Their new single reflects the problem with the TV pop competition though. They don’t want to make music particularly, they don’t want to write lyrics – they just want to be performers of songs, not musicians. This leaves them with little direction over their own sound; so they end up being packaged according to what is perceived as popular.

This worked with their first song – the background forces created a catchy pop hook that led to success. The Club is Alive though is an amelodic, overly produced mess. Their voices are tinkered with for no reason just leading to an annoying synth lyrics, which themselves are pretty meaningless.

A poor performance for the nice guys – but this can happen when you are buffeted around on the music companies will. Anyways, if you like car crashes, this is for you.

Picture Courtesy of Litonali

Earlier this week though Noel told TalkSport:

“I guess Weller’s my oldest friend, I suppose, and I don’t mean the fact that he’s, like, 50. I mean the fact that I’ve known him for a long time, I’ve known him for about 12 years”, said the guitarist.

“There’s an unwritten law that I never go out with Paul Weller, he’s a nightmare. He’s hardcore – if you go out with him, if you come home at all, there’s bumps and bruises. There’s been scuffles in the street and you’ve probably fallen out with him.”

For a taste of how good the two are together, their voice complementing each other brilliantly, have a look at the video below. If you want to buy tickets to see Weller on the off chance Noel will turn up again tickets are still available here. If they’re sold out by you, try here.

Picture Courtesy of Freschwill

Oh and one more thing thing (I realise iIsound like Jeremy Kyle coming back for a second wave of berating) their lyrics seem to have left behind introspective ponderings and diatribes on global politics to focus on the topic of pulling girls in clubs.

Tsk. Could do, and have done, better.

Picture Courtesy of Alterna2

BABE SHADOW – SEA SERPENTS:  A great fit for a sunny spring day. This band will be accompanying Florence and the Machine on her new tour and are more than worth checking out. Have a listen here:

WE HAVE BAND – DIVISIVE: Their debut album is now out and we’re still loving this song.

SHE AND HIM – IN THE SUN: If high school musical was just a bit more like this video, we might watch it.

CRYSTAL CASTLES – CELESTICA: After our first listen to the album this is one of the stand out tracks.

Picture courtesy of breezy421

It’s a weird song, and clearly shows Kate trying something new…but after the scream in the middle it seems clear she’s quite uncomfortable.

In truth though, this song is a blip. While the album was produced by former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, his work on Duffy’s album shows he’s more than at home with framing a female pop album. If you’re a Kate Nash fan worried about the direction of the new My Best Friend is You, allay all your fears by listening to 3 tracks from the album here.

Of course too…the Do-Wah-do video shows the radical transformation has not happened.  So much so in fact that there’s no need for a full review of the album – it’s just Made of Bricks part two shes still the big ol’ red headed simpleton we tap and laugh along to.

Picture courtesy of Chris Barber

This is increased by the difference between their live performances and their albums. When you listen to them in your room, Ethan Kath is free to play around with Alice Glass’ voice as much as he likes making it mostly unintelligible, and using it as just another sound. Usually this is not done to the same extend live (on a related note they are playing live at Heaven on Tuesday – tickets available here)

The stand out track for me was Doe Deer; which is released by a limited 500 copy run on 17th April. This screechy track digitally shatters Alice’s voice over a fairly catchy repetitive beat and it’s something I could see myself dancing to. Have a listen:

When you delve deeper into the album though it’s less clear. There are some good moments, like like a 1980s style electronic march on Not In Love and a great hook on Intimate. The almost religious chanting on Violent Dreams is of note too; the church organ offering a bit of an electronic trip that is far from ordinary.

In the end though flashes like this were a little drowned out by minutes of bleeping sounds that don’t quite cut it and ultimately left me a bit bored of the album as a whole. During the last track a PR fella came into the studio as the track had started jumping. “It just goes on like that for another 60 seconds” he said – I could well believe him.

Picture courtesy of Chriszak

A couple years ago I had a tooth infection, which then whilst on tour in europe spread and turned into a blood infection, leaving me in a wheelchair and on crutches for some time,that’s how bad it was.

Those bacterial blighters wouldn’t give up though and came back to claim some of his come and, in the process of removing them, four of his teeth and a fair bit of blood.  But being a true professional, he was back in an LA studio the next day apparently.

You wouldn’t know Lightspeed Champion had experienced any trouble in his life judging by his new song.  It’s a bright, jaunty number and even when he’s singing “Baby, baby won’t you kill me” he has a sunny disposition as infectious as his gums.

