The Friday Saturday Quiz!

1) Which supergroup is Feist a part of?

a) Dislocated Sociology Class
b) Smashed-up Film Set
c) Broken Social Scene
d) Crosby, Stills and Nash

2) Objectively speaking - which word best describes The Twang?

a) Faded
b) Baggy
c) Shite
d) All of the above, and ‘Inspiral Carpets’.

3) Nicola Roberts is fucking brilliant. How old was she when she joined Girls Aloud?

a) 16
b) 17
c) 18
d) 19

4) If bands were like relationships, Damon Albarn would be a much bigger cunt than he already is. Find the correct spelling of his cartoon-based sideproject.

a) Gorrilaz
b) Grillers
c) Gorillaz
d) Gorrilazz

5) Which of these is a genuine Panic! At The Disco song?

a) I’m Like A Lawyer With The Way I’m Always Trying To Get You Off (Me + You)
b) London Beckoned Songs About Money Written By Machines
c) The World Is A Sharp Nail (Girlfriend May Be Having An Affair)
d) In The Beginning There Was A Man With No Money (But He Was Happy) Because He Refused To Be Part Of The Corporate Rat Race (And Anyway He Got The Girl) Which Basically Goes To Show That Money Cannot Buy Happiness Or Love And That Is What We’re Trying To Get Across (To You) In This Song

6) Switches are basically a very average indie band that no one really cares about, but what was the name of their last single? Lay Down…

a) …And Give Up
b) …On Your Bed
c) …Your Arms
d) …The Law


Good Luck!

The answers to last week’s quiz were of course, ‘Song 4 Mutya (Out Of Control)’, ‘Up The Bracket’, ‘A move in a computer game’, ‘Five’, ‘None of them; it’s mutually assured destruction’ and ‘Eight’. Hoo-bloody-rah.

No limit to our love

Oh my God, it's only a bloody album review...


Feist - The Reminder

Lock a woman in a room with some emotions and some instruments and you’re only ever going to get the sort of utter dross churned out by the likes of Katie Melua, right?

WRONG!

One woman with lots of emotions is Feist (her real name is Leslie). She’s got lots of instruments too. Alarm bells should be ringing already but fret not - the good news is that Feist has somehow managed to combine the instruments with the emotions (and the name Leslie) to create what must be one of 2007’s best albums, ‘The Reminder’.

Quite frankly we’ve been known to throw albums out of the window if they have the temerity to dip below 100bpm, but this one is totally different. Like Patrick Wolf’s ‘The Magic Position’ before it, ‘The Reminder’ burns with passion (and sounds like it), even in it’s slowest and most stripped-back moments.

And like ‘The Magic Position’, there are enough Pop Moments to keep you hooked with an interest bordering on devotion. Witness ’Sealion’ suddenly ignite after two minutes; ’1234’s sweeter-than-Prozac chorus or the whole of last single ’My Moon My Man’ and it’s obvious you’re listening to what is basically one of the year’s best pop albums, despite the fact it contains no pop music whatsoever.

Spinning Around

Hadouken! - Liquid Lives
More ‘crazy beats + Mega Drive + baseball caps x grime = 2007’ madness from the band who recently had two whole pages in the NME devoted to whether they are shit or brilliant. This should help bolster the case for the latter somewhat, being as it is COMPLETELY AMAZING.

Amerie - Because I Love It (LP)
If Amerie keeps improving at the rate she is doing, she’ll be absolutely brilliant by 2009. She’s already ten times better than Beyoncé, who’s going in the opposite direction.

The Tigerpicks - Disco Punk Electro Funk
Already cited here as being a bit like an indie band making a brilliant stab at being Girls Aloud, this gets released properly this week and is definitely worth your pocket money.

Sergey Lazarev - Shattered Dreams
An update of the Johnny Hates Jazz original which, if it were a stick of rock, would surely have the words ‘AMYL’ and ‘NITRATE’ emblazoned in big bold letters through its core.

Groove Armada - Song 4 Mutya (Out Of Control)
This week we are enjoying finally knowing the proper title and the “hey!” bits.

Feist - Mushaboom
It’s not on her brilliant new album but we have been listening to this advert staple a helluva lot lately; mainly because it’s not on her brilliant new album. Did we mention she’s got a brilliant new album? It’s brilliant.

Spinning Around

Groove Armada - Song 4 Mutya (Out Of Control)
Every now and again something comes along to provide reason for the continued existence of music. This is one of those things. It is, to put it mildly, FUCKING BRILLIANT.

Calvin Harris - The Girls
A not-entirely-choosy Calvin tells us about all the different types of girl he likes. “I’ve got a lot of love to give”, he says, which is presumably why the list is longer than our arm. Either that or he’s desperate. Anyway, the really important thing here is that Calvin is admitting to being a commitmentphobe - are you listening, Kylie?!!

Battles - Atlas
Anyone who likes listening to songs but not knowing what the fuck is going on could do worse than give this a try. It's also recommended if you've got a thing for elf vocals, overbearing drums and prog rock. And it isn't actually shit!

Feist - My Moon My Man
We haven’t got the foggiest who “Feist” is, but this track and the video that accompanies it are both very good. Shame she forgot to press the stop button before legging it from the studio at the end, mind.

Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare (LP)
Hilarious Self Parody, more like. A 4/10 at best.

Rihanna - Umbrella
Shades of Rihanna being a pop-lite version of M.I.A. without the rapping here, on a track whose true quality is only revealed after a few listens (and a hasty ffwd past Jay-Z’s bit). Quite why she keeps refusing to actually sing remains a puzzle, but when the songs are as good as this and S.O.S., she could basically fart down the mic for all we care.