In a word, 'toss'

Don't waste your money on the new albums by Bloc Party or The Verve. I've tried to listen to them a few times now, but with no joy. Each time I find myself skipping to the next track to avoid torturing myself. I'm sure some of you reading this will like one or both if you spend long enough with them, but, fuck me, there's better stuff out there to be spending your cash on and filling your time.

I was going to write a long, and quite possibly pretentious, dismissal of these two records, but what's the point? I think they're both a bit shit. I quite liked the single, 'Love Is Noise', but most of the album is six minutes plus drones with fuck all in the way of lyrical quality and utterly inoffensive music. As for Bloc Party, it occasionally piqued my interest but then, just as quickly, pissed me off.

Don't you wish broadsheet reviews were like this?

Asphalt Ribbons

As the last post was thorough, structured and even vaguely factual, I reckon I can get away with something a little less coherent this time out.

I mentioned Tindersticks the other day. Seriously, how have I not found this band before now? They're just the right amount of...different to be utterly beguiling. It's that kind of quality sentence that will ensure that none of the big names in music publishing ever come calling, but how do you express this kind of music in mere words? I know this sounds like one of my usual attacks, whereby every couple of months I shit out hyperbole until I'm dehydrated, but I oh-so-definitely mean it this time.

If you ignored my call to arms the other day then I now present you with a few more useful resources to help you as you fall in love.

Firstly, last.fm has loads and loads of Tindersticks tracks available to stream in full; thus the love affair costs nothing! Click here and turn the speakers up.

Secondly, Tinder.info has a wealth of great Tindersticks info, interviews and reviews and I've found it invaluable as I've been trying to slot their back catalogue into place. It hasn't been updated for a bit, so it doesn't cover the recent album, 'The Hungry Saw', but pretty much everything else you'll need is there.

That is all.

A logo written in toothpaste

Mmmm. Another record shopping-based outing today. A small, but splendid, pile of records are being aired as I type. Currently, it's the new Stereolab, which is better than I'd expected after reading some mixed reviews on the net. The limited edition Japanese-style CD is rather fun too. Anyhoo, said record shopping expedition leads me to my (main) two topics for today.

Firstly, the Coalition of Independent Record Stores and secondly, the changing ways people purchase music, with a particular focus on those young rapscallions, Bloc Party.

I've mentioned the 'Coalition' a few times already and I'm still not convinced that it actually counts for anything. I've previously expressed my misgivings about the elitist approach it's taking and this has been underlined by my experiences over the past couple of weeks. As is my tendency at this time of year, I've been working my way round many of the independent record stores of the UK and, not being an especially shy chap, I've taken to engaging the staff (generally the owners, it must be said) of these stores in conversation about how business is going, which has, inevitably, brought us round to the topic of the Coalition.

When I first mentioned this idea it was alongside a blog post by the good folk at Norman Records that didn't paint the project in an especially pretty light. It would seem that the initial fears have proved absolutely correct. One of the main reasons quoted to Norm as to why they wouldn't be allowed into the Coalition was that this initiative is all about driving people back in to actual record shops rather than simply adding to online sales. As Norm pointed out at the time, many of the shops allowed in to the Coalition actually do a brisk trade online. Thus, it came as no surprise to me today to find that, upon visiting one of the Coalition stores - I'll not mention which one to avoid any assumptions about who said what - the Brett Anderson album, 'Wilderness', that is, apparently, exclusively available in Coalition stores in August ahead of its main release in September, had yet to arrive. It was officially released to these stores last Monday and yet this store had had none, and had no idea when they would actually arrive. However, Avalanche Records, who, if you remember, are the initial torch-holders for this endeavour, had plenty in stock from the off and have been merrily flogging them to anyone who wants them...via eBay! I know, just sit back and bask in the insane hypocrisy of that for a moment.

