1. Time To Pretend 2. Weekend Wars 3. Youth 4. Electric Feel 5. Kids 6. 4th Dimensional Transition 7. Pieces Of What 8. Of Moons Birds And Monsters 9. Handshake 10. Future Reflections 11. Electric Feel

The term Oracular Spectacular might not mean much, if anything, at all--it s essentially nonsensical--but that doesn t stop it feeling exactly right. Here is a band that treats dizzy cross-eyed awe and a vast bounding sense of sonic weightlessness as their yardstick, jostling to surpass themselves on a track-by-track basis and aiming for the musical equivalent of performing somersaults in tye-dye t-shirts off the rings of Jupiter. MGMT seemingly submit this debut album as an application to acquire and even supersede The Flaming Lips previously uncontested mantle as spiritual leaders of over-sized Technicolor psychedelic-indie with a soul, weird but not so weird that swelling crowds and even flirtations with the charts aren t a foregone conclusion. Time to Pretend opens and sets a tone for the record, producer David Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev) providing a familiar expanse for them to riff across with bull s-eye synths, massive drums and their twist on the template--retro 80s e...

#Flippin right good! (2008-11-26) Sorry for this short and lazy review - which is no reflection of my feelings for this album. Oracular Spectacular is superb, MGMT is superb. And going for a bargain price at the time of writing too!

#Let s Go To Frinton (2008-11-14) See how they prance on the beach. Look at the hippy s long pink shorts. Aren t they cheeky? Good little pop number this - will never set the world alight, but a fun-filled head-nodder. Pop should be fun I think! This is as much fun as when Michael Jackson cut down a tree with his hand, or when Madonna wore coffee filters on her boobies.

#Magical (2008-11-08) Truely amazing debut. Stand out tracks are The youth , time to pretend , the kids and eletric feel The whole album can be listened to again and again as the track never seem to get old. BUY IT NOW!!!!

#One of the best in recent years! (2008-11-06) This album is spectacular! There isn t one track I don t like & what I find amazing is that it keeps me intrigued even after listening to it a hundred times. There is so much to discover on this album & I enjoy the way they have clearly drawn inspiration from various older artists, but innovatively added a modern twist to it & definitely made it their own. Great live band too! I would recommend this to anyone!

#Not bad (2008-10-06) Best way to descibe this album is,the first half is good the other half is pritty rubbish!. The first six of these songs are defenately worth a listen but the other four are just fillers but considering I got this CD for six quid Im pritty happy!.

1. Great DJ 2. That s Not My Name 3. Fruit Machine 4. Traffic Light 5. Shut Up And Let Me Go 6. Keep Your Head 7. We Walk 8. Be The One 9. Impacilla Carpisung 10. We Started Nothing

The debut album by Salford s The Ting Tings comes hot on the heels of their No.1 single That s Not My Name, a nugget of pop gold that comes on like a genetic splicing of Toni Basil s Micky and The Knack s My Sharona. The bulk of We Started Nothing follows a similar formula, navigating a path between the smart, angular indie of CSS, Bonde Do Role, et al and the pop mainstream. Here and there, they pull it off perfectly: the stutter-rap of Fruit Machine sees vocalist Katie White leading on some poor sap with sultry charisma and lip-gloss sass, while the excellent Shut Up and Let Me Go is snappy dance-punk in the spirit of Blondie s Rapture or Tom Tom Club s Genius of Love. Elsewhere, they branch out with mixed results. We Walk builds from quiet flourishes of piano into a surprisingly steely manifesto: Smash the rest up/Burn it down/Put us in the corner cause we re into ideas, sneers White. Rather less good is Traffic Light, a light, jazzy number that employs a number of somewhat forced d...

#Crap - THAT IS YOUR NAME ! (2008-11-12) THE WORST POP/PUNK/ROCK . . WHATERVER! BAND IN THE WORLD!please people grow up and listen to some AC/DC !Most of all VERY ANNOYING ! id rather listen to an entire CD of a toilet being flushed than this garbage !

#Who the hell gave these idiots a record deal? Utter rubbish! (2008-10-25) This has to be one of the worst groups I ve ever heard. The woman singer cannot even sing, the songs that I have heard are extremely poor and not even catchy. A feeble attempt at being punk and trying to sound like that one hit wonder from the 80s - Mickey. The punk world will no doubt feel insulted and embarrassed by this group and the woman who sang Mickey (Toni Basil) at least sounded like she could sing a few notes! There is nothing good to say about this group or any of their songs. I know p...

