Mali duo Amadou and Mariam return with a belter courtesy of a little help from a friend. Elsewhere, Getintothis’ Neil Macdonald rakes through on a whole host of rubbish including Nicki Minaj woeful new effort.
Amadou and Mariam feat Santigold: Dougou Badia – Single of the Week
A clear stand out track this week; filled with beauty, unusual sounds and rhythms that draw you in from the first chord. All delivered with the added bonus of Santigold‘s distinctive raspy howl. Highly recommended.
Nicki Minaj – Starships
Can you imagine how annoying it would be if Nicki Minaj was your friend, if every question was met with a near-unintelligible stream of faux rap nonsense? Well that’s what this song is. Picture the most annoying noise in the world and you’re not far off.
Justice: On ‘N’ On
This sounds like a song Peter Gabriel tried on for size back in the day before deciding it wasn’t worth the effort. You keep waiting for something to happen, but nothing does.
Lisa Hannigan: What’ll I Do
A pleasant voice and interesting tune. If she gets the right material, I get the feeling the obviously-talented Hannigan will stand out from the crowd, but this song – while interesting – isn’t quite it.
Charlie Simpson: Farmer and His Gun
There’s more than a hint of Van Morrison about this and that’s no bad thing. Charlie Simpson is having a go and deserves credit for that.
Thirteen: D.H.B.C.S.I.A.W.D
My student band at Uni was better than this bilge, and that’s really saying something. Like a bad Pearl Jam tribute band on a third-rate cruise liner.
(To be fair the video is a corker – Singles Club ed)
Ellen and the Escapades: All The Crooked Scenes
Think the Last Shadow Puppets mixed with Suzanne Vega – enjoyable guitar riffing.
The Wildmercury Sound: Slow
‘How are you finding the winter? It’s cold and its cold and its cold,’ is an actual lyric from this song. No, really. Half-decent guitars though.
Jumping Ships: Movers and Shakers
This Brighton-based indie four-piece played the Shipping Forecast on Friday, shame we missed it as they were probably well worth a watch. I enjoyed this alot.
The Darlingtons: Bats
5/10. No more than that and let down by the vocals.
Dot Rotten: Are You Not Entertained
I said God Dayyyammm! This is an out of the box, straight up crowd pleasing smash hit. Boom! I am definitely entertained.
