Best of October

Album of the month

Beirut – The Flying Club Cup

I know last month it was all meant to be all about Radiohead, but here’s an album that I’ve been enjoying more. There’s not a lot that I can say about The Flying Club that hasn’t been said already. I never got round to reviewing it properly, but this has given me even more time to listen to the album and the more I listen to it, the more I like it.

Now, Zach Condon talented chap, but how would he follow up The Gulag Orkestar? Turns out he’s stuck pretty much to the same formula. The official word is that The Flying Club Cup is much more Gallic in flavour, inspired by Zach’s sojourns in France, but I can’t really tell. Maybe I’m not acquainted with the intricacies of European folk music, but aside from the Francophone song titles, I’m not feeling the streets and lanes of Paris anywhere. But who cares. The music, although being the direct successor of Gulag, is wonderfully charming, romantic and evocative. It’s perhaps less fresh and interesting that its predecessor a year ago, but now we’re more acquainted with Condon’s music, it gives us more space to enjoy its depths. And though it might not containanything as good Elephant Gun , neither did Gulag.

Download: Beirut – The Flying Club Cup

Songs of the Month

Battles – Tonto (Four Tet Remix)

Kieran Hebden takes a choice cut from Mirrored and instead of the expected skittery beats creates something aimed directly at the dancefloor.

Laura Marling – New Romantic

I’ve raved about this already. Of all the youngsters peddling folk-pop melodies this year, this is one of the finest. The beauty is in the simplicity.

Radiohead – Reckoner

I have been listening to In Rainbows quite a lot, and the more I do, the more it impresses me. This is my current favourite.

Celebration – Heartbreak [click to go to previous post for mp3]

From an album that’s unfairly under the radar, here’s my particular favourite – imagine what The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and TV on the Radio might sound like if they combined to play soul numbers. It’s a bit like that, only better.