James Arden checks out the garage rockers latest album.
The Christian rock band from Brighton bring religion to the masses.
Recipe for modern R'n'B album: liberal helpings of guest rappers and an overdose of sexual euphemisms.
LET'S DANCE! Or so advises Craig David in his new single 'Hot Stuff'. For this, his comeback single, he has sampled the great David Bowie - a move bound to appeal to many people, but probably not for Craig's input on this track. I predict that it will definitely be popular; it's likeable, and easy to sing/dance along to, but it perhaps relies too much on Mr. Bowie. Weirdly, the video for this song isn't inspired by Bowie, but instead is combination of Hammertime-esque dancing, girls wearing bunny masks and the typical Craig David bikini-clad lovelies. The link here isn't entirely clear. For my part, I think that the single and video are desperate attempts to appeal to everyone... although who enjoys the half-naked girl, wearing nothing but a bikini and half a rabbit suit is anyone's guess.
And now to a cover of an old classic that actually works! This week Jose Gonzalez releases his cover of Massive Attack's Teardrop. When dealing with old songs that are still incredibly popular, there is always the potential to screw up; however, Gonzalez pulls it off with wonderful results. He doesn’t stray from the original formula, but puts his on subtle mark on it. Fans of Massive Attack, Gonzalez and music in general will love this one.
This really is a week for old-made-new...! Paul McCartney has released the latest single from his new album Memory Almost Full, appropriately titled 'Ever Present Past'. He has certainly managed to produce a song that is completely different from his Beatles origin, but is still absolutely brilliant! The song itself is pretty simple, allowing McCartney's vocals to take centre stage, which I really love. Unlike many artists trying to make a comeback and trying too hard (*cough Westlife cough*) McCartney has simply written a great song. Enough said.
Now for something you probably won't have heard before! My housemate alerted me to Manchester-based band The Answering Machine, as he grew up living up the road, and even though I've not heard much of their stuff, I really like the single 'Light Bulbs' released 5th November. It's the kind of indie song that lots of people will enjoy, a fairly safe release from a new band, but you can tell that they have a lot of potential as a group (plus, I've been assured they are a group of 'really safe' people). Look out for big things from the Answering Machine in the future.
For now though, let’s just cross our fingers and hope that Craig David doesn’t sample MC Hammer in his next single, Jose Gonzalez doesn’t push it too far, do something crazy and cover Wet Wet Wet’s ‘Love Is All Around’ and Westlife refrain from releasing another ‘see how emotional we can still be’ single.
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