All India Radio - A Low High

A LOW HIGH
All India Radio
Inevitable Records

****

Sometimes it's nice not to hear the wail and drone of the human vocal. All India Radio – the decade-long project of Melbourne-based Martin Kennedy – are proof that ambient soundscapes and lavish intrumental forays can indeed take the place of a singer's tortured soul. A Low High will envelope you in a warm cloud. At first dopey and Pink Floydian, they quickly draw you into a soothing trance that lasts the duration. Later there are nods to '90s Portishead and to that of their acronym namesake, French band Air. Equal parts stoner and euphoric, this is take-you-anywhere music for anyone who has ever felt.

Key track: Lucky - just when you're thinking Dark Side of the Moon reborn, out jumps this forlorn reverb guitar and violin riff. Stunning.

Biffy Clyro - Only Revolutions

ONLY REVOLUTIONS
Biffy Clyro
14th Floor Records

*** 1/2

When a trio of Scottish lads call themselves Biffy Clyro (I assumed a country singer with emo tendencies) one can't help but raise an eyebrow. Fortunately, the unexpected is also highly listenable. Once opening track The Captain (a silly, Fall Out Boy rip-off) is bypassed, this is a clever and string-laden rock offering that delivers on four previous albums' worth of hype. The gorgeous chord changes of Bubbles and Many of Horror and the unrelenting Cloud of Stink best showcase the band's musicanship and diversity – and help conceal Simon Neil's often questionable lyrics. And while UK hit Mountains has been getting airplay and fits our FM mould, That Golden Rule, with its mad violin conclusion, probably doesn't.

Key track: Mountains. Any song with lyrics such as “I am the mountain, I am the sea” demands the sound be equitable. Fortunately it is.

Muse - Absolution (2003)

ABSOLUTION
Muse
Taste Media

**** 1/2

The music world knew Muse had been building towards something big after the rumbling, prog-rock crescendos of their first two albums, Showbiz and Origins of Symmetry. On Absolution, Matt Bellamy uses the best elements of those early offerings as a solid base in producing the overblown, but beautiful opus that seemed their destiny. The heavier moments, most notably Stockholm Syndrome and Hysteria, come with an artillery of bass-driven guitars that don't shroud the melodies, while quieter moments such as Endlessly and Falling Away with You give dopeheads time to reflect. Everything in between - including the fuzzy, bass-driven Time is Running Out, the urgent Thoughts of a Dying Athiest, and the inspirational epic Butterflies & Hurricanes (complete with haunting piano interlude) - is quite simply, marvellous.

Key track: Hard to split Stockholm Syndrome and Butterflies & Hurricanes, but I'll give the former the nod: it possesses the rare ability to satiate the heart and make one want to run through brick walls.