Today's offerings and perhaps more

So... back from work, plug in the headphones and listen...

CHRIS WARD - "Temptress". Good metal paying but the voice is flat. By the way, I think this band is called Half Past Dead. **

4HOURS - "4Hours". Drive time music, reminds me of Gary Holton and the Heavy Metal Kids. ***

THE CESARIANS - "Running Horse". Military drumming, some great brass playing and a good singer, almost operatic in places, but cabaret at others. Very interesting. *****

KARAOKE for BEGINNERS - "Sound of your Soul". Grunge with just a hint of metal and a singer with a deep voice that sometimes touches on greatness but too often falls short. Nevertheless ***** Plus

DAVID J HARVEY - "This is Real". Nice acoustic piece. There's something feminine about his voice, but it's a great voice. *****

BEAUX - "Love is Delirious". Oh I like this one. I like it very much. Sort of like a robotic folk song with a hint of P J Harvey in the mix. Delicious. ***** Plus. New number 19

ROY SHIELS - "Vessel". Nice rhythm, acoustic sound but the song as a whole doesn't seem to have the spark to bring it alive. ***

B & The HONEY BOYS - "Set My Heart on Fire". Now this is a fairly exciting acoustic piece with energy and passion. *****

THE PRECIOUS 20 - "Around The Sun". They're from Peterborough, a place I know well. They play with a hint of Reggae in the beat and a lot of hi energy pop in the execution. *****

K J McEVOY - "Sleeping Soundly". He has a great voice and this has a beautifully insistent beat. This is just so GOOD. Reminds me of, well K J McEvoy to be honest. He's a fine singer-songwriter from Wexford. ***** Plus. New Number 6

DAN CLEWS - "Move Too Fast". This sounded really good until Dan started singing. That's a shame. ****

THE TRANSPERSONALS - "Hello Hello". They come from Bristol but they sound like the Merseybeats. ****

THE RUBICON - "On The Left Side". This is a pleasant pop song that feels right up to date. They are offering this as a free download, which to my mind rather defeats the point of Storm the Charts. *****

THIRD LIGHT - "Leaders and Followers". A strong pop record, with just a hint of several indie bands from the last twnety years. Very well packaged. *****

ONE MAN and HIS BEARD - "Magic Sam". This is punk. I quite like it. ****

THE UNSTABLE TABLES - "The Great American Dream". Ominous bass with a spoken voice reminiscent of John Lennon, although they come from Newcastle. This would work better with more of a Talkin' Blues style I think. ***** Plus

ROB MOB - "Agony". It's not agony to listen to it. It's good. Reminds me of the Damned. *****

ALL FOR THE FALL - "Breathe in Oceans". This is Heavy Metal and it is a fine example of the species. ***** plus

Keep on Keeping On

With not so much time available today (caused by another, less important vote) I'll only have time for one post so here it is.

SUSAN BLUECHILD - "Sunrise". She's from Dublin. I LOVE the video so much. Like her voice. Sounds like a kind of country-pop style to me. Not bad. ****

ACRYLIC IQON - "No Danger". This is a slow starter but builds up as the song goes on. It works best when the male and female voices are both prominent as if they're arguing with each other. *****

MILK - "Zappa Town". From Leeds. There's an early eighties feel to this, like a poppier Killing Joke perhaps. I'm not too keen on the singer but nevertheless ***** Plus

PLANETZIM - "Relinquish Control". Sounds like a Southern George Formby on some serious drugs. I love it and I hate it but I love it more. ***** Plus

CASEY FALLEN - "Crayoned Face". Complex Rhythm, doomy chords almost metallic, a voice that fits the whole thing. ***** plus. New number 17

DORIS BRENDEL - "Sorry". This is a great song. It deserves to be a hit. Her voice sounds a little like Bonnie Tyler but the playing is something new, something good. ***** plus. New number 14

LAURA BOWEN - "The Other Girlfriends' Club". I hope she won't be offended when I compare her to Lily Allen. The track is more rock-based though. Terrific. ***** plus. Now number 17.

TWO FINGERS OF FIREWATER - "Ride Out". Sounds like Ragtime. It's jolly and bouncy and kinda cute. Very pleasant. ****

JONNY WALKER - "Midnight in Memphis". Sings about Delta Blues and Rockabilly but doesn't play either. He sings and plays well but the song is average. ***

WHEELER STREET - "Young Man's Wish/Flinglish". I can hear the influences of The Who, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, The Dubliners and the Pogues. They've been spun in the food-processor and produced something charming and brilliant. ***** plus. New number 8

VILE ELECTRODES - "Play With Fire". This is a great song. The lyrics are kind of trite but that doesn't matter. As a whole this is a fine pop song. ***** plus New number 6.

Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

Okay, I admit it, after listening to so many tracks of varying quality, I'm becoming a little jaded. Besides, I'm going back to work tomorrow and won't have as much time so from now on, the comments will be shorter, except of course when I come across a track so jawdroppingly magnificent and utterly original that it needs more than the standard one liner and a star rating. So, without further ado...

PENGUIN PARTY - "Song for my old lady". Interesting Western Style acoustic. ****

JULIAN SHAH-TAYLER - "Wetter". Rocker from Los Angeles with lost of energy. Voice grows on you. ****

STEVE SHADFORTH - "Wonderland". Dull AoR from Germany. **

BEARFOOT BEWARE - "The Elegant Philanthropist". An unholy alchemical marriage between Eddy Cochrane and The Knack! ***** Plus

VICKY BULL - "Love Letters". She's also known as 'Doll'. Interesting acoustic piece. Not keen on the recording. *****

HUCKSTER - "Wild Girls". Boy band voices on exciting innovative electronics. *****

THE JUNE CRUSH - "Better Lovers". From Minnesota. From the Seventies. **

INSIDE VIEW - "Cry". Great rhythm, dull voice redeemed by some nice high notes. ***

THE BARENTS SEA - "O Brother of Mine". Nice Acoustic style. Very good voice. Nice lyrics. Nice song. Mounting excitement. ***** Plus. New number 19.

RISA HALL - "Shooting Stars". Wow. Terrific voice, country rock stylee from Manchester. Songs like this make listening to the others worthwhile. ***** Plus. New Number 13.

RORY ELLIS - "Passenger". Western Style, Acoustic, with a hint of the blues and a voice like Nick Cave. ***** Plus.

ALLMAN BROWN - "House of Spirits". Good voice, average guitar playing. He sounds a lot like Tracy Chapman. Not a great recording but a great song. *****

CELLAR DOOR - "Win Some Lose Some". Acoustic, Alternative meets New Country. Good singer. ****

DAINA ASHMORE - "Brewing". Good rhythm, clear, sweet voice, good lyrics. Could have been a hit in Nashville. ***** plus New (albeit temporary) number 20.

STUART ANTHONY - "Easy Sky". Neil Young meets Dire Straits. ****

JAMES McDERMOTT - "Cross Your Heart". Great voice. Boring Song. ***

MENTAL HEALTH - "Bombastic Mind". Publc Image Limited mixed with the late lamented Fuzzbox. ***** Plus. New Number three!

VIENNA DITTO - "Long Way Down". Wonderful, electronic psychobilly. ***** plus.

JEFF JEPSON - "Easily You". I like Acoustic music normally but this is boring and his voice is weak. ***

LOS SALVADORES - "Empty Boxes". Punky attitude with violins in an unconventional love ballad set down the market. *****

PAUL SHEVLIN - "You Won't Last The Night". Awesome piano playing. Okay voice. Great song. ****

MAROON TOWN - "Cumbia Infernal". I admit bias. My wife was born in St James but spemnt a lot of her childhood in and around Maroon Town, Jamaica. This is different to almost anything else that's been entered so far. A merging of Soca and Samba rhythms with Ska-style brass and reggae style. And I'm beginning to wish I'd paid more attention to the dance when the lovely Senovia from Barquisimeto tried to teach nineteen-year-old me to Salsa. ***** Plus New NUMBER ONE!!!

Before I was Interrupted

I was closing the gap I mentioned, so let's continue.

CLAIRE PORTMAN is a singer songwriter from South London. I'm sorry to say that I find "All Yours Now" rather humdrum. The guitar playing is somewhat pedestrian and her voice is average.

HARRY HARRIS is also a singer songwriter, from Builth Wells this time. His guitar playing is much more interesting, sounding almost like a banjo picking style, though I guess it's probably not. His voice is good and the song "Rings" is better than many. Good though, but not great.

FADED CADENCE play melodic sort-of folkish music with an indie, maybe even an emo feel. "Valediction" is a gem, well crafted, voice, guitars and violin working together with the piano to make something a bit special. Sadly though, not special enough to make my top twenty.

DEAD CLOWN SOCIETY play experimental acoustic music. I can't see what's experimental about "Lost at Sea" though. It's a saccharine-sweet little folk ditty, with nice guitar work, sweet voices and I think a Melodeon?. It's brilliant and beautiful but it's not as good as the Ruby duValls, so it's not top twenty material.


THE AUTUMNKIND have offered us a rather dull acoustic number called "Half Cut". Like so many songs I've been hearing, it's not so much bad as lacking in anything wonderful to make me scream and shout. That's five minutes of my life I'll never have again. I wish I'd smoked another cigarette before I gave up seventeen years ago.


