New music releases

MGMT 'Oracular Spectacular' (Song BMG)
Psychedelic guitar duo MGMT bring Bowie's most intergalactic moments up to date with an astonishing collection of retro-pop which more than lives up to the current hype surrounding the band. Mixing the extremes of Electric Six with the serious pop of the likes of Chromeo, tracks such as single 'Time To Pretend' and the foolishly feel-good 'Kids' confirm the arrival of the year's most widely approved-of pop newcomers. A perfect balance of style and substance. Michael



Vincent Vincent And The Villains 'Gospel Bombs' (EMI)
No longer the oddly-named indie collective of choice, as Joe Lean And The Jing Jang Jong out-do Vincent Vincent and pals in both title and on record, as these once hotly-tipped quirky indie kids fail to deliver on their early promise.
Michael


Hercules And Love Affair 'Hercules and Love Affair' (DFA)
Dust off your dancing shoes, for this century's finest Roman-influenced disco heroes are ready to explode in long-player format onto a dancefloor near you. The group, who feature Antony (and the Johnsons) Hegarty, have created a masterpiece from a rag tag of disparate sounds: brazen brass on 'Hercules' Theme', trademark DFA clacking glockenspiels on 'You Belong', nineties house on 'Free Will', synthy soul on 'Athene' and the odd spoonful of sadness on single 'Blind'. So forget whatever nay-sayers have said about disco in The Past and meet the disco of the future. Keeley



Winona 'Winona' (Annalog)
Pretentious synth pop by two Scotsmen wishing desperately they were born on the far side of the British channel. Winona's debut album creates a certain ambience but at the expense of any killer tracks or moments of individual merit. With film composer Craig Armstrong being one of these Scots, there's a definite cinematic feeling to the album, but without the visuals to accompany the music, it's like taking a seat in an empty theatre. Michael



OneRepublic 'Dreaming Out Loud' (Polydor)
Do you remember how 'Apologize' by Timbaland and OneRepublic owned the charts last autumn? Well OneRepublic are eating out on that musical offering and re-releasing their debut album, 'Dreaming Out Loud'. Good job too because tracks 'Stop And Stare' and 'Say All I Need' all adhere to the fantastic template the LA-band laid down with their worldwide smash: angelic vocals from Ryan Tedder, stadium guitars and strings and wail-along choruses. If you don't flail your arms around and sing your heart out to this, we'll eat our own hands. Keeley



Surrounded 'The Nautilus Years' (One Little Indian)
Fuzzily lush Swedish band Surrounded steal Sparklehorse's sonic crown with their Flaming Lips-esque beauty of an album. Yearning and melancholic, 'The Nautilus Years' makes misery sound a gloriously appealing thing. Keeley



Jackie Oates 'The Violet Hour' (Chudleigh Roots)
Former fiddler with the rightly-lauded Rachel Unthank & The Winterset, Jackie Oates' second album strips traditional music down to the barest of accompaniments to her celestial voice, bringing to mind the slightly haunting arrangements of Dolly and Shirley Collins or the English countryside sweetness of Virginia Astley. But as with all great collections of ballads, there's a decent amount of longing, lost love and death to be found amongst the daydreamy summer-ness of these songs.
This is an accomplished and beautiful album from a unique singer and musician, 'The Violet Hour' must surely be a contender for folk album of the year. Tim




» Reviewed by: Michael, Keeley and Tim
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