The Cold Cut

A few weeks ago the Arctic Monkeys officially announced that they would be moving back to the studio this summer to record their third album.

With this news came heaps of speculation, and already new songs are starting to appear. The first, 'Sandtrap', is a 2 minute live version, currently used as the introduction to 'This House Is A Circus'. Other new material includes 'The Fire and the Thud' and 'The Lovers' 'Put Me in a Terror Pocket', all of which are available for download below. The songs are either acoustic or live versions.

The third album will be an interesting one. For me, their talent was never in question, but *line removed due to popular demand*. And now, with the confidence issues behind them, the Arctic Monkeys sound as if they want to experiment. The band claim they have 6 demos recorded, all of which will probably find their way on to the new album.

Arctic Monkeys- Sandtrap (Link 2)
Arctic Monkeys- Put Me In A Terror Pocket (Link 2)
Arctic Monkeys- The Lovers (Link 2)
Arctic Monkeys- The Fire And The Thud (Link 2)

Albums by the Arctic Monkeys can be purchased here.

The Last Shadow Puppets- The Age Of The Understatement

When Alex Turner announced he had a side project in development, I was quick to focus my attention. 'The Last Shadow Puppets', a proposed collaboration between Turner and friend Miles Kain (of the Rascals), has been in the works since the touring friends recorded the album last August whilst on holiday in France. Whether the album would ever see the light of day, however, was uncertain.

Things move fast in this world: two weeks ago this band didn't even have a name, but over the last two days has rapidly become one of the hottest properties in music. The album, scheduled to be released on April 21, was previewed for a small audience in a Brooklyn record store on Thursday. In the 8-track acoustic set, Kain and Turner gave the first preview of the single (and album title) 'The Age Of The Understatement', and the studio version was released the day after.

The single itself is good, but not great. Given the level of talent on display, I wasn't quite as blown away as the hype said I should be. The lyrics don't have the punch of Alex's monkeys work. However, it still redeems itself through the undiluted talent on display: produced by Simian Mobile Disco's James Ford and with strings arrangements from Final Fantasy.

Discuss: A good introduction to the side project, or a song that doesn't live up to the hype?

You can watch the oddball video for the single over at the band's website...

The album tracklisting is as follows:

The Age of the Understatement:

01 The Age of the Understatement
02 Standing Next to Me
03 Calm Like You
04 Separate and Ever Deadly
05 The Chamber
06 Only the Truth
07 My Mistakes Were Made for You
08 Black Plant
09 I Don't Like You Any More
10 In My Room
11 Meeting Place
12 The Time Has Come Again

The final 5. How emotional *wipes tear from eye*. These are the five albums that I really connected with this year, and the only advice I can give is to buy them now if you haven't already. As usual, comment, and click the album title to buy it, or the artist name to find out a bit more about them.

Come back tomorrow for a round-up, as well as some more end of year lists.

5. Arcade Fire- Neon Bible
Neon Bible seems to be the epitome of 'bigger is better'. They bought a church, converted it into a recorded studio, learned some new instruments (hurdy-gurdy and organ, for starters) and had loads of fun whilst recording a more rocking second album. Its a slight departure from Funeral, and I wouldn't go so far to say its equal in quality, but Neon Bible is still one of the most complete rock albums this year.

Favourite Track: No Cars Go

Its been around for a long time, but this song has really benefited from being re-recorded. A rollicking tune with some grandiose production.

4. Arctic Monkeys- Favourite Worst Nightmare
How do you build on such a brilliant introduction as Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (WPSIATWIN!)? Take a cue from this band- get better at your instruments, improve production and up the tempo- then the world's your oyster. Okay, Favourite Worst Nightmare isn't as instant as WPSIATWIN, but the quality of songs on this album absolutely trounces their debut in my opinion. Its bigger, faster and more brutal- a high octane beast of an album. Where next? Only time will tell.

