EOIN BUTLER'S guide to downloads, singles and free audiostreams
KRISPY KREME
Christmas ****
Hip-hop/comedy maestro Tyler Cassidy plays a slow-witted redneck rapper whose ludicrous bravado (in The Baddest, he claims to have "made out with every girl in the world") masks a thinly concealed loneliness and vulnerability. In this Yuletide offering, Krispy offers a wish list of all the presents he'd like to receive this year. All of which, for some reason, seem to relate to WWE wrestler John Cena. youtube.com
CHRISTINA PERRI ft STEVE KAZE
A Thousand Years Pt 2 Atlantic **
From the soundtrack to The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, A Thousand Years is Edward and Bella’s wedding theme. In it, they state that they have loved each other for a thousand years, and will love each other for a thousand more. That may sound romantic and all,but it’s actually a thousand times less of a commitment than the couple in the Family Ties theme song – and one of them was secretly a lesbian!
RUDIMENTAL
Not Giving In Asylum ***
After scoring a global hit this summer with Feel the Love, east London quartet Rudimental return with Not Giving In (which you may already know as the music from those MTV Push web ads.) The track itself is a rather confusing mish-mash of downbeat soul and upbeat electronic pop. But the video, which goes inside Manila’s burgeoning break-dancing subculture, is worth a look.
THE JUSTICE COLLECTIVE
He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother Banquet Records ***
From its name, The Justice Collective sounds like a confederation of left-wing superheroes. But in fact they are semi-retired Liverpudlian pop stars Paul McCartney, Holly Johnson, Mel C and Gerry Marsden, plus Robbie Williams (who isn’t Scouse but does have a new album to promote.) They’ve teamed up for this version of the old Hollies song in aid the families of the Hillsborough disaster victims.
