SOMETHING OLD: ‘How Come You Don’t Call Me’ – Alicia Keys

A cover of an old Prince b-side, in fact the b-side to his hit ‘1999’, Alicia Keys takes on the might of the little genius making it accessible for the new generation with a little help on production by The Neptunes.

As a massive fan of Ms Keys it would probably seem strange to pick a cover rather than one of her own tracks, but she puts a grand piano sized stamp on this one. The sass, soul, attitude and effortlessness of her vocal drips through the speakers. The music video showcases this one live too, which I was lucky enough to catch for myself at the smaller venue here in Plymouth before she got the worldwide fame we all know her for now. It blew me away.

Alicia has no need for the vocal gymnastics of some of her musical colleagues, if you sing a song with genuine emotion – in this case especially, singing someone else’s song to adjust it to your own situation, then the word ‘cover’ seems a dirty one.  

From the album ‘Songs In The Key Of A Minor’ (2001) / @aliciakeys

SOMETHING NEW: ‘Out In Bold’ – Giovanna

A haunting vocal and production seems fitting for a frosty Monday morning, simply gorgeous, Giovanna is completely different to anything else that’s out there at the moment. If there was only one comparison it would be to the equally sublime Lana Del Rey.

What sounds like a simplistic construction of a song, upon further listens (and believe me, you will want to listen over and over) the layers compliment each other with Eastern sounding drum rattles and dark harmonies – including a piano loop and rolling bass which suggest experience and years older than Giovanna more than likely is.

A fresh and exciting talent and polar opposite to the loud, dance, dubstep etc we find female artists associating themselves with in the chart at the moment. This sound is subtle yet intense, and with an EP due in early 2012, it sounds like the year to listen out for Giovanna Marshall.

From the forthcoming EP ‘Shaky Ground’ (2012) / www.myspace.com/giovannamarshall

SOMETHING OLD: ‘Monkey Wrench’ – Foo Fighters

So many songs I could easily pick from the Foo’s back catalogue to be a classic ‘something old’, they may yet to feature in the ‘something new’ category also – still making anthems some 15 years after the release of this one.

‘Monkey Wrench’ follows your instantly recognisable Foo recipe of driving guitar riffs (which you can try but fail to not air guitar along with), insane drums (actually played by Dave Grohl on this song not regular Taylor Hawkins), and Grohl’s shouting but still melodic and emotion powered vocals, make this not just a classic of theirs but surely also of modern day rock itself. Woah, get me.

I believe the song was written about Dave’s marriage breakdown, which despite the angry lyrics, the melody itself is pretty uplifting – to the point where you can’t help but jump if you’re lucky enough to catch them live when they do this track.  The anger does reprise particularly in the middle eight where there’s a pure shouty rant which ends with ‘I was always caged, but now I’m free’. The frustration but absolute release from this moment brings us effortlessly back to two more chorus’ and the perfect instant rock finish.

From the album ‘The Colour and the Shape’ (1997) / @foofighters

SOMETHING NEW: ‘First Of The Year (Equinox)’ – Skrillex

Before you listen to this track, you may want to tie down all precious items and move your Monday morning coffee away from the speakers because quite frankly the dub bass may well make you spontaneously combust. How about THAT for an intro to today's choice?

What starts off as a intriguing beat incorporating some superb vocal mixing and switching merely prepares you for when the beat drops. Building the anticipation, I personally absolutely love the mixing of electro with the sound of live drums – you know this is going somewhere very good indeed.
A dark sense of menacing filters through and then the dub sticks it to you, right between the eyes - best heard either obnoxiously loud over speakers or in your own personal euphoria of a decent seat of headphones.

Skrillex has become my jogging buddy, especially for hill runs, there’s not much more required for a blood pumping, adrenalin thrusting package of 4:22. The podcast set mix he did for Zane Lowe recently is a must.

