#7 TPH - 'Second Hand Smug'.

[Daggers]

You're thinking of Joan Armatrading.

You wouldn't believe the number of times I have confused those two with each other.

Twice.

[The People's Hero]

Motion City Soundtrack - The Future Freaks Me Out

Sounds like Weezer. The voice is verging on generic American power-pop but it's got a nice feel to it. 7/10

The Secret Machines - Sad and Lonely

The intro sounds like The Cooper Temple Clause which is a very good thing for me. Hoping it goes somewhere. Hoping there are some vocals as well. Yes, I like this. Actually it also reminds me of Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me by U2. Also sounds a bit like it could be on The Dandy Warhols Come Down... I like it. 8/10

Hefner - The Hymn for the Cigarettes

I'm not big on lyrics. Hefner are a bit of a bone of contention with me. I think they're alright but I don't worship them as much as you and that hairy student twat. This is one of my favourites of theirs, I prefer The French from what I've heard. 7/10

Goldfrapp - Caravan Girl

I swear sometimes you are trapped perpetually in the early 90s haha. This is good uplifting stuff though. 7/10

Blackalicious - The Fabulous Ones

This is an object lesson in why in general I prefer this kind of hip hop to most indie. There's more going on and it's livelier. Black voices sound better than white ones as well, on the whole. Not one of their better tracks but I've played those to death so it's better you've included this anyway. 8/10

The Wave Pictures - We Never Motored West

Oh god no. Is this you doing a cover version of a Hefner song? 3/10

Terence Trent D'Arby - Holding On To You

Hahaha. I'm a huge fan of Wishing Well but that's about as far as it goes. This isn't my thing at all. 2/10

Drive By Truckers - A Blessing And A Curse

Despite my best efforts, and the fact the singer reminds me of Bryan Adams, this isn't bad. 6/10

Erykah Badu - Kiss Me On My Neck

Wow. Unexpected. Nice. 7/10

Hercules and Love Affair - Hercules Theme

This is what you used to play in the MR2 to get the girls isn't it? 9/10

Ladytron - The Last One Standing

I like Ladytron, the girl's voice is superb. I've only ever bought the singles I've liked by them though so this is a real treat. 9/10

The Dresden Dolls - Coin Operated Boy

I have to say before this starts I'm having a bit of a mental block with Dresden Dolls and I can only think of Murderdolls and New York Dolls and I can't imagine you'd particularly like either of them so I assume this isn't in the same vein as either of those. AHAHAHAHA. It's fey, twee indie! I should have really guessed. This is okay. 6/10

Those Dancing Days - Those Dancing Days

Ehwhat? What's going on here! Maybe it's because I know you better than anyone else whose CD I've reviewed so far and I was henceforth expecting this to be mainly Hefner-esque stuff with a sprinkling of other things - but I've been more surprised by this than anything else anyone's put together yet! This is absolutely brilliant. Never heard of them! 10/10

Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - Miss Trudy

Wales! Wales! Wales! Wales! Wales! 5/10

Jurassic 5 - Work It Out

One of the highlights on Feedback. Reminds me of having my room decorated, moving into the tiny spare room and listening to this album constantly to work out whether it was anywhere near as good as the other four. I'm not convinced that it is by any stretch of the imagination - it's too polished and chart-friendly. However, this is good - I love those voices so much. Is that Daggers in the second verse?? haha 8/10

Blackstreet - Don't Leave Me

If this had been No Diggity it would have got a 10/10. Is this Claire's choice?? Haha. It's actually a guilty pleasure on one listen - if I listened to it again I think it would probably start to drive me mental. 8/10!!!

Sigur Ros - Andvari

Never really cracked Sigur Ros. I'm probably a bit too impatient. Shimmering and lovely but I want some oomph (preferably from Emmanuel Cheboue who works at the Loaded Dog, if you're reading). For what it is, though, because you don't get this done much/any better... 9/10

The French - The Wu-Tang Clan

Fantastic. 9/10

Turin Brakes - The State of Things

I absolutely love this. The Optimist is one of the most under-rated LPs of recent years. 10/10

That's a pretty good review.

I'm pleased with that, thankyou.

[Joe.]

Ok here goes. I'm interested to hear this compilation because I've never heard any of the songs before I don't think.

