Upcoming Singles (Updated 6th October 2012)

Here is my updated list of the singles soon to be replaced.

This Week
Adele – Skyfall
AlunaGeorge – Your Drums, Your Love
Angel Haze – New York
Conor Maynard feat. Ne-Yo – Turn Around
Dog Is Dead – Talk Through The Night
Keane- Disconnected
Leona Lewis feat. Childish Gambino – Trouble
Linkin Park - Lost In The Echo
Swedish House Mafia feat. John Martin - Don't You Worry Child

14th October
Calvin Harris feat. Florence Welch – Sweet Nothing
Everything Everything – Cough Cough
Josephine – Original Love
Lawson – Standing In The Dark
Pet Shop Boys - Leaving
Rebecca Ferguson - Backtrack

Unconfirmed
Charlotte Church - One EP
Marina & The Diamonds- How To Be A Heartbreaker
Michel Telo - Ai Si Eu Te Pego

21st October
Bastille – Flaws
Jessie Ware - Night Light
Naughty Boy feat. Emile Sande – Wonder
Tyler James - Single Tear

Unconfirmed
Amy Macdonald- 4th Of July
Devlin feat. Diane Birch - Rewind
JLS – Hottest Girl In The World
Tyga ft Chris Brown - For The Fame
You & Me At Six - Reckless

28th October
Unconfirmed
Justin Bieber feat. Nicki Minaj - Beauty And A Beat
Red Hot Chili Peppers - The Sunset Sleeps Tonight
Robbie Williams - Candy

4th November
Unconfirmed
Christina Aguilera – Your Body
Elton John V Pnau- Phoenix
Sub Focus feat. Alpines - Tidal Wave
Usher - Numb
The Wanted – I Found You

11th November
Unconfirmed
Green Day - Dos!

18th November
Unconfirmed
Alicia Keys feat. Nicki Minaj – Girl On Fire
Example – Close Enemies
Rita Ora – Shine Ya Light

25th November
Unconfirmed
Ke$ha – Die Young

Upcoming Singles With Unknown Release Dates
Aerosmith - TBC
Azealia Banks – Esta Noche
The Blackout – Start The Party
David Guetta feat. Sia - She Wolf (Falling To Pieces)
Dionne Warwick – Is There Anybody Out There?
Drake feat. Rick Ross - Lord Knows
Ellie Goulding – Explosions
Elton John ft Pnau - Foreign Fields
Eric Prydz- We Can Mirage
Flo Rida – I Cry
The Gaslight Anthem – Here Comes My Man
Gossip - Get A Job
Havana Brown feat. Pitbull- We Run The Night
Honey Ryder – Worlds Away
Jeff Lynne - At Last
King Charles - Bam Bam
Koan Sound - 80s Fitness
Lemar – The First Time
Lostprophets - Jesus Walks
Maroon 5 – One More Night
Mick Hucknall – That’s How Strong My Love Is
Misha B – Do You Think of Me
Nas / Amy Winehouse - Cherry Wine
The Neighbourhood – Female Robbery
Nickelback - Trying Not To Love You
Nicki Minaj – Va Va Voom
Peace - Bloodshake
Pnau - Solid Ground
Ren Harvieu - Do Right By Me
Richie Sambora – Every Road Leads Home To You
The Skints - Up Against The Wall Riddim
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – Your Love
Train – Bruises
While She Sleeps – Our Courage, Our Cancer
Wiley feat. Skepta, JME and Ms D – Can You Hear Me?
Wiz Khalifa - Work Hard, Play Hard

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The Killers – Battle Born [Album Review]

After several years since their last album with lead singer Brandon Flowers going off to record an excellent solo album, Las Vegas’ finest ‘The Killers’ are back with ‘Battle Born’, their follow up to ‘Day and Age’, an album that received mixed reviews but my personal favourite from the band, a band I’ve grown to really enjoy, enjoying everything from their big singles to Flowers’ solo material to their mostly fun Christmas singles.

And though ‘Battle Born’ is a welcome album, it’s not the return I would hope. Much more downbeat than their previous material, the story-telling heavy lyrics are mostly great but the songs never really become close to energetic, remaining a very sombre affair through its fifty minute run. There’s certainly no ‘Spaceman’, ‘Bones’ or ‘Somebody Told Me’ on here.

