Idlewild Roseability (Single)
Hmmm, tricky one to review this, 'cos my opinion keeps changing as the song plays through. The start is lacking in energy and, frankly, boring, but towards the end the trademark guitars really start to kick in and the Idlewild we know and love come back. And what the hell does 'Roseability' mean anyway? Hearing him droning that stupid word at the start really pisses me off. But when they stick to what they're good at (e.g. shouting), like later in the song, it gets much better....
Music: The Gentle Waves Falling From Grace (EP)
Cello, violin, harpsichord. No, it's not Rick Wakeman's latest rock opera, but a pastel coloured project from Isobel Campbell, otherwise known as part of Belle and Sebastian. She has one of those fragile voices which you either think of as delicately beautiful or thin and annoying, depending on your mood.
It c
Music: Jamelia Boy Next Door (Single)
Fantastic breakthrough hit sees singer hailed as genre-saving star. Award nominations, celebrity status and plaudits of all kinds follow. Singer then descends rapidly into mediocrity, not so much hampered by the pressures of fame as by an inability to write more than one decent tune. Sound familiar?
Music: Common The Light (Single)
It's about fucking time too. At last a hip-hop tune that doesn't refer to "da bling", "the ice", "my niggas", "guccis" and "da Bentley outside the mansion". 'The Light' is hip-hop at its most sensitive. There are no references to "bitches with perms". He loves his woman and he is not afraid to say it. Combine great emotional lyrics with a phat beat and what you have is a sure-fire hit.
Music: Fatboy Slim Sunset (Bird of Prey) (Single)
Big beat, despite having given us pop gems such as 'Rockafella Skank'
Music: Playgroup Make it Happen! (Single)
He may have mixed for Massive Attack and Death In Vegas but, at the end