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the return of James Blunt
2007-09-04 03:16:00
The first time I heard James Blunt , it was because SXSW made this track available from their website. I listened and thought "Not bad and I will try and see him at SXSW", which I didn't manage to do.By the time UK radio started playing You're Beautiful as a finished record, I'd forgotten all about the SXSW connection but had convinced myself that James Blunt was a no-hope artist (his singles prior to You're Beautiful got almost no media support). Then I realised that You're Beautiful is one of the five pop songs of the millennium so far. It was also massively exciting for the record industry that James Blunt sold millions of albums around the world thanks to one song (not that the follow-ups were bad but it was this song that drove the sales). If someone made an album containing three songs this good, imagine what it would sell.You're Beautiful was improved as a song between this demo and the final version. For a start, the demo is too close to Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapto...
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damn it, I missed the Diana anniversary
2007-09-04 03:06:00
I can't wait another five years to post this kinda lovely, kinda weird track from Prefab Sprout who were once my favourite group."She tastes of apple strudel, you can tell she does". The lyric then goes on to be rather prophetic as Chris Winn's comment on the bottom of this Telegraph article highlights. It's from Prefab Sprout's "lost" album Protest Songs. Dublin from the same album is also lovely.Diana - Prefab Sprout (iTunes)Dublin - Prefab Sprout (iTunes)
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Eddie Cochran just asked to me by friend on MySpace
2007-08-29 22:51:00
No offence to Jennifer Grayson or Destroy Cowboy, but Eddie is the kind of friend request you really want.The first music I owned was three cassettes that my parents bought me for my birthday, called Rock 'n' Roll Greats Volume 1 and 2, and something like The Best of 1964. They were an important part of my musical education and Eddie was on there several times.Eddie Cochran - She's Something Else - iTunesGeorgie Fame wasn't on any of these compilations, but Steve Wright played Yeh Yeh today on Radio 2. What a great track. It really reminds me of something - perhaps In The Summertime by Mungo Jerry, or perhaps something more recent.Georgie Fame - Yeh Yeh - iTunes
More About: Myspace , Friend

Longpigs in the top ten at last
2007-08-29 02:29:00
Crispin Hunt and Richard Hawley both used to be in the LongpigsCrispin co-wrote Dream Catch Me, the hit from the UK no. 1 Newton Faulkner albumRichard's latest solo album is also in the UK top 10So here are the three classic Longpigs singles, all from their first album The Sun Is Often Out.Longpigs - She Said - buy on iTunesLongpigs - On And On - buy on iTunesLongpigs - Lost Myself - buy on iTunes

Richard & Linda Thompson
2007-08-23 12:58:00
I read on another blog Music Slut that M Ward has covered When I Get To The Border, by Richard and Linda Thom pson . An excellent excuse to post my favourite Richard Thompson tracks:Richard & Linda Thompson - When I Get To The Border - mp3 - iTunesRichard & Linda Thompson - I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight - mp3 - iTunesRichard Thompson - Dry My Tears And Move On (quite a recent one) - mp3 - iTunesRichard & Linda Thompson - Dimming Of The Day - mp3 - iTunesRichard Thompson - Tear Stained Letter - mp3 - doesn't seem be on iTunes but read the wonderful lyrics where it also lists nine albums it appears onI really don't have an exhaustive knowledge of Richard's catalogue so if anyone else can suggest any other great ones, please do (yes I am really excited that I've already had three comments on my blog without telling anyone about it, and would like more).
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Rooney
2007-08-23 12:47:00
Interscope are trying to break Rooney again. I always thought Stay Away was the track to break them. Great lyric, great record.Stay Away - Rooney - mp3 - iTunes US (it's not on the UK store)

I have a MySpace site
2007-08-15 19:57:00
I'm not sure why, but anyway the address is http://www.myspace.com/theworldsgreatestm usicI'm only going to accept bands I actually like as friends
More About: Myspace , Site

this song is great
2007-08-15 16:50:00
I thought I'd written about it before but it seems not.Total smash. Almost perfect.Better by Tom Baxter - mp3, iTunesI liked some stuff on his first album too - Almost There particularly (mp3, iTunes) - but Better is a cut above.
More About: Song , Great