The album does start strongly though. Opener ‘Flesh and Bone’ is a great start with a classic Killers chorus and some top instrumentation, building up as the song progresses with strong, story-telling lyrics that defines the album, with words and themes that are emotional in their construction.

Single ‘Runaways’ which comes out of the gate next is not ‘Human’ in its first cut excellence but it’s another strong story-song with a driving, bassy-bridge and a great singable chorus, plus some top guitar work when it’s called for. It’ll take a few listens but it’s a thoroughly enjoyable track.

Song three ‘The Way It Was’ is again story-focussed but also a slower track, with shades of ‘The World We Live In’ and songs from that era. Again, lyrically and musically interested, and bolsters the album up in the first half, as shown by ‘Here With Me’, which is perhaps a little pondering but the chorus is well done and Flowers’ lyrics continue to delight.

‘A Matter of Time’ is a darker track with an eerie atmosphere throughout its production, with some fast-paced verses that give the song its appeal. The concept of the track perhaps doesn’t outstay the first two minutes of its running time but the sixth track ‘Deadlines and Commitments’ raises the standard once more with some falsetto-style verses and a very appealing chorus.

Sadly, as we hit the half-way point, ‘Battle Born’ loses its momentum. ‘Miss Atomic Bomb’, coming in seventh, has its moments with its speeding up vocals and rhyming lyrics but is mostly unimpressive. ‘The Rising Tide’ has a nice enough chorus and music, but that half-hearted description says it all. And ‘Heart of a Girl’ is a little middle-of-the-road.

Track ten ‘From Here On In’ does reverse this trend a little with a faster-tempo western-tinged song that offers something a little different musically but again nothing special tone-wise.

Penultimate tune ‘Be Still’ brings up the quality with a heavy, grandiose track with plenty of atmosphere, and a neat hook built around the line ‘labour until the work is done’ but the title-track closer, though a powerful and emotive ending to the album, is perhaps not the strongest.

Overall, ‘Battle Born’ is not a bad album but it suffers from a lacklustre second half and a consistent gloomy, sombre feel that lacks the energy of the big numbers that the Killers can do and have done. It’s not a patch on ‘Day and Age’ and though the first four tracks in particular are great, there’s no huge stand out numbers. It’s great to hear the Killers back but I was hoping for something a little perkier than this.

(5/10)

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Doctor Who - The Angels Take Manhattan (Review)

So far I have been quite negative of the latest series of Doctor Who, with only ‘A Town Called Mercy’ and, more so, ‘The Power of Three’, stepping up to the plate as being worthy of the excellent first two series that saw Matt Smith step up to the plate as the Doctor.

But I’m glad to say that mid-series conclusion ‘The Angels Take Manhattan’ was the strongest of the five episodes so far and an almost perfect end to the story of Amy and Rory Williams that began two-and-half years ago.

Before I get to the nature of the plot the cinematography is what needs the most acknowledgement in the episode. 1930s New York has never looked so beautiful and the periodic detail of the time, from the buildings to the clothing, were spot on. Michael McShane – Dr. Vaabit from the under-rated comedy ‘Lab Rats’ – was a great character as a gangster-style crime boss and fit the scenes perfectly, and the opening ten minutes before the credits rolled was an incredible atmospheric and scene-setting trip around depression New York that set up the story and featured not only a precursor to later events as the private investigator met himself but also a great denouement with a living Statue of Liberty, this twist damaged only by the spoiler trailer used by American TV last week and ‘Conspiracy Keanu’ on Twitter asking the question six months ago ‘What if the Statue of Liberty was a giant weeping angel?’ This twist in itself was a nice addition to the mythology of the creatures, creatures that were almost back to the scariness they commanded in ‘Blink’ that was almost missing from the two-parter of two series ago.

After a fittingly atmospheric credit sequence we returned to modern day New York to find the Doctor, Amy and Rory engaging in some fun and reading from a book, a novel that would form the crux of the episode. With Rory being zapped back to 1930s New York while on a mission to find coffee, the book turned out to be written by River Song in a well composed mechanic, built around the effective use of a typewriter overlaid over shots, equally located in the pre-war time period, in the ultimate example of written-down spoilers. Back in the 30s the angels are rife, using the building ‘The Winter Quay’ as a prison and feeding ground to ‘consume’ the time energy created by sending people back in time, a method that the angels have not used since the excellent ‘Blink’ back in the David Tennant era of the show.

