After a few more listens, Bomb The Bass has jockeyed past Glasvegas and established itself as this week’s favourite here at Tuneraker HQ. Metallica and Kenny Larkin are bringing up the rear.

While Glasvergas have a unique sound that sticks out a mile from the current Alternative Rock scene, Bomb The Bass have delivered an album that is extremely listenable and addictive.

Metallica’s new album should please Metal fans, but those of you who liked their more alternative phase from ‘Load’ to ‘St. Anger’ will likely scratch their heads. Detroit Techno DJ Kenny Larkin, meanwhile, is so ‘lounge’ that you almost want to whisper while his new album plays.

Two big Alternative Rock albums are due to hit the shops today: Kings Of Leon will release their new album ‘Only By The Night’ and Coldwar Kids are down to drop their second album ‘Loyalty To Loyalty’. We’ll also have some Alternative Country by The Old Believers from Portland, Oregon, and a surprise album. See you next week.

Album Of The Week: 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 Bomb The Bass’ first full length studio album in 13 years. It’s arguably more rounded than any of Simenon’s earlier albums. This time there’s a good range of songs and no obvious fillers.

Watch Bomb The Bass’ ‘Butterfingers’ On YouTube

What’s most striking is that Simenon has turned his back on samples. At a time when x-th generation sample merchants like Mark Ronson celebrate mainstream success, Simenon rolls back into town with a totally different game.

‘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’.

Some songs, like ‘Black River’ with vocals by former Queens Of The Stone Age frontman Mark Lanergan and ‘Smog’, achieve the same languid ease as David Byrne and Brian Eno latest album ‘Whatever Happens Will Happen Today’.

All in all, ‘Future Chaos’ is a surprisingly well assembled pop album.

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.

#2 Glasvegas ‘Glasvegas’
This is what the Ramones’ Phil Spector-produced album ‘End Of The Century’ could have sounded like without the shlock. Glasvegas present a reverb-drenched pop revue that packs a punch. The Glasgow four-piece play a kind of backstreet boozer take on Bubblegum Pop that fuses the cheerfulness of The Ramones’ ‘Rock’n'Roll High School’ with darker lyrics and down to earth attitude.

Watch Glasvegas on YouTube

#2 Glasvegas ‘Glasvegas’
Glasvegas sound like a cross between the Jesus And Mary Chain, Phil Spector’s girl group The Ronettes and the Ramones. Singer James Allan does ever so often sound strikingly just like Joey Ramone, particularly in the ‘ooh, ooh, oooohhoo’ bits. The production is full of cavernous echo, booming toms and strummed guitars - In other words, reaching for Phil Spector’s famous Wall Of Sound. Listen to ‘Daddy’s Gone’ or ‘Geraldine’ and you know what I mean.

Once you’ve listened to Glasvegas, they’re a band you’ll recognise straight away when one of their songs comes on. There’s something going on here that’s worth your attention.

Listen to Glasvegas’ new single ‘Geraldine’. US residents can download the track as DRM-Free MP3 for only $0.99!

Listen here to Glasvegas’ debut album. Download the album here from iTunes UK. We don’t charge any extras, just pay the iTunes UK Store price!

#3 Metallica ‘Death Magnetic’
Metallica arguably transcend metal. Over the past decade, the band mixed the imagery of Metal with music that moved closer to alternative or even mainstream rock.

‘Death Magnetic’ marks the return of the guitar solo for Metallica. After the band announced with big fanfare five years ago that they’d drop guitar solos from their music with the argument that solos are boring, they are now back with a vengeance.

There is also more drama, more harmonising, more breaks - in short, Metallica have brought back a good few of the traits that you’ll typically find in Metal. From the point of view of an alternative rock fan, ‘Death Magnetic’ is therefore in some respects more conservative than most of Metallica’s output over the past decade.

‘Judas Kiss’, ‘Cyanide’ - Both are prime examples of the less rhythmic, more solo-oriented approach that can turn Metal into a fiddly, over-complicated, stuttering sort of affair.

Personally, I like Metallica best when they just rock, No pretenses, no fiddly bits, just a nice loose mid-tempo jam with tight drums and a wall of guitar noise. There are moments on ‘Death Magnetic’ where Metallica get into that groove, check ‘All Nightmare Long’ and ‘The End Of The Line’.

Overall, Metallica still have a very compact, condensed sound that pushes through the more awkward moments on the album. But Metallica’s songs have a detached, somewhat calculated feel compared to, say, the abandon of my favourite heavies, Japanese trio Boris.

The first single that’s being touted off the album is possibly not the best introduction to ‘Death Magnetic’. The song ‘The Day That Never Comes’ is a power ballad which is, for my taste, overloaded with pathos. It takes Metallica more than five and a half minutes to let rip.

The video looks like a recruiting clip for the US army with the band posing self-consciously in the desert. Watch the video on YouTube and see for yourself. I have to say it made me cringe.

Watch Metallica On YouTube

Listen Now to ‘Death Magnetic’ on Amazon.com. US Residents can download tracks from the album for only $0.89!

Readers from the UK and Ireland can download the album from iTunes UK.

#4 Kenny Larkin ‘Keys, Strings, Tambourines’
‘Keys, Strings, Tambourines’ is a real home listening album that will lend an edge to your next dinner party with a hint of Deep House and light, reflective Techno that’s easy on the bass.

Larkin is one of the key figures on the Detroit Techno scene and Detroit’s style is pretty understated and elegant. On his most recent album, Larkin is happy to sit back and let you browse. This is lounge music, not an invitation to dance.

Mellow and breezy, ‘Keys, Strings, Tambourines’ could appeal to non-Techno heads looking for some chilled home listening music. If you’re in doubt, check out ‘Vibin’, the title track ‘Keys, Strings, Tambourines’ with its Deep House feel or ‘Glob’ with its cool Glockenspiel sample.

Watch Kenny Larkin On YouTube

Personally, I find ‘Keys’ a bit too retro and fairly non-challenging. But hey, that might be just the ticket for a soothing Sunday morning soundtrack.

Listen Here to ‘Keys, Strings, Tambourines’ and download the album from iTunes UK.

Sorry, the album is not yet available as a download from Amazon US. The CD version is scheduled to be available from 22nd September on Amazon UK.