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	ALBUM of the MONTH scroll down to read reviews month by month or click on links below
	2005 Albums of the Month December: Mostly Autumn 'Storms Over Still Waters' November: Various Artists 'John Peel: A tribute' October: Los de Ababjo 'LDA v The Lunatics' September: Dylan Howes Five Corners 'This Is It' August: Waster 'Bullet Holes But No Airs And Graces' July: Stereolab 'Oscillons from the Anti-Sun' June: Steve Phillips 'Solo' May: Manfat Voodoo 'Triple Album Box Set' April: The Yards 'The Yards' 2004 Albums of the Month
	December 2005: Storms Over Still Waters ggggg gg g g gg ggg ggg ggg g ggg g g Mostly Autumn  York based Mostly Autumn - Bryan Josh (vocals, guitars), Heather Findlay (vocals, percussion, whistle), Iain Jennings (vocals, keyboards), Angela Gordon (vocals, recorders, flute), Andy Smith (bass), Liam Davison (guitars) and Andrew Jennings (drums) - are an example to all bands, whatever genre, of the art of holding it together in the long term, of achieving international recognition without compromise, and of doing it all on their own terms. Though they’ve had substantial record company support over the past few years (see the interview with Bryan Josh on www.cultfound.org recorded at the outset) they’ve always been masters of D.I.Y. marketing and this album is a first for the new Mostly Autumn records. Bryan describes this CD as “the band’s most widely accessible album to date - it’s crafting more streamlined....”. Production values, as ever with Mostly Autumn, are as good as it gets and the range of material presented is quite extraordinary. ‘Out of the Green Sky’ has an unexpected blues-rock base and then soars - placing them firmly in Pink Floyd meets Fleetwood Mac territory. Some inspired guitar work from Bryan and Liam. ‘Broken Glass’ continues the full on rock mood then ‘Ghost in Dreamland’ brings, initially, a more reflective feel, then brilliant vocals from Heather has the mood soaring again and Bryan’s guitar solo keeps things lifting and lifting ...... and so the album continues. ‘Carpe Diem’, written in response to the Tsunami disaster, features a haunting contribution from Troy Donockley. Extraordinary contrasts within songs, let alone throughout this great locally produced album. This band have received awards from the International Classic Rock Society for “Best Band”, “Best Live Performance”, “Best Guitarist”, “Best Female Vocalist” and “Best Track”. More info at www.mostly-autumn.com.
	November 2005: John Peel: A Tribute bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbVarious Artists 40 tracks on 2 CDs chronicling 40 years of championing the best of music. From Lonnie Donegan and Elmore James to Laura Cantrell and Orbital via Hendrix, Bowie, the Ramones and (from Cultural Foundation) Culture’s ‘Lion Rock’. Record company Warners said the project had been ‘carefully vetted’ by Peel’s widow Sheila and their four children, with particular input from his son Tom Ravenscroft. Said the family: “A wonderful tribute to John and his music. This is only the tip of the iceberg of the bands and music he championed”. Proceeds will go to some of John’s favoured charities: the Salvation Army, East Anglia’s Childrens’ Hospices, and Kariandusi School Trust, Kenya. Full track listing on this historic celebration:  Lonnie Donegan - Lost John; T-Rex - Debora; Pink Floyd - Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun; Jimi Hendrix Experience - Spanish Castle Magic; Van Morrison - Sweet Thing; David Bowie - Life On Mars; The Doors - Five To One; Tim Buckley - Song For A Siren; Faces - Stay With Me; The Misunderstood - I Can Take You To