Let's Dance
2007-08-15 14:16:00
Always was a great David Bowie song. The line "and if you say run, I'll run with you" is so brilliant and unexpected, musically.There are two cover versions around at the moment but I prefer this one by M Ward from a few years ago (it doesn't seem to be on iTunes, probably because the artist is precious about it).Here's Hi-Fi, a really good M Ward original (mp3, iTunes).And here's a little-known Bowie track, It's Gonna Be Me (mp3, doesn't seem to be on iTunes). I read somewhere that John Lennon came on board late for Bowie's cover of Across The Universe, so they had to lose something from the Young Americans album to make way for it, and this was the track they lost. You have to be a really great and prolific songwriter and artist to leave out tracks this good (see also Sad Eyes by Bruce Springsteen - mp3, iTunes).
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Tony Wilson
2007-08-15 12:57:00
Some people are only fully appreciated after their death. Everyone realised how great Tony Wilson was while he was still alive, and this is some consolation to me.Here are tracks from three of the different incarnations of Factory.Decades by Joy Division (mp3, iTunes)Hymn From A Villlage by James (mp3, and there's only a live version on iTunes - yuck)Wasted by Hopper (mp3, not on iTunes although another album by them is there)Having A Party (Live in London) by The Young Offenders Institute (mp3, not on itunes although another single by them is)Tony was a visionary not only about music but also about technology - eight years ago, he set up a company called music33 to sell mp3s at 33p each which was probably about the right price. But his approach to business was erratic to say the least, which might explain why only one of my four Factory choices is actually available on iTunes.

Jacques Lu Cont's Thin White Duke mix of Mr Brightside by The Killers
2007-08-09 14:38:00
I heard this at someone's house the other day on an iPod. It's not new. In fact it's everything current club music isn't - melodic, accessible, musical.mp3 and iTunesHis mix of Four To The Floor by Starsailor was very good too.
More About: Duke , White , Killers , The Killers , Jacques

Midlake
2007-08-08 04:52:00
I didn't like Midlake until I heard Bandits (iTunes) playing in a second hand clothes shop the other day (thanks to Shazam for identifying it for me).Despite having grown up an indie kid, I don't really get that whole North American indie intelligentsia Arcade Fire/Interpol/Shins/Bright Eyes thing apart from a couple of tracks here and there. This is one of those tracks - it's kind of beautiful.
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M.I.A.
2007-08-08 04:43:00
I love the idea of M.I.A. - the way she looks, the packaging, the lyrics, her and the fact that she is so cool - but I often find the tunes a bit disappointing.But there's at least one track on the new album that is good fun and has some crossover appeal - Paper Planes

new single by The Feeling
2007-07-19 03:25:00
It's called Loneliness and it's great"loneliness - what is the point of it?"Indeedbut it really works, being very like the best of the first album with an excellent tune and a hint of emotion
More About: Single , Feeling

Tinseltown
2007-07-19 00:38:00
I saw an amazing band tonight. They are called Tinseltown. They are going to be huge - I guarantee it. I first heard about them when my girlfriend showed me a YouTube video of the singer sitting on her kitchen table, wearing the kind of hot pants/t shirt combo a teenage girl might wear in bed, playing a song on acoustic guitar. The song and vocal were both hopeless but the singer was incredibly cute and an obvious star. The video now seems to have disappeared from YouTube (let me know if you find it). Anyway, I ignored them because the music was hopeless, but then they put a track up on their MySpace site that's really good. It's called Skeletons and it's cool but incredibly commercial (that rare but precious combination). It's basically a re-write of "the hip bone's connected to the thigh bone".Anyway, Tinseltown's frontwoman is called Romily Alice. She walked on stage tonight in what must be one of her first gigs (she is very young), and stared at the audience throughout, to...

