Sunday CD Project

Well, would you look at that! It's today already.

Admiral Fallow – Boots Met My Face

I haven't actually given this album a proper end-to-end listen yet, but it has been serving as background music in our living room in the past week or two, and it is rather lovely. It has a very folk-orientated feel – lots of clarinets and things of a Sufjan Stevens nature – but isn't over-busy or too complex to make it sit nicely in a social situation.

It's well-produced, there are nice vocal harmonies, and the songs are well-written. I can't really give any more indication as the album as a whole, but maybe you should go and find out for yourself . . . !

j.r.

Sunday CD: 2nd October 2011

It's Sunday, and we're going for a blast from the past!

At The Drive-In – Relationship Of Command

It's amazing how much CDs cost; I theorise that the better the music, the more expensive the price tag in HMV. Luckily, I stumbled across this in one of Guildford's indie stores, so it was a bargain at £4.

At The Drive-In, if you're not familiar with their work, were the post-hardcore predecessors to and neo-prog giants The Mars Volta, with guitarist Cedric Bixler-Zavala and vocalist Omar Rodríguez-López retaining their roles after the split. Not that you'd know that the vocalist was the same person! López's vocals in ATDI remain unrefined and cutting, giving the band a raw kick that TMV (although still excellent) have never had.

Nearly every track is a corker in my opinion, but I'll recommend Arcarsenal, Pattern Against User and Enfilade as my high-points on the record.

j.r