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Stefan BraidwoodFeaturesHow Hip-Hop Music Is Slowly Transcending Its Circular CultureIf it is to stand any chance of representing a people, then hip-hop must be allowed that most fundamental of human compulsions: to grow, to transcend its own limitations, to change. [28 July 2004] Dancing Through Song: An Interview with FeistFeist explains how she became the Kevin Bacon of Canada's music scene. [1 January 1995] Music Should Be You: An Interview with DälekThe members of Dälek search for the One in all kinds of music. Really, all kinds. Reviews
Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m NotChosen by the people, a young quartet with a frontman touched by greatness deliver a sometimes fine, sometimes fantastic, always fun debut with feeling. Pass it on... [13 January 2006] 
The Chap: HamGroup of intellectual reprobate Brit pranksters proffer a sophomore album that values everything, is sweetly sad, rocks stoopid hard, and holds nothing sacred. Get your Ham on!" [14 December 2005] 
Floetry: Flo’OlogyGrammy-nominated Londoners drop third album with the aid of some American bigshots. Your jaw won't, though. [22 November 2005] 
Amusement Parks on Fire: Amusement Parks on FireHaving heard this album, you might be tempted to give the guy responsible a million dollars. 'Nuff said. [18 November 2005] 
Various Artists: Wu-Tang Meets the Indie CultureThe Killer Bees meet some of what keeps the underground buzzing these days, and the flows run thicker than blood. [16 November 2005] 
Ivan Smagghe: Fabric 23Frozen synths, hot sweat and digital disco drugs in the mix of the year so far from the gallic Darth Vader of electro; a daddy not afraid to scare his children... [15 November 2005] 
Mike Ladd: Father DivineInfesticon, Nostalgiagator, poet, MC and producer goes semi-conceptual and ends up between destinations. He's still smart and funky, but it's not really enough. [14 November 2005] 
Ewan Pearson: Sci.Fi.Hi.Fi_01Respected, stylish dance remixer to the stars drops debut in revered dance music label's new mix series. The result is respectable and stylish. And that's about it. [4 November 2005] 
Scratch Perverts: Fabric Live 22A mix 'n' scratch tour through the demented minds of a world-class DMC crew. Their cup of tea is rude and jet black. [3 November 2005] 
The Remote Viewer: Let Your Heart Draw a LineYou know that attic full of your childhood toys and dreams? This is the music of the spheres hidden in its dozing dust motes. Shine a light, and listen. [1 November 2005] 
Susumu Yokota & Rothko: Distant Sounds of SummerAs we become more grateful for the last of the sun's rays, this record will let you feel the joys of sleeping on a summer lawn... wide awake. [26 October 2005] 
Omega One: The Lo-fi ChroniclesThe man behind the decks and spraycan of classic Aesop Rock material steps out on his own in impressive fashion, although he chooses to remain in shadow. [20 October 2005] 
The Earlies: These Were the EarliesIn 2004, NME gave their album a 9, but decreed their members too ugly to depict; their debut remains a weird and wonderful Earlies ticket to future sights unseen. [19 October 2005] 
APSCI: Thanks For AskingPrize media beasties amongst the new Quannum litter deliver very little bite to their Philippines/Sydney/Bronx bark. Future promise, but for the moment, mostly mess. [17 October 2005] 
Laura Veirs: Year of MeteorsNature's elfin balladeer returns with a clutch of songs for couples, adding scorch marks of passion to the (c)old black lines on the backs of her gentle hands. [14 September 2005] 
Lina: The Inner Beauty MovementIndie soul one-hit-wonder follows up her great, idiosyncratic first album with a drearily positive sophomore effort that strikes out for the mainstream, only to succumb to anodyne stupor. [2 September 2005] 
The Magic Numbers: The Magic NumbersThe British band of the summer drop one of the debuts of the year; an unabashedly sentimental breath of fresh air as uplifting as it is unadorned. Prepare to succumb. [26 August 2005] 
J-Live: The Hear AfterThe triple threat completes his opening trilogy with resolutely impressive panache, establishing a firm platform for mature hip-hop that thinks as hard as it hits. [25 August 2005] 
Leela James: A Change Is Gonna ComeLeela James' small frame packs a punch as big as her hair, and her potential is palpable. Despite aiming at the old stars, though, she remains frustratingly stuck in today's well-worn orbits. [5 August 2005] 
Lali Puna: I Thought I Was Over ThatA pick'n'mix B-sides compilation that's more miss than hit, best in small rocking doses but served in a sprawled daze. Essentially non-essential. [22 July 2005] 
Studio Pankow: LinienbusseTeuton techno trio take six years to make improv record named after bus schedules. Unsurprisingly, it's not turbo-charged- but it was worth the wait. [21 July 2005] 
Jamie Lidell: MultiplySnapshot of an artist moving from the white noise of the electro lab to the joyous communal feedback of black music's core. [18 July 2005] 
Femi Kuti: Live at the Shrine [DVD]Half concert recording, half character study, this documentary is a striking depiction of the effect artists can have on society when they give their all. And the music's sublime. [15 July 2005] 
Colleen: The Golden Morning BreaksThe French mistress of bucolic bliss is still very much away with the fairies, none of whom have gone death metal since her first album. [7 July 2005] 
Boredoms: Seadrum/House of SunJapanese punk legends excel themselves with an intoxicatingly frenetic display of music as a beautifully unstoppable force of nature (and one other 20 minute track). [28 June 2005] 
Nobody: And Everything Else…On which underground West Coast stalwart and Scott Herren compadre Elvin Estella sadly fails to do it better. [24 May 2005] 
Four Tet: Everything EcstaticEveryone's favourite purveyor of blissful beats has gone ballistic, and the smoking gun suits him -- when you're armed with as much talent as Hebden, you can make your own rules. [20 May 2005] 
Zion I: True & Livin’Third coming of Oakland duo serves up an accomplished spread for the heart and head. Revolution not included in tin instructions, but not really missed, either. [12 May 2005] 
Silvercord: Chasing Broken Shadows [EP]Minimalist drone dream music: it's psychedelic, it's cinematic, it's very, very calm. It's also surprisingly good. 
