3 Stars rated Albums & EPs

View reviews by rating:

El Guincho - Alegranza

3 Stars

It’s still head and (shaking) shoulders above any ‘world music’ set but yep, missing too many of those party-tricks that really make it something more than a holiday fling.

23rd October 2008

Gang Gang Dance – Saint Dymphna

3 Stars

Among other things, such as mental illness, happy families and runaways, Saint Dymphna is said to be the patron saint of outsiders. Make of it what you will that Gang Gang Dance have broken their three year silence with an album that takes the name of the aforementioned saint, but whatever they are trying to represent it is hard to tell how well they are doing it.

17th October 2008

Tim Ten Yen - Everything Beautiful Reminds Me Of You

3 Stars

Nicely textured piano pop.

13th October 2008

Sportsday Megaphone - So Many Colours / So Little Time

3 Stars

Any videogame released in the eighties has an amazing soundtrack.

24th September 2008

Glasvegas - Glasvegas

3 Stars

When claims as high and mighty as those banded around of late are in play there’s a lot to live up to.

9th September 2008

The Verve - Forth

3 Stars

Little more than the band looking smugly over their shoulder.

3rd September 2008

Kitty, Daisy and Lewis - Kitty, Daisy and Lewis

3 Stars

Welcome to the fifties with Kitty, Daisy and Lewis!

2nd September 2008

Fucked Up - The Year of the Pig EP

3 Stars

It’s difficult to work out what Fucked Up are aiming for.

14th August 2008

My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges

3 Stars

It amazingly isn’t until fourth track that the album settles down into a flow of lo-fi indie that lifts the album into a far more pleasant experience.

9th June 2008

Peter Moren - The Last Tycoon

3 Stars

‘The Last Tycoon’ is a pleasing diversion until the PB&J follow-up to ‘Writer’s Block’.

5th May 2008

Sam Sparro - Sam Sparro

3 Stars

There has been a paucity of exciting male pop stars of late, and it’s with interest that we’ve watched Sam Sparro’s ascendence.

28th April 2008

Dan Giberman - Thrills Without Gills: A Celebration Of The Living Land

3 Stars

His nearly whispered vocal husk makes his sweet little songs all the sweeter.

26th February 2008

Kyte - Kyte

3 Stars

Cult British cinema blossoms with blanched, drugged-out faces and milky London mornings.

4th February 2008

Farewell - Isn’t This Supposed To Be Fun!?

3 Stars

Rock is, if you choose to believe North Carolina sextet Farewell, the preserve of the doom-laden, the ponderous and the just plain grumpy.

4th February 2008

Adele - 19

3 Stars

It’s a shame that the record doesn’t seem to allow Adele to act her age: these feel like songs written for someone at least ten years older, if not more.

28th January 2008

The Young Republic - 12 Tales From Winter City

3 Stars

Don’t let the rating be an affirmative guide. Rather, let it represent a sort of average between the two moods.

21st January 2008

Dawn Landes - Fireproof

3 Stars

There is a lot of romance in ‘Fireproof’, a candlelit album embroidered on eternal folk themes.

21st January 2008

Rivers Cuomo - Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo

3 Stars

The main lesson to be learnt from ‘Alone’ is that persistence makes perfect.

18th December 2007

Neil Burrell - White Devil’s Day Is Almost Over

3 Stars

We salute Neil’s carefree loopiness, surreally imaginative mind and ability to cut off from the past thirty-five years of music.

3rd December 2007

Annuals - Frelen Mas EP

3 Stars

‘Frelen Mas’ stands more as an extension of ‘Be He Me’ than a collection of B‑sides.

6th November 2007

Keyboard Choir - Mizen Head To Gascanane Sound

3 Stars

Keyboard Choir create the kind of multi-layered synthesised futuristic sounds that instantly conjure up images of Flash Gordon prancing around, trying to save the world.

5th November 2007