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Michael LomasFeatures
V Festival 2006Michael Lomas braves road-trip ruin in a desperate search for the sun. What he finds are ornery guards, boys with drugs up their bums, and a whole lot of bands. [31 August 2006] V Festival 2006Michael Lomas braves road-trip ruin in a desperate search for the sun. What he finds are ornery guards, boys with drugs up their bums, and a whole lot of bands. Reviews
Gogol Bordello: Super Taranta!Super Taranta! is at heart, a riotous, utterly bonkers, brilliant party album from one of the world's greatest dance bands. [12 July 2007] 
Plan B: Who Needs Actions When You Got WordsAs a social document of a country riddled by inner city despair, Who Needs Actions When You Got Words is a resounding success -- as an album you will listen to again, Plan B falls some way short. [12 June 2007] 
Patrick Wolf: The Magic PositionA bold, romantic album touched by a rare imagination and an indefinable magic -- pop music at its most deliriously inventive and exciting. [2 May 2007] 
Grinderman: GrindermanMuch more than a diversionary side project, Grinderman is a foul mouthed, frequently hilarious discharge of utterly essential midlife-crisis rock and roll. [10 April 2007] 
Plan B: Time 4 Plan BHis vision of England was one of forgotten, decaying sink estates overrun with crack and smack, teenage violence, underage sex and broken families. [9 April 2007] 
Robbie Williams: RudeboxRudebox is a flawed, stupid, incoherent mess of an album, but like the very best pop music, it isn't half fun. [16 March 2007] 
The Good, the Bad & the Queen: The Good, the Bad & the QueenDamon Albarn's new project crackles with life and melody throughout. It might be as grubby and mysterious as the London it evokes, but it's also as animated and vibrant as the streets around Portobello Market it comes from. [29 January 2007] 
Pulp: The Peel SessionsThis collection of Pulp's Peel Sessions serves as a poignant reminder not only of how great a band Pulp were, but of how important John Peel was to the development and evolution of British music. [16 January 2007] 
U2: U218 SinglesEverything about U218 Singles, from the radio-programmers tracklisting and disjointed running order, to the cheap, mulleted photographs that stare out from the sleeve, gives the impression of a compilation that has been cobbled together in a greedy hurry. [11 January 2007] 
Tiny Dancers: Lions And Tigers And LionsCountry-flecked psychedelic pop anthems from Yorkshire. [8 January 2007] 
Babyshambles: B SidesFor all their roughness, these b-sides still shine with unexpected flashes of melody and eloquence. [19 December 2006] 
Babyshambles: The Blinding EPThis EP is a reminder that before things started to get silly, and the ugly, gleaming spotlight turned on him, Pete Doherty was one of our most exciting songwriters. [7 December 2006] 
The Horrors: The Horrors EPRelease the bats! This debut EP by UK "band of the moment" is full of style over substance garage-rock, watered down, cartoon darkness -- and not a lot else. [30 November 2006] 
Jarvis Cocker: JarvisJarvis is a deliciously dark, funny and acidic record that stands up to anything from Pulp's heyday. It's good to have him back. [21 November 2006] 
A Northern Chorus: Before We All Go to PiecesA Northern Chorus' 2001 debut is an occasionally enthralling collection of dreamy space-rock atmospheres and plaintive alt-country melodies. [14 November 2006] 
The Lemonheads: The LemonheadsEvan Dando rolls back the wasted years to deliver a remarkably filler-free collection of simple, brilliant power-pop songs. [12 October 2006] 
Razorlight: RazorlightFor a record that displays such naked commercial ambitions, Razorlight is a startlingly unimaginative, bloated and anonymous listen. [29 September 2006] 
Guillemots: Through The WindowpaneStartlingly ambitious and soulful, in all its jazzy pop majesty, Through The Windowpane is a truly magnificent record quite unlike anything else you'll hear this year. [31 August 2006] 
Lambchop: DamagedLambchop have long been one of America's greatest bands, and Damaged is their greatest achievement. [30 August 2006] 
Primal Scream: Riot City BluesRiot City Blues sounds like it's been made by a band on rock and roll autopilot. It's a record of pastiche pieces, without the sense of impending danger or collapse that makes truly great rock and roll so thrilling. [4 August 2006] 
McFly: Just My LuckEnglish boy group McFly deliver an album of fun, bouncy guitar pop that's something of an unabashed guilty pleasure. [2 August 2006] Richard HawleyHawley's tunes bristle with experience and come soaked in impossible longing, leaving the listener open-mouthed and bursting with heated blood. [25 May 2006] 
Dirty Pretty Things: Waterloo to AnywhereCarl Barat returns from the wreckage of The Libertines with a collection of taut, visceral songs that occasionally touch on punk-pop perfection. [24 May 2006] 
Benjamin Zephaniah: NakedA pulsating and often brilliant collection of vital, angry poems set to a minimalist urban backing. [16 May 2006] 
Scott Walker: The DriftWalker has created a dense nightmare world on The Drift that -- in all its bloody, crawling glory -- is as boldly profound a comment on our times as has emerged so far this century. [10 May 2006] 
Guillemots: From the Cliffs EPHow did four ever so slightly geeky, hopelessly uncool birdwatchers from southern England (via Brazil) get around to making the pop record of the year so far? [28 April 2006] 
Stephen Fretwell: MagpieAn understated, lovelorn collection of northern songs that comes highly recommended. [29 March 2006] Gogol BordelloLeaving the bogs behind... [17 March 2006] 
Editors: The Back RoomEditors have made a thoughtful, expertly crafted and darkly sensuous indie-pop gem. Dirty Pretty ThingsRising Above the Shambles: On the sorted re-emergence of an ex-Libertine. [15 March 2006] 
Townes Van Zandt: Be Here to Love Me [DVD]Belonging to the ragged Texas country tradition with his roots in something deeper and timeless, Townes Van Zandt's poetic narratives and haunting melodies came from the dusty side of the road, from the motels and trailer parks rather than glossy Nashville studios. [10 March 2006] The Duke Spirit: Cuts Across the LandIf you like your rock and roll dirty, unbearably loud and downright f*cking sexy then The Duke Spirit could be right up your street. [8 March 2006] 
Beth Orton: Comfort of StrangersA mixed bag of songs, set to an easy, frequently beautiful folk rock landscape. [3 March 2006] Arab Strap: The Last RomanceArab Strap's version of romance might well be scarred and battered, but it's a romance that's real and breathtakingly recognisable. [21 February 2006] Elbow: Leaders of the Free WorldBruised, heartbroken stories from the city that confirms Elbow as one of the very best bands in Britain. [17 February 2006] 
Richard Ashcroft: Keys to the WorldThe dull groove the former Verve frontman seems to have settled into is striking. [31 January 2006] BlogsConsuming Consumables: The Good, the Bad & the Queen - The Good, the Bad & the Queen [$12.98] [21 November 2007] |
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