Singles
An absolute slew of top tuneage is eligible for this section next week, but for now there's very slim pickings. As in one linkable single. And that's a band who we've not entirely been won over by yet, although we do want to hear the Howling Bells album given how many people we trust like it and the promise of Setting Sun.
Albums
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly is quite often thrown in with the emo brigade despite quite clearly being a) able to sound like he's singing through his mouth and not his nose, b) act upon relatively genuine emotion rather than anxiety flashcards and c) not shit. The Chronicles Of A Bohemian Teenager does follow in the footsteps of a horde of British post-Bragg singer-songwriters with hearts on sleeves but there's something else going on here with the glitch/laptop influences with a pronounced political folk leaning. Apparently the title's meant to sound self-indulgent. In other albums of new material we find the slow burn funk of The Rapture's Pieces Of The People We Love, Salford/Sheffield electropop loon Kings Have Long Arms' I Rock Eye Pop - featuring the unmissable mixture of Phil Oakey, Andy Rourke, Mike Joyce, Denise Johnson and Ray Dorsett of Mungo Jerry - and hurrah for 1997 as The Vessel from David Devant And His Spirit Wife goes solo as, um, Mr Solo on All Will Be Revealed. Just fourteen weeks ahead of Christmas the Best Ofs are ekeing out, from Get The Message: The Best Of Electronic to Legacy: the Best Of Mansun. Come on, they had some decent singles. Can we however particularly recommend one that's very much operating below the double page spread interview radar, Dawn Of The Replicants' Bust The Trunk: The Singles. DOTR were one of our favourite bands back in 1998 and anyone investing in this tenth anniversary retrospective, especially those who can get hold of the limited edition DVD pack, will be treated to 22 pieces of skewered pop magnificence from one of our most singular bands. Now, a £4.99 compilation of a 1940s bandleader. Not just any bandleader, of course, but Spike Jones & His City Slickers' The Essential Collection. Jones, an influence on the Goons, Zappa and Bonzos, specialised in spectacularly outre arrangements and complete deconstructions of the classics utilising pots and pans, foghorns, telephones, glasses, pistols... you get the picture. What in god's name is going on here? Back in tangible music there's BBC session compilations from The La's and The Housemartins, the Adam And The Ants back catalogue has been remastered, including Kings Of The Wild Frontier, and as we missed them before can we take a moment to recommend the deluxe reissues of Pulp's three imperial phase albums, now each with an extra disc of rarities and sleevenotes, His'n'Hers, Different Class and This Is Hardcore.
DVDs
And while we're about it, a couple more things that slipped through the net while we were away. The REM IRS Best Of, which contrary to our cynicism is clearly superior to the earlier version, has been joined by When the Light is Mine, collating material from the same period including tracks from The Tube, rare videos and interviews.
Books
And while we can't guarantee it won't just be Amanda Donohoe and belaunched alternators in far too much detail, Adam Ant's Stand and Deliver: The Autobiography will have to gloss over a lot to be a sub-standard tale.
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