During the numerous chats I've had with Coalition members of late, it has been noted that a Brett Anderson album is hardly going to set the charts alight or keep the tills ringing for weeks on end. Surely, you don't release an album in a limited edition of 1900 if you think you can flog 1901, or more, copies of that title? That said, not even a handful of those 1900 copies had made it to at least one of the Coalition stores by this morning. When I last checked, Avalanche's eBay shop had put up 50 copies, and already sold 21 of them. Still, at least Avalanche aren't letting their position as 'head honcho' distort things in their favour. Oh, hang on. For fuck's sake, you're either trying to help out all of the people in the same, dire position or you're not.

Apparently, during the heated meetings that occur from time to time between representatives from the Coalition member stores one of the most recent (and I think you'll agree, brilliant) ideas was to have exclusive Coalition T-shirts that can only be bought from Coalition stores. Have you seen the Coalition logo? It's over to the right in amongst the links to independent record stores. It's truly appalling! The title of today's post is the best description I've been given of what the T-shirts look like. The most important point that's been raised, however, is who the bloody hell would actually wear one of these things, let along buy it? Furthermore, who even knows that the Coalition exists apart from over-keen people like my good self and you, my loyal readers? It seems like an exercise in dithering thus far. A Brett Anderson album that you couldn't pay most people to take away is exclusively available from Coalition stores - unless it's not of course. It's intended to provide an incentive to shop in a bricks and mortar record shop, and yet it's doing steady business on a world-famous, online - and let's be pretty fucking aware - corporate auction site. Mission accomplished.

Some readers may remember the joyous days of the 'Chain With No Name', regularly labelled as CWNN on adverts in the music press. Regular pages would tell you what the latest indie releases were and then, at the bottom of the ad, you could find out where to buy them from. CWNN occasionally led to little perks like bonus discs or posters you couldn't get elsewhere. Not CWNN T-shirts, you'll notice.

Some questions remain about the Coalition:

1. Who's it really for? Does the consumer really benefit when there's bugger all advertising, the stock isn't actually in the shops that it's supposed to be in and those in charge don't appear to care too much about other shops.

2. What's it really for? If it doesn't actually alter the record-buying experience, how will it have an impact? Is anyone going to think, "Balls to buying that CD on play.com for £6.99, I'm going in to town, to my local indie so I can get it for £9.99, but at least I'll have the chance to buy one of those lovely T-shirts?" I suspect - and I'd so dearly loved to be proved wrong on this - that the answer is no.

3. Does it actually have any meaningful principles? If web-only indie stores aren't going to be allowed in on the grounds that they don't cause people to tend towards independent stores on the high street, shouldn't all Coalition exclusives be store sales only? Isn't it a really shitty tactic to ostracise online-only dealers and then fill your pockets with eBay funded cash?

As virtually nobody knows about the Coalition and even fewer care, I think that'll have to be my last word on it for the time being. I'm sure I'll be whining about it again by this time next week.

And so, eventually, we come to the other topic of note. Bloc Party's new album, 'Intimacy', is out on Thursday, at 9am. No, really. Out of nowhere, they've come up with the idea of announcing an almost immediate download of an album, with a CD version to follow. It's revolutionary, I tell thee. To be fair, the manner in which they've done it is quite neat. It was only announced last night and yet, in a couple of days time, the album will be all over file-sharing networks the world over. And a few people will pay for it, I'm sure. However, it continues the logic I was touching on yesterday with my post about boxsets. The bands and record industries are desperately looking for anything that will give the business a quick cash injection. Using upfront, and unexpected, paid for downloads is a very simple way of avoiding the 'leak' issue that can cause untold damage to physical sales, as everybody illegally downloaded the album six weeks before it came out for real. Not the case with this. However, if you look at the new David Byrne and Brian Eno release, 'Everything That Happens Will Happen Today', which went on sale digitally yesterday. A CD will follow, if you took that option on purchase, but for now you've got the MP3 or flac files to play with. However, disproving the theory that this makes leaks less of an issue, within an hour of the webshop going live, the album was available for illegal download all over the internet. I'd recommend the Flac + CD option, personally, but the point remains that plenty of people don't expect to have to pay anything and giving them a good deal does nothing to change their minds.

Oh, and if 'Mercury' is anything to go by, it'll be a big bag of arse anyway. That said, I'm sure they'll get my tenner and I'll have a grumble about it on here at the end of the week.

