JANE WEAVER ****
The Architect EP (Fire)
Backed by a remix by her husband and Twisted Nerve label boss Andy Votel and a couple of fine unreleased tracks, The Architect is a perfect sub-four-minute encapsulation of this year’s sublime LP Modern Kosmology: a spaced-out yet pop-savvy Stereolab, all retro-futurist synths, propulsive drums and existential wonder. BW
MARK LANEGAN BAND **
Still Life With Roses EP (Heavenly)
Inessential EP of remixes of songs from Lanegan’s excellent latest album Gargoyle, which is significant merely as an illustration of the gravel-throated alt-rock icon’s increasingly enthusiastic embrace of electronica. Of the six tracks, only Adrian Sherwood’s take on Nocturne is worth your time. BW
STAGGA & MAGUGU ****
M.A.M.A (Fat Fridge)
The Cardiff producer/MC duo’s last EP before their debut album, says Stagga. I’m legit excited and recommend you be also! Slinkier and less ruffneck than past releases, Magugu gives out about pan-African pride, getting blazed and his bad self over Stagga’s funky conga workouts and mutant dancehall, heavy bass arriving on closing track Yeyeye. NG
THUMPERMONKEY ***
Electricity (Rockosmos)
This London band’s first release for five years is a concept EP based on an obscure 19th-century French novel, and yup there’s a heaped serving of prog rock in these four songs. Thumpermonkey’s tempos and tonal crunch are more post-hardcore than Porcupine Tree, though – grand and ambitious in the same way Shudder To Think and Burning Airlines once were. NG
YSGOL SUL **
Eventide (self-released)
In their very first collection of English-language songs, Ysgol Sul have tried their hand at dark and gloomy music. However, this experiment yields sadly disappointing results. Eventide’s reflections on loneliness and despair attempt to echo the sense of melancholy exuded by their contemporaries in new wave and postpunk, but ultimately come across as bland and uninspiring. AS