The Sun; Country Joe & The Fish - Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine; Fairport Convention - Meet On The Ledge; Captain Beefheart - Big Eyed Beans From Venus; Loudon Wainwright III - Be Careful There’s A Baby In The House; Roy Buchanan - I Am A Lonesome Fugitive; The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band - Mr Apollo; Ramones - I Don’t Want To Walk Around With You; The Clash - Complete Control; Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart; New Order – Ceremony; The Undertones - Teenage Kick; Altered Images - Happy Birthday; The Smiths - How Soon Is Now?; The Cocteau Twins Pearly-Dewdrops Drops; The Jesus & Mary Chain - Sidewalking; Blur - Song 2; Culture - Lion Rock; Billy Bragg - New England; Robert Wyatt - Shipbuilding; The Wedding Present – Brassneck; Pj Harvey - Sheelah Na Gig; Pulp - Common People; The Fall - Theme From Sparta F.C. ; Super Furry Animals - Something For The Weekend; Nina Nastasia - Bird Of Cuzco; The Delgados - Pull The Wires From The Wall; Belle & Sebastian - Lazy Line Painter Jane; Laura Cantrell - Two Seconds; Orbital - Chime; Elmore James - Dust My Blues
	October 2005: Los de Abajo hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhLDA v The Lunatics Produced by The Temple of Sound team this great new album, by the 8 piece Mexican band who manage to marry many distinctive global styles e.g. Ska, Rap, Mariachi, Punk, Salsa into one highly energetic and recognisable form captures them at their very best. This is their 3rd international studio album release and sees them moving from David Byrne’s label Luaka Bop to Peter Gabriel’s’ Real World Records. They seem to have friends in high places! Their last international album was Cybertropic Chilango Power, the 2003 set that – quite rightly – won that year’s BBC World Music Award for the Americas. There’s the cool hip-hop of the opening Resistencia; a brassy salsa track, Mi Candela, that the best Cuban bands would surely be proud of, along with a burst of slinky, accordion-backed cumbia, polka, and mariachi. Then there are other traditional Mexican styles like the rousing and celebratory banda (which is mixed in with a little hip-hop and tuba and accordion backing on the furiously energetic De Marcha). There’s a powerful mix of both male and female vocals in the band’s strong, sturdy songs, while the instrumental work ranges from electronics to brass and strings as well as traditional instruments like the ukulele-like requinto and jaranaall thrown in . All these are bound together with elements of revolutionary politics as the band are determined to increase awareness about the political and social situation in Mexico. And to top it all their excellent version of “The Lunatics (Have Taken Over The Asylum)” featuring Fun Boy Three main man Neville Staples & Dennis Rollins on trombone. Somehow this song seems even more relevant today than it did when originally released! Just ask some ex-residents of New Orleans about this one! Capturing the sound of a band who have such an awesome & worldwide live reputation in a studio cannot have been an easy task but this album captures a band at the height of its powers and is essential listening for anyone interested in music that has mass global dance floor appeal and yet still manages to keep its political integrity. Grab a few sol beers and some tequila and see them at Musicport 2005 on Saturday 22nd October where they headline the Saturday night. Dennis Rollins will be making a guest appearance with them. Not to be missed… but book your tickets fast and if you buy a full day ticket you get to see one of the great ska bands that influenced them THE BEAT !
