The Singles Bar - 27/02/12

What with the Brits and the Oscars, it’s been a busy week in the world of entertainment. Therefore, it’s refreshing to get back to normality and what better way than with your weekly dose of ten new tracks at The Singles Bar?

On the 27th February 2012, these are the platters that matter.

The Magnetic Fields – Andrew In Drag

A welcome return for The Magnetic Fields and the exact kind of song title you’d expect. There’s a lo-fi, almost cheap feel to the verses, but when the chorus breaks and the harmonies hit you, it’s a thing of wonder. Lyrically, it’s a fruity number that does exactly what you’d think with a title like Andrew In Drag (“stick him in a dress and he’s the only boy I’d shag”). It doesn’t outstay its welcome either, clocking in at a little over two minutes. Basically, if you don’t like The Magnetic Fields, this won’t change your mind and if you do, it’s another classic. I’m firmly in the ‘yes’ camp, and Andrew In Drag is one of the best things Stephen Merritt’s come up with in the last decade or so. 8/10 – SINGLE OF THE WEEK

Ladyhawke – Black White & Blue

It must be welcome return week here at The Singles Bar. Four(!) years after her under-appreciated debut album, the woman known to her parents as Phillipa Brown is back on the scene. Her mixture of 80s-inspired electropop and new wave was very à la mode back in 2008, and you can’t help but wonder whether her comeback will be entirely triumphant. Most of the hallmarks of her sound are still there on Black White & Blue, but it’s just a little devoid of inspiration. The chorus doesn’t hook you in quite as much as it should, and Ladyhawke attempts to hide its deficiencies by bursts of scuzzy guitar, which are a bit too brash to go with the rest of the arrangement. She hasn’t lost what made her first record such a joy, but this isn’t quite Ladyhawke firing on all cylinders. 6/10

The Drums – Days

After being hotly-tipped, it’s never quite taken off for The Drums. Maybe the world realised that the music didn’t quite match the hype. Whatever the reason, they’re still ploughing on, and Days is a bass-driven, understated melodious track that’s near impossible to dislike. It’s an exceptionally simple arrangement that barely gets out of second gear, but when you’ve got a song this strong, there’s no need to throw the kitchen sink at it. It’s a tale of defiance (“days go by and I never needed you”) that doesn’t quite match the laid-back tone of the accompaniment, but the song is none the worse for it. One-note riffs and warm bass carry Days through to its conclusion and while it’s not going to set the world alight, it’s never anything less than lovely. 7/10

Niki & The Dove – DJ Ease My Mind

Following last year’s The Drummer EP (which won Single of the Week at the time, no less), Niki & The Dove are now full of bombastic drums and melodramatic vocals. There’s a pounding feel to DJ Ease My Mind, helped in no small part by the snatches of dubstep wobble that sneak in around the edges. It’s dark and atmospheric, and Niki prowls the track like a panther, panting heavily before pouncing on a phrase and sinking her teeth into it. It’s another brilliant track from one of the most inventive and exciting pop acts of the current scene and although it’s probably missing a little something to flesh out some parts of the song, it stands up well to repeat listens. 8/10

Ed Sheeran – Drunk

And it was all going so well too. Four promising tracks followed up by the Brit Award-winning pioneer of The New Boring. Unlike his biggest hits, The A Team and Lego House, Drunk isn’t an acoustic ballad but more of a mid-tempo plodder. Sheeran croons his way through a building verse, but just when it seems like the big chorus is going to come in, the whole thing falls away and we’re just left with sparse beats. There’s something which is bit like rapping, but it’s tuneful enough that we’re not subjected to the wince-inducingly bad Sheeran “flow”. He also manages not to fall into the lyrical pitfalls that blight his other work too (“on cold days the cold plays like the band’s name” aside). It’s dull, of course, but it’s also nowhere near as offensively bad as his other singles and is comfortably the best thing he’s released to radio. A note of caution though; Ed Sheeran has been tipped for big things in the USA over the course of 2012. America, don’t say we didn’t warn you. 3/10

Alt-J – Matilda

Recent No Ripcord interviewees Alt-J are an interesting proposition. They’re named after a Mac shortcut (which I won’t demonstrate, as I’m writing on a PC) and their songs are intricate, tightly crafted affairs. Matilda is no different; the acoustic guitar lines and wire-brushed drums weave in and around the main melody line. The vocals are a little, idiosyncratic, shall we say? It’s a rich voice where the syllables tend to crash into one another and could take a little getting used to. Alt-J are making waves and, as predicted by us here at NR, could well do big things in 2012. They ought to have a word with Spotify though; at the time of writing the track cuts out about two minutes and 45 seconds, halfway through the word, “Matilda.” Techy gremlins at work or the most unlikely ending to a track I’ve ever heard. 7/10

