This Season, I have mostly been listening to...

British Sea Power - Krankenhaus? EP

Featuring the previous free download "Atom" as the lead track, this new EP serves as both a sneak-preview and a "look at what you could have won" for their new album, out early next year. Although arguably "Atom" is the weakest track, the 5-track EP also features a 9-minute epic in the same vein as "Lately" from The Decline Of... called "The Pelican", which will hopefully feature live in some form or another.
My favourite track on this is "Down on the Ground", which, alongside "Atom", will feature on Do You Like Rock Music? released on the 14th January. The EP is currently availiable from itunes and from BSP's homepage.

http://www.myspace.com/britishseapower

Holy Fuck - LP


Even though this is technically their third self-titled release (The album cover just says "HOLY FUCK"), this band are still very new to me. Their improvised proto-electronica instrumental noise is a cacophony of sounds from a huge range of instruments from the usual (guitars, synths, drums) to simply bashing whatever is at hand. While this album is more just a captured moment of what Holy Fuck may really be capable of doing live, tracks such as the amazing "Safari" and equally superb "Frenchy's".

http://www.myspace.com/holyfuck

Avant Garde Drummer Wanted For A Pop Band - Life Is Long And Memory Fragile

Essentially this a collection of bedroom demos by couple of guys who are friends of a friend of a friend. And I really like it. While it is rough and unpolished, the songs, frequently reaching far over the six minute mark, there is a definite talent shining through.
Clashing somewhere between Explosions In The Sky's epic post-rock and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's rougher side, with a plethora of North American Indie influences in between, its almost shocking that these guys are from the Isle Of Wight.
My personal favourite from the this album is "Failed Negatives (The photographs in my mind)", which journeys through most of the above influences without quite falling to pretention.
While their identity still remains a mystery thanks to my poor research skills, they are apparently expanding, with possible ambitions of being a British Broken Social Scene, with the tunes to match. One to watch, definitely.

http://www.myspace.com/avantgardedrummerwantedforapopband

Bionic Sheep - Sexcrime EP

Described as a "junglist' experiment" this EP, based on the public information broadcast on the dangers of pornography. On that alone, it already sounds promising, but this sub-20 minute laptop-generated assault of breaks and beats definitely lives up to it.
Of course, there is no physical release, but the EP can be downloaded from here:
http://tinyurl.com/27knst

Coming soon: Best of 2007...