sings "you've got it all wrong, the way you sing those Christian songs" over a backing that's both angular and bouncy.

Completing the trio is 'Moses Gunn', a gorgeously melancholic ballad that sounds like the Super Furries in their underrated 'Mwng' phase. The lyrics again speak extreme paranoia, as the subject feels they are being targeted
by "evil men" who only come when they're asleep. The chorus will have you happily singing along with the distinctly un-jolly words "I cannot run, I have to hide, I cannot sleep alone tonight" and "I need someone to protect
me with guns". In short, it's brilliant.

The final track 'Sleep and TV' sees a love-struck Boyce questioning "how come it feels like I was put here to be with you?" while in the background a lilting slide guitar and some spacey synths lift the whole affair into the
stratosphere for good, rounding off a beautiful, exciting and satisfying album. It's hard to imagine a band like Alto 45 ever crossing over into the realms of NME covers and CD:UK appearances anytime soon - the mainstream
would be just too cynical to accept music as straight-ahead charming as this. However, the mass market's loss is our gain, as it's simply good to know that Alto 45 are their, making sublime low key music purely for their
own enjoyment. If you do the right thing and buy this album, you'll be guaranteed to enjoy it too.

Review by Ian Viggars
www.alto45.co.uk
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One of the best albums of last year finally gets a UK release, nearly a year to the day after it was released in the US. And if there’s any justice, this will receive the wide audience and critical acclaim it richly deserves. Of course, we know there’s no justice whatsoever, so praise will continue to be heaped on mediocre tat like The Bravery, who will go on to sell bucket loads and this will remain an undiscovered and under-appreciated gem.
From the gentle, country lilt of ‘Anecdote’ and the quiet, introspective ‘Michigan’, to the Interpol-ish ‘Heavy Lifting’ and Ride-esque ‘Swim’, every track has something good going for it. ‘Sugar Pill’ features the most uplifting chorus imaginable, with harmonies as sweet as it’s title. It’s the lush harmonies and neat melodies that really make the album as a whole, which makes the decision to open with a 5 minute instrumental, a brave one. However, they pull it off, ‘Yoga Means Union’ starts quietly but builds and builds, then builds some more before the plug is finally pulled and we segue into insanely catchy former single ‘Primitive (The Way I Treat You)’.
For some reason, the hidden track on the US release, an excellent cover of Velvet Underground’s ‘The Ocean’, has been replaced by an inferior new track called ‘Straight A’s’ on the UK incarnation but this is only a minor gripe.

Few bands make such accomplished, finely crafted debuts as this. One hopes this is just a precursor to what they will go on to achieve in the future.

Review by Steve Vickers
www.ambulancenyc.com
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Hmm, what to do with this one, proof if any that you should never judge a book by its cover. You, see, had I not bothered to listen to it, I would’ve assumed that this would’ve been some kind of girly pop in the vein of Cathy Dennis (what happened to her then? Answers on a postcard please) kind of way. Alas, we are confronted with 15 tracks of spoken word poetry, dealing with the humdrum of everyday life and existence. Occasionally funny and insightful, it nonetheless reminds me of someone on the bus talking a bit too loudly on their mobile phone – interesting at first but after the first few minutes or so, it quickly becomes tedious and you just want them to shut up. Sounding like something that should be on lunchtime Radio 4 rather than your CD player, this ends up being little more than a personal rant about jobs, urban life and the usual relationship issues. However, clocking up at 26 minutes long, it makes a brief but welcome change if your head happens to be hurting from listening to too much hardcore and screaming. Hardly life changing, but curiously different, whatever you want to call it, it’s not bad but for sure not worth buying.

Review by Bevis
www.pennybroadhurst.com
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Approaching this from the purely musical and less personal perspective, it is understandable why London based quartet ‘Cherryfalls’ entitled their debut album “Winter/Winter.” They are a very light, clean sounding band and the music has a very crisp, frozen, atmospheric edge to it. Vocally, immediate parallels can be drawn between front man, Joe McAdam and Snowpatrol's Gary Lightbody. Both have very cold, fresh, invigorating voices that you might associate with something like walking along a January beach. Recorded at different locations around the UK, it seems the band may have locked themselves away in small damp icy houses to make this album because it is greatly tinged with Wintery sounds. The songs are very mild and clean-cut, integrating flowing guitars and emotional lyrics with occasional intense interludes of heavier and louder sounds for the more impassioned bits. Recent singles include first track ‘In Your Arms Again;’ and ‘Standing Watching.’

Soon to be released is the single, ‘My Drug,’ a bittersweet romantic song comprised around the slightly clichéd notion that the love interest is addictive and hard to shake out one’s system. This clear style is very reminiscent of bands such as Coldplay and Snowpatrol. However, as a general rule, I find this a very middle-class, decent, homely student sort of sound, nothing original, nothing with any shock or snarl to it. In this respect I find it almost impossible to care. The album needs just a bit more edge and bite to it; it needs to jump out at people and become noticed. McAdam’s voice should perhaps to be anchored away from the haunting emotional melody and maybe led towards a more taut and angular form of expression. Track eleven, “The Prize,” probably stands out the most of all the songs being more angry and less gentle. Otherwise, these are very catchy songs and a valid and respectable attempt for a debut album, but just a bit too droopy and benign for my liking.

Review by Helen Thornton
www.cherryfalls.co.uk
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If, like me, you got a bit fed up with Stereolab when they ditched the Neu! and Francoise Hardy thing for glitch worship and funny time signatures, and long for the 'Wow and Flutter' era, then you could do a lot worse than get the new Monade album.

