Selected Releases: Monday 31 March

R.E.M. Accelerate	The Black Keys Attack And Release	Gnarls Barkley The Odd Couple
. . Frank Turner Love, Ire And Song	Brian Jonestown Massacre My Bloody Underground	. . Sun Kil Moon April
. Boy Kill Boy Stars And The Sea	. Barry Adamson Back To The Cat	Shooting At Unarmed Men Triptych
The Most Serene Republic Population	Windmill Puddle City Racing Lights	. Lowgold Promise Land

To be honest, not a great deal out this week that excites me too much. Obviously, its always nice to have an R.E.M. album floating around, though to call it a return to the form of Out Of Time, New Adventures… and Automatic For The People is stretching that welcome a bit far. Yes, it sounds a bit like Monster, but I never liked that a great deal anyway. The Black Keys new LP is pretty good though, stripped and rough-hewn. Chart-humpers Gnarls Barkley’s new record The Odd Couple has been released weeks ahead of schedule due to a massive internet leak, expect the same radio friendly, foot-tapping fluff as their debut. Indie, indie, indie is the sound of the week as Lowgold, Windmill, Boy Kill Boy all put out new records; whilst Barry Adamson holds up crooner’s corner. Frank Turner likes to think he sounds like Billy Bragg with tunes like Thatcher Fucked The Kids, but the former Million Dead frontman isn’t fit to lick Bragg’s boots. Sun Kil Moon (named after two-weight Korean boxer Sung-Kil Moon) put out the album of the week in April, a haunting, sparse record in the vein of Low, or collaborator Will Oldham, with tracks given the space to evolve and breathe. The album is underpinned by Kozelek’s glorious voice, an instrument used to endearing use. Check it out on Caldo Verde.

R.E.M. – Supernatural Superserious
The Black Keys – Stange Times
Windmill – Tilting Trains
Sun Kil Moon – Lost Verses