MOBY: Mistake.He says this is a result of spending his adolescence listening to the likes of Joy Division and Echo And The Bunnymen and that can’t be a good thing. It’s techno bleakness.
PARAMORE: Ignorance.All rather frantic and excited as this fiery rock quickly ignites and then burns fiercely right through to the end.
DANCER Vs POLITICIAN: Justin Fairborn.A Berliner who has made a home for herself in the States and has gently crafted a sound here that draws in classic, folk and soul. Rather twee and wistful – not words you’d usually associate with Germany or America.
CHARLIE WINSTON: Like A Hobo.This country-laced rolling folk with a touch of harmonica here and a lyric that at times comes dangerously close to a yodel there has been number one in France where he’s toured extensively. It’s all about a bloke travelling alone and embracing solitude. Sounds like he took a guitar and harmonica along with him though.
BILLY TALENT: Devil On My Shoulder.The Canadian band sure knows how to rock and any reference to the devil certainly helps. Few choruses can be so annoying. Better to have a parrot on your shoulder than the devil, although that too can lead to complications.
JAY-Z: The Blueprint 3.He takes sample-strewn rap in a new direction here, never more so than on the opening track, the heavily synthesized soul of What We’re Talkin’ About. Then there’s the scarred funk of DOA while Rihanna and Kanye West join him on the trudging guitar and staccato rhythmic single Run This Town. The album was released in the States on September 11, exactly eight years to the day since the release of the first Blueprint album and the day life as we knew it ended with the 911 terrorist atrocities. Rap and soul fuse together in pure joy with Empire State Of Mind – a hookline to sigh for. Agitation comes in the form of the shuffling Off That while A Star Is Born uses another great sample. Naturally it’s the language of the street. Few are letdowns.
FRANK TURNER: Poetry Of The Deed.Frank is right on the attack here from the first chord. He gives folk a punky injection to bring it fully to life to match the lyrics. The Pogues could quite easily have been accused of penning the really rather frantic Try This At Home. The words veer from the English weather to growing old. He’s out to land a musical punch with every song and rarely misses. There’s an urgency, a spirit and a genuine feeling of spontaneity that powers it all along.