Favourite Track: Teddy Picker

Teddy Picker- the bass driven third single- concerns modern society's chase for fame. In the wake of rubbish like Big Brother and X-Factor, you can see how true this is. They also made the brave move of recording using a live audio track in their video. Watch it here

3. M.I.A.- Kala
Kala was definitely the most diverse album of 2007, and M.I.A. continued her party trick of splicing styles and cultures together into an epic musical concoction. First off, the beats are ridiculous; some of the samples on this album would put most rap/hip-hop albums to shame. Lyrics have always been a key part of M.I.A.'s appeal, and thankfully, her style wasn't hugely altered between Arular and Kala, with political verses still featuring strongly:
"Do you know that cost of AK's
Up in Africa
20 dollars ain't shit to you
But thats how much they are"
All in all, its comforting to see Kala high up on many end of year lists, and once you've heard it, its easy to see why.

Favourite Track: World Town

Who would of thought that the sound of a gun cocking was so cool? M.I.A., ever the pioneer.

2. Patrick Wolf- The Magic Position
With the Magic Position, Patrick Wolf was no longer only for those with 'eclectic' musical tastes. Some critics have accused him of taking the easy 'pop' route, but when the results are so encouraging, it really doesn't make a difference. Patrick recieves very little recognition, which may have been the reason he moved in a 'poppier' direction, but even on unfamiliar ground he excels. The title track is the definition of happiness, but halfway in, things turn dark with Bluebells. Other than the confusing Secret Garden, this is a flawless, undervalued album.

Favourite Track: (Let's Go) Get Lost

No explanation required- listen, and you will be swept up by this song. Happiness, wrapped into a 3 minute package.

1. Lupe Fiasco- The Cool
This album was the latest, and best, addition to this list (full review here). Quite simply, Lupe Fiasco is a legendary rapper, and its a massive shame that he will be retiring after LupEND, his next album. Both Food And Liquor and The Cool are both serious contributions to the musical archives, and illustrate that Lupe is not your generic rapper. He really has something to say in every instance, and a lot of his rhymes contain content that is 'now'. He will also go down in history as the only rapper to ever record a succesful concept album, and a rare lyrical talent. Truly revolutionary...

Favourite Track: Little Weapon (I've bought the album, and its now out, so I feel okay about posting one track)

Fallout Boy singer Patrick Stump produces, and in the process creates the best backing track of the year. Lupe pulls a trick, opening with the line:
"I killed another man today
shot him in his back as he ran away"
All is revealed at the end, when we realise that this is, in fact, occuring in a video game.

Yes- it is as good as I thought it would be: Reverend And The Makers' The State Of Things is a brilliant album- so good, in fact, that had it been released a couple of years ago (aka when the Arctic Monkeys made it big) it would have given them a run for their money. The only problem is that this album is a few years too late. But lets not talk about that and instead look at this album for what it is- a successful electronica/indie album, with several stand out tracks and great lyrics. My personal faves- barring the singles- are The Machine (Alex Turner sings on this one), Miss Brown and album closer Armchair Detective. Check them out:

Reverend And The Makers- The Machine
Reverend And The Makers- Miss Brown
Reverend And The Makers- Armchair Detective

Sheffield is a very happening place in the music world at the moment: since the Arctic Monkeys broke the rules with their two albums about the ordinary life, it seems there have been plenty of Sheffield hopefuls trying to emulate their success with simplistic. It's a constantly changing scene, but one thing stays constant, and he goes by the name of The Reverend. A man who seems to be a positive catalyst for everyone who knows and works with, good things seem to happen around him. The only problem is he doesn't seem to be able to make it big himself, but all that's about ot change. Sometime over the next few weeks a very intriguing album will be making its way into music stores across the UK. The album is the first by Reverend And The Makers, a band who up until the last couple of months haven't recieved anywhere near the amount of press they should have: the brainchild of The Reverend aka John McClure. The band's name might not be familiar to you, but if I told you it was McClure's brother Chris on the front of the Arctic Monkeys "Whatever People Say I Am, That Is What I'm Not" you might make the connection.

