Montparnasse Musique
Archaeology
(Real World)
★★★★

THIS marvellous debut album is the creation of Algerian-French producer/DJ Nadjib and South African House DJ Aero Manyelo, who met by chance in the Montparnasse–Bienvenue metro station in Paris.

Lucky us. A self-consciously Pan-African set, the music ranges far and wide over the continent, focusing on the music of Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Which makes sense – it was recorded in France and Belgium with a group of talented Congolese musicians.
 
Mixing dance, electronica, rock, trance, techno and a whole host of other genres I don’t really know about, it sounds absolutely amazing. Badarou is particularly special, a big, open-hearted track that brings to mind the best work of Johnny Clegg and Savuka.

Infused with a keen sense of collaboration and cultural interchange, Archaeology is a joyous, high energy record for the ages.

The Flaming Lips
Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
(Warners)
★★★★★

AFTER their 1999 breakthrough record The Soft Bulletin, 2002’s Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots propelled Ohio indie rock outfit The Flaming Lips even higher, receiving huge critical acclaim and airplay.

This 20th anniversary six-CD reissue – with more than 100 tracks and over five hours of music – highlights why the album is so revered. With the acoustic guitar-based songs overlaid with all manner of mesmerising electronic effects the sound is intergalactic in scope, from the unrequited love of Ego Tripping At The Gates Of Hell to the life-affirming mortality musings of monster hit Do You Realize??

The extra tracks of b-sides, radio live sessions, demos and concert recordings – check out the covers of Knives Out by Radiohead and Kylie’s Can’t Get You Out Of My Head – show a band absolutely fizzing with ideas and confidence.

A 21st-century masterpiece.

Trevor Beales
Fireside Stories: Hebden Bridge circa 1971-1974
(Basin Rock)
★★★

HAVING grown up in Hebden Bridge, Trevor Beales recorded the songs here in the early ’70s in the attic of his family home, though they were never released.

The British folk singer-songwriter would go on to form little known prog band Havana Lake before dying unexpectedly in 1987, aged just 33.

Basin Rock are now putting out his solo songs for the first time, making it Beales’s posthumous debut album.
 
It’s an impressive set, made all the more special when you realise he was only in his late teens and early 20s when he put the music to tape. While the rudimentary sound quality reflects its unprofessional origins, there is no denying the quality of the music – grounded and always hopeful – echoing better known folk revival contemporaries such as Bert Jansch and Martin Carthy.
 
A wonderful rediscovery.