ELECTRO SHEENA have been listening to Peaches and perhaps Lady Gaga. "The Climax" is an exciting electronic piece and could be a big club hit. I'll enjoy it when I hear it then, but I can't imagine buying it.

MOTHERS AUXILIARY have entered a real experimental-acoustic piece called "Duke". The singers in the chorus sound really strange, beautifully strange. It's number eighteen in my top twenty, so I'm shocked to have to say goodbye to the Ruby du Valls. Given the excellence of some of the tracks I've heard, I'm beginning to think this will really work.

DARKROOM PROJECT are a rock band. "Shot Down" is a great rock song. It reminds me of... oh I don't know who it reminds me of, wasted youth, cider and spliffs at the vicarage tea party, the whole panoply of youthful indiscretion. It's my new number 11, we say goodbye to Knew Jerus'lem and Ten City Nation are the new number 20.

The LOVEDAYS offering, "House of Cards" is a well produced pearl of perfect pop. It'll go far but great as it is, there are many many great bands in this campaign.

THE STORM SOCIETY have a nice looking myspace page. Sadly, I found the song "Miles Away" disappointing. I've heard a lot of good and great songs over the past couple of weeks. This one however, is mediocre.

The LAYNES are from Scotland. If "Tuesday" is anything to go by, they're also from 1962.

PLEASURE MOB are another cup of bovril. "Where's My Money" had me nodding along right from the start. This is excellent. It's funy, how I'll listen to so many tracks and try to convince myself there good because of this or that aspect. Then along comes something like this to remind me what 'great' is all about. This is my new number five and Mother's Auxiliary move down to number 20.

THE Q are most definitely a mod band in the finest tradition of Roger Daltrey's merry band of troubadours (The Who? exactly). On "through your eyes" they sound like a cross between the Who and the Tom Robinson Band. Interesting combination. Carry on lads. Well done.

HEYPENNY sound like an arty K-pop version of Buggles. "Cop Car" is my new number four. It's idiosyncratic, rhythmic, exciting and just plain far out. 'Nuff said.

Filling the Gap

So, there's a hole in the new(ish) entrants, so let's fill it so I don't get lost.

GREEN EMBERS play a nice enough tune. "Learning Life" deserves to be the sound track in a movie probably a coming of age movie. It's a fine piece of music but not a patch on my current number twenty, Like a Couple of Virgins, by Parallel Animals.

WOODEN PIGS are from Bournemouth. Why not? They play fast paced pop music spoiled slightly by an unpleasant drone going through "The Light of Day", but spoiled more by a singer whose voice I just don't like.

THE GLASS APPLES are much slower, almost as slow as the Swans, but on "Shining Down" the slow rhythm works well with a singer who has just a hint of Nick Cave in his makeup and with a second complimentary rhythm that makes some fine syncopation. It's not one for my top twenty but it is a fine track nevertheless.

MEN IN CAVES ought to be awful, with a repetitive bassline, tinkling pianos and a singer whose voice sounds like one of the most contrived I've ever heard. The thing is though, "The Funniest Thing" is interesting, gets my foot tapping and might well be the dark horse in this particular race. It's in my top twenty at least temporarily as it replaces Parallel animals at number 20.

SYKES are optimists. They say so. "I'm the optimist" they say. I can't stand their myspace page, but the music on the other hand is better than mediocre. Actually, it's very good but Men in Caves are still at number 20.

COFA TREE are a modern folk band from Coventry. "Alone After Midnight" starts slowly and then goes into a reggae beat before the singers come in. The man has a much better voice than the woman. The song is good, even great but again, this doesn't quite make my top twenty.

RED SNAPPER say they're an experimental band. They combine an African drumming style with some fine sax playing, interesting synth noises and a singer with a voice that, while not strong, is fairly interesting. "Loveboat" is my new number sixteen and so the Ruby Du Valls are the one to beat.

So what do we have today?

Only one new track has been added since my last post, so let's start with that.

MARK CARROLL is a singer songwriter who has entered ".mp3 People". It's from his album 1 Simple Man. He is a great songwriter and a good pianist but as a singer, he sounds too humdrum and everyday for my taste. If he wrote a song for most of the bands who have entered this year, he'd have a couple of hundred hits on his hands. I'd also like to see him write the music for a West End Stage show. He is that good but I can't see this track as a hit unless he gets someone else (such as Ruthie Henshall, who has also sung a couple of his songs) to sing it.

THE DIRTY DISCO have entered "White Room", which, sadly, I can't find on their myspace page but with a little detective work, I tacked it down to Last fm, where it's available as a free track (surely some mistake here Wes?). It's a good solid foottapper with some great (and very funny lyrics) over something that sounds like Stomu Yamash'ta on happy pills. This is not quite top twenty but it's close, and if this is not the track they meant to enter, then I'll listen to the other as well.

