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Album Review
THE SOUND OF ARROWS – VOYAGE
The Sound of Arrows
Voyage
[Low Rent]
5/10


Some very big noises are being made in the mainstream press over this Swedish duo, and their calculated pop sensibilities and surface-deep accessibility go a long way to explaining that. This is pure, unsullied, synth-pop, well-crafted and slickly produced, reaching back through the decades. The standout track here is ‘Wonders’, which opens with an epic-feeling synth riff, echoing the biggest, catchiest nineties chart house, dragging forth powerful images of huge clubs, darkness, strobes, and hundreds of waving arms at three a.m. There’s no contemporary twist here; it’s lifted straight from the era. Meanwhile, ‘M.A.G.I.C.’ is simply a lazy Pet Shop Boys pastiche – no more, no less. ‘Voyage’ is superbly put together, massively melodic, and brilliantly written. Its downfall is in its complete and unashamed lack of originality.

By Chris Watkeys

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TANLINES – MIXED EMOTIONS
Mixed Emotions
[Matador]
7/10

Not everyone has the option to release a grab-bag aggregation of offcuts, deleted singles and remixes before their first full-length debut.

BRETON – OTHER PEOPLE’S PROBLEMS
Other People's Problems
[Fat Cat]
9/10

More of a collective than a band, Breton emerged from a group of filmmakers, which goes some way to explain the erratic disposition of their music.

BLOOD RED SHOES – IN TIME TO VOICES
In Time To Voices
[V2]
8/10

In life, we are often held back by limitations that are either of our own making or unjustly placed upon us.

GRINDERMAN – GRINDERMAN 2 RMX
Grinderman 2 RMX
[Mute]
8/10

Nick Cave isn’t a man who need repeat himself very often so when he asks for the stars to come out to play.

SEA OF BEES – ORANGEFARBEN
Orangefarben
[Heavenly]
7/10

This marks something of a break up record for Julie Ann Baenziger. After the rather lovely debut, ‘Songs for the Ravens’, ‘Orangefarben’ feels like a second, prolonged diary entry.

SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO – UNPATTERNS
Unpatterns
[Wichita]
6/10

The speed with which dance music currently mutates means that even relatively new acts like Simian Mobile Disco – their debut is less than five years old – feel like establishment figures.

BLACK DICE – MR IMPOSSIBLE
Mr Impossible
[Ribbon Music]
1/10

Black Dice began their career as anarchic thrash noiseniks fifteen years ago, performing abrupt, aggressive music designed to piss people off.

CLOCK OPERA – WAYS TO FORGET
Ways To Forget
[Moshi Moshi]
3/10

The vocals on a record can draw a listener in, or repel them. It’s also utterly unpredictable how the sound of a person’s singing voice will affect you.

GEMMA RAY – ISLAND FIRE
Island Fire
[Bronze Rat]
5/10

The idea of a tortured artist can be an attractive one, but sometimes artists suffer from too much; too many influences, too many layers and too many ideas.

DIRTY THREE – TOWARD THE LOW SUN
Toward The Low Sun
[Bella Union]
8/10

Dirty Three return for their first album in seven years, and a most welcome return it is. Few people have the command over their instruments and self-honed sound quite like Dirty Three do.