CDs July 2001

Ladytron : 604 .Good electropop (somewhere between Kraftwerk and Air ?), it's got a Bulgarian singer, who might actually be mumbling some things in Bulgarian, as there's some lines I really don't understand. Cool chic singing, maybe music as it should have been in the 80s.

Day One : Ordinary Man. Bristol sound, cool stuff, chilled out.

Lowgold : Just Backward of Square  : another guitar band that's got very good melodies. But do we really need them now ? This is actually quite good.

Sparklehorse : It's a Wonderful Life. Quiet and beautiful, vocals from PJ Harvey and Nina Persson (from The Cardigans) on a few songs, may be slightly too long, but this makes very pleasant listening, won't harm anyone, may touch a few souls.

Basement Jaxx : Rooty. South London house/dance. Yes this will make you dance, not completely suitable for one-go home listening maybe. In my current non-enthusiastic about anything phase, this nevertheless has some potential.

Sigur Ros : Agaetis Byrjun. They supported Radiohead last year (but don't worry I had a single before that !).You won't understand a word (unless you speak Icelandic too ?), but this beautiful music can only evoke their native Iceland. I've never been there, only seen photographs, but you can easily imagine flying over glaciers or other stunnningly gorgeous landscape listening to that kind of music.

The Beta Band : Hot Shots II. Critically acclaimed. Thank **** I'm not a critic. Nice in a very intellectual way maybe. So boring then. There's only two kind of music that should be allowed : music that moves you, and music that makes you want to move. This does not belong to any of these categories...

Bent : Programmed to Love. Well, I bought that completely by hazard: a friend recommended it, and I found myself face to face with this for 37 francs, so I thought : let's try ! Nice electronica from Nottingham, not very intense, but quite pleasant, it didn't hurt me, I didn't regret buying it (...for that price at least !).