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Hello people

I hope 2009 is serving you well thus far, we are already in February and 2009 has served up some tasty treats audio wise!

So let's delve straight in shall we?? My favourite two artists of the year so far, despite what my scrobbles say, are Janelle Monáe and Lily Allen. First off, Janelle; she's a bit of a tricky one to categorise, so why bother trying? The first song I heard by her, Lettin' Go!, is straight-up R&B. And that's certainly not a bad thing - it's a feel-good tune and I would say an uptempo version of Unemployed In Summertime. It makes you smile. Where Janelle gets interesting is with the E.P. she has released this year, the bizarrely titled Metropolis: The Chase Suite. It features a handful of tracks, mostly revolving around Cindy, a cyborg who has fallen in love with a human. And in Janelle's quite frankly fucked up future vision, this is a big big no-no. Maybe to prevent the spread of electro-gonorrhea as predicted by Professor Farnsworth in Futurama, maybe just down to prejudice. Bounty hunters are ordered to kill poor Cindy with "electro daggers" and to inflict as much pain as possible. Poor, poor Cindy. The EP ends on a melancholy note with the track Smile, which beautifully showcases Janelle's vocal talents.


Grammy-nominated track Many Moons

What else? Oh yes, the lovely Lily Allen Now I've only heard her E.P. The Fear, as you see I am being good and waiting until the official release date of the new album. Or until I can steal it off of my friend Graham later on in the day. The Fear itself is a gorgeous track and not what I expected Lily to come back with, and it's peaked my interest in her. Kabul Shit is again a brilliant track, having a message without being in-your-face about it. But the best track of all? It's a tale of an openly modern love affair, one we see in society every day, a true, enduring love that transcends sexual longing and where great minds meet. It's called Fag Hag. And it's perfect. With the lyrics:

"I could be your fag hag
And you could be my gay
I'd never make you feel sad
When you come out to play"

I put it on and it makes me happy. Why? Because it reminds me of my bestest best friend in the whole wide world, the lovely Cara. Who is also my very own fag hag. Although I must say I'm not too keen on banoffee pie in all honesty. Sigh.



Next, we'll travel back in time and journey across the River Tyne and on towards The Sage in Gateshead. And who will we meet here? Miss Grace Jones. She be strutting about in a black leotard and putting all kinds of crazy outfits on over the top of it. Including what people thought at one point was a Ku Klux Klan outfit when singing My Jamaican Guy. But it wasn't. She did however wear a laser hat which lit up the entire of the room when performing Love Is The Drug, kept up a hula ring for the entirety of Slave To The Rhythm and was pulling drunken Geordies up on stage for Pull Up To The Bumper. All the while declaring "my pussy too tight" and "Grace gotta get it more regular!" She had us eating out of her hands and it was the best live performance I have ever seen. All bow down to Grace! And all the while not being as unfortunate as poor Alan Carr.

Sadly Grace's support act, TRYBEZ, were nowhere near as good. In fact, they were the worst support act I have ever seen in my life. A demented Hispanic version of the Black Eyed Peas is the only way I can really describe them. Truly atrocious.

From there, we scoot across to iTunes where we a trio of artists discovered on Janelle Monáe's artist radio (well worth a listen). Here we find J*Davey, Chrisette Michele and Little Jackie.

Little Jackie is an artist that you should have in case of a rainy day when you need a pick-me-up as it's that kind of music. The Stoop and last year's moderate (i.e. top 20) hit The World Should Revolve Around Me are the best examples of this. That's when she's not dissing New York or London mind you.

J*Davey. I did have a very insightful point to make until my Asda food shop interrupted me, delivered by a Geordie man who just spouted a sentence I didn't understand. Prompting a very unsubtle, "sorry, what?" from me. Anyway. Yes, J*Davey are a strange one. They're like a more manic version of Erykah Badu who incorporate more electronic elements into their work. Jack Davey's voice is incredible, she manages to make the lyrics

"I'm that thug ass bitch, I carry a razor blade"

sound sexy. Apparently, The Beauty In Distortion / The Land Of The Lost is simply an EP (a 90 minute long EP) and there'll be another album on its way in the not-too-distant future. Drool. Even if you're not a fan of hip-hop per se (neither am I really) I'd give this album - sorry, EP - a twirl.

Last of the trio is Chrisette Michele. Initially - and rather foolishly - I dismissed her on the basis of her name, imagining her to be another drone of the Cassie-Kat DeLuna-Ciara ilk. Oh how wrong I was. This young lady channels the likes of Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington and Billie Holliday through her style and voice, all the while keeping it modern. Perfect while you chill out with a glass of wine in a lovely lush bath full of goodies. I wholeheartedly recommend these:



You'll smell scrummy.

On the original journal I wrote - yes I had done this all before, before hitting the "back" button on my browser and it getting erased (note: not a happy bunny) - that would have been it. However, I have purchased (legally) several other albums since then. Now my fingers are getting tired, I'll do a brief (and I mean brief) of each:

Miho Hatori - Ecdysis. This album is beautiful. No other word for it. It makes you sit and take notice, listening to every word oozing out of the former Cibo Matto singer's mouth. Set to become a firm favourite.

Lily Frost - Ciné-Magique. I listened to this when I was tired. And it made me even more tired. I think this could become an in-the-bath album in the same vein as Chrisette's. I'll have to try it when I'm not on my way to sleep.

Nneka - No Longer At Ease. I love the elements combined on this album, and on first listen, it sounds good. Which in time, means I think it'll be great. For now...not much more to say on it, although I would recommend it methinks.

Jah Wobble - Chinese Dub. Like Sa Dingding, here Jah is bringing contemporary Chinese-style music (note: not c-pop) to a Western audience. And it works wonderfully. Recommended.

Also picked up a couple of Little Dragon tracks on iTunes that are well worth a listen, as well as the EP from former Dead Disco chanteuse Little Boots. Can't wait for an album from her.

There you have it. I'm off to rub deep heat over my poor fingers. Actually I'm off to the Post Office to send off the items I sold on eBay. Ho hum.

As always Big Love to everyone here.

Tom x x x

p.s I've hidden goodies throughout here in sneakily tucked away blue writing, much like this. Enjoy!