New Musick Monday

It was Blur that once sang: "Bank Holiday comes with a six pack of beer...then it's back to work". Well, not for us. Our Bank Holiday was spent at work, having shifted the beer drinking forward a day to the Sabbath. We know, we know, may the Lord send down a thunder bolt or some such. Anywho, we must deal the hand that we have been dealt and get back to business. Last week we predicted big things for the Arctic Monkeys album, which wasn't exactly going out on a limb. It entered at no. 1, having outsold the rest of the top 5 put together. Needless to say the Fiery Furnaces album was nowhere to be seen and the Black Lips/Lumina single just missed out on the top spot thanks to about 75 other singles that all sold more. For this week, you should all be buying these things...

BUY THIS

Kid A (Special Collectors Edition) by Radiohead



Radiohead are going to love this. Having ditched EMI in favour of releasing their last album via carrier pigeon, Radiohead upset their former paymasters to such a degree that they cobbled together a Greatest Hits package and started releasing all their albums again in various forms. These re-releases may not have been overseen by the band, but they are worth investigating not least this new version of Kid A, which not only features the incredible original album, but also a second CD of live versions and a DVD of a couple of TV performances. Amnesiac and Hail To The Thief have also been re-packaged with various b-sides and live tracks, but seeing as the original source is one of the best things ever released we're going with Kid A.

HAVE A BIT OF CRY TO THIS

First Days of Spring by Noah & The Whale



May we, for a second, be crude? If we had split up with Laura Marling we would be pretty depressed too, for she is proper fit. Ahem. Charlie Fink, singer with twee-indie-also-rans Noah & The Whale, broke up with the lovely Marling recently and decided to write an entire album about how it made him feel and how he was going to get over it. The lyrics pretty much run the gamut of heartbreak cliche, but musically the band have expanded their sound to include strings, choirs and a bit of a go on the old kitchen sink to create a stirring second album.

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'Get Sexy' by Sugababes



We could have gone for The Cribs new single, or that one by Jamie T, but you know what, we're stuck in an office on a sunny Bank Holiday and we're going to choose a fun little pop song that samples Right Said Fred and is not a patch on past glories but is good enough for now thank you very much. 'Get Sexy' sounds a bit too try-hard when you listen to it without the video, but somehow it improves when matched with all those bright lights and gyrating hips. Why don't you have a little look here.

Wet 'n Wild

Where The Wild Things Are may well be the best children's book ever written. We don't know, we've only really looked at the pictures. What we do know, however, is that Spike Jonze's film adaptation looks like it could be amazing on a scale not yet describable by mere mortals. Even better, Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs has worked on the soundtrack and this is a little example of what to expect:



It's called 'All Is Love' and features, dare we say it, a children's choir. BUT it's not as cloying as that sounds and the guitars are lovely. Expert opinion, as ever.

Michael Burke

It's all gone a bit X Factor 2008 crazy round these parts, so apologies in advance if you find the whole talent-show-pop-star-making-machine thing a bit tiresome. It did give us Leon Jackson, let's not forget that...

Last year's winner Alexandra Burke has been in the good old US of A for the past few months working on her debut album, to be released in late October. She's worked with just about every pop producer you can think of on the album and will no doubt perform on the X Factor live shows around the time her first single is about to 'drop'.

But what is the first single we hear you cry ('mutter')? It's called 'Bad Boys' and features rent-a-rapper Flo'Rida and is right here:



EDIT: This video's been taken down so click here instead.

It's not a ballad, let's put it that way. It's got sirens on it, some piano bits and a chorus you could easily label 'eurovision' (i.e. it seems to come from a different song and is annoyingly catchy after 30 seconds). It will no doubt be a pretty big hit all things considered.

EXCLUSIVE: JLS

Recently, Musick expanded it's portfolio, buying out an ailing paparazzi firm to supply us with photos to accompany all the EXCLUSIVES we're so used to snaffling. Well, this is the first installment of what will no doubt be a regular occurrence.

We can exclusively reveal that Aston from chart-topping boyband JLS drives a white Audi TT. Not only that but his number plate features the letters JLS and he doesn't always adhere to the rules of the road when it comes to giving enough space for motorbikes at traffic lights. He's also a big fan of R&B music.

This is what Aston's car looks like:



Obviously, this is a stock photo from Google images. Our paparazzi guy has since been fired for incompetence.

This photo makes us happy

That's Beck alongside a certain Charlotte Gainsbourg filming the video for her future single, 'Heaven Can Wait'. There's an album too, entitled MRI, which is due out in November.

Exciting news.

Fingers crossed Charlotte's recovered after that nasty turn with a pair of rusty scissors.

New Musick Monday

Last week we gave you three, yes three, album options. Given the current economic climate, factoring in the weather and the fact that we've no doubt you had a lot of presents to buy this month, we understand that sales weren't exactly brisk. We're happy to report though, that The xx outsold both Jay Reatard (he was nowhere, frankly) and Simian Mobile Disco, who snuck in at no. 39. So, where did these cherubic young scamps enter? No. 36. That's not bad given the state of radio these days. We went to see them play a gig in a shop the other week and one of Musick's closest friend said they reminded them of Faithless. That, dear reader, is what alcohol can do.

BUY THIS

Humbug by Arctic Monkeys



The Arctic Monkey's have clearly decided they don't want to share fans with Oasis. This is all well and good, but that doesn't mean you have to grow your hair long, dress like Led Zeppelin and use a frankly abysmal picture as your album cover. BUT, everything else about this third album is very good indeed, from the innuendo of 'My Propeller' to the deceptively catchy 'Crying Lightning' to the career-high of 'Cornerstone'. Josh Homme doesn't mess with the sound too much, just gives them some muscle and and that sense of foreboding that QOTSA are so good at.

BORROW THIS AND ENJOY IT BRIEFLY

I'm Going Away by The Fiery Furnaces



We always get excited about a new Fiery Furnaces album coming out. Then we get it, listen to it once, maybe twice, then leave it to gather dust in a pile sandwiched between the first Arcade Fire album and a mix CD entitled 'Songs everyone says they love but don't actually listen to'. So it is with I'm Going Away, which despite being their best in a long while, is still too twitchy and frustrating to be really pleasurable.

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'I'll Be With You' by Lumina



This is a cover of a Black Lips song that appears on the b-side to another Black Lips song. It's by Lumina who are Faris Badwan from The Horrors and Cherish Kaye who used to be in Ipso Facto. Unsurprisingly, it's an atmospheric, drip-feed dirge with Badwan taking the lead vocal and Kaye offering some haunting backing. Do not listen to this in a darkened room or at work. If, however, you're feeling quite chipper and are sure that nothing can dampen your spirits then click here.

Crazy paving

We received a very strange email this morning claiming that Beyoncé was set to release an album of maudlin covers of her own songs. The ten song set is to be called B-yond Sadness and this is the first fruit of her labour:



Very touching.

It is of course Antony & The Johnsons (it says so on the video) with their take on the pop classic. Having played it live a lot of the last few years, this studio recording is available as the b-side to recent single Aeon.