of these, hope

2008 has been rather dismal for music if we are honest. and we all do try to be in the business of honesty. the year is pretty much summed up by my comments below in regards of awards being given for "best reunion", i suppose.

it is not, however, all doom and gloom. let us not forget the magnificence of Primal Scream's Beautiful Future album. the new Metallica one, Death Magnetic, is also better than its predecessor and back to the sound that made them big enough to sell many records, but quite enough has been written across the interwebnet about that one already i guess.

it would seem, however, that 2008 has some rather nice aural gestures to give us yet. there are some very tasty releases on the way i am delighted to say!


Oasis return, sounding very much like Oasis. the new single, The Shock Of The Lightning, sees them borrowing from the more guitar heavy era sound of The Beatles once again, but i don't see how this is a bad thing. Oasis are just a decent, solid rock band that want to hit a good groove, play some tunes and make music that millions like. no bad thing there, and all too few musicians these days forget that the whole point of music is to entertain and have some fun.

i wouldn't go so far as to say that Lightning is a mature, refined and sophisticated slice of Oasis. i would however suggest that it is a rather fine rock number, and a promising notification that the imminent album, Dig Out Your Soul will be one of their better efforts. happily, i note that Liam and Noel have dropped any rhyming variant on the word "sunshine" from their lyrics for this track, a significant development which "classic rock" music journalists 20 or 30 years from now will no doubt deliver 5000 word articles on. in the present day, get it on your stereo as soon as you can!


the best thing i have heard of late, and possibly the song that will be declared to be the best of 2008, is easily Another Way To Die by the gifted, talented Jack White. there were many fears in advance that the presence of Alicia Keys and her whiny, nasal moaning singing style would ruin a classic chunk of White's all our guitar sound, but fear not. she behaves herself, and her voice is sufficiently distorted to fit in with the astonishing Jack White sound.

how does Another Way To Die sound? exactly like it should. this is the genius of The White Stripes applying his talents to the once sacred world of The Bond Theme, and the song gives credibility and respect back to the concept of The Bond Theme being a major event. it's a masterpiece that would not only sit comfortably on any album by Jack or The White Stripes; it sits up there with (personal fave) A View To A Kill as one of the greatest Bond themes. let's hope the film is as good as the song. bless you, Jack White, for once again making The Bond Theme relevant and important once again.

two quality songs does not a vintage year make, but at least there's two quality songs that will outlive the year they were recorded.



be excellent to each other, and stop voting in lame competitions.........................