Now Is the Winter of Our Disc-Content

January is here. As the days get longer, we realise that we have to sit through more hours of freezing, disappointing daylight. The earth continues to hurtle around the sun but, now, does so reluctantly. Even gravity wants to pack it in, go home and read some Chekov. If February is for lovers, then January is for cynics. Each new day is heralded by a half-hearted grumble, and it is oh so bitterly cold.

So, In order to warm the cockles of your hearts, we've bought a bonanza of Sugar Pill goodies:

First, there's the new episode of the show, where Jenna gets out-geeked, Andy gets his foot caught in the mixing desk and Patrick schools them both in how things should be done. You can listen to it here. Or here. But not here. 

(Seriously, that last one was just puerile...)

As listeners to the show will be aware, it is (was) my Birthday. This is a Good Thing, even though I have to ditch teenage angst in favour of the standard 20-something middle class ennui. Every year on my birthday, I go to Black Lake, rip a page out of my Book of Excuses and mutter "I'm sorry, Mother!" between the teardrops as the waters wash away the ink, swirling on the page like a sick Rorschach test...

Anyway, I bought myself some CDs for my birthday, some of which are new (some aren't), so I'm gonna give you a lil' review of them to read. If you'd rather, you can go back and listen to the show. Or read the plot synopsis of Morris Gleitzman's "Bumface" again. Hur hur hur.

Vampire Weekend- Contra (XL)

The eagerly-awaited follow up to 2008's self titled debut sees the preppy New York outfit return with their trademark muted pastels, congolese percussion and intelligent wordplays. The album opens with "Horchata", a track that sounds like what would happen if Timon & Pumba went to Harvard, started a band and sung songs about drinking San Pelegrino. It's definately a "fuller" arrangement than comparable songs on the previous release, and in fact that can be said of the entire album, using a rich library of percussion, synths and M.I.A samples. Other highlights include the pacy hook-laden "Cousins",  and the anodyne "Giving Up the Gun"- a track that systematically alienates anyone who's only previous encounter with the band was the video for "A-Punk". My main criticsm of the album would be the relatively weak use of metaphor in Ezra Koenig's lyrics. Whilst "Vampire Weekend" had me scratching my head for the deeper meaning (does anyone know what "The Kid's Don't Stand A Chance" was about?), "Contra" is much more straight forwards. The only other flaw is the quality of pop culture references- compared to "Oxford Comma" and it's homage to Lil' John's "Get Low", the allusions to Joe Strummer throughout the album seem, well, a lil' weak. Overall, it's a good album- Vampire Weekend have managed to continue moving forwards and develop as a band with an album that begs comparison to The Clash's excellent Sandinista!- and I'd highly recommend it. Come summer, it's an album you can't afford to be without!

Johnny Foreigner- Grace and the Bigger Picture (Best Before)

As an antithesis to Contra, I offer you Grace..., a madcap flurry of growly guitar, squalking boy/girl vocals on the strained to the edge of shattering in an embarrasing mess and machine-gun snares. I first saw Johnny Foreigner supporting Los Campesinos!, to whom they bear many superficial resemblences- their humour and urgency, their vocal stylings and their interplay between male and female band members- but Grace... is a record by a band that have shaken such unfair comparisons to find their own sound. They're lot shoutier and less twee than LC!, which will likely win them many friends. Their real strength lies in raw power- the band clearly have a strong punk-rock ethos if not sound that comes across as an overwhelming, breath-taking half hour. Frontman Alexei Berrow's lyrical finess trully delightful, with gems such as "So all I want to do is sit and watch the riots on the last night/ Dropping all the lamps till the fires are our only light" and "Hold all yr secrets in a dark heart/ Breaking the horizon now the death stars gone/ O please, concede" good enough reasons alone to purchase the album. My only regret is not buying it sooner.

Thanks for humouring me. I'm off to play Lego Rock Band. You're off to listen to the show, right? (oh, I give up...)

Andy