The Flaming Lips - 'At War With The Mystics'

I reviewed this on the BBC's web site and described it as "inspired lunacy with moments of unmatched beauty". And there you have it in seven words. Well, okay, to expand on that, it's more varied than 'Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots' and therefore it has more ups and downs. The beauty comes in the form of tracks such as 'The Sound Of Failure' and 'Vein Of Stars' (I love the guitar riff) and the lunacy is courtesy of the singles 'The W.A.N.D.' and 'The YeahYeahYeah Song'. Throw in a bit of prog-rock ('Pompeii am Götterdämmerung'), keep the coughs and burps, add some flute-filled interludes, and the madness is complete.

If I have a criticism, they should have mixed the siren into 'Mr Ambulance Driver' at a lower volume. And to the official reviewer on the BBC web site, the word 'existentialism' belongs in a philosophy essay, not in a CD review. No-one is impressed by big words, otherwise we'd all be worshiping the residents of that Welsh town.

David Gilmour - 'On An Island'

Pink Floyd were supposedly the masters of the concept album (argue that point at your leisure), but if there's a concept attached to this it's surely based upon taking life easy and spending time with the family. Well, Mr Gilmour released this third solo outing on his 60th birthday, so I suppose he's entitled to take things easy. And indeed, most of 'On An Island' does swim along at a slow pace despite the frequent 'Floydian' moments (such as the beginning of 'A Pocketful Of Stones' and all of 'Take A Breath'). The guitar solos are every bit as good as you'd expect, and Gilmour also proves himself to be a fine saxophonist. The perfect CD for a warm Summer night. If Mick Jagger and Elton John are Knights of the Realm then David Gilmour should be king.

By the way, on play.com they list David Gilmour as 'David Gilmour (Pink Floyd)' - I would suggest that David Gilmour is very much his own man... although I wouldn't say no to David getting back together with Roger, Richard and Nick for one more studio album. Please. Oh, go on.

Supergrass - 'Road To Rouen'

With nine tracks, and one of those being a short quirky instrumental, this album is all too brief. But then again, as the sayings go, less is more, quality not quantity.

This is the sound of the more mature Supergrass, which has been slowly creeping in since their eponymous third album 'Supergrass' - they're obviously trying to throw off the cheeky-chappy image created by their early hit 'Alright' and they're doing a damn good job. With the exception of the afore-mentioned instrumental ('Coffee in the Pot', which I do like) this is without doubt the most consistently excellent crop of Supergrass songs.

The influence of keyboard-player Rob Coombes, now instated as a permanent member of the band, is very clear - the band have grown musically and the song-writing has improved. Amazing (to me) that commercially this hasn't been a huge success - and a travesty that there's not a single Brit Award nomination for Supergrass this year while the hugely overrated Kaiser Chiefs and the warbling depression-inducing James Blunt (blimey, he's crap) have picked up a truckload between them. 'Road To Rouen' was the best album of 2005, and anyone who says otherwise is welcome to their own (distorted) opinion. I just wish it has been a bit longer. I'm looking forward to their next offering already.

Incubus - 'Morning View'

After a few listens of this I wrote a review of this on Amazon.co.uk and basically said that, while it's a stonking album, song-for-song it's not as good as 'A Crow Left Of The Murder'. I now think that I might have been wrong, and to be honest if I had to take ten CDs to a desert island and wasn't allowed to take more than one by any band, I think I'd struggle to decide which I'd select.

One of the great strengths of 'Morning View' is it's diverse range of songs - I said exactly that about 'Crow' but the diversity is even greater here. Take the final three tracks for example - the funky 'Are You In', followed by 'Under My Umbrella' (the heaviest track on the album), and then the melodic dreamy oriental-inspired (and perhaps over-long) 'Aqueous Transmission'. Elsewhere there's the stripped-down acoustic guitar, strings and vocals of 'Mexico', anthems such as 'Wish You Were Here' and 'Warning', the jazzy 'Echo', and the bizarrely-structured epic 'Just A Phase'. The heavier songs like 'Circles' and 'Blood On The Ground' could have come from their previous album 'Make Yourself', but standout tracks like '11 AM' and 'Nice To Know You' with their acoustic guitar accompaniments firmly belong on this album.

Dirk Lance's bass playing is solid, but doesn't match the intricacies displayed his replacement Ben Kenney, and thus guitarist Mike Einziger doesn't have the scope to provide the more innovative guitar work he displays on 'Crow'. DJ Killmore's scratching and deck-work is more evident on 'Morning View', and it makes you appreciate how his contributions have evolved and become more of the core sound of Incubus.

