2008 Music Chart - November

Only one new album for November in a quiet month. Snow Patrol return after a few years out with A Hundred Million Suns.

1. The Hawk Is Howling - Mogwai
2. Ghosts I-IV - Nine Inch Nails
3. I Want You To Know That There Is Always Hope - I Was A Cub Scout
4. Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust - Sigur Rós
5. Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down - Noah And The Whale
6. The Rhumb Line - Ra Ra Riot
   
7. Death Magnetic - Metallica
8. Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
9. Seventh Tree - Goldfrapp
10. Third - Portishead
11. A Hundred Million Suns - Snow Patrol
    
12. Save The World, Get The Girl - The King Blues
    
13. Mountain Meadows - Elliott Brood
    
14. Accelerate - R.E.M.
15. We Started Nothing - The Ting Tings
16. Church Bell Blues - Catherine MacLellan
    
17. The Seldom Seen Kid - Elbow
18. Gossip In The Grain - Ray LaMontagne
    
19. Arther - Arther
    
20. Poor Man's Heaven - Seth Lakeman
21. The Age Of The Understatement - The Last Shadow Puppets
22. Glasvegas - Glasvegas
    
23. Consolers Of The Lonely - The Raconteurs
24. Do You Like Rock Music - British Sea Power
25. Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings - Counting Crows
26. Attack & Release - The Black Keys
27. Seven Months And A Fire Blanket - Proceed
28. Little Voice - Sara Bareilles
29. Silent Cry - Feeder
30. Liejacker - Thea Gilmore
31. Narrow Stairs - Death Cab For Cutie
32. In Rainbows - Radiohead
33. Alas, I Cannot Swim - Laura Marling
34. Midnight Boom - The Kills
    
35. This Is A Fix - The Automatic
    
36. Friday Night Lights - Attic Lights
    
37. Welcome To Goon Island - XX Teens
38. Viva La Vida - Coldplay
39. I Am Undone - My Epic
    
40. Rosie And The Goldbug - Rosie And The Goldbug
    
41. Songs In A&E - Spiritualized
42. You Cross My Path - The Charlatans
43. @#%&*! Smilers - Aimee Mann
44. Under Summer Sun - Matt Wertz
    
45. The Slip - Nine Inch Nails
46. Toy Tugboats - Sunfold
    
47. The Hollow Of Morning - Gemma Hayes
48. Neptune - The Duke Spirit
49. When The Night Time Comes - Jenny Lindfors
    
50. The Well - Sarah Perrotta
51. Those We Leave Behind - I Am Ghost
    
52. Elliot Minor - Elliot Minor
53. Saturnalia - The Gutter Twins
    
54. Heat: The Remixes - Soft Cell
    
55. This Gift - Sons & Daughters
56. Sunny Day Sets Fire - Summer Palace
57. Seaside Rock - Peter, Bjorn and John
    
58. Kids Aflame - ARMS
59. Revolving Doors - Nelson

New Christmas Single from Chris Difford

Yes it's that time of year again...


The BBC One Show and, the talented one from Squeeze, Chris Difford (with the Decorations) release a new Christmas single entitled "Let's Not Fight This Christmas". The song is released (download only) on 8th December and will be previewed on The One Show next week. All proceeds to Children In Need.

I haven't heard it yet so no review but thought I would mention it as there is very little else to talk about atm :P. Looking forward to hearing it soon.

LATER...with Jools Holland (Series 33, Show 9)

So the end of the current series and last Later until the famous Hootananny! at New Year. One thing I always criticise the show for is not being diverse enough - more often than not it is safe and predictable with the guests. When I saw that Stereophonics were on this week I thought 'oh no, another fading 90's band trying to peddle new material', but they don't have a new album as such. The band's new Greatest Hits compilation just gets a passing mention which is exactly what the band give us - something sadly missing from other so called 'big' artists. As for the rest of the line-up, with the exception of Jools himself with singer Ruby Turner, I must admit I don't know any of them. And I was pleasantly surprised.

Tuesday

Stereophonics - Dakota
Solange - Decided Pt 1
Ray Davies (Chat with JH)
Dengue Fever - Tiger Phone Land
Carolina Chocolate Drops - Don't Get Trouble In Your Mind
Jools Holland & Louise Marshall - I Went By
Eli "Paperboy" Reed & The True Loves - Take My Love With You
Stereophonics - Local Boy In The Photograph

Friday

Stereophonics - The Bartender And The Thief
Eli "Paperboy" Reed & The True Loves - Take My Love With You
Dengue Fever - Tiger Phone Land
Ray Davies (Chat with JH)
Solange - I Decided (Decided Pt 1?)
Jools Holland & Louise Marshall - Waterloo Bridge
Stereophonics - You're My Star
Carolina Chocolate Drops - Real Old Mountain Dew
Sanjeev Bhaskar (Chat with JH)
Eli "Paperboy" Reed & The True Loves - It's Easier
Dengue Fever - Seeing Hands
Jools Holland & Ruby Turner - St. Louis Blues (with the Carolina Chocolate Drops)
Solange - Sandcastle Disco
Stereophonics - Dakota

Starting with the 'big' name band Stereophonics - the band were supreme. They opened the Tuesday live show and closed Friday with the mighty Dakota, easily the best song from the band's later years. Kelly and the boys were on top form throughout and also performed the slow melodic You're My Star and the more rough and ready The Bartender And The Thief. But the big song was the best in their catalogue: Local Boy In The Photograph - and it took me right back to when I first head it, and was then told what it was about. I guessed immediately that the band were on the show to promote a new Best Of collection but this can be excused because they gave us exactly what was needed - good renditions of familiar popular songs, not just new weaker stuff from a new album, something which has plagued this series. No interview with the band and just a passing mention of the Greatest Hits record.

Where on earth do I start with the rest? Eclectic, diverse and just plain odd on the surface. Things did not start well with Solange who does a bad Diana Ross impression. The empty soul of Decided (credited with two different names on each show, confusingly) had a self-centred stupid intro that the song failed to live up to and the clumsy girl pop of Sandcastle Disco was terrible. After a quick chat with Ray Davies about his musical Come Dancing (he didn't perform, sadly) and some good advice - stay true to your heart and only write while disparate, we were treated to a very interesting band: Dengue Fever (named after an actual tropical disease) is one of those multi-cultural bands from different parts of the world. Cute singer Chhom Nimol has a very amateurish voice but such charm. That said, Tiger Phone Land was awful, worse on Tuesday after a bad start, but the Khmer vocals of Seeing Hands were much better, and the song has a great vibe. Ray Davies described the band as a cross between Blondie and Led Zeppelin. Hmm...not quite Ray.

From here things get much better. The wonderful Carolina Chocolate Drops are real musicians making real music - a frantic swing stomp from the buzzing Don't Get Trouble In Your Mind to the great Real Old Mountain Dew, in spite of two many wordless vocals. The violin and banjo were exchanged for the latter performance showing such diversity. Also good was Eli "Paperboy" Reed - far too showy on Take My Love With You but great on the slow bluesy It's Easier. He has a great voice, when he uses it properly, and a style more akin with BB King.

Jools had to finish the series with a bit of piano but the two performances were predictable JH and 'his big band' stuff - and why not? It is what he does well and it wouldn't be the same without him. Louise Marshall was great, as was Ruby Turner and thankfully we didn't have to endue the new single. Instead Carolina Chocolate Drops helped out on St. Louis Blues with steel guitars and kazoo. Yes really!

The second interview, oddly, was with comedian and now musical performer Sanjeev Bhaskar. He is currently in the Monty Python influenced show Spamalot.

All in all it was a subdued end to the series and much more of a 'party' atmosphere. Obviously all of the performances were not to my taste but that is life. But this was almost the perfect show - a great band with their best songs, a bit of JH and his piano, and loads of people I have never heard before. Excellent entertainment. If only every show was like this.

Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Keep Me In Mind Sweetheart EP Review (2008)

A review for The Music Magazine.

