ALBUM REVIEWS, CHARTS, GOSSIP

REVIEWS

SMALL BLACK Best Blues (Jagjaguwar) Album Led byJosh Kolenik, Small Black are slowly but surely perfecting their brand of atmospheric and arty synthpop band. The Brooklyn band’s third album is their best yet with poised and poetic pop songs. 8

FUZZ II (In The Red Records) Album Fuzz is one of the many projects that Californian guitarist and songwriter Ty Segall is involved in. He may be prolific but quality control is never compromised on some powerful psych work outs. It’s exhausting but rewarding. 9

STEVEN A CLARK The Lonely Roller (Secretly Canadian) Album This is a splendid debut album from American singer/songwriter Steven A Clark. His forte is clearly lovely R&B laments but he displays a winning versatility with electro pop and bluesy epics. 8

EL VY Return To The Moon (4AD) Album El vy is a collaboration by Matt Berninger of the brilliant The National and Brent Knopf (Menomena). The result is playful and polished indie pop -– lighter than their previous work with their respective bands, but almost as good. 8

JEFFREY LEWIS & LOS BOLTS Manhattan (Rough Trade) Album Revered for his lyrical skills – Jarvis Cocker reckons he’s the best lyricist working in the US today – Jeffrey Lewis’s seventh album is full of razor sharp and poigant wordplay. The music plays second fiddle. 8

MONK PARKER How The Spark Loves The Tinder (Bronze Rat Records) Album American Monk Parker’s debut album features more than 30 musicians including members of Polyphonic Spree and Okkervil River. Parker’s alt-country is lush and lovely. 8

RAURY All We Need (Columbia) Album At the tender age of 19 Atlanta resident Raury is a formidable talent. Singer, songwriter, rapper and guitarist, at times he shows the potential to rub shoulders with the likes of Kanye and Prince – although he’s not in their league yet. 8

NORMIL HAWAIIANS Return Of The Ranters (Upset The Rhythm) Album Third album from cult band Normil Hawaiians was recorded in 1985 bu t never released until now. Fiercely political and experimental – a musical collective rather than a band– it packs a punch. 8

HERE WE GO MAGIC Be Small (Secretly Canadian) Album Fourth release for the duo of Luke Temple and Michael Bloch . They have a reputation for being a little too clever for their own good but on this self-produced album they get it right – smart and sharp indie pop. 9

YACHT I Thought The Future Would Be Cooler (Downtown Records) Album Los Angeles art-pop band YACHT ( Young Americans Challenging High Technology) new album has a bewildering array of influences from Japanese electronic reggae to Norwegian disco. It’s fun. 8