Subtitle: Young Dangerous HeartA man with a hole in his heart uses his brain to carve out his own hip-hop niche, and rocks hard. [11 May 2005] 
13 & God: Men of Station/Soft AtlasAmerica's Themselves take on Germany's The Notwist in potential indie postgenre meltdown. Results frustratingly accessible and catchy; shared philosophy of quality prevails. [29 April 2005] 
Blueprint: 1988The MC/producer who quit a highly paid job in computing and spent years on the grind for the love of his art finally releases his debut. S'all good. [25 April 2005] 
DJ Spooky Vs. David Lombardo: Drums of DeathPaul D. Miller masterminds more melting pot madness, this time in the key of metal under a sullen future sky. A Public Enemy assists, and the funk survives the reign in blood. [22 April 2005] 
Thee A Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band: Horses in the SkyGY!BE frontman Efrim returns with his band of never-merry minstrels for a fourth outbreak of desperately angry choral-folk-protest-postpunk heartbreak. More plaintively than ever, they cut like a life. [31 March 2005] 
Troubleman: Time Out of MindThe ex-Jedi Knight don serves up an unexpected trove of Brazil-kissed grooves that suit shaking it on the beach as much as sharing a beanbag. Sunshine shots to survive the winter with. [16 March 2005] 
Out Hud: Let Us Never Speak of It AgainHave acid, have cello, will travel: Out Hud flash back from dance music's past into its near future, dancing like loons. Join the party or get left behind. 
Beans: Shock City MaverickBeans' second solo effort is an improvement on his debut, but still patchy. You also get the feeling that the main reason he's in a field by himself is that no other MC wants to share it with him. [14 March 2005] 
Boom Bip: Blue Eyed in the Red RoomWhere Bryan Hollon used to walk, he now runs, but he's still travelling through unique landscapes of wonder, tenderness and fear. [8 March 2005] 
Hoppy Kamiyama + Bill Laswell: A Navel City / No One Is ThereHaving made great records with every celebrity in the Western world, Bill Laswell heads to Japan to make fascinating music with an ass hole. In a box. [28 February 2005] 
Sage Francis: A Healthy DistrustMad, melancholy, messiah or maniac? Whatever you think of him, Sage has returned with his latest salvo against all forms of complacency, and it's simultaneously his tightest and his most intriguing yet. [17 February 2005] 
Roots Manuva: Awfully DeepThe crufatin returns for what may be the last run of daringly daft escapades played out in the theatre of your mind. [16 February 2005] 
The Telepathic Butterflies: Songs from a Second WaveThree from Canada once again mine seam of jangley pop stretching from the '60s to the present, failing to reinvent the wheel one jot. Good, quirky fun had by all. [14 February 2005] 
Josh One: Narrow PathIt's hippy-hop, and it don't stop. It's also too stoned to excitedly break new ground or, like, whatever. There are worse fates. [3 February 2005] 
Ludacris: Red Light DistrictThe whole point of Ludacris, his very essence, is to live up to his name in a florid explosion of charm, wit and rowdy libido that seldom has much do with deep thought, restraint, or indeed reality as most of us would see it. [21 December 2004] 
Bill Laswell: Version 2 Version: A Dub TransmissionFlowing from lysergic wallows via trance-inducing solos that border on the aggressive, the majestic purity of the electric bass's tone drops onto the silky backing like a greased ball bearing. [9 December 2004] 
Manual & Syntaks: Golden SunA strange and marvelous melding of extremes for the Christmas stocking of the Postal Service-adoring b-boy you love, methinks. [7 December 2004] 
Client: CityBritish synthpoppers Client never come out from behind their stylishly sneering masks enough to connect with their audience -- and without real intimacy or appeal, you're left with a bunch of tracks showcasing protagonists both bored and vaguely repellent. [1 December 2004] 
Soledad Brothers: Voice of TreasonIt's blues rock, baby. The sound of drunken joy, lost love, lingering lust and rampant rage; it's the music of the devil and religion both. [12 November 2004] 
El-P: High WaterQuite simply, whether you’re a Matthew Shipp groupie, a Def Jukie or even a Roc soldier, you need to hear this record, as it’s probably the biggest step forward for hip-hop as a musical art form since Endtroducing. [30 April 2004] |
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