this week's Roundtable

this week's report is late owing to your faithful writer being pulled in too many directions this week. needless to say, I am glad it is Friday and tomorrow is when I see Noah and the Whale. owing to a massive matter known to me as a painful and swollen foot (owww) I shall be patronising several D.C. taxis for the first time, ever.

Roundtable returned for another week, with Martin Fry from ABC, Billboard Magazine's Mark Sutherland and Little Boots

1. Jarvis Cocker - "Angela" - I didn't know this was Jarvis - haha! sorry man, not feeling it.

2. Florence And The Machine - "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" - I'm not a big fan of Florence, and this song is a little too balls-to-the-wall for me. everyone in the studio liked it, so who knows if my opinion means anything :)

3. La Roux - "Bulletproof" - I love Elly, so you can't expect a unbiased opinion on this. while it doesn't have the heavy dance immediacy of "Quicksand" or croony "In for the Kill," it still has little La Roux's stamp on it.

4. the winner - the Eels - "Fresh Blood" - this is down and dirty more than me or Victoria Little Boots likes it. I dunno, does this mean grunge is back? interesting...it sure paints a nice contrast with all the other retro sounding music coming out as of late.

5. Gossip - "Heavy Cross" - hmm. I'm ambivalent on this. I like the sound generally, but it's lumping in with everyone else that sounds like them right now.

6. Goldheart Assembly - "So Long Saint Christopher" - this has a very American AC likeability, so I was a little shocked that Lammo likes it. it's a little slow, but it reminds me of a rough Simon and Garfunkel. the twangy guitars help too. haha Mark Sutherland thinks it sounds like "A Whiter Shade of Pale." that's what I was thinking of!

7. Prince's new album - "Dance For Me" and "There'll Never Be (Another One Like Me)" in full - WTH is wrong with Prince's voice? it sounds like he swallowed a gallon of helium. christ! thank you Martin Fry for saying the last good thing he did was "Purple Rain."