Jamie T - The Man's Machine video

Now I like Jamie T as much as the next guy; two fantastic albums, amazing live, cheeky everyman image. There isn't much to hate really. Especially here, with one of the best choruses on "Kings & Queens"(even if it is kind of unitelligble). Just recently, I've felt a bit "meh" towards Mr Treays and his exploits. I'm not trying to sound uber-cool and indie, like "I knew about him first!", but maybe it's his position as flavour of the month with those types who say they "like all kinds of music" on social netowrking profiles or like to think they're down with it and out there by listening to something outside the Top 40. Meh, ignore my ramblings, and enjoy this rather cool vid, for an awesome song.

Album Pile-Up (warning: extremly positive reviews here)

There have been a LOT of albums I've neglected to review over the last few months, partly due to not listening to them enough, partly due to sheer laziness. But to clear the backlog and put my mind at ease, here they all are, in the bare minimum of what constitutes a review

WILD BEASTS - TWO DANCERSWho: Divisive Kendal quartet, with challenging falsetto vocals
What: "Two Dancers" is Wild Beasts' second album after last year's debut "Limbo Panto". The fluid guitar work and operatic vocals of that record led to a few sticking "The new Smiths" tag on the band. A lot to live up to for any band, but they've surpassed what could be seen as lazy pigeonholing to create, in what is a year of great second albums, an amazing sophomore effort that sounds like nothing else around right now. Dreamlike in parts and sexed up in others, the jump in quality is astounding, especially when considering "Limbo Panto" was a very good debut. Hayden Thorpe's falsetto will still either endear or prove and instant point of hate for new listeners, but those who endeavour to keep listening are in for a wonderful treat.
Key Tracks: The sublime "Hooting & Howling", "We've Still Got The Dancing On Our Tongues", "All The Kings Men"
9

JAMIE T - KINGS & QUEENSWho: The "one man Clash" or as he's probably known to his mum, James Treays
What: Yet another fantastic second album, this time from the baseball-capped bard of Wimbledon. "Kings & Queens" is just as eclectic and carefree as Treays' debut "Panic Prevention", just enhanced and improved. And to those of you who have listened to "Panic Prevention", you'll know improving on it is no mean feat. "Kings & Queens" has more than it's fair share of possible hits ("368" and "Hocus Pocus" are right up there with the cold for catchiness) but what's interesting is the amount of ballads on the album. Ballads probably isn't the right term, but introspective, acoustic songs that aren't as rabble-rousing as the rest of the album is a bit of a mouthful. It's tracks like "Emily's Heart" and "Jilly Armeen" that showcase Treays' tender side (probably why he has such a big "female following") as well as giving evidence that he isn't a one-trick pony
Key Tracks: "368", "Sticks N Stones", "Emily's Heart", "Chaka Demus", "Spider's Web", "Castro Dies", "British Intelligence", "Jilly Armeen"
9

JAY-Z - THE BLUEPRINT 3Who: In his own words:'For those that didn't get the memo my name is Jay-Z and I'm pretty fucking awesome'
What: The final part of Jay-Z's "Blueprint" trilogy, which features an all-star cast, from Luke Steele (of Empire Of The State fame), Alicia Keys, Mr Hudson, Kid Cudi, Pharrell, Rihanna and meme-of-the-moment Kanye West. Had this album come out two years ago, then Jigga's Glastonbury set would have been an even bigger success, such is the amount of moments of genius here. "D.O.A" is one of his best, everyone knows "Run This Town" by now (having the three biggest names in hip-hop and R&B was always going to result in a hit) and pretty much every other song has a great beat and a killer line. It's safe to say that "TB3" further cements Jay-Z's position at the top of the game.
Key Tracks: "Thank You", "D.O.A", "Run This Town", "Empire State Of Mind", "Real As It Gets", "A Star Is Born", "Young Forever"
8