	September 2005: This Is It bbbbbbbbbbbbbDylan Howes Five Corners Son of rock legend Steve Howe of Yes, Dylan Howe has managed to carve his own unique niche as a drummer of exceptional talent in both the jazz and rock worlds. Playing since 1997 with Ian Dury’s Blockheads, Dylan also manages his own jazz quintet under the name of Dylan Howe’s Five Corners. Described by Dave Gelly of the Observer as: “Just the right mercurial touch... You might well assume that this album came from one of the more advanced Blue Note sessions of the mid 1960’s”. On “This is It” Dylan Howe’s Five Corners are: Quentin Collins - Trumpet, Brian Edwards - Alto Sax , Frank Harrison - Piano, Andy Crowdy - Bass, Dylan Howe - Drums, augmented by Steve Howe, John Etheridge and Luiz de Almeida on guitars and Ben Castle on tenor sax. Dylan includes his own workings of tunes by Mingus, Herbie Hancock and Woodie Shaw alongside his and his companions’ own compositions. “While there are nods towards a more contemporary guitar-based sound with pieces by Scofield and Luiz de Almeldia,Howe’s music is based firmly in the classic two-horns-plus-rhythm sound of the golden age of Hard Bop from the mid 1950’s to the mid 1960’s. The musicians may speak in the language and dialect of an older, possibly more gentle, world, in which the bass drum wasn’t automatically the loudest thing on the record, but it is none the less potent for that. There remains something astonishing about listening to a great group of jazz musicians in mid-flight, akin to the eighth wonder of the world. The intensity for one; the speed of reaction for another. There seems to be no gap between the thought and the sound that appears to express it”. (Bill Bruford) “Jazz CD of The Week” The Observer , “Inspiring and Invigorating.” The Guardian “Fine drumming...Sparky modern jazz quintet. “ TimeOut “The drummer-led quintet play with a dexterity and maturity to match any mainstream/hard-bop artists of the 50’s and 60’s. This is ‘It’.” Musician Magazine “ Sit back and enjoy an unfussy, very swinging debut.” Jazzwise “ His fills and cymbal rides evoke memories of the great Elvin Jones and Philly-Jo Jones.” Jazz Journal “Howe swings effortlessly” Drummer magazine
	August 2005: Bullet Holes But No Airs And bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbGraces bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbWaster Waster recently sent us a pre-release copy of their imminently forthcoming new album “Bullet Holes But No Airs and Graces”, recorded at Jacobs Studio, and mastered at Abbey Road. This 10 track CD has been excellently produced by Jeff Knowler, known for his work with Blur, Feeder, Suede, Dido, and Natalie Imbruglia, but the influences and references you pick up on a first listening are the Ramones, Crazyhead, the Jags, Clash, the Hives, Green Day and a bit of Zodiac Mindwarp. The opening bars of the first track seem to have a (probably unintentional) nod to Link Wray’s “Run Chicken Run”. Punkish then. But polished. Waster are a four-piece based in the market towns on the southern edge of the North York Moors, and fronted by singer / songwriter / guitarist Mike Rivis (“the Peter Cook of Punk” - Fly Magazine!!!) with top guitar work from Hank Bartram and a driving “adrenalin fuelled” rhythm section - Rob Ing on bass and Mark on drums. From their website bio: “The rolling countryside around York has never been famed for its vast reserve of rock stars in waiting. It’s all green hills and flat caps... isn’t it? Forget the stereotypes, Waster are proof, that there’s more to their homeland than you might first think”. The band have tightened up their act by constant gigging, the forthcoming couple of months see them at regularly visited Fibbers in York, Joseph’s Well in Leeds, the Dublin Castle in Camden, and at major venues in Coventry, Birmingham, Norwich, Mansfield, etc etc. Shortly to be packaged, Bullet Holes But No Airs and Graces, will soon be available “in all good record stores”, at all Barfly venues, and through the band website www.wasterhq.com.
	July 2005: Oscillons from the Anti-Sun bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbStereolab After the death of one of Stereolabs two front ladies Mary Hansen on the 9th December 2002 in a tragic cycling accident it would appear to be the right time to put together a “best of…” type album by the band. Oscillons From The Anti-Sun is however not a “best of…” album - usually such albums come out when ironically the band themselves are past their best. Everything Stereolab have ever released has been of a great standard and well worth listening to. This collection of songs seems more of a testament to the band and spans their 15-year career. They are by no means over the hill if their last official album Margerine Eclipse from 2004 is anything to go by. Oscillons From The Anti Sun also includes the unreleased and hard to find versions of tracks that a band with 11 albums and 3 prior compilations are surely going to amass. Stereolab are a band that make you feel good. Imagine the psychedelia of The Velvet Underground and Spacemen 3 fused with the krautrock sounds of Neu! and Kraftwerk with a healthy dose of the French pop sensibility found in bands like The Free Design and you get a sense of what they are up to. They create a sound unique and personal and very much their own using all the traditional instruments of the modern rock band underpinned by percussive rattles and shakers, saturated with full bodied synthesizers and overlaid with beautiful harmonic vocals and a little bit of brass thrown in for good measure. The music is fantastically orchestrated and lyrically speaking Stereolab seem to say something along the lines that life may well be troubled, hard and full of strife but persevere, keep yourself thinking good and it’s all going to work out. Failing that pick up a tambourine give it a shake and sing something from your soul… preferably in French. This particular collection boasts over 30 songs over 3 discs and, emphasising how good this band are it’s indeed a real pleasure to play through from start to finish. After that if you are still not satisfied there is a DVD featuring videos and live appearances from programmes such as The Word and Jools Holland. Oscillons From The Anti-Sun won’t be the cheapest item you might find in the shop but it’s one of the best new albums you’ll find at present - well worth dipping into your pocket to purchase. A CD collection guaranteed to repeatedly make your day. Buy a copy and get hypnotised by the mesmeric and entrancing sounds of Stereolab.
