A list of things you will not find mentioned during this week’s Single Reviews: the Pope, or anything related to the papal visit; nation’s sweetheart Cheryl Cole; any coverage or predictable jokes relating to the sentencing and imprisonment of George Michael; the Lib Dem conference (AKA Selloutfest 2010); or match-fixing allegations rocking the world of cricket. However, we hope the above mentions of such stories will at least add a few digits to our hitcounter.
You know that anonymous, oily black gunk you sometimes find on yourself post-Tube travel? Well, Ke$ha has created the audio version, as depicted in the scuzz-pop of Take It Off, an electro-ho anthem sampling that pseudo-Egyptian ditty many a schoolkid knew a filthy update on. Well, this is Ke$ha, bitches, and she outfilthies the lot. Irksome, nauseating and tasteless, and yet, it’s hard not to love her for it.
KT Tunstall’s status as immovable Radio 2 staple may mean her talents are often overlooked in the bigger picture, but on the eve of her third album Tiger Suit, she proves there’s still plenty to be impressed – if not necessarily excited – by. A subtle, swooning lullaby in the form of (Still A) Weirdo may not boast the loop-pedal lunacy she won us over with, but she remains a worthwhile British talent.
Single of the Week goes – very deservingly – to Richard Ashcroft, or more accurately, his pretentiously-titled new project of RPA and the United Nations of Sound. Having already provided one of the year’s greatest albums, they now pluck the gleaming distinction of This Thing Called Life from the mix, putting its warm, soul-flecked indie front-and-centre. (It also shamelessly references The Drugs Don’t Work, which = WIN.)
And last up, Nicki Minaj finally makes good on the inescapable buzz surrounding her with the haunting hip-hop of Your Love. An inspired use of Annie Lennox’s No More I Love Yous already sets Your Love apart from the great glut of beigeness filling the urban pigeonhole of late, but Minaj has a style all of her own. And certainly, her overt trashiness and helium-inflected rhymes will create as many detractors as fans, but then, is that not the mark of a great artist?
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