> Various Artists. Womad: The
World's Festival 2012. Cartell Music.
3 stars (out of five)
This sampler is essentially a souvenir of last month's New
Plymouth festival and features 16 acts from this year's
impressive line-up. Looseness in the definition of world
music leads to a lack of cohesion but those with diverse
tastes might relish leapfrogging from Mongolian act Anda
Union's contemporary take on traditional throat singing, to
Lo'Jo's North African-influenced French folk, Dobet Gnahore's
danceable Afro-beat and Shivkumar Sharma's evocative santoor
playing.
Pajama Club, (TNT For 2), and The Black Seeds
(Bulletproof), present contrasting pieces from the New
Zealand scene.
Single download: Hoorai, by Anda Union
For those who like: World music
- Jeff Harford
> Band of Skulls. Sweet,
Sour. Liberator Music.
4 stars (out of five)
Sporting a name and album cover art that totally suggest
something pretty dark and heavy, Southampton's Band of Skulls
revel in distorting generic preconceptions. Sweet,
Sour does have its fair share of punchier moments, but
it's the mellifluous harmonies that hit the hardest.
Maximising their sonic intensity through a well-executed use
of space, the three-piece use lilting refrains as the
springboard for full-noise rock abandon.
Road-honed and technically tight, Sweet, Sour (as the
title suggests) is an album brimming with deviation and
disparity.
Single download: The Devil Takes Care of His
Own
For those who like: The Datsuns, Turin Breaks,
Kasabian, The Kings of Leon
- Mark Orton
> Two Cartoons. Jelly Tip
Lips (EP). Independent.
5 stars (out of five)
The only thing wrong with this cunningly crafted release from
Two Cartoons is the fact it's only five songs long. Dunedin
duo Brad Craig and Isaac Macfarlane prove that good tunes
often require little more than the instruments with which
they were initially created (presumably, in their case,
guitar and drums). Where some would be tempted to overplay
their instruments, this pair opt for quick frills and fills
in an attempt to maintain a sense of space - a delightful,
reverb-filled space into which drip the melodies and
harmonies of choirboys on a bender.
Single download: Technicolour Turncoat
For those who like: Port O'Brien, The Thrills
- Shane Gilchrist
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