THE BIG PINK - A BRIEF HISTORY OF LOVE
Who: The latest one to watch in the "shoegaze" pigeonhole
What: Another year, another moody group in leather jackets with loud guitars. Not that this is in any way a bad thing, after all rock 'n' roll is built on that template. TBP have described this album as a "future soul record", an attempt to 'mix up their favourite two genres of music' in soul and noise. It's safe to say they've succeeded in that. " A Brief History..." does have a doomed love story feel to most of its songs, probably due to the apocalyptic guitar feedback they're drowned in. This isn't an easy listen, it's an album of heartbreak, melancholy and skyscraping noise and straight-up pop moments are hard to come by, other than the inescapable "Dominos", "Velvet" and "At War With The Sun". "A Brief History Of Love" probably isn't what your girlfriend/boyfriend would want you listening to, since they'd think you were a miserable bastard and isn't what your parents would want you listening to after a break-up, for fear you'd start wearing studded leathers and end up hating everything. But I digress, The Big Pink have crafted an amazing debut that stands up to almost any other released this year
Key Tracks: "Too Young To Love", "Dominos", "Love In Vain", "At War With The Sun", "Velvet", "A Brief History Of Love", "Tonight", "Count Backwards From Ten"
9.5

NOAH AND THE WHALE - THE FIRST DAYS OF SPRING
Who: Underrated folk-poppers, damned for all eternity to be associated with "5 Years Time"
What: Once again, it's a second album that surpasses its predecessor. "Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down" was a good, if underrated debut from NATW, unfortunately eclipsed by the aforementioned single. Little over a year later, "The First Days Of Spring" was released, and quite frankly, it's an astonishing record. From the funereal, "Be My Baby"-esque beat of the opening title track to the orchestral middle section and the hopefulness of album closer "My Door Is Always Open", this is an album deserving of all the plaudits it gains. Whereas you may have thought of NATW as a one-song, bland pop band, listening to this will almost definitely change your opinion. At the risk of descending into extreme hyperbole, "The First Days Of Spring" is one of the best albums of the last decade; grand, majestic, heartbreakingly honest and powerful lyrics ("This is a song for anyone who can't get out of bed/I'll do anything to be happy", "This is the last song while I'm still in love with you/This is the last song that I write whilst your even on my mind", "I'd be anyone to be at your side/I need your life in my life/Need your light in my life"). As you can tell this isn't the happiest album ever, and it's pretty clear it tells the story of a break-up (most likely the one of lead singer Charlie Fink and Laura Marling). But as with pretty much all great pop, it deals with the sour side of love and is all the more perfect for it.
Key Tracks: All of it, including the accompanying short film. It's worth it.
10

THE XX - XX
Who: Another band dressed in all black, and another band that sound like noone else around
What: The debut of the hotly tipped, barely-out-of-school London foursome, The xx are unique in the music scene at the minute. The only way to describe them is Radiohead and Florence Welch covering R&B/pop songs with Burial producing. But that's waaaaay too NME for my liking. The fairly lo-fi production and use of artificial beats gives The xx (yep, that's right, no capitals) a dubstep feel without delving too much into that overrated genre. The simple guitar lines sound almost fragile and yet push the songs forward, usually acting as the main melody. Romy Croft and Oliver Sim's hushed vocals intertwine for the best boy-girl vocals this side of Los Campesinos! debut album, and give "xx" a sultry, sexy feel. Whilst in broad daylight, the album is merely very good, it comes into its own when listened to in the early hours of the morning, I'm not too sure why this is, but come midnight, "xx" is a magical record. The tense atmosphere and downbeat mood take on a life of their own, whilst the sparseness of each song seems perfectly suited for dark winter nights. The xx will have a very tough job on their hands bettering this, but I look forward to the results
Key Tracks: "Intro", "VCR", "Crystalised", "Islands", "Shelter", "Basic Space", "Infinity", "Night Time", "Stars"
9

Leeds mutha'uckas!

Leeds. Was. Awesome. But that's stating the obvious considering the line-up, which was suprisingly unpopular with large chunks of the ticketgoers. But without further ado, here's a review of the entire weekend.

FRIDAY
Fightstar - 12:45 - 13:15 - Main Stage
I think I prefer Busted. Seriously. You can't look at Charlie Simpson without hearing "Year 3000". Fightstar are what you imagine the metalheads/emo kids two years below you in school would make if they had a ion of talent. Not to say they were any good. Murky and muddy through most of the set, the only thing of interest was the growing size of the first mosh pit of the festival.

The Rakes - 13:30 - 14:10 - Main Stage
Last seen; supporting Franz Ferdinand, Manchester, Oct 2006
For all their great tunes, The Rakes have never really gotten "big". Sticking them on the main stage, this early probably won't help that. Considering the arena was still mostly made up of hardcore kids left over from Fightstar/still waiting for Enter Shikari, The Rakes were never going to be too popular. Alan Donohoe's vocals don't really seem to have the same effect live as they do on record, going from lively and cool to shrill and fairly annoying. That said, they still put in a pretty good performance, just it'd be much more enjoyable in one of the smaller tents.

