Eoin Butler'sguide to singles, downloads and free audiostreams
LOS CAMPESINOS!
My Year in Lists
Wichita
****
On which the Welsh indie scamps come over like the
Arcade Fire's deranged grandkids. Granted, it's not as catchy as
last year's (insanely catchy) You! Me! Dancing! And April is rather
an odd month to release a song about New Year's resolutions. But
who cares? This is brilliant.
BRITNEY SPEARS
Break the Ice
Jive
***
Oh come Britney, don't be bashful. Surely the ice was broken
the time you jumped out of that people carrier with no knickers
on.
PORTISHEAD
Machine Gun
Island
****
Portishead are back and packin' heat. Machine Gun
boasts none of the sumptuous production values one might have
expected, given the Bristol duo's 1990s output, or Beth Gibbons'
solo work with Rustin Man. Instead this is lean, sparse and
growling with menace. Definitely a grower.
GAY FOR JOHNNY DEPP
Belief in God Is So Adorable
Captains of Industry
*
Homoerotic trash metal from NYC. If this track was one
of Depp's film roles it would be his turn as Oprah Noodlemantra in
Nightmare on Elm Street 6. That is to say, it's ill-conceived,
clumsily executed and mercifully brief.
THE FEELING
Without You
Island
***
Alarmingly enjoyable MOR fluff, on which Dan
Gillespie-Sells finds himself stranded in rainy north Virginia and
wondering what the time is in London. Well, Dan, there's a
five-hour time difference. So, assuming you're too homesick and/or
plastered to make the necessary calculation, your friends in London
are most likely tucked up in their beds by now. If you're at a
loose end tomorrow, visit Colonial Williamsburg.
GEMMA HAYES
Out of Our Hands
ATC
**
The first single from the forthcoming The Hollow of
the Morning album, this is being released to coincide with Hayes's
upcoming Irish tour. My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields reportedly
contributed some guitar parts to the album sessions, and his
influence can be detected on this track. But for a comeback single,
it's rather underwhelming.