#not bad but not great either! (2008-10-24) Katie White sounds like Tony Basil on tracks like Great DJ, The Drums, Thats not my name while slowing down her act for Be the one which are good material which is not backed up even more by some of the duff tracks involved like Impacilla Carpisung and Traffic Lights which does not lend a great deal to a debut album as of course for every new band or solo act starting debut albums will have the odd one but NME s OTT reviews could come back and haunt them if the Ting Tings fail to come up with a different if winning formual for their second a...

#Every 8 year old should have it! (2008-10-20) First heard these early this year, about the same time as I saw the Kills. For me, they are a bit candy pop but it s a great compromise when arguing with my 8 year old daughter about what music is going on the CD player. It s worth it just to catch her doing air guitar and miming the words. . . . very badly! A fun Album.

#Fun (2008-10-09) I can t believe I bought this. When I first heard the Ting Ting s I thought they were dreadful. It sounded like really naff cheesy pop. And it is, but it s also very catchy and I have to admit I like it. The more I hear it the more it grows on me. It s not cool to like it, but that doesn t mean it s not okay to like it. It s just probably best not to admit it to people when you first meet them. That s Not My Name is probably the best pop tune of the year for me.

1. Hand in Glove (3:17) 2. This Charming Man (2:41) 3. What Difference Does It Make ? (Peel Session version) (3:12) 4. Still Ill (3:20) 5. Heaven Knows I m Miserable Now (3:34) 6. William, It Was Really Nothing (2:10) 7. How Soon Is Now? (12 version)(6:45) 8. Nowhere Fast (2:36) 9. Shakespeare s Sister (2:08) 10. Barbarism Begins At Home (7 version) (3:49) 11. That Joke Isn t Funny Anymore (4:58) 12. The Headmaster Ritual (4:51) 13. The Boy With The Thorn In His Side (3:15) 14. Bigmouth Strikes Again (3:12) 15. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (4:03) 16. Panic (2:19) 17. Ask (3:14) 18. You Just Haven t Earned It Yet, Baby (4:03) 19. Shoplifters of the World Unite (2:56) 20. Sheila Take a Bow (2:41) 21. Girlfriend in a Coma (2:02) 22. I Started Something I Couldn t Finish (3:47) 23. Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me (3:09)

#shortened tracks again ! ! (2008-11-17) OH DEAR, OH DEAR,HAVING JUST BOUGHT THIS. I WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THE TRACKS WERE RE-MASTERED FROM THE ORIGINALS (WITH THE HELP OF MORRISSEY ? ?)THEN WHO WAS THE PILLOCK THAT CHOPPED THE FULL FADE OFF THAT JOKE ISN T FUNNY ANYMORE BUT LEFT THE FULL TIMING ON THE SLEEVE????ANOTHER BRILLIANT OPPORTUNITY WASTED. . . . MORRISSEY AND WARNER BROTHERS. . . . . . . . . HANG YOUR HEADS IN SHAME!!!

#how ironic (2008-11-15) reissue, repackage, repackage, double-pack with a photograph, extra track and a tacky badge. how many best of the smiths CD s at the record company party. Psycophantic slags.

#Great compilation & the music sounds better than ever! (2008-11-14) Let s just start by addressing some of the gripes in the other reviews:Morrissey and Marr are NOT working together. . . Marr oversaw the remastering of the original tapes for this compilation - and the tracks really do sound better than ever. Morrissey simply provided a perfunctory title (if Warners press releases are to be believed. . . ). A statement on Morrissey s (semi)official website confirms that he does not endorse this slapdash compilation and asks his fans to spend their money elsewhere. The reason why th...

#Disappointing. (2008-11-14) All the songs here still sound wonderful but they ve been repackaged and reissued too many times. There is a place for a Smiths retrospective and,more importantly,a Smiths rarities compilation. This is n t it.

#Keeps the joy of being a Smiths fan alive (2008-11-08) The best thing about being into the smiths is hunting down a copy of the Draize Train studio version and finally buying it. Whether its on some foreign 12 b side or some beautifully produced bootleg (silver CD & factory pressed of course) it doesn t matter - just as long as you don t cheat and download it. So many longed for songs are a dissapointment when you finally get them but the Draize train gets a little better every time you listen to it. To that end, this is the perfect Smiths compilation, and I dread the day when one f...

