Howling bells

Apparently there's a new Mogwai album imminent, called The Hawk Is Howling. Who knew? Well, apart from anyone who reads the music press and listens to the radio...

I've got slightly mixed feelings about the prospect. Mr Beast was in many ways their most accomplished record to date, but it didn't translate particularly well live - or, at least, the last time I saw them, headlining last year's Supersonic Festival in Birmingham, they were by their own standards rather flat and listless. That won't stop me buying the album, though.

And just when I'd taken a look at my bank balance from behind the back of the metaphorical sofa and decided I could only really stretch to Blood Red Shoes' debut, the Efterklang album and perhaps the new Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan collaboration, too...