Chiddy Bang – Ray Charles

The latest track from young Chidwell (I think it’s fair to assume that’s his full first name) is all about the legendary bluesman. However, as pointed out by many people, every time the name is mentioned it sounds a lot more like Craig Charles – DJ, soap actor and television personality – which makes it many times more hilarious. Comparing yourself to such a huge musical figure (Ray, not Craig) is always a dangerous game, and Chidwell doesn’t do himself any favours with some questionable vision-related lyrics (“I make the music with the soul of the blind man”; “You’re too blind to see it”). Musically it’s actually pretty good fun, and there’s more than a touch of Charles (again, Ray, not Craig) in the piano arrangement as well as hallmarks of old blues and Stax records. However, it’s all let down by Mr. Bang (ok, ok, it's a duo, not one person, I know), and what could have been a great homage comes across flat. 5/10

Dappy feat. Brian May – Rockstar

Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela? How about Einstein and Newton? No, the real double act the world has always wanted to see have finally come together: stupid-hat wearing, ersatz gangsta Dappy from N-Dubz and perma-permed, guitar-mangler Brian May. This appalling track starts with the words, “they say that I’m dangerous”, when the only danger Dappy’s really capable of causing is if the dangly bits of his daft headgear were to get caught in an escalator. Musically, it’s Pro-Tooled, autotuned R&B that sounds just like his previous musical abomination, No Regrets. Rockstar tells about – yawn – how complicated fame can be and how Dappy’s dealing with it like a real rockstar while still staying true to himself. There’s also a bizarre, two-second silent “tribute” to Amy Winehouse, presumably included to… no, I’ve no idea why it’s there. In case you’re wondering where May is in all this tomfoolery, he turns up thirty seconds from the end to play a completely unnecessary squealing guitar solo with his regulation sixpence. An absolutely sorry exercise; everybody involved in this should take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror… and then punch themselves in the face. 0/10

Icona Pop – Top Rated

The latest single from Icona Pop starts with none-more-80s synth riffs and is fairly restrained until the chorus, at which point the vocals seem to double in volume and the buttons marked “brash” and “epic” are firmly pressed. However, the start of verse two removes any momentum the track had gathered, starting once again from barely any instrumentation. That synth riff that starts the track is a winner and it crops up at various points throughout the song, but it’s not so good it can carry Top Rated all by itself which is what it’s required to do at various points. It actually sounds quite a lot like an inferior version of the Niki & The Dove track above, and doesn’t hit the heights of last year’s Nights Like This. 5/10

Graham Coxon – What’ll It Take

Fresh from backing an atonal, yelping Damon at last week’s Brits ceremony, Graham returns with his first single release in almost three years. As with all his work, it’s not too flashy and it’s sung in his own, inimitable way. The verse simply repeats, “What’ll it take to make you people dance?” multiple times, almost as if it’s a threat. There’s scuzzy guitar, looping electro arpeggios, flashes of feedback and a chugging rhythm that underpins the whole thing. What’ll It Take is incredibly repetitive and blunt, but as with much of Coxon’s solo work, there’s an infectious enthusiasm about the whole thing that wins you over and makes you root for this underdog. It can’t match his best work circa Happiness In Magazines, but it’s certainly a damn sight more enjoyable to listen to than what he was involved in less than seven days ago. 7/10

The Singles Bar - 31/10/11

The nights are getting darker, the days are getting colder and Christmas albums are already beginning to hit the shops (both Justin Beiber and She & Him released their festive efforts today). Luckily, you can still rely on the Singles Bar to give you a warm glow and put a spring in your step, as well as giving you the lowdown on all that’s going on this week in music. You lucky, lucky people.

