Reviews 11-25

Mariah Carey, The Young Knives and more

11 Foals, Antidotes (Transgressive)
4 stars

A perfectly executed debut as might be expected from a band championed in OMM53 for their mathematical precision (certainly their angular haircuts are suggestive of a Pythagorean bent). Except it feels as if it has been organically conceived, more subdued than anticipated, but still bursting with ideas and added Afrobeat. Rosie Swash

12 Mariah Carey, e=MC² (Universal)
4 stars

Buoyed by the career-defining international omnipresence of 2006's The Emancipation Of Mimi, these are fine times to be Mariah Carey. That nervous breakdown seems a very long time ago now. How she must chuckle to herself as she watches every single girl trot herself out in front of Simon, Randy and Paula on American Idol and behave as if they have been incubated on an exclusive musical diet of her peerless voice since day zero.

She's in carefully art-directed but none the less playful mode all over That Chick. The production is glossed to within an inch of its life, the mood is cheerfully upbeat - or 'festive' as Carey might put it herself - and the entire confection rings out with bold, sassy, brutally executed intent. Fans of her dog-whistling ballad mode will strain at the bit to find comfort here outside of the predictaballad 'Love Story' but for those who favour urban Mariah there's a glut of hard-nosed attitude: the almost Teena Marie-ish funk of the title track, a finely honed reggae lilt to 'Cruise Control', the freshly cut sample soul of 'Loving You Too Long' and the ballsy, straight-up hip-pop of 'Migrate'.

Each track is precision-tooled to sound as if it were born to be banging out of a Hummer in Miami on a sunny Saturday. With Mary J on autopilot, Whitney yet to re-appear, Christina locked in domesticity and Alicia gripped by a peculiar brand of faceless worthiness, Mariah is still the pack leader. Paul Flynn

13 The Young Knives, Superabundance (Transgressive)
4 stars

A welcome return for this premier Leicestershire combo, who specialise is substance over style. Mogwai producer Tony Doogan has given their sardonic sucker-punch guitar-pop space to grow, exploring lush new territories of melancholia and psychedelia. And crucially, the irresistible hooks that made 2006's Voices of Animals and Men so special are still intact. Jaimie Hodgson

14 These New Puritans (Angular)
4 stars

Here 's a chilling, paranoid insight into a dystopian future world. Jack Barnett , the catalyst at the heart of this Essex quartet , calls upon Fall-like post-punk , while flirting with dubstep and industrial music, too. Hypnotic repetition, mysterious soundscapes and recurring lyrical codes render this debut utterly engrossing and totally essential. JH

15 Joe Lean and the Jingjangjong, Lonely Buoy (Vertigo)
3 stars

Live, this Brighton indie quintet are a disappointingly contrived, Razorlight-lite affair. But the studio brings out their artful, literate pop leanings, as this second single attests. Former Pipettes drummer Lean rides a graceful tumble of chiming guitars with a deft balance of confidence and vulnerability, and the unpredictability of this hook-filled tune is irresistible. Garry Mulholland

16 Cadence Weapon, Afterparty Babies (Big Dada)
4 stars

Straight out of Edmonton, Alberta, fast-talking MC Rollie Pemberton's impeccable second album confirms that the history of Canadian electro did not end with Neil Young's Trans. Blending ebullient verbosity with the brightest selection of electronic beats you'll hear this side of a Santogold ringtone selection, Afterparty Babies translates its author's personal history (his Brooklyn-born father was one of the first DJs to play Afrika Bambaataa in Canada) into a universal message. 'My dad said I was an after-party baby; this goes out to all the accidents out there; keep on making mistakes.' Ben Thompson

17 Cass McCombs, Dropping the Writ (Domino)
4 stars

A taster for the Liverpudlians' fifth album Do It!, 'Free Not Free' (and it is free to download from clinicvoot.org) is an understated piece of woozy, dreamlike guitar pop. Indeed, for a band routinely touted as sonic iconoclasts you might even call it old-fashioned. Nevertheless, its Dick Dale-meets-Radiohead dynamics are definitely a soothing panacea for this time of year. Jim Butler

18 Clinic, Free Not Free (Domino)
3 starsFree

The third album by the nomadic Baltimore singer-songwriter begins with a newborn's first impressions of life and maintains the same degree of wide-eyed fascination for the following nine beatific tracks.McCombs's quivering voice, especially, is a joy, while the lyrics, which are both humorous and poignant, portray him as a man who has few peers.Paul Mardles

19 Nik BÄrtsch's Ronin Holon (ECM) 4 stars

What do James Brown, Zigaboo Modileste, the Meters, Philip Glass and Balinese Gamelan music have in common? Minimalism. So the Swiss Bärtsch has pulled all these diverse influences together under the rubric of his own Zen-like grooves, added a healthy dose of imagination and come with this strangely hypnotic music that's served up in 'modules'.Stuart Nicholson

20 Glasvegas, It's My Own Cheating Heart that Makes Me Cry (Sane Man) 3 stars

'Let the raining teardrops rain down on me,' begins this hyped four-piece's ode to regret, setting the tone for the lumbering sentiment to come. They disguise theirclichés withreverb and a thickly accented Scottish grumble, but nothing can remedy this whinge from a band who have mistaken tedium for sincerity. Sam Wolfson

21 Vincent Vincent and the Villains, Gospel Bombs (EMI) 3 stars

You know you're living through strange days when skiffle is considered ripe for appropriation by the pop hegemony. While Jack Peñate's gormless visage is this nascent genre's calling card, Vincent Vincent are more artful, coming across like a barbershop Babyshambles when they're not spilling over into overt pastiche. Alex Denney

22 Various Theme, Time Radio Hour (Ace) 4 stars

An authorised double disc of music from Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour, packed with rockabilly, bluegrass, reggae, jazz, punk and R'n'B obscurities: on rotation now are Paul Chaplain's 'Shortnin' Bread' and the Valentines' 'Gun Fever'. There's even room for the White Stripes, although what you don't get is any of the perfectly Dylanesque host himself. Caspar Llewellyn Smith

23 Nick Lowe, Jesus of Cool (Proper) 4 stars

Stiff Records' in-house producer demonstrated all his own gifts with this 1978 debut . The cover shots showed him in a variety of guises - hippy , Bay City Roller wannabe - and the record was re-titled for Americans as Pure Pop for Now People : all fair indication of the styles on offer, including the new wave classic 'I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass'. Now with 10 bonus tracks. CLS

24 Tawiah, In Jodi's Bedroom (Bush Girl Record) 3 stars

Battersea-born Tawiah looks like being another Brit school success story (see feature page 16). The 21-year-old graduated three years ago, but steps to the front of the class with this debut EP, her smart, sassy soul-pop encompassing catchy Grange Hill funk and accomplished soul on highlight 'Every Step'. Emma Warren

25 Toumani Diabate, The Mande Variations (World Circuit) 4 stars

The master of the 21-stringed kora delivers African classical music with echoes of court music from centuries past. After the big band music of his last album, this is more reflective, along the lines of his earlier masterpiece New Ancient Strings. With such poetic virtuosity, surely Diabaté is one of the world's pre-eminent musicians in any genre. Peter Culshaw

The GuardianTramp

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