This week's post ...

Charlotte Gainsbourg
IRM new album 25 January 2010
Charlotte, the daughter of Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg who famously told Whitney Houston on live TV he'd like her genitals around his or words to that effect not surprisingly oozes sexuality.... and then there's the utterly brilliant Beck... wait a moment Beck and his Dad David Campbell on the string arrangements... Beck has recorded and produced 'IRM' with Charlotte in his studio and his artistic threshold is so high you know this is going to be good.... from start to finish. The spartan, minimalist production with a light coating of Charlotte's vocalising makes this an unusual listen, not born of hit desires but of some deeper artisitic need. These are all unusual track kicking off with the "African beat" of 'Master Hands' into title track 'Irm' then a little more Francais 'Le Chat Du Cafe Des Artistes'. The almost 60's-ish "mellodic and much quieter" 'In The End', the stand out track 'Heaven Can Wait', the bizarre 'Me & Jane Doe', 'Vanities', Time Of The Assasins', 'Trick Pony', 'Greenwich Mean Time', 'Dandelion', 'Voyage' and 'The Collector'. An aquired taste and a worthy follow-up to her 2006 album 'Because' which featured Jarvis Cocker and Air and sold half a million. Beguiling, a fine listen for Beck fans and the curious.

Codeine Velvet Club
Vanity Kills / Little Sister new single 5 April
I like this band ... interesting new retro sound ... you can almost hear the 'Chelsea Dagger' in the stoccato 2 min 30 second 'Little Sister' and then the lush "la-la-la-la-la.." vocals of sexy Lou Hickey on 'Vanity Kills' ... this band should be on Top Of The Pops ... Top Of The Pops should be on BBC1 Thursdays @ 7.30pm can't put it better than the press release..
Codeine Velvet Club, the sensational new band featuring chief Fratelli Jon Lawler and Glasgow chanteuse Lou Hickey, will re-release the first song they wrote together as a single on April 5th. Entitled “Vanity Kills” it’s a swaying, jazzy, big-band duet, tinged with noir-ish menace and shades of Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood’s waspish 1960s guy-gal duelling Codeine Velvet Club is a musical collaboration that celebrates Jon and Lou’s shared love of ’60s girl-boy duets, dramatic orchestral pop, and dark post-war Hollywood romanticism. Their acclaimed debut album was released just after Christmas.
Prior to the release of their album in the US Codeine Velvet Club are heading out to play a clutch of gigs at South By Southwest in Austin Texas followed by four shows as special guests of acclaimed Canadian indie rockers Metric. The Metric shows are as follows:
March... 21 Showbox SoDo, Seattle, WA ...... 22 Roseland Theater, Portland, OR
24 Fox Theater, Oakland, CA .... 26 Hollywood Palladium, LA
Says Lou (Scotland’s most eligible female, according to a Valentine’s Day poll in The Scotsman): “I can’t wait for the US shows. I’m a big fan of Metric so very
excited to be supporting them on tour. I can’t believe we’re going to be performing our song ‘Hollywood’ at the Hollywood Palladium. And SxSW is going to be insane!
Codeine Velvet Club’s next UK show is at Glasgow’s Queen Margaret Union on 7th May.

The Drums
Best Friend new single 29 March
A spunky little semi electro production - very Marc Almond-ish vocally - an off beat drum track with guitar and bizarre keyboards. The Drums are getting some very helpful media attention and it's justified .. this is a standout track ... hit chance.

Forever The Sickest Kids
She Likes (Bittersweet Love) new single 15 March
There's a lovely bit of guitar work shadowing the vocals on this excellent new single from Forever The Sickest Kids. A standard American pop/rock song which probably is nowadays best described as emo, however 'She Likes' is a great 2 minute 30 seconds pop sound. There's possibly too many American records that sound like this but this is with the best of them. Mixed by the heritaged Tom Lord-Alge and they deserve hit status simlar to Fall Out Boy. You may see them supporting AFI .. top tune.

Goldhawks
Where In The World new single 29 March
Hey this track has the X-Factor - by that I mean it's a great unique new composition from a great sounding band - not the other X-Factor cheap cosmetic copycat analysis ... Goldhawks could hit big this, a grand stadium rock type of ballsy production with a haunting vocal and lyric ... Good tune deserves top ten

Gorillaz
Stylo taster from new album 'Plastic Beach' 8 March 2010
They're back groovy as ever with a jiggling 103bpm funky floorfiller and 'Stylo' featuring the legend that is Bobby Womack alongside Mos Def will most def. be a big hit!

