Set Me Free - Marion Raven

If Avril Lavigne or Kelly Clarkson were Norwegian and were putting together an album of potential Eurovision Song Contest entries, Set Me Free by Marion Raven would probably be the sort of thing that would result.

And now I've got rid of three quarters of the readers of this blog, we can continue.

The salient points to get out of the way are that 22 year old Raven wrote (or co-wrote) every track on the album, she can actually play the guitar and piano and rather messily extricated herself from a major Atlantic Records deal so she could released the album she wanted to. Fact fiends will also be aware that she was the woman who accompanied Meatloaf on his terrible version of the terrible Celine Dion's terrible song It's All Coming Back To Me from Bat Out Of Hell III.

She's brought along a whole host of fantastic songwriters for the ride, including Max Martin and Chantal Kreviazuk and has also co-written with Nikki Sixx, who's called her "the most talented new artist I’ve worked with since I’ve been making music." Which probably says more about him than it does her.

The sheer weight of collaborators on this album means that anyone looking for a cohesive piece of work might as well go home. It does also mean though that whilst there are definite duff moments, there are also some sparkling ones too, with the pick of the bunch probably being the piano-driven 13 Days.

Far too often though the album is a little too predictable and unoriginal. There's nothing that's particularly offensive and if this all sounds like your kind of thing then you'll not be too disappointed with the album. Those who want a bit more might find themselves hoping that next time around someone might get Marion Raven to show a bit of restraint and focus on her strengths.

Poison Kiss - The Last Goodnight

I am a mind reader. I bet when you were drifting to sleep last night you were thinking just how the musical world needs a "new Maroon 5". And lo and behold, here they are...The Last Goodnight.

It's the same upbeat 80's pop style fast songs mixed with the same mellow and boring ballads that you might expect from Adam Levine and the boys with some laborious Darren Hayes style vocals tossed in.

The fact that they make copious use of the piano is a plus point and I would have to admit that this album, if only by default is better than Maroon 5's It Won't Be Soon Before Long. But then again that is one of the most soulless albums of 2007; this isn't far behind but does at least have the advantage of not being quite so nauseous.

Ten New Messages - The Rakes

Well if KT Tunstall has gone "pop", then the 2007 version of The Rakes have followed a similar
trajectory. But, for my money, it's been a good move. Much like Maximo Park earlier this year, the Rakes have followed a critically acclaimed album that underwhelmed me with a second album that may not get the same fevered response from a lot of critics but is a record that I prefer.

The brashness and punk ethic that encapsulated the likes of 22 Grand Job has pretty much disappeared, to be replaced by reflective, but utterly melodic, tunes.

At it's best it's brilliant. The likes of Down With Moonlight are sublime and there are a few tracks, like We Danced Together, that get better every time you hear them again.

The only real places when it gets a little too misplaced is on the likes of Suspicious Eyes, a game attempt to write a song relevant for these terrorist influenced times but one that falls flat. It's neither sharp enough lyrically, or memorable enough musically to convince. Similarly When Tom Cruise Cries is a game effort, but just not a very memorable song (seemingly exactly the same all the way through it's near five minute running time) and whilst the idea of song largely concerned with mobile phone signals being crap may sound interesting, Mike Skinner has already given us much wittier examples of how to do it properly.

So it's not a perfect record, and I can well imagine fans of their first album being very suspicious when they first hear it. Still, it is a good record which does improve with repeat listens.

It's All A Bit Complicated - Art Brut

In a world where every British rock star seems at pains to paint themselves as "serious" (for one, witness the new Kaiser Chiefs record) it's a bit of a bonus to have Art Brut. Because their second album, It's All A Bit Complicated, directly follows the witty, crazy and catchy template that their debut, Bang Bang Rock 'N' Roll, brought us.

The one thing they have cranked up though this time around, are the tunes. Indeed, even at their most obtuse, Art Brut have always been about the tune and It's A Bit Complicated is one of the catchiest pop records you'll hear all year.

