Muse The Resistance, Album, Helium 3, September 14 *** After their last album Black Holes and Revelations, we were left wondering where Muse could possibly go next. The band who started off with grimey post-grunge rock catapulted themselves into near absurdity by their fourth album, typified by the hysterical Knights of Cydonia. Those expecting a break-away into electro or country will be sorely disappointed. Those who wanted to see them get bigger and even more ludicrous will be jumping around with glee. Like Depeche Mode covering Bohemian Rhapsody, they've forged their own thrash metal/disco genre. Single Undisclosed Desires is a highlight, along with Unnatural Selection. But after a listen for curiosity's sake the gimmicks wear thin and what sounds like life affirming stuff at nightfall in the middle of a festival field or surrounded by hundreds of thousands at Wembley Stadium, sounds overblown and is more likely to induce a grimace than a headbang. But this is part of their beauty – a truly eccentric, very British stadium band.
The Big Pink A Brief History of Love, Album, 4AD, September 14 **** When Merok record label chief Milo Cordell and Alec Empire collaborator Robbie Furze first started making music together there was an understandable glutton of hype. Cordell has signed some of the most influential bands of the past few years, with the likes of Klaxons, Crystal Castles and Titus Andronicus all calling him boss. But their debut couldn't sound more different to Merok's rosta, choosing to dissect sounds from the early 90s instead. Shoegaze, Madchester era snarling disco and spacey trance-rock all get a look in, making for a cluttered, though interesting mix. There are radio-friendly power anthems courtesy of Dominoes and Tonight but it's the meatier, Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine-esque rants that make it so special. Crunching guitars with layered blips and beeps make for a bold, epic but completely un self-concious sound- the name of the game isn't imitation, more retrospection.
Maps I Dream of Crystal, Single, EMI, September 14, ** Maps, or James Chapman to his mum, caused a massive stir with his Mercury nominated debut We Can Create. Packed full of blissed-out shoegaze, it was a near perfect marriage of electronics and dirty, fuzzy guitar. Fast forward two and a half years and his much anticipated follow up cranks up the 80s synth-pop and catchy choruses. This, its first single, gives an idea of what's to come from the the album Turning The Mind in a couple of weeks. Chapman himself has described his music as “a journey of extremes – from depression to euphoria.” This track falls into the latter – uplifting and easy on the ear, it's more accessible than his first album. But this is I Dream of Crystal's downfall – it feels half-hearted and you can't help wish he'd just gone a little bit mad and embraced the elements that made We Can Create so great.