singles
november 03
singles overload. postal strike catchup.
amplifier - the consultancy
massive sounding epic rock. forthcoming single 'the consultancy' could propel this unknown act onto the world stage, the track hits the ground running and provides an excellent insight into this new talent. the other tracks on the album sampler dont have the same edge and urgency and drift into long drawn out affairs. some works, some doesn't.
the rapture - sister saviour
erin mckeown - born to hum
lovely singlalong song the type that susanne vega once excelled in, and probably the best use of a ukele in a pop song for many years. erin has refined her obvious talents moving into far more listenable territories following her rather stripped down debut. here she fleshes out the instrumetation and creates a full band feel, but, retaining the warmth and natural sounding pop song. expect to hear this a lot on radio2 and find yourself waiting till the end to find out who it is by.
michael franti/spearhead - everyone deserves music
having mot heard any of michaels post disposable heroes stuff this came as a very welcome surprise. uplifting old school soul music. not machine driven production music that is being released under the pretence of soul. recalling the 60/70's feel good soul music. coming on like a top quality lenny kravitz pop song without the pompousity and rock overload. i want to hear more. which is surely the whole point of a single. oh, and i believe that the band are on tour in the uk soon.
the moonies - the rock and roll ep
press release and the cover plug the fact that this is produced by the strokes producer, gordon raphael. soz, but this pulls no punches in this small corner of the web. but, that aside this is a great little ep. spiky punk pop like the undertones and buzzcocks once thrilled the pop charts with. and any song that tells stories of going to a record shop to a catchy supergrass type of song are always going to win me over. these 4 songs rush by and lodge themselves firmly in your favourable section of memory.by some strange coincidence i believe that the band are touring with the buzzcocks. a perfect match.
razorlight - rip it up
having seen the name being bandied about i suspect that this lot are going to be in the centre of a media hyperbole over the next few months. i hope the band survive. debut release sets out the bands talents. short sharp uptempo catchy guitar pop songs. pretty damn fine. readers of certain music weeklies are gonna love it, and quite rightly too. but, for listeners of a cetain age there will be only one reference point that will get recycled. television. the bands lead singer has vocals qualities that are very similar to those of tom verlaines, too close in some sections of the songs. but that aside these 6 songs (2 cd singles, 1 7" vinyl) are a fine start. see you in 12 months. hopefully.
speedy j/adam beyer - collabs 100
the wildhearts - top of the world
now that overblown melodramatic rock is back, though i dont subscribe to the church of the darkness myself, i am chuffed to bits to see ginger back on track following his years of being an outsider, hopefully this time round his records will find their deserved audience. this is great fun rock-n-roll. and not one falsetto vocal trick to be heard.
mogul - play away