Readers’ joint favourites in August were The Verve’s comeback album ‘Forth’ and newcomers The Dodos. The Editor’s choice is Lykke Li’s New Wave inspired debut ‘Youth Novels’.

We’ve got a tie this month for the Readers’ Choice award between 1990’s rockers The Verve and newcomers The Dodos. It’s big, sweeping six-minute rock symphonies versus intimate two-minute folk miniatures. Well, it’s different horses for different courses, have a listen and decide for yourself.

READERS’ CHOICE

Joint Readers’ Favorites: The Verve ‘Forth’
‘Forth’ is the first new material by The Verve in 11 years! Was it worth the wait?

‘Urban Hymns’ was the ambitious and opinionated firework that rang out the Britpop era in 1997. What it excelled at was bridging the gap between Rock and Dance in a cool, rather effortless way. But where ‘Urban Hymns’ entered the dancefloor in full stride, ‘Forth’ is largely content to skirt around it. Only once, on ‘Columbo’, does the band let rip and invite some booties onto the floor.

‘Sit And Wonder’ and ‘Rather Be’ are classic Verve rockers. ‘Love Is Noise’ plays with some Housey backing vocals. A good few tracks feature very Ambient guitar work, such as ‘Judas’ and ‘Valium Skies’.

What I am missing on ‘Forth’ are the hooks that gave The Verve’s trippy brand of rock a climax. While ‘Forth’ is pleasant to listen to, it leaves me somewhat unsatisfied.

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And Now Something Quite Different: The Dodos ‘Visiter’
US duo The Dodos play folky, largely acoustic tunes with a touch of frewheeling rock’n'roll spirit.

They have that looseness that sounds like they are ‘hanging with friends on the street corner’ rather than trying very hard in a recording studio. ‘Jody’ is my favourite number on the album. A laid back affair with simple drums that could be at home on a Jonathan Richman album.

‘Paint The Rust’ boasts some neat jangly guitar work showing that The Dodo’s can crank it up a level or two if needed. More of that, and ‘Visiter’ would have been a very fine album indeed.

All in all, it’s a very gentle album, by and large a bit too ‘nice’, but occasionally blessed with a raw simplicity which sets ‘Visiter’ apart from the current glut of acoustic singer-songwriter albums.

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EDITOR’S CHOICE
The Editor’s choice this month is far less Rock oriented than the two Readers’ favourites. Futuristic pop dominates the Top albums, from newcomers Lykke Li and Foals to long time innovators Brian Eno and David Byrne. Don’t discard the lone ‘Rock’ dude in the mix, Jonathan Richman, his album is definitely worth a spin.

#1: Lykke Li ‘Youth Novels’
Lykke Li’s debut album ‘Youth Novels’ has an overall atmosphere of muted euphoria with a melancholic aftertaste. In many ways, the album sounds like a contemporary take on the New Romantic sound of the early 1980s.

You can hear the New Romantics influence on ‘Little Bit’ with it’s chorus like a stripped down, skeletal version of Spandau Ballet. At other times, Li sounds like a feistier version of Nouvelle Vague covering New Order on ‘Dance, Dance, Dance’. And then there’s the shimmering Electro-Pop of ‘I’m Good, I’m Gone’.

Musically, the album swings between crisp Electronica and quiet, almost Jazzy ballads with an 80’s touch. Lyrically, Lykke Li comes across as direct and outspoken with a deft hand for snappy one-liners. My current favourite: ‘If you want to complain, I’m not the complaints department’.

Listen Here to LykkeLi’s debut ‘Youth Novels’ and download the album from iTunes.

If you’d like to hear complete, unabridged versions of some of Lykke Li’s tunes, please check her MySpace profile.

#2: Jonathan Richman ‘Because Her Beauty Is Raw And Wild’
Jonathan Richman is probably the most entertaining guy you’ll ever see with just a battered acoustic guitar for company on stage. He is still playing like on the day he turned his back on Punk rock and started bashing out a mix of folky styles from around the World.

It is quite an eclectic mix that Richman serves up. Check out ‘When We Refuse To Suffer’ with its Spanish style guitar and just a hint of Percussion. Balearic Rock doesn’t come purer than this. Now listen to ‘When We Refuse To Suffer (Version 2)’, which goes back to his early days with the Modern Lovers with its scorching electric guitar and a streetwise Richman rap.

Lyrics-wise, ‘Because’ is a bit of a turning point. Richman always had serious messages between his lighhearted stuff, but there is a new, sombre overall atmosphere to his latest songs. The music will be comfortably familiar to Richman fans, but ‘Because’ also shows that Richman can still bring you to new places with his music. Rock on, Dude.

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Readers from the UK and Ireland, Click Here to download ‘Because Her Beauty Is Raw And Wild’ from iTunes UK. We don’t charge you any extras, just pay the regular iTunes Store price.

#3: David Byrne And Brian Eno ‘Everything That Happens Will Happen Today’
‘Everything’ is an effortlessly elegant exercise in stylish Pop, a tightrope walk between understatement and repetition. After a few listens, songs blend into each other and it’s the overall feel of the album that is the real winner. Just one massive slab of shimmering, sparkling sound.

Avantgarde composer Eno, a founding member of Roxy Music, and Byrne worked as a duo before, releasing the influential ‘My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts’ in 1981, the first cohesive album based on the use of samples and dance beats. ‘Everything That Happens’ does not push the envelope like its predecessor, but it has Byrne and Eno producing some timeless pop music.

Musically most out there is ‘Wanted For Life’ with its squashed metallic Beats and grinding electric organ. ‘Poor Boy’ is held together by scratchy Afro Funk guitar and tight percussion. ‘Life Is Long’ and ‘My Big Nurse’ are the most immediately ‘poppy’ tracks with strong choruses and, in the case of ‘Life’, a snappy brass section.

The remainder of the songs is more drawn out, either in a leisurely, funky way like ‘Strange Overtones’ or in a more somber fashion reminiscent of Icelandic mood merchants Sigur Ros.

Both Eno and Byrne have experimented with digital distribution of their music for a while. The artists have made ‘Everything That Happens Will Happen Today’ available for free streaming! Just use the player below to listen to the album.

Stream Byrne And Eno’s New Album For Free!

#4: Foals ‘Antidote’
Foals sound vaguely like Franz Ferdinand meeting The Specials, all tight rhythms, metallic guitars and tense vocals. A band with an adventurous taste in rhythms is a rare thing in alternative rock circles these days, it makes ‘Antidotes’ compelling listening.

Check the weird skanking rhythm and almost Fela Kuti Afro style guitars and brass on ‘The French Open’. The metallic, purpuseful stride of ‘Heavy Water’ is almost at the opposite end of the spectrum, all angular and European, but no less engaging.

On ‘Balloons’ and ‘Cassius’, the Foals blend the pop sensibilty of Franz Ferdinand with the skanking Ska rhythms of The Specials. The Foals are not attempting a Ska revival, they are not even jumping on the New Wave revival that’s still going on. No, their music is much too 2008 for that. Slightly on the arty side, ‘Antidotes’ is nevertheless punchy and complex but not overcomplicated.

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Readers from the UK and Ireland, Click Here to download ‘Antidotes’ from iTunes UK.