Direct Hit, if there was any justice, would send them into the Chart stratosphere with its catchy, and instantly singable, chorus and genuinely funny lyrics (based around tongue-tied night clubbers dancing rather than talking to their crush). There's plenty of other tracks that could provide a similar success, such as People In Love and Nag Nag Nag Nag, but there's also a couple of more reflective tracks, such as Sounds Of The Summer with it's narrative of compiling a "mix-tape", that work as well.

Art Brut have often been accused of being one trick ponies and favouring style over substance. This album should prove the doubters wrong on both counts.

LP1 - Plastiscines

Looking for something to tide me over until the new Donna's album, I found myself grabbing this, the debut album from Plastiscines, a quartet of French nubile's (all under 20, or so I believe) who specialise in catchy pop/punk tunes.

Subtle it isn't; half in French, half in broken-English it could be summed by saying it's three chords on distorted guitars, drums and bass thudding away and never outstaying its welcome. All the songs are less than three minutes (some not reaching two) and the entire album is over in less than half an hour.

If it's all sounding a bit daft then don't worry; it's actually really rather good.

It's packed with memorable and catchy tunes and half the fun is ticking off the list of influences (Blondie, The Kinks, The Ramones, Patti Smith, The B52's to name but a few) that the band's own press release homes in on.

It also has a sense of mischief and humour that is missing from a lot of records like this, and a Gaelic charm all of it's own. If you can resist the likes of Pop In Pop Out, (Zazie fait de la) Bicyclette and Loser I'd suggest finding yourself a little joie de vivre.

I can't think of a more enjoyable way of passing 28 minutes of your day.

Single Releases 10/09/07

With all apologies to anyone else releasing a single this week, in protest against The Sheilas and (I'm So) Happy Happy (You're Mine) I refuse to review properly this week.

This is one of the worst records ever, and I hate it. So there.

Drastic Fantastic - KT Tunstall

This album was second only to Rilo Kiley in terms of my most anticipated album of 2007. Yes this was more important than Kate Nash mainly because Eye To The Telescope was one of my most loved albums of the past few years. Indeed I remember with a fondness having to change my top albums list of 2004 list about 3 seconds before I was due to unveil it to the world because even though ETTT had only been out for about 2 weeks before the end of the year I had to include it.

Of course all this ignores the fact that Acoustic Extravaganza was a complete waste of my time, but as that's not a "proper" album I'll continue to treat that as an aberration that I need not bother with. But in many ways it signifies the problem that Tunstall faces. Eager to stay true to her roots she may be, but when your debut album sells 4 million copies your record company want something similar next time out.

And indeed we get two KT Tunstall's for the price of one here. We get the glamour pop princess on the one hand (one only needs to look at the cover picture), whilst the old folk KT still wants it's time in the spotlight. You cannot deny that on certain tracks, radio-friendly pop mega sellers were certainly in mind.

In might come as little surprise to anyone who's had more than a passing conversation with me that the pop side of things is very much to my liking. The likes of Little Favours, If Only and Hold On are instantly memorable. Indeed, despite it's lack of a decent chorus, I was singing Hold On for about three days after first hearing the album in it's entirety - a feat all the more remarkable considering it's playing in isolation never moved me all that much as a single.

I Don't Want You Now and next single Saving My Face aren't quite up to those levels but are both good songs as well.

I have to admit that it all gets a bit too pedestrian for me in parts. Paper Aeroplane and White Bird are not terrible songs, but can't really hold a candle to the slower songs from ETTT and without being too unkind, Beauty Of Uncertainty might well prove to be my cue for a toilet break at the upcoming tour. Slim it down to 3 minutes instead of 5 and it might have kept me interested for it's duration.

Still all is not lost on this side of the coin. Someday Soon just enchants me. Its simple, but wonderfully heartfelt and is the song that most grabs me like Heal Over did on its predecessor.

It's hard to say that it's better than Eye To The Telescope, and I have to admit to not really believing the "you have to be drastic to be fantastic" line that Tunstall has been spinning, but that doesn't make this a bad album.

It has enough shiny pop hits to captivate the casual fan who loves her on the basis of Black Horse & Cherry Tree or Suddenly I See and also, despite my ambivalence to some of the tracks, enough of the softer/acoustic side of KT that drew in other people as well.