From the EP ‘More Monsters and Sprites’ (2011) / @Skrillex

SOMETHING OLD: ‘Aerodynamic’ – Daft Punk

From one of my favourite dance acts, although this probably being not one of the more well known songs from the album – that being ‘One More Time’ or ‘Digital Love’, however this track gets a nod for the guitar riff throughout and most impressively the one halfway through.

Mixing the old with the new, the drum loop reminisces back to almost sounding like it’s from an 80s hip hop rhythm, Daft Punk expertly and seamlessly thread all these parts together to make one almighty tune. Almost to the point where you couldn’t ‘genre class’ the sound they create.  Impressive stuff and timeless in sound, despite being 10 years old.

If you never thought you’d be air-guitaring to a French house song then don your beret and dust off your Gibson.  ‘Laissez-rock!’

From the album ‘Discovery’ (2001) / @DaftPunkNews

SOMETHING NEW: ‘Not The Only Person’ – The Rumble Strips

So I wouldn’t classify this as a completely new song, being 2 years old but I’m opening up to the fact you may not have heard of the band before. Undoubtedly their biggest hit ‘Girls And Boys’ you would have heard in episodes of ‘The Inbetweeners’, the film ‘Run Fat Boy Run’ or most recently the Baileys adverts, but this track for me turns the simplistic into the epic – with a little help from Mark Ronson.

Lead singer Charlie Waller has an impressive range of vocal and the song itself is sung in humour based on an evening in London when muggers were foiled by his wife. Almost apologetic to the criminals he even offers to come back later so they can complete the mugging.
As in true Ronson style, although no horns in this section, it retains a 60s vibe in terms of guitars and drums, building to the massive chorus which truly showcases Charlie’s storytelling vocals. Think The Byrds in terms of instrumentals.

The pinnacle comes in the final chorus when the stabbing strings reach the dizzy heights of epic-ness – translated perfectly by the accompanying promo video. An epic in itself from the quirky Devonshire lads.

From the album ‘Welcome To The Walk Alone’ (2009) / @RumbleStripsUK

SOMETHING OLD: ‘You Make My Dreams Come True’ – Hall & Oates

I first heard this track in the film ‘500 Days Of Summer’, it came complete with a dance routine which wouldn’t look out of place in an old 50s musical – and equally, it’s the perfect pick me up aid to a Monday morning.

You can tick all the boxes of cheese, guilty pleasure, harmless singalong, hell there’s even an abundance of ‘oohs’ in there just to make the package complete. And if you check out the video, there’s a glorious mullet and moustache combo which I’m sure drove the ladies wild back in the 80s.

Established in the early 70s, Daryl Hall and John Oates are still going strong today, despite band changes of around 13 members, with mentions and appearances in sketch shows, movies and even being sampled by Kayne West – it’s clear everyone likes a good finger clicking dance when no-one’s watching.

From the album ‘Voices’ (1980) / www.hallandoates.com

SOMETHING NEW: ‘Time To Wander’ – Gypsy & The Cat

Starting with a drum beat which wouldn’t sound out of place at the start of a Muse track, the song then deviates in a completely different direction. Where Muse would go down the slightly darker route, Gypsy & The Cat take the fresh and uplifting road to electronic pop as opposed to electronic rock.

The group is made up of two DJs from Melbourne who, in their 80s synth and breezy chorus, take a leaf from the sounds of fellow Australian band Temper Trap in creating light and incredibly easy to listen to refreshing music.

The vocals and flicks of electronic chords give it that 80s sound which has made a bit of a comeback of recent, but the production itself retains it from going right back to that decade in keeping that sparkle and originality.
I’ve heard great things about the album so if it continues in this vein it will be definitely worth a listen, and as Kylie had them as her support act on the Australian leg of her recent Aphrodite Tour – we all know that no-one dares question Miss Minogue and her excellent judgement on new bands (see also Hurts) ;-)    

From the album ‘Gilgamesh’ (2010) / www.gyspyandthecat.com.au