That'll do for now, eh?

Boxing clever (and why I love Tindersticks)

The Monkey album, 'Journey To The West' came out today and it's really rather good. I'd anticipated having to give it a number of listens before warming to it. I figured it'd be awkward and difficult to get my head round, but it's actually pretty accessible. There's some lovely little Albarn melodies and flourishes throughout and, while there's still far too much to get your head round on the first listen, you'll certainly find yourself going back for more.

The only way you can get this on vinyl is via the special edition by The Vinyl Factory, which is £65 before P+P! As much as I love Damon's music, I'm not shelling out that kind of cash on a one album. It's one of many, similarly insane, projects that have been put before the record-buying public of late. When Radiohead announced the 'In Rainbows' project, back in October of last year, the media made bold claims about the impact it would have on the music industry and how free music would be the way forward. Far from it, it turns out. The actual legacy of the experiment is the 'discbox' effect, with prices ranging from 'a little steep' to 'taking the piss'. Primal Scream have one for 'Beautiful Future', also created by The Vinyl Factory. You get the album, on double vinyl, plus a 12" with one remix on it, a poster and a fancy, but flimsy booklet. All for the knock-down, bargainous price of £50 + P+P. No, seriously! There's one for the new album by The Verve, which features the CD/DVD and double vinyl (featuring two bonus tracks) and a booklet with 'exclusive artwork'. £40 to you. Likewise, Portishead's 'Third' came in a box with double vinyl, an etched 12" of 'Machine Gun' (available elsewhere for £4) and a USB stick with digital files of the album and some videos. Once again, £40. The new Oasis album will also be available in a £50 special edition and there are plenty of others that you can seek out in your own time. As nice an idea as they initially seem, it's starting to feel like the record companies have grabbed at this concept as a way of trying to prop-up flagging sales by fleecing the hardcore fans for as much as they're willing to pay.

Obviously, I'm in the minority in that I buy a lot of records and thus I'm exposed to a lot of these 'special' editions, whereas perhaps the casual fan is less aware of how common these are becoming. However, that doesn't make them any more palatable. The original Radiohead discbox is a delight. Worth £40? Probably not, but it was justifiable as a 'one-off', a treat, a nice item for the collection. But, now they're coming thick and fast, I'm finding myself tempted by many options and therefore choosing to buy none of them. The minute these become an acceptable indulgence, my record-buying budget goes out the window. I know, I know; I'm moaning about something I can just ignore. If I think they're too pricey, I can just not buy them. But they're so pretty!

Two more things before I go. Firstly, I was flicking through the Later - The First 15 Years DVD the other day and came across a truly joyous performance from Al Green. Sure, at times he does Grandad dancing and smiling that much is probably bad for your health (well, your jaw at least) but he just oozes enjoyment and I found myself grinning like an idiot by the end. Watch it yourself right now:

I've spent most of the last few days listening to the music of Nottingham's Tindersticks. Why had nobody told me about them before? I knew they were there but I've no real recollection of hearing much of their stuff previously and I'd never read anything that made me want to investigate, but I've really been missing out. Delicate but ambitious indie music that isn't ashamed to wear its soul and jazz influences in public, their back catalogue is an absolute joy. The first two albums, both, confusingly, called 'Tindersticks' are avilable now in expanded, double CD format and I cannot recommend them highly enough. That said, I'd also recommend all of their other studio albums, so you won't go wrong, whatever you go for.

Here's some YouTube-age to begin the love-in.

This is the track, 'For Those', rendered so beautifully on the Bloomsbury disc that accompanies the reissued version of their second album and in demo form on the debut's bonus disc.

A vintage Jools performance - firstly, 'No More Affairs'

and then 'Talk To Me'.

Finally, this is the much-revered, 'Tiny Tears', accompanied by some random footage, as it average You-Tuber's wont.

Good, aren't they? If you've just fallen in love, thank me later. If you already knew, why didn't you tell me?

