Jamie Lidell, Jim

Jim’s lyrics could be taken as comments on Jamie Lidell’s career to date: “I used to scream when a whisper would do,” proclaims Another Day, while Out of My System reveals, “My doctor told me I was not a machine/ … Continue reading →

Portishead, Third

Portishead’s third album is initially more a record to admire than to love, its muscular synthesisers, drum breaks and abrupt endings keeping the tension high. But after several listens, Third’s majesty unfurls. Propulsive Krautrock rhythms and German radio samples conjure … Continue reading →

M83, Saturdays=Youth

French producer Anthony Gonzalez’s fourth album sounds much like a bid to soundtrack the next Sofia Coppola movie, combining the triumphal goth-pop of Marie Antoinette, the hormonal swoon of The Virgin Suicides, and the gorgeous blur of Lost in Translation. … Continue reading →

Hercules and Love Affair, Hercules and Love Affair

Anyone feeling that music currently lacks a certain exoticism – awash as it is with prosaic mortgage indie and ordinary people elevated to star status by TV talent shows – should be heartened by the arrival of New York’s Hercules … Continue reading →

Benga, Diary of an Afro Warrior

To anyone who has followed the growth of dubstep this decade, it seems as if wunderkind Beni Uthman, aka Benga, has been around forever – despite being only 21. He has been releasing singles since 2002, but Diary of an … Continue reading →

Now that the party’s over

The best club night in the country finally closed last month. Luke Bainbridge celebrates the legacy of an underground institution

Light in the west

It has been 10 years since the world last heard from Portishead, when TV producers 'turned our sounds into a fondue set'. A stunning new album could even herald the rebirth of the Bristol scene. An exclusive interview by Ben Thompson

Tony Naylor’s new releases review

The Presets, My People | Los Campesinos! Death To Los Campesinos! | Miss Kittin, Kittin Is High | Lykke Li, Little Bit | Fredo Viola, The Sad Song