W/e 24/07/26 - Nia Archives, Swapmeet, Tricky, Yard Act, George Michael

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Yard Act take Album of the Week with an average of 7.40, though it was a tight week at the top — Nia Archives pushed them close on 7.16 and Tricky wasn't far behind on 7.12. Swapmeet prop up the table on 6.68, which in fairness is a perfectly respectable score. A solid week all round with no real disasters.

Tune of the Week: You're Gonna Need a Little Music by Yard Act — and it wasn't remotely close, picking up six votes, the clearest TOTW winner in recent memory.

Simon claims the 😊 this week with an impressive 7.88 average — clearly a fine week for his particular tastes. Andy takes the ☹️ on 5.50, finding little to warm to across the board, which given the generally positive reception elsewhere suggests a difficult few hours of listening.

Guy

Nia Archives – The trouble with drum and bass is the tinny, repetitive drumming ;-). This is a really good album which would be better with a proper drummer picking out a sensible beat. She’s got a good voice and writes a good tune though. Plus takes my TOTW – 7.4

Swapmeet – Another half decent Aussie band. Lo-fi jangle with a bit of a 60s feel to it. Features one or two really strong tunes – Seeds and I Know! In particular – 7.5

Tricky – I realise this is the deal with trip hop but it’s just a bit pedestrian. The best tracks are the ones where he actually raps properly. Nowt hugely wrong with it but it didn’t flick my switch particularly – 6.8

Yard Act – I can’t get hugely excited about this lot (as trendy as they appear to be). The spoken word / Alan Bennett poetry thing doesn’t do it for me. However, when they actually play a proper song like Your Gonna Need a Little Music, it’s really good. – 7

TOTW – Nia Archives – Boys in Blue

George Michael – He starts off with a load of bangers but this album goes well off the boil after that. If it weren’t for the hits (and his musical reputation) this would have tanked - 6

Andy

Nia Archives - 30 seconds in and I feared the worst but there was enough variety here to not really dislike this and on a couple of occasions I quite liked it, despite the incessant junglist breakbeat 4.5

Swapmeet - Pretty standard lo-fi indie that never really peaks 5.5

Tricky - As famous as tricky is and as entwined as he is in that whole Bristol trip hop world I don’t really know what he’s about and I’m not sure this album helps. Only when he gets to Radana and Out of Place does it sound like I’d expect 6

Yard Act - Crikey The Fall and/or Reverend and the Makers have let themselves go! Bit non-plussed overall with this one but they did squeeze out my TotW 6

TotW - Thrill of the Chase by Yard Act

George Michaels - Cracking bit of pop this, with a bit of the seriousness that would form Listen Without Prejudice later 8

Phil (OG)

NIA Archives 7.6

I enjoyed this a lot. She’s got a good voice and the songs, and the arrangements, shine. It is odd to hear drum’n’bass rhythms on what is basically a pop album but you stop noticing it pretty quickly. Dreamy and only occasionally wafty vocals.

Swapmeet 7

Decent if derivative spidery indie rock. They can only get better.

Tricky 6.7

He hasn’t cheered up much, has he? Like most of Tricky's music, there’s bags of atmosphere but not a lot else.

Yard Act 5

I found this really annoying. The music is fine – with proper vocals, this would be a really good record. But the vocalist sounds like that aggressive drunk in a crowded pub that you just can’t get away from.

TOTW – NIA Archives – This could be …

Classic

George Michael 6.8

I was disappointed by this. The first two singles (and tracks on the album) are great but most of the rest of the music is still stuck in eighties pop and hasn’t evolved into the fully fledged soul of his later work.

Mark D

Nia Archives 7

Enough samples, guitars and variety to keep this interesting amongst the beats.. Quite mainsteam at points and kept energy but dont know drum and bass to rate quality. Enjoyed Darkest Hour when it slowed a little.

Swapmeet 6

At first / at points enjoyed the electronic indie sound and mixed vocals. But, songs felt a bit sluggish and not much to them, so even w short album it felt a bit uninspiring.