Charlie Simpson – Cemetery

Six years is practically a lifetime in pop music and a lot has changed since Charlie Eyebrows left Busted in 2005. First, McFly took their crown as kiddie-friendly pop-punks du jour, and then children decided they wanted to listen to Rihanna and didn’t like guitars that much anyway. Simpson has made a pretty decent fist of his post-mainstream career, initially with hardcore quartet Fightstar and now solo. Cemetery is a jaunty, singalong strum-fest that meanders along quite harmlessly. It’s spoiled somewhat by young Charles’ insistence of injecting “emotion” into every syllable by growling and/or over-enunciating, but hey, it’s a decent three-minute pop song. Melodious, hummable and well-written, just stop trying to “keep it real”. 6/10

Beyoncé – Countdown

You’re never quite sure what to expect from the fragrant Ms. Knowles. Her album, 4, has already produced one stormer (Run The World (Girls)) and one clunker (Best Thing I Never Had) so a lot could hinge onCountdown. Luckily, it’s pure genius from start to finish. It races through its allotted time with frenzied percussion and genuinely thrilling horn stabs throughout. There’s also a – you’ve guessed it – countdown which samples Boyz II Men. Mixing dancehall, hip-hop, R&B and mariachi, Countdown appears to be about everything and nothing all at once. It’s also had me walking round for the last week or so singing, “Grind up on it girl, show him how you ride it!” which is entirely inappropriate for a man in his mid-20s. It’s so strong that it’s fit to go toe-to-toe with the best R&B singles of the past decade: Kelis’ Millionaire, Janelle Monáe’sTightrope and, of course, Crazy In Love. So, is it Single of the Week? More like Single of the Year. 10/10 – SINGLE OF THE WEEK (AND POSSIBLY THE WHOLE YEAR)

Kelly Rowland – Down For Whatever

Cruel, cruel alphabet, making the title of the new Kelly Rowland track come immediately after that of her erstwhile bandmate. Whereas Beyoncé is pushing the boundaries, Kelly Rowland is following the tried and tested tropes of pop music in 2011. Down For Whatever is yet another example of the continuedGuettaisation of music which sounds like countless other anonymous house-inspired tracks. There’s also more than a passing resemblance to the music that backs Pitbull’s rap sections in Jennifer Lopez’s monster smash, On The Floor. Cynics may like to point out that Ms. Rowland is mostly devoid of clothing in the video for this song and is currently enjoying much prime-time exposure on British television as an X Factor judge. Well, I’m a cynic then. 3/10

Connan Mockasin – Faking Jazz Together

I wrote an opening sentence mocking (hur hur) Connan for his ridiculous stage name, but did some research and, as far as I can make out, it’s his genuine name. Anyway, Faking Jazz Together is onetrippy, psychedelic mind-messer of a song; marginally discordant notes reveal themselves all the time and there are swimmy, reverb-soaked background vocals. The first three minutes or so sound like a chillwaveFlaming Lips backed by tribal percussion, but then it all fades away before starting up again. Faking Jazz Together is the kind of otherworldly track that completely transports you and is an utterly gorgeous, immersive experience. Highly recommended and a staggering piece of work. 9/10

Sean Paul – Got 2 Luv U (featuring Alexis Jordan)

Sean Paul records tend to be exceptionally irritating and Got 2 Luv U, from its text-speak title downwards, is no exception. It features his usual blend of dancehall and Caribbean rhythms, but it appears even he isn’t immune to the creeping influence of David Guetta, the man responsible for all that is homogenous is today’s pop music. Alexis Jordan’s voice is fairly indistinguishable from a handful of other female singers and the whole thing ends up sounding like a calculated attempt at staying relevant. Well, hats off and well done to these two for creating the mix of tired dancehall and ubiquitous early-90s house that precisely no-one was waiting for. 2/10

The Drums – How It Ended

It always seems like the amount of column inches dedicated to The Drums is inversely proportional to their popularity and the quality of music they actually make. How It Ended is a case in point, it’s nice enough but there’s nothing particularly of any note to report. It sounds a bit like something from Vampire Weekend’s cutting room floor spruced up with vibrato-heavy synths and annoying “eurgh eurgh eurgh”backing vocals. If this is a particularly short synopsis, then it’s because it represents the lack of interesting aspects of this track. How very post-modern of me. 5/10

Little Dragon – Little Man

Little Dragon released a rather fine album earlier this year, Ritual Union, whose title track was a thing of sheer delight. Little Man doesn’t quite reach those heights, but its icy synths and nonplussed percussion sure are compelling. In the chorus, the vocal line matches the keyboard melody effectively, and the track continues to build and add elements throughout its playing time. It also achieves the all-too-rare feat of not sounding over-crowded, and as such it shows admirable restraint. At less than three minutes, it doesn’t outstay its welcome either, so while it may not be a heart-stoppingly breathtaking piece of music, it’s a great listen and has that all-important go-back-and-play-again factor. 7/10