With the Doctor and Amy finally finding a way to return to the 1930s, the episode continued as a tense mystery-solving and angel-avoiding adventure, taking in death, danger and plot twists. The flickering lights – alluded to throughout this first half of the series – ramped up the tension, as did the reading ahead in the book to discover their own futures. Here Matt Smith, as the Doctor, portrayed the character once more brilliantly, showing his fear at the creatures and his apprehension of what would be upcoming. Arthur Darvill and Karen Gillian were on top form, as was Alex Kingston as River Song, playing a much more muted character than we expected for it.

The episode climaxed to a roof-top scene between Amy and Rory that felt like the end with emotions running high, already building on elderly Rory’s earlier death, and felt like a touching end to the story but not before the tension was relieved by their deaths creating a paradox and thus saving them.

But just as we felt it was going to be a happy ending, albeit a cheated one with yet another RTD-inspired big reset switch, the grave with Rory’s name still present on it was spotted, unlike the angel behind him which wasn’t, leading to a heart-wrenching scene played beautifully by Gillian and Smith, and I’m not afraid to say that, between that and the excellent episode score, I found it very tearful and a sad end to the episode, perfectly rounding off the story, and emotions that continued as the Doctor rushed to read the last page of River’s story and once more the feelings came back. Yes. I cried. Sue me!

The episode ended on a touching conversation between the Doctor and River Song, rounding off the strongest episode of a previously-weaker series, and then another tear-jerking shot of a young Amelia Pond awaiting her raggedy man.

It’s difficult of me to think of points were the episode fell down. I suppose it would have been nice to have seen some scenes of Amy and Rory living out their life together and perhaps, as was suggested on the net, seeing River grow up when she was in New York previously, but it’s difficult to pick fault with what seemed a packed forty-five minutes, but one that seemed to be slow and atmospheric at times, that’s slow in a good way.

With the excellent atmosphere of 1930s New York successfully created in the episode and the well-constructed story, ‘The Angels Take Manhattan’ was the perfect way to round off the two-and-a-half years of stories and was both exciting, tense, touching and well-acted by all those concerned.

I look forward now to the Christmas special having enjoyed a story that redeemed the series so far, including the fun idea of the Statue of Liberty being a weeping angel; the inability of the Doctor to change time when it’s a fixed event; and the emotion of saying goodbye to two characters we’ve followed for two and a bit series. Well acted, well plotted and very atmospheric. I don’t think we could have asked for a better mid-season finale.

9/10

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Upcoming Single Releases (Updated 29th September 2012)

This week's single releases are:

Alt-J – Something Good
Anna Sun – Walk The Moon
Beth Hart - Baddest Blues
Ellie Goulding – Anything Could Happen
Kendrick Lamar – Swimming Pools (Drank)
Kylie Minogue- Flower (Abbey Road Session)
Mika – Celebrate
One Direction- Live While We're Young
The Other Tribe – Skirts
The Overtones – Loving The Sound
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Never Is A Long Time / Love Of Your Life
Richard Hawley – Seek It
Rihanna - Diamonds

See below for the most comprehensive list of upcoming singles I can put together!

7th October
Conor Maynard feat. Ne-Yo – Turn Around
Dog Is Dead – Talk Through The Night
Keane- Disconnected Leona Lewis ft Childish Gambino – Trouble
Linkin Park - Lost In The Echo
Swedish House Mafia ft John Martin - Don't You Worry Child

Unconfirmed
Aerosmith - TBC
Gossip - Get A Job
Havana Brown ft Pitbull- We Run The Night
Jeff Lynne - At Last
Josh Osho ft Childish Gambino – Giants
King Charles - Bam Bam
Lisa Marie Presley- You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet
Nas/Amy Winehouse- Cherry Wine
Nicki Minaj – Va Va Voom

