pie and mash up!

Earworms of the Week

Me again, but I'm trying to line up some Guest Editors to entertain you... starting in two weeks' time, when I'm back from my holiday.

Oh, did I not mention? I'm off skiing in Italy on Sunday, and although it's been snowing there all week, the sun came out today. Hurray! The advice of the skiing forecast? "Great conditions - wax up your skis!". Sounds good.

Anyway. To the business in hand:

> "Rule the World" - Take That

This was the first song by Take That to make it onto my iPod. I never disliked Take That when they were around the first time, they just weren't really my cup of tea. That Gary Barlow has some talent though, eh? This is the theme tune to the movie "Stardust" and the song features a terrible pun on the name of Claire Danes' character... but it's great anyway. Gonzo Howard does a good job with the shouty bit on the chorus too, eh?

> "Suburban Knights" - Hard Fi

This song is just getting better every time I hear it. I bought the album the other day, and although I've only listened to it a couple of times so far, at the moment, all of the other songs are rather suffering in comparison with this one.

> "Heavyweight Champion of the World" - Reverend and the Makers

I get the distinct impression that John McClure, the main man here, is something of a cock. He's the flatmate of Alex Turner from the Arctic Monkeys, and I get the distinct impression that he thinks he's something special (in contrast with the extremely humble Turner). As a band they're in something of a funny position though: they're well known for this song, but so far for nothing else. They got all pissed off at Glastonbury in 2007 when they played this early and then had to put up with late arrivals in the crowd shouting for it. I was interested to see them on Jonathan Ross the other day too.... a great showcase for them, but they ended up playing the single that they released more than seven months ago. Have they got any other songs? Mind you... this is a good one.

> "Through the Morning, Through the Night" - Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

It's funny that everyone should be so excited about Led Zeppelin at a time when Robert Plant has produced a really interesting album of his own with Mrs. Elvis Costello Alison Krauss (not Diana Krall - quite right and well spotted Tina). It's a lovely, soothing album, and Percy manages to keep his holler well under control throughout. On this song, he is barely singing at all... it's very much a showcase for Krauss, and she does a beautiful job.

> "Way Down in the Hole" - Tom Waits

The theme tune to "The Wire", of course. We finished watching "Battlestar Galactica" season three a few weeks ago and were in dire need of a boxset to watch. I bought the first season of the "The Wire" on the basis of all the consistently ecstatic reviews it's been getting.... two episodes in, and it's a keeper. Good theme tune too.

> "Slow Show" - The National

Another of the "Albums of 2007" that I have belatedly discovered. "Boxers" is a cracking album. It's quite understated and very much focused around Matt Berninger's deep, baritone voice (which, weirdly, reminds me a little bit of that guy from the Crash Test Dummies).

"You know I dreamed about you
for twenty-nine years before I saw you
You know I dreamed about you
I missed you for
for twenty-nine years"

I know the exact feeling.

> "Romeo & Juliet" - Dire Straits

Naff? Possibly. I think it's a great song by a great band. This song will always remind me of skiing over into Italy from the French side and coming across a huge PA down near the bottom life playing this song. I hadn't heard it for years, and it sounded brilliant. I borrowed the album off LB the other day, and I haven't been able to stop listening to it since.

> "The Eels Song" - The Mighty Boosh



As sung in the third (and most recent) series of the Mighty Boosh by the extremely sinister Hitcher, accompanied by jazz maverick, Howard Moon and Vince Noir, the king of the mods.

What's not to like?

Mind you, my favourite characters in the Boosh are definitely Tony Harrison and Saboo from the Board of Shamen though.



"If you can't even handle a little carpet, what are you going to do when we come to the crunch?"
"Oh my word, are we back to the crunch?"
"The crunch. What are you going to do?"
"Oh here we fucking go. The crunch this, the crunch that. Why are you so obsessed with the crunch?"
"Do you want to know about the crunch?"
"I do, yes"
"Because you are going to meet the crunch a little bit before me, my friend"
"This is an outrage....!"

I like the Mighty Boosh. This humour very much appeals to me for some reason. I think C. doesn't really see it. She just thinks they're weird....although not so weird that she won't come with me to see them live later this year.

Right. And that's your lot.

See you in a week.

Take care of each other, yeah?