SECRET CINEMA BAND are an experimental rock band but their song "Official Neck for the Rope" sounds like Neil Young until the reggae guitars come in after a while, and the singer, reasonable to that point slips into delicious hysteria. I can hear what they're trying to do with this track and it's a magnificent adventure which sadly, doesn't arrive where it needs to. They'll get there though and if they haven't been signed by a big label, I hope they try again next year.

PARALLEL ANIMALS sound more jazzy than the alternative/indie label they attach to themselves on their website. They bring to mind Lou Reed, circa Coney Island Baby, playing along to the Tommy Dorsey band. "Like a Couple Of Virgins" has hooks, it's catchy, why it's positively barbed. I love it. It's in my top twenty albeit at number 19 so Revere are the new number 20 and the one to beat.

I've heard quite a lot about COURTEOUS THIEF from Colwyn Bay. "Don't Look Down" is great, but not as great as I expected. This could easily be a hit regardless of my disappointment. It just makes my top twenty and Revere drop out.

GRAND CENTRAL are an okay rock band. "Take My Hand" is very good. The thing is though, I've heard better. It's AOR if we still use that term. Sorry lads, the spark seems to be missing.

SLEEPING WITH GIANTS have entered "Kings and Queens". The production values are awful and, while I imagine they could be great with proper production, like a folky version of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, it's not somethign I can overlook in the light of so many brilliant and brilliantly produced tracks from so many other bands.

BYRON NIKO from Birmingham plays Disco House Music. If "My Pedestal" is anything to go by, he doesn't do it very well. That said, the words of the song are absolutely brilliant. As a singer, he's a brilliant poet.

THE HYSTERICAL INJURY on the other hand, are [expletive deleted] awesome. It's hard to characterise them, distorted bass, killer rhythms, hysterical singer, they rock. "Three" is my new number 1, which means Courteous Thief drop out and Parallel Animals are the team to beat.

HEAVY LOAD are a punk band. The singer sounds a little like Steve Ignorant. But I can't imagine Crass would be interested in doing a song about "Bruce Forsyth" and a bunch of other older celbrities. It has a really nice bass line though. That's all.

BLACK SHADES begin "Feed The Junkie" with some Enoesque ambient noise that lasts long enough to get on my nerves before the beat comes in. It's a good beat, danceable, but I find myself waiting too long for interesting stuff to happen. I've played in bands like this and it's a lot of fun but this sounds like it was recorded live with no thought going into production. I know what they're trying to do here but it doesn't work on this showing.

Gorblimey

Third post in one day, but there's a lot to get trhrough and I want to hear it all.

JENNIFER EVER is a singer songwriter from a town called Shirley in British columbia. She plays a mean piano and writes good songs if "Goodnight" is anything to go by. She sounds like so many other emotional Canadian female singer songwriters. I'm not judging her against them though. I'm judging her against Daylight Saving and good though this is, it's not top twenty material, at least not in the week in question.

GAF GAM GAF MAF are from Skopje. They're a doomy alt-rock band with a fine violinist to add a certain something. I'm not as impressed by their singer though, but I can imagine "Faith" getting into the charts on its own. I might have thought this was top five material before I started counting but it doesn't quite make my top twenty, although I have to say it came really close and with a different singer, I might have called it top ten.

ARROWS OF LOVE have an energetic drummer and a singer who sounds like a Norwegian Death Metaller having a go at Gothic music. Those are the highlights, but "Burn This Town" is less than the sum of its parts. Quite, quite average.

REVERE say "We Won't Be Here Tomorrow". The song is poppy and upbeat in ways I found surprising. I should hate this but I don't... the singer sounds like a parody of miserablism, the drummer sounds like he learned his skills in the army, and the other musicians have escaped from a mutant circus. This is a new number 17, so the new one to watch is Tinker Jack.

I don't think I've listened to CINNAMON ANTICS and "Endorphins" sounds such a superb slice of pop perfection that I cannot imagine having overlooked it. Tom Robinson seemed to have enjoyed it too. This is the new number nine, so Trabant is the one to beat right now. This is getting harder and harder, sicne I'm more and more reluctant to see my existing favourites go.

MAMOOLIAN are from Worcester. They play high energy, intelligent pop music that makes me think back to the Vapors. "Too Late" is good, but so is Aj Aj Aj and so Trabant remain at number 20. A great track all the same.

EMPHASIZE are five lads from Croydon, and "Time Bomb" is a new look at the music beatniks once bobbed their heads to. The beat is great, chords terrific, words and the singer are fantastic. So.. it's byebye to the boys from Stockholm as the boys from Croydon muscle in at number 11.