Eagles of Death Metal - 14:20 - 15:05 - Main Stage
Josh Homme's other other band (after QOTSA and Them Crooked Vultures). Although that is a slight fallacy seeing as he only plays on their records and never live. Not that it's noticeable, with frontman Jesse "The Devil" Hughes more than filling Homme's stage presence and acting the classic rock & roll frontman. Most people (including myself) only know two songs, but that doesn't matter as EODM make up for the lack of tunes with showmanship and a good-time feeling. An unexpected highlight if only for the phrase "I just want to shake my dick and make you all feel happy."

The Chapman Family - 15:00 - 15:30 - Festival Republic
Unfortunately I only caught "Kids", having forgotten their stage time and needing to get back to camp. But as expected, The Champans did not disappoint and were furiously superb for that one song. With a new single and tour this October, I can only hope I get to see an entire set.

The Courteeners - 16:00 - 17:15 - Main Stage
Oasis had broken up, but noone seemed to notice or heard at Leeds with The Courteeners doing a pretty good job of filling in. Not direct descendants of the Gallaghers per se, but with enough swagger to replace them, The Courteeners look to be going from strength to strength, especially with the confidence to chuck away their two biggest songs as set openers. Judging by the new songs on show, the second album should be a treat.

Ian Brown - 17:35 - 18:20 - Main Stage
Despite taking an age to arrive on stage, King Monkey provided the best set of the day so far. Okay, it wasn't a set for casual fans but the triple whammy of "F.E.A.R", "Stellify" and "Fools Gold" ("this one's good for boppin'. Whatever happened to boppin'?" went the introduction from Brown) made sure it left a lasting impression.

Maximo Park - 18:40 - 19:25 - Main Stage
A few may have been puzzled at Maximo's high billing as, like The Rakes, they haven't exactly reached Arctic Monkey status with the British public. But by the end of the set, there would have been few unconverted to the Geordies cause. Smart, sharp, fun, funky, and some fantastic dance moves from Paul Smith, the Park showed that they're more than capable of growing and growing to bigger things. The brass band augmenting the end of the set was a masterstroke.

The Prodigy - 20:00 - 21:00 - Main Stage
Bonkers before they'd even started setting up, there's less pushing in a ward of pregnant women. "Omen", which before now had been a minor chant amongst campers, turned into a full-blown festival anthem the minute it was played. Due to the fear of being crushed to death, I made a fairly swift exit. I managed to return for the closing "Out Of Space". There's little more fun than going mental in a field of other people going mental to probably one of the best dance tracks ever. I doubt it was as much fun on the front barrier though...

White Lies - 19:30 - 20:10 - NME/Radio 1 Stage
Last seen; on the NME Awards tour, Jan 09
Having escaped death by rave, I managed to catch the last few songs of White Lies set. In the space of seven months, they've gone from doomy post-punkers to a rather epic rock band. In a strangely sparse tent, they still managed to bring the house down with "Death" and with a second album, they could definitely move swiftly to headliners of the NME stage or even high on the main stage. You'd be foolish to miss them.

Arctic Monkeys - 21:30 - 23:00 - Main Stage
Last seen; Manchester, Dec 07
The local(ish) boys return to...well, mixed reactions really. There were those who were only there for "Dancefloor", those who were underwhelmed by the performance and pissed off Turner's transformation to cliched arsehole rockstar and then there were those who thought it was a great rock show. I was pretty much in the latter group, having memorised the new album and pretty much every song that was played. Yes Alex Turner is too far up his own backside, coming out dressed in RayBans, leather jacket, awful hair and obviously pissed/coked up to the eyeballs, but that doesn't take much away from the live show. The new songs sound powerful and confident whilst older tracks are given a new breath of life e.g. "Fluorescent Adolescent" is slowed down with a new middle eighth. "Bring on the backlash" has been the Arctics attitude since they first appeared, and whilst the backlash is beginning, I don't think they give a monkey's.