The only "negative" I can really come up with is that at times it seems as if KT is trying to be all things to all people and as such it doesn't have the cohesive brilliance of Telescope and it's not the great leap that it might have been. Still, whilst it may not be convincingly "Drastic", at least it's a lot closer to being "Fantastic".

Kala - M.I.A

The one thing you can say with certainty about this record is that you can definitely tell that it was recorded in America, India, Japan, Trinidad, Australia, and Jamaica. This is not your standard "mono sound" album filled with identical tracks, this is a sonic melting pot to an insane degree. The question is, does that mean it's any good?

Well for the most part it does.

Be it the Indian drums pervading Bird Flu, the Clash sample on Paper Planes or the appearance of Afrikan Boy on Hussel there is always something bombarding your senses.

The only real problem is that those of you looking for a classic "tune" might find yourselves with a task on your hand. And when you consider that one of the few songs that does have a catchy tune, Jimmy, sounds exactly like something you'd expect from Boney M you might be put off already. (For the record, for all the "who sung what" nonsense, Boney M were awesome).

But whilst this album may in some ways be purposefully alienating you there is no doubting the power of it. It may not get it right every time, but you'll not hear anything remotely like this anywhere else this year...and that has to count for something.

Hey Venus - Super Furry Animals

I've seen them live quite a few times (including that awful year at Leeds when they attempted to alienate 95% of the audience with a largely Welsh-Language set) but I would never call myself an avid fan. It's the tendency to, well, go off on one and lose track of what constitutes a tune that has never quite meant that I get too enamoured.

Thankfully, for me at least, their eighth studio album Hey Venus sees them firmly in the effervescent pop mode.

Yes it has all the usual off-beat genius you would expect, but it consistently wraps them up in gorgeous and memorable melodies.

Be it the Wall Of Sound, erm... sounding, Run Away, the almost glam rock posturing of Neo Consumer or the straight up rock of Baby Ate My Eight Ball the album is an almost constant delight.

Sure the supposed concept story of the album (a young woman moving from a small town to a big city with tragic consequences) will probably pass you by but since when has there been anything wrong with a rag-bag series of great songs one after another.

It's unlikely to win the Furry's any new fans but anyone with any previous liking for their unique brand of pop will find an awful lot to enjoy on here.

Sweet Danger - Suzy Bogguss

Suzy Bogguss hasn't had a quantifiable Country hit this century but this might actually have been a good thing as far as this listener is concerned. No longer recording to have "hits" has freed up Bogguss to really show her musical chops. This is proved again with Sweet Danger, an album you could just as much call jazz as you could country.

The cynical amongst us could label the "change" of sound a calculated gamble given the fact that A) Bogguss wasn't selling many records as a Country artist and B) the likes of Norah Jones have made this kind of coffee table lounge sound very "of the moment". But that would be to do Bogguss a dis-service.

The clear reference point for me in many ways was Suzanne Vega; whilst never threatening to come anywhere near to the excellence that Vega has made her trademark it has the gentle but vital heart-beat that makes her records such as absorbing treat.

No Good Way To Go is a case in point, and is perhaps the closest thing to a "rap" song you'll find a 50 year old Country artist doing, but it's not the only highlight.
Her cover of Chicago’s “If You Leave Me Now” is a pleasant surprise and In Heaven, the closest thing to traditional country you'll find shows that whatever Nashville may say to the contrary, there is a place for "old country" in the modern marketplace.

Of course it's difficult to see this appealing to Bogguss' long standing country fans, although for the most part it's them who are missing out. Bogguss has the voice to carry this "new direction" off very well and this is well worth a listen.

Mercury Music Award

"This album is not very good. It's three or four good songs, surrounded by fairly poor tracks."

So said your esteemed blogger about the Klaxons chances of winning the Mercury Music Award for their album. Shows what I know doesn't it?

Anyway, in my defence I'm sure it was just the prospect of what Amy Winehouse may have spent £20,000 on if she'd won that cost her the prize. (Incidentally it was nice to see her piss off all of 30 seconds after not winning - mind you with the cringeworthy acceptance speech by the Klaxons - think grown men drunk, crying and swearing - you can't blame her).