I stand before you to urge you towards Action

On Saturday, I spent a couple of hours sampling music on the MySpace pages of acts tagged as 'friends' on Steve Lamacq's page. In that time, I found one act I liked the sound of. One! My new found enthusiasm for tarting around on MySpace was quickly extinguished. The one act I liked? Well, for a start, they've already split up but, on the plus side, you can download their music for free from their site.  They are The Arrogants and their music is essentially a rockier Sundays. Occasionally somebody gives them a few too many blue Smarties, but I suggest you have a listen. Go here for free audio goodness.

I finally visited Action Records in Preston yesterday. I've used them for mail order from time to time over the years, but I'd never previously experienced the shop. It was a delightful (and costly) experience. I'll get my one concern out of the way immediately: For most of the time that I was in the shop, there was no music playing. That's not right, is it? I used to have to budget extra when shopping in the now defunct Reveal Records of Derby to allow for the inevitable purchase of whatever was on the 'now playing' shelf. I expect to be bombarded with tunes and I don't remotely care if they're actually toss, just so long as they're there. Which reminds me. The other week, whilst browsing the vinyl department of a well-known Midlands indie store, the young lad behind the counter decided that the next record we were going to hear was the current (and oh-so-very-perfect) Elbow album, 'The Seldom Seen Kid'. He'd been playing a dance 12" previously and so, just as the record was starting, he flicked the speed from 45 to 331/3. Unfortunately for him, that particular album is pressed on two 45rpm discs. Plus, the opening track has a long, instrumental build-up before the vocal arrives. Hoping to communicate in the way only slightly anti-social, slightly hairy musos can, I looked across at him trying to convey my confusion about what was coming out of the speakers. At this point, he gave me a look that I can only describe as, "What, peasant? Haven't you heard this great record?" Once Guy Garvey's delightful voice grace the speakers, he hurriedly (and, agonisingly, audibly) dragged the needle away from the vinyl. A few seconds later, it returned at the correct speed. As I was leaving, I looked across and he scowled at me. If you're going to be an indie snob, know your bloody tunes. Like me, for example!

Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, Preston. Action Records is packed full of quality stock and disturbingly good prices. In particular, the new vinyl section is very reasonably priced. For example, the Johnny Flynn album, 'A Larum' is available as a double-vinyl, pop-up gatefold sleeve, limited edition for £20. In Action, £18. And such was the case for many other titles I could mention. There's a huge CD sale with piles of stuff reduced (admittedly not all of it worthy of your attention). Back catalogue isn't marked up ludicrously and it's clear that their approach to stock control is to keep prices low on stock that isn't shifting. Seems sensible, but so few other record shops do it. I won't say much more other than to once again recommend their excellent mail order service which is available on their website here and to reiterate how delightful I found to be.  A rare beacon of splendour on an increasingly dour music shopping landscape.

On that note, I've put up a link to the 'Coalition' site along with the other record shops on the right-hand side of the page. I mentioned it a few months back and how it's meant to unite the remaining indie stores in the UK to make them stronger and to help with business. However, they're still not involving the good folk of Norman Records (or some other indie mail order types I can think of) because they don't have an actual shop. Surely, for something designed as a means of fighting the big companies who shut off doors to small companies, being elitist is rather anti the ethos of the Coalition? Who knows.

Do you have hallucinatory visions of The Chuckle Brothers?

Mojo readers - is it wrong to like that cover of 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da' by Gabriella Cilmi that's on this month's free CD? Clearly, it's dreadful, wrong and naughty, but something about it got under my skin. Surreal, to say the least. Not a great start, I know, wittering on about a track you'll only know if you buy a certain magazine. Not unusual, either.

The post had a few surprises in it today. Firstly, the new Herman Dune album, 'Next Year In Zion', which is really rather good. Never taken to them in the past, but, on first impressions, it sounds splendid. They haven't changed particularly, perhaps I have.

