There are a few records around the Uncut office at the moment that I think I could responsibly class as disappointing, not least the new Mercury Rev album, which ambitiously finds them trying to reinvent themselves as whimsical cosmic ravers.
In this month's Uncut, Guy Garvey previews Latitude and notes, with regard to The Mars Volta, "We're all into some heavy prog." A sceptic might say that you'd need to be, given that this remarkable Californian band have a much more unambiguous relationship with prog rock than most of their more timid contemporaries.
Icelandic for "Victory Rose", the panoramic quartet Sigur Rós are coming to headline Latitude's Saturday night, bringing their ethereal and triumphant sound to the Obelisk Arena as night descends slowly on Henham Park.
A degree of anxiety in the air following yesterday’s blog: I can reassure you that, on first listen at least, the new Calexico album sounds pretty strong, being a return to the border territory of “Feast Of Wire”. Apologies for being a little mysterious about this stuff, but one or two other anticipated entries on that playlist aren’t working for me at the moment. Let me listen some more and I’ll report back.