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10 albums you must hear this autumn...

Welsh Rich

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Welsh Rich

Welsh Rich

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From The Observer yesterday...

 

Amy Winehouse

Back to Black

Universal, 30 Oct

 

'They tried to make me go to rehab but I said, "No, no, no,'" belts out the 22-year-old from north London on her forthcoming single, 'Rehab'. You'll find more of that blatant honesty on Back to Black, Winehouse's exceptional, Fifties-styled second album. Candid tales of her cheating, drinking and loving are entwined in wonderfully direct retro soul, jazz and doo-wop beats, from Salaam Remi and Mark Ronson. Look out for 'Me and Mr Jones', her tribute to rapper Nas (wife Kelis should probably be warned) where she proves no other chanteuse can deliver the word 'fuckery' so eloquently. Starkly autobiographical, this is one of the best albums of the year and even better than her debut, Frank.

EJS

 

She says: 'It's an exorcism. I get all my stuff out there ... Life is funny and sad.'

 

Buy this if you like: On How Life Is by Macy Gray, or anything by Billie Holliday.

 

The Long Blondes

Someone to Drive You Home

Rough Trade, 6 Nov

 

Until April, they were the Best Unsigned Band in Britain. Then Rough Trade went and spoiled it all by drafting them a record contract. Now the Sheffield quintet are releasing a debut album, and it delivers a rush every bit as ecstatic as their early singles. Blondie is the nearest point of reference to their brand of icy, edgy, guitar-fuelled pop, and glam frontwoman Kate Jackson would be in no way fazed by the comparison. Listen to 'Giddy Stratospheres ' and you'll hear why. They'll be fi lling indie dancefloors all winter.

KF

 

They say: 'We've got what it takes to be a classic British pop band.'

 

Buy this if you like: We are the Pipettes by The Pipettes.

 

Scissor Sisters

Ta-Dah

Polydor, 18 Sept

 

Last time around they paid homage to Elton John. A couple of million sales of their debut album later, the Scissor Sisters are co-writing with Dame Elton (on their comeback hit 'I Don't Feel Like Dancin ') and experiencing dream visitations from Paul McCartney. Ta-Dah isn't quite as unselfconscious as the Sisters' debut but fans of the fivesome's retro disco pomp will not be disappointed, and 'Might Tell You Tonight ' is a love song that tempers their worst excesses.

KE

 

Singer Jake Shears says: 'Elton's had a bad influence on us in terms of jewellery stores.'

 

Buy this if you like: Leo Sayer, The Bee Gees.

 

Tom Waits

Orphans

Anti, 20 Nov

 

A triple CD set featuring 54 songs from Waits's vaults including 30 that have never been heard before, Orphans covers everything from rockabilly stomps to broken-down ballads, subterranean rumbas to mutated cover versions. Grouped generically by CD, the album comprises Brawlers, a collection of full-throated blues-based rockers; Bawlers , a jumble of seasick ballads, off-kilter waltzes and woozy love songs; and Bastards, a blend of avant-garde instrumentals and spoken-word interludes. Threaded through each album are the various songs and sound pieces that Waits has recorded for films, stage plays and other odd projects, such as Hal Willner's album of Disney covers. 'Heigh Ho', a song made famous by seven Disney dwarves, is a highlight, grotesque and scary, while his nightmarish 'Poor Little Lamb' should not be played in the presence of nervous children. Or adults for that matter.

S'OH

 

He says: 'Orphans are rough and tender tunes. They grew up hard ... They don't bite, they just need attention.'

 

Buy this if you liked: Tom Waits's last album, Real Gone.

 

The Killers

Sam's Town

Mercury, 2 Oct

 

Back with worrying beards, but as fixated on their Las Vegas hometown as they've ever been, tight-trousered glam rockers the Killers return with the anthemic follow-up to their multimillion- selling 2004 debut, Hot Fuss. Singer Brandon Flowers is still only 25, the little git, and yet his boomy, operatic voice gives an inspired sense of drama to their new single and album highlight 'When You Were Young'. While the single sleeve is such an obvious nod to U2's The Joshua Tree - scrubby desert, serious facial hair, the suggestion of brain-melting heat - the album's cover goes more for a Swingers-style silver bullet Winnebago look. It screams, quite wonderfully, of we're-the-biggest-band-in-the-world arrogance. It's clear that the Killers have also been listening to plenty of Bruce Springsteen - aptly, considering they spent mere weeks paddling in the fishpond of indie acclaim before diving rapidly and successfully into the pop mainstream - and believe themselves to be similarly stadium-bound. You'll get choruses so big you could put them on Broadway, lyrics memorable enough to yodel on the bus home from Wembley and an album infused with an unstinting, peculiarly American belief that humankind can fly to the stars on the power of rock music alone.