SATURDAY
Vampire Weekend - 17:05 - 17:50 - Main Stage
Yeah, considering VW were fourth from top on the second day, you can tell I didn't get around much. Anyways, the buzz band of 2008 lived up to my high expectations, what with them making my album of last year. Of course, the majority of people only knew "A-Punk" (in the words of my friends, "they should just play A-Punk for half an hour then get off") but for those who, y'know, actually like to delve deeper and listen to albums, the set was a treat. Perfect for a somewhat sunny afternoon and the two new songs have got me and probably a lot of others eagerly anticipating their sophomore effort.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - 18:15 - 19:05 - Main Stage
The eternally hip band. In the mass-music-industry-fap over New York in the early part of the decade, the YYYs were almost gods, even compared to The Strokes and Interpol. But despite their elevated status in the world of indie, there isn't much that comes to mind that justifies a third from top billing on the Main Stage. But they do have the big songs. "Zero", "Heads Will Roll" and "Date With The Night" are all crowdslayers and a beautiful acoustic version of "Maps" should have brought a tear to the eye of even the most wasted reveller. The YYYs just seem like a tent band, they could have comfortably slotted in as headliners at the NME stage this year, and are a bit wasted on a field full of Radiohead fans.

Bloc Party - 19:30 - 20:30 - Main Stage
Or Radiohead Jr, as some seem to view them. Bloc certainly have a similar eclecticism and experimental side to them and can probably lay claim to the affections of an equal amount of indie kids' hearts, but they're an altogether more festival-y band i.e. you can dance around to them. And dancing was certainly the order of their set with only two slower numbers included. The segue of "Song For Clay" into "Banquet" in particular sent the place wild. Though despite all this, BP seem like they're forever consigned to penultimate band status. It's hard to envisage them making the step-up to headliners, seeing as they've played lower down for the last five or so years. But for now, I'll enjoy them wherever they are.

Radiohead - 21:00 - 23:00 - Main Stage
Reading gets "Creep". Reading got "Karma Police. Reading got "Street Spirit". Three songs I was pretty desperate to hear live on what was probably the only time I'll see Radiohead live. But this was the only complaint from a phenomenal performance. The lack of real hits dampened the atmosphere somewhat since your common garden Radiohead fan doesn't know "(Nice Dream)" or "A Wolf At The Door" so by throwing them into the set along with other less-known tracks won't exactly increase the bonhomie. But regardless, this was five outstanding musicians playing outstanding songs with an entrancing stage show. If only they'd played "No Suprises"...

SUNDAY
Little Boots - 15:05 - 15:45 - NME/Radio 1 Stage
Now you wouldn't imagine big, bold, shiny pop would fit in with rain-soaked, northern fields, but somehow Little Boots made us all forget the horror of barely-cooked beans and pissed-on tents for 40 minutes. Especially by bringing her monumentally wasted brother up on stage to play tambourine. On this evidence, it appears Ms Boots will stick around longer than her counterparts

The Horrors - 16:05 - 16:50 - NME/Radio 1 Stage
Last seen; supporting Arctic Monkeys, Manchester, Dec 07
A very large jump from blatant pop of Little Boots to dark and moody shoegaze of The Horrors. The last time I had the "pleasure" of seeing them, they were awful, possibly the worst proper band I had ever witnessed. What a difference just under two years makes. No longer goading and insulting the crowd, the band have perfected their look and their sound to make for a superb set, which is slightly lost on the sections of the crowd who only recognise Faris Badwan as "that goffy fella who was shagging Peaches Geldof".

Jack Penate - 17:10 - 17:55 - NME/Radio 1 Stage
From pop to shoegaze and back to pop again. The ever-effervescent Mr Penate attempted to bring a little bit of joy after the gloom of The Horrors. Okay, it did feck all to brighten up a miserable day but it certainly made the NME stage a happier place. Crowd surfing, crazy dancing and a cheesy grin are all part and parcel of a Penate live show and it was no different here. Whilst his newer material may not have brought the carnival that Friendly Fires did later on, it was the best warm up they could ask for. Pity about him losing his shoes though, they were rather snazzy.

The Big Pink - 18:10 - 18:45 - Festival Republic Stage
The Glasvegas comparisons are going to come thick and fast for the winners of the NME Phillip Hall Radar award and it's easy to see why. For one, they've both won the aforementioned award, they both deal in moody, shoegaze-inspired indie, they're got a short frontman in a leather jacket, a creepily slim bassist, a female drummer who's pretty damn good and a tall one. So as you can see too many similarities to ignore. But whilst Glasvegas have been clumped into the lad-rock zone, TBP are much too alternative for drunkards to start hugging each other to. Droney electronic soundscapes surrounding what are essentially classic soul songs; hypnotic on record but blistering in the live arena. It's enough to make me want to start my own band. So you know they've gotta be good.