Produced by Ben Allen it’s typical Lightspeed Champion, mixing an array of styles to come up with something new an interesting – there’s guitar, piano and even a bit of  ukelele in there.

Here’s the bright new video, living up to the title of the album from which it is taken – “Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You”. The song will be released on 10th May 2010.

Picture Courtesy of Jo Jakeman

It’s not all trademark breathy staccato attacks though. Paul has had a hard time of it of late as he lost his father one year ago, who had managed him through obscurity, The Jam, Style Council and his solo career – periods that clocked up 30 years. The song “Trees” stands out on the album. It’s a five part progression that tells the story of Paul’s visits to his father’s care home – and shows real thought has gone into this piece of work.

What is perhaps most surprising about his new record is that Bruce Foxton, of The Jam fame, is guesting on bass. Given that Paul refused to play his old songs for 25 years, this seems to reveal a man more philosophical about what has gone before.  His new found ease with those fiery and rebellious beginnings though seems to have let him tap into something more uptempo and exciting.

The album is released on April 19th and he’s touring about in May including 5 night in the Albert Hall (tickets available here). Here’s a taster of what to expect:

Picture Courtesy of Vonlohmann

After quite an impressive Intro, the queen herself makes an appearance with the Candy Shop Medley. Surprisingly, considering I wasn’t really a fan of the track on the album, the track works really well live. The fantastic visuals may help things along, plus, you know, Madonna sounds AMAZING!. The Beat Goes On Medley, Featuring Kanye West & Pharrell Williams follows. A brilliant track in itself, it works really well live, and kinda makes me wonder why we never got more singles from Hard Candy. Love the Vegas-esque visuals too. After a rocked-up version of Human Nature, which isn’t a particular favourite of mine, things definitely reach an early peak with the reinvented Vogue 2008. Merging one of Madonna’s more brilliant moments, in Vogue, over many elements of the recent 4 Minutes campaign makes for quite an exciting watch – With a great visual, fantastic dance routine, and Madonna in fine vocal form. Love it!.

After a relentless, and rather impressive, interlude – in the form of a reinvented Die Another Day 2008 – Madonna kicks the next act off with the bright new version of Into The Groove 2008. Certainly one to keep you moving, I’m a little jealous she can skip that well….Anyway, It’s a shame this one doesn’t make it onto the CD, as it’s quite a good take on the track. Next up, she gets a little aggressive on Heartbeat. Working surprisingly well live, it’s a great one. Then, a VERY big change on the original, Borderline follows. Transformed into the first of a few huge rock numbers in the show, it works strangely well, with the aggressive rock softened by Madonna’s sweet, softer vocal. Strangely appealing. And, the (always great) visuals are in full-on flash here too. Back to the R’n’B Dance-Pop of Hard Candy with another non-single Madonna has a little fun with She’s Not Me. Set to the back-drop of the many incarnations of her long career,  It’s a great piece. Sounding instantly familiar, but new at the same time, next up, the new remix, Music 2008 – takes the track well and truly into the clubs, melding Fedde Le Grande’s “Put Your Hands Up For Detroit” into the track – ending up with a modern, clever, fresh take on the original. Love the “street” visual here too.

Another beautiful visual interlude follows merging the gorgeous Rain with the Eurythmics’ “Here Comes The Rain Again” – which works surprisingly well. The first time I watched the next act, I couldn’t stand it – Throwing three of (in my view) the less fantastic songs from the new album back-to-back-to-back wasn’t a great idea, but I must admit I did change my tune on the second time through. Opening with Devil Wouldn’t Recognise You – I was never a fan of the song, but I did quite like the visual – what with the water imagery, and performing in the middle of the tube. It did grow on me though. As did Spanish Lesson. The visual behind the performance is gorgeous, and even though I’m amazed this got included (actually, I’m probably more so annoyed that my beloved Incredible didn’t) – This actually is starting to make sense, as a fun, seductive interlude. Love the little breakdown too. Now, Miles Away wasn’t a track I ever “loved”, but never disliked either. Hearing it presented here, it did change my impression – Madonna sounds gorgeously tender, and the visual suits the track really well. And the “around-the-campfire” atmosphere of the staging works really well.

