ALBUM: BABY BUTTON EYES Kill All Humans (Last Minute)
This just arrived on our desk without any explanation as to its contents or intentions, so it was with an entirely open mind that we opened our ears to it. At once it stood out as one of the more interesting offerings this month. Swooshes of electronica and laid back trip hoppy acoustics back dreamy, childlike male and female vocals, particularly nicely on Hide Your Lies and White Blank Rage, both of which We suspect this is a studio-bound project, but we’d be interested to see how it would translate live. Good stuff. (NC)

ALBUM: BITTER RUIN Hung, Drawn & Quartered (myspace.com/bitterruin)
Bitter Ruin’s theatrical cabaret of vocal duelling – almost baroque and medieval in places – is firmly on the Dresden Dolls side of the street; indeed they share a producer in Jason Rubal. It’s an engrossing experience from start to finish – far from a passive listen, one is drawn into the slightly scary world the band inhabit, with sufficient musical commerciality and charming Kate Bush-isms to prevent too much alienation. With the current TV penchant for spooky dramas about werewolves and vampires, all requiring music synchs, Bitter Ruin should be living in houses made of solid gold before too long. (NC)

ALBUM: BLACKFIN Shadow Chemistry (myspace.com/blackfinmusic)
Clearly at home in the studio, the Blackfin boys have written, recorded and produced this epic piece themselves. No sonic stone is left unturned, from electronic bleeps and whooshes, Dark Side Of The Moon-esque female vocal workouts, and sprawling gothic guitars. Beautifully recorded and designed, if there’s any downside it’s perhaps that it can tend towards sounding like something of a production CV rather than a heartfelt creation with real currency in its own right. But an accomplished achievement nonetheless. (NC)

EP: DOLPHIN PARADE The Trilogy Of Happiness (Unlabel)
A trilogy of songs whose subtitles we’re hard-pushed to disagree with; (cash), (hot food) and (sex), the EP begins with Pen & Paper, a warm guitar fuzz that descends into some alarmingly heavy rock riffing. Hot Food bustles along with early Arctics guitar and bass fret synergy and a similar tom-heavy drum assault. Simmer Down, the (sex) song starts off slowly and gently, then goes in hard and fast, then slows down again for a bit – a sequence that’s repeated for just over seven minutes. Have they been spying on us? (NC)

ALBUM: LIANNE HALL Crossing Wires (Malinki)
There are many artists ploughing the various folk furrows at the moment, and its definition dilutes with every new emergence. Lianne Hall takes its earthy essence and peppers it with a surprisingly appropriate melange of disparate backings, from crunchy electronica beats and grungy guitars to jazz piano. Her vocal is the consistent standout asset throughout however, once described by the late John Peel as “one of the great English voices”. This is an outstanding piece of work and comes highly recommended. (NC)

SINGLE: LONDON COMMANDS YOU Give Me A Sign (myspace.comlondoncommandsyou)
Describing themselves as New Order meets David Bowie may be a tad ambitious – we did detect some lingering vibrato on the vocal that could be attributable to The Dame, but while certainly not any musical doppelganger for New Order these boys certainly share their pop sensibility. We actually preferred back-up song Can’t Stop Me to the title track, it seemed to pack a more immediate punch especially with the soaring chorus and piano (which veers a little too deep into Coldplay territory elsewhere). We have to remind ourselves is merely a demo and as such a tantalising hint of promise to come. (NC)

SINGLE: MEAN POPPA LEAN Sheryl Crow (myspace.com/meanpoppalean)
Funk-fuelled and ready to take on their first European tour, Mean Poppa Lean let rip another ballsy number in new single Sheryl Crow. What’s with the name, I hear you ask. ‘She’s fucking boss,’ apparently. Energetic, with pulsing drums, rippling bass and bold brassy accompaniment, we see another festival hit in the making. Well, with the chanted verses it’s inevitable really. B-side, the hilariously titled Regretamin turns it down a tad, with heavy riffs and crooning vocals reminiscent of Reef. (LS)

