#albumpicks

Playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TspJfAKL7l4&index=1&list=PLbNmm56WuZl8hjmpZc-6woJhYiSyjht5g

If you’re into prog, classic, or David Byrne [Talking Heads], you might like this one.

It’s more on the instrumental side but has high flying vocals of David, and sort of drips with a kind of musical pressure and drama that is fitting of theatre.

The Forest is a concept piece based on the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Industrial Revolution, not that it is eminently noticeable through the cryptic but sweet sounding vocals.

The wheels could have completely come off The Drums last year in the wake of Adam Kessler's departure, and in hindsight it would have been quite easy for them to self-destruct after the ridiculous year they'd had. 2010 saw them being hailed as THE buzz band of the year, but no matter how good of a first impression their self-titled debut made, it didn't stick. Fourteen months later, they have returned with 'Portamento': older, wiser and considerably more pessimistic.

The album art depicts a scene from frontman Jonathan Pierce's early life in a bible-thumping household, and it is his formative years that he has decided to tackle in a number of different places on the album, most notably on opener 'Book of Revelation'. With decidedly atheistic overtones ('I've seen the world, and there's no heaven and there's no hell') it vehemently rejects the conservative world he grew up in.

There's rejection of a different kind elsewhere on the album: Kessler's departure is tackled on 'What You Were', and in no uncertain terms. Pierce has shown he's not afraid to speak out about certain things, and neither is he afraid to push his band forward. 'Portamento' is darker and more intense than its predecessor, and shows that The Drums have finally developed staying power. I'm quite sure that, unlike the debut, I'll be coming back to this for months. [GO'M]

A lot of noise has been made over the last few years about how the album as a format is dead. People apparently prefer to download individual songs from iTunes and the like, so some would argue, what's the point in releasing traditional albums anymore? Then there are albums, like this one, which demand to - and fully deserve to - be listened to as a whole. Even from a purely conceptual standpoint, 'In Gold Blood', the third album from Kids in Glass Houses , is such a step up from previous material that it should be commended for its ambition.

The album follows the trials and tribulations of an unnamed man and woman as they struggle to survive in a depraved world ravaged by war. It works extremely well as a cohesive record, while at the same time brilliantly displaying the evolution of the Welsh band's music. They have simultaneously become more immediate, as on 'Diamond Days' and 'Only the Brave Die Free', and more eager to take risks ('Fire', 'Not In This World'). Musically, the album is quite diverse, and there are some unexpectedly heavy moments present as well, such as lead single 'Animals' and the bruising album closer 'A God to Many Devils'.

Wonderfully stitched together by recurring themes and motifs, 'In Gold Blood' is the sound of a band not so much broadening their horizons as writing a whole new set of rules for themselves. There's no telling where Kids In Glass Houses could go from here - after all, who among us was expecting an album this good? [GO'M]

I'm not sure what the story behind this Scottish band's album title is, but before I go any further I'd like to point out that most of the samba evident on this record is in the title - sharp-eared listeners will pick up some other interesting flourishes. The Scottish trio are purveyors of razor-sharp power-pop, the kind which will inevitably draw comparisons to Biffy Clyro's newer material. However, LightGuides are far more than just mere facsimiles. They're not in thrall to their influences at all.

Their penchant for unpredictable song structures and time-signature trickery proves that the band are intent on keeping things interesting, and over the course of 27 minutes, they throw more hooks into their songs than was ever thought possible. Songs such as the sky-scraping opener 'WarHorse' and 'The Arts Factory' (the latter one of the songs of the year without doubt) are stuffed full of twists and turns, and six of these songs are up-tempo tracks which crackle with barely contained energy.

Only on closer 'W.H.Y.L.' do the band slow things down, but even then they can't keep themselves from packing the song full of surprises. It swells to a jaw-dropping finale, but remembers to keep the listener on their toes throughout. This is an impressive, addictive debut packed with potential, sure to leave listeners wanting more. [GO'M]

Samba Samba Samba - LightGuides by alcopop

Every so often, an album comes along that is completely immersive, that there's no other way around but to just throw yourself into it and see what happens. The debut album from Brazilian post-rock group Labirinto is one such record. It's 67 minutes long and comprised of six songs, all of which flow into each other, and all of which are over 10 minutes in length. To say that 'Anatema' is not an album for those with a short attention span is putting it mildly. This has become my favourite post-rock album of the year, yes, but it does require a lot of work.

