Aphex Twin - CIRKLON3
★★★★
This week, Richard D James dropped his first official music video since Windowlicker in 1999. And bizarrely, brilliantly, he got a school kid from Rush, Co Dublin to make it. Twelve- year-old Ryan Wyer charmed the reclusive electronica genius with some Aphex Twin fan videos he posted YouTube. Now tapped as the musician's official video director, Wyer busts out some serous moves: playing invisible keyboard, walking while wagging his index finger, wagging his index finger while backing away, shadow boxing, "one more tune" and, eventually, pausing to catch his breath. (In fairness, it is a very long track.)
Divine Comedy - Catherine The Great
★★★
"Get ready for the most historically inaccurate hit of the summer," jokes Neil Hannon, in the blurb for the Divine Comedy's latest comeback single. It's a harpsichord heavy, tongue-in-cheek ditty of a type only he could pull off. But as a history graduate, I would offer the following corrections and clarifications: Catherine did correspond with Voltaire, but she never actually met him. I'm pretty sure she didn't use smartphone dating apps. Oh, and probably best avoid speculation as to how she looked on (or near) a horse. C+
Kevin Nolan - Blood Wedding
★★★
This opening track from Kevin Nolan's Fredrick & The Golden Dawn album owes a very obvious debt to Tom Waits. But over the course of that record, the Drimnagh multi- instrumentalist showcases quite considerable range. He plans to tour Ireland later this summer.
Deerhoof - Pour Some Sugar On Me
★★
In the same week they released their 16th studio album The Magic (see our Album of the Week review), Deerhoof also found time to share this cover version of Def Leppard's timeless strip-club anthem. Of course, in Satomi Matsuzaki's rendition of the song, Pour Some Sugar On Me sounds more like an airport public safety announcement than an invitation to procreate.
