NEVER OR NOW - Lisa Scott-Lee

Okay, so she vowed never to make another record on 'Totally Scott-Lee' after her single 'Electric' failed to go Top 10.. but then, would Lisa want to let her fans down when all she wants to do is make pop records?

I mean, 'Lately' was a fantastic single and I remember it being launched and standing a few feet away from her beaming and singing the track, telling us that it would be out soon. It was amazing - the perfect pop tune and for a moment, all seemed well. She then followed it up with 'Too Far Gone', which again was a brilliant pop track (with a great video too) but by this time, the public had forgotten who or why she was and had moved onto other things. Attempts to ignite the charts with the Strike cover of 'U Sure Do' and 'You Got Me' with the Intenso Project didn't fare so well and she slipped into the realms of bargain basement before comitting televisual suicide with her ill-kept promise.

However, NEVER OR NOW is a superb album - full of pop laden tracks with a strong dance undercurrent and at times, quite sexy and clever but there's a problem... and that is that you can only buy the physical CD format from South Africa and that all bar about one track has been leaked/given away on the internet prior to the album's release. In fact, the album was originally called 'Unleashed' but with the name change, they've kept the same artwork too - much to the disappointment of the 'fans', most of whom seem only there to moan and whinge about her on her forums. An unforunate incident involving a cross-dressing (as Lisa) fan who leaked the album on the internet cost her dearly and so poor Lisa is stuck in a rutt.

Tracks like 'Boy On The Dance Floor' and 'Make It Last Forever' deserve to be singles but both are old hat for any Lisa audience now and so it is unlikely that we'll see any singles released from this album or any UK promotion. The UK will only be able to buy a DL version of the album or the very limited stock of them from Lisa's own stock.

I feel sorry for Lisa, she tries so hard but through a terrible chain of poor management/decisions, she's left to look like this. There might be nothing new here, but I purposefully avoided all the leaked tracks and therefore it is glittering and new for me. I like it. If Kylie had recorded this album, it would be a huge hit, but Lisa did instead... and i hope that she finds it a wholly cathartic release to finally get this released. She can now move on to new, unleaked and exciting new sounds.

Don't Believe The Truth - Oasis

By virtue of a series of quite poor releases since their glory days in the mid 90's, this has inadvertantly become the kind of album that many people would give a wide berth to. As a result, its likely to remain a bit undiscovered and neglected - which would be a pity, as its got the unmistakeable sound of a band getting their mojo back.

Gone is the noisy swagger of their previous work. Gone is the achingly heavy guitar work that suffocated any traces of melody and harmony from their songs. And gone is the soaring ambition for ambition's sake to be the 'biggest band in the world'. Instead, the album is laced with an effortlessly relaxed air of Oasis having at last come to terms with their own limitations. You sense that they've realised that this isn't likely to be 'best fookin' album of all time, man', and as a result have been laid back and confident enough to instead make an album that reaches only to the extent of their ability, rather than over-reaching and achieving the sound of a band trying way too hard, only to fall disappointingly short.

What makes this work distinct from all previous Oasis albums is its domesticity. In 1995 they were roaring about dreams being made when 'you're chained to a mirror and a razor blade' - Oasis 2005 are talking instead about sitting around not doing very much, or finding that everywhere you go in London you have to queue.

It shouldn't work - this isn't natural Oasis territory. But somehow, it just does. Many of the songs have a clipped urgency about them - Liam's 'The Meaning of Soul' is a punchy, violent 90 second blast that jolts the senses after Noel's immaculately melodic 'The Importance of Being Idle'. Liam's other contributions are equally impressive: 'Love Like A Bomb' twists around a delicate piano break. Noel's 'Mucky Fingers' is a scorching harmonica-drenched tune that is equal to anything on the band's last few albums. 'Lyla' is probably the most old-school example of Oasis on the album, but is economical and immediate and doesn't suffer for the comparison.

