Music Videos

Hey kids, do you like James Morrison and Paulo Nutini? No, us neither. Anyway, Newton Faulkner has supported both of them recently, but - staggeringly - he's not as skull-assaultingly dreadful as either of those two awful tosspots.

Not a lot is known about Newton Faulkner, and what is known - that he's a dreadlocked singer-songwriter who can count Jo Wiley as a fan - would usually be enough to send us screaming into the forest. But he's new, so let's give him the benefit of the doubt. Newton Faulkner's new single is called I Need Something and, as well as showing off his way around a tune, I Need Something is also the perfect introduction to Faulkner's genuinely hypnotic guitar technique. We reserve the right to like I Need Something by Newton Faulkner at this moment in time, because God knows we're going to be bloody sick of it in a couple of weeks.

Watch The Newton Faulkner I Need Something video now 

We know, we know - we were hoping that Low Vs Diamond was a sort of no-holds barred cage battle between indie heroes Low and wife-beating 24 guest star Lou Diamond Phillips. But it isn't, so get over it.

Instead Low Vs Diamond are a gang of five American post-punky, dancey, melancholicy musicians who just about everybody with a radio show is legally obliged to like. Phil Jupitus likes Low Vs Diamond, Dermot O'Leary likes Low Vs Diamond. Mark Radcliffe likes Low Vs Diamond. Zane, Colin Murray and Lauren Lavern like Low Vs Diamond. And now we're about to show you the video to Heart Attack by Low Vs Diamond, so maybe you'll like them too. Do we like Heart Attack by Low Vs Diamond? We think so, but we're easily led, so watch the Low Vs Diamond Heart Attack video now and let us know if you think it's good or now. We'll abide by your decision, naturally.

Watch the Low Vs Diamond Heart Attack video now 

Leaving the Sugababes before they got famous must give Siobhan Donaghy mixed feelings; true, she's not in the 21st century's most successful girlband, but also she must be thrilled that she didn't participate in that horrible Walk This Way cover.

But that isn't going to stop Siobhan Donaghy from carving her own solo path. Well, another solo path at least - the last solo path she tried to carve for herself was met with spectacular public apathy. Will Siobhan Donaghy do better second time around? That all depends on her new single Don't Give It Up. Don't Give It Up by Siobhan Donaghy is a natty little tune - all mellow and summery - that ironically sounds like the Sugababes would if they were any good. Will Don't Give It Up be a success for Siobhan Donaghy? We'd like to hope so, although if it's another flop at least Siobhan Donaghy can console herself that she'll always be the Sugababe whose name, when spoken, bears the least resemblance to how it's spelt. And that really is some achievement. 

Now we'd love to tell you that we're giving you the video to Why Is Your Raincoat Always Crying by Simone White because we're dedicated to bringing you the cream of hotly-tipped new artists, but that's not especially correct.

Yes, Why Is Your Raincoat Always Crying by Simone White is a gorgeous, charming, chiming, crystallised nugget of soulful folk. Yes, Why Is Your Raincoat Always Crying is sung by a kooky Hawaiian-born indie-folkstress who you'll be scientifically unable to stop yourself from falling for. Yes, Why Is Your Raincoat Always Crying is the perfect introduction to Simone White's forthcoming album I Am The Man, due out in June. But the real reason we're playing you Why Is Your Raincoat Always Crying by Simone White is for the bit 72 seconds in where she has sex with a guitar and then gives birth to a smaller guitar. We're not proud.

Watch the Simone White Why Is Your Raincoat Always Crying video now  

We've come to the conclusion that we'd quite like it if it was 4am forever; not only would you constantly feel the joy of knowing you've got a few more hours in bed, but there'd always be an interesting Open University show about Catalan cooking or particle physics on TV.

But the idea of it being 4am forever doesn't really appeal to Lostprophets. In fact, the gloomy old Lostprophets hate the idea of it being 4am forever so much that they've written a song about it, called 4am Forever. Judging by the video for 4am Forever, Lostprophets would most likely spent their perpetual pre-dawn sitting around on their front patio looking moody in the rain and complaining about their girlfriend leaving them in a way that makes them sound a bit like Nickelback. We're not kidding either - check out the video to 4am Forever by Lostprophets.

Watch the Lostprophets 4am Forever video now 

This is all we know about Loney, Dear. 1) Loney, Dear is the pseudonym of Emil Svanängen. 2) Emil Svanängen makes music. 3) On the basis of new single I Am John, Loney, Dear makes some of the most heart-bursting affirmative music we've heard in an age.

I Am John by Loney, Dear is a hard song to peg. For a start, giving yourself a name with the word 'Loney' in it is a bit off-putting, and I Am John's black and white cartoon video - though gorgeous - doesn't even begin to hint at the cosy freewheeling twinkling warmth of Loney, Dear's music. Think a slightly subdued Flaming Lips. Think The Concretes. Think Tobias Froberg. I Am John by Loney, Dear is all of this and more - it's the perfect soundtrack for these longer summer evenings, and we're going to spend the next hour of our lives pestering Loney, Dear's record label for a copy of his new album.

Watch The Loney, Dear I Am John video now 

Our telepathy machines are telling us you're in the mood for some obliquely political raw art-punk noise - which is a flipping good job, because that's exactly what we have right here in the form of Lazer Life by The Blood Brothers.