LH

 

They say: 'It's the greatest album of the last 20 years.'

 

Buy this if you like: Eyes Open by Snow Patrol.

 

Joanna Newsom

Ys

Drag City, 14 Nov

 

Harpist Joanna Newsom's second album - pronounced 'Ees' - is extraordinary, an instant (pre)modern classic. Named after a mythical, flooded Breton city, it follows her cult hit, 2004's The Milk-Eyed Mender.

 

A glance at the support personnel involved is enough to make you spill your mead. Brian Wilson's lieutenant Van Dyke Parks did the stark string arrangements over a period of eight months. Cantankerous analogue producer Steve Albini (Nirvana) recorded it. Experimental guru Jim O'Rourke mixed it. Most jaw-dropping of all is Newsom herself, a fearless original. She wields a harp (as she did on her debut) and a poetic menagerie of animals, meteors, fear and joy. Marimbas and horse skulls flesh out the harp, vocals and strings on these five long tracks; her creepy boyfriend Bill Callahan (Smog) chips in with backing vocals. Newsom's eccentric child-witch delivery has been tempered somewhat since her debut but remains unmistakable; her dense, storytelling lyrics faintly recall Patti Smith's surging poetry, in texture if not in vocabulary. With weird folk and neo-medievalism all the rage in arty circles, Newsom has decisively outclassed all comers on one of the albums of the year.

KE

 

She says: 'I wanted it to feel like the orchestra was hanging in a hallucinatory shape around the more substantial harp and voice.'

 

Buy this if you like: Vespertine by Bjork.

 

Jarvis Cocker

Title tbc

Rough Trade, Nov

 

Sheffield's second-sharpest wit (Richard Hawley has pipped him in recent years) returns to something approaching a high profile with his first solo album, rumoured to be called Warrior on the Edge Time. Since Pulp went on an indefinite hiatus three years ago, he hasn't exactly been dormant, but neither has he courted public attention with his former eagerness. He wrote songs for the soundtrack to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and collaborated with Charlotte Gainsbourg. None of this high-art swanning, however, has dulled his vicious hatred of privileged sorts: the first track he's released from the album is an otherwise stately ballad called 'Running the World', which has a chorus that points the C-word in the direction of politicians, big business and the silly rock stars who consort with them.

 

He says: 'I apologise for all the swearing but sometimes that's the only thing that seems appropriate.'

 

Buy this if you like: Hot Chip's The Warning.

 

Lupe Fiasco

Food & Liquor

Atlantic, 25 Sep

 

First heard on Kanye West's 'Touch the Sky' single, fellow Chicagoan Lupe Fiasco (real name: Wasalu Muhammad Jaco) finally releases his long-delayed debut in late September. Heralded by a terrific single, 'Kick Push', a warm and funny song about love and skateboarding, Food & Liquor showcases the rapper's tuneful, non-gangsta stance. Indeed, 'Hurt Me Soul' is a broadside against hip hop's excesses and other modern ills, delivered with affection and impeccable catchiness. The album is executive produced by Jay-Z, and Kanye West figures too.

 

He says: 'The "food" is the good part, and the "liquor" is the bad part; I try to balance out both parts of me.'

 

Buy this if you like: Late Registration by Kanye West.

 

The Who

Endless Wire

Universal, 30 Oct

 

The last time the Who released a studio album of new material, it was 1982. So anticipation for Endless Wire, the band's 11th studio album and the first without late bassist John Entwistle, is somewhat keen. The album remains closely guarded at the time of going to press, but a taster for the full 19 tracks was released earlier this summer. 'Wire & Glass', a long, raw single, forms part of a mini-rock opera at the heart of the album; 'Mirror Door', a typically Who-sian pomp punk track, got radio airplay last June. According to feverish internet speculation, some of Endless Wire was inspired by the Beslan school massacre. Guitarist Pete Townshend's novella The Boy Who Heard Music also provides source material, and the opening track, 'Fragments', was composed on software designed especially for Townshend and singer Roger Daltrey.

