The renaissance of Rough Trade, largely dormant in the '90s due to legal wrangling, is a heart-warming and inspiring story. The label has released a string of great records this year, and despite the absence of The Strokes and The Libertines, there's plenty here to compensate. Most frustrating, though, is Elizabeth Fraser's partly realised take on Chic's "At Last I Am Free" (from Robert Wyatt's Nothing Can Stop Us album): lovely, but it feels like a missed opportunity. Personal favourites? Hidden Cameras' gentle, folky version of "Dunes" by The Clean; Royal City's inspired recasting of The Strokes "Is This It" as lustrous hillbilly lament. All for a fiver, too. Bargain.
The renaissance of Rough Trade, largely dormant in the ’90s due to legal wrangling, is a heart-warming and inspiring story. The label has released a string of great records this year, and despite the absence of The Strokes and The Libertines, there’s plenty here to compensate. Most frustrating, though, is Elizabeth Fraser’s partly realised take on Chic’s “At Last I Am Free” (from Robert Wyatt’s Nothing Can Stop Us album): lovely, but it feels like a missed opportunity. Personal favourites? Hidden Cameras’ gentle, folky version of “Dunes” by The Clean; Royal City’s inspired recasting of The Strokes “Is This It” as lustrous hillbilly lament. All for a fiver, too. Bargain.
