Winter is coming, Santa is darning his hat, the goose is getting fat and Cheryl Cole is setting her sights on Christmas number one. But the battle is on as Tinchy Stryder comes into his own this week and even Kelis takes a new angle at attaining success. P.S. Los Campesinos! are back too. Santa's sack will be chocked full of singles this Yule-tide season.
1/ Cheryl Cole - Fight For This Love
Cheryl Cole is the hottest one in
Girls Aloud. We know this. She can sing, this is also true. BUT can her voice alone carry a whole song? With her new biker chick look, lyrics that probably allude to
Ashley Cole being a dick, and the promise of a video with pure Cheryl, it all makes for a big pop hit.
2/ Bringing back the 90s: Tinchy Stryder – You’re Not Alone
That’s right you recognised the track name. Yes, you have heard it before in Ibiza at 4am while having a drug induced mini-coma (the good kind). Now,
Tinchy Stryder has come and added his perspective. Which, seemingly, is quite lyrically uplifting in-line with the original trance track. Good work bringing this back Tinchy. You definitely didn’t ruin the song.
3/ The comeback: Los Campesinos! The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future
You remember them, right? Tight jeans, funky hats, do a lot of sitting and staring. Not narrowing down the indie scene with that description? It’s a big band with seven of them, three girls and four boys, and the most famous release was
You! Me! Dancing! in 2007. Now you remember that blip on the music radar right? Their new album,
We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed promises plenty more pounding indie rasp grown in a garden of folk, that gleans happiness from some otherwise lyrically melancholy music. Did we mention the girls in the band are hot?
4/ The club track: Simian Mobile Disco Cruel Intentions (Joker Remix)
Beth Ditto of The Gossip laid down the lyrics for this track. Simian Mobile Disco provided the electro-infused dance tune. Joker then came along and took the whole thing to another level of dark, raw, pulse with punchy syncopated dubstep beats. Syncopated has nothing to do with not being able to go to the toilet like it sounds. If anything, it gets you dancing so much you will literally shake it out of you and need the toilet more. That IS what we’re saying. This song will literally make you shit yourself.
5/The future of Hip Hop: Crookers No Security (ft. Kelis)
First Eve and Benga got together and did it. Now Kelis is getting in on the dubstep/hip hop collaberation action with Crookers. The gangster-like pair have taken a turn towards more serious sounds since their hit single
Day ‘N’ Nite sonic boomed them to fame. Kelis is as mainstream an artist as they come, and if she’s getting in on the dubstep scene, this could mean the start of something beautiful for the clubs of the UK. We hope.