Editors LIVE

Narrowly avoiding a "fracas" in the Chinese restaurant (it was only the fact that one of the three tosspots on the table near us himself tried to calm down his idiotic mates that saved them) it was onto the Apollo and bugger me it was busy. Or perhaps we were just later than usual. Loved the "you'll get your £5 back if your car is broken into" pledge by Tiger as well.

We missed the support act (which didn't sound a bad thing from what I could hear) and settled in nicely for the Editors. Who I don't really hate, despite my comments from time to time. That said, the lead singer's voice does get on my nerves. And it did get on my nerves.

That's not to say it totally got on my nerves, just during the slow ones. Which I really don't like. That said songs like Munich, Bones, Sparks and that new one are pretty damn good. And this is the third time that I've seen them live, so I doth protest too much on occasions. But that's funny.

Single Releases 03/08/07

Ok so first an apology. Yes, I did totally forget to review KT Tunstall's comeback single Hold On.
So better late than never...

It's good. I can't quite see why she keeps insisting it's got an "R'n'B" vibe to it, but maybe that's just me. My only criticism of it would be that it could do with a catchier chorus. It's not a bad chorus by any means but it drags the song down slightly. As for the "you've got to be drastic to be fantastic" thing, I'll hold judgement on that until the album.

Onto this week's stuff.

Girls Aloud slam back on the scene with Sexy! No No No. I'd prefer a question mark instead of an exclamation mark. But anyhoo, it's a decent effort. Not as catchy as their best stuff but it does have that tinge of maniacal genius that all their best stuff has. The opening is brilliant; the rest of the song doesn't quite match it. The "duh-duh-dirty mind" bit though is perfection.

Rhianna may be boring as a pop star, but she comes up with some cracking pop singles. Ok, so she's "presented" with them, but Shut Up & Drive is very good, although it's New Order recreation isn't as good as the Soft Cell driven SOS. But as I've said before; in pop terms what else is these days?

Bring out the Roast Chicken because James Blunt is back. 1973 is pretty awful though. And I'm speaking as someone who hasn't got sick of his album. He's come back with the kind of song the record company wanted him to come back with. It just doesn't have that soaring quality that his best singles have had. Ok, that High had.

Candie Payne's record company have finally decided that my tipping her for success in 2007 needn't mean the end of her career by getting Mark Ronson in to remix One More Chance. A good job he's done too. Now all I need is people to actually start buying her records.

Isn't this a "big name" single's week?

The Editors return with that one song they always do. Fair's fair though, they do do the one song very well. I'm growing less and less enamoured with his voice though every time I hear it. Watching them live may be a painful experience...only joking Gee man.

Is there a worse single this year knocking about than Plain White T's Hey There Delilah? There may be, but this is definitely on the short list. I particularly love how this song's success somehow is supposed to signify a good thing. It's not. They're rubbish, the song is rubbish and, in effect, this is naught but a novelty record.

Speaking of awful novelty records, we come to Beautiful Girls by Sean Kingston. It's a close run thing over whether this is worse than even Plain White T.

Of course both of those will sell thousands more copies than Lucky Soul's One Kiss Don't Make a Summer but then life isn't fair. Why it's been released now, instead of the height of the summer is beyond me, but then I don't run a record company do I?

Paramore's Hallelujah is a nice little track. Nothing earth shattering, but good all the same.

Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip are seemingly awesome. The Beat That My Heart Skipped is another winner.

As mentioned before, Bonde do Rolê don't quite have the killer single that would see them doing a "CSS" but Solta o Frango is a typically good track from them all the same.

An End Has A Start - Editors

I never had much truck with Editors the first time around. Well no, that's not strictly true. I didn't have at the beginning, but actually quite warmed to their debut album over time (and saw them live twice). So whilst I wasn't exactly frothing at the mouth at the prospect of a follow up, I was intrigued to the point that I was quite looking forward to it.

In the space of five minutes, lead single Smokers At The Hospital Door completely turned me off. Tom Smith's strangled cat vocals sounded worse than ever, the song was dull and the attempts at meaning, never really an Editors strong point, were laughable to say the least.

But what of the album as a whole? Sad to say, I don't find it particularly exciting or thrilling.

There are certain points, Bones and the title track, that echo at the possibility of future glory, but ironically they are also perhaps the two tracks that most resemble their best work from The Back Room. At other time the monotony is startling, as is the unremitting gloom. You've heard one Editors song, you've pretty much heard them all.

After the initial buzz dies down, I'd be very surprised if this has anywhere near the same impact as their debut.

Single Releases 18/06/07

Kate Nash releases Foundations this week. I'm not going to lie, I'm in love with her. That said, even though I am biased Foundations is insanely catchy and really very good indeed. As I've said I can see why people might be disinclined to like her, but to them I merely repeat what I've said before; you are wrong.

I really don't like that new Editors one. Whilst not a huge fan, I did enjoy their debut album but this one sounds like they've gone ever so slightly Coldplay.

4 In The Morning by Gwen Stefani is the other song from her album (alongside that last single) that is any good, so I approve!

I can't however approve of the latest Mel C single. It's awful and leaves you in no doubt as to why she's suddenly keen to reunite the Spice Girls, even if it is for one night only (Wembley anyone?).

I wanted to like Misery Business by Paramore more than I actually do. Having said that, whilst distinctly underwhelmed by the single, I do have more love for the album (review will follow at some point) so I'm not completely down on them.

I still, three singles in, don't see the point of Just Jack.

The Bravery have changed. They're still not any good though.

I'd Wait For Life is exactly the kind of crap that record companies think is "pop" and will appeal to the Radio 2 audience. Shame on you Take That.

I'm told this Robin Thicke fella is huge in the States. I hope he never makes it over here, but no doubt he will. Lost Without U is the kind of thing that would fill up space on a Justin Timberlake album, and I don't mean that in a good way.

It will of course outsell Siobhan Donaghy's sublime So You Say by about a million to one. That's just life I'm afraid.

That new Chemical Brothers one is choooooooooooooon!

I don't really find myself warming to Shame On You by Andrea Corr. It's amazing to think that for a time about 10 years, I thought the Corrs were brilliant and now I couldn't care less about them. And that's not me being "cool" or anything, I've just grown sick of them.

Marie Miller is a super-model who likes the films of Alfred Hitchcock. I'm not even going to spoil our burgeoning relationship by listening to her new single, No Ordinary Girl...ok, I thought I better listen to it. It's not too bad. Stars have been made out of a lot less.