EOIN BUTLER'S guide to downloads, singles and free audiostreams
ED SHEERAN
You Need Me, I Don't Need You Atlantic ***
“They say I’m up and coming / Like I’m fucking in an elevator . . . ” Okay, I can’t definitively state that this is the worst song ever recorded. Who knows, maybe some isolated tribe in Papua New Guinea has done worse? Ed Sheeran is hugely popular right now, but I bet in two years’ time even the Simon Wiesenthal Centre won’t be able to track down anyone who admits to ever liking this track.
OWEN PALLETT
Hard to Explain ***
The original was one of the sexiest, sleaziest standout tracks on The Strokes' debut album. But for some reason, Owen Pallett performs it as though he were a wandering minstrel in a Renaissance fayre. Hard to Explainappears on the 10th anniversary compilation Stroked: A Tributeto Is This It. stereogum.com
THIS CLUB
I Won't Worry Warner***
As Hoarsebox, they boasted one of the definitive go-nowhere Irish indie band monikers of our time. One swift Clark Kent/telephone box-esque name change later and they’re working with hotshot producer Dennis Herring (Elvis Costello, Modest Mouse) and mixer Joe Zook (Beyoncé, Katy Perry). That this is a pretty nifty tune can’t have hurt either.
CHARLIE SIMPSON
Parachutes PIAS ***
The release of the former Busted singer’s solo album was postponed this week after Monday’s PIAS warehouse fire. Which is a shame, because I had a couple of jokes I was going to make at his expense, but now they just seem mean.
MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS
Fear and Loathing Part 1679 ***
Fine – I was going to say that Charlie Simpson looks like he has just eaten one of Mumford Sons. Happy now? Fear and Loathingis a taster from Electra Heart, which is either Diamandis's new album or new alter ego. Honestly, I've read the press release 10 times and I'm still not sure.
