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Liam Carey reviews
I s s u e # 1 0 5 F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 3
UK MEDIA HYSTERIA CAN’T STOP PAEDO-POP HITTING THE TOP With inevitable predictability, sections of the press and television got themselves in a lather as t.A.T.u.‘s All The Things She Said headed towards the #1 position on its first proper week of release at the end of January. “Paedo Pop!”, they cried with disgust, completely overlooking the truth that, besides the girls being well over the legal age, countless other acts/videos/TV shows/magazines aimed at the same teen audience are equally dubious and unsuitable, if not even more so.
Still, the hype no doubt helped the single, although in the long term it might work against them. A second single, Not Gonna Get Us, is already out across Europe, but other songs from the sparkling 200Km/h In The Wrong Lane album – such as the ballad 30 Minutes and the cover of The Smiths’ How Soon Is Now? – have been mooted as possible alternative choices in this country.
WE LOVE THE 80s t.A.T.u. aren’t the only European pop act delving into the 80s archives for inspiration. Hot on the heels of DJ Sammy’s chart-topping tranceover of Bryan Adams’ 1985 hit Heaven and Dario G’s generic exhumation of Fiction Factory’s forgotten gem Feels Like Heaven, come delights such as Aquagen‘s horrific mauling of Chicago’s 1984 AOR classic Hard To Say I’m Sorry, Jan Wayne‘s similarly gruesome remake of Total Eclipse Of The Heart, as well as another DJ Sammy cover of a 1985 song, this time a surprisingly decent revamp of Don Henley’s seminal Boys Of Summer.
Mind you, if it cuts down the risk of more assanine original compositions such as Divine Inspiration’s inexplicably successful The Way, perhaps we shouldn’t complain.
Brace yoursleves, too, for a Sugababes-style mix’n’match collision between Ain’t Nobody (originally by Rufus & Chaka Khan) and the Human League’s Being Boiled, in Popstars survivors Liberty X’s latest bid for a prolonged shelf-life. Being Nobody is credited to Richard X vs. Liberty X, and comes out next month.
SOFT FOCUS Only one month into the new year, there’s already a refreshing trend emerging in pop videos by female acts. After 12 months that saw ever-coarsening displays of aggressive, suggestive sexuality more akin to a lap-dancing club than Saturday Morning kids’ TV, the tide might just be turning.
First, Holly Valance eschewed the pseduo porn approach with the promo for last December’s cruelly underrated Naughty Girl, with stunning results. Next week sees the release of singles by Appleton (the graceful Don’t Worry), Sarah Whatmore (a forgettable electro-tinged workout called Automatic) and Fame Academy runner-up Sinead Quinn, whose self-penned I Can’t Back Down is sadly even less accomplished than winner David Sneddon’s anodyne chart-topper Stop Living A Lie.
Still, all three videos are pleasingly restrained and natural, pretty to look at, and (Whatmore’s gyrating toned midriff notwithstanding), dare I say it, old fashioned. Let’s hope this is a sign of things to come.
ROCK IS DEAD? Not so, it would seem, at least from January’s UK charts. Foo Fighter‘s sublime Times Like These breathed new life into their One By One album, sending it hurtling back into the Top 10, while Just The Way I’m Feeling added another solid chart performace to Feeder‘s CV, reaching #8 and further consolidating their status as one of this country’s premier rock acts.
Out soon, meanwhile, is the third single to be lifted from Red Hot Chili Pepper‘s magnificent By The Way set from 2002. Can’t Stop is a typical RHCP funk-metal hybrid that sounds more like their Blood Sugar Sex Magik era than recent efforts such as Zephyr Song. On a grungier note, Linkin Park are due to return in March with a new single (Somewhere I Belong) and album (Meteroa). Nickelback, stay away.
OTHER PEOPLE’S SONGS, PART TWO It’s worked for many a flagging career in the past, with beneficiaries too many to mention, so Erasure‘s decision to release an album of cover versions is understandable following the disastrous sales of 2000’s Loveboat. Their Erasurefication of Peter Gabriel’s 1977 hit Solisbury Hill (immortalised in last year’s Cameron Crowe movie Vanilla Sky) works a treat, but does anyone (other than dieheard fans) really need their interpretations of Can’t Help Falling In Love, You’ve Lost The Loving Feeling and Come Up And See Me (Make Me Smile)? Thought not.
ME AND MY GUITAR Proving there’s mileage in the traditional male singer-songwriter genre, two names are emerging as ones to watch in 2003.
John Mayer has been nominated for a clutch of gongs in this year’s Grammy Awards, courtesy of his album Room For Squares which features the singles No Such Thing and Your Body Is A Wonderland (out here for the first time later this month).
In 2001, the eponymous debut from Tom McRae achieved minor cult status and slow-burning sales, culminating in an unexpected Brits nomination 12 months ago. Now, augmented by full-band arrangements and instrumentation, he returns with the follow-up Just Like Blood. A forthcoming single, A Day Like Today, is receiving plenty of airplay on the Q Music TV channel.
FUTURE SOUNDS
The best to come this month:
- DANNII MINOGUE – I BEGIN TO WONDER: sinewy club anthem originally released in 2002, but then only credited to JCA and featuring a different vocalist. Gives her big sis a run for her money in the perfect pop stakes.
- JAKATTA featuring BETH HIRSCH – ONE FINE DAY: gorgeous highlight of the Jakatta album, now to be afforded single status.
Beth Hirsch was the singer on Air‘s Moon Safari album, and released a bewitching solo single last year called Nest Sensation.
- ERLEND OYE – UNREST: first solo set from the voice of Kings Of Convenience, and Royksopp‘s sublime Remind Me.
Page Content copyright © Liam Carey, 2003.
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Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.