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Calexico

Carried to dust·Quarterstick 2008

Joey Burns and John Covertino leave aside the style they approached on their last LP "Garden Ruins" and return to their roots. They recorded this record in their hometown Tucson and you can hear the desert on it, along with the influence of cross-border Tex-Mex. A lot of friends popped their head round the door while they were in the studio: Jairo Zaval (La Vaca Azul, De Pedro), Amparo Sanchez, Sam Beam (Iron & Wine) and Douglas McCombs (Tortoise) to name a but a few. The songs on this record swing away from the darkness of the previous release and find themselves once again in warmer climes.

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El Columpio Asesino

La Gallina·Astro discos/Pias

Just as they did on their previous release, "De mi sangre a tus cuchillas", the band have written some strong songs that make a break with the material they've written before. The Arizaleta brothers and Co. still maintain strong that fragile identity associated with the band. Electronica has stepped in and takes the place of the electric guitar on symbolic songs such as "Un arpón de grillos". The darkness explored on previous records is still present in numbers like "La marca en nuestra frente es la de Cain".

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Ratatat

LP3·XL Recordings 2008

I'd really love to go to Brooklyn. There's no disputing that the city of skyscrapers has always been home to some really interesting stuff in music, but we've discovered a blooming of bands that seems to be injecting new life into the local scene there. The title of Ratatat's new album, "Lp3" is a clever example of what their music is like: a mixture of new and old. Electronica, hip hop or rock...these guys can mix anything together. Mike Stroud and Evan Mast have filled these songs with colour, brilliance and little zaps of laser ray, too. They've certainly candy to the ear for us.

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Popnoname

Surrounded by Weather·Discogs 2008

There has been nothing specially new on the electronica scene of late. Many artists have gone back to classic schemes whilst many others have opted to make use of now hip traditional elements in their song-writing. Popnoname are one of the few new bands looking to do something innovative. They create interesting new sounds using the classic elements of electronica.

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Tricky

Knowle West Boy·Domino 2008

His first record "Maxinquaye" is still a clear reference point in his work even though quite some time has passed. Tricky has spent years since then on the look out for new rhythms and melodies and this character trait has always marked the sound of Tricky. This willingness to take a risk is one of the reasons we dig his work. On this record he seems to be doffing his cap, without getting carried away, to those first records of his. He still has that special thing about him.

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Joan as Police Woman

Joan as a Police Woman appeared live at last year's San Sebastian Jazz Festival. She is back and bigger with her new record. The new album shows a certain interesting maturity (check out the stirring "Holiday" or the painful "To be lonely). Joan Wasser gets help from Rufus Wainwright on the last song "To America". A truly touching record.