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Music Reviews / Previews

This Week’s Singles: Rogue Traders! Jim Noir! Shack!

by 586 MEDIA

Rogue Traders
Voodoo Child
BMG

You know Izzy from Neighbours, right? The tart without a heart who split up Ramsay Street’s golden couple Karl and Susan? Well, even if you don’t, you’ve doubtless spotted her killer cleavage while flicking over from a dull segment about war postcards on Richard and Judy. Anyway, the actress who plays this legendary bitch – Natalie Bassingthwaighte, we believe they call her – is now fronting Aussie electro-rock band Rogue Traders. Trivia fans might like to know they’ve just scored a triple platinum album over in Strewth-Mate-Put-Some-More-Shrimps-On-The-Barbie-Land. Voodoo Child is a dirty great slab of dance-rock, built around a re-recorded riff from Elvis Costello’s Pump It Up, and properly sold by a persuasively hammy vocal from Bassingthwaighte. Like one of those hand-held fans you get in Woolies, it’s cheap, disposable and absolutely essential this summer.

More singles reviews after the jump, you lucky bleeders, from Jim Noir, Shayne Ward, Shack, Webb Sisters, Mogwai, Tapes n’ Tapes, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Dirty Pretty Things…

Rogue Traders Voodoo Child BMG You know Izzy from Neighbours, right? The tart without a heart who split up Ramsay Street’s golden couple Karl and Susan? Well, even if you don’t, you’ve doubtless spotted her killer cleavage while flicking over from a dull segment about war postcards on Richard and Judy. Anyway, the actress who plays this legendary bitch - Natalie Bassingthwaighte, we believe they call her - is now fronting Aussie electro-rock band Rogue Traders. Trivia fans might like to know they’ve just scored a triple platinum album over in Strewth-Mate-Put-Some-More-Shrimps-On-The-Barbie-Land. Voodoo Child is a dirty great slab of dance-rock, built around a re-recorded riff from Elvis Costello’s Pump It Up, and properly sold by a persuasively hammy vocal from Bassingthwaighte. Like one of those hand-held fans you get in Woolies, it’s cheap, disposable and absolutely essential this summer. More singles reviews after the jump, you lucky bleeders, from Jim Noir, Shayne Ward, Shack, Webb Sisters, Mogwai, Tapes n' Tapes, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Dirty Pretty Things...
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CD Review – Dashboard Confessional, ‘Dusk And Summer’

by Stuart Heritage

You may know Dashboard Confessional for the teary-eyed, heart-on-sleeve approach that it took to winning over millions of fans with the intimate Swiss Army Romance album.

Well think again losers – because Dusk And Summer is the new Dashboard Confessional album, and it literally couldn’t shoehorn itself any more into the middle of the road if it bought a pneumatic drill and a set of traffic cones. A sell-out? Well, obviously, yes; but is Dusk And Summer by Dashboard Confessional any good?

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hecklergigs: Simply Red, Harewood House 2/6/06

by Stuart Heritage

Simply Red (or Mick Hucknall plus some other blokes) basked in the warmth of adulation at Harewood house near Leeds last night despite the rain lashing down and lightning threatening to immolate the congregation of die-hard fans.

Mick’s delivery of old favourites such as Holding Back The Years and oh… some of the other ones, went well. He then caused alarm amongst some of the watchers when he announced he would perform stuff from the new album.

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This Week’s Singles: Pipettes! Lily Allen! Er, Razorlight!

by 586 MEDIA

The Pipettes
Pull Shapes
Memphis Industries

“I just wanna move; I don’t care what the song’s about” is perhaps the best pop lyric ever. Or, if we’re being more precise, the most pop pop lyric ever. Such a perfect distillation of that sticky old liquor we call popular music is what we’ve come to expect from Brighton’s Pipettes – equal parts polka dots, hands-on-hips sex appeal and endless legs – who cracked the top forty in April with the 60s doo-wop channelling Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me. New single Pull Shapes is almost as good: a veritable hat-stand of hooks, a great girl-group melody and some lovely melodramatic strings to add to the period charm. Listen, swoon and then buy that polka dot tie.

There’s more; oh, there’s more. Singles reviews for Lily Allen, Razorlight, Paolo Nutini, Jamie T and George Michael all after the jump…

The Pipettes Pull Shapes Memphis Industries “I just wanna move; I don’t care what the song’s about” is perhaps the best pop lyric ever. Or, if we’re being more precise, the most pop pop lyric ever. Such a perfect distillation of that sticky old liquor we call popular music is what we’ve come to expect from Brighton’s Pipettes - equal parts polka dots, hands-on-hips sex appeal and endless legs - who cracked the top forty in April with the 60s doo-wop channelling Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me. New single Pull Shapes is almost as good: a veritable hat-stand of hooks, a great girl-group melody and some lovely melodramatic strings to add to the period charm. Listen, swoon and then buy that polka dot tie. There's more; oh, there's more. Singles reviews for Lily Allen, Razorlight, Paolo Nutini, Jamie T and George Michael all after the jump...
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CD Review – John Kastner, Have You Seen Lucky

by Stuart Heritage

It must be Lemonheads Appreciation Day or something today, since we’ve had not only a review by an old Lemonhead in his Varsity Drag guise, buy also Have You Seen Lucky by John Kastner, who’s written with Evan Dando before.

And that’s fine by us, since summery indie powerpop is always welcome here, especially when it’s delivered with the finesse of Have You Seen Lucky by John Kastner. Which this is, since this is Have You Seen Lucky by John Kastner.

