New Musick Monday

So, how well did we do last week then? Let's start with the bad news shall we? V.V. Brown's ridiculously catchy 'Shark In The Water' drowned (boom, boom, tish), wallowing at a lowly number 38. Given the fact the chart was littered with Michael Jackson releases and the lack of airplay from Radio 1 you could be forgiven for thinking it was an alright result. We'll have to wait and see how patient her label will be. On the album chart, however, Lungs by Florence & The Machine breathed new life (boom, boom, tish...tish) into her burgeoning career by crashing in at number 2. It also recorded the biggest first week sales for any debut album in 2009. Musick is literally keeping these artists afloat and will accept all forms of remuneration.

WARNING: It's a pretty slow week for new albums and though we enjoyed both of the following, they're what you might call 'patchy' yet 'promising'.

BUY THIS, BURN IT, KEEP THE RECEIPT, TAKE IT BACK

Travelling Like The Light by V.V. Brown



We're being unfair of course. There are some genuinely brilliant moments on this debut album, it's just that most of them are during the three singles she's already released. None of the album tracks - aside from the excellent Game Over - really come close to the immediate appeal of Leave!, Crying Blood or Shark In The Water, and as an album it lacks the depth of something like Amy Winehouse's Back To Black, which mined a similar retro-soul sound. BUT what it does have is personality, energy and a very talented young woman calling the shots. Amen to that.

BORROW THIS THEN LISTEN TO IT TWICE AND LOSE IT

Welcome To The Walk Alone by The Rumble Strips



How amazing is that front cover? That little dog is one double-hard Jack Russell. But we're not here to talk about dogs, we're here to talk about music and thankfully music is something The Rumble Strips have learnt to do much better then last time (2007's Girls and Weather album was as nondescript as that title suggests). Produced by Mark Ronson (you're cringing aren't you?), it contains a handful of well above average singalongs including recent single 'Not The Only Person', which is probably the only single written about knife crime that positively encourages a repeat performance due to the unseemly nature of female intervention. Sweet.

DOWNLOAD THIS

'Crying Lightning' by Arctic Monkeys



To be honest, it's all a bit of a struggle this week. If it's a struggle for us then we're assuming it's a struggle for you, so apologies. This single was mentioned the other day, it's very good and gets better the more you listen to it. It actually came out to download last week and is already at number 12 in the charts so it's all a bit pointless. Still, it's Tuesday tomorrow...