Florence And The Machine - 18:15 - 19:00 - NME/Radio 1 Stage
Last seen; NME Awards Tour, Liverpool, Jan 09
Due to being blown away by The Big Pink in the Festival Republic tent and her being forced offstage, I was only able to catch a small part of Florence's set. In comparison to the last time I saw her (crowdsurfing, barefoot, running around the venue) she seems to have matured a fair bit, as well as being pushed into the whole "forest elf" look by someone at her label no doubt. Anyways, it was a good, if unremarkable few songs I heard. That's all really.

Friendly Fires - 19:20 - 20:10 - NME/Radio 1 Stage
Last seen; NME Awards tour, Liverpool, Jan 09
If there's one band that deserves a proper summer's day to perform on, it's Friendly Fires. Unfortunately, they had to deal with a wet and miserable Sunday evening although it didn't put a dampener on proceedings. Racing through their fantastic debut, they're a band that you need to be at the front for, or at least nearby, just to join in with the carnival and dancing. A little disappointing that the Brazilian dancers didn't make a return, but they weren't really needed. FF are well on their way to challenging Muse for the 'best live band' tag.

Jamie T - 20:25 - 21:15 - NME/Radio 1 Stage
Okay, scratch that. Friendly Fires AND Jamie T are challenging Muse. Possibly the most energetic performance of the weekend from the "sexy" (according to some...girls are extremely weird) Wimbledon troubador and with only two tracks from his new album (admittedly two bloody great ones). Spitting out lyrics at the speed of a machine gun, he even manages to convince the metalheads who are here for Faith No More, and Faith No More only, to bop along at the very least. Even if you can't keep up with the rapid verses, every chorus is designed for a festival singalong and the crowd doesn't let up. An unexpected delight.

Kings Of Leon - 21:30 - 23:00 - Main Stage
As expected, the mass exodus to see the Followill clan began the second Jamie T dropped his mic, resulting in the biggest crowd of the weekend, stretching back to the burger vans and one awkwardly placed ice cream truck, eventually destroyed during "Red Morning Light". As with Radiohead, KoL are in essence a group of good musicians playing good songs, and what more could anyone want? Well judging by a few members of the crowd, "Sex On Fire" played 20 times apparently. Even so, the audience "blew Reading to hell" according to Caleb Followill, although that wasn't hard considering the crowd down south had been less accepting of the band. Suprisngly the songs from the fourth album sounded alright and actually worth singing along to, whilst every single older song seemed injected with a renewed passion and feeling. That fifth album may be a while away but my guess is it'll be worth the wait.


Notes on a festival

• To guys: Stop wearing bandanas! You are not a hippie, you are not in MGMT. And anyways the craze for them was last year
• To girls: Stop wearng flower headbands! You aren't Florence Welch, you're not a hippy, this is not woodstock!
• Please don't walk around topless. Okay we get it, you're fit and tanned, stop making everyone else fell inadequate and burying your face in the toilets
• Dropping heavy metal in a DJ right after The Streets "But You Know It" goes down suprisingly well
• To those of you who suddenly started saying "I love dubstep, me", stop it. Just because Nick Grimshaw has been banging on about it this week, doesn't mean you should to! Stick to your white, middle-class unimaginative pap.
• Avoid the Relentless tent, unless you love donk or one of those aforemention "dubstep lovers"
• If you're going to start burning people's tents on the last night, be polite and ask first
• People should know that shouting for a band to play something will never result in them playing it
• The "Green Army!" shout only works when lads do it. This is a proven fact.
• Half the festival were walking around wearing The xx t-shirts. They were getting given out for free during their set. I now regret missing them.
• Campsite rumours: Oasis had split (true), Barry Chuckle was found dead in a brothel (false), KoL had cancelled and Kasabian were being flown in to replace them (false)
• If you're going to go to someone's camp and make friends, don't blank them the rest of the weekend. It's a bit mean.
• Bring spare sleeping bags. Somehow, people forget to bring their own.
  