Secondly, a new album from Misty's Big Adventure! Oh yes! The last one only came out towards the end of last year, but even so there is more to delight, thrill and confuzzle your ears. 'Television's People' is a concept album about a troubled man seeking solace in daytime stodge who ends up getting sucked into the TV. Delightfully bizarre, but not especially surprising when it comes to Misty's. If you've not yet had the pleasure of this lot  then a) you're not a long-standing, loyal reader of the Vinyl Junkies internet presence (fair enough, really) and b) you're in for an absolute treat. Start with the album, 'The Black Hole' and then buy everything else. Anyhoo, this album is wonderfully good and comes with a quite brilliant press release by Grandmaster Gareth (the head honcho). I truly hope the good folk of Misty's and SL records won't mind that I've temporarily placed track 10, 'There Is Hope' on the Muxtape, simply because of its comic genius. It documents the daytime commercials coming alive in the head of the man at the centre of the story and he starts to believe that the telly is talking to him. Superb. Naturally, if anyone's pissed off at its presence on the Mux, please let me know and it'll disappear rapidly. That also goes for any of the new bands whose material I've popped on there as a taster for those who'd like to go and spend their hard earned quids on some independent releases.

As I believe I mentioned the other day, I was off on my jolly holidays last week and upon arrival I was heartened by the lack of phone reception and utterly shite TV signal. I was subsequently startled when I turned on the DAB radio and had the strongest reception I've ever had. Figure that out. Anyway, as a result of that, I ended up spending some time with 6music outside of the Gideon Coe show. In particular, I spent a few afternoons with the ever-delightful Lammo. Only the other week I was praising his blog and now it's the turn of his radio show. His 'New Favourite Band' feature is a logical extension of what he's been doing on the radio for years and years. Quite simply, each week he identifies a new act to which he's taken a shine. Last week it was Tom Williams & The Boat. It's a good band name that. Although the name at the start is nothing out of the ordinary, by adding '& The Boat' on the end, the name is suddenly memorable. It would've been enough to keep it lodged in my mind until I got back to the world of Google. Obviously, I'm geeky enough that if I ever happen upon music I like when I can't do anything about it, I save the name of act and song as a draft text message, but if I wasn't a geek, I'd still have been able to remember their name.

Anyway, we got sidetracked there. Tom Williams & The Boat's latest release is the 'Got Fuel EP', which you can get from this website. It's a delightful little package, coming as it does in a PVC sleeve with a wraparound sleeve made of glossy photos stuck to sugar paper. Inside, you get two more photos, a lyric sheet and, of course, the rather splendid CD. 'Got Fuel' is a delightfully woozy indie singalong that has been going round in my head for the best part of this week. To confuse matters, there's a song called 'Pete & The Pirates' that actually sounds like a menacing version of The Young Republic and 'Half Mast' contains one of my current favourite lyrical refrains; "I don't have a hoodie set at half mast, sitting on my fringe like  balaclava on my chin." I'm not putting it on the Mux because I think the bloke deserves £6 for that alone.

The whole EP is great but, should you want more convincing, over on the main TW&TB site there are loads of free downloads, including some rather amusing covers. Treat yourself.

One final act of note today. Our Broken Garden are a new act on the, quite superb, Bella Union label. She - for it is only one woman, Anna Broensted of Efterklang - had an EP out back in April called, 'Lost Sailor' and there's a new album on the way in September, entitled 'When Your Blackening Shows'. Nothing else to tell, I'm afraid, but you can be thoroughly enchanted by the tunes over at the Myspace page.

 

A curator, if you will

I'm not even sure what radio show it was, back in the day, one of the stations I listened to used to do a music press review on a Wednesday. Actually, it might have been in the early days of 6music when Andrew Collins' afternoon show (RIP) was still called 'Teatime'. Anyway, I used to love hearing the cherry-picked highlights and treated it as a buyer's guide. Sadly, there isn't enough music press to make that particularly worthy these days, but, on this occasion, indulge me.

There are two things I've been meaning to share with you. The first is the rather excellent list of 'Things heard at the Latitude festival' in this month's Uncut.

Some of my favourites:

• "Pimm's me up to the power of two!"
• Heard over a walkie-talkie: "Child control to the Poetry Arena!"
• "Seriously, I thought it was called Ricky Pedia. I assumed it was a bloke with a really popular MySpace page."
• Woman on phone telling her friends where to meet her: "I'm directly below the cloud that looks a bit like Cyprus."

Splendid stuff.