14th October
AlunaGeorge – Your Drums, Your Love
Calvin Harris feat. Florence Welch – Sweet Nothing
Everything Everything – Cough Cough
Pet Shop Boys- Leaving
Rebecca Ferguson - Backtrack

Unconfirmed
Charlotte Church - One EP
Lawson – Standing In The Dark
Marina & The Diamonds- How To Be A Heartbreaker
Michel Telo- Ai Si Eu Te Pego

21st October
Bastille - Flaws
Naughty Boy feat. Emile Sande – Wonder

Unconfirmed
Amy Macdonald- 4th Of July
Devlin ft Diane Birch- Rewind
Jessie Ware- Night Light
JLS – Hottest Girl In The World
Tyga ft Chris Brown- For The Fame
You & Me At Six- Reckless

28th OctoberUnconfirmed
Justin Bieber ft Nicki Minaj- Beauty And A Beat
Red Hot Chili Peppers- The Sunset Sleeps Tonight
Robbie Williams - Candy

4th November
Unconfirmed
Christina Aguilera – Your Body
Elton John V Pnau- Phoenix
Sub Focus ft Alpines- Tidal Wave
Usher - Numb
The Wanted – I Found You

11th November
Unconfirmed
Green Day - Dos!

18th November
Unconfirmed
Alicia Keys feat. Nicki Minaj – Girl On Fire
Example – Close Enemies
Rita Ora – Shine Ya Light

25th November
Unconfirmed
Ke$ha – Die Young

Upcoming Singles With Unknown Release Dates
Angel Haze – New York
Azealia Banks – Esta Noche
David Guetta feat. Sia - She Wolf (Falling To Pieces)
Dionne Warwick – Is There Anybody Out There?
Drake feat. Rick Ross - Lord Knows
Ellie Goulding – Explosions
Elton John ft Pnau - Foreign Fields
Eric Prydz- We Can Mirage
Flo Rida – I Cry
Koan Sound - 80s Fitness
Lemar – The First Time
Lostprophets - Jesus Walks
The Neighbourhood – Female Robbery
Nickelback - Trying Not To Love You
Pnau - Solid Ground
Ren Harvieu - Do Right By Me
The Skints - Up Against The Wall Riddim
Train – Bruises
Tyler James - Single Tear
Wiz Khalifa - Work Hard, Play Hard

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Upcoming Single Releases (Updated 23rd September)

See below for the most uptodate release dates for UK singles!

30th September
Alt-J – Something Good
Anna Sun – Walk The Moon
Beth Hart - Baddest Blues
Ellie Goulding – Anything Could Happen
Kendrick Lamar – Swimming Pools (Drank)
Mika – Celebrate
One Direction- Live While We're Young
The Other Tribe – Skirts
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Never Is A Long Time / Love Of Your Life
Richard Hawley – Seek It
Taylor Swift- We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

Unconfirmed
David Guetta ft Sia- She Wolf (Falling To Pieces)
Drake ft Rick Ross - Lord Knows
Ellie Goulding – Explosions
Flo Rida- I Cry
Keane – Disconnected
Madeon- EP
Muse – Madness
Tinchy Stryder- Help Me

7th October
Jeff Lynne - At Last
Swedish House Mafia ft John Martin- Don't You Worry Child

Unconfirmed
Aerosmith- Tbc
Conor Maynard feat. Ne-Yo – Turn Around
Gossip- Get A Job
Havana Brown ft Pitbull- We Run The Night
Josh Osho ft Childish Gambino- Giants
King Charles- Bam Bam
Leona Lewis ft Childish Gambino- Trouble
Linkin Park- Lost In The Echo
Lisa Marie Presley- You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet
Nas/Amy Winehouse- Cherry Wine
Nicki Minaj – Va Va Voom

14th October
AlunaGeorge – Your Drums, Your Love
Everything Everything – Cough Cough

Unconfirmed
Calvin Harris feat. Florence Welch – Sweet Nothing
Charlotte Church- One EP
Conor Maynard- Turn Around
Lawson – Standing In The Dark
Marina & The Diamonds- How To Be A Heartbreaker
Michel Telo- Ai Si Eu Te Pego
Pet Shop Boys- Leaving

