Seether - Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray

It's been a while since Seether's last album, 2007's Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces, and Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray shows definite artistic growth in those intervening years. The album was produced by Brendan O'Brien, who has worked with such heavyweights as Rage Against The Machine and Pearl Jam, and having someone as experienced as him on board has paid dividends. Main man Shaun Morgan has cut back on the screaming, and it works well with the tracks on this album, which called for a more restrained vocal delivery than people are maybe used to from Morgan. There are still a couple of signature Seether headbangers, but the majority of the tracks are more subdued, and dare I say poppier, than those on previous albums. It's a difficult trick to attract a larger audience whilst still maintaining artistic integrity, but Seether have pulled off that balancing act well on this album.

Rating: 7/10
Top Tracks: No Resolution, Country Song, Tonight
Release Date: 25 May 2011

Okkervil River - I Am Very Far

Starting with 2005's Black Sheep Boy and continuing with The Stage Names (2007) and The Stand Ins (2008), Okkervil River have put together a sequence of almost faultless indie rock albums. I Am Very Far extends that sequence to four, and quite possibly it is the best of all of them. Lyrically, lead singer Will Shef has moved away from the directness of previous albums to operate in a more ambiguous area, and once again he proves he is one of the greatest lyricists working today. Musically, the album is accessible whilst still moving the band forward to places they haven't been before. This combination of forward-thinking music and unbeatable lyrics makes for a really potent mix, and one which Okkervil River's contemporaries will find difficult to match. Shef and his bandmates have put down an early marker for album of the year.

Rating: 9/10
Top Tracks: Piratess, Hanging From a Hit, Your Past Life as a Blast
Release Date: 10 May 2011

Lady Gaga - Born This Way

The problem with being Lady Gaga is that her albums have to live up to the torrent of hype and controversy she builds around her persona. To these ears, her music has always been the weakest part of the package - barring the fantastic Bad Romance, generally her songs are passable dance-pop, no different from, say, Katy Perry or Rihanna. After hearing her decidedly average, Madonna aping first single from Born This Way, also called Born This Way, my hopes were not too high that I was going to hear anything to change my mind on this album. But the album is slightly different from previous Gaga releases in that there is also a clear element of 80's rock a la Bon Jovi and Def Leopard going on here, and despite how that may sound, it's not a bad thing. The tracks are catchy, the choruses are huge, and as dance-pop albums go it's very, very good. Destined to be the sound of the next few months.

Rating: 8/10
Top Tracks: Marry the Night, Judas, You & I
Release Date: 23 May 2011

Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact

Gang Gang Dance is an arty five-piece band based in New York, and as their previous albums attest, they don't seem too interested in courting the mainstream. It's a pity that Eye Contact probably won't be heard by too many sets of ears, because it is excellent. Opening an album with a 12 minute track is brave, but with the magnificent Glass Jar the risk pays off handsomely. The album carries on seamlessly from here, all synth bleeps and burrs and gorgeous melodies. There is a distinctive world music flavour, with an Eastern influence apparent on several tracks, and the mood throughout is positively bouyant, with each track as uplifting as the next. This is electronic music with a heart, and it engages the brain as much as the feet, with each listen adding new elements to the enjoyment. A truly wonderful album.

Rating: 9/10
Top Tracks: Glass Jar, Adult Goth, Mindkilla
Release Date: 10 May 2011

Tyler, the Creator - Goblin

Tyler, the Creator is the young mastermind behind outrageous L.A. rap crew Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, who are currently riding a wave of publicity/notoriety surrounding their nihilistic, misogynistic and homophobic lyrical content. What becomes clear from listening to Goblin, however, is that there is more to Tyler, the Creator than mere shock value. Goblin is undoubtedly a dark album, both production-wise, which Tyler does himself, and lyrically, and Tyler is clearly a young man with things on his mind. Beyond the sinister mutterings about rape and mayhem, one gets the impression that Tyler is a guy with 'issues' - absent father issues, issues with people who have had it better than him, issues with authority. So, he is an average 20 year old then, but one a talent that is very definitely not average.

Rating: 7/10
Top Tracks: Yonkers, Tron Cat, Sandwitches
Release Date: 10 May 2011

Jennifer Lopez - Love?

Jennifer Lopez's music career is a prime example of how beauty can overcome a complete lack of talent. Granted she can dance, but her singing voice is reedy, atonal and irritating. To make up for her obvious shortcomings in this department, she has always been surrounded with the best producers and collaborators money can buy. This album is no different, with Lopez roping in many of the top hired guns in the business hoping it will compensate for her lack of musical ability. It doesn't. Despite a list of producers and collaborators that includes RedOne, Stargate, The-Dream, Tricky Stewart, Pitbull, Lil’ Wayne, Taio Cruz and Lady Gaga, "Love?" falls flat. It is overproduced pop-by-numbers, the tracks falling from memory as soon as they stop playing, and J.Lo's attempts at depth fail miserably, her voice simply unable to convey any kind of real emotion.

