Another hugely anticipated album is Neon Bible. After the massive success of Funeral, the debut by this Canadian band, expectations were high for this one.I finally received this after a delayed vinyl release and then waiting for my own finances to catch up.A suitable darkly themed sleeve heralds the music...

Review: Medúlla (Polydor 9867591) – Björk (Stereo/Multichannel SA-CD) Audio Systems: Stereo – Sony ES, Art Audio, Reference 3A, Cardas Multichannel – Denon, Marantz, Bryston, Paradigm Reference (HT system) Music/Performance (4/5) Sonics (4.5/5) Normally I review music/performance and sonics in separate sections, but this doesn't really seem possible with...

This surely is one of very few 78rpm records to be released this year. Duke special seems to be a nostalgia freak. And that comes from a vinyl obsessive!. His cds are printed to look like old shellac records and his singles come out on the 78rpm format. Philistine as I...

There's nothing more hateful in the music industry than a cheap gimmick tagged on to a mediocre artist by some money-grabbing suit behind a record company desk. You know the kind of thing I mean, trendy haircuts, polka dot dresses, matching suits, a 'the' name, or some hideously quirky packaging...

While Madonna, David Bowie and Kylie Minogue embrace emerging or popular sounds, with varying degrees of success and cynicism, others only slightly alter what they do over time. Others like Neil Young, 50 Cent or Elbow. A fourth album from Guy Garvey and chums ushers in an occasionally more cheerful...

It's easy sometimes to dismiss music without really examining it, some years back fellow Lugs reviewer Gordon Russell gave me a tape of Elliot Smith's XO album, his first major label release. I played it twice if I'm lucky and dismissed it offhand, a bit tuneless as I remember. My...

I don't know much about this singer and band. Its a quirky mixture of sonically interesting experimentation and big big choruses. Its mainly guitar and percussion driven but brings in plenty of organ and some Cello to keep things off the beaten track. 'Capital state' is a slightly paranoid ball of...

Every so often, Glasgow produces a band, say Primal Scream or Franz Ferdinand, who seem so effortlessly capable of massive success that it makes you wonder why the city isn't the centre of the musical world. To many, Glasvegas are the next heirs to such a crown. Named in...

Goldfrapp have gone onto more popular acclaim as some sex fuelled disco funk hybrid. This their/her first album is an entirely different beast and all the better for it. Named 'Felt mountain', we're talking about the summit of a peak, isolated and frozen. We kick off with 'Lovely head'...

When i fist listened to this record I thought it was dense and uninspiring. Luckily that feeling didn't last long. Actually the songs are catchy. They are pop. And they are listenable. Scott Walker being one of Jarvis' great idols(Scott produced Pulp's 'We love life') I was worried that Jarvis...