I’m not dead - I’m not even comatose, and according to Wii Fit I shouldn’t be pushing daisies any time soon either. It’s a bit hard to judge its long term worth when you’re spending a week reviewing it, but I’m confident it can guilt people into losing pounds by the feel of disappointment you get from the cutesy balance board.

Elsewhere, I also reviewed Tokyo Police Club’s debut album and was rather impressed. When the album’s right, it is absolutely spot on and leaves you missing the songs when they’re not blasting out of speakers - which is quite often given the band’s seemingly psychological evasion of anything longer than 180 seconds.

I haven’t been this impressed by a new album in quite some time. Frank Turner’s second collection of songs delivers in every respect, from the super catchy opening numbers to the softer folky tunes at the end. It is an album that both impresses on first listens, but gets better every time you hear it. Go buy!

Now I need to track down his first album…

See? The land slide has started, 3 new reviews in my del.icio.us tab there - I can be a lot more productive when I’m on holidays.

This one is of Nizlopi’s Make It Happen album, and it’s a bit of a shame. Y’see, I enjoyed their big hit “JCB Song” (partly because I used to frequent a forum with it’s video cartoonist, possibly, thus hearing it years before it became a hit) but could understand people who found it Twee-City. Here, their wide eyed enthusiasm too often falls into the same kind of cloying sentiments which ensure the stand out moments are lost within a cavalcade of mediocrity.

One interesting thing from this though - the album’s sure divisive. Actually, it’s divisive in a strange way - everyone agrees on 2-3 stars (almost), but people pick different stand out tracks every time, and slate the ones that other people love. That’s what happens when your album is just this diverse, I guess.

Good day.

Won’t spend long typing here as my keyboard’s batteries are looking resolutely unlikely to last the pace of a long essay, but I knocked up a review in my lunch hour, and here is the result. There’s a reason that I usually spend longer on these as will be evidenced, but it’s a unique take, at least.

And I quite like the album.

Hello all, I’ve just returned from a holiday. This has given me plenty of time to write reviews and take in music and games promos, so there should be a sudden flurry of activity before the grating 9-5 stifles my flow once more.

To begin with, here’s a rather pleasant folky offering from Athena - Pretty Things.

I didn’t know who Amy Studt was until last week. Misleadingly labeled as a singer songwriter in the press release, she’s actually more of a former pop princess turned semi-serious Tori Amos imitator. It’s pretty telling that from listening to the album once, I could accurately guess the kind of Avril Lavigne wannabe content she was coming out with before she went all Syliva Plath on an unsuspecting world’s collective arse.

The one bright thing to come out of the hours of my life lost on listening to it is that, if Wikipedia is to be believed, the album is download only. This means the promo I so callously laid into may quite valuable one day. I have no idea who to, though, as you’ll tell from my review.

Hello all… here’s my review of Jefferson Pepper’s American Evolution Volume 1, which the press release delightfully describes as country music for people who hate country music. In the traditional press release manner (I should know, I write some myself!) this is some way wide of the mark, but the end result’s an album with some splendid stand out moments anyway.

New review’s up - Colin Macintyre’s The Water. Unfortunately had to hammer this one out quickly in a lunchbreak, due to other comitments in my evening but hopefully it’s not too obvious.

I had high hopes for this one too, being a fan of Mull Historical Society - the sad truth is its just an average indie rock album with a couple of standout moments. Booo.

Happy new year, all!

Let’s kick it off with a review: Sonic Flyer’s Sun in my Pocket EP. Rather nice sunshiney summer music, confusingly to be released in the dead of winter. If it does sound your thing, be sure to turn the radiators all the way up, fill your house with sand and wear ill fitting beachwear while you listen. It’ll help you forget the bitterly cold British winter outside.

Another (few days) another (single) review. I saw Josh Rouse in Oxford just over a week ago - I finally got around to penning my thoughts some time later, and some time yet further along the line it has appeared on Allgigs.

In other news, my Zune has now materialised, so I now return back to absorbing new music in my former voracious way.