Musical collaboration can create the most interesting of partnerships. Who would have thought that Scottish singer Isobel Campbell from Belle & Sebastian would end up making music with Mark Lanegan, the dysfunctional front man of 1980s post-grunge US rock band Screaming Trees. They have now released two albums together and 'Keep Me In Mind Sweetheart' is an extra EP taken from the 'Sunday At Devil Dirt' recording sessions. Now that Lanegan has got the latest bout of angst out of his system, with the semi-disastrous Greg Dulli project The Gutter Twins, it is now back to business as usual.

The title track, and only song to be taken from the album, is a short simple country blues ballad with Lanegan's baritone taking the lead. Campbell provides the softness for this gorgeous love song. 'Fight Fire With Fire' is much more complete, again with Lanegan in Tom Waits mode set to an upbeat rolling backdrop. The chorus is ludicrously jolly. Campbell again adds a delicate breeze, letting her voice wash through the song like Hope Sandoval from Mazzy Star. A key line, and maybe an echo to Lanegan's current uneasy situation, is: "My mind's in the gutter; my heart's solid gold", followed by the more heartfelt, but clumsy, "When they made you, they busted the mould". The lyrical journey through the songs is a constant rocky road but always compelling.

'Asleep On A Sixpence' is an old-time piano melody coupled with more of Lanegan's rasping vocals. He is going solo this time. The strange outro appears to be a few bars of 'While Shepherd's Watched Their Flocks By Night'. The scratchy 'Violin Tango' provides a brief interlude before the true country duet of 'Rambling Rose' gets things back on course. This is like the antithesis of Alison Krauss and Robert Plant with both voices intertwined. Campbell's only solo effort 'Hang On' closes the EP and is hard to place - like Juliana Hatfield fronting Fountains Of Wayne. As pleasant as it is, the song becomes a relentless plod and could benefit from a stronger vocal.

This very unique pairing is a genuine combining of souls. Campbell is the calm for Lanegan's storm, keeping everything in balance; in spite of a dominating male presence, it is a near perfect equilibrium. The EP captures the dark focus of Lanegan's fantastic solo album 'Bubblegum' and echoes the more stripped down feel of 'Sunday At Devil Dirt'. This never feels like a side project, nor a sordid affair in a downbeat seedy motel, more a safe place to hide out when things get heavy. Both singers sound at home in each other's company. The ever wandering Mark Lanegan has his muse and may eventually rest his boots - but for now, Isobel Campbell is drawing the best out of him, whenever and wherever they meet.

-- CS (for The Music Magazine)

LATER...with Jools Holland (Series 33, Show 8)

This week on Later...was a return for another band trying to prove new material, The Killers. Also a special guest in the form of Al Green, plus Fleet Foxes and Pendulum. A strange inclusion was the latest project from Damon Albarn: Monkey Journey To The West which thankfully did not include the music used extensively in this years Olympics coverage.




Tuesday

The Killers - Human
Monkey Journey To The West - Monkey's World
Al Green (Chat with Jools)
Pendulum - Granite
Al Green - Let's Stay Together
Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal
The Killers - Spaceman

Friday

The Killers - Human
Pendulum - Granite
Monkey Journey To The West - Monkey's World
Marc Almond (Chat with JH)
Fleet Foxes - He Doesn't Know Why
The Killers - Losing Touch
Little Boots - Meddle
Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett (Chat with Jools)
Pendulum - Propane Nightmares
Monkey Journey To The West - Heavenly Peach Banquet
The Killers - Neon Tiger
Al Green (Chat with Jools)
Fleet Foxes - Your Protector
Al Green - Let's Stay Together
The Killers - Spaceman

Unlike many bands recently making a comeback after years away, including Razorlight and Snow Patrol, The Killers has been busy grafting away through a series of albums. The latest offering is a mixed bag of stuff. The band perform four new songs, opening and closing both shows: latest 80's synth pop single Human, the aptly named soft rock of Losing Touch, the string pleasantries of Neon Tiger, and the ever so long and boring Spaceman. It all sounds a lot more consistent than the usual Killers 'one great song and a bunch of fillers' albums but with no really great song. There is no Mr Brightside or When You Were Young. I lost interest in the band with Sam's Town which is hard work, and then I skipped the compilation Sawdust. Day & Age seems to be well received but does nothing for me. No interview with the band either.

Pendulum were very disappointing. Only two songs : the powerhouse riff-heavy space rock of Granite and the more mixed up Propane Nightmares. The big problem was the weak vocals and repetitive nature of the guitars and guitar/keyboard hybrid. Likewise Fleet Foxes, one of the best vocal harmony groups around only really impressed with the heavier Your Protector - the choral ending is sublime. Tuesday's White Winter Hymnal was decent enough but the balance was all wrong on He Doesn't Know Why. And the legend that is Al Green gave a very messy interview on Tuesday and rattled his way through Let's Stay Together, his ageing vocals getting more and more croaky. He obviously still has the passion for touring and performing but like many of Jools' guests, he probably doesn't know when to stop. Friday was a better interview in which he talked about his early life and career - his brothers threw him out of their group so he went solo, struggled with music synch on his first video and told new musicians to "hold on to your dreams". Wise words.

Far too much of the show was dedicated to the Monkey Journey To The West project. The central interview on Friday was a real mess - confrontational, incoherent and showed the annoying side of Albarn. He said that they had attempted to scale down the usual orchestra into more of a band for the show - a completely pointless half-arsed exercise. The two songs: the baffling Monkey's World and the giggling, la la la vocals and bleeps of Heavenly Peach Banquet work brilliantly as part of a soundtrack and stage show but not in the studio. It all looked like a budget version of The Lion King with Chinese songs remixed by two guys in a shed.

So the best is left until last: the wonderful Little Boots. Victoria Hesketh performed Meddle with effortless talent. At one point she was singing, playing piano and stylaphone all at the same time. She even found time to add a few hand claps. Breathtaking to watch and a good song. But one only one. She could have been a headliner for me.

This weeks pointless interview went to the great Marc Almond - which doesn't make it excusable as he was just plugging a new DVD/CD of his latest stageshow in an seedy part of old London. Jools asked him about his accident and subsequent recovery and Almond thanked Jools and his band for supporting him. Good stuff...but it would have been nice to hear a set from him.

So one average headliner, a fading legend, a pointless interview from someone plugging a new product, a couple of disappointing new bands, a scaled down show which didn't work and a superb unknown artist who only gets one song. Business as usual then...

Ray Lamontagne - Gossip In The Grain Album Review (2008)

Ray Lamontagne - Gossip In The Grain reviewed for Last Broadcast.

Ray Lamontagne, everyone's favourite grizzly bear mountain man with a voice that can melt stone and iron hearts, releases his third album 'Gossip In The Grain'. There are major differences from his previous albums: this is less of a solo project bringing in Lamontagne's touring band and in his own words he wants to "open up a little bit more". This immediately hints at lack of inspiration and the phrase "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" comes to mind. But in branching out and trying to be different, the New Hampshire singer song writer has achieved a remarkable thing. It actually works.

Opening song 'You Are The Best Thing' kicks off with a blast of big band horns before Lamontagne's wonderful gruff yet soulful voice launches into what it does best. The song is a simple offering, with a less than inspired chorus, lots of repetition, some Motown backing vocals and a neat 'happy' vibe. It proves to be a deceptive start. Things settle down with 'Let It Be Me', a gorgeous ballad of hope and longing: "Feels like you're always coming up last; Pockets full of nothing ain't got no cash; No matter where you turn you ain't got no place to stand; You reach out for something and they slap your hand". The music around him lets Lamontagne always do his thing - he is always at the centre even when the piano and strings begin to rise. 'Sarah' brings in a third style: delicate winding instrumentation underpinning a more earnest, soft and urgent vocal performance. A central string break provides a brief respite.

From the outset 'I Still Care For You' is more loose and ragged around the edges. But the song immediately softens into a breathy ethereal chorus and rolling drums. The first contribution from Leona Naess almost goes by unnoticed. The last minute and a half briefly transforms into something much more organic before more of the same. 'Winter Birds' is an atmospheric poetic ramble of a love song - one of those songs that is difficult to pin down thanks to the lack of a defined structure. Six songs in and we are treated to a huge surprise. 'Meg White' (yes, the one from The White Stripes) is a no holds barred (ironic or otherwise) tale of love and obsession. It starts like a Ennio Morricone western score then quickly into thumping drums (a tribute indeed) and Lamontagne declaring that "Someday I'd like to take a walk with you; maybe ride our bikes down by the seaside". The line "Oh Jack is great, don't get me wrong...but this is your song" is bordering on comedy. All this with Pink Floyd style backing vocals and a slightly creepy vocal arrangement adds to the insanity. Totally unexpected and utterly brilliant.