The second item of note is in today's NME. Now, I know that every few months I keep saying almost nice things about this magazine but it really has shown signs of improvement recently. For a start, the woefully pretentious letter from the editor - and his picture, for that matter - has disappeared from the third page and the writing just seems sharper and funnier. Mark Beaumont having a weekly column can only be a good thing. Anyway, this week, the main feature is a huge interview with Noel Gallagher. Say what you like about Oasis, and most people do, Noel is fantastically good value when it comes to interviews. Never one to disappoint, this time around it's regarding Jay-Z.

"I never dissed that guy. But there's no point going on about it or you end up sounding like Heather Mills."

Fair point, well made. It's worth £2.20 to read the whole thing.

And finally, today's new music mutterings:

They describe themselves as 'ambient/electronica/pop', which'll do for me. That said, one track, 'Handcuffs' is pure indie joy from start to finish. If you've already visited the VJ myspace then that's the track that blares out at you when the page loads. Good, innit? They're good Welsh boys, are Man Without Country. That's who I'm on about, by the way. There are delightful moments in the aforementioned track where you're left in no doubt about the band's country of origin and I can't deny that I love it all the more because of that. The other tracks that you can hear on their Myspace and iSound pages have a little more of that ambient feel to them, but if you love innovative, energetic songs then you should give them a few minutes of your time.

Quite spacious at the moment

Ok, so it's very 2005, but I spent longer than I meant to setting up a Myspace page for the blog yesterday. I mention lots of different bands on this blog and increasingly it tends to be things that aren't perhaps as well known as they deserve to be. To make it easy for the loyal readers of this blog to have a listen to the stuff I'm talking about, the Myspace page will try to link to as many of these bands in the 'friends' section, thus allowing you to listen to whatever they've got on their Myspace player. Simple, eh? Anyway, don't expect it to look particularly special - that's not the point. (Plus, I'm not entirely sure how to do that anyway) It's there for the tunes. Little, clickable link on the top right of the site.

A few things to talk about today. First up, a single that was released, seemingly via download only (I know, the site is called Vinyl Junkies, but give me a break) today by Ryan Mullin. The track is called 'The Splint', on Grooveland Records. I've seen it described on the interweb as tech-house, whatsoever the flying fuck that means, but to me it's just very, very good. I have a soft spot for imaginative electronic music of whatever kind. That Glow album is still wonderful, by the way. Anyhoo, 'The Splint' can be heard in full over the Ryan's Myspace and there are many links to allow you to buy the track for varying prices and in varying qualities, from 192kbps MP3 up to WAV. Treat yourself.

Secondly, Robin Allender and The Allender Band. Technically two different acts, although you can probably guess what the common factor is. I defy anyone to listen to the start of 'Green Wound' and feel nothing. It's not possible. That noodly little guitar thing (so, so technical, as always) is just beautiful and the way the band gradually seem to arrive in the background sets you up for a rather splendid piece of music. It's one of the best tracks I've heard all year. Thankfully, it's not a one-off. The accompanying 'In The Grip Of Light' EP is all of the same standard. You can also pick up Robin's solo album from last year. There is some overlap with the material, but it's a worthy purchase. Both CDs come in exceptionally fun card boxes with fold-down flaps and black CDs. You can order straight from the Dreamboat Records site. The less said about the name of Robin's previous band, the better.

Here's the original, stripped down version of 'Green Wound' by Robin. Full version, oddly enough, can be heard on his Myspace.

Finally, as the whole point of setting up the Myspace page is to tie together recommended tunes and to hunt out other good stuff, I should give a mention to the first act to request friendship from the mighty bastion of musical mutterings that is Vinyl Junkies. The honour goes to Derby band, Leon. Nope, I'd never heard of them either. Now, they're not doing anything particularly original and I don't imagine anyone's ever heard one of their records and thought, "Christ! The future of music is here," but they do melodic indie-rock rather well and considerably better than plenty of bands that are selling records these days. 'Hope' sounds like contemplative Feeder and 'Be There' sounds immediately familiar - a bit like a tidied up and polished Super Furries singalong in the chorus.

