yourGigs Listening & Loving

What the yourGigs team are listening to and loving this week.

Aimee: Rowland S. Howard - Pop Crimes

I have enjoyed listening to this record far more than the times I've seen ol' Gollum live, one of which was at ATP with his sound blowing all over the place, and the other of which was completely solo and slightly unnerving for that reason. Lots of cool sounds on this album. The cover scares me though.

Alex: Liza Minnelli - Liza's at the Palace So, I recently went and saw Liza Minnelli at the Sydney Entertainment Centre (it was a surprise by my girlfriend, so I was super-excited, but that's a different story all together). So, after seeing "The Legend" perform in the flesh (Oh my god oh my god oh my god!!!) I haven't been able to put down her latest album, which was released this year and is a studio recreation of her five-week, sold-out stint at New York's famous Palace Theatre in 2008. You're thinking "weird", but it works. At 62 and with a double hip replacement under her belt, the old gal still insists on dancing in her live performances, so the album gives you an impeccable vocal recording of the legendary, the one and only Ms Liza Minnelli ... superb.

Andy: The Henry Clay People - For Cheap or For Free

A Los Angeles band that could best be described as "slackers" in that early Pavement sort of way. So much so they have a song called 'Working Part Time'. But their extra spare time obviously is used quite productively, crafting pretty nifty guitar-driven tunes and conjuring canny lyrics. Jolly good.

Bella: Julian Casablancas - Phrazes For The Young

Sexy Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas has launched himself into the solo arena with this unbelievably epic debut. Oh Julian, how I've missed your alluring voice. Phrazes is like the Strokes, but kinda disco. Standout tracks to get you started are '11th Dimension', 'River of Brakelights' and 'Out of the Blue'. This is probably what music from the future would sound like if some total hero had a brainwave late one night and decided to make a solo record.

Mike: Refused - The Shape of Punk to Come

This doesn't need much of an explanation really; one of the best hardcore albums to date, if not one of the greatest records of all time. It's a shame they broke up shortly after recording this, the re-invention of punk rock never sounded so good.

4 Nov 2009