-TC

Had Justice’s 2007 album Cross not been so good, no one would remember the then 19 year old Uffie who contributed sassy vocals to ‘Tthhee Ppaarrttyy’. Luckily it’s been on heavy rotation since its release and the Uffie flame’s kept on burning. Three years in the making, Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans is finally here, thanks to a bank of cutting edge French producers.

Like the Justice track, it’s vocoder-heavy but she also unmasks her vocals for a good portion of the record, revealing more of herself. The music’s generally inspired and the album as a whole is essentially bubble-gum pop with a solid streak of attitude and a whole lot of fun. ‘Neuneu’ plays into the fun aspect perfectly with a backing thatwouldn’t be out of place opening a lighthearted ‘70s cop show and ‘Hong Kong Garden’ is a nice homage to her upbringing here in HK. Only once does it fall really flat on its face and that’s ‘ADD SUV’, featuring the now irrelevant Pharrell Williams. She’s best off with the French pioneers, the US former rap stars are void.

-TC

Opener ‘Crimson’ has a mesmerising chorus that is worthy of repeat listens; the title track is a melodic treat fit for cruising through a dusky* Mexico (or any long drive out of our city) and ‘Mandala’ really gets you in the mood for ditching the car for horseback as it gently canters through the plains. In fact, as the albums goes on, you start to embark on a dreamy spaghetti western story of love, lust and the internal search, only to open your eyes to discover you’ve just had a very pleasant nap. Lovely.

-AL

Former Razorlight drummer Andy Burrows’ stickmanship adds a real punch and spontaneity to the solid bed of Chris Cain’s satisfying rumbling bass and Keith Murray’s inspired guitar playing. 2008‘s Brain Thrust Mastery layered synths on heavy but this record takes a stripped down approach; they’ve always been an explosive three-piece and Barbara’s raw live sound gets that across perfectly. In a genre so often middling and unoriginal, WAS stand head and shoulders above the rest by constantly making it work. They also once made me stage a knife fight. True story.

-TC

If you’re in the mood for some electro-house whilst you’re pottering about or any other less taxing activity, pop this on and contently enjoy. Oh, don’t bother searching for reason behind the interestingly named tracks. We guess it’s just one of those cases where you can have fun with a name without relating it to anything. Why the hell not?

-AL

The ArchAndroid is a concept album. A single story connects the album’s 18 tracks, creating a complete and rich musical narrative with perfect pacing so never feels like it dips. The songs are succinct and the album has no interludes or fillers just for the sake of it; each song is crafted to help progress the story. The genres on show come together so wonderfully, ranging from classical, ‘60s R&B and pop to James Brown inspired funk. Her hit single ‘Tightrope’, although fabulously crafted, doesn’t give an idea of what this piece of work is about. ‘Dance Or Die’ and ‘Faster’ will get your feet moving while the more relaxed tunes ‘Oh, Maker’ and ‘Neon Street Valley(MY JAM)’ slow things down without losing steam or its flare. For this to be her major label debut, she has achieved in one release what artists haven’t been able to accomplish their whole careers. Monáe simply deserves to be heard and appreciated. Creatively, pop superstars of today like Beyonce and Lady Gaga don’t hold a candle to what Monáe has done here. She’s bold, fierce, inspiring and so much more.

-HM

Sometimes she flies too close to Cave territory and reveals the gulf between them but for music from models you can do much worse than this. The classic murder tale of the opening title track and the wartime waltz ‘100 Years From Now’ are charming and chief pillock White’s hands-off production is as good as his work on Loretta Lynn’s country comeback album, further revealing he should be behind the recording booth rather than in it.

-TC

Danger Mouse, a man who seems to have the emotional relation to music akin to that of a broken circuit board or a particularly forlorn and dull-coloured cup, has managed to make them embody the sound of flat-lining; creating a cold, dead album that sounds like a lonely iMac’s approximation of music, had the iMac been sat on its lonesome for eternity in some kind of Wall-E scenario. Amazingly, these people made this album on purpose and no one stopped them when they finished and handed over the equivalent of TV static imagined by an unimaginative robot. It’s unlistenable and should make you want to smash everything shiny, slick, white and with the prefix ‘i’, in the hope of exhuming this bland tedium from the modern world. There’s not a noteworthy song on the album, just plodding files (it’d be rude to music in general to call them songs) which would be more interesting if they were broken down into binary code and laid out on paper with all the 1’s and 0’s in their full boring glory. But no, they had to masquerade those 1’s and 0’s under the pretence of music but the dead nothingness of the code behind it shines through. If you’ve even a fleeting interest in The Black Keys, listen to any of their recordings from 2002-08, not this. Never this.

-TC

What started as morbid curiosity in their ‘Enter the Ninja’ video has grown into a strange admiration. The track is repulsively addictive, has a hook that will stay with you for days and a rap that has to be heard to be believed. It’s lyrical content is nothing compared to nine-minute long ‘Beat Boy’ though; a masterpiece in evolving beats and mind-twisting techno and lyrically it’s pretty much a leaf out of an angry and lonely fourteen year old fantasist’s notebook – all violence, sex and weirdness. It’s the tale of Ninja’s adventure with a lady as they transport into different situations, culminating in her having a penis grafted on and wreaking havoc with her new anatomical addition. You’ll have to listen to get the ins and outs; they’re not suitable for publication. Like the whole album it’s hilarious, ridiculous and over the top, but there’s a sparkle in this threesome’s eyes that shines through the record and makes it adorable. As much of a joke as they can sometimes sound, Ninja can rap like the best of them and the music’s generally fifty times more inventive than your standard rap album, fusing all sorts of heady dance into the mix to create a real unique sound.

You know when you look through your albums and every year you buy a couple that you look back on and think, ‘what was I thinking?’ Well, make this year’s be $0$ – it’s so much fun!

-TC

While Kings started well but quickly reached U2 heights of irrelevance with their latest album which ran with the mantle of nothing lyrics and pretty-boy looks, ugly rat-men Band of Horses show how this style of music can be done just right with no gimmicks or cover shoots. Opener ‘Factory’ is a soft string-riff driven intro that eases you into their world. By the time the upbeat ‘Dilly’ bounds on with its Wilco harmonies and sunshine chorus it’s more than clear that Band of Horses are one of America’s greatest hopes.

-TC