A quirky lo-fi wonder or the best album the '70s never had, "The Garden" feels like a lost gem, discovered in a box in the attic; a forgotten masterpiece full of tantalising sounds, odd voices and tingling ideas.  Full text...

That big coat has been hung up in the wardrobe, you're starting to drink cider instead of your usual pint of Guinness and everywhere you look there are adverts about the World Cup. Summer must be around the corner and what better soundtrack could there be to mark the onset of all those long hot days than a new album from Zero 7.  Full text...

Their production still sounds unfussed, richly detailed and beautifully executed, but there are some unpredictable twists this time around.  Full text...

Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker always had more in common with those studioholic ’70s rock acts who hankered for ‘authenticity’. Think 10cc for the iPod generation; think Supertramp with ProTools.  Full text...

This techno-duo combines vintage funk with cutting edge instrumentation to create sexy, soulful grooves.  Full text...

The songs are good, but the production is even better: The horns, keyboards, and guitars of "Today," which is prefaced by the stirring, one-minute folk song "Left Behind," are glazed with an electronic sheen, and while Binns isn't as gifted a vocalist as his hired help, the jazzy, towering instrumentation and wistful lyricism of "Your Place" more than makes up for it.   Full text...

Gonzalez imbues the songs with a sense of magic and mystery sadly lacking in the duo's previous work, and which flows over here into those tracks fronted by Sia Furler or Zero 7's Henry Binns himself.  Full text...

González opens the album with the outstanding Futures, his narcoleptic vocal style and mesmeric guitar-picking capturing the mood of blissful ennui that recalls the 1970s folkie Brian Protheroe and his forgotten classic, Pinball.  Full text...