"Well, hello there, girl's name"

Musical Revelations Of The Week:
Spoon - 'Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga' - As documented in yesterday's post, I made a bit of a boob with this band, and ignored them because I, ahem, didn't like the artwork of one of their old albums. Turns out I had my head nestled firmly up my arse. Feel-good indie with charming melodies that is a late contender for album of the summer. Mind you, summer's late too, so who knows, the summer album might come out in October!
Lily Allen - 'Everybody's Changing' - Her utterly fabulous ska-cover of the pleasant-enough Keane single had passed me by until I was in a situation whereby I was listening to a compilation of live stuff from Dermot O'Leary's Radio 2 show. It turns out that it was the b-side to the 7" of 'Littlest Things', which is now winging its way to me. Who knows, if the posties show up to work tomorrow, I might even receive it.
Josh Rouse - 'Country Mouse, City House' - Wooo. 'Subtitulo' may have been mediocre tosh and 'She's Spanish, I'm American' was a quaint diversion, but this latest effort from Josh is right back up to his usual high standards. On the off chance we have some sunshine this week, feel free to dust down '1972' and 'Nashville' and play them back to back with this newie for some genuinely sunny tunes. As cheesy a comment as I've ever made, but accurate, methinks.

Non-musical Revelations Of The Week:
Jekyll - What a fantastic conclusion. Some neat twists, brilliant acting and numerous laugh-out-louders. A genuinely brilliant piece of modern drama. More, I say, more!
Scrubs - Yeah, I know I keep banging on about Scrubs at the moment, but I'm only doing it because it's ace. This coming Thursday on E4, at 9pm (repeated numerous times, including Saturday at 5.30pm) is a quite brilliant episode with a musical theme. I'm aware that truly shite shows have attempted this in the past, but rest assured that the Scrubs writers pull this off with aplomb. You'll particularly enjoy the song about poo. No, really. Ah, go on then, here's the two best songs:
'Everything Comes Down To Poo'

'Guy Love'

Nick Abbot on LBC - I used to love Nick's phone-in shows of the 90s on Talk Radio and Virgin. Having been quiet for a few years, Nick returned to the phone last year and is now running at full speed. This week he filled in for Iain Lee for a few evenings, and I can't recall sniggering at a radio show so much since Kevin Greening left daytime Radio 1 for the last time. While I can't recommend future fill-ins, as I'm not aware of any, I can point out that he's on every Saturday at 10pm, via channel 0177 on Sky and through their website at www.lbc.co.uk If you do fancy treating yourself, you can subscribe to their podcast service, which will allow you to download all of Nick's past shows. If you happen to do that, and want some tips on which ones to get, get in touch.

Have a good week all.

Goo Goo

So, that new Spoon album's a bit good, isn't it? I have to confess that this was one of my 'not heard a note of this, or indeed anything they've ever done' purchases. The splendid people over at a music messageboard I frequent have been raving about it, and I finally decided to pick it up earlier this week. Sadly, my local indie didn't have it in stock, but it did give me a chance to make a long-distance purchase from my old stomping ground, Spillers in Cardiff. Anyway, this record is much more accessible and feel-good than I was expecting.
That old saying, 'you can't judge a book by its cover' also applies to records. My first experience of Spoon was their 'Gimme Fiction' album, of which all I know is the cover. That cover made me think it wasn't for me, and, because I'm an idiot, I didn't pursue it any further, despite critical approval. I'm actually now quite surprised by how I managed to find out nothing about the band's music between then and me finally acquiring 'Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga' this week. It confirms for me, once again, that it's impossible to ever feel like you're on top of 'new music' as an entity, and also that I can be a picky and stubborn fucker when I want to be. Anyway, I'm enlightened now, and I'm very glad to be. Worth grabbing it while it has a bonus disc very neatly tucked into the back of the digipak sleeve.
In other news... I watched 'Damon and Jamie's Excellent Adventure' thanks to the quite marvellous www.blurcast.tv that I believe I've waffled on about in the past. It's the story of how Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett put together 'Monkey - Journey To The West' a truly unique opera. It's a genuinely engaging piece of telly, and worthy of note because of the Albarn musical sketches that are littered throughout. Watching Damon make up a vocal melody on the spot is astonishing, and it sent me back to the track on the 'Help: A Day In The Life' album that he submitted as Gorillaz, entitled 'Hong Kong.' If you've not had the pleasure yet, head over to the War Child music page at 7 Digital and spend the best quid you'll part with all weekend.