this week's Roundtable

with Cerys Matthews (ex-Catatonia, sometimes BBC radio and telly presenter) and Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks, plus some Jamie lad from NME

1. Depeche Mode - "Wrong" - hrm. I don't know if this will be a grower, but it seems pretty benign to me. in a bad way. I am reminded by both BBC radio and local radio that DM has put out some totally awesome songs - "Enjoy the Silence," "Everybody Counts," "Personal Jesus". so it's tough to compare...

2. Bat for Lashes - "Daniel" - I always think it's a bad idea to name your song after a song that already has a life of its own for another artist. (think Reg Dwight.) the voice sounds La Roux but the swirly production sounds like Ladytron. seeing that this '80s synthy revival is now a reality, bands are going to have to go that extra mile for me to be interested in them, or else they're all going to sound alike.

3. the winner - Art Brut - "Alcoholics Unanimous" - I don't see the point of screaming your head off with music that doesn't match. my ears are being assaulted. don't. like. I'll move on.

4. Plushgun - "Just Impolite" - the lyrics work for this tune - Johnny Cash is name-checked in a noncountry song - a plus!

5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Zero" - I was in the middle of lunch, and obvs, this did not make an impression.

6. White Belt and Yellow Tag - "You're Not Invincible" - as Pete said, this is an echoey mess, "the bathroom from hell".

7. U2 - snips of "Get On Your Boots" and "No Line On the Horizon" (title track) among others, "Breathe" and "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" in whole - ok, so I finally figured out a couple days ago why I don't like GOYB. it sounds eerily too much like "Vertigo" (How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb). sorry to say but I think U2's past it. "Breathe" uses the words "cockatoo" and "juju man" to comedic effect IMO and I don't think that was their point. their last great song was "Beautiful Day". hahaha Cerys said she thinks they've plundered everyone else's albums since 2004 to try and reinvent themselves and I have to agree.

Carl and Pete love at the NME awards

Pete Doherty and Carl Barat were reunited by means of the annual event that is known as the NME Awards last night. nice array of pics and misc coverage are available here and here.

It's also nice to see a good amount of people also slag off the Jonas Brothers. I'm soooo very sick of them...

Here's a list of last night's NME award winners from 6Music:

BEST BRITISH BAND supported by Shockwaves
Oasis
Bloc Party
Radiohead
Muse
Last Shadow Puppets

BEST INTERNATIONAL BAND supported by 4music
Kings Of Leon
The Killers
MGMT
Vampire Weekend
Crystal Castles

BEST SOLO ARTIST
Ladyhawke
Jay-Z
Laura Marling
Lightspeed Champion
Peter Doherty

BEST NEW BAND supported by Bench
Vampire Weekend
MGMT
Glasvegas
Late Of The Pier
White Lies

BEST LIVE BAND supported by Red Stripe
Radiohead
Oasis
The Killers
Muse
Kings Of Leon

BEST ALBUM supported by HMV
Kings Of Leon - ‘Only By The Night’
The Killers - ‘Day & Age’
Glasvegas - ‘Glasvegas’
Oasis - ‘Dig Out Your Soul’
Bloc Party - ‘Intimacy’

BEST TRACK supported by NME Radio
Vampire Weekend - ‘A-Punk’
The Last shadow Puppets - ‘The Age Of The Understatement’
Kings Of Leon - ‘Sex On Fire’
The Ting Tings - ‘That's Not My Name’
MGMT - ‘Time To Pretend’

BEST VIDEO supported by NME TV
Late Of The Pier – ‘Heartbeat’
The Last Shadow Puppets - ‘My Mistakes Were Made For You’
Radiohead - ‘House Of Cards’
Vampire Weekend - ‘A-Punk’
Oasis - ‘The Shock Of The Lightning’

BEST LIVE EVENT
T in the Park
Glastonbury
Isle Of Wight Festival
Reading And Leeds Festival
V Festival

BEST TV
Skins
The Mighty Boosh
Gavin & Stacey
Never Mind The Buzzcocks
The IT Crowd

BEST DANCEFLOOR FILLER
Bloc Party - ‘Mercury’
Dizzee Rascal - ‘Dance Wiv Me’
Crystal Castles - ‘Courtship Dating’
Friendly Fires - ‘Paris’
Late Of The Pier - ‘Bathroom Gurgle’

BEST DVD
Foo Fighters - ‘Live At Wembley Stadium’
The Rolling Stones - ‘Shine A Light’
Kaiser Chiefs - ‘Live At Elland Road’
Arctic Monkeys - ‘At The Apollo’
Muse – ‘HAARP’

BEST BAND BLOG
Noel Gallagher / Oasis
Little Boots
Lightspeed Champion
Radiohead
Foals

BEST VENUE
London 02 Arena
London Astoria
Glasgow Barrowland
London 02 Brixton Academy
Manchester Apollo

