Loading ...Playlist, Issue 5
Miley Cyrus – Party In The USA
Like a country & western Fresh Princess, Miley Cyrus is all “Yo homes to Bel Air!” in this riches-to-riches tale of Nashville girl hits Hollywood. Fear not Miley, your Disney millions and the gift of autotune will have y’all nodding your head like yeah, moving your hips like yeah, and um, partying in the USA. God Bless America. Emilie Chalcraft
Polly Scattergood – Bunny Club
A delightfully disjointed vocal melody spirals like a lost mariner around a whirlpool of clashing cymbals and surreal metaphors in this fairytale-gone-wrong attack on happy endings. Pretty, yes, but utterly indecipherable. “I’m looking for my saviour at the bottom of a packet of tobacco.” Erm, right, good luck with that. Jonathan Dowdall
The Answer – Comfort Zone
Does anyone genuinely think in such language? It’s all devils on shoulders, embracing moments, missing chances, and other such nuggets straight from the dictionary of lyrical clichés. Dull as ditch water. And, if you’re the kind of person who just winced at that very unoriginal use of language in the previous line, you’ll be twitching all over the place when you hear this. Tamara El Essawi
Rihanna ft. Young Jeezy – Hard
I had high hopes for this, and who didn’t? Rih-Rih, for it is Her, is back, and she wants to learn us sinful, earthbound creatures with a heaving stone slab of revelatory r’n’b bizzness, and learn us hard. The first commandment: pop, lock, and drop. The second: false idols be damned! Ben Mechen
Meleka – Go (Crazy Cousinz Mix)
Another choice cut from the UK funky mainstream, this is the usual slick confection of vamping pianos, chopped and looped hook and propulsive drums. Fits nicely alongside recent efforts from Egypt and Kyla, but sadly remains a world away from the hardbodied, grime-influenced noises of Lil Silva or Funky Dee that make a more convincing claim for funky’s importance. BM
Johnny Pate – Shaft In Africa
Lifted from Soul Jazz’s superlative Can You Dig It? comp, which celebrates the raw, defiant and red-blooded sounds of Blaxploitation-era America, this wah-wah driven funky monster once again begs the question… who’s the black private dick that’s a sex machine to all the chicks? Shaft. You’re daaaamnn right. BM
Noah and the Whale – Love Of An Orchestra
Do you feel let down that your life isn’t consistently soundtracked from above? Then ethereal folkists Noah and the Whale have written the perfect orchestral ditty to encapsulate that inexplicable ambivalent moment of joy and relief when exams finish, or you slip into a well earned warm bath. Pure bliss. Barnaby Howes
