Playlists

Thanks to everyone who contributed to last week’s very interesting playlist thread. If you haven’t had a look, there’s some good talk about the Radiohead and REM albums; dubious thanks to John E, who successfully encouraged/goaded me into unpacking a good month or two’s worth of irritation with regard to “Collapse Into Now”. Better now.

I was hoping to include the new Wild Beasts album, “Smother”, in this week’s rundown, but it doesn’t seem to have turned up yet. Today, hopefully.

Yet another period of quietness to apologise for, though I do have the excuse this week of having been away working in the States. More about that later, and, hopefully, some more proper blogs next week. Maybe we should start with Radiohead and “King Of Limbs”, do you think?

Finishing the issue, so have to be quick today. It all goes a bit early ‘90s towards the bottom of the list this week. Nice to dig out the Suntanama records from about a decade ago, though, prompted by the discovery that Dave Shuford/D Charles Speer figured in their lineup.

A few more nice things this week, not least the new Chris Forsyth album, which features some assistance from various bits of the Helix/Hans Chew axis. I think I might tackle them both for my next magazine column, but bear with me.

Apologies for the lengthy radio silence: a lot of hassle distracting me from blogs last week, not least the small matter of Uncut upping sticks and relocating to the Ninth Floor of the Blue Fin Building. Amidst all the crates, though, some pretty significant new records have turned up. Take a look at this lot…

Some biggish 2011 releases rolling in now, including one which I may draw a discreet veil over. I’m trying, too, to check out a few of your recommendations, following the Date Palms revelation.

Lots of goodness to start the year today, not least the new Low and Eternal Tapestry albums. Thanks, too, to David M, who tipped me off yesterday about an Oakland duo called Date Palms. Playing their Myspace right now and feeling it very much indeed.

Thanks for all your responses to my Top 100 over the last few days. In case, you missed it yesterday, please post your own Top Tens here, and I’ll crunch them into a chart in a couple of weeks or so.

Another good list this week, I reckon. Fairly predictable pleasure from the Howlin Rain EP that Ethan Miller snuck out the other day, on a break from what he describes as two years of pre-production on the next album with Rick Rubin. Very brave Hendrix cover, too.