I have a sore throat.

Useless information?

Yes.

Think I might start every Music Monday like that from now on.

Song #1: Ass Like That – Eminem: Ah, Eminem. I’m pretty sure you’ll all have heard of him, right? But would you believe he’s nearly 40? WHUT!? And during his time as the ‘first white rapper’, Eminem has released 7 studio albums. Surprisingly, Eminem’s best song (in my opinion) ‘Stan’ only made it to number 51 in the States, whereas it made number 1 in 7 other countries. Sounds strange if you ask me.

I do enjoy this song though. I love Eminem when he is being more serious, i.e. ‘Cleaning Out My Closet’, but his silly songs are just as good. The lyrics in this tune are literally some of the funniest I’ve heard and I always enjoy a laugh. If you want even more giggles, just watch the music video for this track. There are puppets to represent the celebrities he slates in the lyrics, which is much more hilarious than it sounds.

Song #2: Cocaine – Eric Clapton: Seems my iTunes randomiser likes the ‘E’s today… I’m pretty positive this man needs nointroduction though, if I’m honest. After God knows how many albums and a million band member changes, how can you say with conviction that this guy is not a legend? He is almost a God. ‘Mon the Biffy? ‘Mon the Clappers!

I’d say this tune is one of his most famous, behind ‘Layla’ and ‘Tears In Heaven’, of course. The lyrics aren’t up to much, if I’m honest, but the band accompany the song perfectly and there are some great guitar solos and solitaire drum playing that make the song what it is.

Song #3: You! Me! Dancing! – Los Campesinos!: Ah, a lesser well known band to tell you about. This band are actually an 8 piece, consisting of members of both sexes, which is pretty rare to find. They’ve actually had 3 albums, but they’re not that well known, mainly because they’re not mainstream but signed to an indie record label.

I’m actually a pretty big fan of this lot. This song is one of those that you can imagine making a music video yourself to, and dancing down the streets of a council estate in it. Just me?… Oh. It starts off really slow too, which contrasts to the rest of the song. And all round feel good Indie pop track, that I recommend very highly.

Song #4: I’m Sorry – Flyleaf: Seems the shuffle function is generating something from every genre today! We’ve already had some rap, some retro acoustic and some indie and now it throws out some metal/rock for us to judge. Flyleaf have only actually had 2 albums, but they’re pretty good, Christian rockers. I especially love their single ‘Cassie’, which is about a girl being shot at the Columbine High School massacre, but we’re not here to talk about that.

This tune is actually pretty catchy for something so grim. Electric guitars resound extremely well and the main thing I love about this band is the amazing vocals from the singer who always delivers, Lacey Mosley. There’s actually a youthful sound to her voice, which shouldn’t work but simply makes the contrast within this song extremely haunting – something that I’m sure the band were aiming for when writing.

Song #5: Warm Sound – Zero 7: For some reason, I expected them to be generic and have 7 members. Turns out, they only have 2. Some would label this band under the genre of ‘trip-hop’ or ’shoegaze’ (music you gaze down at your shoes to) and I think that’s exactly what defines this band. They’re quite different to anything I’ve heard before, but bear some similarity to The XX when you hear it.

The chorus is probably the highlight of this song. Well that, and that dreamy synthesizers and chimes in the background. This song actually sounds like something from a dream at parts and it is because of that that it holds some appeal. I know our dear administrator Matt is a fan of this band, so I won’t slate them too much. I’ll just say it’s not something I’d normally listen to, but I understand why someone would.

Top Track This Week: You! Me! Dancing! – Los Campesinos!