Music: Singles

By Unknown Author

Faith Evans: All Night Long

Faith teams up with Puff Daddy for this radio-friendly, innocuous, Whitney-loving groove. The trouble with these self-proclaimed divas is that they lack the power and conviction of, say, Aretha. The formulaic backing, the so-called seductive vocals, the half-hearted rap is all very well in an unimportant kind of way. Please don't call it soul.

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Mishka: Give You All The Love

The story behind Mishka may put you off, but Alan McGee's cries of "It's true, I found him on a Carribean island. It's true, goddammit!" fade into insignificance at Mishka's voice. Strong and close to breaking in the gentle melody. Close your eyes and imagine you're on a beach, the warm days sun is setting, you're sitting by a fire and this song is being played. Sometimes it's worth forgetting to be cynical.

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Fatboy Slim: Right Here, Right Now

Shallow, vacuous, devoid of any substance and liable to cause severe irritation after prolonged radio exposure. And that's just his fiancee. If you haven't bought You've Come A Long Way, Baby yet, this is the fourth single clincher to send you reaching for your wallet. But be warned, as anyone who already owns the album will tell you, like all Fatboy Slim's darlings you'll be sick of it within a month. That's the Fatboy guarantee. Great video though, charting the evolution of man into the market trader who adorns his album cover, and worth buying if just to hear the B-side, Normski's pre-Big Beat, pre-Zoe Ball Trip Hop inspired version of Praise You.

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Freddy Fresh feat. Fatboy Slim: Badder Badder Schwing

No doubt already familiar to many, this fifties tinged big beat stomper has already been baggsied by Radio One's Chris Moyles to use as incidental music on his drivetime show. Little more than a glorified jingle writer, almost everything Norman Cook lays his pudgy white hands on seems to get snapped up by some advertising executive or another. Meanwhile, little known maestro Freddy Fresh's career is propelled into super-turbo-overdrive and he is pronounced rightful heir to Mr Slim's ample throne. Such is the power of association with the Fatboy.

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Melky Raw

From the moment Melky's voice warbles in, you know this track is going to be less "raw" than repetitive, dull, uninspiring and generally not very good. The Brooklyn Funk, R'n'B and Rap re-mixes add a spice of interest, if for no other reason than the random mix of genres featured. And hey, it means you get to hear the song four mindnumbing times. I'm deducting a point just for that. And what sort of name is Melky anyway?

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