21st October
Naughty Boy feat. Emile Sande – Wonder

Unconfirmed
Amy Macdonald- 4th Of July
Devlin ft Diane Birch- Rewind
Jessie Ware- Night Light
JLS – Hottest Girl In The World
Tyga ft Chris Brown- For The Fame
You & Me At Six- Reckless

28th October
Unconfirmed
Justin Bieber ft Nicki Minaj- Beauty And A Beat
Red Hot Chili Peppers- The Sunset Sleeps Tonight
Robbie Williams - Candy

4th November
Unconfirmed
Christina Aguilera – Your Body
Elton John V Pnau- Phoenix
Sub Focus ft Alpines- Tidal Wave
Usher- TBC
The Wanted – I Found You

11th November
Unconfirmed
Green Day - Dos!

Upcoming Singles With Unknown Release Dates
Amy Macdonald – Pride
Angel Haze – New York
Azealia Banks – Esta Noche
The Beach Boys - Isn't It Time
D Banji- Scape Goat
Dear Prudence – Coming Apart Again
Dionne Warwick – Is There Anybody Out There
DJ Shadow ft Terry Reid- Listen
Dog Is Dead – Talk Through The Night
Drake – Crew Love
Elton John ft Pnau - Foreign Fields
Eric Prydz- We Can Mirage
Flo Rida – I Cry F
rank Ocean – Pyramids
FUN. - Some Nights
Gavin DeGraw – Soldier
Gotye - I Feel Better
Gym Class Heroes – The Fighter
Jack Savoretti - Breaking The Rules
Jack White – I’m Shakin’
JD McPherson - Your Love
Justin Bieber ft Big Sean- As Long As You Love Me
The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band – Butterfly
King Charles ft Mumford & Sons- The Brightest Light
Koan Sound - 80s Fitness
Kylie Minogue- Flower (Abbey Road Session)
Lemar – The First Time
Lil' Wayne ft Rick Ross- Take It To The Head
Lostprophets - Jesus Walks
Maverick Sabre - Your Smile
Michel Telo- Ai Si Eu Te Pego
The Neighbourhood – Female Robbery
Newton Faulkner - Brick By Brick
Nickelback - Trying Not To Love You
The Overtones – Loving The Sound
Rebecca Ferguson - Backtrack
Ren Harvieu - Do Right By Me
Tom Jones- Home
Train - 50 Ways To Say Goodbye
Wiz Khalifa - Work Hard, Play Hard
Young Guns – Towers

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Doctor Who: The Power of Three (Review)

After two episodes in the new series that I could really take or leave and a better third one, we finally get to a corker of an episode that successfully balances drama, comedy and the feeling of an approaching threat, creating a strong forty-five minutes of Saturday night drama.

The episode, picking up many years in the chronology of the Ponds, sees them balancing their domestic and working life with that of their life with the Doctor, all against the backdrop of small cubes appearing over the world, shown through RTD-era news bulletins and CCTV footage. The Doctor, with the Ponds, has to work out what this slow invasion means before it’s too late.

So why did I enjoy this episode? Well it’s the first large-scale episode we’ve had in a while with a global impact, reflected well in their choice of locations. There is also plenty of humour scattered through the episode from cameos from Brian Cox and Alan Sugar’s Apprentice team – both well inserted in – alongside a very ‘Cabin In The Woods’ style situation under the Tower of London as UNIT also investigate the cubes, and find that each one has their own unique personality including one very musical one. In fact, I would have liked to have seen this idea explored more but there is only so much you can compress into one episode.

Matt Smith was as excellent as the Doctor once more, flipping between emotions, even if the hammy acting after one of his two hearts stopped was a tad unrealistic. His scene with Rory’s dad – played by Mark Williams in a far better and more enjoyable appearance than his last episode – was very touching and hints at what could be to come in next week’s Angels-focussed episode. Plus, he had a more rounded personality throughout the episode and added lots to the piece.

It was also nice to see the Pond’s life expanded upon and we finally get to see Rory working and that Amy actually has a job and the episode balances the normal with the abnormal well.

Then there was the scene with the Doctor painting, mowing and hoovering, alongside Rory's Dad and his log, and some creepy grill-mouthed men to add to the mix.