Forget for a moment that Bat For Lashses should have won (and I put my money where my mouth was with a tenner at 7/1 for them - in the days before Fur & Gold became one of the favourites) and lets examine Myths of the Near Future. Months down the line I'm only the more convinced that the album is a handful of cracking singles surounded by filler.

And as for the statement that the Klaxons have "taken music forward" with the album...a cover version of Not Over Yet really is cutting edge for 2007 isn't it?

Still my friends it could have been worse; The View could have won.

Coolest Album Cover. Ever

Ok, so it'a slow news week...

But it is a pretty cool cover isn't it?

This US version comes with two new tracks, Dance and Boogie and Baby, Just Be Yourself. Neither are particularly my favourite Pipettes songs ever but I do have a sneaky liking for Dance and Boogie especially.

Some proper reviews of other stuff will follow soon.

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.

Don't Look Away - Kate Voegele

One review of this album I read said that listening to Kate Voegele's debut album Don't Look Away was a lot like reading your big sister's diary; mostly boring but every once in a while there was something juicy to grab your attention.

Listening to this album I knew exactly what they meant.

It's would be easy to dismiss Voegele as your typical young empowered female singer-songwriter and given that this is released on Myspace Records you wouldn't be far wrong if you lumped this in with the likes of Colbie Caillat. Yes we're firmly in the "pleasant but we've heard it all before territory".

Of course because she writes her own songs and has, you know, guitars and stuff on her records many will give her the benefit of the doubt and it is fair to say that there are occasional signs on this record that Voegele has potential. A particular favourite of mine was I Won't Disagree. a lovely bluesy number with a real kick to it.

In the end though it falls between two stools; it's clear that we're supposed to think that Voegele has genuine "singer-songwriter" credentials, but then a lot of the time this is presented to us in the form of tunes that Kelly Clarkson might reject as unsubtle.

As ever, or so it seems with these things, what we have in the end with this is an artist with potential, but nothing really on this debut album that really sets her apart from the chasing pack.

This Record Is About Cars - The Debut

As far as I can tell, this isn't about cars, but don't let that put you off.

What it is, is a straight up rock 'n' roll record with a distinctly pop edge. Lyrically it's your usual "love and loss" theme but there is no denying that it is certainly catchy.

Indeed tracks like Hey!, So Far Away and Last Chance would sit comfortably on your modern radio stations, and could, in the right circumstances, provide decent hits for the band.

Occasionally it all drifts apart amidst clumsy songs titles (Calm Objective Opinion anyone?) but if the idea of "Weezer meets a less shit Maroon 5" appeals to you, you'll find plenty to enjoy on this, ahem, debut album.

Because I'm Awesome - The Dollyrots

If only for the title alone, title track Because I'm Awesome would be, well, awesome. That it's also three and a half minutes of minor punk-pop genius. An instantly memorable riff coupled with an addictive chorus equals a brilliant pop tune.

So far so good. But then something strange happens. Track 2, My Best Friend's Hot transcends it's cringeworthy title to be also be a very good song as well. It's not that far removed from its immediate predecessor in terms of style and sound but it has an addictive energy and charm that is difficult to ignore.

And that pattern pretty much carries on throughout the album. It's not earth shatteringly different at any point but does what it sets out to do very well indeed. Most songs offer a catchy and thoroughly "sing-a-longable" chorus in the vein of an Avril Lavigne (when she's not being a miserable mardy bitch) or Joan Jett (which isn't too much of a surprise as it's released on her own Blackheart Record label). This is fun, jaunty pop music which delights and offers up a hell of a lot of fun despite it's glaringly obvious lack of originality.

In Our Bedroom After The War - Stars

Stars' last album, Set Yourself On Fire, was sublime (the 17th best album of 2007 if you listen to some people....) which immediately brings up, shall we say, issues with the follow up before you've even put it in the CD player. Can In Our Bedroom After The War live up to it's predecessor? Will it offer anything new to the Stars experience?

Well as ever the answer isn't clear cut. It's probably not the work of outright genius that SYOF was but it's still a very good record. And whilst it probably isn't a huge sonic leap forward from that album, if the thing's not broke why bother fixing it?

Indeed lyrically the album concerns pretty much the same themes of love, both lost and won. Having said that, there aren't many songs like Personal in the rock cannon (concerning the tale of a couple who meet through an online dating agency but never meet because when the man gets the woman's picture he decides she's too heavy).

