Joseph, Better You Than Me

Las Vegas' own The Killers. The Queen Mother of pop, Elton John. Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant. All together singing a Christmas charity song. This could me much camper if they recorded it in a pink tent in Elton's bedroom. It really shouldn't work either, and it almost doesn't. The levels of kitsch and bombast are almost off the scale, but the song just plods along, with no real chorus or hook to drive it forward. Just the attraction of some of the the campest artists in the music business. It lacks the kookiness of last year's effort "Don't Shoot Me Santa" and the general festive overload of 2006's "A Great Big Sled". But then again, how interesting can a song about Jesus' dad be anyway? Ahh well it's for charity, so may as well go download it.



6/10

A Snowflake Fell (And It Felt Like A Kiss...)

Sick of the usual saccharine Christmas songs trotted out every year? "All I Want For Christmas Is You"? "Wonderful Christmastime"? "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town"? Do you tend to get nicknames such as Scrooge or Grinch around this time of year? Well Glasvegas' new mini-album is perfect for you!

It's not exactly your typical Xmas album as such, apart from the mention of snowflakes, Christmas, a few bells tossed in here and there, and it being released on the 1st of December. Oh, and a cover of Silent Night featuring a Romanian choir. Like I said, this isn't a typical yuletide album. The six songs on "ASF(AIFLAK)", in my mind, tell the story of the break-up of a relationship, from bitter arguments ("Fuck You, It's Over") to having nowhere to go and sleeping on the streets ("Cruel Moon" and the title track). You wouldn't really expect anything less from the Glaswegians; they weren't going to be covering "Frosty The Snowman".

The songs have also been stripped of Glasvegas' usual wall of sound and reverb, using just keys, piano and vocals on most of the tracks. That said, single "Please Come Back Home" definitely stands out as the typical heart rendering anthem from the Scots, and is likely to be their third big hit. The most unusual move on the album has to be the cover of "Silent Night". Beginning as a sparse lament, using just James Allan's vocals and a sombre piano, it's possibly the most depressing thing the 'Vegas have recorded. Until the choir starts up, lending a sense of hope and humanity to the song. A Romanian choir singing "Silent Night"...you won't get that with whoever wins X Factor. If it ever happens live, it could be the best gig ever.



8.5/10

808s & Heartbreak

Well Kanye won't win any prizes for album title subtlety, seeing his fourth offering is basically made up predominantly of the Roland TR-808 drum machine (as it can be used to"evoke emotion"....go figure) and a turbulent year for West himself; the death of his mother and a split from his fiancée. So you can forgive him for the overwhelming woe-is-me feel of the album.

Two other main factors of the album are the use of AutoTune/Vocoder and the complete lack of rapping. Seriously. Gutted for all the kids who like to think they're from "da ghetto" then buy this album, just because it's Kanye, and get just one track featuring a rap (new single "Heartless"). If anything, the album is rooted in classic 80's pop, than 21st century hip-hop. West has already said that he has a soft spot for pop and that some of the "greatest" singers of all time were pop artists, specifically Madonna and Michael Jackson (obviously he hasn't heard their last few releases).

But for all the background and bumfluff, for all the concepts and melancholy, 808s & Heartbreak just comes off as a bit bland really. Opener "Say You Will" is fine musically, but Kanye's vocals are instantly forgettable, as are most of the tracks on the album. In fact, the collaboration tracks (with Kid Cudi, Young Jeezy, Mr. Hudson and Lil' Wayne) are the best here, seemingly as they're not all Kanye moping about. Lead single "Love Lockdown" is pretty much a work of genius from the "college dropout"; distorted vocals and tribal drums gel together suprisingly well, but from here, 808s... is downhill, right down to the final track "Pinocchio Story" a freestyle from a gig in Singapore. Pretty pointless really, it's a dirge of a track and I lost track of what Kanye was on about half way through, so I switched to The Wombats.

Anyways, 808s & Heartbreak is a suprising curveball, a confident change in direction for one of the biggest rappers around. Yet, despite the actual heartbreak behind it, you'd think West would find something positive out of the whole experience instead of turning into a sort of hip-hop Morrissey. At least he can make misery seem interesting, he's been doing it for 26 years.

6.5/10

Speaking of The Wombats, they're releasing a Christmas singe. No, wait...come back! It may not seem so much at first but it's a grower. Despite the Les Dennis cameo. Just ignore the first ten seconds when you hear it, then go buy it. Or Glasvegas' Crimbo mini-album. They're more deserving than whichever sorry excuse for humanity wins X Factor of the Xmas Number One (except that Diana one, she's rather fit) and also better than the other over-sweet festive sludge being released around this time.

7/10 (The Wombats - Is This Christmas?)
8.5/10 (Glasvegas - Please Come Back Home)
xxx