Artist: Muse

It's not really about the music anymore, is it. It's about the breadth and height of everything Muse do. It's about leaving a jet-stream in the sky. Any tune with a trajectory lower than the cosmos is presumably discarded, with arrangements generally sounding as expensive as battleships (intergalactic battleships, that is). Of course the music is not exactly incidental either; Muse's full-on fifth album The Resistance is packed hard with virtuoso musicianship, rigorous instrumental freak-outs and harmonies beamed between dimensions. It's simply what they do now, no matter how ridiculous it may seem. Long gone are the days of the feisty yet formal English post-grunge band with a falsetto bolt-on. So let the madness commence; "Uprising" gives the Dr Who theme tune a stomping glam makeover, "Undisclosed Desires" is like a prog-rock Justin Timberlake, "Guiding Light" is the sound of Elvis' "Can't Help Falling In Love" being jettisoned into the ether in an escape pod and "Exogenesis Symphony Part 1 (Overture)" is ambitious equal parts 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Flaming Lips and a belting Brian May style guitar solo sent straight from the roof of Buckingham Palace. They...
muse at their finest, 2010-08-23
Fantastic album demonstrating Muse at their very best. Gives an immediate up beat, feel good factor, absolutely amazing.

Artist: Florence + The Machine

Already the year’s most hyped new artist--not only first in the BBC’s famously unreliable poll of new talent and recipient of a special Brit award devised just for her--Florence Welsh has a lot to live up to, and thankfully the artfully titled and sleeved Lungs justifies the investment. The singles are undeniably the standouts. The impressive "Dog Days Are Over", neurotic and fierce, and the slightly more reserved follow-up "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" lead her debut collection, sometimes overshadowing her other material. Yet the extremes of "Kiss With A Fist", a jokey celebration of mutual domestic violence and noisy guitars that shamelessly steals its melody from the White Stripes’ charming "We Are Gonna Be Friends", and the showstopping, almost unashamedly stagy "Girl With One Eye" show off both her development and an already instantly recognisable voice. The gallows humour of songs like "Between Two Lungs", the daft "My Boy Builds Coffins" and the ferocious "Hurricane Drunk" where she threatens "I’m gonna drink myself to death" backed by a spirited choir of Florences, save her from accusations of self-absorption. The concluding, and hugely loud "Blinding" is al...
amazing voice fantastic album, 2010-09-01
I purchased this having seen Florence and the machine play live. She is amazing and could not wait to hear more.

This album is fantastic, her voice is amazing.

I found my self screaming (sadly lack any real vocal talent myself) her songs in the car and struggling not to when playing this on my ipod.

I would recommend this to anyone she blew me away live (if you get a chance GO AND CHECK HER OUT) this album did the same well worth a listen, there is not a bad track on the whole thing.

Artist: The National

Very High Violet, 2010-08-14
I'm probably one of the many people whom has only recently discovered The National, but this album has blown me away on a number of levels - the high quality of the songwriting, the overall production and as another reviewer has said, the ability to 'tingle arms'.

'England' was the first track which I heard from this album. It's the reason I watched them at Glastonbury, but at no point was I expecting to come away from that afternoon set a converted fan. As it is, I rushed out to purchase the limited purple double-vinyl set and have since purchased it also on CD for the car.

The first time I listened to it, I still wasn't sure; the first 4 or 5 songs didn't grab me like I thought they would but then 'Bloodbuzz Ohio' kicks in and it all seems to start making sense. Tracks 7 to 10 are incredible. I still love 'England', with the almost-perfect line 'You must be somewhere in London, you must be loving your life in the rain'. 'Lemonworld' isn't a songtitle which would have you running for the 'play' button, but believe me when I tell you that it's an amazing track. It's the kind of song which makes me want to fly to America, hire a convertible and drive across from Florida to California, listening to this song on the CD player. 'Conversation 16' is similarly stunning - I simply love the line "Now we'll leave the silver city 'cause all the silver girls gave us black dreams".

If this album doesn't appear in countless "albums of the year" at the end of 2010, then something's seriously wrong. 2010 has surprised (and surpassed) my expectations. After serious disappointment earlier in the year from the likes of Ellie Goulding's and Marina & The Diamonds' albums, 2010 has seen some seriously good releases - the Domino State's debut album 'Uneasy Lies The Crown', Serena-Maneesh's 'Abyss In B Minor', Exit Calm's eponymous debut - and now this.

This album is a fantastic listen. Definitely Recommended.

Artist: Hurts

happiness, 2010-09-03
happiness is the best album i have listened to in a long time. a mix of old 80s and a brand new sound, its a must for people who like music that has a real sound. 10 out of 10.

Artist: The XX

Amazing! Gets more addictive the more you listen to it, 2010-08-18
I had heard so much about the XX but not yet given the music a listen, being a pessimist I tend to expect that the rave reviews are from the too cool for school kids and being 30 now tends to mean I don't get it all any more :D... then I heard Crystalised on the radio and got hooked!! Took the plunge and bought the album from amazon as it was about [...] when i got it so no risk there! Took about 3 or so listens which is about what a great album should take, 1 then its too easy (mainstream pop) and you'll get bored easily, it will be on the pile in no time. This is one you need to hear late at night on a drive, collapsed out on your bed in the dark in some good headphones so you get every whispered lyric, hear every bass note that throbs, every tingling guitar note. Seriously from start to finish its amazing and I don't think I have heard a more perfect album in maybe 5 years. Can't recommend it enough, actually don't want to go into more detail than that. Music is about discovering an album in different scenarios. Sometimes you can hear an album one day when you are in the wrong mood and you put it aside and 4 months or a year later you find it again and put it on and its the most perfect album you've ever heard. Don't wait that long, stick it on, but make sure you hear it in it's entirety and then again and again..