The opener 'Reverso' takes three minutes to really get going, beginning with a slowly-building wash of ambience that sets up what can only be described as the song's first movement. 'Anatema's' songs are self-contained, sure, but that doesn't mean it can't play havoc with the listener's expectations. Any idea the band can possibly think of is thrown in, meaning there are often five separate songs contained within one track.

When things are kept particularly interesting, such as on 'Chromo', suddenly 67 minutes doesn't sound like a lot of time. 'Anatema' may be a sprawling album, but its inventiveness makes it easy to listen to and be drawn in by. It's not labyrinthine in nature, but getting lost in it is something very easily achieved. [GO'M]

Bands' debut albums are more often than not 'a collection of songs put on a record' rather than a fully cohesive listen. The first full-length from Goodluck Jonathan is exactly that: 'This Is Our Way Out' is in fact three EPs (similarly named) collected as-is. This flippant approach to sequencing would suggest that the album is all over the place. Not even close. It works extremely well, with the record as a whole coming off as something extremely intense, even in its quieter moments: 'Fall of America' makes allusions to 9/11, and the post-rock-influenced title track features a breathless spoken section before bursting into a cataclysmic instrumental.

There are also moments of raucous post-hardcore energy evident: 'Stop' and 'Stranded' seek to pound the listener into submission with thudding drums and searing guitars, while flagship single 'Broken Heart' is full to the brim with barely-contained nervous energy; its At the Drive In-esque tendencies come to the fore, attacking and releasing at all the right moments, a technique that leaves a lasting impression. People will be more aware of their namesake, the Nigerian president, but perhaps in time, the name Goodluck Jonathan will come to be primarily associated with this band. 'This Is Our Way' out takes several steps in that direction. It never lets up from the moment 'Bruises Disappear' introduces itself, and is a powerful statement of intent that hints at even greater things to come. [GO'M]

If we hadn't had as much faith in Copy Haho as we do, we would have suspected that their debut album was going to be crushed under the weight of expectation. After all, it's been almost two-and-a-half years since their wonderful EP 'Bred for Skills and Magic' was introduced to the world. In that time, the band haven't released very much. There was a single last year: 'Wrong Direction' is one of only two 'old songs' that the band chose for the album.

So that's two things that increased expectation: they filled a debut album with mostly new songs (going against tradition), and took their sweet time finishing it. Is it worth the wait? The answer to that is a resounding Y-E-S. The new songs are fantastic. None of them come remotely close to being filler, and 'When It Gets Dark' is probably the best thing they've ever written. All the time they spent working on this album has paid off massively. Their brand of danceable indie-pop is charming and extremely likeable. They entered a crowded market a few years ago, but 'Copy Haho' is anything but disposable. In fact, this record puts most of its contemporaries to the sword. [GO'M]

There are certain preconceptions people have about singer-songwriters that aren't always entirely valid. The genre has a slightly crowded playing field (putting it mildly), leading some people to write it off as samey and boring. I will admit that one usually has to have a good trawl through this overpopulated genre before they get to the stuff that is a cut above the rest, but Benjamin Francis Leftwich comes to us with plaudits aplenty, already.

His debut album, 'Last Smoke Before the Snowstorm' is out Monday, and is every bit as beautiful and evocative as the title and artwork suggests. A bare-bones approach is employed on most of this eleven-song collection, and when Leftwich does decide to add a little more into the mix, such as on the breathtaking album highlight 'Box of Stones', it's like his music has been significantly enhanced. Such is the delicacy of this album that every addition sounds like something monumental.

Sure, music like this has been written since time immemorial but there are very few singer-songwriters I can think of who have created an album as impressive as this, especially in recent years. While it isn't a masterpiece of the genre, there's a real indication that Leftwich can still improve. He has plenty of time: he hasn't even hit 22 yet. In other words, he's just warming up - and that is one hell of an exciting prospect. [GO'M]