1. The Secret Machines- Sad and Lonely

Had to turn the speakers up on this one a little to feel the full effects. Tidy little opener here. 7/10

2. Hercules and Love Affair- Hercules Theme

Well what a sexy little track this one is. Can't help but feel it's a bit too lengthy but I enjoyed it a lot. 8/10

3. Motion City Soundtrack- The Future Freaks Me Out

Another one I really enjoyed, I'll look more into this band eventually hopefully. 8/10

4. The Dresden Dolls- Coin Operated Boy

Nah, this one didn't really float my boat unfortunately. Ah well, can't like them all eh? 4/10

5. Ladytron- The Last One Standing

Hmmm better than the last track but I didn't really take to this one too much either. Just a bit too repetetive for me 5.5/10

6. Those Dancing Days- Those Dancing Days

Well this is a bit better now, good upbeat tune to lighten the mood once more. 7/10

7. Gorky's Zygotic Mynci- Miss Trudy

Well. I didn't wamr to this one at all, just wasn't for me. 3/10

8. Jurassic 5- Work It Out

I swear I've heard thos before, I'm sure I have actually. I had a handful of J5 songs before listening to this and this is one of the best out of the lot, I enjoyed it. Definitely deserves more listens. 8.5/10

9. Hefner- The Hymn For The Cigarettes

Having heard all the TPH-Hefner references it was interesting to hear this track, I'd listened to very little Hefner previously. And I liked this track a lot actually, I'll look more into Hefner. 8/10

10. Goldfrapp- Caravan Girl

Can't say I'll be rushing to listen to too much more Goldfrapp after this. Not extremely poor, just nothing special. 5/10

11. Blackalicious- The Fabulous Ones

Ahh Hip-Hop. And from an artist called Blackalicious. But this one isn't too great for me, just a bit samey to be honest. 5/10

12. The Wave Pictures- We Never Motored West

Oh dear. What is this? Skipped 1/10

13. Terence Trent D'Arby- Holding Onto You

Another one that just doesn't do it for me at all. Better than the last track but only just 2/10

14. Drive By Truckers- A Blessing And A Curse

Liked the guitar work in the opening minute or so, very tidy. But then it goes downhill- this CD started so well! Gets a 3/10 for the guitar at least.

15. Erykah Badu- Kiss Me On My Neck

Hmmm didn't get into this one enough either. I'll admit I liked the chorus, there was something a bit more to that but I just couldn't take too much to the rest. 4/10

16. The French- The Wu-Tang Clan

Sounds fairly Hot Chip-esque, just not as good. A solid track here, nothing too special but a good easy listen. 6.5/10

17. Turin Brakes- State Of Things

I'm always happy to hear anything acoustic so this does float my boat. I liked it. 7/10

18. Blackstreet- Don't Leave Me

This sounds way too much like a boy-band intro for my liking. And to an extent it doesn't change- help! Noooo, skipped. 2/10

19. Sigur Ros- Andvari

A fitting last track in many ways much like Flynny's finale. But like his I just don't really do this sort of thing, it's just too dreary for my liking. Too long, and it just doesn't change, sorry. 3/10

-----------------------------------------------------

Anyway, a fantastic start to the CD, it did worsen unfortunately for my tastes but there's definitely songs in here to take away and listen again so thanks for that.

[General Smuts]

1) The Secret Machines - Sad and Lonely

2) Hercules & Love Affair - Hercules' Theme

3) The Dresden Dolls - Coin Operated Boy

3) (there are two 3's - DOH!) Motion City Soundtrack - The Future Freaks Me Out

4) Ladytron - Last One Standing

5) The French - Wu-Tang Clan

6) Those Dancing Days - Those Dancing Days

7) Turin Brakes - The State of Things

8) Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - Miss Trudy

9) Jurassic 5 - Work It Out

10) Hefner - Hymn for the Cigarettes

11) Goldfrapp - Caravan Girl

12) Blackalicious - The Fabulous Ones

13) The Wave Pictures - We Never Motored West

14) Terence Trent D'arby - Holding On To You

15) Drive By Truckers - A Blessing and a Curse

16) Blackstreet - Don't Leave Me (pure cheese. I make no apologies)

17) Sigur Ros - Andvari

18) Erykah Badu - Kiss Me On My Neck.

Without downloading it (ill review properly tomorrow) a quick overview.

VERY GOOD.

I've not heard track 5,8,10,3 or 15 but the rest are good.

[AoWW]

Yeah, yeah, it's a woman's perogative to be late, ok?!