Doctor P – Neon

A quick bit of online research reveals that Doctor P is a dubstep producer known to his Mum as Shaun Brockhurst, and this is a new version of a track that’s been available for over a year. He’s also not a real doctor. Sounds like those on Neon would have seemed unusual a couple of years ago, but dubstep has infiltrated the mainstream to such an extent that this doesn’t seem like anything particularly new or refreshing. It’s fairly low BPM as dubstep goes, and would be better off soundtracking a video game or clips montage than being released as a stand-alone single. It’s a little faceless, and needs more ideas to justify its running time. Is dubstep in danger of jumping the shark? 3/10

Birdy – People Help The People

The Singles Bar can be a touch on the caustic side occasionally, but I’ll try and be nice here because Birdy – the nom de rock of Jasmine Van den Bogaerde – is a mere 15 years old. This is the third single from her forthcoming solo album, and they’ve all been piano-based cover versions (following Skinny Love andShelter). Originally, this was a hit for Cherry Ghost and it’s difficult to see what Birdy’s added to it. This trend for stripped-down reimaginings of songs is reaching critical mass, likely prompted by Radio 1’s Live Lounge cover version policy and television talent shows, and it’s completely baffling. Presumably, reducing a song to its elements displays some level of “authenticity” in the minds of the artist or arranger, but more often than not, it’s simply dull. Birdy has a fantastic voice that belies her tender years, but her career is unlikely to have any longevity if she continues to be marketed in this way. Her management will likely spend the next few months getting themselves in a flap trying to contact anyone who worked on the Adele album. 4/10

Toploader – She Said

Poor Toploader, they’ve become a byword for everything that was wrong with early 21st Century British indie. Dancing In The Moonlight was everywhere, Jamie Oliver liked them, and there was THAT hair. After several years away, they’ve made a low-key comeback and She Said is certainly rockier than ‘ver Loader were in their heyday. As expected, they’ve managed to crowbar in an anthemic chorus that’s signposted from a good few miles away; like a Jennifer Aniston film, you know everything that’s going to happen when you’re only 5% of the way through. They’ve had a rough time of it and are nowhere near as hateful as they’re made out to be, but She Said means they rank alongside Feeder, Athlete, Embrace et al as insipid stadium indie practitioners. 2/10

Gruff Rhys – Space Dust #2

Well this was a surprise. Super Furry Animals are generally known for their progressive, forward-thinking pop-rock, but frontman Gruff Rhys teams up here with Sarah Assbring (a.k.a. El Perro del Mar) for a beautiful slice of lounge music. It’s an old-fashioned duet with each singer replying to a line sung by the other and it’s beautifully adorned with sweeping strings. The drumming is jazzy and loose too; it’s not at all the kind of thing you expect to see released as a single in 2011 and it’s a real breath of fresh air. Gruff Rhys has been making music for nearly two decades now and is still producing inventive, interesting, vital work. How many people can you say that about? 8/10

Avril Lavigne – Wish You Were Here

Despite having seemingly been playing a stroppy teenager for around a decade, Sk8r G1®L Avril Lavigne is actually 27 years old. Once every few years, she stops with the bratty persona and releases a ballad to prove to everyone that she’s a real person with, y’know, feelings and stuff. Sadly, ladies and gentlemen, that time has come around again. Wish You Were Here is a drab mope-fest with as much get-up-and-go as a mortuary in the middle of a power cut. The chorus mainly consists of Lavigne wailing “Damn, damn, damn”; perhaps the nadir of this whole sorry exercise. At times, she can be good fun (like on Girlfriend) but this is the kind of insipid ballad even the Goo Goo Dolls would balk at. 1/10

Cher Lloyd – With Ur Love

Cher Lloyd has followed up the frankly bizarre Swagger Jagger with a much more restrained song. However she still can’t refrain from alluding to “swag” during the verses – extremely apt, as Cher hails from Malvern in Worcestershire which, as we all know, is the spiritual home of swag. Swagger Jagger was a mind-melting mix of heavy dubstep and nursery-rhyme pop and there’s a suspicion she may have put all her eggs in one basket, as With Ur Love contains none of the edge that propelled her to fame. In fact, it’s a relatively insubstantial R&B track with a grating cameo from Posner, although it does have an extremely catchy melody. Her album will certainly be an interesting listen, if nothing else. 5/10