"Sunday Sunday"

Yet another feature type thing. I should stop introducing these things to the blog as I'll lose track even more, but may as well give it a shot. As you may have guessed from the title, this is going to happen every Sunday (hopefully) and will include anything from the past week that I haven't mentioned or reviewed etc. Which right now, is a lot of stuff.

THE BIG PINK - DOMINOS"These girls fall like dominos! Dominos!"
Any gloomy noise-pop song that can get a Disneyfied 11 year old singing along to it after the first chorus is going to be huge. The Big Pink have built on their first couple of singles ("Velvet" and "Stop The World") which were brilliant but kind of inaccessible to the masses, to produce what is likely to be the "Indie Hit Of Summer 2009"™. It'll be on trailers for Skins, featured on Hollyoaks and you can bet your skinny jeans that the BBC will use it on an advert for Reading & Leeds. Not that this is a bad thing, because "Dominos" is as catchy as swine flu, but less lethal and with more synths. And what's more, it's available for download on TBP's website, for free! Very kind of them.
9.5

JAMIE T - CHAKA DEMUS"Tonight Jay, I'm gonna teach 'em a ballad/An English man in every coward"
Personally, I cannot wait for Jamie T's second album. All signs point towards another modern classic that escapes pigeon-holing, thanks to "Fire Fire" and "Stick N' Stones". Latest single "Chaka Demus" makes it a hat-trick of great pre-album releases with a Funky Drummer-esque beat, Radio 1 friendly hooks and lyrics spat out at a machine gun rate. Like "Dominos", it's going to soundtrack a fair few summers and be used on pretty much any advert aimed at the "yoof of 2day", but also like "Dominos", this isn't a bad thing at all.
9.5

THE CRIBS - WE WERE ABORTED//CHEAT ON ME"Your virility, makes me forget empathy"
"I could be someone else if you'd rather/Try to win you over like a new step father"
A double whammy of tunes from the Jarmans-and-Marr (Marr-man?) collaboration. Okay, neither song is a major change of sound and image (a la The Horrors, Franz, Penate) with both sounding like The Cribs with some melodic lead guitar on top. This is only testament to how effortless Marr's contribution ot the band is. There's no whimsical Mancunian melancholia to be seen (as some may have expected from Marr's last big band The Smiths...not sure you'll have heard of them) just powerhouse riffs and probably the closest thing to the proper punk sound that you'll find around today. Plus it's probably the only song to include the word "masturbation" that isn't sung by 35 year old American pop-punk bands who really should give it up.
8//8

DAN BLACK - UN"Gimme, gimme, symphonies/Gimme more than the life I see"
Whereas 2009 has been overrun by female pop acts, the guys have been left in their dust, on the fringe of mainstream success but no quite breaching the gap from the underground. Dan Black is one such guy. Gaining a bit of attention for being refused to sample Biggie Smalls lyrics on "Hypntz" last year, he's emerged with his debut album. Needless to say, he hasn't reached the heights of La Roux or Little Boots yet, and is unlikely to with anything here. "Symphonies" (the rewritten version of "Hypntz") is the opening track and the best on the album, so subsequently it's all downhill from there. There are few other high points on "Un", with only "Alone", "Cigarette Pack" and the initially aggravating "Yours" reaching above the level of mundane. Pardon the pun, but highly "Un"inspiring.
GO DOWNLOAD: "Symphonies", "Alone", "Yours", "Cigarette Pack"
4

V.V. BROWN - TRAVELLING LIKE THE LIGHT"Baby, there’s a shark in the water/I caught them barking at the moon"
One name that slipped under the pop radar at the beginning of the year was V.V. Brown. Barely a mention on any journalist's pick lists and no Top Ten singles to hype up her album, but who needs them when you've previously written for the Sugababes and Pussycat Dolls? TLTL is a solid album, indebted to 50s rockabilly and deserves much more attention than it's got. Anyone who can use the melody from "Monster Mash" and turn it into one of they year's best pop songs ("Crying Blood") whilst making you forget the original deserves a medal, and V.V. Brown is that person. A handful of tracks grate or stick to firmly to one sound but in a year of good debuts, TLTL is up there with the best.
GO DOWNLOAD: "Crying Blood", "Shark In The Water", "Leave!", "Game Over"
7.5

NEU!
>>>TRACKS>>>31.05.09>>>Little Boots, Kasabian, Jamie T, Alexis Blue, The Chapman Family