The Secret Machines – Liked this. A good opener. Lots of different layers to it. Took a while to get going but when it did I was more than happy to go along for the ride. 7.5/10

Hercules and Love Affair – Ok, I feel I should admit at this point that I have had rather a lot to drink and (combined with the painkillers) I'm quite a happy little soul at the moment. But this I liked lots and lots. Never heard of them before. Sultry and oh, so sexeh. It's slink round the coffee table time at my gaff. 8/10

The Dresden Dolls – hahahahahahahaha, wtf??? No, no, no.... can I get off now, it goes on forever... please pwetty pleaseeeeeee? 2/10 (generous!)

The Future Freaks Me Out – Nothing wrong with it, I guess. Just seems a bit middle of the road. S'ok. 7/10

Ladytron – Quite a fan of Ladytron, have heard this before and know I like it. Tis all good. 8.5/10

The French – Although I like Hefner I've never really checked out The French properly. But this is good, reminds me of my favourite-est Hefner tracks. Much quieter and more understated than I anticipated. Superb track. 9/10

Those Dancing Days – I haven't got a clue whether I love this or loathe this. My head hurts with trying to decide... in fact, I just dunno. Pass. ?/10

Turin Brakes – I like Turin Brakes (though I've never really got round to getting any of their stuff – which I must do), I've been told it's coz I'm a girl and they're 'sensitive'. Maybe so, I really can't be arsed to argue. But, yeah, this works for me in a very floaty way. Oh, 'cept I've just properly switched onto the lyrics and now I'm in tears. Perhaps it really is a 'girl thing'? 10/10

Gorky's Zygotic Mynci – Nope, sorry, it just ****ed with my head and confused my tiny brain. Is it a Eurovision entry? Am I tripping? Do I care? 2/10

Jurassic 5 – Funky. I'm not sure I'd rush out to find more of their stuff – one I'll probably forget about then rediscover one day. I hesitate to say it but maybe it's just a bit too mainstream to really float my boat. 7/10

Hefner – ahhh, Hefner, (strangely enough, i'd imagined you might include some!). Know it well. In all fairness I have to be in the right mood for this track and his voice grates at times. Does make me want to go and smoke in bed tho – which is probably not at all wise or healthy. 8/10

Goldfrapp – I bought Seventh Tree the other day and haven't even listened to it yet. But this is fantastic. Quite different to their previous stuff. "Swirly", me thinks. 8/10

Blackalicious – could just be the mood I'm in tonight but, no, not really my cuppa tea. Dunno why coz it should be really. 5/10

The Wave Pictures – he only had to sing a note and I was irritated and muttering. I'm going to pretend I never heard it and such a song has never been produced. Uggghhh – skip. 1/10

Terence Trent D'Arby – have a horrible suspicion I remember this from back in the day, which just makes me feel old. I liked a few of his tracks then (Wishing Well being the most memorable) and there's nothing offensive about this, but I don't think it's one of his strongest. 4/10

Drive by Truckers – ooh, a bit of middle of the road American rock. Yawn. Ok, I suppose it's not actually upsetting me, but I'm uninspired. 3/10

Blackstreet – Well it's no No Diggity. It's instantly forgettable. Oooh, no, wait a minute... it's starting to come back to me now. I'm sure they used to play this in the erection section at Krystals, Zoots, Brannigans – someplace I'd much rather forget. It was always just before the lights suddenly came up and you realised that the person you'd been snogging really wasn't as hot as you thought they were, that the club was actually skanky as **** and your best mate was merrily throwing up in (or vaguely in the direction of) a pint glass! Please, please let that all of been a bad dream *hides*. 4/10

Sigur Ros – *phew, appears to be safe to come out* Now I must confess, I have something of a guilt complex over Sigur Ros. I really liked them to start with, they were interesting, deep, different but the attraction is starting to drift. It's a bit like meeting a guy who you think is quirky at first but after a while (much as he's very nice and all that) you have to admit that you really just don't fancy him and you start looking for ways to let him down gently. 6/10

Erykah Badu – I've always liked her voice and this track was a new one on me. Mellow, chilled out. Typically, more my kinda thing, i suppose. It didn't completely draw me in but I'm sure with a few more listens it would start to 'click' more. 7/10

Overall – I was expecting to really like this mix and, in fairness, there was a lot on it that worked for me. Much of it tended to be one extreme or the other though – I feel like I've yo-yo'ed (sp? ) back and forth throughout it. A few new tracks/artists that stood out though, which can only be a good thing. Highs: Turin Brakes, Ladytron, The French. Lows: The Dresden Dolls, Gorky's Whatsit, The Wave Pictures (oh, and Blackstreet for the memory it dredged up!) On balance, though – more positives than negatives.