BEST ALBUM ARTWORK
We Are Scientists – ‘Brian Thrust Mastery’
Muse – ‘HAARP’
The Cure – ‘4:13 Dream’
Guillemots – ‘Red’
The Killers – ‘Day & Age’

HERO OF THE YEAR
Brandon Flowers
Noel Gallagher
Barack Obama
Noel Fielding
Alex Turner

VILLAIN OF THE YEAR
Amy Winehouse
George W Bush
Peter Doherty
John McCain
Gordon Brown

BEST DRESSED
Brandon Flowers
Noel Fielding
Alexa Chung
Alex Turner
Noel Gallagher

WORST DRESSED
Amy Winehouse
Peter Doherty
Katy Perry
Brandon Flowers
Johnny Borrell

WORST ALBUM
Jonas Brothers - ‘A Little Bit Longer’
Coldplay - ‘Viva La Vida’
Britney Spears – ‘Circus’
Scouting For Girls - ‘Scouting For Girls’
Razorlight - ‘Slipway Fires’

WORST BAND
Tokio Hotel
Jonas Brothers
Scouting for Girls
Fall Out Boy
Oasis

SEXIEST MALE
Carl Barât
Keith Murray
Matt Bellamy
Peter Doherty
Miles Kane

SEXIEST FEMALE
Hayley Williams
Kate Jackson
Alison Mosshart
Lykke Li
Stephanie Dosen

BEST WEBSITE
Facebook
YouTube
Last FM
MySpace
Bebo

random tidbit of the day: I just about died laughing when Stuart Maconie reported this on Monday night's programme - the pressings of the CD of Faryl Smith, a castoff from Britain's Got Talent, was discovered to be *not* to be her angelic own but the voice of the cantankerous Mark E. Smith and the Fall's 2008 album Imperial Wax Solvent.

Needless to say, Universal chiefs weren’t best pleased.

My spy tells me: “They had ordered hundreds of copies and they were staggered by what was on it. They have had severe words with the pressing plant.”

this begs the question, was the mistake in mixing up "Faryl" with "the Fall"? or perhaps mistaking one Smith for another? these photos side by side are hilarious.

the promising Soft Pack / this week's Roundtable

The Soft Pack performed on Marc Riley's show last night (I can't be the only one who is grooving to the California band's single, "Nightlife"). Rob Hughes was standing in for an absent Marc and I asked him to ask TSP about what they call the "NME tour" they are doing when they come back to America next month - no, I did not ask for humour, I just wanted to know were they really on an NME tour extension? they didn't answer me but they *did* play three songs - "Extinction," "On My Time," and "Parasites", all of which can be listened to on their MySpace.

--

Thursday's Roundtable sees Jon McClure from Mongrel join the Music Week's Matt Everett and Fierce Panda's Simon Williams

1. The Enemy - "No Time for Tears" - another hearkening back to the '80s? even for that, not a fan.

2. Jack Penate - "Tonight's Today" - dunno why but the chorus reminds me too much of the arm swaying tendency of Barry Manilow's "Copacabana." it may grow on me but right now that repeating refrain is really annoying. I am still annoyed by the repetition of Wintersleep's "Oblivion" (even though they played the Hub earlier this week). a chatroom participant called it "indie tropicana" which brought Lammo and the other guests laughter.

3. Chew Lips - "Solo" - I am amused - and appreciative - for all these dancey-type songs coming out. I think it was Ladyhawke's "My Delirium" last year that got my ears pricked for tunes that tap Atari-era electronic sounds. a chatroom participant said it sounds like she was just playing the Legend of Zelda. quite. my thoughts exactly!

4. the Noisettes - "Don't Upset the Rhythm" - now I'm confused about this outfit. I *loved* "Wild Young Hearts." I hear this song and think, oh no, oh no no no no - they're sounding like everyone else now! but that's just me...

5. the winner - Titus Andronicus - "My Time Outside the Womb" - I was excited when I saw they were coming to D.C. on 19 April, especially since this is days after the tax man cometh. then I realised, darn, I won't be in town! (this happened last October too, when the Wedding Present decided to visit the area.) but back to the song - not impressed. it's a let-down after their first single.

6. Calvin Harris - "I'm Not Alone" - I heard this earlier and am still not impressed. in the middle, the song does a schizo leap, b/c it decides it should be synth pop.

7. Morrissey's new album "Years of Refusal" (out this week in the U.S. and the UK) - clips of "Paris," "Black Cloud," "That's How People Grow Up," and "It's Not Your Birthday Anymore" - and "Something is Squeezing My Skull" and "One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell" in full - Lammo said Morrissey is starting to be like the Ramones - how you'll know exactly what his next record will sound like. (discuss!)

for my part, I have to say "Paris," "That's How People Grow Up," and "One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell" sound a lot better live than on the recording. glad that my "date" with the Mozzer is less than 5 weeks away :)