Ombudsmen of Musical Talent,

New music is great but too often a bunch of half-baked abrasive rackets by twits and guitars is packaged and presented to us as such by the usual trendy outlets: BBC 6th Music daytime, NME, Zane Lowe and MTV2 etc. I will resist the hype. I will be angered by the hype, currently, The Metros deserve most of your contempt. Sometimes I will be surprised and delighted when the hype translates.

Vampire Weekend’s single A-Punk is the darling of BBC playlists at the minute. If exposed to only the first verse, they could easily be dismissed as twits and guitars peddling another Libertines clone. The chorus, however, features an organ flourish (think of your favourite “flourishes”, there’s one in Telstar by Tornadoes and in the duffing anthem, Recuerdos de la Alhambra around 1:15) giving incentive enough for any proper musicologist to investigate further.

Thankfully enough, that organ is a mainstay of the album. The drumming that goes with it on Mansard Roof is quite something. The song is meaningless but the tempo makes one man’s account of what he can see seem quite important and dramatic. It’s a good song and it made me want to find out what a Mansard roof is. The organ flourish on A-Punk is as cosy as one could ever want. I may live to regret such an adjective. The African influence on Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa really emphasises the depth of this band’s intelligence; ultimately, it’s just percussion but it is different percussion and seriously rhythmic. M79 has some beautiful strings at the beginning; the composition is as good as those of Penguin Café Orchestra. The range of instruments and the way they fit together with their thoughtful verses is just startlingly good. Vampire Weekend can be happy and Vampire Weekend can be melancholy and they do both with a charm that most newcomers just don’t possess.

Challengers by New Pornographers is one that I really should have bought ages ago in 2007. It’s a strange one, I immediately felt familiar with it. I guess that I could pull it apart and attribute sections of it to other records by other bands. The genius of Challengers is that it doesn’t matter and I like it. It’s power pop with loads of instruments. I can’t hear anything I don’t like and I think it’s one of the best albums around for duets or vocal harmonies. The standout tracks are Myriad Harbour, Challengers, Entering White Cecilia and Go Places.

When the Deer Wore Blue by Figurines is definitely worth having too. Childhood Verse is a bold start, it wanders mysteriously, the tinkling of pianos and glockenspiels gives this a chilling edge. This continues into The Air We Breathe, one of the best tracks, where the Beach Boys have met Mercury Rev and Brandon Flowers with a favourable outcome; the song wraps itself warmly around the ears and soothes. Hey Girl is the current single, the variation in tone, fluctuations in from high to low pitches in quick steps (musicians will have the proper term to hand) characterise the song nicely. Let's Head Out is a pop tune that could have been made in the 1960s by the Beatles or those of their ilk but probably better, it's a delight. The vocals on Good Old Friends sound like those of Neil Young at times, this song is a bit solemn but the vocal styling continues into Drunkard's Dream, where a hopeless husband protests to his wife over the strength of their relationship. Angels of Bayou is as glorious as wist can get, "can you feel in the air that you never belonged?", the chorus line, is delivered in such a lazy, throwaway manner that it has more meaning than it would if delivered with blatant passion. Figurines may well be Denmark's export of the year.

I have bought many more CDs in the last few weeks, it's due to that imbecile, George Lamb. I need something to listen to that isn't infuriating. Thankfully, I can be introduced to new music at other times of the day within the 6th Music schedule, but that's still no excuse for giving this clown airtime.