KE

 

Pete Townshend says (on his blog): 'Against all the odds ... in my own jaundiced middle-age, rock is not dead. Neither is it right. Or wrong. Or a new religion. Or an answer. Or even a question. It's a process ... The kids in my imaginary band The Glass Household in "Wire & Glass" describe the process as breathing, exploding, imploding, climbing a stairway to a door made from a mirror, and walking through, expecting oblivion in a black hole, instead finding a slow after-show party.'

 

Buy this if you like: Be Here Now by Oasis.

 

Beck

The Information

Interscope, 2 Oct

 

The last album Nigel Godrich produced for Beck was 2002's Sea Change, a reflective, feet-up-on-the-table kind of record. This time around, on Beck's ninth album proper, the 'Beckrich' pairing is more feet-to-the-floor, ears vigorously flapping. The Information is full of the Los Angeleno's perky genre-munching; Godrich's trademark glaze is applied liberally on top. Beck's sense of fun has returned: recent live gigs featured puppet doppelgangers performing alongside his band. On the album, stickers are provided so you can design your own sleeve; there's a disc of videos appended. At the end author Dave Eggers and director Spike Jonze talk spaceships. The album itself starts off with considerable vim, too: 'Cellphone's Dead' and 'Think I'm in Love' deliver tip-top boho rap and pop mooning respectively. 'Nausea' finds the usually serene Scientologist uncharacteristically engaged, with a nagging tune But The Information gets a little muddled the further in you go. The title 'Horrible Fanfare/Landslide/Exoskeleton' is a good indicator of the sprawling jam lurking within.

KE

 

He says: 'Nigel said he wanted to do a hip-hop record. And in a way it is, in a way it isn't. It has hip-hop songs.'

 

Buy this if you like: Well, nothing sounds quite like Beck, so this is for you if you liked his last album, Guero.

 

Looking forward to the Jarvis Cocker, Long Blondes and Beck album - heard a track from Beck on the radio last week and liked it. It'll be good to hear Jarvis back as well - let's hope the break hasn't dulled his lyrical skills. And the Long Blondes - britpop with girls... what's there not to like??!

 

Also, the Tom Waits collection should be good too...

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jhh4321

jhh4321

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ill add

 

TV on the Radio (tommorow in the US, a while ago in UK)

Justing Timberlake (tommorow, yeah I heard it, yeah its pretty good, for those interested its streaming on mtv.com "the leak")

 

edit: yeah the new YLT is really awesome

Edited by jhh4321
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LouieB

LouieB

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I have always loved The Who, but why on earth should I buy their new album?

 

Does anyone think that the Scissor Sisters have any mainstream appeal? Please let me know.

 

Tom Waits set on the other hand is a no brainer.

 

As soon as someone decides they don't want the new YLT anymore, I will be sure to buy it used.

 

LouieB

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muller

muller

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Does anyone think that the Scissor Sisters have any mainstream appeal? Please let me know.

 

Well they're huge over here. Plus the new single went straight in at Number 1 in the charts yesterday..

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LouieB

LouieB

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Well they're huge over here. Plus the new single went straight in at Number 1 in the charts yesterday..
Well alright then....I asked because I really did want to know and apparently I have no idea what the mainstream wants.

 

When I heard about these guys a few years back I figured they would have disappeared by now. Good for them for hanging in there.

 

LouieB

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Scalzunfield

Scalzunfield

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Does anyone think that the Scissor Sisters have any mainstream appeal? Please let me know.

 

LouieB

 

I like their first album a lot, but the that new single makes me wanna freakin' barf. Bringing back falsetto-led disco is something I could have done without. I'll still by the album but my expectations are low...real low.

 

I do think they have mainstream appeal, but it's more based overseas than here.

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Analogman

Analogman

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The Who

Endless Wire

Universal, 30 Oct

 

The last time the Who released a studio album of new material, it was 1982. So anticipation for Endless Wire, the band's 11th studio album and the first without late bassist John Entwistle, is somewhat keen. The album remains closely guarded at the time of going to press, but a taster for the full 19 tracks was released earlier this summer. 'Wire & Glass', a long, raw single, forms part of a mini-rock opera at the heart of the album; 'Mirror Door', a typically Who-sian pomp punk track, got radio airplay last June. According to feverish internet speculation, some of Endless Wire was inspired by the Beslan school massacre. Guitarist Pete Townshend's novella The Boy Who Heard Music also provides source material, and the opening track, 'Fragments', was composed on software designed especially for Townshend and singer Roger Daltrey.

