I Blame Coco - her best track Strangers isn't on her MySpace. Go and see her live instead - she is so cool.
VV Brown - listen to Crying Blood, although the proper version isn't up on her MySpace at the time of writing, just the demo and some remixes, so maybe listen to Monster Mash instead. Vanessa also has a really good song called Better
Aushua - excellent vocalist - listen to Stained Glass Blues
Joe writes: Smoking Popes are back with a new album. I know this thanks to YuppiePunk.
They sound exactly the same as ever, but they've aged rather well judging by If You Don't Care.
Their classic track is of course Need You Around - just perfect.
It always reminds me of what is possibly my favourite Smiths song, Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want, not least because they're both so concise.
The news yesterday that Lonestar's 'Amazed' is the U.K.'s most popular first track at wedding receptions prompts me to post it, though presumably most people must have heard it - at other people's weddings, if not their own. Still, there must be people who don't know it as, apparantly, it didn't make the top 20 over here. It's a powerful song.
At our wedding, we were allowed one CD track and it was specified that it couldn't be anything religious apparently on the grounds that it was a civil ceremony. We wouldn't have chosen anything religious ourselves but if someone chose, say, a gospel tinged soul number, why couldn't they have it? Presumably there's a historical reason which no-one has seriously questioned. We chose Eva Cassidy's haunting version of 'Fields of Gold'. I think it's one of those instances where a cover surpasses the original, though I really liked the sound of Sting's lute version which featured in an episode of 'Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip'.
Last night I went to see Tinashé's first ever gig with a full band at Proud Galleries in London. He was great but I'd better not post any of his demos yet.
Just beforehand, Collapsing Cities were playing. I only caught the last song but the atmosphere was great and the song is something of an anthem called Seriously.
Phil writes: Yet another singer I was reintroduced to by my son. He played me this enjoyable and very unusual track a few years ago. From there I discovered the classic album it comes from, 'Born To Be With You' and then a number of lesser but still very good albums Dion has made over the years. I like his voice a lot, and there are standout tracks on all the albums. Apparently he didn't really approve of what Spector did with him, but many critics have disagreed with him about this, and it may be that one reason why he hasn't really been consistently successful is a lack of judgement about his material and the sounds producers achieve for him.
Joe writes: Another blog has just posted a pretty straight and decent cover of Somewhere In My Heart by Mystery Jets, and as I'm now officially a Mystery Jets fan (or a Young Love fan anyway), it seems only right to post it here.
Soon I will do a post about the three Aztec Camera albums everyone should own.
These were on tapes that my sons made when they were just discovering stuff for themselves and were played endlessly on the van stereo when we were on one of our summer trips. 'The Whole of the Moon' is an exceptional track - chock full of vivid imagery and imaginative leaps. I believe that it's actually about Roddy Frame which kind of surprised me when I heard it as for me there's no question that Mike Scott is a far more talented musician and songwriter. Still, 'Somewhere In My Heart' is one of those near-perfect pop songs which every singer songwriter must dream of producing.
