New Releases - 8 Sept

New Releases - 8 Sept

03 September, 2008
by: Music Team

*Single of the Week*
Sigur Ros – Inni Mer Syngur Vitleysingur
EMI

Sigur Ros are one of those bands who have a talent for writing songs that have a mote of the familiar about them. That's one element which makes their music so beautiful – it sounds like it is grasping at the traces of some sweet memory.

Their latest track – which can be roughly translated as 'Inside me sings a lunatic' – is happier than is typical of the Icelandic post-rock legends. A wave breaking, tropical rain pouring over a couple embroiled in a passionate kiss, building, rising, expanding, falling over the edge. LC


Flo-Rida & Will.I.Am – In The Ayer
Atlantic

Why can't Will.I.Am and Flo Rida just use proper words? If you can't find something to rhyme with CD player don't just change the spelling of air so it fits in. Ayer is not even a real word, unless you're Spanish.

They could have used naysayer. Or purveyor. Or ozone layer. All perfectly cool hip hop stuff. But you can't blame them entirely. Their parents obviously wouldn't win any spelling bees – they can't even name their own children properly. EM


Sam Beeton – What You Look For
RCA

From Wino and Lily to Duffy, Adele and Estelle, the biggest UK solo stars have recently been almost exclusively female. If that makes you hark back to the 'good' old days of Paolo Nutini, James Morrison and Blunty, then young Sam's emergence will have you choking on your caffeine free Diet Coke with glee.

The chorus is catchy in an 'I heard that on the radio (and quickly switched it off)' way, and young girls who are that age where hormones overrule taste will sway for this inoffensive shaggy-mopped balladeer. MF


The Metros – Talk About It
1965

If this song was edible, it would be like eating a whole tub of Wickes wallpaper paste followed by a nice drink of PVA glue. 'Talk About It' so bland it makes listening to the Pigeon Detectives seem like a journey through The Mahavishnu Orchestra back catalogue.

Apparently the snivelling Doherty-lite singer got a ticket from the Transport Police. So did I once, and I don't think it's an experience worthy of a bullshit indie pop song like this one. DH


The Coral – Being Somebody Else
Deltasonic

Plaid shirt Howdy Doody music this time round from The Coral: it's not much different to their usual stuff, but a bit more melancholic and only slightly less annoying. Taken from the forthcoming Singles Collection, this has still got the irritating psychedelic doodles that they seem keen to sprinkle everywhere.

To be honest, I can't stand this band. 'Being Somebody Else' would surely be better than being somebody from The Coral. Being anybody else in fact. TJ


Metronomy – Heartbreaker
Because

Wow, Heartbreaker is a weird record. It's like a mix between Phil Collins, XTC and that old NES game Super Off Road. Weird, but really, really good.

To be fair, this is one of those records that only a band like Metronomy could pull off. It's a chip beat infused pop jerk-a-thon that sounds like Hot Chip with a million times more emotion. DH


Gym Class Heroes – Cookie Jar
Fuelled By Ramen

'It's hard to drink Hennessy when I got cookie crumbs all over my face'... These Fall Out Boy protégés move towards the middle of the hip hop road with this tune, which lacks the crossover charm of their previous hits.

Then again, any track silly enough to compare girls to biscuits, and the protagonist to the Cookie Monster is too ridiculous to dislike. 'I went to cookie anonymous' confesses Travis McCoy. Absurd, stupid AND genius, all at once. MF


The Zutons – What's Your Problem
Deltasonic

Pfurgh, mlurgh, generic indie guff – its music like this that makes me happy I don't waste too much time with the genre. Now Noah and the Whale – that's more like it.

That's music that puts a spring in the step. This just makes me want to do a Chopper Reid on my ears. I do like the jazzy sax bits though – now all they need is Amy Winehouse on vocals and they might sell a few records. EM


Pussycat Dolls – When I Grow Up
Interscope

Wow! This is the most vacuous song ever! It's shiny and crass and almost totally meaningless. One bit goes: 'When I grow up / I wanna see the world / Drive nice cars. / I wanna have groupies'. But it sounds a bit like 'boobies'! Tee hee.

This is kind of an 'I told you so' to people who never thought the Dolls would make it big. Trouble is though: nobody actually knows any of their names, apart from maybe the main one. Is it Nicole something? TJ


Sonny J – Can't Stop Moving
Stateside

To call Sonny J a musician is a bit like me cutting up a dozen of my old shirts, stitching them back together in an aesthetically repulsive manner and then saying I'm launching a new career as a designer.

Sure, some of the samples are spot on (The Jackson 5, or at least something that sounds very much like them) but the end result is the sort of tune The Go! Team could make if they fell asleep on their mixing desk. MF

Music Team