Back catalogue: Rock (All)

Review: RECOMMENDED
The thing everyone needs to understand about the UK is the disparity between projected image and real life is almost as overwhelming as the rich-poor divide. On the one hand, there's posturing of pomp, pageantry, grandeur and decorum. Then you actually get here and realise there are really only two types of inhabitants of this island nation, and few of either have manners - those who only give a shit about themselves, and the often eccentric others who do want to help those they pass on the street.

Yard Act, arguably the best thing we've heard to come out of Leeds since the emergence of super-talented techno producer Happa, directly address the first category of British resident in this, their startlingly raw and delightfully off-centre debut album. From middle class trendies to Brexiteering belligerents, think Sleaford Mods providing a backing track to IDLES' observational poetry, with an added dose of Jarvis Cocker-esque theatrics, only less camp, much rawer.

Review: Slowcore and dream pop collide on this latest LP from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs - 'Cool It Down' is their fifth studio album and a surprise return almost 10 years on from 2013's 'Mosquito'. Uniquely teased by the whispery lead single 'Spitting Off The Edge Of The World' - a hopeless anthem for those left behind, laying somewhere between the slowcore of Deathcrash and the indie dream dreamt by Band Of Horses - this one is a focused eight-tracker of enormously mournful proportions. It also contains a guest appearance by Perfume Genius.

Review: This Stupid World is an album from Yo La Tenga that sounds more live than anything the band has done for a decade. It's their first new record in five years and was created top to bottom by the band itself, building on their strong foundations yet bringing plenty of fresh new ideas. All three band members are going for it throughout almost every moment of every track, so it has an urgent, of-the-moment feel that is immediately impactful. It comes on limited transparent blue vinyl - a great record for indie fans whether or not they are familiar with this band.

Review: It's taken a while, but finally Thom Yorke's impressive third solo album, "ANIMA", is available on wax (and in a fetching shade of orange, too). A future classic that continues the legacy he started with XL Recordings back in 2006 (with his solo debut The Eraser), ANIMA is well worth picking up, as Yorke and co-producer Nigel Godrich offer up evocative, off-kilter songs built around the twin attractions of the Radiohead man's distinctive vocals and skewed backing tracks rich in layered electronic noise, body-bending sub-bass, discordant synthesizer parts and intriguingly jaunty drum loops. Highlights are plentiful throughout, from the creepy, lo-fi ambient swirl of "Last I Heard (...He Was Circling the Drain)" and "Dawn Chorus" (a blissfully dewy-eyed early morning soundscape), to the low-slung, post-trip-hop hum of "I Am A Very Rude Person" and the fizzing, jazz-fired thrust of "Impossible Knots". Melancholic, yes. Deep and self-effacing, of course. Nihilistic, not really. Percussive futurist sub-pop is back.

Review: Five years on since their last, Young Fathers are finally back with their fourth album (if you don't include their introductory mixtapes Tape One and Tape Two). Heavy Heavy finds the trio of Alloysious Massaquoi, Kayus Bankole and G. Hastings embracing a back to basics approach formed around working in their own basement studio, keeping the equipment turned on and allowing the ideas to flow freely. Cherry picking the most fruitful moments from these extended sessions has resulted in a striking, invigorating album which bursts forth with the opening salvo of 'Rice' and 'I Saw', clutching you tight and not letting go for the duration of the album. It's been worth the wait.

Review: It can be something of a surprise to know that Young Gun Silver Fox hail from modern-day London, as the sound of this album couldn't be more '70s-tinged and Californian if it was sporing sideburns, reefer-in-hand and discussing the Watergate scandal. Redolent of the like of Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers and even The Eagles, 'West End Coast' thankfully has chops and talent to stand as much more than a mere retro curiosity or museum piece - ditties like 'You Can Feel It' and 'In My Pocket' channel vocalist Andy Platts' falsetto croon, heavenly harmonies and AM radio production to considerable satisfaction for all.

Review: What proportion of the rock 'n' roll pantheons Neil Young will occupy when he finally (God forbid) stables the Crazy Horse is anyone's guess, but you'd better believe it will be more than most artists. 'Homegrown', until now at least, was at risk of being missing from those chapters, which would have been a crying shame given it epitomises what a songwriting tour de force he was in the 1970s. There's a raw feel to the album that goes beyond the near-50-year-old born-on date, perhaps best encapsulated in the fact we open mid-note - the tape started rolling after the maestro began playing. At the time Young was reeling from a breakup, and eventually decided not to release the album at all due to its personal subject matter. Now ready to let the world in, it's quintessential Young but also one of the closest we've ever got to his soul, albeit retrospectively.

Review: Where do you start with a new album from Neil Young? One of the great rock artists of the 1970s hasn't stopped since - much to the joy of many and the derision of others - and here presents his staggering 39th studio album. Recorded in the mountains of Colorado, as those who watch the accompanying film will know only too well, in many ways it's his most significant work since "Le Noise", and certainly has the power you'd hope from reunification with backing band Crazy Horse. "Colorado" is incredibly personal and intimate, and yet also focused on subjects that are much farther reaching than you or I. It's politically charged and socially motivated, while never forgetting it's the small stories that often resonate most with listeners. A true master here closer to the top of his game than he has been in a very long time, if there's justice in the world it will win over new fans by the bucketload.