KE

 

Pete Townshend says (on his blog): 'Against all the odds ... in my own jaundiced middle-age, rock is not dead. Neither is it right. Or wrong. Or a new religion. Or an answer. Or even a question. It's a process ... The kids in my imaginary band The Glass Household in "Wire & Glass" describe the process as breathing, exploding, imploding, climbing a stairway to a door made from a mirror, and walking through, expecting oblivion in a black hole, instead finding a slow after-show party.'

 

Buy this if you like: Be Here Now by Oasis.

 

From what I have heard - this is piece of crap concept album.

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Willkoman

Willkoman

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Does this magazine actually think you should buy and listen to 10 different albums this winter? How can someone truly appreciate that many albums at once?

 

I'm only good for an album or two at a time. I mean to really get to know them and appreciate the music. To know whether it's good, bad or I'm indifferent. I'm still very high on Modern Times which completely took over from the new Tom Petty which I thought was pretty good until Dylan came to town. Hopefully I can get back to the Petty. I'm looking forward to the new Richard Buckner, MMJ and Beck . It looks like I'll have at least a little time between releases of those three. Thanks for posting the info on these. I'm really out of touch. B)

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jhh4321

jhh4321

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and i will add:

swan lake and the hold steady, one of which is awesome, one of which is pretty ok.

 

Where can I hear either of these? I have heard one or two mp3s from each of these releases but nothing more. I checked on indietorrents neither are up and I'm not an Oink member.

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Scalzunfield

Scalzunfield

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I'm only good for an album or two at a time. I mean to really get to know them and appreciate the music. To know whether it's good, bad or I'm indifferent. I'm still very high on Modern Times which completely took over from the new Tom Petty which I thought was pretty good until Dylan came to town. Hopefully I can get back to the Petty. I'm looking forward to the new Richard Bruckner, MMJ and Beck . It looks like I'll have at least a little time between releases of those three. Thanks for posting the info on these. I'm really out of touch. B)

 

I like the new Petty better than the new Dylan, but they're both freakin' great.

 

I have an hour commute to work, so buying a bunch of new albums is good for me because I'll have plenty of time to listen to them. Lately, I've sorted my CD collection out so that only the 2006 releases I have are in the car so I'm basically forced to listen to them repeatedly and really hear them (this isn't a bad thing as radio in southern Indiana blows).

 

There are about 10 more releases I plan to get this year: Starflyer 59 (tomorrow), My Morning Jacket, Scissor Sisters, Decemberists, Jet, Willie Nelson, Tenacious D, Sufjan Stevens X-mas Box Set, and Modest Mouse. I may even pick up the new Yo La Tengo tomorrow based on the two songs I've heard and the sparkling reviews.

 

My top 5 for the year are still Destroyer, Tom Petty, Minus 5, Bob Dylan, and Loose Fur (in that order). Lots of great music this year though.

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street spirit

street spirit

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Where can I hear either of these? I have heard one or two mp3s from each of these releases but nothing more. I checked on indietorrents neither are up and I'm not an Oink member.

 

i listened to Swan Lake (the one that is good, but not mindblowing) at a friend's place. He wouldn't tell me how he got it, and said he was sorry, but there was no way he could make me a copy. i was just pleased to hear it, so i didn't push the issue. if you dig around here there are four tracks that have leaked (All Fires, Are You Swimming In Her Pools?, Nubile Days - all with spencer on lead vox, and The Freedom - with Dan singing, which is the best thing on the record, imo... but im a Destroyer fanatic)

 

I got a Hold Steady promo, cause im doing an interview with Craig and Tad tomorrow ( :rock )... it has super crazy copy protection and wouldnt even play in the first cd player i tried... and plus, their promotions people would be super pissed about it leaking, and they are good people who send me nice things, so even if i could i wouldnt rip it.. but i cant, because the drm is crazy, and im looking forward to a regular ol cd that i can rip onto my ipod and play in my crappy old car stereo.

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Jaymie

Jaymie

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I just started working at best buy (media retail, but I'm mostly stationed at the cd's) and we get a store cost + 5% discount, which esentially means I'll pay whatever the store markup is on most inventory,which I'm told is better then a fixed percentage, AND we just added the Rapture and TV On The Radio to our "Find 'Em First" Discount list, (Which now also includes M.Ward) so thursday when my shift ends, I'll be able to pick up each of these albums for about 3 dollars a piece. It's also rumured we're going to be adding Lupe fiasco and The Decemberists when they drop.

 

But yeah, the "Find 'Em First" tags this week are like all $7.95, So if you want to check out TV On The Radio. M.Ward or the Rapture on the cheap you should go to best buy.

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