Rating: 4/10
Top Tracks: On The Floor, I'm Into You
Release Date: 6 May 2011

Plush - Plush

Cape Town based three-piece Plush return with their latest, self-titled album, which took the better part of two years to create and hone. Evidence of the bands ambition with this album is in the cast that helped create it. The rockers collaborated with Sama-winning producer Brian O'Shea and Vuka-winning engineer Sean Gunns on the album, and there are also contributions from Grammy winning engineer Vance Powell (The Raconteurs, Jack White), Neal Snyman (Crowded House, Collective Soul) and Sama-winner Matt Allison. The album is a definite progression on previous work and has a more anthemic feel to it than some of their more low-key past releases. Great singalong choruses abound, and it appears that main man Rory Eliot's music studies in the UK have paid off with an album that is a consistently fun listen as well as being more complex than the band's past efforts.

Rating: 7/10
Top Tracks: Dancing in a Storm, Out of Body, Carousel
Release Date: 6 May 2011

Wiz Khalifa - Rolling Papers

With the massive success of single Black and Yellow, the expectations for Wiz Khalifa's debut album have risen exponentially. Initial success on the scale he had with Black and Yellow can be a double-edged sword - on the one hand it has raised his profile to unexpected levels and generated a lot of hype for the album, but on the other hand any subsequent single that doesn't have the same level of success will be deemed a failure. Luckily for the up and coming MC, there are other highlights on Rolling Papers. The album is best on the tracks not aimed squarely at the mainstream. When he goes for out-and-out pop hits, the results are predictable and uninspiring, but with tracks like Wake Up and The Race Khalifa proves he can be engaging and entertaining whilst still appealing to a large cross-section of people.

Rating: 7/10
Top Tracks: Black and Yellow, Wake Up, The Race
Release Date: 3 May 2011

Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2

The Beastie Boys continue one of the most stellar careers in hip hop with the release of Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2, for some reason released before Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 1. That a band that's been around for as long as Mike D, Ad-Rock and MCA have to still be releasing relevant music is some achievement considering the dross some of their contemporaries (yes you, Snoop Dogg) put out these days, but Beastie Boys make it sound easy. This is like the soundtrack to the best party ever - it is inventive, irreverent, and most of all immense fun. They race out of the gate with the brilliant Make Some Noise and don't let up until the end of the last track, The Lisa Lisa/Full Force Routine. Absolutely fantastic.

Rating: 9/10
Top Tracks: Make Some Noise, Nonstop Disco Powerpack, Too Many Rappers, Funky Donkey
Release Date: 3 May 2011

Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

 Fleet Foxes arrived on the scene a couple of years back with their hugely hyped and celebrated debut, the self-titled Fleet Foxes, so they have a lot to live up to with their second album. They do this with ease, the tracks here filled with gorgeous melodies, lush instrumentation and frontman Robin Pecknold's high, plaintive vocals. There is experimentation here, the band expanding their sound while staying true to what made people love their first album so much - classic songwriting. There is much to love here and very little to dislike, which makes Helplessness Blues a worthwhile addition to any cd collection.

Rating: 8/10
Top Tracks: Bedouin Dress, The Plains/Bitter Dancer, Helplessness Blues
Release Date: 3 May 2011

TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light

TV on the Radio have been one of the best, most consistent bands of the last decade, and new release Nine Types of Light continues their run of excellent albums. The band seem to have grown in confidence, often allowing the songs to build at a slower rate than on previous albums. There also seems to be more room for love on this one where there was none on previous releases. This, along with the up-tempo numbers here, illustrates the band’s comfort with their craft.

TV on the Radio are never going to be as big as U2, but based on this evidence they deserve to be.

Rating: 8/10
Top Tracks: Second Song, Keep Your Heart, You
Release Date: 12 April 2011

Jim Jones - Capo

Jim Jones has been around for a long time now and it seems he is still as prolific as ever. His latest album, Capo, sees the Dipset member roping in some of his cohorts from that crew (Cam’ron, Juelz Santana), as well as several others (Lloyd Banks, Game and Raekwon among them) to guest on various tracks.

The album is a mix of the usual rap braggadocio along with a couple of more introspective numbers, and whilst Jones is almost always outshone by his guests it’s the tracks with guests on them that work the best. Worth a listen.

Rating: 7/10
Top Tracks: Carton of Milk, The Paper
Release Date: 5 April 2011

Panda Bear - Tomboy

Noah Lennox has been behind some of the most creative indie music of the last decade, both as a member of Animal Collective and in his solo capacity as Panda Bear, so he has a lot to live up to with his new album, Tomboy. He does it with ease.

If his last album, Person Pitch, was a classic, Tomboy is even better. Gorgeous melodies covered in waves of woozy electronics and reverb abound, but at the heart of it all is great songwriting. For the listener, Lennox makes you work for your pleasure, but it’s totally worth the effort. An album to get lost in.

Rating: 9/10
Top Tracks: Surfer’s Hymn, Afterburner
Release Date: 12 April 2011