I'm finding it hard to write anything about it - not that it is bad, in fact it's really good, I think, but then I loved ALL Stereolab up to Emperor Tomato Ketchup and then found things after than a bit too 'now', which has meant that that later period has dated. For me, anyway. Ah, rats, I shouldn't insult Laetitia by banging on about Sterolab, should I. Monade of course, stands up in it's own right... even if it does remind you of the 'other' band, a fair bit. I like how it is pretty rough and ready sounding, you can imagine it being played live and sounding really good. So many 'cool 60s' references - spy themes, lounge stuff..., as you'd expect.

I love Laetitia's voice... the excellent french public schoolgirl singing marxist theory is all there (what a great concept) - and there is a really good bit of backing vocals on 'La Salle Des Pas Perdus'. '2 Portes, 7 Fenetres' starts like a Chet Baker track. This is a good thing. And then turns into Astrid Gilberto from Mars. As 'the other band' does occasionally. More good backing vocals on this track as well. I'm into good backing vocals at the moment. More good tracks... hang on, 'Sensible Et Extensible' IS Stereolab. Oh well... think of this as a new Stereolab album. It's their best since 'Wow and Flutter', so you'd better get it. Ooh, those backing vocals! They are so great! Cover is good as well, by the way. I wish I had it on vinyl.

I’m a bit of a Johnny come lately to Basement Jaxx. I don’t know much about them apart from that they hail from Brixton but one now lives across the road from my sister in Balham. I’m not sure how long they have been around to warrant a greatest hits but it’s certainly a strong collection of songs. Kicking off with the energetic “Red Alert” the pace never slows down, second song in is the fantastic “Good Luck” from their criminally under rated album Kish Kash from 2003. It features the astonishingly strong vocals from Bellrays singer Lisa Kekaula. Even the over played on TV ads “Where’s Your Head At” still sounds fresh and has you singing along to the repetitive chorus. For me the highlight is “Lucky Star” but there is one great omission and that is title track to Kish Kash with the wonderful Siouxsie Sioux. From dance tracks to mainstream dance floor hits this singles collection has it all. If your feet don’t suffle a bit while listening to this then there must be something wrong with you.

Review by Sonia Pagliari
www.basementjaxx.co.uk
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Whoever said originality was dead? Currently kicking up a storm in Topshop and Urban Outfitter branches nationwide, Mando Diao blend ‘unashamedly anthemic choruses’ with cut-glass facial perfection last seen gracing the mugs of pretty much every last great white hope (big emphasis on the white there) in the hallowed pages of our beloved rock weeklies.

Hit up MD’s website and their bio states that the band resent the fact that they’re constantly referenced to as part of a 60’s inspired wave of retro throwback bands…excuse me?? They ARE a retro throwback band! This is akin to BNP members resenting the fact that people call them Fascist scum. The mind boggles, it really does…There are some genuinely sublime moments on this LP though. Namely stonking current single ‘You Can’t Steal My Love’, but I can’t shake the feeling that its all been done to death for the last three years. Their down on the street ‘Aint got nuttin’ on me brother’ Bowery bad-boy attitude grates after about half a listen. Added the fact that there are a wealth of amazing original bands coming through of late (Mystery Jets immediately spring to mind) makes this seem even more redundant than it did first time round in ’01. Weak.

Review by James Williams
www.mando-diao.com
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Apparently, Moonshot describe their sound as “Pink Floyd go down to the beach for a large glass of red wine”. I like beaches, red wine and Pink Floyd – in that order, so I was quite excited to find myself in possession of their nearly-new Friday Street album.

Moonshot formed in 1988, when they were 13. I don’t really know what they were doing listening to Pink Floyd and drinking wine for, at that age. Round our way we were all doing Es and listening to the Happy Mondays, back then. Then again, we were only 8 so we didn’t know any better… But, I digress: onto the record.

At its worst the music is reminiscent of a watered-down version of the Pet Shop Boys camp pop; at its best it shimmers like Moby’s latter-day post-Play exercises in chilled 80s pop. There are a few undesirable moments, such as the Enya-style cod-operatic background wailing on ‘Pink Tie’, but on the whole it’s a perfectly pleasant, if slightly dull listen.

If you’re the sort of person who likes to listen to head-cases screaming over noise, this record probably isn’t for you. If you’re the sort of person who enjoys polite, well-crafted chill-out music made by nice chaps with names like Jeremy it probably is for you.

To conclude: some songs (especially ‘Ladykiller’) sound less like Pink Floyd going down the beach to drink a large glass of red wine, and more like Underworld dragging Bryan Ferry down to the gay disco for a large glass of semen…
Nice image, eh?

Review by Tom Leins
www.moonshotmusic.com
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Ever been to a gig and had to sit through the rather uninspiring support band, unable to wait until they finish because you know the band on afterwards are so much better? Well, Cass McCombs is one of those bands.

‘Dull’ was the first word that came to mind after listening to opening track ‘Equinox’, which started a repeating theme for the rest of the album, poor production, echoing vocals that force you into believing that the album must have been recorded in a church (‘Multiple Suns’) and a penchant for making you sleep, this truly is one of the most uninteresting albums that has graced my CD player in a long while.

‘Subtraction’ is like a bad Phil Collins cover, ‘Cuckoo’ is like a poor mans Granddaddy minus all of the quirkiness, whilst ‘Sacred Heart’, perhaps the most interesting song on the CD, is like an old New Order b-side, which is hardly a reason to hang onto the CD. Penultimate track, ‘City of Brotherly Love’ is a half decent stab at a Deacon Blue-esque kind of song, but by this time your finger has already been resting on the stop button of the CD player for some time now. Nonetheless, sheer willpower and resistance kept me going through song 10 to see if it had any redeeming qualities. It didn’t.

Review by Bevis Man
www.4ad.com/artists/cassmccombs
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