'Hey Me, Hey Mama' does not quite get the album back on track but it is more familiar - a slick old-fashioned country-blues number that never lifts from mid-tempo drawl. The brass section in the second half is a nice touch and even when a horrible chord change is dropped in, it all holds together. 'Henry Nearly Killed Me (It's A Shame)' veers left once more with dark brooding railroad blues. Halfway through when Lamontagne begins panting like a dog, you get the feeling he really wants to just let go - but he never does. 'A Falling Through' is much more of what we expect, but sounds a bit of a let down given the surprises that have come before. Saying that however, it is a wonderful heartfelt ballad, again with Naess on backing vocals - this time more obvious and relevant. The subtle complexity of the music is incredible. The title track closes the album in understated style with a beautiful arrangement into the final minute - one of the best moments of the album. Then Lamontagne parting shot: "Truth be: Beggar that holds his tongue; Dines on none...none but air alone".

In spite of every attempt to "open up" and try new things, 'Gossip In The Grain' still plays it very safe. Producer Ethan Johns still adds to the mix but the musical contribution from others is much more consistent. It feels more complete, and even with the unexpected twist in the middle of the album, this just adds to the album exactly when it needs to do something different; something more. This is not the huge disastrous experiment which befalls many artists. On the contrary: this is a rewarding, consistent and compelling piece of work.

13th October 2008, 14th Floor Records

-- CS (for Last Broadcast)

Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line Album Review (2008)

Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line reviewed for Last Broadcast.

Formed a couple of years ago in New York State, Ra Ra Riot build on the early promise of an eponymous EP with a new full length album, 'The Rhumb Line'.

The first thing that strikes you on the album is the consistent use of string arrangements. The violin and cello, from Zeller and Lawn respectively, transform each song into a delicious slice of chamber-pop and at its most simple (the Beatles-esque 'Winter '05' for example), the effect works incredibly well. But when there is a juxtaposition of guitar-driven indie and orchestral backing, the contrast can split a song in two - and coupled with the unstructured and wavering vocal style of Wes Miles, initially it can be a frustrating listen.

'The Rhumb Line' has at its core the wondrous 'Dying Is Fine', an obvious tribute to former drummer John Pike who died in 2007. It is a great example of how everything comes together as one - when the strings build with a minute and a half to go, rising above the guitars and drums to bring back Miles, it marks a distinct highlight. The uneasy mix of upbeat music and dour subject matter adds to the feel. This sentiment continues later with the string laden 'Oh, La' and the chorus: "We've got a lot to learn from each other, we have got to stick together". After tragedy is hope.

Opening song 'Ghost Under Rocks' suffers from a very loose vocal arrangement and drum track. Most of the time the strings are swamped by everything else and only when the song settles into the final stretch - the gorgeous combination of vocals and delicate backing - does the strength immerge. The chorus is expertly arranged to be both obvious and original. It becomes another fine example of the band working together. Likewise album closer 'Run My Mouth' is a compelling journey - a simple chorus framed by swirling arrangements and Miles on top form.

Elsewhere the band expands their core sound. 'Too Too Too Fast' is mesmerising electro-pop fronted by Johnny Borrell, with a Human League quality - female backing vocals, elegant strings and lush keyboards. The feminine touch washes through the entire album but never more so than here. The best thing about 'Each Year' is the ever-present guitar melody and remains an odd choice for an early single. Kate Bush cover 'Suspended In Gaffa' is a stupendously brave attempt to do something a bit different - complete with kooky verses, talky bits and a swinging chorus. A fine tribute the band just about gets away with.

Ultimately 'The Rhumb Line' is an accomplished piece of work - always interesting and never overstaying its welcome. The combination of instrumentation and styles quickly moves from frustration to delight as hidden depths are revealed at every string soaked twist and turn.

Released on 29th September 2008 on V2/Co-Op.

-- CS (for Last Broadcast)

Peter, Bjorn And John - Seaside Rock Album Review (2008)

Peter, Bjorn And John - Seaside Rock reviewed for Last Broadcast.

Pop Quiz: What do you do after releasing a critically acclaimed album (9/10 from the NME), have a successful underground indie hit single and become a household name on the pop circuit? You make a downbeat and kooky semi-instrumental album without any obvious singles. And this is exactly what Swedish trio Peter, Bjorn And John have done with 'Seaside Rock'.

The album opens with two decent songs. The furious mix of 'Inland Empire' from the Spanish feel and delicious piano to whale sounds, harsh percussion and car horns, it is a compelling fusion of ideas. The big guitars and brass outro set things up for 'Say Something (Mukiya)', a steel drum and bass driven ditty with wordless warbling and a jolly melody. But from here, things go downhill fast. The worst of the compositions are centred round three 'songs' involving strange monologues: 'Next Stop Bjursele', 'Erik's Fishing Trip' and 'Norrlands Riviera' fail on many levels. Only the latter is lifted by a nice harp arrangement, seagull samples and simple ambience. The previous two get annoying very quickly.

After the lull, 'Needles And Pills' provides a much needed lift. The first half is great - guitars and a recorder make way for layers of percussion before whistling arrives and heavier guitars lead to a tuneless orchestra. Likewise, 'Barcelona' is not as great as it could be - it takes too long to get moving and when it does, the delicate ambience holds it back. Only the piano stands out among the beach samples.

After the compelling 'Writer's Block' (how ironic is that title now?), this album feels like a very noticeable step backwards. On the surface it is comparable to Radiohead's 'fall from grace' - after 'OK Computer' comes 'Kid A' - even hardened fans will be perplexed. The success of 'Young Folks' was justified (also thanks to Victoria Bergsman, formerly of The Concretes), even if the song is annoyingly catchy in the way only Scandinavian pop can be. But Peter, Bjorn And John have failed to capitalise. In spite of a few moments of true class, 'Seaside Rock' feels lazy, self-indulgent and uninspired.

Released on 23rd September 2008 on Wichita.

-- CS (for Last Broadcast)

Last Broadcast Single Reviews - CSS, Dido and Razlorlight

Last month I wrote three single reviews for Last Broadcast.

Here they are in full:

CSS - Move

Brazilian sextet CSS has been making catchy infectious indie synth-pop for over two years and are veritable freshman in today's music scene. 'Move', which sees a departure from the cheeky playful approach of the band's early songs, is the third single from the band's second album 'Donkey'.

Like former singles 'Left Behind' and 'Rat Is Dead (Rage), 'Move' is a pulsating slice of spiky electro-pop with one major difference: consistency. The song rolls along with an upbeat keyboard melody coupled with a choral vocal before lead singer Lovefoxxx takes over. Her insatiable charm is slightly muted here and the chorus especially feels tinged with melancholy; reflective and considered. The rest of band provide some very subtle backing vocals. If there is a problem it is that the song doesn't stop at the usual three minute cut-off point. Lovefoxxx attempts a clumsy pseudo-rap, continuing the warning theme. It feels like a step too far.

CSS has gone a long way since early hit 'Let's Make Love And Listen To Death From Above'. The sound is now more solid and at the risk of a cliché, more mature. The production is slick and smooth, so the instrumentation glides with clarity and purity. The sound of progress.

Released on 13th October 2008.

-- CS (for Last Broadcast)

Dido - Don't Believe In Love

The huge success of Dido is a mystery. She rose to prominence as 'that singer' on 'Stan' by U.S. rapper Eminem, which samples her song 'Thank You'. Her debut album No Angel had such great promise, but her vocal delivery and her voice remains something of a dividing line. 'Don't Believe In Love' is the first single taken from Dido's new album 'Safe Trip Home'. From the outset it is business as usual.

