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Middle of the Trail

2101¬Rootsy folkster Ray Lamontagne continues his career as a Radio 2 botherer with his new album. Critics see it as competent but hardly revolutionary, scores coming it at around 6 or 7.¬False¬

Towering achievement?

2098¬There's a very rare 10/10 from The Skinny for the rapper, pianist and producer's album, released to accompany a feature film also written and produced by the maverick Canadian. Such enthusiasm is not shared by the BBC or music OMH, who regard it as interesting but only partially successful.¬True¬

Well-liked

2103¬Mostly pretty favourable reviews so far for the LA all-girl quartet's 2nd album. In the 5 years since their debut, they've moved from alt.rock to garage pop - with the help of one Mark Ronson on production duties.¬True¬
July Flame

Laura Veirs

July Flame

Seventh studio album from Portland, Oregon-based singer-songwriter

Critics average rating

7.8

Label
Bella Union
Release date
25/01/2009
  1. 10.0 |  The Times

    ...consuming you as utterly as a hazy flashback to mythical summers past
    Read Review

  2. 8.5 |  The Line Of Best Fit

    ...perhaps be one of the best records of January and is certainly the best album this reviewer has heard so far this year
    Read Review

  3. 8.5 |  The Quietus

    The wonderful 'Sun Is King', a languid strum accompanied by lap steel guitar and My Morning Jacket's Jim James, is a particularly evocative highlight while the title track is a sweet as the fruit that inspired it
    Read Review

  4. 8.5 |  Bowlegs

    May just contain some of Veirs’ subtlest and most beautifully sung compositions so far
    Read Review

  5. 8.0 |  Mojo

    Print edition only

  6. 8.0 |  Uncut

    Print edition only

  7. 8.0 |  music OMH

    Laura Veirs makes an excellent case for herself as one of the most under-recognised singer-songwriters working today and the album's summery soul lingers long after first listen
    Read Review

  8. 8.0 |  Q

    Print edition only

  9. 8.0 |  The Guardian

    The tapestry of sounds is so mesmerising, it more than compensates for the odd gaucheness in the lyrics
    Read Review

  10. 8.0 |  The Independent

    Veirs reverts to the simpler mode of her earlier records ... in order to focus more closely on her fingerstyle guitar technique
    Read Review

  11. 8.0 |  The Irish Times

    There’s a danger that albums released in January are forgotten by the year’s end, but this one deserves to be cherished
    Read Review

  12. 8.0 |  The List

    These 13 tracks sound remarkably re-energised while coming off as dreamy, colourful and just as inspired as ever
    Read Review

  13. 8.0 |  Evening Standard

    The quiet and sensible girl in the corner with the spectacles and the complete lack of the Lady Gaga factor is on her seventh LP, and it really is time more people started listening
    Read Review

  14. 8.0 |  The Observer

    ...this album brims with uplifting choruses and joyful strings, perfectly capturing one summer of love
    Read Review

  15. 8.0 |  Independent on Sunday

    This is an obliquely beautiful record, as they tend to be. Poetic and simple
    Read Review

  16. 8.0 |  NME

    Here is a winsome, lady-driven response to the wood-chopping likes of Midlake, Fleet Foxes and My Morning Jacket that remains refreshingly sweet
    Read Review

  17. 8.0 |  Drowned In Sound

    July Flame, seems to have been strategically released to warm the cockles of our collectively frozen heart
    Read Review

  18. 8.0 |  Observer Music Monthly

    Print edition only

  19. 8.0 |  State

    ...an album of perfected melodies, dripping in a warm, low-fi and folky atmosphere
    Read Review

  20. 8.0 |  Rave Magazine

    Despite their paradoxes, the songs on July Flame are welcoming, and speak of an old hand who has been at this neo-folk game longer than most
    Read Review

  21. 7.5 |  Pitchfork

    July Flame is ultimately a record that's easy to get into and just as easy to stay with
    Read Review

  22. 7.0 |  Clash

    ...songs like the title track are intricately woven tapestries of strings, woodwind and cooing backing vocals
    Read Review

  23. 7.0 |  The Fly

    She may be midthirties, but ‘July Flame’ sees Veirs’ explore the emotions of a hazy mid-summer with wide-eyed youthfulness
    Read Review

  24. 7.0 |  Daily Telegraph

    Veirs adds country twangs and sparse piano to her understated palette
    Read Review

  25. 7.0 |  Scotland on Sunday

    There is an elementary playfulness... and an ability to turn that into the complex or fragile beauty
    Read Review

  26. 6.0 |  The Sunday Times

    ...her exquisite, bitingly sharp voice is front and centre... The songs may be forgettable, but her voice remains highly listenable
    Read Review

  27. 6.0 |  Spin

    ...contains mellow pleasures for patient listeners
    Read Review

  1. listened to it on spotify. a bit bland if you ask me. could have been put out in 2000, 1990, or 1980 come to that. not very 2010. i know folk artists don't really set out to push boundaries or anything, but you sort of expect a bit of progression, particularly if something's being touted as one of the best of the year. they're nice tunes and it's all very well played but still, at the end, you still sort of feel a bit like what's all the fuss about? it's just another nice bunch of songs from a folk artist. just my opinion.

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Track preview & download

Laura Veirs: July Flame

  • Download full album for just £7.99
  • 1. I Can See Your Tracks £0.99
  • 2. July Flame £0.99
  • 3. Sun Is King £0.99
  • 4. Where Are You Driving? £0.99
  • 5. Life Is Good Blues £0.99
  • 6. Silo Song £0.99
  • 7. Little Deschutes £0.99
  • 8. Summer Is The Champion £0.99
  • 9. When You Give Your Heart £0.99
  • 10. Sleeper In The Valley £0.99
  • 11. Wide-Eyed, Legless £0.99
  • 12. Carol Kaye £0.99
  • 13. Make Something Good £0.99
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Pain and pleasure

2105¬Can the third of the three Mancunian electro-ish bands which featured in the BBC's Sound of 2010 list emulate the success of their counterparts, Delphic and Everything Everything? The jury's still out so far. NME is a big fan of the duo's 80s-inspired synthpop anthems, but The Guardian is far from convinced, and others find the album stylish but unremarkable. ¬True¬

Dream team?

2070¬You would imagine that one revered master of popular music working with the material of another revered master of popular music would result in something quite special. However that doesn't appear to be the case, according to many critics. Some find the album partially successful, others are seriously underwhelmed, such as The Guardian, which describes it as "horrible". ¬True¬

Mixed reactions

2106¬Very mixed views around on the fourth album from New York's prime purveyors of post-punk gloom, now back at their old label, Matador. Most critics accept they've moved on from the danceable rhythms and singalong hooks that leavened their earlier work. The reaction to what remains is very varied: some, such as Uncut, regard it is refined and elegant; others such as Spin regard the new material as dull rather than hypnotic. ¬True¬

floor fillers

2096¬The latest torch-bearers of nu-disco would appear to be the Brooklyn/Vancouver collective led by Dandilion Wind Opaine and Szam Findlay. Fan Death's debut album is receiving some serious praise from critics who appreciate their particular melding of Italo house, synthpop, electro and early 80s gay disco.¬True¬