Some One Or Other: Halleluiah.

I’m pleased to be writing a review of the 2008 UK Christmas number 1 single having thankfully still not heard it. Hopefully I will continue to successfully dodge it until it disappears off of the radars of the short attention spanned musically illiterate that devour it.

Not being a believer does not preclude me from appreciating Cohen’s sublime lyrics that I have loved since first hearing them on 1984’s “Various Positions”. In fact it’s hard to produce a cover version of such a beautiful song without a serious risk of being accused of murder. Jeff Buckley however gave it a go on 1994’s superb “Grace” album and managed to lift what was already a piece of genius to a new height. In fact the whole “Grace” album is a 90’s classic. (See my list of top 10 albums). Should I not therefore be pleased that the profile of both Cohen and Buckley has been raised by the song selectors of a banal Saturday night TV Karaoke contest. No. As far as I’m concerned those whose musical horizons are only stretched by Saturday night TV can remain in blissful ignorance. There’s a wealth of banal tripe songs for the pop star wannabies to plunder if they do not have the talent of song writing. I can quite happily ignore the modern pop culture as I find it simple to divorce the entire concept from what I know and love as music, but when it reaches into my domain and attempts to pollute my preferred art with its fetid commercialised dingo’s kidneys, I get a little upset. What is wrong with you people? And no I’m not including the new Take That album in my 2008 review.

Randy Newman: Harps and Angels

I suspect many people these days will be more familiar with Randy Newman through his film scores than his back catalogue of albums (predominantly from the 1970’s). The songs he has provided for various films, especially Pixar films, and his Oscar for “If I didn’t have you” from Monsters Inc, are fully representative of his distinctive and often caustic style. Harps and Angels is true to the piano led compositions from these films

Ry Cooder: I Flathead

Cooder’s peculiar mix of Blues and Country is probably about as American as you can possibly get. None more so than “Fernando Sez” and the story of how he’s recording some new songs in order to pay of Fernando's garage bill and get his Cadillac back.

The Ting Tings: We Started Nothing

Very bouncy and jovial radio friendly garage pop from duo Katie White and Jules De Martino. One of the sounds of 2008 and possibly the next big ting?

The Verve: Forth

When Richard Ashcroft got back together with his old mates from the Verve for this years new album and festival headlining gigs I had high expectations that they’d continue where they left off 11 years ago with Urban Hymns. I have to admit to be a little disappointed with new album that doesn’t come close to its predecessor. Perhaps they should have just stolen another riff from the Rolling Stones and taken the inevitable court case on the chin.