Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – B-Sides and Rarities album review

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Musical offcuts of eyebrow-raising quality are rare; so when Nick Cave – a talented chap, by any measure – calls his new compilation “my favourite Nick Cave album” it’s worth a closer look. Indeed, only the churlish could feel short-changed by the album’s career-spanning 56-track girth: you can forgive the odd duff number when there’s so much to get enthused about. A gorgeous acoustic take of ‘The Mercy Seat’; boozehound nursery rhyme ‘Rye Whiskey’; a splendid cover of ‘What A Wonderful World’, slurred with Shane McGowan; ‘Where The Wild Roses Grow’ sans Kylie but avec Blixa Bargeld; the wonderful ‘Opium Tea’… Dip in and feast on Cave’s dark materials, or at least get a mate to compile you the perfect 1-CD comp which lies hidden in here.

Charlie Ivens

Caribou – The Milk of Human Kindness album review

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Whether you realise it or not, you probably know Caribou’s work already. Previously known as Manitoba, Canadian leftpop exponent Dan Snaith was (somewhat bizarrely) forced to change his moniker last year, after an obscure old US punker by the name of Handsome Dick Manitoba issued a trademark infringement subpoena against him. So far, so pointless. But it hasn’t deterred Snaith, who has created another irresistibly kooky confection of crunchy hip-hop – ‘Lord Leopard’ – freestyle electro-shoegaze experimentalism (‘Yeti’) and spooky looped 60s beat pop like ‘Bees’ and ‘Hello Hammerheads’. For current contemporaries, look to The Earlies and maybe Four Tet; for a complete demonstration of why more is often, well, more, look no further than this gorgeous, enveloping journey of an album.

Charlie Ivens

Angil – Teaser For: Matter album review

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“I’m happy because we buried the hatchet”, insists enigmatic Frenchman Mickael Mottet enigmatically, while his enigmatic associates honk saxophones, hit guitars with Graham Coxon-shaped sticks and further the enigma that is Angil. At times not dissimilar to Herman Dune’s playful folk whimsy, ‘Teaser For: Matter’ excels when combining this childlike ingenuity with snatches of electronica. Nice Breeders cover as well.

Charlie Ivens