Little Boots - New In Town
Apologies for reiterating the most over-used cliché concerning new music this year, but let the electro-pop battles commence! For those not in the know/living under a particularly heavy rock, Little Boots is being grouped together with La Roux and Florence & The Machine as a "Holy Trinity" of modern, hyped, female electro-pop singers. All three are being weighed down by the expectation laid on them at the beginning of the year by critics eager for bright new stars to foist into the limelight. Anyways, "New In Town" is the lead single from LB's debut album "Hands" and has "CHOON!" written all over it. It's pretty clear to say that this will be getting repeat plays all over the country during Freshers Weeks in September, and they'll be deserved. The chorus "I'm gonna take you out tonight/I'm gonna make you feel alright" is simple yet genius at the same time and puts the former Victoria Hesketh out in front against her rivals. {Watch the video for "New In Town"}
8

Kasabian - Fire
The Leicester loudmouths comeback single is something of a slowburner (pun intended). Starting off sounding like a psychedelic jam, "Fire" soon bounces into a bluesy stomper of a chorus and possibly the easiest thing to sing along to at this summer's festivals that isn't "Ruby" or "Chelsea Dagger" ("I'm on fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrrrre!" is pretty much it). As always with Kasabian's lyrics, they don't exactly mean too much, but who really cares with a something this groovy (hippy-ness not intended). It's not even the best track on their third album "West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum" but still possibly the best thing Kasabian have released. {Watch the video for "Fire"}
7.5

Jamie T - Sticks N' Stones
How Jamie T isn't as big as Arctic Monkeys will forever be a mystery to me. He's got all the lyrical wit and verve of Alex Turner, the musical eclecticism of The Clash and the likeability of Kaiser Chiefs (without actually sounding like them, which is a talent in itself). "Sticks N' Stones" is his first new material released since the fantastic debut album "Panic Prevention" and it jumps about in all the right places. For a middle-class white guy from Wimbledon, he can't half rap and can craft a tune better than almost any 'bonafide popstar' around. Once again, it'll be massive at the festivals and if it doesn't propel Mr T. (no, not that one) to a similar level as the aforementioned Kaisers then I'll eat my straw hat. {Watch the video for "Sticks N' Stones}
10

Alexis Blue - Tarred & Feathered
AB have returned! Any new material from them is a cause for celebration, and "Tarred & Feathered" is no different. No massive deviation from the typical AB formula, but if it ain't broke, then it doesn't need fixing. "Tarred & Feathered" sounds more focused, tighter than anything AB have produced previously and, like Jamie T up there, they should been rising faster than mercury but for some baffling reason, they remain virtually unknown. So go download their debut album (it's free) or other demos or get down to a gig. You won't regret it. {Download "Tarred & Feathered"} {Download AB's debut album for free}
7.5

The Chapman Family - Kids
I haven't got a clue whose idea it was to stick The Chapman Family on the bill of the NME Radar tour below Magistrates, Heartbreak and La Roux, but whoever it was has a wicked sense of humour. Imagine a bunch of Radio 1-obsessed kids running to the front of the venue to see La Roux and all her electro tricks and being hit with the wall of distortion and anger that the Chapmans make. Hilarious, in my mind anyway. Back on topic, "Kids" is the first single from Teeside's finest and has an unfortunately similar chorus to Maximo Park's "The Kids Are Sick Again". But, this is a world away from the slick indie-pop of Maximo. This is proper "turn-it-up-loud-and-piss-off-your-parents/neighbours" angry rock that has been missing from British music for a long while (I don't count Gallows). "Kids" should be the anthem for all pissed and pissed-off teens across the country and for those in the know, it certainly is. {Watch the video for "Kids"}
9

JAMIE T - FIRE FIRE


















The Thamesbeat bard has returned, and it appears he's decided to show his love of hardcore and punk this time round, rather than ska. But this is only a preview track, and won't be on the new album apparently. Confusing eh? It certainly begins with a bang of a chorus, sounding like a riot between Gallows and the Beastie Boys. Don't even try to decipher the lyrics, it's nigh on impossible. The verses are a bit more typical of Jamie T, funky bass, rapid fire vocals and a bit of ska guitar. Make of it what you will, I reckon it's pretty great, takes a while to get into but it's an interesting insight into where the next album will be headed

7.8/10