The opening bass sets up the first line "I want to go to bed with arms around me...wake up on my own" followed by "Pretend that I'm still sleeping...til you go home". This is a twist on the anti-love song, seeped in self-doubt and depressive loathing. Even the chorus, a sweet rolling melody, is weak and uninspired. The drum arrangement is basic and the inclusion of a string section, barely audible, is predictable and listless. A minute and a half in, there is little attempt to change things. Only into the third minute, after a very dull string-based instrumental, Dido again shows no emotion. But that is probably the point. The line "If I don't believe in love, what do you get from me? When I don't believe in love, nothing is real for me" sums it up.

The big problem with Dido is her flat lifeless vocal style. Coupled with obvious lyrics, devoid of any imagination and metaphor, this is song writing at its most basic. 'Don't Believe In Love' may be deliberately free of emotion, in line with the dispassionate subject matter but this translates badly into a listenable song. Even a spirited guitar outro does not break the monotony. So, as expected, Dido continues to bring us more of the same.

Released on 3rd November 2008 on RCA and available to download from 26th October 2008.

-- CS (for Last Broadcast)

Razorlight - Wire To Wire

Over two impressive albums, Razorlight has gone from being a punchy pseudo-punk indie band to a colossal rock act. The 2006 eponymous album was well received by fans and critics alike and in spite of a more polished focused sound Johnny Borrell did not become the new Chris Martin. 'Wire To Wire' is the band's first single since the huge success of 'America' and the two songs could not be more different.

Opening with chilling piano, the first thirty seconds has Borrell crooning the first verse. His voice changes dramatically with "She lives on disillusion row; we go where the wild blood flows; on our bodies we share the same scars; love me, where ever you are...". The last refrain has Borrell hitting an impossible note, never to be repeated with such spine-tingling accuracy, and a short interlude brings in the rest of the band. The mid-section is typical flowing Razorlight. The song soon lifts again for more drama, climaxing with the line "How do you love on a night without feeling? She says love, I hear sound, I see fury; She says love's not a hostile condition..." complete with huge rolling drums. But the song soon backs off for a calm vocal and piano outro.

Borrell has talked about the new album 'Slipway Fires' as impulsive and not over worked. The band did not want to over-think the new material, keep things simple and let the song writing out. This may not be the best song in the Razorlight catalogue but it is a great teaser for the new album. In near-three minutes of perfection, it has plenty of space to breathe. Haunting down to the very last note, not since 'Drive' by R.E.M. has a debut single from a new album had such an impact as 'Wire To Wire'. It is subtle, understated and remarkably brilliant.

Released on 27th October on Vertigo and available to download from 26th September 2008.

-- CS (for Last Broadcast)

I hope to write more reviews for Last Broadcast in the near future. So watch this space, as they say...

LATER...with Jools Holland (Series 33, Show 7)

A journey into the strange and wonderful this week - a really messed up, mixed up and musically diverse couple of shows. In anticipation of an Obama win in the upcoming US elections, it was a very 'Black' line-up: Grace Jones, Akon and Seu Jorge forming the core sound. It was also a return for Razorlight, back with the new album Slipway Fires.



Tuesday

Grace Jones - Williams' Blood
Razorlight - Tabloid Lover
Seu Jorge - Burguesinha
Grace Jones (Chat with JH)
Akon - Right Away (Na Na Na)
Geraint Watkins - Easy To Say 'Bon Temps Rouler'
Razorlight - Wire To Wire
Grace Jones - Slave To The Rhythm

Friday

Razorlight - Burberry Blue Eyes
Grace Jones - Williams' Blood
Seu Jorge - America Do Norte
Grace Jones (Chat with JH)
Akon - Birthmark
Razorlight - Wire To Wire
Geraint Watkins - Champion
David Arnold (Chat with JH)
Grace Jones - Love You To Life
Akon - Right Away (Na Na Na)
Novice Theory - About The Dream
Dave Edmonds (Chat with JH)
Seu Jorge - Burguesinha
Razorlight - Hostage Of Love
Grace Jones - Pull Up To The Bumper

The show's reputation as an exercise in promotion started with Grace Jones, back after 19 (not 20 as she corrected Jools) years with new album Hurricane. Thankfully she closed both shows with the classics Slave To The Rhythm and Pull Up To The Bumper. She opened Tuesday with a new song Williams' Blood and on the Friday introduced us to Love You To Life. You can probably tell which duo was the more superior. The new songs paled in comparison with the former marginally better than the latter. Love You To Life is a mess of talky vocals and such obvious vocals after the chorus: "and not to death" - yeah, Grace we get what you did. No need to patronise us with an explanation. I wondered how Jools would handle an interview but it went much better than anyone expected - she declared herself a huge JH fan which probably helped. The Friday chat talked about her new album, her childhood in Jamaica enduring 'boring church hymns' and people singing off-key. She regards modelling as 'prostitution' and did it just to pay the bills - not a glowing endorsement of what got her noticed in the first place. And her love of jigsaw puzzles and hula hoops came up. It was compelling. On the Tuesday it was a bit more frosty - she was asked by Jools why she mesmerises men. Her slick sharp reply was "I hope I mesmerise women too". Brilliant. In the now obligatory question about advice, it was simple: "do it don't talk about it".

Now to Razorlight, also plugging new material from Slipway Fires. It's a real mixed bag and I'm not too sure about it. Wire To Wire (performed on both shows) is superb, even with looser vocals and bit too much power from Borrell at times. But the stomp rock of Tabloid Lover, Burberry Blue Eyes (opening Friday) and the rushed and noisy Hostage Of Love left me feeling distinctly underwhelmed. The band obviously think the new songs are great - like Coldplay - it is all very efficient and well presented but lacking decent songs. Maybe time will be kind. And no interview with the band which was a real let down. Instead there was another (and I know I go on about this a lot) completely pointless chat with someone not performing, just on to show us their new Greatest Hits collection.

Sadly, two of the best performers: Senegalese-American soul rapper Akon and Brazilian singer/songwriter and actor Seu Jorge were both pushed down the order. Akon's set suffered from over-produced vocals but Birthmark was a decent highlight. Likewise Seu Jorge was great, really embracing the spirit of show - at one point the entire ensemble was bopping along to Grace Jones. A wealth of musicians added percussion and backing vocals to the apt America Do Norte and Burguesinha. Also Geraint Watkins performed a couple of songs. Apparently Jools had been introduced to him after a Bob Dylan Radio 2 show. Champion was a wonderful slice of old time storytelling like a lighter Nick Cave.

A real surprise, forming almost the centrepiece of the show was a performance from Novice Theory (aka Geo Wyeth). One man/women with an accordion had the entire studio enthralled as About The Dream unfolded. The vocals in part were very Seth Lakeman (no bad thing) but at times the music was too fast. The key line is: "we had blood on our white hands". Given such a positive message, it it strange the show wasn't arranged for next week to coinside with next week's US elections. The bizarre 'drunken' ending saw Wyeth disappear into the darkness. Utterly captivating.

In a blatant attempt by the show to jump on the latest Bond bandwagon, David Arnold turned up for an interview. Again, nothing to do with the performances, but also not really plugging anything (except the film score), and it was a surprisingly good chat. He clearly understands the nature of scoring films and did not expect to do more Bond films after 'Tomorrow Never Dies'. This is now his fifth. He describes it as trying to scale Everest each time with history and responsibility to keep in mind. Also the famous signature tune is not really used in the Daniel Craig films. Arnold explains why: he is a very different Bond and every time the theme is used, you know he is safe and will win. It dissolves any kind of danger from the action. A victim of success perhaps? I suppose this was an example of a good 'pointless interview', even if it was so obvious.

Snow Patrol - A Hundred Million Suns Album Review (2008)

My latest review for The Music Magazine. I would not say that I am a huge fan of Snow Patrol which is why I wanted to review the new album. I liked Final Straw - up to a point - but did not get on with the follow-up Eyes Open. Then the band disappeared for a bit. The band appeared recently on LATER... and were impressive. I wanted to describe the album as 'being aurally assaulted...with marshmallows'. But I didn't.