Kate Nash
I Just Love You More free download from new album due 18 April
After the wordy revelations of 'Foundations' and the like can you believe three years back ... 2007 ... flyin' time eh? ... now Kate's seachange ... just the five words in this track ... 'I Just Love You More' ... repeated every 2nd or 4th bar for the three minute duration ... becoming more and more frenzied as this spunky guitar drum rhythm track ramps up the wild. In fact by the songs conclusion the Plan B 'Stay Too Long' frenzied anger makes you wonder if our Kate's having a bunny boiling turn in the studio ... it's very convincing ... and bodes well for an interesting new set of material from Ms. Nash in April. One to watch or look out for ... Mos def!
Here's the tracklisting for the as yet untitled album...
1. You’ll Never Listen
2. Kiss That Girl
3. Don’t You Want To Share The Guilt?
4. I Just Love You More
5. Do Wah Doo
6. Higher Plane
7. I’ve Got A Secret
8. Oh Jay
9. Later On
10. Pickpocket
11. You Were So Far Away
12. I Hate Seagulls

Lady GaGa & Beyonce
Telephone new album 15 March 2010
Lady GaGa's so hot she should take something off but there's not much left too choose ... 'Telephone' is another unbelievably well thought out club anthem ... I'm impressed also by the standard of the re-mixes. The original 124bpm album version is superb ... add for variety Kaskades stomping 126bpm mix, or Crookers trademark 121bpm track and then in a style reminiscent of UK Garage 2000 bring on the 132bpm Passion Pit mix .. woh just a minute they haven't finished yet - the three minute 126bpm Ming Radio Mix is radio friendly leaving only the near five minute 129bpm Alphabeat mix at the back of my pack. This is another great clubland lyric with two of it's biggest stars ... what could go wrong ... stuck at 39 for a second week this week on album downloads alone ... but eventually top two ?? ... maybe a fourth GaGa topper!

Lightspeed Champion
Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You new album 15 February 2010
Lightspeed Champions album went down I thought rather well - it may have had something to do with the crowd imbued on the almost unbelievable Welsh victory over Scotland in the Rugby Union game a few yards away - this the warm up for our new Welsh sport of Golf Buggying on the M4 ... it may have had something to do with that however many seemed to already know and respond to the songs as they began.
There were around 100 in the playback room for the event in which I had re-edited the album without the gaps.
Personally I don't think the fifteen tracks are helped by the three 'intermission' pieces and gaps seem to my ears to make it rather disjointed ... however when the material is joined together as it would be on say a Pink Floyd album it seems to be an altogether bigger listen ... Lightspeed Champions songs seem to improve mixed tightly next to one another. (Intermission 2 seems to me like it should develop into an interesting song of some sort)
Some attendees did complain they wanted to hear something more uplifting .... however generally I thought there was a positive response to the record.
Musical highlights .. Marlene (Radio Edit) from the single CD ... that riff is superb - a winner
Some nifty piano work on 'The Big Guns Of Highsmith' .. cant'be too many songs other than Monty Python's to mention Socrates
'Romart's a good case in point of seguing .. it sounds great straight out of 'Highsmith' .. nice tune too
The short sweet 'I Don't Want To Wake Up Alone' and 'Madame Van Damme' move the set along nicely and I rather like the atmospheric intro on 'Middle Of The Dark'
Overall 'Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You' is an aquired taste but the songs have a gnawing to growing quality to them so I think Lightspeed Champion has good reason to be pleased with this album.
Filed with interesting musicality good stuff.

Wild Beasts new single 22 March 2010
We Still Got The Taste Dancin' On Our Tongues
I have a feeling if Wild Beasts persevere they can eventually become one of the biggest bands in the UK. They are consistently adventurous with a left field take on every track come up with. 'We Still Got' features haunting heavenly chorale type vocals and the oblique lyric we've come to expect. Not currently known for their mainstream potential I noted for the first time big potential when I realised their sound on this track is somewhat reminiscent of 'crazy' Kate Bush ... who obviously was not so crazy as to miss out on the hits. Wild Beasts Gatekeeper Remix sits very healthily alongside Kate Bush's 'Running Up That Hill'. Top band, top track .. deserving of big success.

Yeasayer
O.N.E. new single 22 March 2010
Hmmm this is a kindofan interesting record - a little offbeat 'O.N.E.' is taken from the bands second album 'Oddbeat' available now. The band are playing a sell-out show at London's Heaven and following with a second London date at Koko on 26th May so they are making progress but weird name 'Yeasayer' isn't it? ... it's not really one that jumps out at you. This song is ok, it's got some intricate vocals on times, though I don't think the album version is worthy of five minutes .. I quite like the dance remix by XXXchange. However, I think it'll be tough for this track to break through. Sorry

This week's Top 40 ...

