Album Review: Shapes 10:01 - Various compiled by Robert Luis

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Robert Luis is responsible for A&R for Tru Thoughts and this very affordable compilation (a two-disc set retailing for £4.99) represents his hot tips for 2010.

With Tru Thoughts' general focus on high quality funk and soul the result is consistently good, if sporting few surprises.  On the whole this is a trip through the record crate of someone who clearly knows their stuff, but admittedly a little more here than anyone but the purist needs.  Given the extremely good value for money however, it would be unfair to complain so instead BlackPlastic suggests the listener focuses in on what transcends the barrier between good and great.

So pretty much everything is good, in a 'won't offend anyone' kind of way but some of tracks included inevitably stand out. Azaxx's rough stop-start funk 'Play Again' is as much hip-hop as soul or funk and amongst some of the slightly blander tracks on Shapes it definitely stands out.  Similarly, the epic, almost David Axelrod-esque eponymous 'Stonephace' really carves a place out for itself, leaving whimsical female soul vocals for dust and concentrating on blowing your mind instead.

Shapes 10:01 is a great taster for Tru Thoughts in 2010 but at times the sheer quality of tracks like 'Stonephace' just mean the overall package is in danger of feeling bland. Ultimately though the only real criticism that can be levelled at this album is that it is too much - a stripped back one disc set would have been so full of future classics that it would unquestionably justify its existence, but with so much available for such a low price BlackPlastic can't help but recommend people pick this up.

Shapes 10:01 is out now on Tru Thoughts, available from Amazon.co.uk on CD for just £4.99 [affiliate link].

Video: I Left My Heart In San Francisco - Mayer Hawthorne

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Created to commemorate the end of Mayer Hawthorne's two-month tour, which finishes on Thursday in San Francisco, Hawthorne is releasing this rather sublime cover of Tony Bennet's 'I Left My Heart In San Francisco' in collaboration with SF based Huf and designer Freegums.

If you haven't checked out Hawthorne yet then BlackPlastic suggests you do - this cover strikes a beautiful balance between his usual refined soul sound and a more subdued, lounge style that reminds us of Richard Hawley.

BP x

/Via Fluokids.

Album Review: Volume Two - She & Him

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There must be a beautiful world out there somewhere where film stars are always wonderfully interesting and where they make lovely pop records that are actually a pleasure to listening.

Whilst you carry on the search for this world BlackPlastic is happy to settle for one such star - the rather appealing Zooey Deschanel. So, fanboy yearning put to one side - Volume Two is Deschanel's second collaboration with musician M. Ward and, as She & Him, follows up on (you guessed it) 2008's Volume One.

So avert your eyes from the BlackPlastic "Alternative Electronic Music" masthead for a few minutes because Volume Two is gently crafted sixties-pop-cum-country music. And we can't help but go a bit doughy on it. What Deschanel lacks in vocal range she more than makes up for in the ability to pen a nice tune and M. Ward's backing does a perfect job of providing the perfect environment to make Zooey shine. The best examples, where the vocals and the music swell in unison as on 'Don't Look Back' and 'Lingering Still' ("And the world's like a science and I'm like a secret" Zooey sings convincingly on the latter), capture a wonderfully kitsch sparkle that transports BlackPlastic to a summer's day.

Compared to Volume One this outing is superior in all ways bar one. Since Volume Two is a more consistent yet more varied album, BlackPlastic can only be disappointed by the fact that there is nothing quite as joyfully edible and sumptuous as Volume One's 'Why Do You Let Me Stay Here'. It's an unfair, churlish criticism perhaps but it ensures that both albums still deserve a listen.

So ultimately Volume Two is the same joyful ye olde fashioned pop music as Volume One. It's warm, arms-open retro hugs.

BP x

Volume Two is out now on Domino, available from Amazon.co.uk on CD, LP and MP3 [affiliate links].

Album Review: In Evening Air - Future Islands

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In Evening Air is Future Islands' first release for Thrill Jockey and their first album to be released as a slimmed down three-piece.

Opening with 'Walking Through That Door' In Evening Air is a captivating listen from the off. It is an album with a beautiful dream-like quality that manages to take disparate reference points and brings them together beautifully.

The vocals alternate between gravelly Dylan ('Long Flight') and statuesque Bowie ("Swept Aside"). And that isn't all - In Evening Air is in turns ethereal (on the title track - think David Lynch and Twin Peaks) and youthful and overwhelmed (reminiscent of Sofia Coppola on the beautiful "Long Flight").

There are clear nods to on In Evening Air to post-punk, particularly Joy Division and Echo and the Bunnymen, and the electronics and emotional punch are pure New Wave. It's little surprise then that Future Islands refer to their own sound as Post-Wave.

But In Evening Air is more than the sum of its parts though. Future Islands sound urgent and insistent and, frankly, desperately delicate. There is so much to soak in across this album's short length that it already feels like an early high-water mark for the year.  Seek it out.

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In Evening Air is released on 4 May on Thrill Jockey, available for pre-order at Amazon.co.uk [affiliate link].