Elbow’s powers-that-be have decided that, for whatever reason, it’s time for a reissue. Asleep in the Back was Elbow’s debut, not-so-way-back in 2001. It’s been repackaged in a ‘deluxe’ edition (and who can resist anything with the word ‘deluxe’ on it?), with a CD of that winning cash-cow buzz word ‘bonus’, and a DVD featuring, well, a lot of odds and ends. Continue Reading

There are two things to bear in mind with The Maccabees sophomore album: firstly – do not judge it by the somewhat disturbing image of the band on the front cover, and secondly, it was produced by Markus Dravs who worked with Arcade Fire on Neon Bible. The cover makes it look like a pop-art project circa the 1980s. It’s really not. Whereas the Markus Dravs point is actually something worth considering. His input quietly sits in the background, noticeable, but without stealing their thunder. Continue Reading

Put it this way. If the recorded history of The Smiths were the First World War, Morrissey would be knee deep in the mud of Dunkirk by now. Stretching this a bit further would make Viva Hate the Treaty Of Versailles, Vauxhall and I the boom times of the mid 1920’s and Maladjusted the Great Depression. Sadly, it would also make You Are The Quarry the rise of the Nazi party, so we’ll leave that there; but it does serve to highlight the huge gulf of time between the group for which he is most famous and the solo artist he became. And in some respects, the strapping lad of 2009 is a long way from the wiry, puny wielder of flowers from the 80’s. Continue Reading