Top 40 Sun 7 Feb 10 Owl City top the lot for a third week holding off Jedward & Vanilla Ice ....... what a combination Madonna's toy boy of 1990 and the teenies answer to the mega talents Sam & Mark .. Ant & Dec haven't got owt to worry aboot. Interesting chart this week in that Simon Cowell has fired another broadside at the BEEB by releasing his Haiti Charity single 'Everybody Hurts' today .. Sunday .. chart day. So the BBC chart is already a week out of date with the various artists 'choir' topping the same day's iTunes chart on one days' sales. A couple of years back Cowell offered to buy Top Of The Pops from the BBC ... why didn't they sell it... they're not using it and it should never have been ended as a weekly show. I'd like to see how Cowell would showcase the weekly chart with it's erratic and frequent inclusions of Rage Against The Machine and so on ... I wonder if he'd eliminate them for his usual fayre. Unless the BBC put him in charge of TOTP's eventual inevitable Dr.Who like return I guess we'll never know. Ke$ha's 'Blah' from her strangely and intriguingly great debut album enters at 11 just ahead of our Marina & The Diamonds excellent 'Hollywood' at 12. Ke$ha's album is packed with hit songs like 'Dinosaur' and 'Backstabber' she's definately got the material and act to compete with GaGa. Glee cast get a third song into the UK top forty with a cover of Queen's 'Somebody To Love' at 26 while Calvin harris and GaGa & Beyonce make up the six new entries. Alicia Keys excellent 'The Element Of Freedom' moves up to No.1 on the UK's albums while her 'Empire State Of Mind' single climbs to 5. In the USA Ke$ha's Tik Tok stays top for a seventh week while last week's highest new entry from Taylor Swift drops out of the top ten ... how strange? 6 new entries - 6 up, 27 down, 1 non-mover This Week ... Last Wk ... Wks In ... Artist ... Title ... Origin 1 1 4 OWL CITY Fireflies US 2 new JEDWARD & VANILLA ICE Under Pressure UK / US 3 17 2 TIMBALAND & KATY PERRY If We Ever Meet Again US 4 2 4 GLEE CAST Don' Stop Believing US 5 7 5 ALICIA KEYS Empire State Of Mind (Part 2) US 6 3 5 IYAZ Replay US 7 4 7 3OH!3 & KATY PERRY Starstrukk US 8 6 4 JLS One Shot US 9 8 11 JOURNEY Don't Stop Believing US 10 9 3 EXAMPLE Won't Go Quietly UK   11 new KE$HA Blah Blah Blah US 12 new MARINA & THE DIAMONDS Hollywood UK 13 5 5 SIDNEY SAMSON Riverside Holland 14 15 3 JAY SEAN, SEAN PAUL, LIL JOHN Remember UK / US 15 10 10 JAY-Z & Mr HUDSON Young Forever 70 USUK 16 12 15 LADY GAGA Bad Romance US 17 11 8 ALEXANDRA BURKE Broken Heels UK 18 16 14 KE$HA Tik Tok US 19 13 9 SATURDAYS Ego UK 20 28 2 RIHANNA Rude Boy US   21 14 10 N-DUBZ & Mr HUDSON Playing With Fire UK 22 18 21 JAY-Z & ALICIA KEYS Empire State Of Mind US 23 19 4 PLAN B Stay Too Long UK 24 21 15 FLORENCE & THE MACHINE You've Got The Love UK 25 22 18 BLACK EYED PEAS Meet Me Halfway US 26 new GLEE CAST Somebody To Love US 27 23 10 ALICIA KEYS Doesn't Mean Anything US 28 30 10 TIMBALAND & NELLY FURTADO Morning US / Canada 29 20 5 JUSTIN BIEBER One Time US 30 25 4 BIFFY CLYRO Many Of Horror UK   31 24 11 RIHANNA Russian Roulette US 32 27 11 13 PIXIE LOTT Cry Me Out 118-122 UK 33 31 31 BLACK EYED PEAS I Gotta Feeling US 34 40 2 YOUNG MONEY & LLOYD Bedrock US 35 26 7 11 CHIPMUNK & TALAY RILEY Look For Me 126 UK 36 33 3 PITBULL Shut It Down US 37 29 4 ONE REPUBLIC All The Right Moves US 38 new CALVIN HARRIS You Used To Hold Me UK 39 new LADY GAGA & BEYONCE Telephone US 40 34 13 CHERYL COLE & WILL I AM Three Words UK / US