heard this great track on Mike Harding's Radio 2 folk show this week - Galw
2007-07-13 05:19:00
Love Steve Earle, love Sharon Shannon, love this song.My favourite Steve Earle track is Valentine's Day but I'm saving that.My favourite Sharon Shannon track is Diamond Mountain, sadly not available on iTunes and the only version I can lay my hands on has a nasty ident over the start.
More About: Radio , Show , Great , Folk , Week

John Prine
2007-07-12 19:20:00
I've always thought I should get into John Prine but never quite got round to itLove this song though - Fish and Whistle. The original version isn't on iTunes but a recent re-record is, where he sounds much much older.
More About: John Prine

vocals out of tune
2007-06-30 03:41:00
C U When U Get There by Coolio is one of my favourite records but were the chorus vocals always out of tune? I never noticed it at the time but they sound badly out of tune on Sendspace and iTune s
More About: Vocal , Vocals

Robyn
2007-06-28 03:59:00
It looks like Robyn will break the UK. I didn't pay that much attention at first because I remember her from ten years ago when she was doing generic Cheiron-type pop.Anyway, her new record is like Peaches meets Madonna with really good vocals. She worked on it with the guy out of Teddybears and has covered their best track Cobrastyle. Here's the Robyn version on iTunes. And the Teddybears version on iTunes and OneDump.Also, she has covered List Of Demands by Saul Williams. It's a rubbish version but I applaud the idea. iTunes link for Robyn's version. Sendspace and iTunes link for Saul's best track Black Stacey.My favourite Robyn track so far is the one Radio 1 have just added - her guest vocalling on Kleerup's emotive electronic project (about time we had one of those), with a song called With Every Heartbeat. On Sendspace but sadly not on iTunes yet.

more on The Roches and The Wainwrights
2007-06-28 03:01:00
Thanks to Clararama for pointing out that The Roches' song should actually be called If You Go Down To Hammond, not Heaven. That explains why there was only one reference to "If you go down to heaven" on Google (from someone else who mis-heard the lyric). A shame as "If you go down to heaven, you'll never come back/In my opinion you're on the wrong track" would have been a great lyric, like a more interesting take on Tears In Heaven by Eric Clapton.It could be argued that by starting my blog with a mis-heard lyric, I've already failed in my bid to create the best music blog in the world. I disagree. This will be the best music blog in the world because of the music linked to, not the quality of the research.It also turns out that there's a link between the Roches and the Wainwright s - Lucy Wainwright Roche is the daughter of Suzzy Roche and Loudon Wainwright III. This is a good excuse to post my favourite recordings by Wainwright/McGarrigle family.Rufus Wainwright - Go Or Go Ah...
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Hammond Song by The Roches
2007-06-26 02:16:00
Thanks to the group Beacons for introducing me to Hammond Song (OneDump, iTunes). It should be called If You Go Down To Heaven. It's really beautiful. The Roches are three sisters produced by Robert Fripp. Listening to it, I was convinced the group would be dead or reclusive but it seems they are back together and touring.

about The World's Greatest Music
2007-06-26 01:24:00
I have been thinking about this and I've come to the conclusion that my mp3 blog could well become the greatest in the world.All my life, I have spent an inordinate amount of time seeking out music. I like to think I have a good ear for it and I'm certainly an obsessive, but I'm sure those things are true of most mp3 bloggers. What will give my blog the edge is a two-pronged approach. On one hand, the best music of all-time, from the obvious to the obscure. On the other hand, an unusual degree of access to the best new music from unsigned bands to superstar artists.Then there is my taste - extremely broad. If you are a music snob then there are plenty of blogs for you, but this isn't one of them. After all, it's named after an R Kelly song. But had it existed earlier, this would have been the first place to tell you about Eminem, Belle & Sebastian, Eva Cassidy, Nirvana, Radiohead, Coldplay, Keane, Damien Rice, The Beatles, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Garth Brooks, Ha...
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