The review:

In 2005, between the releases of 'Final Straw' and 'Eyes Open', opening for U2 across Europe and performing at Live 8, Snow Patrol was as big as Coldplay. And then the momentum faded. After the release of 'Eyes Open', which shadows 'Final Straw' in terms of sales but lacks the quality, all the break through success vanished. In the wake of extensive touring, the band disappeared to make a fifth album. And like the band's career so far, ultimately 'A Hundred Million Suns' feels like the build-up to a climax which never happens.

Opener 'If There's A Rocket Tie Me To It' is an impressive introduction, once it gets going, even if it does get sucked into a vacuum of empty vocals and big drums. 'Crack The Shutters' starts as simple piano and vocal and is near perfect three minute pop. The chorus lifts with underwhelming majesty. The first single 'Take Back The City' is brilliantly arranged, full of little twists and ideas and a lot more urgency. Vocalist Gary Lightbody delivers a great vocal but this is coupled with many annoying 'woahs'. At least there are no dreaded handclaps. The chorus, in two parts, is first framed with harsh guitars and then softened with more soaring instrumentation swamped with slack production (the only time the superb Jacknife Lee drops the ball). The mainly acoustic dark charms of 'Lifeboats' is also excellent, like a lost Ray LaMontagne album track but with odd electronic strings and fragments of guitars. Lightbody sums up the nature of the album with "Life is too short to scream and shout".

After a brief lull threatened by the Kate Bush styled and limp backing vocals of 'The Golden Floor' and then the indie plod-rock of 'Please Just Take These Photos From My Hands', things pick up again with 'Set Down Your Glass' - all delicate guitar melody, soft vocals and a pleasant lift in the second half. The understated yet beautiful 'The Planets Bend Between Us' is even better, in spite of suspect falsetto vocals, with wonderful bubbly electronics. It is simple yet epic, not unlike the album as a whole. Penultimate song 'Disaster Button', apart from providing the album's only (and slightly unexpected) expletive, is a fast-paced self-destructive rant with not so much a chorus as another build-up. There is a great (yet brief) space-aged guitar solo and again it is a unique moment.

But all this is a prelude for the final act, a sixteen minute Craig Armstrong inspired three part odyssey entitled 'The Lightning Strike'. It starts with one of the best pieces on the album: 'What If The Storm Ends?'. Lightbody earnestly delivers in dramatic style as the story unfolds. It is the only time an orchestral arrangement is used with true effect. From here 'The Sunlight Through The Flags' is more like Moby but soon descends into muddy guitars. 'Daybreak' ends the proceedings, a stirring electronic upsurge of storytelling: "You held on to me like I was your life raft" conjures up images of hope and survival in rising waters. Like British Sea Power, the members of Snow Patrol have been reading far too many National Geographic magazines. A great 'concept album' style track to close.

'A Hundred Million Suns' does not quite get the big stadium-rock finale it so rightfully deserves but there is considerable quality throughout. Each song rises like a torrent of emotion but never quite reaches the peak, not backing away as such just never getting to that point in the first place. Lightbody is excellent, his best vocals so far - strong and taking risks with good results. Musically, the band make up for a lack of interesting moves with skill and precision. And each song is perfectly inoffensive and welcomed, with the only real down point being the overlong clumsy 80s sounding and disjointed 'Engines'. Otherwise the album has an unwavering consistency; something lacking in the last two albums. Yes, Snow Patrol are as self-absorbed and as universe embracing as Coldplay, while trying to strive for a similar style, but at least they are not resorting to image-altering gimmicks and mind-scrambling production. Oh, and 'A Hundred Million Suns' has some great songs which is always a good idea.

-- CS (for The Music Magazine)

2008 Music Chart - October

Some good new albums this month, specifically from Ra Ra Riot and The King Blues. Nothing to challenge the big top 5 though...

1. The Hawk Is Howling - Mogwai
2. Ghosts I-IV - Nine Inch Nails
3. I Want You To Know That There Is Always Hope - I Was A Cub Scout
4. Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust - Sigur Rós
5. Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down - Noah And The Whale
6. The Rhumb Line - Ra Ra Riot
   
7. Death Magnetic - Metallica
8. Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
9. Seventh Tree - Goldfrapp
10. Third - Portishead
11. Save The World, Get The Girl - The King Blues
    
12. Mountain Meadows - Elliott Brood
    
13. Accelerate - R.E.M.
14. We Started Nothing - The Ting Tings
15. Church Bell Blues - Catherine MacLellan
    
16. The Seldom Seen Kid - Elbow
17. Gossip In The Grain - Ray LaMontagne
    
18. Arther - Arther
    
19. Poor Man's Heaven - Seth Lakeman
20. The Age Of The Understatement - The Last Shadow Puppets
21. Glasvegas - Glasvegas
22. Attack & Release - The Black Keys
23. Consolers Of The Lonely - The Raconteurs
24. Do You Like Rock Music - British Sea Power
25. Little Voice - Sara Bareilles
26. Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings - Counting Crows
27. Seven Months And A Fire Blanket - Proceed
28. Silent Cry - Feeder
29. Liejacker - Thea Gilmore
30. Narrow Stairs - Death Cab For Cutie
31. In Rainbows - Radiohead
32. Alas, I Cannot Swim - Laura Marling
33. Midnight Boom - The Kills
    
34. This Is A Fix - The Automatic
    
35. Friday Night Lights - Attic Lights
    
36. Welcome To Goon Island - XX Teens
37. Viva La Vida - Coldplay
38. I Am Undone - My Epic
    
39. Rosie And The Goldbug - Rosie And The Goldbug
    
40. Songs In A&E - Spiritualized
41. You Cross My Path - The Charlatans
42. @#%&*! Smilers - Aimee Mann
43. Under Summer Sun - Matt Wertz
    
44. The Slip - Nine Inch Nails
45. Toy Tugboats - Sunfold
    
46. The Hollow Of Morning - Gemma Hayes
47. When The Night Time Comes - Jenny Lindfors
    
48. The Well - Sarah Perrotta
49. Those We Leave Behind - I Am Ghost
    
50. Elliot Minor - Elliot Minor
51. Saturnalia - The Gutter Twins
    
52. Neptune - The Duke Spirit
53. Heat: The Remixes - Soft Cell
    
54. This Gift - Sons & Daughters
55. Sunny Day Sets Fire - Summer Palace
56. Seaside Rock - Peter, Bjorn and John
    
57. Kids Aflame - ARMS
58. Revolving Doors - Nelson

LATER...with Jools Holland (Series 33, Show 6)

A really poor couple of shows this week for a number of reasons. Yet again the 'headliners' failed to impressive with their brave new material from new albums. Both sets from Keane and Bloc Party yielded mixed results and an injection of 'world music' from Amadou & Mariam did not lift my spirits. There was another pointless interview with a non-performer plugging a new 'greatest hits collection' and the promising new band, thecocknbullkid was simply awful. The best artist on the show Jakob Dylan only got one song each show - it was a brief uplift to the rest of the acts.


Tuesday

Keane - Spiralling
Amadou & Mariam - Ce N'est Pas Bon
Dave Clark (Chat with JH)
Jakob Dylan - Something Good This Way Comes
Allen Toussaint (Chat with JH)
thecocknbullkid - On My Own
Allen Toussaint - Working In A Coal Mine
Tribute to Levi Stubbs
Bloc Party - Mercury

Friday

Bloc Party - Talons
Keane - The Lovers Are Losing
Amadou & Mariam - Mogosa
Allen Toussaint (Chat with JH)
thecocknbullkid - I'm Not Sorry
Jakob Dylan - Evil Is Alive And Well
Bloc Party - Signs
Allen Toussaint - Southern Nights
Keane - Better Than This
Dave Clark (Chat with JH)
Amadou & Mariam - Ce N'est Pas Bon
thecocknbullkid - On My Own
Bloc Party - Ares
Keane - Spiralling

Keane performed three tracks from the new album Perfect Symmetry, opening the Tuesday show and closing the Friday with Spiralling. The song has grown on me a lot but it doesn't work well live - lacking energy. Current single The Lovers Are Losing was also flat and the least said about Better Than This the better. It would be a horrible cliché to say 'right back at ya boys' as Tom sings the lacklustre chorus - just about everything on the band's impressive debut is better than this. But that was old world Keane and this is new world Keane. Bands move on and they evolve. Even with the past indiscretions, give my old Keane every time.

