Things that have been shit this week: Craig nearly getting the boot in The Evil Joseph Show; incredibly painful sunburn; finding out who’s nabbed the seventh place on the street corner that is the Pussycat Dolls, thus destroying the remainder of the series for us; and the Overrated Apes continuing to con the public into thinking they possess an iota of talent. Things that are not shit this week: the Single Reviews…
Returning to the spotlight as a solo artist this week is
Dolores O’Riordan. It’s positive to see a worthwhile artist representing the Emerald Isle, something which the charts have been sadly bereft of in the past couple of years. Far removed from the strident, heated charisma of The Cranberries,
Ordinary Day is a mid-tempo stroll along an impossibly straight road. But what it lacks in vigour, it counteracts with uncomplicated Irish charm.
On to one of the most interesting new acts of the year, the rather fascinating
Mr Hudson & The Library. Frustratingly, they’re habitually dismissed as measly blue-eyed reggae, but
Ask The DJ makes colossal progress in setting this stereotype straight. A stop-start anthem of laidback flair, not only does it claim our
Single of the Week, but proves Mr Hudson & The Library are not a band to take at face value.
Another act who began the year on every showbiz column’s clichéd Ones! To! Watch! lists are
The Noisettes, and not without reason. Their energetic, high-gloss rock showed them to be a well-polished Juliette & The Licks. However,
Scratch Your Name is so resolutely adhered to the overall formula, it’s all beginning to feel a bit gimmicky. Also, we’ve begun finding it hard not to think of the little green triangles in Quality Street.
The serially-underrated and all-round bloody lovely person
Beverley Knight cries out for that second
Shoulda Woulda Coulda. Sadly,
No Man’s Land is not it. It ticks most of the boxes, no question - lyrically pleasing, gentle melody, superb vocals, merely lacking the character required to actually push people to take notice. Keep at it, Bev, we have faith.
Finally, the joy-on-paper collaboration of
Manic Street Preachers and Nina Persson proves to be a rather pleasant one in actuality, too. That said, were it not for the presence of Persson,
Your Love Alone Is Not Enough would be somewhat unremarkable in the wake of previous anthems. Sure, it’s been a good two years since they last showed their mugs, but there’s no escaping the mighty shadow of Design For Life and Motorcycle Emptiness. Good, just not Manics good.
Things that have been shit this week: Craig nearly getting the boot in The Evil Joseph Show; incredibly painful sunburn; finding out who’s nabbed the seventh place on the street corner that is the Pussycat Dolls, thus destroying the remainder of the series for us; and the Overrated Apes continuing to con the public into thinking they possess an iota of talent. Things that are not shit this week: the Single Reviews…
Returning to the spotlight as a solo artist this week is Dolores O’Riordan. It’s positive to see a worthwhile artist representing the Emerald Isle, something which the charts have been sadly bereft of in the past couple of years. Far removed from the strident, heated charisma of The Cranberries, Ordinary Day is a mid-tempo stroll along an impossibly straight road. But what it lacks in vigour, it counteracts with uncomplicated Irish charm.
On to one of the most interesting new acts of the year, the rather fascinating Mr Hudson & The Library. Frustratingly, they’re habitually dismissed as measly blue-eyed reggae, but Ask The DJ makes colossal progress in setting this stereotype straight. A stop-start anthem of laidback flair, not only does it claim our Single of the Week, but proves Mr Hudson & The Library are not a band to take at face value.
Another act who began the year on every showbiz column’s clichéd Ones! To! Watch! lists are The Noisettes, and not without reason. Their energetic, high-gloss rock showed them to be a well-polished Juliette & The Licks. However, Scratch Your Name is so resolutely adhered to the overall formula, it’s all beginning to feel a bit gimmicky. Also, we’ve begun finding it hard not to think of the little green triangles in Quality Street.
The serially-underrated and all-round bloody lovely person Beverley Knight cries out for that second Shoulda Woulda Coulda. Sadly, No Man’s Land is not it. It ticks most of the boxes, no question - lyrically pleasing, gentle melody, superb vocals, merely lacking the character required to actually push people to take notice. Keep at it, Bev, we have faith.
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