So relaxed and focused is this album that its easy to acclaim it as their most satisfying work since 'Morning Glory'. Oasis have come to terms with their limitations, and they sound all the better for it. This is a band that no longer have anything to prove, and for once, they have a new album that they don't need to apologise for either. A surprisingly impressive album. It's good to be back...

Confessions on a Dance Floor - Madonna

Madonna seems to be everywhere at the moment, everytime I turn on the TV there seems to be an interview, or documentary or performance. The way this happens when an album gets released always annoys the hell out of me and I was feeling a little cynical that all the hype surrounding Confessions was actually just that, hype.

Then I started hearing good things about this album from unexpected places. I love the single 'Hung Up' and I had seen her perform that and the second track off the album, 'Get Together', live on Parky and actually really enjoyed it.

From the minute that I put this album in my CD player I knew I was going to like it, by track 5 I knew I already loved it. Almost as if Madonna is trying to go back full circle to her pop greatness of classics like 'Get into the Groove' this is floor filling dance music at it's greatest. There is not one track on the album that I couldn't imagine dancing too. A clever mix of beats and samples that will get you up on you feet and put a spring in your step.

Musically, I feel the first half of the album is definately stronger than the second but lyically the second half shines through, and you can tell where the influences of different parts of her life have come through. The track 'Push' is definately about her marriage and 'Isaac' about Kabbalah. But even here the music is catchy and fun and you can't help thinking that this is what this album is about - fun.

This has shot into my top 5 albums this year. Personal favourites - 'Sorry' & 'I Love New York'.

"A Christmas Gift For You from Phil Spector" - Various Artists & Phil Spector

This really is a classic album and okay, so you might think that it will be just a load of mediocre christmas nonsense that seems to fill EMI "Best Christmas Album In The World... Ever" compilations but no, this is Phil Spector at his peak.

Phil's having a spot of trouble at the moment, not least with his hair, but back in 1963 he was the svengali producer of a number of girl groups and quite rightly caught success with The Ronettes, The Crystals and Bob B. Soxx and The Blue Jeans. His trademark "wall of sound", later adopted by Slade, made him stand out a mile amongst the beat groups of the 1960s and it is this album that really shows this off.

There really is nothing as warming as Phil Spector's wall of sound meets a kind of Motown Christmas.. and The Ronettes and The Crystals really do shine here with their versions of "Sleigh Ride" and "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" respectively. Darlene Love opens the album with "White Christmas" and whilst she's a good singer, it is the girl groups that really ring in Christmas (although her "Winter Wonderland" is good).

The tracks are;

• White Christmas : Darlene Love


• Frosty The Snowman : The Ronettes


• The Bells Of St. Mary : Bob B. Soxx and The Blue Jeans


• Santa Claus Is Coming To Town : The Crystals


• Sleigh Ride : The Ronettes


• Marshmallow World : Darlene Love


• I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus : The Ronettes


• Rudolph The Red-nosed Reindeer : The Crystals


• Winter Wonderland : Darlene Love


• Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers : The Crystals


• Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) : Darlene Love


• Here Comes Santa Claus : Bob B. Soxx and The Blue Jeans


• Silent Night : Phil Spector and Artists

I'm not the greatest fan of Christmas really but this album really does kick ass musically and knocks the socks off all other Christmas albums like the glib Destiny's Child, Cliff Richard, Busted christmas albums. Putting this on, I just want to snuggle up in a horrendously too-big jumper by the fire and sway slightly whilst this album is on or drink sherry with my grandmother till we're both talking crap and she's doing wheelies in the snow.

Shake off your Scrooge this christmas, FOPP is selling it for £7.00 on cd, so how could you go wrong?

The BBC likes this album too and have added it to their critical/must have album list.

