|
|
Saturday, January 7, 2006 |
|
|
|
Saturday, January 7, 2006 |
|
MUSIC ZONE Best track:
Advertising Space Worst track: Random Acts of Kindness Madonna-Confessions On A Dance Floor (Warner) Best track:
Hung Up Worst track: I Love New York Rating: *** I’m Dreaming Of A White Christmas -Various Artists (Times Music) Best tracks:
Silent Night, You’re All I Want For Christmas Rating: *** Eels-Blinking Lights & Other Revelations (Vagrant) Best track:
Railroad Man Worst track: Ugly Love Rating: **** Britney worst dressed Rachel Stevens, who landed up in a sexy black bra top and leather gloves and showed off her brand new bob
hair-cut, walked away with the Most Fanciable Female gong. Singer Peter Andre, who set people rocking to his song, Mysterious Girl, however failed to impress voters, and was voted ‘Flop Mop’ of the year.
— ANI |
Britain’s hottest pop icon moves into a new territory with his latest album. The album careens from arena rock to country to synth-pop to Latin. You G Friend is funny and wacky and A Place to Crash takes the listener back to the hazy days of the Rolling Stones era. Tripping, with its reggae beat, is the catchiest track here, while Make Me Pure highlights Williams’ conflicting persona aptly, particularly in the line Oh Lord, make me pure, but not yet. There’s a hint of Americana here too, with country-edged guitar riffs vying with sweeping gospel choirs on the confessional Make Me Pure, and a nod to good old southern soul on Spread Your Wings. Advertising Space is the obvious choice for the best single of the album, while the opening song Ghosts and Spread Your Wings give this talented singer the chance to flex his considerable vocal muscle. Intensive Care will, no doubt, add more awards to Williams’ already large collection of accolades. The album is a roller coaster of trite balladry and soaring pop anthems complete with the pre-requisite over-hype that will no doubt irritate his detractors and delight his fans. An album full of catchy hooks that is likely to grow on you and further blow up Williams’s already inflated ego.
With Confessions on a Dance Floor, her fourteenth album, Madonna reinvents herself. This is Madonna’s most purely beat-driven album since her self-titled 1983 debut. The album’s title and format suggest Madonna’s desire to reconnect with her past as an early1980s club diva image. The first single Hung Up glides on an addictive ABBA sample; Future Lovers pulses with psychedelic flourishes; and Sorry is sure to be a future disco anthem. The bulk of the album is instead helmed by Stuart Price, who, ironically, was responsible for American Life’s quietest, most sublime moment, X-Static Process. On Get Together, Price’s synths flow moodily, with Madonna asking, Do you believe in love at first sight? The rest of the album can best be described as one long mix tape consisting of Donna Summer’s I Feel Love, New Order’s Blue Monday, Blondie’s Atomic and Madonna’s own Bedtime Stories. This is one Dance Floor whose pull is irresistible.
This Christmas album is a warm seasonal affair recorded with orchestral backing and vocals that combines a wide variety of classical and pop holiday songs. Highlights include Bing Crosby’s White Christmas, Nat King Cole’s Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, Frank Sinatra’s Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Louis Armstrong’s Zat You Santa Claus and Dean Martin’s Silent Night. Other contributors include Mel Torme (What Are You Doing This New Year’s Eve?), Mario Lanza (The Lord’s Prayer), Gene Autry (Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer), Perry Como (Winter Wonderland), Judy Garland (Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas) and Stan Getz Orchestra (Frosty), all adding to an incredible Christmas album. The track It Was The Night Before Christmas winds up the collection, making this compilation a solid choice for those who want a nostalgic Christmas.
The latest effort from Eels is a double disc record of epic proportions. The first disc of this double CD jangles nerves with pop songs that analyse personal issues through wider problems facing America. The stunning second disc finds meaning to everything in a series of supernaturally beautiful ballads. In true Eels fashion, the album shifts moods and styles with elegance and subtlety. The opening Theme from Blinking Lights weaves itself throughout the entire record, unifying the varied and diverse moments that remain. On Understanding Salesmen, Everett expresses his fear of an uncertain future without his father (Daddy don’t let me down this time / I’m all alone inside my mind / And it’s no small thing that I must prove to you). The delicate piano accompanies a nonsensical sing along, each depicting a heart-rending nursery rhyme. As with much of Eels’ best work, however, the tender moments on Blinking Lights often coincide with the most eccentric ones here (Beautiful Freak’s Susan’s House and Electro-Shock’s skittering anthem Cancer for the Cure being two classic examples). The entire 33-song collection is a clear sign that Everett’s fuel tank is not running dry; if anything, his momentum is only building. The set closes with the bittersweet personal testament Things the Grandchildren Should Know, an ode to societal awkwardness and detrimental worries. 
Princess of Pop, Britney Spears, was voted the Worst Dressed Star at the recent T4 Poll Winners’ Party held at London’s Wembley Pavillion, while No Doubt lead singer, Gwen Stefani bagged the SH! Style Icon award.
