The first Christmas albums are here. Really!

Anyone fancy the Elvis Christmas Album by err.... Elvis Presley? No?

Ok, let's try and find something a bit more....   us.  Heard of Mark Lanegan? He's an old style rocker with a great CV, having worked with Kurt Cobain, Queens of the Stone Age and his own band, the Screaming Trees; one of the original Seattle grunge bands. For me, his best moment came with the collaboration with Isobel Campbell, one time singer and cellist with Scotland's finest, Belle & Sebastian. They did three albums together and Ballad of the Broken Seas is one of the best 20 albums of the last 10 years (it's really that good). If you get a chance have a listen, the contrast in their two voices couldn't be starker, one fey Scottish indie whispering and the other sounding like a sack of gravel that smoked 60 Marlboro a day. It's wonderful.

Anyways, Mark Lanegan has a new album out today and it's a bit of a departure (slight) in that there's no bluesy rock, it's more tunes and ballads. But he can play, sing and obviously knows how to put a good album together. So this week's must listen is Mark Lanegan Band - Phantom Radio.

Another one that might be worth a visit is Inspiral Carpets, by Inspiral Carpets - their first album for 20 years. A band that was famous for being one of the lesser lights of the Madchester scene (The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays being leaders of the pack), and also for having a roadie, or guitar technician, called Noel Gallagher. Where's he now eh? If you liked their one big hit "This Is How It Feels", then you should give this album a listen. If you've never heard it, make sure you do - it's a classic of it's kind.

Not much else that I can see in today's releases, and we're getting into Christmas, greatest hits and x-factor failure (that's all of them imho) season - so stay with me through the storm, I'll try and find some light amongst the dark.