Much of my early feelings about the last act stood true about the next one as well, however, I haven’t has quite the same switch in attitude to this one. I REALLY like La Isla Bonita, but I’m not sure if I like the new La Isla Bonita 2008 Medley. As an audio, It sounds great, but aside from Madonna and her backing dancers on the platform above the stage, I’m not quite feeling the visual here. I kinda would have preferred a more straight-forward run through of the track at this pace….A little interlude of sorts, Me Darava/Doli Doli follows – and I’m not at all sure what to say about it – I’m not loving it though…Slowing things down, You Must Love Me follows. Simply presented, it’s pretty. Not fantastic to look at, but pretty enough – and Madonna sounds GORGEOUS. Considering she’s in Buenos Aires, I’m sure you can imagine how well the performance of Don’t Cry For Me Argentina went down. My favourite part of that performance is as that lovely light screen fell over them – Gorgeous.

Taking a few of the elements of Give It 2 Me & 4 Minutes, and splitting them apart – the Get Stupid Medley provides another video interlude. The big political/social message of the show, you rarely see a message delivered over such a great beat. Madonna actually looks really gorgeous in the video too – Truly! Love the track too. Then comes 4 Minutes – featuring video appearances of Justin Timberlake & Timbaland -  slightly altered from the original. It’s nice, and I like it, but, I feel it’s not a particularly standout track – It doesn’t work quite as well as I’d have hoped. Like the visual presentation of it though, and Madonna looks great. Or, maybe, It’s just slightly tarnished by what I know comes next – A MASSIVE reinvention of the original, gorgeously presented with an amazing visual and fantastic staging, Like A Prayer 2008 follows. The track, reproduced as a HUGE dance anthem, now gives me rolling goosebumps every time I hear it. Love the glowing light & religious imagery of the staging – and that fantastic tube makes another appearance (sorry, you really must give it a look!).

Then, Madonna comes back with another rocked-up take, this time, on Ray Of Light. It works really well, but the amazing (and flashing strobe) of the visuals overshadows this one a little. A great one! Well worthy of mention here is the crowd reaction after this track – Absolutely magical – and a phenomenal piece of film – Really! Lucky Thomas also picked out the next track, an all-in acapella sing-a-long to Like A Virgin – Which worked really well!. Keeping the rock theme going, the Hung Up Medley comes along – Somehow combining disco/dance/pop & rock – and actually making it work. It’s quite an impressive visual – I love it. And of course, in the game of endless chess, the Queen had to stay standing didn’t it . However, at the end of the show, back for one last track, Give It 2 Me makes sure things go out on a high. The visual here, a simultaneously retro and futuristic one is fantastic and glittery, and brilliant. The staging, with lots of jumping and synchronised dancing also is brilliant. As is Madonna, who (like in every other track here) sounds great. Finally, the re-invention of the track into a rock-tinged, heavier dance number, works BRILLIANTLY. A fantastic closing to an amazing, and well worthy of a purchase, show – CERTAINLY worth a watch.

Photo by Alan Light

ALOE BLACC – I NEED A DOLLAR: Comparisons with classic Motown are inevitable, but it’s a bit more than your bog standard nod to the period. We’re loving the soulful gravely voice and the ability to rhyme “know” and “door” naturally.

ARIEL PINK’S HAUNTED GRAFFITI – ROUND AND ROUND: Ambient disco, perfect for when you come back from the club.

TARA BUSCH – b REMIX: This is a great remix of the iamamiwhoami song. For those of you following the mystery, when Tara was sent the ‘b’ song she set about remixing it. Soon enough she received a brown envelope stamped with “Tara Busch Remix” along with the infamous “To whom it may concern.” label. If this is confusing – check out the iamamiwhoami rundown. More generally you should check out Tara Busch’s stuff (she’s the girl in the picture at the top of the post).

Iamamiwhoami;b,2 by Tara Busch (remix) by TaraBusch

LOSERS – FLUSH ft RIZ MC AND ENVY: Riz MC’s 2004 Post 9/11 Blues was supposed to be a vicious take down of the Blair government; it actually just turned out to be an embarrassing cashing in on the righteous anti-war vibe of the time; to say it was a musical George Galloway moment would be unfair, but you get the point. Well now his rap domestic with Envy is proving what he can really do. The video is a treat too, culminating in a sort of Victorian Power Rangers fight in a Monty Python Style – if you think that’s shoehorning in too many metaphors, just watch the video.

DUM DUM GIRLS – JAIL LA LA: This is from their newly release album “I Will Be”.  If you like this you might also want to look up their cover of the Rolling Stone’s classic “Play with Fire”.