So, in summary, a mixed bag but a bag completely full of tasty things. I'd give it 9.8 out of 10, which isn't bad. Life is full of things to look forward to, and a new Incubus album would be one of them.

Billy Corgan - 'TheFutureEmbrace'

I can't help feeling a little disappointed by this. It's a good album, but it's not great. Perhaps I've been spoilt by a large heap of wonderful stuff from Corgan and his colleagues over the years, and thus the prospect of the inevitable solo album had me watching the calendar waiting for the release date. Funnily enough, the release of 'TheFutureEmbrace' coincided with Billy announcing to the world that he wanted to reform the Smashing Pumpkins - and the irony is that, even though it appeared to the outside world that he was the sole driving force of the Pumpkins and the short-lived Zwan, the absence of fellow band members is rather telling.

That said, it's still a good album with plenty to enjoy. If you want a comparison, in terms of sound it's nearest to 'Adore', being heavy on the synths, drum machines and fuzzy guitar riffs. The more lively tracks such as 'Walk In Shade' and 'Mina Loy' are better than the slow numbers, although the cover of the Bee Gees classic 'To Love Somebody' is a high spot. Robert Smith of The Cure guest-stars on backing vocals on this track - now there's an odd pairing, you'd certainly turn round and look if they walked into your local.

Incubus - 'A Crow Left Of The Murder'

I chanced upon this after hearing one of the singles 'Talk Shows On Mute' on a music channel. I then used iTunes to listen to samples of the rest of the tracks and decided to give it a go. I'm glad I did. Man, this is awesome. iTunes lists the genre as 'Rock' which isn't wide of the mark, although I don't really think it's fair for Incubus to be pigeon-holed. There are several great things about 'Crow'... Brandon Boyd's vocals, the tight synchronicity between Jose Pasillas' drumming and Ben Kenney's bass, the diverse range of songs swinging between slow and moody tracks like 'Southern Girl' and 'Here In My Room' and the frantic rock of 'Megalomaniac' and 'Priceless', and finally but by no means least the incredible guitar work of Mike Einziger. Next time I hear someone describe Eric Clapton as the world's greatest guitar player, I'll ask them if they've heard of Incubus and then tell them to shut up until they know what they're talking about. It came as no surprise to find out that Einziger has a side-line jazz project - you can hear the jazz influences in his playing (particularly in 'Sick Sad Little World'), and this differentiates Incubus from other bands lumped in the same genre.

If I had to pick a best track it would be 'Here In My Room', but there's no duff tracks. 'Made For TV Movie' and 'Talk Shows On Mute' give Boyd a chance to show off his vocal prowess, and the whole album is littered with opportunities for Einziger to show off his versatility and considerable talent.

Paul McCartney and Wings - 'Band On The Run'

Absolutely guaranteed to make my brother Steve feel nostalgic. When we were younger (if my memory serves me right, I was nine and he was eleven) the family went on holiday to the west coast of Italy. We drove there (well, not Steve and I, we were too young) which I reckon was about a two thousand mile round trip. So what's this got to do with 'Band On The Run'? Simple... every time it was our turn to choose the music, we chose this so we could sing along to the title track, 'Jet' and 'Mamunia'. Now I'm older, I appreciate some of the other tracks like 'Let Me Roll It' (that's worth the price of the CD alone) and 'Mrs Vandebilt'. Without doubt McCartney's best work outside of that other band he was in, especially when you consider that he went to create the awful 'Mull Of Kintyre', that song with the frogs, and the even worse duet with that prospective jailbird Michael Jackson. And as an added bonus, you can spend a few minutes spotting the celebs on the cover. Where else would you see Kenny Lynch next to James Coburn?

To round off the nostalgia Steve, remember when it was our mother's turn to pick the music? That bloody horrible Liza Minnelli live album. I can still remember some of the words now. And I just made the mistake of looking it up on amazon.com, so now I can remember it even more clearly. Aaaarrrgghhh...

The Flaming Lips - 'Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots'

Making it's way back up to the upper regions of the play list, it's the CD most guaranteed to get the wife asking "what the hell are you listening to?". Imagine a triangle, with Pink Floyd, REM and Tangerine Dream at the three points. Actually, imagine a square and stick The Moody Blues on one corner. Whatever, The Flaming Lips sit somewhere in the middle, and then move around a bit.

Most great bands have someone who's a bit mad or strange at helm. Examples: XTC's Andy Partridge, Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan, John Lennon (mainly due to some stuff he used to smoke), Brian Wilson, and the Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl. The Flaming Lips also fall into this category, but with one difference - they're all potty. They've been around for years, but have come to attention in the UK mainly from a couple of successful singles, and also the appearance of a certain Mr Justin Timberland dressed in a giant rabbit costume playing the bass with them on Top of the Pops. Of course, they don't all dress in giant rabbit costumes - lead singer Wayne Coyne favours a tweed suit and, on occasions, a big furry hat.

