Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat - Everything's getting older (Chemikal Underground) Grand Snr's a big fan of this and it's grown on me like something you'd look forward to wearing. We already spoke last month about the brilliant single The copper top , a plaintiff meditation on mortality. Among other things worthy of your attention on the album, check the shopping list monologue of Cages with its handclap jazz beat backing; the raw, and very Arab Strap -ish, confessional of Ballad of the Bastard ; the scuzzy Scottish street funk of Glasgow Jubilee , all back-alleys and blow jobs; the great Runyonesque noir gone wrong of Dinner time . The arrangements of legendary jazzman Wells, anchored by sombre piano, are pitch-perfect all the way, sincere or playful as needs be. And Moffat's writing jumps off the page, characters fully formed, a dirty-realist page-turner. It's a great piece of work, this album.
