SINGLE: Creed – Rain

Although I pencilled in: ’2pm, listen to rubbish cheesy AOR [Adult Oriented Rock] song; 2:05pm write scathing review’, I’ll be darned if I don’t like this song from start to finish. On first listen it’s energetic, fresh sounding and easy on the ear. Lead singer Scott Stapp has the ‘Eddie Vedder vocal cheesifier’ turned up […]
This track so nearly passed me by. I don’t listen to the radio much, I barely watch TV (which ignoring The World Service both so rarely broadcast something of interest), but luckily the night staff at my day job left a music channel running and I happened upon Velvet. You may already know the arrogant […]

SINGLE: The Big Pink – Velvet

SINGLE: Placebo – Bright Lights

Since I last heard Placebo, Brian Molko has been to the Des’Ree school of lyric writing and may have read two entire books. I find the lyrics of ‘Bright Lights’ to be nothing short of atrocious. His voice sounds like a parody of its former self, with little power or emotion, and the song relies […]
If you’ve ever thought that no one could be so preposterously immature as to actually write a song like Lick My Love Pump, think again. Ginuwine wrote a song called Pony, which features the following lines (please note that these words are delivered without the slightest hint of irony): If you’re horny, Let’s do it […]

SINGLE: Far – Pony

SINGLE: Marina & The Diamonds – Hollywood

Can Marina and those flawless Diamonds make it 4 perfect single releases? The answer is actually and surprisingly no. While Hollywood has those same eccentricities that has seen the British press roll around suppliantly on its back, the basic song writing just isn’t there this time. It’s a stumble that hasn’t dampened my excitement at […]
I’d go so far to say, Hyperdub is one of my top labels of all time, alongside Moving Shadows, Offkey Recordings, Tempa and a handful more. It’s a label that to me truly pushes boundaries, and isn’t afraid to bring you something new. To clarify, by new I don’t just mean a new artist, I […]

SINGLE: DVA – Natty/Ganja

SINGLE: Musée Méchanique – Like Home

Three small, stupidly juxtaposed words used in connection with Musée Méchanique sent my blood pressure soaring with near fatal consequence. They are Neutral Milk Hotel – the finest band with the stupidest name of all time. Is this an appropriate comparison, or were the promoters raising my hopes only to dash them with crushing force? […]
In a recent interview, Travis Bonilla, pseudonym Quail Lungs, tells of a New Year bender which left him with a two day hangover not even weed could cure.  From the quality of the recordings which range from near inaudible to a whining assault on your senses you figure these tracks were made the wrong end of […]

SINGLE: Quail Lungs – Dumb Dadadum

SINGLE: Ash – Space Shot

‘Space Shot’ is another by-the-numbers offering from the Northern Irish pop-rockers. A perfect pop song in many respects, it never deviates from the tried and trusted production values that dominate the singles chart nowadays: quirky intro, verse-chorus-verse, weird synth solo and all the trimmings. It also sounds like it was written by a computer program […]
A funky little disco tune, Stand, is a tricky little track which urges us repeatedly to Stand Up for our minds.  It sounds like a meaningless but pleasantly familiar lyric ideal for dancing; but as the song ends you realise Woolf was issuing an early warning to us to beware of a tune which leaves you […]

SINGLE: Othello Woolf – Stand