We’re all on the same wavelength this month, with Icelandic singer-songwriter Emiliana Torrini and US alternative rockers Giant Sand topping readers’ and editor charts alike.

Emiliana Torrini’s album ‘Me And Armini’ just pips Giant Sand’s ‘Provisions’ to the post in terms of page views and votes. Both are excellent albums. So are the latest records by the Cold War Kids, now considerably heavier and all the better for it, Lindstrom and Bomb The Bass.

September has been a pretty busy month in terms of new music and a few albums have bubbled under that are worth a second look and listen. Off the top of my head, I’d suggest Scottish newcomers Glasvegas, New York’s leftfield TV On The Radio, the folky Old Believers and Ladytron.

And don’t forget the two big name albums, Metallica’s ‘Death Magnetic’ and the Kings Of Leon’s ‘Only By The Night’. October is already geatting busy as you red this, with the new Oasis album turning out surprisingly well and Yo!Majesty providing a fresh breeze in the hip hop corner.

READERS’ CHOICE

Album Of The Month: Emiliana Torrini ‘Me And Armini’
‘Me And Armini’ is full of catchy melodies and candid relationship lyrics performed by a singer who sounds fragile yet tough and determined.

It’s Torrini’s voice that pulls together the mad kaleidoscope of musical styles on the album. From the Reggae overtones of the title song to the touches of raucous 1950s Rockabilly on ‘Ha Ha’ and ‘Jungle Drum’, Torrini does flit from one musical style to the next.

There’s the odd but funky ‘Heard It All Before’. There’s the dark ‘Gun’, all drenched in tremolo and reverb. And there’s a perfect pop song in shape of ‘Big Jumps’ that should make the playlists of more adventorous radio stations.

Thanks to this eclectic mix, ‘Me And Armini’ still sounds fresh after repeated listening.

It’s new territory for Torrini, a quiet singer-songwriter who established herself as a musican’s musician with her two previous albums. She’s co-penned a song for Kylie Minogue (’Slow’), contributed to the Lord Of The Rings soundtrack.

Listen to Emiliana Torrini

Readers from the UK and Ireland, Click Here to download ‘Armini And Me’ from iTunes UK.

Editor’s Choice

#1: Giant Sand ‘Provisions’
They are Alternative Rock’s favourite desert outlaws. Few play rock with a widescreen Western flavour with more credibility or style. This is music for endless cups of coffee at a late night diner.

Giant Sand are based in Tucson, Arizona. Maybe there’s something in the desert air out there. Giant Sand mastermind Howe Gelb and an ever changing line-up of fellow musicians have been making strangely spiritual, laid back Rock music for over two decades. Long before Country and US Folk influenced Rock became hip, Giant Sand developed the blueprint for what is now often referred to as Americana.

There is nothing rough or improvised about Gelb’s music. A professional into the last detail, he plays every bit as slick as, say, soft rocker Eric Clapton on ‘Live At Budokan’, yet there is a directness about ‘Provisions’ that screams ‘I am here now and I’m talking to YOU’.

What you get on ‘Provisions’ is very straight, honest music with one foot in Alternative Rock and the other stuck deep in all sorts of American roots music. Like Micah P. Hinson, Giant Sand toy with 1950’s Rockabilly (’Can Do’). Unlike Hinson, theirs is a less edgy, creamier sound, though.

There are some straight Alternative moments (’Out There’), yet the majority of numbers here has an overwhelming feel of music for propping up late night diner counters (’Increment Of Love’, ‘Stranded Pearl’, ‘Without A Word’).

Watch Giant Sand on YouTube

Fans of Micah P. Hinson, The Tindersticks, Bonnie Prince Billy, Lambchop, Wilco and Nick Cave should give ‘Provisions’ a listen. You might find a new favorite act in Giant Sand.

Readers from the UK and Ireland, Click Here to download ‘Provisions’ from iTunes UK. We don’t charge any extras, just pay the regular iTunes Store price.

#2: Cold War Kids ‘Loyalty To Loyalty’
Half of Cold War Kids’ new album bristles with a confidence and a newly found vitriolic energy that was largely absent on its predecessor ‘Robbers & Cowards’. It’s a much better album for that.

‘Loyalty To Loyalty’ captures the kick you get out of watching Cold War Kids live better than ‘Robbers & Cowards’ did. Listening to the 2006 album after a live show last year felt like a serious comedown. Only Hospital Beds survived thanks to the band managing the rousing chorus in the studio, if only just about. It was still restrained compared to what I’d heard only hours before. the rest just sounded flat and whimpy when put next to what the band played on stage.

