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Liam Carey reviews

THEY MADE HIM DO IT The quest for this year's Christmas chart-topper is underway, with The Darkness and Avid Merrion leading the charge. These less-than-subtle yuletide offerings face an unlikely challenge, however, that could make it a very interesting battle for the coveted #1 spot. Mad World, Tears For Fears' breakthrough hit from the tail-end of 1982 has been covered in a minimalistic, downtempo style by little-known US singer-songwriter Gary Jules. Originally recorded in 2001 for use that year in the superb cult film Donnie Darko, the track has recently become a fixture on the Radio 2 playlist and built up significant word-of-mouth interest through Donnie Darko's continuing success on DVD. While it might ultimately just fall short of fending off the tongue-in-cheek Glam of Christmas Time and Proper Crimbo's Bo Selecta! pedigree, Mad World should prove an enduring winter smash long after the decorations have been taken down.

COUNTING YOUR CROWS It was a cover version that finally gave Counting Crows' a sizeable UK hit earlier this year, when their easygoing collaboration with Vanessa Carlton on Big Yellow Taxi hit the top 20. Having burst onto the scene in 1994 with the excellent August & Everything After album, the Crows spent the following few years releasing a succession of albums that never quite emulated that debut. 2002's Hard Candy was arguably their strongest set since August & Everything After, so what better time to go the Greatest Hits route than now? Films About Ghosts gathers all the best Counting Crows tracks together, adding an obligatory new song for good measure.

TASTY, VERY TASTY Kelis should be a major star by now; her introductory album Kaleidoscope ranks as one of the most stunning pop/r'n'b records of recent years. The top 5 single Caught Out There made you sit up and notice, not least for its "I hate you so much right now...aaaargh!" hookline and her rainbow-coloured afro. That was almost four years ago. For some reason, the super-sexy New Yorker never established herself as a bona-fide chart force; subsequent singles such as the gorgeous Get Along Without You and steamroller 21st Century funk of Young Fresh'N New missed the Top 40 altogether and 2001's second album Wanderland misfired completely. Production mentors The Neptunes have gone from strength to strength commercially since then, ostensibly through their work for the likes of Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears, but it took Richard X to put Kelis back in the Top 10 with the SOS Band/Human League mutation Finest Dreams. Now, in advance of the suggestive single Milkshake comes album number three. Quite why Virgin America have opted to launch Tasty in the graveyard period just before Christmas is a mystery, though.

FUTURE SOUNDS The best music on the horizon: VICTORIA BECKHAM - THIS GROOVE/LET YOUR HEAD GO: Well, here it is. The much-ridiculed former Spice returns with this double A-sided single in the cosy December 29th slot, always the weakest chart of the calendar year, with the aim of scoring that so far elusive solo #1. It's actually not bad, and certainly the strength of this pair of tracks has got up a fair few peoples' noses. This Groove is a very contemporary slice of wordy, jittery pop that, if by any other eminent female artist would surely have been granted a less spiteful welcome. The pounding Let Your Head Go is far from the disaster widely predicted, and the combination of these two songs could quite possibly do the business for Posh.

Page Content copyright © Liam Carey, 2003.

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The following is a list of Liam's Liner Notes online :

Volume 22: December 17th 2003
Volume 21: December 3rd 2003
Volume 20: November 5th 2003
Volume 19: October 22nd 2003
Volume 18: October 8th 2003
Volume 17: September 24th 2003
Volume 16: September 10th 2003
Volume 15: August 27th 2003
Volume 14: August 13th 2003
Volume 13: July 30th 2003
Volume 12: July 9th 2003
Volume 11: June 25th 2003
Volume 10: June 11th 2003
Volume 9: May 28th 2003
Volume 8: May 14th 2003
Volume 7: April 30th 2003
Volume 6: April 16th 2003
Volume 5: April 2nd 2003
Volume 4: March 19th 2003
Volume 3: March 5th 2003
Volume 2: February 19th 2003
Volume 1: February 5th 2003

DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.

PC games reviewed by the editor are on: