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James Poole recommendations

2017: Top ten albums

My top-ten album list for 2017 originally contained about 17 entries. That the final list doesn’t contain Spoon, St Vincent, Jane Weaver or Loyle Carner, in particular, underlines the quality of the ten I’ve culled it back to. Before getting to the list of albums, let’s just call out some stand out tracks for the […]

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James Poole reflection

North American Scum, Slight Return

As LCD Soundsystem downed tools in early 2011, I shared some thoughts on how, as a band, they captured New York City. To me, they were as much New York as were Blondie, the Beastie Boys or The Strokes. I shared my thoughts on how they “left us an almost perfect body of work”. I […]

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James Poole recommendations reflection

Jez Kerr: ‘Numb Mouth Eat Waste’… first review!

So, come on then, time to own up. Raise your hand in the air if you’ve been checking out Jez Kerr’s solo material. No? Shame on you, if you haven’t. You’ve missed out on a couple of peaches – two singles to give a taster of what’s in store on Jez’s debut album. At the […]

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James Poole reflection

LCD Soundsystem *are* New York City

I may be talking out of turn, here. I realise that I’m from Stoke, and that it’s about 3,000 miles – figuratively and literally – from the place I chose to live. That said, I love the city that I chose to call home. I thrive on the beat of the city, the buzz, the […]

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James Poole reflection

LCD Soundsystem: Talking Heads for the 2000s

Two bands stand astride The Atlantic. One, from the UK, never puts a foot wrong, and has been constantly innovating, reshaping, and challenging their audience since the early 90s. The other, from the US, has for the best part of ten years been providing nothing short of unbridled joy in the form of music – […]

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James Poole recommendations

2010: Top Ten Albums

So that’s 2010, then. A year of staggering comebacks, of fine funk, and of exciting new music. Sitting here on a flight back to NYC after a Christmas break in the UK, it’s probably as good a time as any to fully reflect on the year, and to take the time to acknowledge the albums […]