1. The State I Am In 2. Like Dylan In The Movies 3. Judy and the Dream of Horses 4. The Stars of Track and Field 5. I Could Be Dreaming 6. Seymour Stein 7. Lazy Jane 8. Sleep The Clock Around 9. Slow Graffiti 10. Wrong Love 11. Shoot The Sexual Athlete 12. The Magic of a Kind Word 13. Nothing In The Silence 14. (My Girl s Got) Miraculous Technique

#This CD Really Rings My Belle (2008-11-22) For many hardcore fans, Belle and Sebastian s BBC Sessions will doubtless be the most eagerly anticipated release of 2008. This collection has been in the pipeline for a number of months now, but the final release has been delayed for various reasons. Still. . . the wait is over, and The BBC Sessions is with us. With a live CD as an added bonus! Hurrah!So, to the music :- We have here some marvellous renditions of the band s early material. On classics such as The State I Am In and Judy certain instruments need a tune up. . . guitar strings...

1. L.E.S. Artistes 2. You ll Find A Way 3. Shove It 4. Say Aha 5. Creator 6. My Superman 7. Lights Out 8. Starstruck 9. Unstoppable 10. I m A Lady 11. Anne 12. You ll Find A Way (remix)

Don t call Santi White an R&B artist: on her debut album Santogold, this former music biz A&R and pop songwriter for hire is challenging race stereotypes and playing fast and loose with genre, mashing up dub, punk, and electronics to make an energetic, anger-fuelled music that blurs the lines between the dancefloor and the moshpit. Comparisons to MIA hold some water, especially on the bullish Creator (it s worth nothing that Santogold features production turns from sometime MIA collaborators Diplo and Switch). For the most part, though, Santogold s debut follows a quite different path. L.E.S Artists is stirring new-wave pop that builds to grand, tearful choruses reminiscent of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, while You ll Find a Way and Say Aha are propulsive ska-pop numbers that hark back to its creator s previous band, Bad Brains-influenced punks Stiffed. But it s not just skilful genre-skipping to recommend this record, though: White is the rare vocalist that can sound empowered and vulnerable ...

#Cool fresh tunes. (2008-12-01) I bought this album on the strength of Lights Out, and am really pleased with it. I would give it five stars but there are maybe 3 or 4 weak tracks but I don t mind that. I would rather have 8 quality fresh experimental tunes and 3 or 4 that miss the mark, than 12 tracks of boring averageness. For less than a fiver it s a bargain, just take a chance and get it. You ll find a way is brilliant and my current pick of the bunch but I tend to change my mind as I become more familiar with albums - in a month I may prefer a different track.

#The Formula Is Good (2008-08-23) Listen to anything remotely resembling pop music these days and you will always find a trace of the formulaic about it. If nothing else, the 21st century has refined pop music into something of a formulaic commodity. Mind you, there are some would argue Mickey Most was doing the same thing back in 1973. . . Santogold s debut does contain some ambitions to meet some kind of blueprint. Upon first hearing I found it utterly generic - a record in search of a hit, if you like. The sound is clean and somewhat calculated. Then after a few plays the th...

#If you like M.I.A and Missy Elliott... (2008-08-04) I brought this album after seeing Santogold perform a mash up with Roots Manouver, I have not been dissapointed. At first her voice has a similar same sound to Nelly Furtado but the originality of the music makes her stand out. If you like the party, rave, feel of M. I. A then this is definately a good investment, there is an element of ska and rave to all the tracks, ones to skip straight to are Creator and Lights Out.

#Labels For Less (2008-07-19) The Wolf first encountered Ms White and her cohorts on the estimableMr Holland s variety show Later early in 2008. Some months later, given a knock-down price at my local music emporium,Santogold has eventually found its way into my range of hearing. My somewhat obsessive-compulsive nature usually leads me to peelextraneous sticky labels from CD cases as soon as I am able. Mrs Wolf believes this to be one of my most annoying habits as they areparticularly difficult to remove from paws when dropped lazily on thefloor of our cave. One such adhesive...

#A golden spew of sound and lyric (2008-07-14) This album caught my attention because Amazon put it in my recommended buys and I immediately loved the cover. On impulse, despite having heard nothing about or by Santogold I bought it and was not disappointed (my favourite impulse buy to date). The record is a mix of sounds that I am unable to accurately categorize though my best attempt would put it between modern R&B and Electronic influenced pop (dirtier though). There is the modern R&B cockiness found in the lyrics of songs like Unstoppable and Creator: me I m a creator/ thrill is...