Single Releases 15/10/07

This week I LOVE;

The Wombats - Lets Dance To Joy Division
Blood Red Shoes – I Wish I Was Someone Better
Mika – Happy Ending (no, really I do)

This week I QUITE LIKE;

Concretes – Keep Yours
Richard Hawley – Serious
Robots in Disguise - The Sex Has Made Me Stupid
Jimmy Eat World – Big Casino

This week I COULD REALLY DO WITHOUT:

Common feat Lily Allen - Drivin' Me Wild
Timbaland & OneRepublic – Apologize
Los Campesinos! - International Tweexcore Underground

I HOPE I NEVER HAVE THE PAIN OF HEARING THIS EVER AGAIN:

Orson – Ain’t No Party

Single Releases 16/07/07

Despite the fact that I'm' falling out of love with Lily Allen to some degree, I do enjoy her collaboration with Mark Ronson on Oh My God. Horns maketh the music, that's what I say. It's joyous in a way that the Kaiser Cheifs are no longer.

If you want my opinion on Joss Stone's new single, I think that my album review said all that needs to be said.

Well Thought Out Twinkles by the Silversun Pickups is quite the hidden gem. Check it out.

Jarvis Cocker is as relevant as ever on Fat Children. It's quite the song too. Not destined to see him top the charts of course, but in some cases chart positions can take a back seat.

Someone please explain the point of Biffy Clyro.

Nothing Changes Around Here say The Thrills. Well that just about sums it up. The Thrills are the sort of band that everyone sort of likes without ever really being able to say why. They're not bad, but in the final analysis they're not that good either.

I like the Victorian English Gentlemens Club, and their new single La Mer / Stupid As Wood is the kind of thrash noise stuff you'd expect from them. Not the best thing they've ever released but still something I enjoy.

In one of those regular "drunk on a Saturday night" moments I caught the video to XX Teen's Darling on MTV. Very funny video, but the song just seemed to be sub-par Young Knives to me.

Elvis Perkins is quite the talent. While You Were Sleeping is quite the tune. Ace, is how I would describe it.

Amy MacDonald is getting a lot of hype at the moment in certain places. Given the sheer ordinariness of Mr Rock And Roll, I fail to see quite why.

Maths + English - Dizzee Rascal

The first salient point about this album is clear as soon as you look down the track listing and see "feat. Lilly Allen" and "feat. Alex Turner"; this is Dizzee going "mainstream", which is just as well given that "grime" is pretty much dead in the water these days.

Of course there are still those old "gang violence" references in full flow but if nothing else it's likely to be the only rap album you'll ever hear with the lyrics "Pull your trousers up!... Read a book!... Find a pretty girl and settle!"

As you might expect at times the juxtaposition of these two ideas does jar, but there are a number of fantastic moments on this album.

Chief one is Pussyole, which is the finest song of the rap genre that I've heard in quite some time, and excitement is also to be found on the likes of Sirens (think Jay Z's 99 Problems set in London) and Where's Da G's (which talks about "fake aggression" on the streets and includes the "find a pretty girl and settle" line quoted earlier).

As for the Allen and Arctic Monkeys tie-in's, they're good, but don't match up to the best moments on the album. And if I'm being really honest, Allen's appearance here grates on me for some reason.

And on the whole this is a remarkable album. The variety of it may surprise some, but it provides the album with the magic that makes it pretty irresistible.

Lily Allen LIVE

Things were looking bleak when fish and chips were followed by the pub we were planning on going to being shut (perhaps they'd heard we were coming) but for once that little pub by the Apollo wasn't ram-packed to buggery so we were able to have a few quiet drinks whilst watching the legend that is Ray Stubbs do that Fame Academy thing.

We also found ourselves sat with a table-full of lesbians. But that's another story for another time (and for a less family-friendly blog).

We had quite a good view (despite only arriving 10 minutes before Lily was due on) and whilst the crowd being full of young girls made me feel very old it did also mean that I had a brilliant view throughout the entire concert. Which makes a nice change.

Lily was her usual wonderful self, despite her claiming problems with her voice. Truth be told you wouldn't have noticed if she hadn't mentioned it, she was that good.

She rattled through most of Alright, Still and threw in a few choice B-sides (although she rather confusingly kept telling us that they were "unreleased" songs). She also treated us to some new cover versions.

Blondie's Heart Of Glass was given an acoustic reggae twinge, there was a respectful (and close to the original) version of the Specials' Blank Expression and, best of all, there was a delightful version of the Kaiser Chiefs' Oh My God.

There was also an absolutely hilarious impression of Joss Stone ("big love to Amy Winehouse") that is still making me chuckle as I write this.

So basically this was another winning night with Lily Allen. Those who have labelled her nothing more than a flash in the pan must had better be gettin ready to eat their words.