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CD Review: Varsity Drag, For Crying Out Loud

by Stuart Heritage

The Lemonheads were (are? were?) bloody brilliant, this much we know. But the first three Lemonheads albums weren’t just about Evan Dando crooning like a forgetful surfing choirboy: there was also Ben Deily to contend with.

Ben Deily buggered off away from The Lemonheads in 1989 and, while Dando went on his quest to take all the drugs in the universe, Deily went off to join the heady world of advertising. But now he’s back, in the form of Varsity Drag, with a punchy little album by the name of For Crying Out Loud.

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CD Review: Carmine Appice Project, Ultimate Guitar Zeus

by Stuart Heritage

Hold a gun to most people’s head and tell them to write a list of things they wish there were more of, and you’d get a varied response. Money? Maybe. Smiling commuters? Perhaps.

Bombastic, ridiculous unironic 1980s throwback heavy metal albums by the man who wrote Do Ya Think I’m Sexy for Rod Stewart featuring guest appearances from Brian May, Ted Nugent, Slash, John McEnroe and – God help us – Steven Seagal? Definitely. Which is just as well, because Ultimate Guitar Zeus by Carmine Appice Project is exactly that.

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Singles Reviews: Minogue! Shakira! Bon Jovi!

by Stuart Heritage

Dannii Minogue
So Under Pressure
All Around The World

Let’s get the obvious out the way: Dannii Minogue is no Kylie. Willing her to morph into a perfect pop icon like her elfin-cropped sister is like asking Noel Edmonds to become the new Jordan. But she’s survived in this business we call show for over fifteen years now and scored an impressive nine top ten hits. Once you note this, her upcoming Greatest Hits collection loses its initial ‘WTF???!!!’ status and starts to seem surprisingly timely. New single So Under Pressure is, to use a technical term, a bit of a grower. After a few spins its thunderous bassline and electro chorus finally take hold and lodge in your brain like an egg-hungry spermatozoon. She might like touching ladies’ love maracas in dodgy bars, but she’s all right, that Dannii Minogue.

Here come some more of this week’s singles reviews, by Shakira, Armand Van Helden, Clea, Sham 69 & The Special Assembly and Bon Jovi, all after the jump…

Dannii Minogue So Under Pressure All Around The World Let’s get the obvious out the way: Dannii Minogue is no Kylie. Willing her to morph into a perfect pop icon like her elfin-cropped sister is like asking Noel Edmonds to become the new Jordan. But she’s survived in this business we call show for over fifteen years now and scored an impressive nine top ten hits. Once you note this, her upcoming Greatest Hits collection loses its initial 'WTF???!!!' status and starts to seem surprisingly timely. New single So Under Pressure is, to use a technical term, a bit of a grower. After a few spins its thunderous bassline and electro chorus finally take hold and lodge in your brain like an egg-hungry spermatozoon. She might like touching ladies’ love maracas in dodgy bars, but she’s all right, that Dannii Minogue. Here come some more of this week's singles reviews, by Shakira, Armand Van Helden, Clea, Sham 69 & The Special Assembly and Bon Jovi, all after the jump...
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CD Review: Moonstone Project, Time To Make A Stand

by Stuart Heritage

About five years ago, The White Stripes made the blues cool again, by basically wrestling it away from the empty, bombastic, arena posturing of Bon Jovi and their giant ilk.

Well, guess what? Italian guitar ‘maestro’ (not our words) Matt Filippini and his ludicrously-titled Moonstone Project – basically a bunch of folks from bands you forgot ever existed – have got together to make Time To Make A Stand, an album that comprehensively walks up to The White Stripes, punches them in the mouth, steals the blues back from them and goes “Widdly widdly widdly widdly widdly” all over it. And we’d wager that your Dad would bloody well love it.

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Singles Reviews: Furtado! Morrissey! Sugababes!

by Stuart Heritage

Nelly Furtado
Maneater
Universal

Whoa, Nelly! After disappointing sales of her sombre, primarily acoustic Folklore album, Nelly Furtado’s hooked up with R&B uber-producer Timbaland (Aaliyah, Missy Elliott, Justin Timberlake) for the dancefloor stormer of the year so far. What next, we wonder, a Neptunes/Jewel collaboration? Maneater struts like an ageing hooker from bass-driven verses to immaculate eighties synth pop choruses and even manages to find room for the immortal lyric: “Move your body around like a nympho.” Maneater is sexy, infectious and a thoroughly bad influence: the song you wish you’d been listening to the first time you drank too much Strongbow and fell into Mrs Gordon-from-up-the-road’s mulberry bush.

Everybody loves singles reviews, don’t they? Especially when they’re about Morrissey, Mariah Carey, The Streets, Sugababes and Embrace. And that’s what you’ll be getting, right after the jump…

Nelly Furtado Maneater Universal Whoa, Nelly! After disappointing sales of her sombre, primarily acoustic Folklore album, Nelly Furtado’s hooked up with R&B uber-producer Timbaland (Aaliyah, Missy Elliott, Justin Timberlake) for the dancefloor stormer of the year so far. What next, we wonder, a Neptunes/Jewel collaboration? Maneater struts like an ageing hooker from bass-driven verses to immaculate eighties synth pop choruses and even manages to find room for the immortal lyric: “Move your body around like a nympho.” Maneater is sexy, infectious and a thoroughly bad influence: the song you wish you’d been listening to the first time you drank too much Strongbow and fell into Mrs Gordon-from-up-the-road’s mulberry bush. Everybody loves singles reviews, don't they? Especially when they're about Morrissey, Mariah Carey, The Streets, Sugababes and Embrace. And that's what you'll be getting, right after the jump...
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