Earth Intruders
Joe 90 takes on all comers

Caliban - The Awakening
Caliban are the latest band to burst through to the mainstream with the new wave of popularity that has blessed the hardcore/metal scene, following closely in the steps of other metal-core acts such as Bleeding Through and
Bring Me The Horizon, Caliban have all the boxes ticked to become front-runners for the genre, and being signed to Roadrunner Records is going to help a truck load as well. The musicianship is outstanding on the album, with guitars always riffing, and complex double bass drumming throughout. One minor criticism of the album (as with any other band in the genre) is that there is little variation from song to song, apart from that, its excellent.
9/10

http://www.myspace.com/caliban

The Autons - It's a Strange EP
The new EP from The Autons certainly disappoints, to be frank. Lacking the bite and wit of previous releases, the new material sounds slow and sluggish, and lacks any real charm. Perhaps if I hadn't heard the amazing old EP's then my opinion would be different, but this just isn't up to it. Check out the 'Snakes' EP to hear The Autons at their best.
3/10
http://www.myspace.com/autonsland

Lemanis - Shell
I don't really like completely putting down bands, but in some cases, it just has to be done. Remember the feeling you had when you first heard the Kaiser Chiefs new song, or when you realised The Strokes were actually really boring? Well that's what its like listening to Lemanis, but the problem is, they never really had any great songs in the first place.
1/10
www.myspace.com/lemanisband

Marie Miller - No Ordinary Girl
Marie Miller has an outstanding voice, and the song is a perfectly good infectious slab of pop, but all the way through there's a niggling feeling that such a good voice has been wasted on such an generic genre, because lets face it, once you've heard one pop song you've heard them all. But if pop is your thing then this is definitely one to check out.
6/10
http://www.myspace.com/mariemillermusic

Vatican DC - Make It Ride
The opening track of Vatican DC's album is to be honest, a bit poor, but as you listen through the rest of the tracks it becomes obvious why this band are receiving so much attention. 'Side To Side' is an instant indie classic, and 'Not Your Fault' is a flawless soundtrack to the summer. The best thing about Vatican DC is that despite taking obvious influences from Indie bands, and the old 90's Brit-Pop bands, they still manage to make their own original sound. It wont be long before this lot are on your Ipod.

8/10
http://www.myspace.com/vaticandc

Kingskin - Humpin Mojo
If there's one type of music I hate more than anything in the world, its jazz-funk, the most pretentious, soulless music ever to grace this planet, basically one big 'I can play it better than you' competition. But I can appreciate that the musicianship on display is good, the bassists slap work is very impressive, and the drummer doesn't slow up once. A good effort.
5/10
http://www.myspace.com/kingskin

A Flight To Remember - EP
A Flight To Remember is a solo project from young guitarist Marc Newby, with well over 70 gigs under his belt, the songs are road tested and it shows. Each track is a delightful slice of acoustic genius, each track is well structured and the one instrument never becomes samey or tedious. Unfortunately though, the black mark of the EP is the vocals, he manages to keep a consistent key, but his vocals sound very nasal, and he can sometimes sound like a human zip, but mind you, so does Liam Gallagher.

8/10
http://www.myspace.com/aflightoremember

Astrid Williamson - Day Of The Lone Wolf
Here I am, listening to another average, run-of-the-mill solo female artist who writes bland, radio-friendly acoustic pop songs. It's about as exciting as watching paint dry, and the songs themselves are not up to much. The sad thing is, this album is another great voice put to waste, her voice is a breath of fresh air, the vocals sound natural in a world dominated by pro-tools (auto-tuning), it also makes a change for a pop singer not to sound like a computer. Overall, this album does nothing to inspire, but instead, it is more likely to make you fall asleep.
3/10
http://www.indian.co.uk/astridwilliamson/

Bjork - Earth Intruders (single)
In true Bjork style, this single will leave you speechless for the first opening minutes, and not because it is mind-bendingly brilliant, but because its so bloody weird. It's a hard one to review, because it is so diverse its almost hard to say whether I like it or not, which sounds ridiculous but its true. At the end of the day, the electric parts make it a very poor dance song, but they also make it a very poor experimental song, because they add an element of 'chart friendly' normality. So really, what I'm trying to get across is (very poorly haha), that if you look at it as from a one angle, it becomes pretty average, but if you listen and take in all the parts, you hear the genius and it sounds very good.

8/10
http://www.myspace.com/bjork

Joe 90