That’s not to say the episode isn’t without its flaws. Though the CGI of the cubes was mostly impressive some of the moving shots broke the illusion, and there were a few too many convenient plot strands, such as one of the wormholes to the “big bad” being present in the hospital where Rory works and the rushed conclusion to the episode with a motivation for the events of the slow invasion still a little bit muddy in my memory after a first watch. Again, like the other episodes, there is scope for at least getting two episodes out of each story to allow things to develop, but this mostly succeeded in its self-contained one episode.

Throw in a neat throw-back to the Brigadier, lots of clips of older episodes, the tear-jerking musical theme near the end and the nice little scenes of how the cubes are taken in by the humans, and you get an enjoyable, funny but also foreboding episode that is my favourite of the series so far, though that’s not saying much in a series that has yet to really make a huge impact on me.

(7/10)

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Upcoming Singles (Updated 16th September 2012)

What's confirmed for release over the next few weeks?

23rd September
Alyssa Reid ft Snoop Dogg- The Game
Deacon Blue - The Hipsters
DJ Fresh – The Feeling
Michael Kiwanuka- Bones
Nik Kershaw- You're The Best
No Doubt - Settle Down
Professor Green- Avalon
Tinchy Stryder - Help Me

Unconfirmed
Joss Stone- Pillow Talk
King Charles - Bam Bam
Lisa Marie Presley - You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet
Madeon – City

30th September
Alt-J – Something Good
Anna Sun – Walk The Moon
Ellie Goulding – Anything Could Happen
Kendrick Lamar – Swimming Pools (Drank)
Mika – Celebrate
One Direction- Live While We're Young
The Other Tribe – Skirts
Richard Hawley – Seek It

Unconfirmed
Drake ft Rick Ross - Lord Knows
Ellie Goulding - Explosions
Keane – Disconnected
Muse – Madness
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Never Is A Long Time / Love Of Your Life

7th October
Jeff Lynne - At Last

Unconfirmed
Conor Maynard feat. Ne-Yo – Turn Around
Gossip- Get A Job
Havana Brown ft Pitbull- We Run The Night
Leona Lewis ft Childish Gambino- Trouble
Linkin Park- Lost In The Echo

14th OctoberUnconfirmed
Conor Maynard- Turn Around
Marina & The Diamonds- How To Be A Heartbreaker

21st OctoberUnconfirmed
Devlin ft Diane Birch- Rewind
Tyga ft Chris Brown- For The Fame

28th OctoberUnconfirmed
Justin Bieber ft Nicki Minaj- Beauty And A Beat
Red Hot Chili Peppers- The Sunset Sleeps Tonight

Upcoming Singles With Unknown Release Dates
Amy Macdonald – Pride
Andy Burrows - Because I Know That I Can
The Beach Boys - Isn't It Time
Beth Hart - Baddest Blues
Calvin Harris – Sweet Nothing
D Banji- Scape Goat
David Guetta – She Wolf
Dear Prudence – Coming Apart Again
DJ Shadow ft Terry Reid- Listen
Drake – Crew Love
Elton John ft Pnau - Foreign Fields
Eric Prydz- We Can Mirage
Flo Rida – I Cry
Frank Ocean – Pyramids
FUN. - Some Nights
The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten
Gavin DeGraw – Soldier
Gotye - I Feel Better
Gym Class Heroes – The Fighter
Jack Savoretti - Breaking The Rules
Jack White – I’m Shakin’
JD McPherson - Your Love
Jessie Ware - Night Light
Justin Bieber ft Big Sean- As Long As You Love Me
The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band – Butterfly
King Charles ft Mumford & Sons- The Brightest Light
Koan Sound - 80s Fitness
Lil' Wayne ft Rick Ross- Take It To The Head
Lostprophets - Jesus Walks
Maverick Sabre - Your Smile
Michel Telo- Ai Si Eu Te Pego
Newton Faulkner - Brick By Brick
Nickelback - Trying Not To Love You
Nicki Minaj – Pound the Alarm
Nicki Minaj – Va Va Voom
The Overtones – Loving The Sound
Ren Harvieu - Do Right By Me
Swedish House Mafia- Don't You Worry Child
Tom Jones- Home
Train - 50 Ways To Say Goodbye
Wiz Khalifa - Work Hard, Play Hard
Young Guns – Towers

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