'Right time' for Cerys' comeback

She's back! Ah, the lovely Cerys Matthews (formerly of Catatonia) is back in the UK for a new tour and to promote her new album, Never Said Goodbye. If you missed her last album, Cockahoop, then I seriously recommend you find a copy, 'cos it's really rather good.

BBC NEWS | Wales | 'Right time' for Cerys' comeback

The Official Cerys Matthews Website

Adam Ant: Extra Wonderful!

Unlike me to let something like this pass me by, but then I only seem to have missed it by a few days. Yes, there is new Ant material ont' web. The digital album Extra Wonderful has been released to an Ant-hungry world. So, here's the story....

In the early 1990s, Mr Ant and Mr Pirroni hoiked themselves off to Capitol Records and recorded an album called Wonderful, which, although a very good album, failed to reignite their careers. The title track was a minor hit both sides of the Atlantic, and then two further singles failed to do any significant business. And so, that was that, Aside from umpteen collections and the excellent Remasters project, there has been no new Antmusic to speak of, despite rumours and pipe-dreams. And so, we now have Extra Wonderful.

Essentially a collection of B-sides and remixes, there are a few hidden gems here. There are the B-sides to the three singles ("Wonderful", "Beautiful Dream" and "Gotta Be A Sin"), the highlight of which has to be "Phoenix". The remixes are essentially unremarkable, but there is a decent new spin on "Beautiful Dream" (though the two versions seem to be very similar).

You also get an excellent set of live tracks, ranging from "Cleopatra" to "Desparate But Not Serious" which are really rather good. I especially like their cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Physical (You're So)" (!).

So, another set of tracks for the Ant-completist. The whole lot comes in at a hefty £13.99, but you do get 22 tracks. Worth it? Yeah, probably. Wonder if the "missing" MCA album (recorded after Manners & Physique) will ever turn up?

Download it here:

Well, I've been busy, y'know...

Sorry it's been a bit quiet here recently. I've been a bit busy this year (see Rabbits' Blog for details). And I even started writing this entry 2 months ago....

So, what's been happening, then? Well, I was going to do a review of 2005, but that kinda went out the window. In summary, I think that the best single of 2005 was "Galvanize" by the Chemical Brothers. It was a close run thing with the Ivor Novello-winning "Wires" by Athlete, but I think the Chems just clinched it with their barnstorming dance track. However, album of the year goes to Athlete for Tourist, because it's just so incredibly good. Breakthrough act of the year goes to The Chalets, not just for bringing out a stonkingly good album in Check In, but for managing to get an album out when other DPS-supported acts (such as The Modern and Oversol) still haven't managed to deliver the goods. We're still waiting, guys. Live act of the year goes to the incredible Pop Will Eat Itself. The sweaty night in January at Shepherd's Bush Empire will be remembered for a long time. The Poppies also get the Good Thing award for reforming and putting on all the concerts (bless 'em), and teasing us with the Sonic Noise-Byte. (However, they're also the winners of this year's Bad Thing, for going and splitting up again... Sigh...)

Right, well, hopefully I'll be a bit more back on track from now on!

We're on the ball...

So, nearly 4 months after this site found out about Catwoman Copycat, SFX have printed a news article about it in the latest issue (Christmas 2005). Sheesh, get with the program, guys! ;)

SFX

Oversol - new site, new tour, new single!

"Speed", the debut single by Oversol is released on November 28th! To celebrate, the lads are going on tour, and have unleashed a smart new website: Oversol.co.uk. You can hear a snippet of the new single, plus bits from all their previous EPs.

The song sounds great, a little like their big brothers, Athlete, but with their own spiky edge. Buy it when it's out - you know it makes sense...!