Oh, and while I think of it, here's the album cover for the quite magnificent Glow album, 'I, Yeah!'

No reason, other than the fact that it gives me another chance to point out how wonderful it is. I promise you, I'm not being bribed to mention it. Like this blog will ever be that important, anyway! Still, like I said yesterday, it's only a fiver!

I'm hoping to tell you a little bit about Man Without Country tomorrow, but I'm waiting on some demo tracks from them. Worth the wait, I assure you.

Taking all the credit

Having been banging on about physical media and the demise of the record shop only yesterday, I found myself purchasing a download-only album mere hours after publishing said blog entry. My main excuses are that a) it was only a fiver b) it isn't available by any other means. I'm not especially fond of downloads, mainly because I rarely form an attachment with music I acquire in that manner, but on this occasion I'll make an exception. The album I download was 'I, Yeah!' by up-and-coming (get me!) Bristol band, Glow.

Regular readers may remember me droning on about the sheer majesty of Northampton's finest, Maps, last year. The album, 'We Can Create', just edged 'The Good, The Bad & The Queen' as my album of 2007. It's slightly squelchy, delightfully indie, intelligently-crafted electronic music. And that, my music-loving-internet-browsing chums, is also how I would describe 'I, Yeah!' Seriously, it's that good. It hasn't been with me long enough for me to make insanely hyperbolic statements about how it's as good as the Maps album, but I can forsee a long and beautiful relationship. It won't be quite as beautiful as could be though, because it's a CD-R. Still, mustn't grumble. This appears to be a clear argument for the increasing reliance on digital releases. My guess would be that this album would have been a financial nightmare to get off the ground if it had to be pressed up and packaged as a full CD release, but as a download that you can pay for with Paypal, it's a (relative) piece of piss.

I should just confess at this point that I shambled upon this rather wonderful album as a result of the tireless work of one Adam Walton. I've mentioned him before for one reason or another, but for those not up to speed he's the host of a late-night new music show on BBC Radio Wales. I became hooked on the show in an earlier format during my later teenage years living in South Wales and I've kept listening from time to time ever since. A few months back he played the Glow album in its entirety. As it happens, I missed that show, but while following the time-extinguishing Google/Wiki trail of Adam Walton I happened upon a post on their site about him doing that. So, I had a listen and the rest, as they say, is history. For those counting cliches in this post, I think that's four.

Adam's great, by the way, and sadly not as revered as he should be. There are two remaining, essential new music shows for me these days - one is, as you may be aware by now, Gideon Coe on 6music and the other is Adam's. He plays some truly bizarre stuff from time to time, but his show is essentially a latter-day John Peel show with the emphasis on Welsh music. Last night I heard a hip-hop group called Mudmowth - great, although the Myspace page appears to have been written by an Alan Partridge version of Westwood - a delightful female artist by the name of Georgia Ruth Williams, the folksy delights of The Toy Band and a truly brilliant indie band called Man Without Country. Click on the respective names to find out more and/or have a listen to last night's show via the BBC iPlayer. He's on every Sunday from 10pm.

Oh, and if you didn't click on the link above, go and buy the Glow album here.

Not Keane.

Chortling, red-cheeked, rehab-frequenting, hay-chewing chump Tom Chaplin and his popular music troupe, Keane, are offering a track from their new album as a free download for one week only, starting today. 'Spiralling' is really, really bad. To give you some idea how bad it is, I had to listen to Bloc Party's 'Mercury' afterwards, in order to cleanse my ears*.

Allow me to convey my disgust in real time. I'll just restart the song.

Big, cheesy 'Ooooh!' over synthetic guitar sounds and eighties piano. Verse begins with drums, bass and repetitive piano refrain and over-emoted and over-polished vocals sit atop, speaking lots and saying nothing.

Stadium roof-lifting chorus. Tick.

"I fashioned you from jewels and stone, I made you in the image of myself." Must have used a lot of rubies.

Cheesy guitar thing from start runs through the chorus but there's not really a hook to hum along with. It goes up and down, up and down. You know like Keane songs do. It's so obvious they even made a video demonstrating it for the first single off the last album.

Ah, the middle-eight.