£100k Equity v BBC Posted Wednesday 10th February 2010 Equity has today issued a press release condemning the BBC as "short-sighted" and "a disgrace" for threatening to cut actors' salaries and has accused the Corporation of using actors as a political football. Equity General Secretary Christine Payne has commented: "Performers are the BBC's best asset. Viewers do not turn on their televisions to see the likes of BBC Director General Mark Thompson, they want to see Equity members performing in their favourite soaps, dramas and comedies. Yet while Mark Thompson's salary is safe he is attacking performers who earn many times less than he does." Equity has been in angry discussion with the BBC about its plans to cut all TV and radio salaries over £100,000 without the option to negotiate. The union has said that this is arbitrary, bears no relation to the success of programmes or the skills of performers and attacks the BBC best asset its talent. Surf onto Equity's web site by clicking here to read the full text of Equity's press release. Bluebird's D-Day Posted Tuesday 9th February 2010 When Cardiff City arrive at the High Court to face Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs winding-up order they won't be alone.... At 11.30am Wednesday morning The Bluebirds will be facing the music owing £2.7million while Portsmouth are in the Dock (geddit) for owing £7.5million and Southend United owe Mr Brown's former power base money ministry £700,000. Crystal Palace went into administration recently and the queue is growing .. most notably with speculation that for Man United success is a necessity or their £700 million debt may also go unpaid. Meanwhile Newport County are 17 points clear at the top of the Conference South yay ... Cardiff North BBC1 Posted Monday 8 February 2010 The General Election nears .. we hope .. and the BBC's Political Editor Nick Robinson began his 'Pulse' pre-election tour of the UK in the Welsh Capital. The first ports of call for the BEEB's top politcal man - Llanishen Leisure Centre, Whitchurch Village and Broadcasting House. BH, Cardiff where BBC Wales is primed with 'Common Purpose' graduates - not members but graduates. To avoid legislation on membership it has 'graduates'. Common Purpose seems like an organisation we're not supposed to know about but has offices all over the UK - a simple Google-ing reveals a Freemasons like industry - a secret society within. Common Purpose is an 'Agent For Change' and it's us who are to be be changed. It's boss was based in the Deputy Prime Minister's Office from 1997 until 2007 and as yet I've never seen it covered in any mainstream newspaper radio or TV. The Cardiff North constituency has been held by Labour's Julie Morgan since 1997 but was previously a Tory stronghold which now again seems ripe for change. It's characteristic how these TV/Radio pieces are ushering us more and more towards the Lib-Lab-Con - Plaid will be challengers here, as will the Greens and numerous others ... There seems a growing chance they'll succeed with more and more messages pointing us to think only within certain paramaters - like the recession's over - the recovery's fragile - (what recovery?) Like these three parties are the most trustworthy of what's on offer... If that's the case we are in trouble. Click here for Nick Robinson's 'Pulse' in Cardiff America's Hot 100 This Week ... Last Week ... Weeks In ... Artist ... Title 1 1 17 KE$HA TiK ToK 2 3 14 LADY GAGA Bad Romance 3 4 10 YOUNG MONEY & LLOYD BedRock 4 11 9 BLACK EYED PEAS Imma Be 5 7 26 DAVID GUETTA & AKON Sexy Chick 6 12 8 LUDACRIS How Long 7 6 24 IYAZ Replay 8 18 25 LADY ANTEBELLEM Need You Now 9 10 18 TRAIN Hey, Soul Sister 10 9 11 RIHANNA Hard John Terry Merk'd Posted Friday 5th February 2010 It's taken a decisive Italian to show our leaders the difference between right and wrong and how justice should work. Not any Italian, the most successful England manager since Alf Ramsey forty years ago. It took twelve minutes for Fabio Capello to strip John Terry of his captains duties for his sins off the pitch. Earlier the Football Association's David Davies kind of indicated he thought John Terry's Captaincy would be safe. The new England Captain will be Rio Ferdinand. Coming soon ... The Pope ... PS On Sunday Labour Minister Mike O'Brien called Terry's axeing crass .. he put a message on Twitter about England manager Fabio Capello's move. It says: "The sacking of Terry is crass. Capello has bowed to tabloid pressure. Infidelity is bad but I saw no signs of fatigue in his football." He should know about crass - as Under Secretary of State for Immigration he sped up the process while in public denying it - he oversaw his department predicting just 7,000 arriving from Eastern Europe when the Union expanded ... 500,000 came ... since 1997 O'Brien's also spread chaos in Constitutional Affairs, The Solicitor General's Office, Ministry of Pensions, Ministry of Energy and he's currently working on de-constructing the National Health Service .. how could he have been so wrong ... where did these arses come from .. In the 80s and 90s we were constantly warned about the dangers of the Looney Left - we don't hear anything about them now ... oh yeah they're governing us.