Another band trying something new is Bloc Party. They closed Tuesday with Mercury - a great experiment with Kele Okereke recording his opening vocals to play it back as a stuttering sample, with his feet then down on his knees at the end. The band had the privilege of opening Friday with the boring Talons. Signs was much better - a decent vocal but Ares is a noisy mess with a bizarre falsetto mid-section then more of the same noise. It was like a bad reworking of Setting Sun by Chemical Brothers. I am all for bands trying new things but as Radiohead found out, it takes not only guts but some decent ideas.

African duo Amadou & Mariam are a breath of fresh air. The guitar work on Ce N'est Pas Bon is excellent and for some reason they were joined on the Friday by Romeo from The Magic Numbers on bass. No idea what that was all about. The other song Mogosa was dull and repetitive after three minutes. A shame, as the show needs more diversity and we didn't get it here.

On a positive note, ex-Wallflowers Jakob Dylan was really great. After missing the chance to review his new album I was looking forward to hearing some of his songs. Only one on each show: Something Good This Way Comes and the exceptional vocal and guitar of Evil Is Alive And Well. It was captivating. Allen Toussaint's solo piano version of Working In A Coal Mine on Tuesday was also great and he was an engaging and entertaining interviewee for JH. His Friday song Southern Nights was not so good. London's very own thecocknbullkid are now officially the worst band to appear on Later. Whether they were nervous or just lacking experience, both On My Own and I'm Not Sorry were instantly forgettable, tuneless and poor. A real shame.

There was a brief tribute to Levi Stubbs from the Four Tops, which was good to see, but the interview with Dave Clark - repeated on Friday, was just a blatant plug for his new 'hits' record. I really wish JH would not just use this great show as one big advertising campaign. It is cheap and poor judgement - no longer about the music but promotion. And if the new matrial is weak, so is the entertainment. It was so obviously the case for show 6. Poor.

The King Blues - Save The World, Get The Girl Album Review (2008)

It was with a certain amount of trepidation that I approached this album. Having reviewed the second single My Boulder for The Music Magazine and checking out the band's MySpace pages, I thought maybe the album was just two decent singles and a lot of nonsense. I was very surprised. Only a couple of songs in the middle of album get a big bogged down and the rest is excellent.

The review:

Ever since Bob Dylan sang "The times they are a-changin'" in 1963, music and politics have been forever combined. Music is now used extensively as both megaphone and soapbox to promote good causes, to rabble-rouse and to protest against injustice. Artists have always been politically aware, motivated by dramatic current events, the decisions of world leaders, wars, invasions etc. But not all are too keen to make music about it. Drawing inspiration from Bob Marley, Joe Strummer and Billy Bragg, London trio The King Blues are immediately labelled as a political band, even before the first note is struck. Ironically sporting dark glasses and bandanas on the cover of 'Save The World, Get The Girl' does little to help the PR.

The album opens with the brilliant 'My Boulder' - a tearful Tubthumping-esque tale of two men in a pub. The message is obvious: stop whining and start helping each other. The song kicks off with the big sing-along chorus before we are introduced to the bag-of-nails vocals of lead singer Jonny Fox AKA Itch. The transformation in the last minute brings in a sample of 'The Pied Piper Of Hamlyn' by Robert Browning (a tale of revenge and injustice) before Itch begins an aggressive tirade. A great start.

This promotion of peace and harmony continues with the deliciously tuneful chorus of 'I Got Love', starting with acoustic guitars before Itch starts the positive vibes. It is a deceptive move as 'The Schemers, The Scroungers And The Rats' is much more venomous: a country-blues melody from the Conor Oberst songbook ironically praising the non-working classes with tongue firmly in cheek. 'Underneath This Lamppost Light' changes the mood again, this time into delicate drunken love song. Itch declares to the subject that "The smell of kebab meat and sausage in batter will always remind me of you..." and "I know it smells of piss, but you look beautiful tonight". James Blunt it certainly is not. A cheesy string arrangement frames the chorus and then rises in the last two minutes with mesmerising guitars. The title track is a superhero metaphor with a twist as Itch introduces the chorus with "If we lean on you, we are gonna fall...when it's all for one and one for fuck all". The second verse is a blatant attack on America and the motivations of the Iraq 'war', poking a finger but considered and controlled. Excellent.

The start of 'For You My Darling' is just over a minute of gravely crooning before the band launch into a Gogol Bordello style folky rant. As interesting a sound as it is, the song is laboured and strained, overlong and repetitive. 'The Streets Are Ours' continues the sound, with similar effect, but injects the poison again. With just over a minute to go, the song descends into bizarre carnival drumming before the final outburst. The problem here, other than the lack of a tune, is the deliberate provocative pro-riot delivery which oversteps the mark. These two songs form a lull where the album becomes too wrapped up in misguided self-indulgence. A minor but noticeable glitch.

The first single to be taken from the album 'Let's Hang The Landlord' gets the balance just about perfect. An autobiographical account of an early punk life of squatting, crime, drinking, playing music and fantasising about dispatching the owner and take over the building. Again, another cracking chorus forms the core of the song which cumulates with a poignant account of what happened to the 'old crowd' and then a rousing crescendo in the last minute. 'Out Of Luck' starts where 'Underneath This Lamppost Light' ends - a heartbreaking acoustic ballad of surviving in the face of adversity. The dub-influenced 'Hold On Tight' has some of the best song writing on the album - highlighting again that first impressions are often wrong. Itch tells us that "they want soap operas and not soap boxes" before the money shot: "I would rather be pissed off...than be pissed on". It is not the raucous punk anthem you would expect from the lyrics; instead a soft rolling poetic masterpiece. Predictably this measured demeanour does not last and Itch launches another attack, concluding with the best lyrics on the album: "I demand no rent, no bills, no council tax; I demand love that isn’t measured by the relationships of the characters on Friends; Or the words to some dire R&B song about what a good man, what a mighty mighty good man is".

All of this leads to the album's epic conclusion. 'What If Punk Never Happened' is a huge tribute to the music which 'changed the world', opening with a Back To The Future influenced journey into an alternate 'hippy, grunge reality'. Above all this is a wonderful piece of poetry set to a simple Streets rising keyboard melody. Effortlessly blending in the politics with "There’s no-one around to fight Margaret Thatcher" and the arguable "With no punk rock everything went unchallenged", the story takes a sinister modern day twist as Itch talks about CCTV, ID cards and 'identity theft'. Into the final stretch, he namedrops everyone from Sham 69, The Ramones and The Buzzcocks to The Dead Kennedys and The Clash, all while the music rises behind him majestically. The ultimate message of hope ends with the words, left echoing as the music fades: "Take pride in being whoever the fuck you want to be; Throw your fist in the air in solidarity; And shout Viva la punk, just one life, anarchy!".

The Kings Blues is more socially aware than overtly political. Itch's lyrics are both profound and earthy; a clever mix of open-hearted reality and street-talk charm. It is like Mike Skinner fronting Glasvegas. Even if you never had an underprivileged youth, you can immediately relate to the life and culture being portrayed - and the need to, as Nick Cave puts it, "kick against the pricks". This sympathetic attitude may seem snobbishly patronising but it is a genuine empathy. Musically the band's initial sound was ska and punk, now developed wonderfully into a kind of urban-folk fusing acoustic guitars, ukulele, strings, bass and drums. Instead of off-the-shelf drum machines and looped rhythms, the music is 'real' - never overusing reggae and dub, rarely resorting to screaming tuneless punk, and never sounding tedious and out-dated. A band so saturated in obvious influences should not sound this fresh. 'Save The World, Get The Girl' is inspiring, uplifting, ballsy and brimming with self-aware and socially-motivated attitude.

-- CS (for The Music Magazine)

LATER...with Jools Holland (Series 33, Show 5)

A real mix of stuff this week with the mighty Tom Jones and a return for Snow Patrol. Also the brilliant Eliza Carthy and new indie stars Friendly Fires. No big surprises on Tuesday this week with everyone professional and focused.






