I've written about Ché before in Aquamarine, it's one of my favourite labels. Personally I think Ché is about the right size for a label, it's not so small that the bands are completely unheard of, but not so big that the bands become over-hyped household names. (Alright, so I know Urusei Yatsura have been on the telly, but that's not exactly over-hype to me. And I know plenty of people who haven't heard of them). It's also good that many Ché releases are on coloured vinyl - many labels have given up on releasing black vinyl, let alone coloured vinyl, which is even more of a rarity these days. And most importantly, many of the records on Ché are brilliant, except perhaps for the odd experimental noise release, which I guess they can be forgiven for, as the other stuff is mainly consistently good. As well as the Urusei Yatsura single, Kewpies Like Watermelon (reviewed elsewhere in this issue), there's been several albums recently released on Ché.

VARIOUS Disco Sucks
This compilation is essentially for anyone daft enough to have missed the first series of Ché split singles, although it does have extra tracks (not on the singles) from C-Clamp, Füxa, I'm Being Good and Windy & Carl. Like the singles, this has amusing and entertaining sleeve art from Andru at Graphic Death. Many of the songs on here are alternative in the true sense of the word, a real alternative to most music that's around right now, nothing like the clichéd stuff in the charts that people have the gall to class as "alternative". This is also a rather diverse compilation, with indie-rock to indie-pop to spacerock to experimental drone-noise, and more in between. The other bands are 30 Amp Fuse, Bardo Pond, Bear, Bis, The Delgados, Exit, The Golden Mile, Ligament, Majesty Crush, Merzbow, Space Bike and Spare Snare. Anyone who appreciates new, exciting and different sounds should give this a listen (although I'm no fan of the more extreme artists such as Merzbow and Exit, but just cos I don't like that sort of thing doesn't mean it's no good, I know there's plenty of people out there who find this kind of noise bearable). This compilation CD is also available as a collectable 8 single box set. July 8th sees the release of the first single in the next series, which will feature Dweeb and Mogwai.

THE BARDOTS V-Neck
Cast your mind back to Issue 2's Stone Roses piece. In it, writer Chris describes Second Coming as "the most eagerly awaited second LP in the history of pop music". This view is shared by many other people - except me! To me, The Bardots' new album, V-Neck, is most definitely the most eagerly awaited second album in the history of pop music. Anyone familiar with The Bardots' first LP, Eye-Baby (released 4 years ago) will know more or less what to expect from this, but it's not so identical that it sounds like they've run out of ideas. Far from it in fact. This is mainly more laid-back than Eye-Baby, and perhaps lacks the aggression of The Bardots' earlier material, but it is still very good, and still has The Bardots stamped all over it. Even though The Bardots' sound hasn't changed dramatically since Eye-Baby, Andrew Murphy, the guitarist on The Bardots' earlier recordings, has since left the band. Playing guitar on this album is Yves Altana (formerly of Wonky Alice, also guitarist with Mark Burgess). So I've been waiting a long time to hear this album, but is it as good as I had hoped? The fact that I think this has to be the best album of the year answers that question.

URUSEI YATSURA We Are Urusei Yatsura
Actually, it's difficult to say whether this or the Bardots album is my favourite album of the year so far - they are both excellent in their own way. Whereas V-Neck is laid-back and relaxed, We Are Urusei Yatsura is quite the opposite, so it's difficult to compare the two. This album features the completely brilliant Kewpies Like Watermelon, plus re-recorded versions of Siamese, Powerball (renamed Pow R. Ball), Black Hole Love, Plastic Ashtray and Kernel. It's not all different versions of old stuff though, there's six new songs too, and they're all dead good. Noisy and sometimes chaotic (but not excessively heavy), this is a highly recommended album. A lot of people have said that Urusei Yatsura are some kind of cutie band - wot?! These people obviously haven't heard any real cutie bands if they think Urusei Yatsura are one ... there's nothing twee about Urusei Yatsura.

BEAR Disneytime
Bear is a band which features Chris Trout, also of Spoonfed Hybrid/Lazer Boy/Coping Saw, and formerly of Kilgore Trout/AC Temple. The line-up of Bear has changed since they recorded If There's Such A Thing As Angels, which appeared on the split 7" with Bardo Pond, and the Disco Sucks compilation. The songs now have male vocals, and some tracks feature violin and viola as well as the usual instrumentation. I liked If There's Such A Thing As Angels, but I think these songs are even better. Most are quite noisy, but very melodic as well. Some of the tracks may appeal to anyone who likes The Bardots, although the sound isn't identical to them. The violin in Bugs reminds me of Moneyspider. Bear's name is an apt one, as like bears, their songs are appealing but potentially dangerous. Another recommended album.

KIRK LAKE The Black Lights
Second album from spoken word artist Kirk Lake. Some of the tracks are in a similar vein to the last album, So You Got Anything Else?, short stories set to music. There are also some poems and jazz songs. It's an acquired taste, quite bizarre and offbeat (OK, so I used those two adjectives to describe the first album in issue three, but those are the most appropriate words to describe Kirk Lake's music/poetry/stories). It's not the usual sort of thing I listen to, and I'm not entirely keen on the jazz side of it, but this is cleverly done, Lake describes scenarios in depth, a lot is said in a short time. My favourite track at the moment is probably the remix of Clay Vs Tyson. Dementia Puglistica starts off good, but tends to drag on after a while (it's about 11 minutes long). Released on Ché's new "i" label.

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