So anyway, what about the album? It's difficult to pigeon-hole the sound of The Flaming Lips - how about psychedelic electronic indie rock? There's much to be admired - the opening track 'Fight Test' was without doubt my favourite single release of 2003. The previous single and title track is quirky (that's a bit of an understatement) and very catchy, and the first single 'Do You Realise?' is a beautiful bitter-sweet over-produced ballad with Beach Boys-like harmonies. Elsewhere the band provide cleverly-constructed epics like 'Are You A Hypnotist?' and the ever-changing 'In The Morning Of The Magicians', a track which proves that the the most able songwriters can create classics when they move away from the standard 'verse-chorus-verse-chorus' constructs. I've never done drugs - and don't intend to - but listening to this album must be what it's like to be high on something. Close your eyes and listen to the final track 'Approaching Pavonis Mons By Balloon', and you could actually imagine yourself floating above the surface of Mars in a hot-air balloon (if you could, because there's no atmosphere on Mars to make balloon travel possible).

I need another Flaming Lips fix soon, so the imminent purchase of the much-acclaimed predecessor 'The Soft Bulletin' will keep me going until the new album 'At War With The Mystics' is released later this year. And if you enjoyed 'Yoshimi', I can recommend downloading two tracks from the 'Ego Tripping At The Gates Of Hell' EP... 'Assassination Of The Sun' and 'Sunship Balloons' fit right in with the rest of the album.

The Killers - 'Hot Fuss'

Okay, so I said that 2004 wasn't a great year for music (see the review of 'Lifeblood' below). Since then I bought the Tears for Fears album, and now this offering from Las Vegas band The Killers.

You've probably heard the singles 'All These Things That I've Done' and 'Somebody Told Me', and those tracks typify the high-energy indie rock that sits somewhere between Franz Ferdinand and The Strokes (although Franz Ferdinand bore me and I think they're massively overrated). Brandon Flowers' trademark vocals (and the simple but effective keyboards) give the band a distinctive sound, and as a former bass player I love the style of Mark Stoermer which embellishes every track.

No duff tracks out of the eleven, although 'Andy, You're A Star' is a bit strange and the slow and moody closing track 'Everything Will Be Alright' is very different to the rest of the album. Every reviewer will talk about the wonderful gospel refrain from 'All These Things That I've Done' ("I've got soul, but I'm not a soldier"), but absolutely no doubt for me about the best track... 'Smile Like You Mean It'.

Tears For Fears - 'Everybody Loves A Happy Ending'

Recipe for a great CD - take an 80's pop duo, get them to fall out over 'creative differences' and not talk to each other for ten years, let them work on solo projects, get them to agree to talk to each other again, lock them in a room and get them to listen to the Beatles (with the emphasis on 'Sgt Pepper' and 'Magical Mystery Tour'), play them the last album they made as a duo a few times to remind them where they left off, and finally cart them off to the studio. And hey presto, you have the first joint offering from Mr Orzabal and Mr Smith since 1989.

I make the Beatles reference because as you listen to some of the tracks, particularly the title track and 'Who Killed Tangerine', you can't help but feel that there's a big slice of Sgt Pepper influence in there somewhere. While 'Who Killed Tangerine' starts like 'Come Together', switches to 'I Am The Walrus' and ends up sounding like 'Hey Jude', the afore-mentioned title track plays out like a happy shortened re-arranged version of 'A Day In The Life'. Of course, all this Beatle-ness is no bad thing. Nor is Roland Orzabal sounding a bit like David Bowie on 'Quiet Ones'.

Basically, if you liked 'The Seeds Of Love' you'll like this - although 'Everybody Loves A Happy Ending' is more upbeat and is less given to seven-minute epics (only three tracks pass the five-minute mark). It's littered with potential singles, with the bouncy 'Call Me Mellow' being a great choice for the US market (note: no release in the UK until at least March 2005). Orzabal's vocals tower over the second US single 'Closest Thing To Heaven' (listen for the drum fill lifted straight out of 'Sowing The Seeds Of Love'), and indeed most of the tracks. What is good to see (and hear) is Curt Smith's contribution, probably his greatest to a Tears For Fears album since their debut - he gets lead vocals on only two tracks, but co-writes most and provides ample harmonising to Orzabal's more powerful voice.

