One Part Lullaby, Live From A Shark Cage, Woodbine

The name Domino has deservedly become synonymous with the most cutting-edge and vital contemporary music. At the beginning of this year, Domino unleashed long-playing recordings from Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Smog and Sebadoh in quick-fire succession. Now they close their 1999 account with a similar burst of welcome activity.

The jewel in the crown here is unquestionably One Part Lullaby by Folk Implosion, a duo consisting of John Davis and Lou Barlow (Barlow devotees will be pleased to hear that this is a far more accomplished and captivating LP than this year’s dreadfully disappointing The Sebadoh).

It shuffles into life with the familiar and recurrent Barlow theme of longing and yearning, delving into its beautiful sad depths; “It’s all I need/It’s all I want/It’s all I crave/So come over . . .”. From the lushly vulnerable title track to the key cuts ‘Serge’ (spaghetti western style instrumental, sampling ‘Requiem Pour Un Con’ by Serge Gainsbourg) and the classic dreamy epic ‘E.Z.L.A’, One Part Lullaby is a seamless flow of moody beats and luscious melodies, sprinkled with glockenspiels, chord organs, melodicas and even glasses of water. The cumulative effect is that it knocks the block off just about anything else doing the rounds at the moment.

When the hype and gloss of the 1990s is exposed for being nothing more than a shallow embarrassment, then records that were touched by the hand of David Pajo will be revered, and Pajo will finally earn his rightful place in the pantheon of all time greatest guitarists.

Responsible for the achingly sparse and disturbing work of Slint and the majestic sonic doodlings of Tortoise, Papa M sees Pajo unleash his latest musical tour de force.

The debt Mogwai have to this man both in both crafting primitive soundscapes and knocking out great titles is richly apparent on offerings such as ‘I Am Not Lonely With Cricket’. Papa M utilise the rawest sounds available on ‘Knocking The Casket’, but flesh it out with gently tickling banjo instrumentation to elevate it far above the standard of most lo-fi chancers. Of course, it’s not as good as Spiderland by Slint, but then again nothing is.

Last and unfortunately least, the debut album from Woodbine is for the most part a poor man’s Stereolab slowed down to a dull, plodding pulse. Respect due for a tantalising slice of sad pop, ingeniously titled ‘Tony Portrait Of A Serial Graffiti Artist’, and also the drawled ‘Tricity Tiara’, but the rest, to put it bluntly is far too twee to thrill.