Singles

6.5

Upon receiving Mike Tyler's latest record, it's immediately obvious that he's a man who knows the value of making a physical release that little bit special. The 7in single comes with some cleverly designed jigsaw artwork: a cover you can literally pull apart and put back together again. It's ultimately a little n...

The Birthday Kiss are one of a group of bands leading something of an indie-pop resurgence. Leeds alone boasts talent and tunes from the likes of This Many Boyfriends, Just Handshakes (We're British), The Wind-Up Birds and The Seven Inches (all of which I'd heartily recommend investigating). The Birthday Kiss are fronted ...

After a couple of albums spent twatting around pretending to be The Stones (again), Primal Scream are back to making innovative music and (as the title of this single suggests) ready to re-engage with the 21st century. The signs are encouraging: Ver Scream are back working with Kevin Shields and Dav...

Another 80s revival is not something embraced by the masses, despite commercial has-beens ganging up and touring again, and handfuls of wannabes here and there half-heartedly citing all things Factory as a major influence. There aren't enough avenues embracing the dark and serious side of the 80s; the elements of it's mus...

Albums

8.5

Having delivered three of the most consistently high-quality albums of the last decade, Brooklyn's The National found themselves on a wave of both critical and commercial adulation following High Violet's stunning reception. They may have perfected the rousing anthem on the likes of 'England' and 'Sorrow&...

Vampire Weekend's third album comes at a time when indie music can be seen as going from strength to strength, but does this band really fit into that category anymore? Probably not. This is an album full of diverse songs, a nostalgic sensibility and a ton of soul and swagger. There's plenty of down-tempo sounds on here, but it's the variety and the mix of these songs with the up-beat numbers which bring this record truly to life.

Take 'Diane Young', a song which so...

Buy Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City from Amazon

7.5

Noah and the Whale are back with their fourth album and it's one of real vibrancy. Punctuated by slick guitar and basslines, it's a release which suggests the band are maturing. By the end of the record you get the feeling the band have grown considerably since 2011's Last Night on Earth.

Frontman Charlie Fink is as effervescent yet dour-sounding as ever. However, on this record it feels like there's some real substance to what Fink's sings. There are glimm...

Buy Noah and the Whale - Heart of Nowhere from Amazon

Brooklyn-based Small Black's debut album New Chain was the scrappy underdog of the chillwave scene, with a bedroom-production sound and tinny, hissing beats. But it showed great promise and, in the trippy, gloopy 'Photojournalist' and the New Order-worshipping 'Search Party', it had two of the best songs of 2010. From the opening kosmische/motorik rhythm of first track 'Free at Dawn', it's obvious that Limits of Des...

Buy SMALL BLACK - Limits of Desire from Amazon

6.5

After producing for the likes of Katy B and Example, forming the worlds first dubstep supergroup Magnetic Man, and touring the USA, Australia and beyond, Croydon boy and original dubstepper Benga is back with a wobbly-bassline-and-a-bang on his first major-label album, Chapter II. Despite insisting last year in an interview with NME that "I don't want to be part of dubstep anymore", his latest offering shows Benga has stayed truer to his roots than many of his ...