Albums / Singles Of The Month: January & February

Alright, it has taken me so long to get this out that I have to do two months worth at once. Phew - here goes …

Truth be told, I have no idea what to say about Jamie T and his debut, Panic Prevention. Comparisons to The Streets will no doubt follow him for the rest of his career, understandably, but he can’t just be brushed off as a Mike Skinner mimic. I think comparisons to Nelly are equally justified, in Jamie T’s combination of pop melodies and a more rap-influenced singing style (most obviously in “Pacemaker” and “Sheila”). And he shares more than a little with bands like The Fratellis and Arctic Monkeys, especially lyrically - these are stories about the seedy underbelly of regular people. There are some truly tragic people in these songs, but a lot of them are are ordinary people who find themselves in desperate situations. I guess what I’m trying to say is that there’s a lot of different stuff going on in Jamie T’s music. Tam put it best when she said that this skinny white boy’s hybrid of pop, hip-hop, and indie should be “gimmicky”, but isn’t. He’s managed to make a genuinely unique album, one that’s completely of our time (Am I the only one who’s noticed that a lot of the best music of the last few years has been all about people like you or me and the reality of being like you or me - rather than sweeping songs about wonderful times with perfect friends and dreamy love? Not to mention the mixing of genres in recent years that has made music so much more interesting.), as well as a collection of songs perfect for getting some boogie on - I’d be shocked if some of these songs weren’t already staples in your favorite clubs.

January’s Single Of The Month was simple - there was no doubt it would be Bloc Party’s “The Prayer” from the first time I heard it. I’ve read that some people aren’t pleased that Bloc Party’s incredible percussion has taken a back seat to a more electronic sound on this single and the new album. I reckon that’s a valid point, but I’m a little more easy-going about that kind of stuff. It’s true that “The Prayer” has more synthesizer-y stuff going on than anything they’d previously released but it’s done well and keeps the same power that Bloc Party had before, which is pretty much all I ask for. Besides, nevermind the rest of the song - if you play “The Prayer” really loud and the stomps and chanty bits of the first 15 seconds don’t give you goosebumps, you were never going to like it anyway.

I had assumed that Bloc Party’s A Weekend In The City would be Album Of The Month for February, it’s more than worthy. But then I heard Pop Levi’s debut and loved it. And then I heard Patrick Wolf’s The Magic Position and it was all over. Sadly, I’d never gotten around to listening to any of Patrick Wolf’s other albums but I loved the title track from this one enough (after hearing it only once) that I bought the album immediately. I’ve seriously never heard anything like it. Like Jamie T, I love the mix of genres and musical influence, but this is on a whole other level: there’s bits of Nick Cave (Tam’s observation), Edwyn Collins, Motown, experimental electronica, classical, dance, indie, even hip-hop in this album. Some songs (”Magpie”, “Augustine”) are haunting, gut-wrenching, and too overwhelmingly beautiful and powerful to be described in words. Others (”The Magic Position”, “(Let’s Go) Get Lost”) are joyous, danceable celebrations. Every track is something new and Patrick Wolf proves that he’s not afraid of anything. I’d seriously lose all faith in the music world if The Magic Position isn’t at least nominated (if not the winner) of the Mercury Prize this year - even though it’s only March, I can’t imagine anything besting this album for originality, creativity, and quality.

Single Of The Month for February was trickier - it seems there was a little bit of a drought of single releases there. For pure pop enjoyment, I have to pick The Killers’ “Read My Mind”. Where The Killers usually rely on big, booming choruses, “Read My Mind” has a wonderful understated quality to it. It’s exactly what a great single should be and the video is incredibly charming. Go check it out if you need something to make you feel good about the world.