‘Loyalty To Loyalty’ is a different album altogether. The first four tracks have more muscle than anything Cold War Kids recorded before. ‘Against Privacy’, ‘Mexican Dogs’, ‘Every Valley Is Not A Lake’ and ‘Something Is Not Right With Me’ are proudly strutting beasts that owe more to the sneering attitude of Bob Dylan or Nick Cave than to a vulnerable Jeff Buckley.

Watch Cold War Kids Play ‘Something Is Not Right With Me’

The band displays ample confidence to say it loud and say it differently. ‘Relief’ sees the Kids toying with rhythms and noises that could be at home on a prime period Beck album. ‘I’ve Seen Enough’ could be the band’s new ‘Hospital Beds’, a highly melodic song that transcends the borders between Alternative Rock and plain old Pop.

Listen To ‘Loyalty To Loyalty’ Here!

Readers from the UK and Ireland can download ‘Loyalty To Loyalty’ from iTunes UK.

#3: Lindstrøm ‘Where You Go I Go Too’
Hans-Peter Lindstrøm is the king of Cosmic Disco: Slowly undulating electronic jams somewhere between blissed-out Trance and 1970’s Euro Disco.

So far there have only been a handful of records by this Norwegian artist. Some 12″ singles, a few choice remixes for LCD Soundsystem among others and a Disco groove heavy album he recorded with fellow Norwegian artist Prins Thomas back in 2005. ‘Where You Go’ is Lindstrøm’s first solo album.

And, boy, does he make use of his artistic freedom. The title track is a smiley, uplifting opus that clocks in at 29 minutes of bliss. Lindstrøm combines the anticipation and euphoria of a Trance track with the rambling electronics of, say, Jean-Michel Jarre. Sounds odd, but the result is far from cheesy.

‘Grand Ideas’ (10 minutes) and ‘The Long Way Home’ (16 minutes) are more direct and owe as much to film music as they do to Italian and French Disco records from the 1970’s. Think ‘Magic Fly’ by Space or Giorgio Moroder’s album side length excursions into mood music.

Check out the video to the Prins Thomas edit of ‘The Long Way Home’ here:

Watch Lindstrøm On YouTube

A shorter version of ‘Grand Ideas’, remixed by John Agebjørn, emphasises the Trance feel and tightens the song up for the dancefloor.

All in all, you get 62 minutes of cool instrumental music across four tracks (55 if you don’t count the remix). Lindstrøm’s music has a certain, slick quality but it’s full of little quirks that make you come back for another listen. Play this album and enhance the atmosphere in loungey bars, cafes with sunset view, slinky boutiques and relaxed dinner parties.

Readers from the UK and Ireland, Click Here to download ‘Where You Go I Go Too’ from iTunes UK. We don’t charge you any extras, just pay the regular iTunes Store price.

#4: Bomb The Bass ‘Future Chaos’
Bomb The Bass mastermind Tim Simenon was part of the holy trilogy of UK artists who pushed the sampling craze onto mainstream dancefloors back in 1987: Bomb The Bass (’Beat Dis’), M/A/R/R/S (’Pump Up The Volume’) and S’Express (’Theme From S’Express’).

‘Future Chaos’ is the first full length Bomb The Bass album in 13 years. It’s arguably more rounded than any of Simenon’s earlier albums. Bomb The Bass somehow was always more of a singles act. This time there’s a good range of songs and no obvious fillers.

Watch Bomb The Bass’ ‘Butterfingers’ On YouTube

‘Future Chaos’ is a totally hand-made affair, played largely on vintage electronic gear. It’s a Pop album in the tradition of, say, Depeche Mode rather than a Dance album. The focus is on vocals and melodies rather than looking for the perfect beat. Contemporary equivalents would be Hot Chip’s ‘Made In The Dark’, LCD Soundsystem’s ‘Sound Of Silver’ or the Junior Boys’ ‘So This Is Goodbye’.

The majority of tracks features vocals by Simenon’s production partner Paul Conboy. ‘Butterfingers’ features Electro artists Fujiya And Miyagi. ‘Black River’ with vocals by former Queens Of The Stone Age frontman Mark Lanergan is a very chilled affair on a par with the latest material by David Byrne and Brian Eno. So is ‘Smog’, sung by Conboy.

‘Future Chaos’ sticks to electronic sounds throughout and the absence of samples means there is no ‘acoustic’ sound for contrast. That can make the album a bit two dimensional if you are not an Electro head yourself. Watch out, though, the vocal performances and the melodies might make you come back whatever your taste in music.

Listen Here To ‘Future Chaos’
US readers can buy DRM-Free MP3 tracks from Amazon for only $0.89!

Readers from the UK and Ireland can listen to and download ‘Future Chaos’ here from iTunes UK.