Still if such heartbreaking moments aren't for you, there is still plenty of opportunity to "rock out" to the likes of Bitches In Tokyo.

It's the slower moments, such as the sublime My Favourite Book, that grabbed me the most and although the album will inevitably lose in comparisons to Set Yourself On Fire in some senses, we shouldn't forget that In Our Bedroom After The War is a grand album in it's own right; surely that counts for a lot.

Comnbinations - Eisley

It's clear from the onset that the band's second album sees Eisley "growing up" to a certain extent. But indeed whilst the playfulness that abounded on Room Noises is perhaps missing to a certain extent, the music is as good as ever. It also retains that somewhat "out there" vibe that permeates their best work with the feeling that you never can quite be sure what's coming next.

Thankfully, "what comes next" is usually very good indeed. From the opening, almost Muse-like, rock track Many Funerals to the gentle closer If You're Wondering this is a constantly delightful album.

The real stand out tracks include Invasion, which is another Muse-esque rocker, the pop-tastic Taking Control and Ten Cent Blues, which may well be the best of the lot.

Ok, so there is the sense that you could categorise the entire Eisley output in the terms of "this sounds like Band A" and "this sounds like Band B" and such is the wide scope of musical endeavour throughout this album that you find yourself finding that the album doesn't quite hang as a cohesive whole. But those are minor problems when the end result is so joyous and uplifting. At once commercial and distinctly uncommercial the contradictions on show during the album, to me at least, only make the album all the more impressive.

Once Upon A Time In The West - Hard-Fi

I doubt I'll be surprising any regular readers of this site when I tell you that I hate Hard-Fi. Actually that might be a bit harsh. Truth be told they have done a couple of half decent songs which don't see me wishing death on the band every time I hear them. The problem is the band themselves. Rightly or wrongly, and there is the chance that they are great blokes, every time I see them, be it performing a song or doing an interview my first thought is "what a bunch of tossers".

So there. I am going to be biased in this review because I don't like them.

But by the same token I'm not going to totally dismiss them because of that, nor just because the whole "No Cover Art" thing is the biggest load of bollocks since Vinnie Jones' spoken word intro on the last Joss Stone album.

Occasionally there is something akin to genuine emotion on the album and it's at those times that Hard-Fi are almost likable. One example is Help Me Please, written in response to the death of Richard Archer's mother; it's perhaps not a typical Hard-Fi song, which probably explains part of it's appeal.

But really for the most part it's one of those records where I sit there and find myself thinking "what's the fuss?". It's relatively catchy and will sell by the bucketload, but that doesn't make it an astounding piece of work. I'm bored with it now, Christ knows how I'll feel in 12 months time once the radio has played the singles to death.

Single Releases 27/08

If only for the absolutely preposterous video Maroon 5's Wake Up Call has to be one of the worst singles of the year. I mean come on, who does that lead singer think he is kidding?

How could a song with Justin Timberlake and Timbaland on it be so absolutely awful? Yes, that's right, it also has 50 Cent on it. It's no wonder Ayo Technology has bombed in the US charts; Kanye is going to murder him in the chart "battle".

It's greatest hits time for Natalie Imbruglia. Although of course I do believe her when she say's she's only agreed to the compilation CD on her own terms. Yes dear. Glorious is the first "new" track to get an airing; like most of her stuff it's ok, but not great. Indeed, that just about sums her up. But then again what do you expect when her most famous song was, shall we say, misrepresented as her own song when all along it was a cover version....

I know no-one believes me, but the new Hilary Duff album was quite good. I know no-one belives me because it's remix time in order to shill some units. They can't even bring themselves to admit it's a Hilary Duff song as it's released under the name Wawa Vs Hillary Duff or some such nonsense. It's ok, but not as good as the proper version.

The Twang are as pointless as ever.

Mammoth by Interpol is good though.

The Young Knives come back with new track Terra Firma this week; it starts of distinctly unpromisingly, but soon becomes something a lot more agreeable. "It looks like mother nature's got a whore, with no regard for health and safety laws...". You can't argue with genius like that can you?