Boards of Canada - Music Has the Right to Children LP

What is it?
Scottish electronic duo and favourite sons of Warp records, Boards of Canada present a range of downtempo, semi-ambient synthesiser based noodle-doodling.

Why should you listen?
If you like the more clicky-scratchy ambient end of the techno spectrum that doesn't resort to sampling the sounds of waterfalls, guillemots and minke whales then this will definitely be up your street. 'Music has the Right...' is as accessible as ambient comes and combines a rich and interesting soundscape with blasts of melody and odd vocal samples. Most of the tracks could double up as the intro music for 1970's sc-fi shows but are made so much more interesting with an overlay of analogue clicks, squawks and the odd grunt. There's not a bad track amongst them but 'Sixtyten', 'Telephasic Worskshop' and 'Roygbiv' are all worth a special mention. The only downside for me is that I really wish they were from Canada for some reason.

What's it like?
It's like how DJ Shadow would have sounded if he'd grown up in Edinburgh and had an unhealthy fascination for documentaries made by the National Film Board of Canada.

What's the best song?
For some reason I'm always drawn back to 'Pete Standing Alone' which has a touch of drum and base about it.

Who does it sound like?
Aphex Twin and Royksopp combined and more subtle.

2. Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane over the Sea

Only two songs can even bring me anywhere close to tears. The first in 'Electrolite' by REM and the second is 'In the Aeroplane over the Sea'. It's the most exceptional piece of songwriting I've ever heard, but springs from the most unlikely of sources. I really hated 'On Avery Island' and found it virtually unlistenable and to be honest I felt the same about 'In the Aeroplane...' for the first few listens. But then everything clicked into place, and I realised they'd produced an album right on the cusp of genius and disaster. And more by luck and desire than any grand design, it's probably the greatest album ever made.

It's got to be said however, that Jeff Mangum possesses a voice that can shatter glasses, turn milk sour and scare the chickens all at the same time. The music is hardly sparkling and the production is fuzzy, but somehow the will or need for this to be a great album ended in success. It is one of the ultimate triumphs of ambition over lack of ability and I never grow tired of hearing the victory it produced. Apparently it's also a concept album about Anne Frank, but I've never quite understood why this is the case, but if that's where the inspiration came from, then who can knock it?

There are five or six stunning tracks on the album, but the title track says everything you need to know about the record, as well as life, the universe and everything. It was so nearly number one, but there's just one song that resonates more with me. 'When we meet on a cloud, I'll be laughing out loud...'

45. Placebo - Every You Every Me

One day in the mid-nineties I bought two indie 7 inch singles from what was the last remaining record shop in town. One was 'Pull Thru Barker' by Prolapse and the other 'Brusie Pristine' by Placebo. From that moment little went right for Prolapse in terms of commercial success, but for Brian Molko and Placebo it was just the opposite with a current confirmed status as household names and mega stadium fillers in 2012. At the time my money would have been on Prolapse, but who can predict the future?

Placebo turned out to be a bit of an enigma. I don't usually like groups who wear affected costumes and Placebo go for the full 'Marilyn Manson meets Renton from Trainspotting' look. If you ignore this slight fashion faux pas, Molko churns out some of the bitter-sweetest indie pop this side of REM.

It was a tough choice, but I've eventually settled on 'Every You Every Me' as the premium Placebo song, just pipping 'Meds' and 'The Bitter End'.

UNKLE - Psyence Fiction LP 1998

I'm thinking this is maybe not an album for listening to in the car as I've been a little underwhelmed as I've listened to it for the last couple of weeks while driving round. Put it on the big speakers however, and it's a different kettle of fish entirely. It all sounds much richer and darker, although it's still patchy at best.

This is the debut album of UNKLE produced by DJ Shadow using the vocal talents of a range of 'top' singers, most of which I have very little time for. Richard Ashcroft, Alice Temple and Badly Drawn Boy revert to type are all instantly forgettable, but Mike D, Ian Brown and surprisingly Thom Yorke all produce interesting downtempo electronic pieces of work. It's certainly not 'Endroducing' but you can tell it's DJ Shadow with some cracking use of samples and almost classical instrumental pieces. May be worth a try in a 'Late Night Tales' type setting. Great graphics and videos though!

Doccortex