Stars of CCTV - Hard Fi

I really didn't know what to expect when I got this album. I had heard a track and knew that I liked it but really wasn't sure if it would be my kind of thing or not. Within one listen I was hooked and it has earned it's rightful place as an album I just can't get enough of, coming back to it again and again.

Hard Fi are constantly compared to bands like The Clash, The Specials and The Streets and I can see why but that doesn't explain why this album is so special. A complete fusion of rock, pop, ska and some cracking base lines all get jumbled up to make an album that is diverse and infectious. These guys are telling the story of what it is like to be part of the binge drinking inner city youth culture of today. Nothing new in the music world, complaining about where you are from, but the guys seem to do it with a certain flair. Listening to Cash Machine and Stars of CCTV is like looking back into my not so distant past and perhaps that is why I like it so much.

The album was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize this year which I think is fantastic for an album that cost £300 to make in a disused taxi office in Staines. You wouldn't know it though as every track shines in it's own way and together this is just a fantastic debut. My only hope is that their rise to fame doesn't affect their second album too much.

Super Extra Gravity - The Cardigans

The Cardigans are at a strange point in their career. They followed up their global smash hit LoveFool with back-to-back winners My Favourite Mistake and Erase/Rewind setting themselves up as the new Swedish supergroup. But always surprising their listeners by continually taking off in different musical directions, they left the upbeat pop styling behind them and went low-key with the critically-championed but commercially-underperforming album Long Gone Before Daylight. In a way this seems to have freed them up, not having to deal with the pressure of having to follow up a success. So now here they are, back with their sixth studio album, this time not straying too far from their previous offering - perhaps a surprise in itself.

This is a strong set of songs, and as with their previous albums I found each song grow on me with repeated listens. A very consistent offering, they've turned from a singles band to one where you know you can trust them to record an excellent album in full. The band have settled into a mid-tempo middle of the road terraine - a path fraught with the danger of falling into a "boring" hole. I think that what lifts this above other artists are the constant barrage of hooks the songs throw at you, and Nina Persson's quirky lyrics - a fine story-teller. The first single, 'I Need Some Fine Wine And You, You Need To Be Nicer' (best song title of the year?) is a chugging rock song that strangely reminds me of Bryan Adams's 'When You're Gone'. Nina's voice, an amazing instrument, has developed nicely and seems to sometimes resemble that of Sheryl Crow. Other stand-out songs include the ballad 'Don't Blame Your Daughter (Diamonds)', the sweet 'Good Morning Joan', a lighter track necessary to pick the album up from some of its darker moments. One of the two bonus tracks 'Give Me Your Eyes' is a fine pop song, and makes you wonder why it didn't make it onto the original version of the album - this would have been a worthy single.

They have perhaps lost some of the sense of fun that was so obvious on their early album Life and on their hit singles and I suspect that the lack of instant pop songs won't get them back to the top of the charts, but that's fine. Pressure's off and they can go about their business making music that they want to make and stretching themselves as a band. The Cardigans remain one of the jewels in the music industry with one of the finest frontpersons. The sonic direction they take from here is anyone's guess.

'Smeared' - Sloan

OK, I'm an indie boy... Incurably so it'd seem, and stuck in a '90s rut it would appear. But this is a fizzing pop gem, and, I think, unfairly ignored.

Sloan hail from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and I think are still going across the Pond, but they didn't make much of an impression over here. They signed to Geffen during the great major label alt-rock feeding frenzy, popped this one and a follow-up out and kind of relaxed into a 70's rock pastiche which they carry on with today. The title alludes to the fact that they made so many mistakes, they had to cover up with tons of effects. The result emerges as what I'd hoped Pet Sounds would have turned out like, scribbled over by My Bloody Valentine. And yeah, under the fizz and squall beats a pure, poppy heart.

Opener 'Underwhelmed' is kind of witty and goofy and laconic. 'I Am The Cancer' belies the bleak title with sweet boy/girl harmonies and a laid-back pop sheen. It's 1992 as hell and I adore it.