ALBUM: THE MISERABLE RICH Of Flight And Fury (Humble Soul)
Jostling writing and recording an album whilst touring the globe is no easy task, but The Miserable Rich have done just that and made a gem of a record. Produced by folk-knowledgeable Al Scott, The ‘Rich have created an ambient, string-led pop masterpiece. Personal tales of joys and woes, woven around points of meaning and interest to the quintet in Brighton give added poignancy to the lyrics. Of Flight And Fury is fit for a springtime frolic in the sunshine. (LS)

ALBUM: SAMSARA The Great Unravelling (myspace.com/samsara5)
Most of the ska and reggae-based music we seem to get sent tends to veer towards the frenetic, so it makes a change for a slightly more laid back affair to grace our stereo. Samsara plunder folk, rock and psychedelia and take it to carnival to arrive at a polished finished product that defies categorisation outside of entertaining. You suspect it’s a sound best experienced in a festival setting, luckily for this year’s Glastonbury and Secret Garden Party ticket holders. (NC)

ALBUM: ROBERT STILMAN Master Box (myspace.comrobertstillmanshorses)
This was intriguing from the off – a weird package of hand-typed ephemera surrounding a stark CD. We read that this album portrays the piano as contraption, which made as little sense then as it does now, but loosely speaking it seems the innards of the instrument are all put to good percussive use here. The result, we have to say, is eerie instrumentalism, with the emphasis on the mental, and although we can’t quite put our finger on why, to be honest, we thought it was absolutely brilliant. A bit scary, very odd, but brilliant. (NC)

SINGLE: SWEET SWEET LIES Overrated Girlfriend (myspace.com/sweetsweetliesmusic)
The songwriters in SSL met on the songwriting module of a music degree, and it’s easy to see that your taxpayer pound was well spent here. The title track rolls along like a filthy folk snowball, the vocal insistent and frenetic as it details the faults and foibles of a particular ladyfriend. Currently winding up a nationwide series of dates, it’s time for the triumphant truth about Sweet Sweet Lies to be known. (NC)

EP: THEDEALWASFORTHEDIAMOND It’s Not Enough To Reproduce (myspace.com/thedealwasforthediamond)
A precursor to their anticipated album due this August, TDWFTD give us something to keep occupied with in the meantime with their double A-side EP. Having only emerged last year, they’re already making quite a name for themselves amongst critics and musicians alike. Their heady mix of heavy yet melodic post-rock instrumentals make something unique out of an already heavily plundered genre. They manage to create an epic noise, without being ruined by out-of-place whiney vocals which can be so unbearably commonplace these days. (LS)

ALBUM: TURNCOAT An Adventure In Skill And Chance (Numb Skull)
Melodic indie guitar gets a decent outing here, as Turncoat ply a four-piece trade in the style of Gene and Bluetones from the Britpop years, while venturing closer to 21st century home with occasional arrangement nods to Bloc Party and Franz. There’s a definite old-fashioned naivete about the whole production, which lends it an endearing charm that we like. They’ve been released on EMI before, not we’re sure what happened there but they’re probably best off out of it by the sound of things. A regular on the local scene, you’d be wise to check them out. (NC)

ALBUM: VENETIA AND THE VOLTAGE Keep Moving Or Something Will Eat You (Nearly Normal)
It’s often a tricky meld of styles when an ostensibly live act brings some dancefloor vibes to the party, but Venetia and co mostly tread the right side of the line with this debut album following a handful of warmly received singles. The band are self-proclaimed twisted partiers, which comes across in the subversion of traditional pop sensibility across the tracks here. The self-production might have hampered the potential size of the sound – the hooks are all there and the playing’s faultless, but this will all come together as they inevitably evolve into a bigger prospect. (NC)

Words by Nick Coquet and Lydia Stockbridge