"The Blood Brothers?" you're silently asking yourself, "Aren't they that dirty bunch of screaming noisemakers responsible for Set Fire To The Face On Fire?" And you're right - they are. But new Blood Brothers single Lazer Life is an entirely different proposition. Where Set Fire To The Face On Fire sounded like - according to us - "a nursery school being electrocuted by a maniac with a ghetto blaster" Lazer Life sees The Blood Brothers in a more reflective mood. There's a Spoon-ish Rhodes groove, a whip-tight beat and some unusually !!!-style vocals. Why, Lazer Life by The Blood Brothers could almost be a radio hit. 

And then at 1:55 the universe explodes. You'll see what we mean.

Watch the Blood Brothers Lazer Light video now 

There's not a lot that we want in a music video - sexy girls dancing, dazzling choreography, expensive locations, that sort of thing. Failing that, though, we'd be just as happy to watch members of a band punching each other on the arm as hard as they can.

And that's pretty much what I Want A Better Life by The Shakes is. I Want A Better Life is The Shakes' rumination of megalomania and materialism - and it's catchy enough - but the I Want A Better Life is the real reason why we're telling you about this. It's just members of The Shakes standing around dealing cards and punching each other on the arm. For real. Jackass-style. We're putting this online because we want other bands to see The Shakes I Want A Better Life video and follow suit. OK, we'll come clean - we basically want to see The Feeling run vans over their arms in their next video, and if the video for I Want A Better Life by The Shakes will help us get there, then it's all we can do to sling it up here.

As far as you people need to know, there's only one album coming out in the whole of 2007. It's Version by Mark Ronson; 14 good - and considerably less good - songs turned into blazing Motown dancehall stompers by Tom Cruise's favourite DJ, Mark Ronson.

Version by Mark Ronson comes out in about a month, and we've got the DTs just thinking about up. But Mark Ronson, cruel overlord that he is, is throwing us tasters of the album in dribs and drabs. First was his cover version of Toxic by Britney Spears - magically transformed into a horn-drenched anthem featuring verses by Old Dirty Bastard… from beyond the grave. And now we're blessed with Mark Ronson's version of Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before by The Smiths. Retitled Stop Me and featuring the vocal talents of promising newcomer Daniel Merriweather, Mark Ronson has taken all the drama of the original and added strings, an Unfinished Sympathy beat and more splashes of genius than you could possibly wish for. Dislike this one at your peril. 

You know Simple Kid, right? You don't? Well you should, because Simple Kid is a bit bloody good. Anyway, Simple Kid is looking for people to sing on the video for his forthcoming single TwentySomething. How? Here's how:

Simple Kid's next single will be The TwentySomething, released this June. This time around, Simp wants you to get in touch with your inner karaoke star and film yourself doing own version of the track. The best efforts will be edited together to form the official The TwentySomething video. You need not be TwentySomething to participate, and no previous experience (or talent) is required.

What you DO need is:

- The TwentySomething backing track. You can download the MP3 (sans Simp's singing) from www.myspace.com/simplekidmusic.
- The TwentySomething lyrics. Get them from www.myspace.com/simplekidmusic
-  A video camera. Keep in mind that if your video is chosen, it might end up on TV, so make sure your recording format is of a decent spec. That means using a proper video camera such as one that uses Mini DV tapes. Webcams, mobile phone cameras, and stills cameras with video functions won't be high enough quality.  And it should record sound, obviously.
- A friend (or tripod) to hold the camera and film you busting your Simple Kid moves.

Once you've made your video and you're happy with it, upload it to the video section on your Myspace profile and post it in the comments on Simp's Myspace (add him as a friend if you haven't already) at www.myspace.com/simplekidmusic. Alternatively, you can upload your video to your YouTube account and post a link in the comments on the Simple Kid YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/simplekidstuff.

That's it. Videos will be judged using a highly sophisticated logarithm based on how much it makes Simp laugh, cry, cringe or swoon. The best ones will be edited together into one TwentySomething video. It'll be like the X Factor, The Gong Show and Opportunity Knocks rolled into one. Seriously.

Got that? Good - now go and do it. No doubt we'll have the finished TwentySomething video here before June, so not only will you possibly get on telly, but you might be on hecklerspray too. Yeah, we know…

In a couple of weeks you'll get to hear the new Maximo Park album Our Earthly Pleasures. We know this because we've already heard it, and it's quite good. But while you wait for our review, here's the Maximo Park video for new single Our Velocity.

Our Velocity by Maximo Park came out on Monday, so there's a pretty solid chance you've heard it already. If so, you'll be entirely familiar with Our Velocity's jerky verses, soaring chorus and pounding synths by now. We are, and we're steadily coming to the conclusion that Our Velocity is Maximo Park's best-ever single. But you might not have seen the video to Our Velocity by Maximo Park, in which case you're in for a treat. Imagine a room full of Maximo Parks - that's the video to Our Velocity. That's a good thing, by the way - it gives singer Paul Smith to do his thing several times over. And, incidentally, is there a better frontman in Britain today?

It's become quite fashionable for people to think that the 1980s were cool. They weren't cool. They were shit. No iPods, no internet, no computer games that didn't take eight weeks to load up off a poxy cassette tape. No sir, the 1980s were crap.

But hindsight's pretty genius, and it has allowed wizards like Calvin Harris make songs like Acceptable In The 80s. Acceptable In The 80s by Calvin Harris is a hulking great slab of electropop that grabs you by the ears and blows you out of the fluorescent socks that you wear ironically because you saw a picture of Nikki from Big Brother wearing them in Heat once. Released as a download on Monday, Acceptable In The 80s by Calvin Harris is full of so many robotic disco hooks that it won't let you go all weekend, and it's got a video that's more brightly-coloured than a Tweenie with a sinus infection. You'll like it.

Watch The Calvin Harris Acceptable In The 80s video now