Disappointments.

First things first; the Portishead album, the one I've waited eleven years for, this album by a band that informed my listening choices from adolescence onwards, is utter gashwank. Everyone from Pitchfork to Heat has heaped praise upon it, and I can only assume that these reviewers have ears made of pudding, because I'm pretty sure the album I listened to was the Down's afflicted offspring of Goldfrapp and Nine Inch Nails.

That's one disappointing third album by an established act, but I've also been faced with three disappointing debuts by artists whose prior output hinted at great things.

In the case of Hadouken!, hinted is key. Admittedly, it would be a bit much to expect a whole album of spaztacular hybrid rave anthems and white, middle-class rapping. Being able to pull off ten "That Boy That Girl"s would be difficult for anyone. Unsurprisingly, Music For An Accelerated Culture largely falls flat on its arse. While there are some bangers on the album, they're far more listenable on their own than as part of this unpleasant spatter of dayglo nu-rave wank. Hadouken! should consider a career as a singles/remix band.

Hadouken! - Declaration Of War

Does It Offend You, Yeah?, present only a marginally better prospect than Hadouken!, yet their album, You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into, works much better. While it suffers a defecit of imagination, it almost makes it up in tunes, and certainly the first half of the album is very strong. Unfortunately, a lot of the album fails to match the ferocity of "With A Heavy Heart (I Regret To Inform You)" or "Let's Make Out". This lack of bite weighs heavily particularly on "Doomed Now" and "Being Bad Feels Pretty Good", songs that would be vastly more enjoyable if they could just get the adrenaline pumping.

Does It Offend You, Yeah? - We Are Rockstars

Finally, the biggest disappointment of all, is Angles by Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip. Despite excellent singles, and a couple of superb album tracks, Angles quickly grates because Scroobius Pip insists on delivering pious sermons throughout. Previously, Le Sac's near faultless compositions have taken a backseat to the charasmatic and witty Pip, and it's a real shame that they're often underpinning such charmless and overwrought lyrics on this album. Add a couple of crucial mis-steps - like re-recording Thou Shalt Always Kill and then sticking it at the arse-end of the album, deadening its impact - and you've got perhaps one of the biggest wasted opportunities of 2008.

Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip - Development

Meanwhile, these things.

The only time dEUS ever really grabbed me was with their 1998 album, The Ideal Crash (which is still pretty ace, by the way), and The Knife's appeal is mostly lost on me (except for one or two songs, like Heartbeats, obviously). Still, I went out of my way to find a rip of this collaboration between dEUS and Karin Dreijer Anderson, called Slow. And it's pretty cool; nice pace, builds tension well between the live players and the electronic performers, and the vocal interplay is very effective. Good bit of stuff. Very enjoyable. More of this sort of thing, please!



Album imminent from Does It Offend You, Yeah?. Oh god they're so painfully trendy, I should just scoop out my brain and stuff the cavity with Pritt-sticks right now. Can't help it, I love this band. Listen now.