Top 5 Albums of the Week
Culture Calling's Top 5 albums of the week, an eclectic mix of records from across genres and decades. Come discover weekly albums to bulk out your collection.
By Charlie Walker | Updated May 5 2025
Couleur Dessin – Couleur Dessin (2017)
This style of scratchy, whiny, underproduced indie-folk has now become an endearing throwback. This little unknown record, released in 2017, combines the normal elements of Neutral Milk Hotel with the weird parts of Pavement, with a voice somewhere between Michael Cera and Daniel Johnston.
Rampant tempo changes, foreboding discordance, retro synth sounds, and a low-mixed, whimpering voice, Couleur Dessin’s Couleur Dessin sounds lifted wholesale from the late 90s. Fans of Mac Demarco and Olivia Tremor Control will find this record a marvel, familiar enough to keep you warm yet interesting and esoteric enough to become a favourite. Become their 14th monthly listener today!
Grant Green – Nigeria (1980)
Blue Note’s sharpest guitarist Grant Green draws from the American songbook in magnificent fashion. Going from a 10-minute, slow-shuffling cover of the Gershwin’s ‘It Ain’t Necessarily So’, to a well-muddied ‘I Concentrate on You’ and ‘The Song is You’, both covered previously by Sinatra, Grant Green puts his stamps on the classics with a wonderfully measured minimalism, even when going at pace. An absolutely raucous talent, Green put himself on par with Django Reinhardt and Wes Montgomery in the top-tier of all-time jazz guitarists, and Nigeria makes the claim even clearer.
Peter Bruntnell – Retrospective (2013)
A ‘greatest hits’ album from veteran Surbiton singer-songwriter (dubbed ‘Retrospective’ because, he says “there haven’t been any hits) pools through decades of quality folk-rock, for years flown under every possible radar.
Some tracks make you wonder how they never charted; ‘Bent out of Shape’, a typical melancholy, moodyboy indie-folk track, still sounds unique, ‘Cold Water Swimmer’ sounds familiar, like you’ve heard it close out a 2000s coming-of-age film, and ‘Played Out’, featuring the now-massive Rumer, should have been picked up by Spotify radio by now.
While the style is a throwback to a time before the death of the popular singer-songwriter, there is something to be said about a man whose been in the business for so many years, never dejected by low sales, still pumping out quality music, for the love of songwriting.
We Were Promised Jetpacks - These Four Walls (2009)
This hilariously-named indie-rock band from the 2000s have been belting deeply Scottish tones over sharp riffs for a while now, never quite reaching the level of success as similarly talented bands despite a strong debut and comparatively strong follow-ups.
This debut, however, lacks a bad track. No-nonsense indie Scot-rock, precise and catchy bass lines, endearing unfettered Scottish accents, off-kilter lyrics, and a tendency to emotionally move you unexpectedly, These Four Walls was a shining moment for the genre, which sadly not many really picked up on at the time. At least not enough.
Various Artists – Disco Reggae (2013)
A summer-minded compilation album comprised of reggae covers of disco hits. Reggae covers of old tunes are as old as reggae itself, and for the generation of reggae artists that had disco as their childhood soundtracks, Disco Reggae faithfully reinterprets the classics for a chill-out. Some tunes like ‘Everbody’s Talkin’ and ‘Move On Up’ are, of course, not disco, but translate extremely well to the reggae format, with ‘Everybody’s Talkin’ being the albums highlight.
It seems like no genre is immune from the arrangements of reggae, or maybe that reggae artists are instinctually able to translate into the genre with consummate skill. Either which way, Disco Reggae avoids being another cheesy compilation album of the pre-streaming era through the quality of its music. No frills, just the perfect chill-out.