	June 2005: "Solo" Steve Phillips Steve Phillips' new 12 track CD opens with a marvellous reworking of the classic Robert Johnson “Hellhound on my Trail”. As expected from this master of the blues guitar, the instrument sounds exceptional. Ethereal and unearthly. Then straight into a loping shuffle beat take on Blind Willie McTell’s famed “Statesboro’ Blues”. In the extensive, and well produced, sleeve notes Steve describes discovering recently that his favourite female vocalist, Billie Holiday, had actually composed some of her greatest recordings. Having spent some time wrestling with an arrangement for Billie’s “Don’t Explain” Steve laid it down in one take. “It’s the only time that I have been happy with my first shot at a recording session. I was trying to put too much in on later takes and this song definitely benefits from a minimalist approach”. Next Steve arranges the traditional “Hobo Blues” for belting 12-string slide work - he explains in his sleeve notes “The instrument is tuned way down to around ‘B’ which effectively makes it a baritone guitar and as I am ‘fair laying into it’, was prone to slight tuning variations during recording” (!). Seems just about spot on to me. “Mississippi Blues” has been a perennial on Steve’s live setlist, using Willie Brown’s lyrics, retrieved from the Library of Congress in the 60’s. A cool and easy walking groove. Next a boogie from Tampa Red. “Prisoner of Love” was a hit for James Brown - it was Lonnie Johnson’s privately recorded version of the tune which inspired Steve to come up with his own treatment. “All Out and Down”, another traditional song arranged by Steve “belongs to a genre of folk music prevalent in the late eighteen hundreds that predates what we now think of as 12-bar blues”. Blind Willie McTell influences the slide-work on “Just as Well Get Ready” - some audacious tuning here. After Robert Junior Lockwoods “Take a Little Walk with Me” with it’s familiar chugachuga beat the album closes with the meditative and positive “Don’t Ever Change”. This is a classic album from one of the most learned and influential musicians around this neck of the woods. Available from the official website www.stevephillipsmusic.com and locally at Diamond Music, Flowergate, Whitby.
