The Black Neon
Arts and Crafts (Kurse Music)
Fort Lauderdale’s Steve Webster may be English, but listening to his side project, The Black Neon, you would be forgiven for questioning this. Are you sure there is not a little German — I mean, a lot of German — in there, Steve? Arts and Crafts is one of the nicest surprises to happen to me this year. It’s a wonderful collection of songs that owe as much to the psychedelic pop of The Beatles, The Beach Boys and Pink Floyd as to the motorik style of Neu! and Kraftwerk. A diverse album that maintains a consistent feel throughout, Arts and Crafts is the perfect summer soundtrack for the more adventurous listener who appreciates the experimental work of Air and The Flaming Lips. Get out the party outfit, spike the punch and turn up the volume. — Lloyd Gedye
Editors
The Back Room (Sony BMG)
Although Editors have been touted as sounding much like Interpol, I’m leaning more towards an energised Sisters of Mercy. The band frequently employ high-pitched guitars that don’t skimp on effects, and Tom Smith’s vocals are pure testosterone. Ed Lay’s pulsating percussion adds to the rawness of tracks such as Blood, Someone Says and debut single Bullets, and provides a rolling background on slower songs (see All Sparks and Camera). Fall showcases the band’s versatility; it’s slower and stripped down and the track’s very simplicity is its draw card. The Back Room round out with two ballad-type tracks as closers, neither of which adds to or detracts from the album as a whole. I guess every rock band have to throw in a ballad or two to give them a breather during live performances. Tight and powerful, The Back Room hit you right in the solar plexus — and it feels good. — Kelly Fletcher
Ghostface Killah
Fishscale (Universal)
With Fishscale, Wu-Tang Clan stalwart Ghostface Killah releases his fifth solo album — more than any of his Wu brothers have managed thus far. According to Ghost, Fishscale is a happy return to that “cocaine rap” aesthetic that spawned his and Raekwon’s tag-team classic, Only Built for Cuban Linx, about 11 years ago. While this one abounds with cinematic street corner skits, labyrinthine tales of drug deals gone sour and graphic crack-house scenes, one gets the feeling that Ghost has grown up a little. He approaches his favourite subject with a pathos rather than the reckless abandon of earlier years. This is clearly evident on the self-produced Big Girl, where The Wally Champ attempts to rein in two girls careening around on a coke binge. The album features the obligatory Wu posse cut, but it’s no secret that Ghost prefers to do his own thing (as is evident by the lack of Wu-Tang beats). Thankfully, with his toned-down slang and a more reflective persona, we can easily understand his pre-occupations. — Kwanele Sosibo
Smog
A River Ain’t Too Much to Love (David Gresham)
Bill Callahan is one eccentric songwriter, but his latest effort is a work of sublime simplicity and beauty. An album to hold its own against the likes of Bob Dylan’s Nashville Skyline, Neil Young’s Harvest and Leonard Cohen’s New Skin for the Old Ceremony. Callahan uses simple acoustic guitar rhythms that hypnotise the listener into a trance-like state as he spins his little confessions and tales like a Zen master. With an eye for exquisite lyrical detail, Callahan delivers his most honest and personal album yet, not a bad effort for a career that spans 12 albums. On highlight track Say Valley Maker, he sings: “Bury me in wood and I will splinter/ Bury me in stone and I will quake/ Bury me in water and I will geyser/ Bury me in fire and I’m gonna phoenix”, which is exactly what he’s done. — LG