References are obvious with new order, the cure and some eighties electronic bands that you never thought you would hear sound so fresh today. Which I always loved, but don't be put off if you don't like those, if you liked crystalised by the XX you will love the rest of the album. P.S try XX's mix of you've got the love (florence version) it's amazing, stripped back and gorgeous! But i can't find it on amazon sadly. Thank you XX :)

Artist: Isobel Campbell, Mark Lanegan

Oh Wow another haunting classic, 2010-08-26
I am almost afraid to review this CD as nothing I say will do it justice. But its so good I have to tell the world. For those of you who have enjoyed the other Campbell and Lanegan records well the quality continues into this record. For those of you who have never heard of them I wish I was like you, as I could then buy all three at once and hear them for the first time. This is a truly remarkable CD, its hard to describe for most of the pleasure is in the vocals and you have to hear them to know it, however if you put a gun to my head I would say that they sound like a reincarnation of Sandy Denny and a tuneful Tom Waits (but enjoyable to listen to) The music is largely acoustic blues but with some notable exceptions where electric guitars make a raucous appearance, the music also takes note from country and folk, its soulful without being soul but most of all haunting.

Artist: Vampire Weekend

You're the only band in the world to have moulded the fruity shimmering of sun-baked African pop with the leather-jacketed cool of 21st century New York rock 'n' roll, delivered it with the diligence of first-class honours students with tidy haircuts, and become a universally-lauded if unlikely international sensation as a result. You're not about to change your spots now, are you. It should come as no surprise therefore that with Contra, Vampire Weekend have delivered another full length album packed full with the same near-flawless, feather-weight indie with occasional knock-out tendencies as their eponymous first. What may be surprising though is how different a route they travelled to get to that same point this time around. Guitars are banished, or at least faded back in the mix to play textural bit parts and little more. Minimal electronic undercurrents earn a leading role, plugging a live cable into their principal artery and receiving little in the way of resistance from the main body. So the near-yodelling square dance of "White Sky", tip-toe harpsichord dub calypso of "Taxi Cab", Wacky Races jerky surf of "Cousins" and the Strokes-esque 4/4 infectiousness of "Givin...
Great album, one that really grows on you :), 2010-06-30
I've loved this band since I first heard Blake's Got A New Face on the iTunes song of the week however when I first heard this I thought that it wasn't anywhere near as good as the first album, but it alowly grew and grew on me and now I like it even more than I like the first!

Artist: Everything Everything

Incredible conucopia of infulences and ideas, 2010-09-03
Fantastic record. Can't wait to see this band live. Could it be that it sounds something like Yes meets It Bites meets Barenaked Ladies meets Coldplay meets A Certain Ratio. Doesn't sound possible does it and even less likely that this bizarre combination would sound good but it sounds bloody brilliant. Not sure at what point I will tire of this record but it aint going to be any time soon. Wouldn't put it firmly in the Prog bracket but it's certainly Prog influenced. No longer a dirty word! Go on, treat yourselves to something new. I want more already! Fantastic Job!

Artist: Arcade Fire

Materpiece beyond the hype, 2010-08-29
First time I listened this album I thought 'Funeral' was better. Now I am not quite sure. 'The suburbs' is an anthem, a whole soundtrack for a generation.

Artist: Arcade Fire

How do the Arcade Fire follow-up not just one of the best debut albums ever, but possibly also one of the best indie albums of all time? Well, Neon Bible is a good place to start. After the success of Funeral, expectations were high for a follow up. But really, how could any band be expected to repeat that level of achievement twice in a row? And who can fault a band for setting their own standards so high? If there's one criticism of Neon Bible (named after author John Kennedy Toole's first novel), it's that it's not Funeral. But any other band would consider Neon Bible a towering achievement, for the simple reason that it is. "Keep the Car Running" displays all of the trademarks of the Arcade Fire's best work, building to a crescendo by adding layers and layers of synths to a deceptively simple tune. "Intervention", meanwhile, is easily the biggest-sounding song they've yet recorded, exploding with pipe organ over strummed guitars, strings and a choir. Occasionally, lead singer Win Butler risks being lost behind all of this noise, particularly as his voice has lost some of the strained intensity that made Funeral so affecting (and in fact...
Superb album from an increasingly impressive Canadian band., 2008-07-26
I received this as a Christmas present from a friend and I have been listening to it since. After reading the sleeve notes in the accompanying booklet, I found that the album was recorded in, among other places like studios, a church in Quebec, Canada. The tunes are very catchy and you can't help but be taken in by the sleekness of the songs and the rhythmical beats.

I think that my favourite tracks on this album are 'No Cars Go', 'Intervention', 'Ocean of Noise' and 'Windowsill'. As far as this group are concerned, I am a late developer having this album as the only one of theirs I own. And I really think that this Canadian band are exceptionally good indeed. They seem to have a good knowledge of knowing how a really good album works and to me this album does work wonders.

I really love the song-writing and the arrangements throughout this exceptional album and they seem to have put a lot of time and effort into this project. I think that this group are seriously underrated and deserve to be listened to. I thoroughly recommend this album.