The Beatles influence gives way to more ambitious songs in the second half - the grandest production of all is 'Secret World', moving into Burt Bacharach territory with a brass interlude, and again, Orzabal's strong vocals building into the chorus. 'Killing With Kindness' has echoes of Pink Floyd, 'Ladybird' reminds me of XTC (although I can't say which particular song) and the final track, the soulful laid-back 'Last Days On Earth', wouldn't sound out of place on a Steely Dan album.

All-in-all a very welcome return. What concerns me is the CD's title indicating that this may be Tears For Fears' swansong... even more so when you open the case and find the words 'the end' printed on the back of the sleeve insert. Well, if so, at least they finished on a high. Hopefully the UK release and tour will go well, then they may give the end a stay of execution. I just hope they don't wait fifteen years again.

By the way, 'Q' magazine continue to irritate me - their review said "It's a salient reminder of the wafer-thin line between art and pretentious bollocks" and they gave it 2 out of 5. Well, they'd know all about pretentious bollocks.

Manic Street Preachers - 'Lifeblood'

This has been a bad year for music. There's been very few decent CD releases in 2004. I'm bored with Coldplay, really bored. I couldn't bring myself to put them on the iPod. Everyone seems to love Keane, but to me they just sound like a choir boy accompanied by his mate who plays the piano out of tune. People are raving about Razorlight but I hate what I've heard of them. Bonio has stopped trying to be the leader of the United Nations, Greenpeace and OPEC long enough for U2 to record a new album - I stopped liking them fifteen years ago, so I won't be sorry when he drops the music again to camp on George Bush's lawn for as long as it takes for Mr President to sign the Kyoto Protocol. No sign of a new XTC album, no sign of Radiohead emerging from their own backsides (although 'Hail to the Thief' was a step in the right direction after 'Kid A' and 'Amnesiac'). Yep, 2004 was a bad one, and Maroon 5 looked wonderful by comparison. I put a whole stack of CDs on my Santa list so that I can explore some new (and offbeat) and old avenues.

Thanks heavens for the Manic Street Preachers. Their albums have always been fairly reliable, even if they have wobbled occasionally over the years. 'Lifeblood' is their seventh studio album, which means they've recorded more albums as a trio than as a quartet. I doubt if they'll ever escape the ghost of Richey Edwards, but this album yet again proves that they can move on from the dark period that spawned 'The Holy Bible'. Yes, the politics and angry attitude still lurk in the background, but it's not rammed down the throat anymore.

This is altogether more mellow, less visceral, than previous albums (despite the copious amounts of blood in the artwork), and more consistent than the mixed bags that were 'This Is My Truth...' and 'Know Your Enemy' (they were nevertheless great albums). James Dean Bradfield, in my opinion one of the finest guitarists on this planet, chooses his moments carefully and sparingly, and rarely cranks the guitar up to the proportions heard earlier in their career. He has improved greatly as a singer, and hits his full range on 'Always/Never' and the single 'Empty Souls'. There's more keyboards than previous albums, and the piano is used to beautiful effect on the near-ballad 'I Live To Fall Asleep'. The first single from the album 'The Love Of Richard Nixon' sounds better alongside the other tracks than it does on it's own, and there's plenty of other potential singles - the melodic 'Glasnost' (a Manics love song?) and the outstanding 'A Song For Departure'. For me however, it's 'Always/Never' with it's thumping bass-line and soaring chorus that stands out.

Perhaps many long-term Manics fans will say that they've lost their edge, that this lacks the bite of their previous work, and is perhaps over-produced. I'd say they're maturing and moving on. I certainly won't agree with the smug and arrogant music magazine 'Q' who described 'Lifeblood' as "miserable and insipid". Well, everyone's entitled to their own opinion, even if you are a complete twat. I mean, they gave Keane, the purveyors of weak-kneed shallow pop, a great review. And don't think I've forgotten that Q gave XTC's 'Wasp Star' a pretty average review. Tossers.

Anyway... 'Lifeblood' by the Manic Street Preachers... album of the year. Or you could just listen to the bloke from Keane tinkling the ivories while his mate warbles like a poof.

Filter - 'Title of Record'

Also near the top of the current playlist is this, Filter's second album. If you've never heard Filter, think of the Foo Fighters and then turn all the dials up a couple of notches. Front-man Richard Patrick (brother of Terminator 2 actor Robert Patrick) has a great voice, plays a mean guitar and writes songs that combine powerful rock with catchy tunes. You may have heard the single 'Take A Picture' a few years ago - this is one of the softer numbers, with the awesome 'Welcome To The Fold', 'Captain Bligh' and 'The Best Things' being more typical.