Weekly Singles Round Up
11th January 2010
10-01-2010 16:22  |   John Donnelly   |   My Other Content   |   Other content for "Singles of the week"
 
 
 
 
Baby, it's cold outside. So what singles will The Music Fix be warming its cockles with this week?

Charlotte Gainsbourg - 'Heaven Can Wait'
Charlotte’s hotly anticipated new album is produced by Beck and he even pops up here to join Ms Gainsbourg on lead single ‘Heaven Can Wait’. Given the maverick reputation of both artistes this is an unexpectedly short, sweet and relatively pedestrian affair which would have slipped neatly onto the Plastic Ono Band album without raising too many eyebrows. The remixes, which veer from an ambient, ecclesiastical vibe from Grizzly Bear to electro minimalism from Nosaj Thing are where the smart money will be heading. The techno-static mix is a bridge too far however and loses all sense of the original track to the point of total redundancy. (SB)

Good Shoes - 'Under Control'/'Talk'
Good Shoes launch their new album with a classic indie disco floorfiller which bolts from the same stable as Gang of Four. Spastic basslines butt up against angular guitar shapes and jerky drum rhythms to form an irresistible indie pop classic. (SB)

The Words - 'FAG'
An unfashionably brief, guitar heavy power-pop nugget with chart bothering potential from this Mancunian four piece who combine the raw potency of Kings of Leon with the songwriting nous of Jam era Weller. Well worth investigating. (SB)

Aggi Dukes - 'Drink & Skank'
Fresh from touring the country with Killa Kela, Aggi drops this solid if unremarkable single from his upcoming- as-yet untitled- debut album which promises to bounce merrily through indie, hip-hop, grime and Dubstep. ‘Drink & Skank’ shows potential but fails to set my dancefloor alight – where’s the energy Aggi? (SB)

White Rabbit - 'Percussion Gun'
This single from these dual-drummer powered Brooklyn sextet starts off with echoes of Adam & The Ants - but in the best possible way. The tribal rhythms are a battle call to get off your arse and listen. Could they be this year's Cold War Kids? (AM)



Memory Tapes - 'Graphics'
Is it a song? Is it a tribute to electronic pioneers like Kraftwerk? Either way, 'Graphics', cut down from six minutes to three-and-a-half for its single release, is an intriguing patchwork which doesn't seem to get any more coherent with repeat listens, and is all the more delicious for it. (JD)

Thomas Dybdahl - 'Cecilia'
This is the sort of thing Scandanavians (in this case, a Norwegian) excel at. Dybdahl's soft, breathy voice, the twang of a pedal steel guitar and the clean production make 'Cecilia' a gorgeous winter warmer, and it's seemingly all carried off with the same effort it might take to lift a feather. (JD)

Jammer - 'Party Animal'
It starts okay with both a housey beat and vocal that seem resurrected from 1990, but this is quickly revealed to be the backdrop to an uninspiring slab of party grime. Even more disappointingly, Toddla T, who worked on the last Roots Manuva album, is involved in this. (JD)

Paolo Nutini - '10/10'
The cheeky chappy tried to rate his own track. We'd say it's more like 5/10. (CP)

Lykke Li - 'Possibility'
Coming from the 'New Moon' soundtrack, Lykke Li's 'Possibility' is a decent enough track for the average angsty teenager, but it fails to ignite the imagination of anyone who might want a little more. (CP)

Fat Olive - 'Vaquero'/'Awake'
Fat Olive's double A-Side doesn't offer twice the value - MOR, derivative dad-rock. (CP)

Jay Z - 'Young Forever'
From B-to-Z, Beyonce's other half collaborates with Mr Hudson on a track that combines Hudson's nice vocals with Z's monotonous rap backing. Repetitive, dull, over-produced. Should sell by the truck-load. (CP)

Sandy Rivera - 'Suroh Sentiementos' 2010 Remixes
Sandy Rivera's latest house track is a difficult beast to review. It'll go down a treat in the clubs with a good bass beat giving way to the odd synth, but for the home listener it's not really the sort of music that you could sit and listen to for more than a few minutes at a time. (CP)

Private - My Secret Lover
Wonderfully inspired sleazy disco nonsense which is somewhat perversely impossible to dislike. Silly haircuts? Overtones of S&M in the lyrics? Perv-tastic soft-core video? Studio 54 fashion? WHAM! quality rapping? The gang's all here! Private, I salute you and your criminally insane shenanigans. (MJ)



Honorebel - 'Now You See It'
Now, Mr H, I am digging your, as they say, "club banger". It's Earthquake Electro. However, I have one teeny suggestion. These lyrics. It's all about ladies' bottoms! Seriously “C'mon shake that ass on me???” I mean what's your Mummy and Daddy gonna say? Exactly. Now go back and write something nice about flowers, birds or bunnies. Okay, maybe not bunnies. (MJ)

Single of the Week


Plan B - 'Stay Too Long'
UK rapper, Plan B surprises with this hugely catchy pop-focused track. He's already built a name as something more than the usual rap artist and here he cements his growing reputation as someone to watch very closely indeed. Impressive. Almost worth braving the snow for. (CP)



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