Will Young
Who Am I
Sony BMG
After the brave, noisy thrash (and relative failure) of Switch It On, it’s granny-pleasing business as usual for The Nation’s Favourite Vulnerable Young Man. Who Am I (CDs) is the second consecutive ballad to be released from his Keep On album, and it’s about as innovative as corned beef. But- in the name of Chippendale and Faberge eggs and Kate Moss’ cheekbones- it is impeccably crafted: all gorgeous strings, some surprisingly melancholy piano chords and a sophisticated, restrained vocal from our Willie. If we must have sensitive young men from reality TV shows singing wide-eyed ballads, then let’s all plump for Will. He’s the Extra Hot Mocha With Whipped Cream to Shayne Ward’s cup of tepid Nescafe; the Reese Witherspoon to Ward’s Paris Hilton; the Deal Or No Deal to Shayney’s The Mint…
More? You want more? How about singles from Raconteurs, Dirty Pretty Things, Big Brovaz, King Biscuit Time, Calexico, Nina Simone and Tom Jones, all after the jump…
Raconteurs
Steady, As She Goes
In the seventies, 'supergroup' meant Emerson, Lake & Palmer: a load of old prog-rock bobbins that only a father could love. In the eighties 'supergroup' meant Arcadia: two of the Taylors from Duran Duran, the drummer from Chic and Robert 'Addicted To Love' Palmer. Bitchin’! We can’t think of a supergroup for the nineties – though Bernard Sumner did hook up with Johnny Marr for a while, enlisting Neil Tennant to help out with lyrics – but in the noughties 'supergroup' means The Raconteurs (CDs). Who? Well, it’s Jack White of White Stripes and fisticuffs fame, an American singer-songwriter nobody’s really heard of (“Brendon” “Benson”) and two members of a Cincinatti band nobody’s really heard of (“The” “Greenhornes”). Don’t you feel a bit cheated? As if to compensate for their general lack of, well, superness, the band’s debut single is one of those Jack White tunes that feels like it must have been pickled in aspic back in 1967 and kept in a wooden box in Auntie Ethel’s attic for the last forty years. Nice work, but the ‘spray are hoping that 'supergroup' means something a bit more glamorous in the coming decade. Might we suggest Girlz 4Eva, a super(girl)group comprising Cheryl Aloud, Geri Spice, Mutya ‘Babes, Geri Spice and Siobhan ‘Nana?
Dirty Pretty Things
Bang Bang You’re Dead
Vertigo
Once upon a time there was a boy named Carl. He had a tendency to mumble in interviews, which made life difficult for budding hacks on work experience placements who were asked to transcribe his muffled words. But that, as the ‘spray’s gossipy former next door neighbour from Parsonage Road used to say, is not for here. Anyway, Carl was in a musical group with his friend Pete, but then Pete developed a raging heroin addiction, shagged the world’s most iconic supermodel and became the best thing to happen to The Sun since Jordan’s second boob job. So Pete and Carl had a little falling out. What a dreadful pity! But don’t worry, dear ‘spraylets, for Carl started to sing in a new musical group called Dirty Pretty Things. And they had a nice new song called Bang Bang You’re Dead (CDs). With lyrics like “Oh I gave you the Midas touch; as you turned round to scratch out my heart.” Hmm, whomsoever could it have been about? But luckily this new song was nice and catchy and benefited from some lovely spunky guitar riffs. Even if it did feel more Britpop than an evening spent discussing the merits of TFI Friday with Jarvis Cocker and Justine Frischmann. Don’t you just love a happy ending?
Big Brovaz
Hangin’ Around
Genetic Records
It’s doubtful that even the most ardent pop fan- the sort who checks Popjustice.com thrice daily, takes great pleasure in throwing darts at posters of Fearne Cotton and is still shedding furtive tears that Smash Hits is never coming back. Back. Back! – lies awake at night wondering “whatever happened to Big Brovaz?” (CDs) But the purveyors of “UK hip hop and R&B at its finest” (remember Nu Flow? The Rodgers and Hammerstein-indebted Favourite Things? And, best of all, Yours Fatally?) have returned after an eighteen month absence with a brand new single. Hangin’ Around not only nicks the hook from The Carpenters’ Rainy Days And Mondays, but chucks in a sample of Kazza C’s vocal for good measure. Add a shuffling beat and some mellow piano chords and the Brovaz have got another radio-friendly, (just about) urban-credible hit on their hands. But ultimately Hangin’ Around is pop marzipan: sweet, possessed of a certain appeal, but not entirely satisfying.
Calexico
Bisbee Blue
City Slang
Think of Calexico (CDs) and you think of alt.country, that weird style of music that only dusty old chin-stroking readers of Mojo have ever heard of. Still, better alt.country than mainstream country, with all its talk of CB radios and fighting for your country and loving your tractor. In Bisbee Blue, however, Calexico have made a song breezier than an afternoon in Skegness and lighter than Nicole Richie's lunchbox. Bisbee Blue has made us deeply curious about getting our hands on Garden Ruin, the album that it comes from. Which is sort of the point, we suppose.
King Biscuit Time
Kwangchow
No Style
For the amount of trumpeting that The Beta Band received, we were never able to shake the feeling that they were slightly over-rated. Sure, they had their moments of genius, but they were weighed down in overlong instrumentals, comedy raps and Trigger Happy TV soundtracks. Plus, nothing The Beta Band made came close to I Walk The Earth by King Biscuit Time (CDs) – singer Steve Mason's solo effort. And now The Beta Band are dead, King Biscuit Time can release gems like Kwangchow. Kwangchow does the shuffling, anthemic thing that I Walk The Earth, but it manages to be even better. And we love it more than Christmas.
Nina Simone v Groovefinder
Ain’t Got No, I Got Life
Sony BMG
Take one forgotten sixties track from a legendary blues singer. Give it a summery, wedding-friendly dance remix. And use it to flog a household name dairy product. Voila, you’ve got an 'unexpected' hit on your hands, no? Except Ain’t Got No, I Got Life (CDs) isn’t quite as bland as its recent history would suggest. Nothing belted out by that androgynous roar could be. And – Shock! Horror! – nobody at Muller seems to have noticed that, though Simone’s “got no shoes”, “no home” and “no money,” she has got her “boobs” and her “sex”. Whatever, you can bet your bottom dollar she never gave a mile high club fuck with Cameron Diaz whether she had a low calorie yoghurt or not.
Chicane featuring Tom Jones
Stoned In Love
UMTV
Whatever happened to Chicane? He scored a number one smash with Bryan Adams (Don’t Give Up – precision fans) before swiftly disappearing into the commercial dance abyss, which is probably somewhere close to the Jumpin Jaks nightclub in Maidstone. We all know what happened to Tom Jones (CDs): he resurrected his career by collaborating with a bevy of hip young things (and Heather Small) on his five million-selling Reload album. Stoned In Love is an old-fashioned Ibiza dance stomper, with Sir Tom’s 'Voice Of A Generation' vocals booming over the inevitable pounding beats. It’s uplifting in a 'medical miracle feature on This Morning' kinda way, but, when it right comes down to it, isn’t the Tom Jones comeback a bit 2000?
[reviews by Nick Levine]