In Britain, "slow-fi" (that's one of the terms being bandied about) is the new rock 'n' roll. It's a genre of music that is, yawn, perfect for dropping off to sleep to. That doesn't mean it's boring, it means it's slow acoustic guitar music made by people glued to stools who are probably majorly into Prozac.
Probably responsible for this latest craze are prizewinning, critically lauded bands Gomez, Badly Drawn Boy, Coldplay and, of course, Radiohead, who released the ultrapretentious slow-fi masterpiece "Kid A" and, instead of being slapped around a bit and told to pull their big heads out of their bottoms, perversely attracted heaps more respect. And now record companies are offering a deal to any band that can stretch two maudlin chords over a minute. It seems like the hangover has finally kicked in after the exhausting hedonism of Britpop.
But let's be positive and introduce Alfie, one of the best of the current crop of slow-fi bandwagoners. Debut album "If You Happy With You Need Do Nothing" is great for falling asleep to (like the band was likely doing while conjuring up its dyslexic title), but I mean this in the nicest possible way.