Tricky 6.75

Reminded me of (a faster) Mezzanine. Dark and atmospheric and heavy. Could have eased up on the constantly layered / echoed vocals. Paris Maybe a standout but some other shorter tracks felt like just a beat and more layered vocals.

Yard Act 7.75

Loved the mixture of sounds and styles and dirty feel to the storytelling and songs. Kept me listening and interested from word go.

TOTW - Yard Act - Thrill of the Chase

George Michael 5.5

Bit too husky meets gospel synth pop for me. Faith is a classic but after that I began to find something irritating or too 80s in each track (which were also a minute too long). The "huhhs" in I Want your Sex a low.. Sorry.

Sam

Nia Archives : overall it’s fine . I don’t love D+B but it’s mainly a pop album . Above average : 6.5

Swapmeet : another Aussie indie offering . Pretty good with 2 bangers . 7.5

Tricky : sounded like an angsty indie band a lot of the time , which I liked. ! Quite odd at times but overall I felt the emotion . Strangely captivating : 7.3

Yard Act : it’s like 90% of this is them doing The Fall impersonation, then very occasionally the band go ‘fuck this I want to sound like Tom Petty ‘ for about 2 minutes then back to The Fall impersonation. Strange : 6.6

TOTW ; Seeds by Swapmeet

George Michael : his voice is so beautiful, so full of emotion, it doesn’t matter so much that I don’t love all his music . Incredible stuff . 8.5

Carlo

Nia Archives – 7.8

Edgy, catchy tunes with soft drum and bass built on a foundation of pop. A great listen, with a touch of attitude in her voice.

Swapmeet – 6.4

Although I didn’t find anything particularly wrong with it, the overall tone felt a little dull and too slow for me.

Tricky – 7.0

Deep beats with light vocals that kind of worked, but nothing really stood out. Wasn’t keen on the rap in the middle!

Yard Act – 7.3

Each song had its own identity, which kept me interested throughout. I quite enjoyed this, although a couple of tracks definitely went a little over the top.

TOTW: Nia Archives – Around Tha Bend

Classic – George Michael – 8.5

It’s very hard not to like the familiarity of George and these songs. An easy, enjoyable listen that was over before I knew it.

Jim

Nia Archives 8

Thought this was a reet treat, what a talent she is. Seamless blend of pop and D&B, smooth ones in the middle bookended by bangers. Superlust, This Could Be, Feelingz Go Numb and Boys in Blue especially tasty. Her and Little Simz are great additions to this wider scene.

Swapmeet 7

Top indie debut. A trio in the middle were really good.

Tricky 6

A splattering of tip-top trip-hop, but a fair amount that passed me by without much notice.

Yard Act 7.5

Track by track there’s a lot to like, always interesting with a few gems, yet overall it’s quite a hard listen, didn’t fully warm to it. Odd. Still respect is due and You’re Gonna Need A Little Music is fantastic (could be our group mantra?).

TOTW: Nia’s Boys in Blue.

George Michael 8.5

Undisputed classic, nice to listen again. He was a horny devil eh, even if it sounds quite innocent these days.

Paul

Nia archives (7.9)

Like a bit of D&B and this has enough variations on the theme to make it interesting. Good tunes and a nice voice. Would be a great late afternoon set in the dance tent.

Swapmeet (7.2)

Decent quality laid back indie, enough lively tracks help lift it. Seeds being close to my TOTW

Tricky (7.6)

Grew on me more with each listen. Moody tunes, nice vocals and Tricky mumbling away in back ground, whats not to like.

Yard Act (8.5)

I’m a bit of a fan. Musically strong if lyrically daft at times. didn’t mind the shouty drunk man parts! A high energy enjoyable listen!

TOTW - Yard Act, New Beginnings

George Michael (8)

Incredible voice, first half is full of crackers, does fade a bit but a lovely listen overall.

Phil (New)

Nia archives 7.5

Definitely leaning into her pop side rather than the junglist here, but still decent stuff. Boys in blue was catchy.