[Trav Le Bleu]

Better late than never... unless of course you're the emergency services.

Here's my belated review of TPH's mix

Review of TPH’s Mix

The Future Freaks Me Out – I Am The Movie

Weezer in disguise? I quite liked this – will listen to it again. Good mindless pop.

Sad And Lonely – The Secret Machines

The soundtrack to your life eh, TPH? I thought very ordinary. I knew I’d heard stuff by The Secret Machines, now I know why I never followed it up.

The Hymn for the Cigarettes – Hefner

I’ve always been able to take or leave Hefner and this is one of the leaves. Come on TPH, you need to pull this mix round… NEXT!

Caravan Girl – Goldfrapp

Ah, lovely Alison! Isn’t that the New World Symphony being played distorted at the start? I do like her voice, but most of their music is throwaway pop (though I do own Felt Mountain). Thrownaway.

The Fabulous Ones – Blackalicious

Funkeh! Likee muchie! Imagine the white guy boogieing to this in his PC chair! I am down widdit!

We Never Motored West – The Wave Pictures

Pulling it back round here. Thumbs up for this one, a nice simple guitar song.

Holding On To You – Terence Trent Darby

GET UP OUT OF YOUR ROCKING CHAIR GRANDMA! No thanks, I’ll stay right here… and stop calling me Grandma. I used to like TTD, but not this.

A Blessing and a Curse – Drive By Truckers

I don’t know what to say about this. Quite dirty, quite rough, but just amazingly average.

Don’t Leave Me – Blackstreet

I cringed at the nooo baby, oooh baby start and when the vo-coder came in I had to stop it. Utter tripe!

Andvari – Sigur Ros

I have Takk, good album innit? Anyone who liked Hoppipolla (The Blue Planet music) should buy the album. Supoirb!

Kiss Me On My Neck – Erykah Badu

Anyone who can’t spell their own name correctly needs to go back to school! Musically compotent and all that, but it has jazz flute… what is this, Anchorman?

Hercules Theme – Hercules and Love Affiar

Help, I’ve stumbled into some cheesey 70s movie. Oooooohhhhh nooooooeeeessss!!!

Coin-operated Boy – The Dresden Dolls

This is more like it. Fun, fun, fun (then her daddy took the T-bird away )

Last One Standing – Ladytron

Another one I already have. I love Ladytron and this is a good track from Witching Hour, but not the best. Which makes it merely brilliant!

The Wu-Tang Clan – The French

I started this thinking it was The French by the Wu-Tang Clan, so imagine my surprise. I think the Wu-Tang Clan singing about The French would possibly be better though.

Those Dancing Days – Those Dancing Days

State of Things – Turin Brakes

I’m always wondering to myself (well not ALWAYS, obviously other things creep into my mind) should I get a Turin Brakes album or not and this track is tipping the balance in favour of said acquisition!

Miss Trudy – Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci

I’m always wondering to myself (and this is the thing that sometimes prevents me wondering about Turin Brakes constantly) should I get a GZM album or not. This is where Newton’s 3rd law comes in (Every action has an equal and opposite reaction). This track is tipping the balance away from said acquisition, thus freeing finances to get a Turin Brakes album.

Work It Out – Jurassic 5

Occasionally I wonder to myself, “I really like Concreate Schoolyard, but it’s the only thing you’ve ever heard by Jurassic 5 – so would a purchase make sense?” The answer is now catergorically, yes! Thanks TPH!

Thanks for that TPH - quite eclectic and enjoyable in parts!

[The People's Hero]

I can't believe I've found someone who doesn't appreciate the Hercules and Love Affair track!

Thanks for the reviews people!

[General Smuts]

Just went to review this and its bindeleted. Nevermind.

[The People's Hero]

Just went to review this and its bindeleted. Nevermind.

You'd have loved it. ; )

[Jay]

You'd have loved it. ; )

except that song from The French because when it gets in your head you can't get the bloody thing out for ages!!! it's a quality tune!

[Daggers]

I am listening to Witching Hour at this very moment.

I have found another band I really like. Now, should I buy something of theirs? Will it stand the test of time?

I got the lot in the end. It's amazing the stuff you miss when you're out of the country! A couple of the tracks are so much like some stuff I did as a solo project it's scary - Seventeen a case in point. Smashing.