So what am I listening to at the moment? You know you want to know.
First though, for everyone who found themselves staggering under the weight of all that relentless misery last week... This Is A Happy Song by Superman Revenge Squad.
I always found Guillemots a rather frustrating band. They lured me in with classic indie pop singles like Made Up Love Song #43 and Annie, Let's Not Wait then bored my pants off with half-arsed albums full of much beard scratching and muso-noodling. I always felt songwriter Fyfe Dangerfield had great potential... and he's taken a step closer to realising that on his new solo album Fly Yellow Moon.
Earlier this year Fyfe scored an actual Top Ten hit, albeit with a cover of Billy Joel's old cheesefest She's Always A Woman, as featured in some TV ad or other. That's been stapled onto subsequent reissues of the album, but there are far stronger songs here (and songs which fit Fyfe's delicate voice much better - rather than straining to hit some of Billy's notes). When You Walk In The Room, She Needs Me, and this... all good stuff.
Earlier this year, former Delgado Emma Pollock released her second solo album, The Law Of Large Numbers. I remember commenting that certain songs on her previous record (Watch The Fireworks - my 9th favourite album of 2007) reminded me of mid-period Elvis Costello. That's truer than ever here, many of these tracks could fit snugly onto Mighty Like A Rose or Spike... though Emma's got a much sweeter voice (no offence, Declan).
Eddie Argos is back again! Not with Art Brut, not with The Glam Chops, not even with Everybody Was In The French Resistance... Now, but with yet another side-project, this one aimed squarely at comics fans... Spoiler Alert! Eddie is a particular fan of DC's old JLI comic book - i.e. The Justice League when they were funny (and worth reading), and the first Spoiler Alert! EP features songs about Booster Gold, Blue Beetle and Batman. Available to download for peanuts (you choose how many peanuts) right here.
I used to have this theory that The Divine Comedy got better with each album, in inverse proportion to how many people were buying their records. Much as I still love Neil Hannon, he's tried his best to disprove that theory with Bang Goes The Knighthood. It's a fine record, featuring many good songs, but doesn't quite scale the heights of Victory For The Comic Muse or Absent Friends. It does however feature the first decent song I've heard about the financial crisis...
A recent Radio 2 documentary on Laurel Canyon in the 60s stirred my interest in loads of old hippy songwriters, including Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Though I'm more familiar with the work of their occasional fourth member Mr. Young, I've been enjoying their mellow greatest hits collection. And boy do I know where Fleet Foxes nicked all their tricks now.
Dresden Doll Amanda Palmer has released an EP of old Radiohead songs played on her magical ukulele. There's a real ukulele resurgence going on at the moment - Louise just bought one, then there's the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain... even Dan's getting in on the act. Radiohead on the ukulele really shouldn't work... and yet, it does. Creep in particular is a work of twisted genius. Download the EP from Amanda's website, Amanda Fucking Palmer dot net.
New Jersey's favourite Bruce-influenced band The Gaslight Anthem are also back with a new record American Slang, and while it's not quite as barnstorming as The '59 Sound it does make me want to go tripping down the boardwalk then sleep on the beach at midnight. They still sound like a tribute band though. A more interesting bunch of Springsteen groupies are Titus Andronicus whose debut The Monitor roars out of Jersey louder and punkier than anything you'll ever hear on E Street. I'm still undecided on whether this is a good thing or not, but they certainly nail their colours to the mast with this song, paying debts not only to the Boss, but to Billy Bragg as well...
"No I never wanted to change the world, but I'm looking for a new New Jersey...
'Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to die."
Finally, an oldie but... well, an oldie. When I was 14, I thought Dire Straits were pretty cool. Then, like much of the rest of the world, I decided categorically they weren't. Now... many, many years later... I might actually be coming round to cool again. Yes, Mark Knopfler looks like your dad's stupid mate with the Ford Capri, but this is a great song whatever...