	May 2005: Triple album Box Set ggggggggggggggggggggManfat Voodoo Manfat’s Davey White was the only northern musician to win one of this year’s prestigious ATOM awards - awarded by the PRS Foundation to ‘Advanced Technical Originators of Music’. Apparently comments from the awarding panel included “brilliant, innovative and slightly bonkers” and “Harry Hill does Spinal Tap” (though I don’t quite get the second quote). The award has enabled the production of the acoustic based ‘Erasmus Darwin and the Chicken Ladder’, an exceptional 12 track (plus Bonus Mystery track) CD from Davey White and Damion Pickup. Featuring songs such as ‘The Bus Times to Mandalay’, ‘Sea Monkey’, ‘Glitterball’ (a tour de force from Damo), ‘Reboot’, and ‘The Mighty Voodaa’ this is one of the most original albums you’ll have heard for a while. Let Davey introduce it: “To suit your mood, a quick listening guide to our ERASMUS DARWIN AND THE CHICKEN LADDER album goes like this: Want to listen to Rock? Try track 6 Want to listen to something Moody? Try track 12 Want to listen to something ‘Pop’? Try track 4 Want to listen to something ‘Daft’? Try track 3 Want to listen to something ‘Mad’? Try track 2 Want to listen to something ‘Scary’? Try track 11 Want to listen to something ‘Scarborough Flamenco? Try track 5 Want to listen to something ‘Short’? Try track 8 Want to listen to something ‘ Acoustic Scar with Humming? Try track 10” Also included in this Limited Edition Boxed Set is the full-on full band Manfat Voodoo sound of Voodoo Moods - “20 Re-released, Unreleased, Rare and Dodgy Recordings 1996 - 2005”, including the great tunes ‘Do the Volga’, ‘Oway Have a Go if Ya Think You’re Hard Enough’, ‘Shandy’, ‘Salbultamol’, and ‘The Mighty Manfat Caravan of Plenty’. And, to totally blow you away, ‘Stop Bluffin’ Davey White’ - 10 acoustic tracks recorded in Uber-Wokka Low-Fi and including “Hey God Can I Have Me Ball Back”, “Skinhead Bedhead”, “I Think I Make the Monsters in My Back Yard”, and “Six Pricks - the Little Boy at the Temple of the Winged Serpent”. Not forgetting the Manfat Voodoo Pocket Book of Sing Along Lyrics (with pictures). And a badge. This extraordinary work will be launched at a special gig at Vivaz, Scarborough on Sunday 29th May. Thereafter it will be available at all the best independent record shops in the area and through mail order, secure encrypted internet sales and downloads at www.cultfound.org. The CDs are also available separately. More info about Manfat Voodoo at www.manfatvoodoo.com
	April 2005: The Yards vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvThe Yards There is to be a special launch party at the Post Office Club in York on Friday 22nd April for this long-awaited album from the Yards (Chris Helme, vox and guitar, Chris Farrell, guitar, Stu Sutcliffe, bass, and John Miller, drums). Featuring 11 tracks: Forget Your Regrets, Get off My Back, The Devil is Alive and Well and in DC, Only Myself to Blame, Crime, On the Inside, Superhuman, Pure, California, Fireflies, and Up ‘Til Dawn. The CD is released by Industrial Erotica Records / Snapper Music and will be available “from all good record shops” from the 18th April. And it’s been worth waiting for. Opening, significantly, with a chain-gang chant the first track (recently featured in Channel Four’s ‘Teachers’) soon segues into a 60’s style groove - laid back and driving, Beatles with a touch of Who. The Yards press release mentions 60s leaning psychedelia with nods to heroes Ray Davies and Neil Young, but Get off My Back evokes Lou Reed for me (with additional weirdness and excellent arrangement). A perfect intro to the driving, angry Devil is Alive. Songs like this demonstrate the versatility of the Yards (consummate rhythm section underpinning the whole bit). And then with Only Myself we’re into more familiar Chris Helme territory - vocals well to the front and a great demonstration of song-writing, arranging and vocal ability. Great bass line opens Crime, when Chris hits the chorus he’s almost bursting at the seams. By contrast there’s almost a laziness to the delivery of On the Inside, really laidback and behind the beat - another take on the heartfelt. And then into a brief burst of guitar based psychedelia. Superhuman opens almost as a throw-away - until you reach the chorus. Like much of the album it’s full of surprises. And Pure is like around another corner, with James Lindsay’s gentle cello underpinning and augmenting the Yards relentless rolling rhythm. When I first heard California performed I felt it was one of the strongest Yards tunes - now it’s fully developed - excellent work from John Miller. A bit like P J Harvey at her most lethal. Fireflies builds and builds to a lull cut through by knife-edge guitar work leading to a roots reference to Elias McDaniels - Bo Diddley’s voodoo ‘Who Do You Love?”. Then it’s back to the campfire with the outro Up ‘Til Dawn. If Top Ten meant anything any more then there’d be a good few Top Ten hits on this album.
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