All entries for Friday 08 April 2005

Compact Disco: Easter Edition

Writing about Music of late from Hub of Creativity...

It's been four weeks since the last Compact Disco (RaW's weekly music review show – Thursdays 5–7pm) and as its co-host, I miss it – almost as much as Oasis missed the mark with Lyla…or so I gather.

As you know, we, the music team, rate and slate singles many weeks before they are released to you, the public. Obviously, over the holidays, new promo CDs have been stacking up in the radio station, going unheard, so to fill the gap, I'll do a bit of a review of the songs Radio 1 have been playing me over the past month.

I'll start with Razorlight and their new un, Somewhere Else (released next Monday):
Razorlight are doing a classic stopgap single between albums (I'm guessing) in the tradition of the Libertines, Travis and Oasis. I was a massive fan of the album, Up All Night, but I wasn't taken with this offering. I thought, "hey, it'll grow on me", but after heavy rotation, I still wasn't getting it. Then I saw the video and realised "wow, I do actually like it – but for all the wrong reasons, i.e. irony". Imagine Vic Reeves (in happier times, the big drunk) in Club Singer mode, melodramatically crooning
"I met a girl,
She asked me my name,
I told her what it was."
Shocking lyrical effort, Johnny. To be fair, a lot of the songs on the album were verging on the ridiculous, but this song is just a self parody. Razorlight have jumped the shark.

Snoop Dogg ft. JT - Signs:
Sounds a hell of a lot like every other Neptunes production, which I tend to love, and as someone who doesn't buy the records, I don't really have a problem with them peddling the same guff over and over again as long as there's some decent hip hop getting constant airplay.

Lemar - Time To Grow:
Every time I hear the intro, a part of me is filled with the hope that it's Wuthering Heights. But no, it's only the new single from Lemar. What would be acceptable – more than acceptable – would be if he actually did a Futureheads and covered Kate Bush. That would be smoove.

Bloc Party - Banquet:
Amazing song. Buy the album – it's all as good as this.

Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc.:
Aah, so they weren't a one trick pony! They successfully rip off Beck, the Kinks and Outkast to create this track, and I like it.

The Killers - Smile Like You Mean It:
Wow, another cracking track from the Killers! Their album must be amazing! I must go out and buy it! No, I'm afraid, this is only another song from the first, good half of the album; the other half is a bit arse, particularly Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll.

That's about it. Apologies for the absence, my fans – I've been at the Student Radio Conference in Edinburgh. Perhaps more about that another time…

Daniel Wilson Craw : 08 Apr 2005 13:16 |  Tags: Music Reviews |  Comments (12) |  Close comments |  Report a problem