Hailing from Sheffield just like the Arctic Monkeys, Reverend's first band Judan Suki had Alex Turner and Matt Helders (lead and drummer in the Arctic Monkeys- keep up please) as members, but of course they went on to form a band which has arguably been the most commercially succesful of the last 20 years or so. When the Arctic's first album was bought in huge volumes you can expect that The Reverend was feeling slightly left-behind... he was at the helm of Judan Suki but his counterparts had gone on to eclipse him. He was breifly famous after the Arctic's debut sold so much and they cited him as an 'inspiration' in the aftermath of the release. However, rather thank being famous for knowing someone, Reverend immediately set about creating an album that would make it clear that he wasn't just a stepping stone for the Arctic Monkeys. The State Of Things- Reverend And The Maker's first album-, release date uncertain, is expected to be released in September by Wall Of Sound, the band's label. First single Heavyweight Champion Of The World reached #8 in the charts when it was released, and you can download it at the bottom of this post.

Despite the similarities between the two bands, I doubt Reverend's first album will be anything like the Arctic Monkeys... from the two or three songs I've heard it would be more appropriate to compare their music to Oasis with a slight electronic element. Indeed, there are strong parallels between Reverend himself and Noel Gallgaher, both in the way he looks and sings: check out Youtube for some really cool videos of their live performances, in which McClure looks chilled, composed, and actually sings well, just as Alex Turner does. This is something seriously lacking in modern bands- there are thousands of people who record excellent studio albums but when they get on a stage they murder their own music as they can't perform live.

There are two tracks below, both of which I'm sure will make it onto the final cut of The State Of Things. Please buy the album when it comes it if you like what you hear. You can download both tracks from this project, or by clicking the links below

Reverend And The Makers- Heavyweight Champion Of The World
Reverend And The Makers- 18.30

It was pretty obvious at the end of 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not', that the Arctic Monkeys were going to have a really hard time topping the critical acclaim of their debut album. But needless to say, they went away for a year and a few months, and they have released a fantastically different album that defies the common mantra that 'second albums are always rubbish'. I can honestly say that this album is better than the first; Alex Turner's lyrics are as sharp as ever, and the skill of the band on their respective instruments have increased hugely. Matt Helders, the drummer, in particular has obviously been working hard; the drumming on this album is off the map. This is obvious on the excellent single and first track 'Brianstorm', which features the first real contribution from the new bassist, Nick O' Malley. This track is great, and seems to get better with every play: first impressions weren't great, but after a few plays, it matches 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor' for a first single, if being a lot heavier, meaner and faster.

The sound of the new album is more varied than their debut; there are much heavier tracks such as 'D Is For Dangerous', which has a rampaging joint vocal and rhythm between Turner and Helders, who has a good voice in his own right. These songs are contrasted by the more low-key songs like 'Only One Who Knows' which has only Turner's Vocal and Jamie Cook's accompanying guitar. The best song of the album, though, is 'Fluorescent Adolescent', a song which may be the 'Mardy Bum' of this album, a quieter song which still steals the album from the more 'exciting' tracks which include 'Teddy Picker' a loud, in your face track which suitably follows 'Brianstorm'. 'Teddy Picker' is about the celebrity of Hollywood; it seems like that this album focusses on the experiences this band has had since they were thrust into stardom. Whereas the first album focussed on the experiences they had in the Sheffield borough of High Green, this album is really the band, and Turner in particular, coming to turns with their new celebrity.

I have to say, I was worried that once all the hype surrounding the first album had died down and the internet distribution fad had died out, that the Arctic Monkeys would struggle to retain their audience. I'm really glad to see that they have written an excellent new album, which whilst different, wont change people's opinion that this is one of the best contemporary guitar bands the UK has ever seen.

Here is one of the great song off this album, Teddy Picker. If you like it, head over to iTunes or Play.com to get the album.

Arctic Monkeys- Teddy Picker