Indie/Alternative charts

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Review: Here comes a special double vinyl box set edition of Beach House's latest album, Once Twice Melody, which was the first one the band themselves have ever produced in its entirety. It was recorded in three different locations - Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, United Studio in Los Angeles, and Apple Orchard Studios in Baltimore. The band used a real and full live string ensemble for the first time, too, and David Campbell took care of arrangements. It is a double album that features 18 songs presented in four chapters that take in many different sound and structures centred around acoustic guitar, some around drums, and some around electronics.

Review: This bumper collection of 12" singles features nine replicas of the singles from the original campaign around the Screamadelica album. It is now 30 years old and stands proud as one of the finest moments in the emergent acid hose scene, not in small part thanks to the late great and legendary producer Andrew Weatherall. The box set comes with prints by the album original cover artist Paul Cannell and some previous unheard mixes (and accompanying instrumental) of 'Shine Like Stars' by the aforementioned Lord Sabre as well as plenty of other great versions by fellow Boy's Own man Terry Farley and others.

Review: Tame Impala'a Slow Rush album is certainly deserving of this special deluxe treatment which packages the record in an "off lid" artwork box on double red vinyl. The artwork is new for this one and as well as the original tracks there are two new remix 12" featuring 'One More Year (NTS Extended Version)' and 'Patience (Maurice Fulton Remix)' as well as the original version of 'Patience' and Four Tet's take on 'Is It True' plus 'Breathe Deeper (Lil Yachty Remix)' and others. As well as all the music this version includes a deluxe booklet and the Slow Rush 2050 Calendar.

Review: Red Hot Chili Peppers are back with their twelfth studio album, and most significantly it welcomes back John Frusciante to the fold after he amicably departed the band back in 2009 to focus on his electronic music production. Rick Rubin is in the production seat, and overall it's the sound of the Chili Peppers doing what they do best, with all the classic ingredients. From the epic anthem 'Black Summer' to moody ballad 'Not The One' and the playful funk of 'Poster Child', there's everything you could want from the band as they stride into their fourth decade of active service.

Review: Evand Dando and co broke through to the mainstream with the sublime, sunny songwriting of 1992's It's A Shame About Ray, then managed to sustain their time at the top the following year with the Slade-referencing Come On Feel The Lemonheads. It's an altogether bigger and superfically impressive prospect, with guests like Rick James and Belinda Carlisle making the contributors' list and a production job from The Robb Brothers which elevates it beyond the slacker rock tag they'd had until the is point. It also spawned their biggest ever single - 'Into Your Arms' - and a host of other chart successes, including the excellent anthem 'Big Gay Heart', which saw them neatly distancing themselves from the jock rock category that other contemporaries like Nirvana quickly found themeslves slipping into.

Review: Wilco's first studio album in three years, "Sky Blue Sky" has been perhaps the most ardently awaited release of 2007. Eager fans had taken to shouting out pleas for information to bandleader Jeff Tweedy during his recent solo acoustic tour, and the web chatter has been virtually deafening. On "Sky Blue Sky" Tweedy's lyrics deal forthrightly with romantic separation and reconciliation, their bittersweet quality giving way, as the album progresses, to a more uplifting, redemptive mood. Tweedy quite literally banishes the darkness on the penultimate track, the inspiring, gospel-tinged "What Light".

Review: Talk about taking your sweet time. Anyone want to hazard a guess at how long Blinking Lights & Other Revelations took to finish? Thought not. In truth, Eels started work on it in 1998, but it wouldn't see the light of day until 2005. Marking the start of a new era for the band, contractually at least - their deal with David Geffen and Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks Records having dissolved the previous year - the album was high concept, too.
As per frontman E, writing on the band's official website at the time of Blinking Lights' release, the record is about "God and all the questions relating to the subject of God." Suddenly the extended production period makes sense. Then you see it has 33 tracks listed on the sleeve and it all becomes clear. A classic piece of alternative rock with big, bold ideas, it should always be remembered as one of the first landmarks to come from America this millennium.

Review: Soft Cell's Non Stop Erotic Cabaret & Other Stories: Live is a different and thrilling way to experience the band's iconic debut album. Recorded during their farewell concert at London's 02 in 2018, the album - with superb neon artwork - captures the essence of their groundbreaking synth-pop sound with electrifying live performances. Marc Almond's haunting vocals and Dave Ball's innovative synth melodies shine throughout the setlist, including classics like 'Tainted Love' and 'Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.' With raw energy and nostalgic fervour, Soft Cell delivers a mesmerising experience that pays homage to their legendary career while showcasing their enduring influence on the electronic music landscape.

Review: It was the album, or perhaps era, that nearly brought the whole thing crashing down around the members, threatening to cut short what has subsequently become one of the most longstanding, celebrated and influential British rock music stories at the fourth chapter - when there was clearly so much more left to write and read. LP four from The Cure is arguably up there with the darkest of hours, a brooding, claustrophobic gothic pop masterpiece that laid bare, and still does, the struggles of those involved, and ourselves. Fuelled by heavy drug use and with the underlying uncertainty that disbandment was a very real possibility as a result, with Robert Smith's plummeting mental health and in-fighting only adding to the troubles, nevertheless, Pornography is a powerhouse album which approaches stark and universally poignant themes without apology, helping generation after generation understand that somewhere someone gets it.