Video: Valley of Abra - Alba Lua

Hailing from Bordeaux Alba Lua are a three-piece comprising of Pepo Durantez (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Pascal Hoerner (lead guitar, backing vocals and bass) and Renoi Jacob Mathieu (drums and percussion). 'Valley of Abra' is taken from their debut EP Ballad of Joseph Merrick, which was recorded in Barcelona a couple of days after the band saw Neil Young, My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth play at the Primavera Sound Festival. Tellingly 'Valley of Abra' features a thrilling mix of shoe-gazey pop and blissed-out summer sunshine.

The press release for this mentions that Vice described it as 'Syd Barrett sound tracking a spaghetti western, i.e. eccentric, reverb-heavy, dreamy pop music' and whilst BlackPlastic generally think Vice are a bunch of twats when it comes to music reviews they kind of got Alba Lua on the money. We have spent the last few days wandering around in Rockstar's rather ace Red Dead Redemption video game, set in the Wild West, and 'Valley of Abra' would make a fantastically psychedelic addition to the soundtrack.

Alba Lua are currently working on a new EP and an album is expected in early 2011.

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Video: 15X - Breton

How very 'meta'. Breton's music video for 15X features them actually making (as in manufacturing rather than recording) their forthcoming Sharing Notes EP, including the packaging. In fact, since the release is limited to 50 numbered copies, if you get number one then that is the one being made in the video. The release includes a printed circuit board which can apparently be built into a synth. Nice.

The song itself is math rock in a similar vein to the Battles but a bit spikier. But don't take our word for it - check it out above.

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Video: Memory Banks - Lazy Habits feat. Baby Sol

Lazy Habits are an eight piece hip-hop collective who have already been getting a bit of love from the likes of 6music and 1extra. And based on the video for 'Memory Banks' it is a justifiable reaction. Featuring sultry guest vocals from Baby Sol, their first single is a lovely low-down piece of summer soul that deserves to make it onto your barbecue playlist this year.

The single is already out as a digital download and it will be followed up by an album towards the end of the summer.

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Album Review: Latin - Holy Fuck

The start of Holy Fuck's new album sounds like big things happening. '1MD' opens the album on a building crescendo of distorted melodies. It is initially calm but it quickly becomes apparent that this is merely the calm before the storm.

And a storm it is: 'Red Lights' barrel-rolls in like a professional hit man, slinky bass lines and snappy drums painting the sky. And it's obvious that Holy Fuck continue to create a kind of music that many try to make but few succeed in delivering.

There are echoes of Gang Gang Dance, !!! and others here but no-one manages to create quite the same psychedelic acid trip and make it sound so real. Latin is an album that builds to a fever pitch - midpoint track 'Silva & Grimes' is rabid driving music for thunderstorms, incessant and rapid fire and faster than anything that precedes it. It feels like a kind of climax on first listen but that's only because you don't know what is still to come.

'SHT MTN' is low-slung, squealing and industrial and then 'Stilettos' is pedal-to-the-metal-with-the-top-down. Closing on 'P.I.G.S.' only increases the sense of bewilderment. This is mechanical art-rock for destroying cities. A solid groove builds and eventually hits a melodic breakdown midway through before heading stratospheric. This is music for space, not puny-Earth - it sounds like an ode to the majestically uncontrollable power of the Saturn V. This is being strapped to five-megatons of explosives and flicking the match.

Latin is not just a selection of fantastic tunes, it's a epic journey sandwiched into 40-minutes.

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

Album Review: The Thorns Of Love - Antoni Maiovvi

The follow up to Antoni Maiovvi's eponymous release The Thorns Of Love is short, at six tracks or forty-minutes, particularly for an electronic album. But that just makes it feel that much sweeter.

The Thorns Of Love could be described as cosmic disco, but it's a bit more than that. Opener 'This Is The Beast' may well fit that bill, with shades of Jean Micheal Jarre and Tangerine Dream, but 'The Sigh From The Sky Was A Lie' feels as much post-punk as disco - a warm mix of Italo and New Order style synth and bass-work. And it works pretty damn well.

And the album gets only more varied as it progresses. 'Treason' is a solo piano piece and packs an emotional punch whilst forming a key centre point for the album. Finally things close on 'Horsehead Blues', a muted, dubby trip into Antoni Maiovvi's head with vocals that sound like Bowie going through an emotional breakdown, it's Joy Division forced to go on holiday to Ibiza, but not in the suddenly blissed-out sense that New Order achieved on Technique.

The contrast between tracks is stark, leaving the listener unsure of what to expect next, and as a result The Thorns Of Love is a brief yet engaging, emotional ride.

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The Thorns Of Love is out now on Caravan, available from Amazon.co.uk on CD, MP3 and LP [affiliate links].