This Month I Will Mostly Be Listening To….

Vol. 6 June 2006
Round-up of the best albums of the first half of 2006*

1 Infadels - Love Like Semtex
2 Love is All - Felt Tip
3 Hot Chip - Over & Over
4 Tapes 'n Tapes - Ten Gallon Ascot
5 Graham Coxon - I Can't Look At Your Skin
6 Seth Lakeman - The Charmer
7 Klaxons - Atlantis to Interzone
8 Serena Maneesh - Drain Cosmetics
9 Archie Bronson Outfit - Jab Jab
10 Arctic Monkeys - Mardy Bum
11 TV On the Radio - I Was a Lover
12 Morningwood - Nth Degree
13 Morrissey - The Youngest Was the Most Loved
14 Akira the Don - Thanks for all the AIDS
15 The Knife - We Share Our Mother's Health
16 Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Turn Into
17 Longcut - A Quiet Life
18 Mission of Burma - 2wice
19 I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness - According to Plan
20 Hess is More - Yes Boss

* some of which were released in 2005 but I only heard them for the first
time this year.

A new contender

The Thom Yorke solo album ("it's not a solo album") has leaked online, and it's a cracker, but there's something else I want to draw your attention to. An album I knew after one listen was going to be in my top 5 of the year, alongside TV On the Radio and Archie Bronson Outfit. I'm talking about A Call and Response, by Manchester's The Longcut. An album that manages to evoke the spirit of Manchester's past, with influences ranging from Joy Division to the Happy Mondays to the Fall, while taking off in a totally different direction to the likes of Kasabian, Interpol or Editors.

You can sign up for signed copies on their website (well you can once they fix the link!), which sounds like the deal of the year to me. You can also download various live and demo tracks there, as well as a track off the album, just click on the Download link on the home page (I can't link directly to the downloads, unfortunately). Well worth a visit!

There's also a 40-minute gig available in streaming video on the XFM website.

Have a listen and let me know what you think - leave a comment below.