Swapmeet 6.9

Nothing particularly memorable, but made a chilled out soundtrack to a bike ride in the sun.

Tricky 7.2

A bit up and down, liked the raw moodiness, some of the tracks felt like they ended before they got where they were building to. Be still in the pain was great.

Yard Act 8

Not heard these before. Feels like a bit of a 90s throwback, which is probably why I liked it. New beginnings is a cracker. Even enjoyed the narrative style poetry stuff.

TOTW - Yard Act, You're gonna need a little music

George Michael (7)

Annette

Nia Archives: 8

Swapweet: 7

Tricky: 7.5

Yard Act: 8

TOTW: Boys in blue by Nia Archives

Classic: George Michael - 7.5

Mark KE

Nia Archives - 7 - drum and bass is far from my favourite genre but she just does this so well it's hard not to like. Agree with Jim that stuff like this and Little Simz have brought a lot to the musical landscape in recent years.

Swapmeet - 6 - okayish fuzzy indie without standing out in any way.

Tricky - 8 - a strange but fantastic album, moody and broody as I was expecting but with some tunes and really interesting arrangements too. I knew of him but not overly familiar with his output, but this is genuinely one of my favourites of the year so far.

Yard Act - 7.5 - a band I like, live and on record, and I felt this was an improvement on their last one. Yes, the vocals are an acquired taste but at least it's a point of difference from so many other run of the mill indie bands.

TOTW - Because I Don't Know, by Tricky

Erol

Nia Archives - 7

Swapmeet - 5

Tricky - 7.7

Yard Act - 7.9

TOTW - Yard Act, you’re gonna need a little music

George Michael - 8.5

Adam

Nia Archives 8

Top jungle and drum and bass album. Energetic throughout and mixes in quite a lot variety in her tracks.

Swapmeet 7

This type of indie just floats my boat. Aussies doing great stuff on the guitars.

Tricky 8

Really excellent, deep and dark beats in places but thought addition of Mitch Sanders voice throughout made this.

Yard Act 7

Interesting mix of spoken word and more up tempo beats.

TOTW Paris Maybe - Tricky

Classic 7

The hits are proper hits, but some other bits flag a little.

Simon

Nia Archives 7.5

Like the basic set-up here - short and punchy female vocal-led tracks with a D&B backdrop - just felt it lacked an out and out banger or two to really elevate it (although the New Order-ish Lovers Grief comes close).

Swampmeet 7.8

Really liked this - always seemed to be a bit more going on than your average indie album, e.g. the mid-song tempo change in Seeds. Style and mood reminded me a bit of the Breeders.

Tricky 8

Tricky's album Maxinquaye was one of the best and most original debuts of the 1990s, and have been a fan ever since - this is more indie than trip-hop but distinctively Tricky with a similar moodiness and claustrophobic atmosphere; Paris Maybe and Hengrove Blues in particular are both cracking.

Yard Act 8.2

Don't mind the vocals and thought there was less spoken word than on previous releases - this is their best album yet imo, they've really found their groove and the You're Gonna Need... /Cherophobe Rock/Thrill of the Chase triple header is tremendous.

TotW: Yard Act - You're Gonna Need A Little Music

George Michael 5

George clearly knew how to write a catchy pop song - Father Figure the best example here - but there's an awful lot of filler and it all sounds horribly dated, not least the 9 mins of I Want Your Sex.

Matt

Nia Archives - 6

Swapmeet - 6.5

Trickey - 6.2

Yard Act - 7.3

TOTW - Yard Act , You're gonna need a little music

Justin

Nia Archives - Sorry I just thought this was bland singing over a boring D&B beat. 5

Swapmeet - Pretty standard indie. Nothing standout. 6

Tricky - Not historically a Tricky fan, but I thought this was a great album of trip hop. Great selection of songs. 7

Yard Act - I really like the talking style of vocals and some good music to back it all up. 7.5

TOTW You're Gonna Need A Little Music - Yard Act

George Michael - A text book transition album from pop idol to serious artist. First three songs are by far the best, but the rest is all good too. 8