Tuesday

Tom Jones - If He Should Ever Leave You
Snow Patrol - Take Back The City
Eliza Carthy - Like I Care (Wings)
Tom Jones (Chat with JH)
Friendly Fires - Paris
Camille O'Sullivan - In These Shoes
Tom Jones - Give A Little Love

Friday

Snow Patrol - Take Back The City
Tom Jones - If He Should Ever Leave You
Friendly Fires - Paris
Stephen Stills (Chat with JH and short piano version of For What It's Worth)
Eliza Carthy - Like I Care (Wings)
Snow Patrol - If There's A Rocket Tie Me On It
Stephen Stills - Helplessly Hoping
Tom Jones - 24 Hours
Friendly Fires - Jump In The Pool
Tom Jones (chat with JH and duet)
Eliza Carthy - Two Tears
Camille O'Sullivan - God Is In The House
Tom Jones - Give A Little Love
Snow Patrol - What If The Storm Ends?

Top billing this week was between Tom Jones, back with a new album and a new old-yet-new sound, and Snow Patrol, a band which showed great promise and made a huge impact but failed to keep the momentum going - at least commercially. Jones opened and closed the Tuesday live show and was impeccable but Snow Patrol got the same honour on Friday. New single Take Back The City is still not working for me but the epic If There's A Rocket Tie Me On It and big sound of closer What If The Storm Ends? were great. The latter was one gigantic orchestral infused vocal build up into a choral crescendo. The band has been around for over 12 years and the album Final Straw put them up there with the likes of Razorlight and Coldplay as one of those big new bands everyone was getting excited about. But Gary Lightbody still looks very awkward as a front man. The new material is engaging but does nothing new and different...

Which brings me to Tom Jones - again new single If He Should Ever Leave You is a bit too retro compared to the more upbeat Give A Little Love. But, one of the best performances I have ever seen on Later was 24 Hours - utterly compelling with Jones as the condemned man, standing at the end in angelic spotlight. Magnificent. He talked to Jools about his days on Decca records and being discovered by Jimmy Saville - who advised him to make a proper demo disc for the record label - as well as his new songs. Bono has written a 'tribute' track called Sugar Daddy. The 'impromptu' duet at the piano gave JH a chance to show off while giving all the limelight to his star guest. He advised people starting out - now a running theme of the questions - to have humility and a sense of humour and to be influenced without copying. Wise words.

Of the rest, Eliza Carthy (and band) performed two songs, both suffering from a very loose arrangement: the fiesty Like I Care (Wings) and the great Two Tears - much more controlled and with effortless addition of violin. Friendly Fires only had two songs - the messy Paris and then Jump In The Pool - easily their most accessable single. The band has two drummers and a keyboard which plays itself. New, exciting, vibrant? Yes. Great? Not quite.

The addition of Stephen Stills to the line-up for Friday was great to see but largely pointless. Obviously not a well man, he struggled with his voice on both the interview, short piano version of his own song but Buffalo Springfield's most successful song For What It's Worth (should have been longer which was shame), and his solo performance of the poignant Helplessly Hoping. I wish him well but it looked very much like a sympathy vote.

The final performances went to Irish burlesque singer Camille O'Sullivan. On Tuesday was a very sexy version of the Kirsty McColl song In These Shows - theatrical, over-the-top and complete with flashes of red knickers. It was like something from Cabaret. Her second cover (on Friday) was the brilliant God Is In The House by Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds. A great song and a good rendition but with one major flaw. When Cave sings it, he plays it straight and lets the song do all the talking. O'Sullivan gives it way too much characterisation - which I guess is the point but her voice and face transform the song, like too much canned laughter in a bad sitcom. There are certain things you just don't mess with and this is one of those things.

Great show. Entertaining and interesting in equal measure. A third song for Friendly Fires and Eliza Carthy would have been the icing on the musical cake.

Last Broadcast Reviews

I have started reviewing for Last Broadcast, a popular music and culture website.

Links to the review are below:

Albums

Ray LaMontagne - Gossip In The Grain
Peter, Bjorn And John - Seaside Rock
Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line

Singles

CSS - Move
Razorlight - Wire To Wire
Dido - Don't Believe In Love

The complete (uneditted) reviews will be posted separately at a later date.

LATER...with Jools Holland (Series 33, Show 4)

Coldplay make a return to LATER this week to showcase five songs from their new Viva La Vida album. The other big name is Glen Campbell, performing a mix of covers from his new album and a couple of classics - with mixed results. As ever I was more interested in the other lesser know guests, such as Cage The Elephant and Amy Lavere. The Friday show was fairly straightforward but the Tuesday live show was the most entertaining, mainly for the wrong reasons.




Tuesday

Coldplay - Viva La Vida
Glen Campbell - Good Riddance (The Time Of Your Life)
Sia - Buttons
Coldplay (Chat with JH)
Cage The Elephant - In One Ear
Amy Lavere - Killing Him
Glen Campbell - Wichita Lineman
Coldplay - Lost

Friday

Coldplay - Violet Hill
Cage The Elephant - In One Ear
Sia - Buttons
Mick Fleetwood (Chat with JH)
Glen Campbell - Times Like These
Coldplay - Lovers In Japan
John Mellencamp - Longest Days
Amy Lavere - Killing Him
Coldplay - 42
Glen Campbell (Chat with JH at the piano + William Tell)
Sia - Soon We'll Be Found
Glen Campbell - Galveston
Amy Lavere - That Beat
Cage The Elephant - Ain't No Rest For The Wicked
Coldplay - Viva La Vida

A really strange set order for the Friday show with Coldplay taking centre stage and performing four songs. Even though the material is not strong, the band are incredible live - full of energy and commitment. The polish of the Viva La Vida album was put to one side in favour of a more loose sound with only Chris Martin's vocals letting the side down - they tend to waver in and out and get lost in falsetto a bit too much. Opening and closing each show respectively, Viva La Vida is a decent song, as is Violet Hill but things go wayward with Lost, Lovers In Japan and 42. Lost is all sound and no substance, empty lyrics and quite monotonous (and for some reason there is a comedy ending which doesn't work - and in light of what happened to Glen Campbell on the Tuesday show it seemed like a piss take), whereas Lovers In Japan is an odd choice and the piano seems to play itself in the middle. 42 is all about the Radiohead-esque guitar break and Chris Martin trying to jump between guitar and piano and back again. For the most part the band seem to be determined to shake off the serious exterior and show some of their playful side. During the main chat with JH on the Tuesday they present Jools with a Zimbabwe bank note and talk about their refrigerated awards room. Jools confronts them over their absurd revolutionary image stolen from Adam Ant and CM freely admits the plagiarism. What I don't like to see is well established musicians, who are successful in name only while producing substandard music, joking and smiling - it smacks of complacency and arrogance and does nothing to help the image.

Which brings me to Glen Campbell. He seems to be everywhere these days, peddling classics and plugging his covers album. The Tuesday performance of the Green Day masterpiece Good Riddance (The Time Of Your Life) was the worse rendition I have heard in all my years of watching Later. It is not a good cover which isn't a great start but it was like bad karaoke with Campbell reading the words from an auto queue. He messed up twice, once at the start and then again on the last verse which is inexcusable, especially from such a legend of music. Thankfully Wichita Lineman was supreme and everyone looked much more comfortable. Likewise Galveston was great, the guitar playing was amazing, but Times Like These suffered from the same auto queue problem and there was no connection between Campbell and his audience. He spent the entire song looking down at the screen. The main Friday interview was a bit dull - at least they honoured Jimmy Webb and there was a neat guitar and piano rendition of William Tell which was a lot of fun.

Of the rest, Cage The Elephant were a big disappointment mainly due to only getting two songs: In One Ear and Ain't No Rest For The Wicked. The live energy is fantastic mainly from the weird and wired lead singer and a cool guitar sound, but the songs weren't that great. Amy Lavere was very good, singing and playing the double bass effortlessly. The dark overtones of Killing Him was the most impressive song, played on both shows. John Mellencamp made an appearance (on his birthday) and showed why he is always in the shadow of Bruce Springsteen. His only song Longest Days was superb but short. To complete the line-up Sia attempted to jazz up her rather listless voice with a psychedelic flower-pop show in the dark and some bizarre sign language from painted blue hands. I just don't get current single Soon We'll Be Found and Buttons isn't much better. Again there was a chat with a 'friend of the show' Mick Fleetwood, on to plug his new tour with the not quite Fleetwood Mac. It was very out of place.