"Did you wanna be a winner?

Did you wanna be an icon?

Did you wanna be famous?

Did you wanna be the president?"

In a weirdly American sounding voice, Tom bellows the above, and more that I can't be bothered typing out. A few screeching, internet dial-up noises at this point to sound...edgy?

Chorus comes back. Oh good. I'm not sure that even Max Moseley would have got much enjoyment from listening to this.

Well, I've no idea what they're trying to do with their 'sound'. I confess that I quite liked bits of the debut, but whatever this is, it's not for me.

Download, for free, from here.

*Cotton buds are more effective.

The Kids Aren't Alright...apparently

I've just returned from a week in Northumberland. Very nice, thanks for asking. While in the area, I took the opportunity to drop in on the independent record shops of Newcastle. Before I go into any kind of detail, I should point out that I tried to go to Steel Wheels, but I'm fucked if I know where it is. Apparently it's now called Beatdown Records and I found their old store and...  oh, forget it. I'm still bitter, ok?

Anyway, I very much enjoyed my time in both RPM and Reflex. RPM smells like a proper record shop. I'd feel obliged to explain that statement were it not for the fact that I'm making it on this blog. And if you're reading this blog then I'm fairly certain that you know what I'm on about. In addition to this, they were playing 'The Good, The Bad & The Queen', which I'm not sure I've ever heard being played in record shop previously. It was a promising start. As it happens, I didn't actually spend any money in there. Not that their stock isn't splendid. There's racks of vinyl at reasonable prices, a reasonably clear filing system for the CDs and a few sale racks. I have nothing but praise for RPM, it's exactly how I would describe the model independent record shop. Ticks every box.

I also visited Reflex, where I confess a number of my quids were liberated by the fine tune-age of Terry Callier and Micah P Hinson. It's a bit more sanitised than RPM - which is to say everything is very neatly arranged and not an inch of display space is wasted. It's clearly a very efficiently run business and you have to applaud any shop that employs a Lurch looky-likey to stand at the end of the road with a large sign directing custom shopwards. I was served by a slightly hyperactive woman who offered up the kind of banter you just don't get in your enormo-stores. Just as I was about to pay, I noticed 'Old Rare New', a delightful tome about independent record stores, up on a shelf and thus double the cost of my shop. Still, another great indie store. The people of Newcastle are spoilt.

In amongst the many tales told in 'Old Rare New' is a page by Sister Ray owner, Phil Barton. I enjoyed his words and offered a token world-weary sigh as I read his comment that,  "kids don't collect records anymore, they steal tunes instead." He may well have a point, I thought. Then, I got back yesterday and found my weekly email update from Sister Ray, in which the news was imparted that the shop is in administration while a new buyer is sought. I'll be honest, my first thought was, "Shit! Don't they own Selectadisc in Nottingham too?" I've since had most of my fears about a knock-on effect allayed, but I'm still rather dismayed by the news about this Berwick Street great. It's a cracking shop, full of the sort of records any self-respecting collection requires and not unreasonable prices. A few years back it moved across the road into the old Selectadisc store when that particular business opted to concentrate on one city only. I've not been since the move, but I remember, in its slightly pokier previous location, being thoroughly chuffed with its stock. It was in Sister Ray that I finally managed to buy a - not 100% official - copy of 'Fanfare For The Comic Muse' by The Divine Comedy, back in 2001. I'd spent years looking for it and was happily dispatched with a copy, some sixteen pounds lighter. I'm sure I've moaned about the state of Berwick Street in the past, but only a few years ago it was the ideal day out. A street full of record shops, each offering different things for the rabid collector, but it's now flagging seriously. I hope that Sister Ray finds someone willing to stump up the cash, but its potential demise is yet another sign that the physical product isn't winning over the latest generation of music fans.

I'm still a little concerned about Selectadisc. I wrote about the reduction in floor space a few months back, and while the shop isn't part of the same company as Sister Ray, I know there are some financial links. I can only hope that its legacy and seemingly continued popularity with the good folk of the East Midlands will ensure its survival for some time to come. If that fails, does anyone know what house prices are like in Newcastle?