So a frustrating show - something we expect these days. Coldplay did the best they could with weak songs, Glen Campbell showed us why he is still performing...and why he should stop, and I was introduced to the lovely Amy Lavere. Onward and...onward.

The King Blues - My Boulder Single Review

A single review for The Music Magazine.

Edwin Collins once famously sang, "Too many protest singers; not enough protest songs". We all know what he means. From Bob Dylan to Bono, Bob Geldolf to Chris Martin, musicians have been politically aware and they love nothing more than to tell the world about it. London's The King Blues may not have been around for very long but they sure have fingers firmly on the social and political pulse. 'My Boulder' is the second single from the band's second album 'Save The World. Get The Girl'.

There are immediate and striking similarities to 'Tubthumping' by Chumbawamba - not so much musically but definitely in spirit. The basis of 'My Boulder' is a tearful conversation, predictably in a pub, between lead singer Itch and someone who has "lost everything that ever meant anything" . The sing-a-long chorus does not quite reach the rabble-rousing heights of its predecessor but it crashes in before the first ten seconds and makes an impact. Itch has a charming Joe Strummer gravely lilt to his voice as he recalls the reassuring chat with his alcohol-soaked comrade. The message is a simple one: instead of whining at the government and the establishment for handouts, we need to start helping each other.

'My Boulder' packs the same punch as 'Tubthumping' but approaches the concept from a different angle - less of a valiant last stand after being flattened and more a comforting hug. Two minutes in and there is a slightly comical reading of 'The Pied Piper Of Hamlyn' by Robert Browning which is lost under the music. Maybe that is the point - to ironically drown out the sorry tale of revenge in favour of the more positive message. After another blast of the chorus, more vocals tread all over the ending which would benefit from a quieter approach. These problems can be excused as the overall effect overshadows any indiscretions. 'My Boulder' is not quite the protest song Edwin Collins was looking for but a genuine message of hope and its subtly is its power.

-- CS (for The Music Magazine)

The Faint - The Geeks Were Right Single Review

A single review for The Music Magazine.

Schism can be a wonderful thing. In 1995, shortly after Todd Fink formed The Faint (then as the peculiarly named Norman Bailer), guitarist Conor Oberst quit the band and both parties went their separate ways. That is to say Oberst formed Bright Eyes and in retrospect it is easy to understand why the split happened. The existing members of The Faint were simply not making the music they wanted to make and their quest to break down stereotypes and define new boundaries forced them away from guitar-driven indie and country-rock. The band has produced six albums and two remix collections yielding varied results; not everything works with the best being 'Danse Macabre' following on from the cult success of 'Blank-Wave Arcade'. Now with a new record label (their own), The Faint release a new album 'Fasciinatiion' and first single 'The Geeks Were Right'.

From the opening few bars, 'The Geeks Were Right' sounds like a remix of The Killers - all buzzing electronica over stabbing guitars. Fink's vocoder-esque vocals simply echo this melody, right up to the hapless unimaginative chorus which should come with the warning: 'Mind The Gap'. Only in the second half does the song shake off this familiarity and attempt to take a different course. Fink's lyrics tell the prosaic tale of a distant future from "Egghead boys with thin white legs. They got modified features and software brains" to the Terminator influenced, but slightly obscure "Predator skills; Chemical wars; Plastic islands at sea; Watch what the humans ruin... with machines". You can see immediately what they have tried to do. Two minutes in and the electronics go haywire, just for a few seconds, before more of the same, to a very flat depressing ending.

Fusing dance and punk to create something new and compelling is proving to be a difficult art. Gone are the dark overtones and striking electronic gymnastics of the band's early work and the in-your-face punk stylings of previous album 'Wet From Birth'. The Faint has persevered were Oberst has simply flirted (see 2005's inconsistent 'Digital Ash in a Digital Urn') but this is like a modern day Kraftwerk without the charm or the innovation. The persistent guitar plodding lacks any form of deviation as does Fink - predictably in 'robot mode'. In searching for an identity, The Faint have not only failed to find it here, they have lost the one they once had.

-- CS (for The Music Magazine)

Ironik - No Point In Wasting Tears (Album Sampler)

A review for AltSounds.

I would not have chosen this to review but I never back out from a challenge and personal bias is all part of the process. Not that I hate hip-hop or RnB - I just don't go out of my way to listen to it. But I recognise good music, whatever the genre and this just isn't it. The main problem is the guy cannot sing or rap or do whatever he is trying to do. He needs a song writer or learn very quickly and his accent/language choices do not help. I reviewed this sampler as an advert for the album. Even though this is just six of the first eight songs, I doubt they are the best it has to offer.

The review:

In anticipation of his debut album 'No Point In Wasting Tears', twenty year old London rapper and DJ Ironik has previewed his songs with a six track album sampler. After winning Best Newcomer at the 2008 MOBO awards, we expect great things from this young UK rapper. Sadly, it is a truly annoying and frustrating listen. Maybe 2008 was a bad year for MOBO newcomers. Or maybe Ironik (if you excuse the lame spelling) is living up to his name and has everyone fooled.

When RnB and hip-hop is good, it is really good. It can be uplifting and challenging but also inspired and original. With a DJ at the helm, a wealth of songs and samples are fused into the mix to create unique textures and sounds. Ironik has done none of these things and to make matters even worse, his rapping is as hopeless as his song writing. Every song, with the exception of 'Broken' (sung by Digga) is plagued by his weak voice and some of the worse lyrics heard this year. A series of attempts at the same love song formula, in which he has to introduce himself every time, would be funny if it wasn't so tragic. He also consistently breaks the fourth wall and makes reference to the songs he is singing, as if he is doubting his own belief.

If you had the vinyl cut of the album you would be mistaken in thinking that the opening song 'Stay With me (Everybody's Free)' is being played at the wrong speed. But no, the sampling is supposed to be like that, lifted straight from Alvin And The Chipmunks. How this reached number five in the UK singles chart is a damning indictment of the world in which we live. At one point Ironik sings "Sometimes I sit and wonder, is this life really for me?". On this evidence, and in spite of his earnest outpouring of emotion, we all know the answer. 'I Wanna Be Your Man', introduced by another name proclamation, is more high pitched sampling and weak lyrics. Ironik keeps resorting to saying things like 'listen' and 'understand' when he has nothing useful to say, which is often. So yes there is a vibe but it is empty and soulless.

'Tiny Dancer (Hold Me Closer)', featuring the best of the guests: Elton John, almost works but sounds like a DJ singing over the original tune at a wedding. Another weaker song plagues it like a parasite. Due to this thin cohesion, the entire composition has no depth; there is no solid connection between the two singers of this 'duet'. The only song not to feature Ironik on vocals is 'Broken' and that is not much of an improvement. Instead of amateurish hip-hop, there is wet crooning. As the album progresses, the final two songs on this sampler show signs of promise. 'Tracy' makes a decent job of reworking the acoustic guitars of 'Dreams' but then Ironik starts singing - his worse vocals so far. In an attempt to make things more interesting on the chorus, a horrible vocoder is used. No quantity of technology can disguise his voice. Moving on, 'I'm Leaving' is a combination of sharp percussion, female backing vocals and a very dull piano track. The lead vocals are better but unfortunately the song writing is not.

The album has eighteen tracks so on the surface you certainly appear to get plenty of music for your money. But appearances are deceptive. Three of the songs are from other artists (Digga, Iain James & Ny and Daniel De Bourg) and only five songs do not feature some sort of collaboration. Not that this is a problem, as Ironik has obviously earned the respect of comrades and but it all looks and feels superficial. The sampler is only six out of the first eight songs but if these are the best he has to offer, something is seriously wrong. As a closing point, a cheesy line saying something like 'Save yourself the pain, there is no point wasting tears on this album' would be crass but entirely appropriate. But it really isn't worth the effort.

-- CS (for AltSounds)