Jem
Down to Earth
Genre: Pop
Highlight: It's Amazing

MUSIC critics may have been singing the delights of Duffy in recent months, but in doing so they've missed the return of another Welsh wonder.

While Duffy's debut Rockferry has won multiple awards and become 2008's best-selling album in the UK, Jem has seen her comeback album delayed by several months, and then eventually choke into the charts at number 64. It almost seemed as if the UK had forgotten the singer-songwriter from Penarth altogether.

But Down to Earth, her second album, and follow-up to 2004's Finally Woken, has been worth the wait. Jem's first album impressed critics with its eclectic musical stylings when that came out, wandering into the surreal sounds of trip hop, and her second release sees another exploration of the weird and wonderful side of pop music.

There's still plenty of the trip hop sound in most of Jem's songs - clearly she's taken inspiration from the likes of Massive Attack and Portishead - but on the latest album the diversity expands ever further. There's ballads, there's hip-hop sampling, there's duets with African vocalists, and most of it sounds brilliant.

It's just a shame some of the braver efforts try and ultimately fail. Aciid!, in particular, comes across as a misguided attempt to do dance music, and not only sounds dreadful but doesn't seem to sit on the tracklisting comfortably.

Yet almost all Jem's songs, and particularly lead single It's Amazing, just seem so much braver than anything her counterparts put out. Think of it as Dido with a more daring edge.

Album provided by Tesco, Llandudno Junction

Franz Ferdinand
Tonight: Franz Ferdinand
Genre: Art Rock
Highlight: Lucid Dreams

IMPROVING on an icon is never an easy job.

Just ask Franz Ferdinand, whose latest record Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, went on sale earlier this month and follows in the footsteps of one of the most hummed tunes released this decade. Take Me Out - and the eponymous debut album it came from - has quietly earned its stripes as an indie anthem, so following it on with just about anything would have been impossible.

So rather than stray into the trademark sound which so obviously dominated 2003's Franz Ferdinand, the Glaswegian art rockers have decided variety is the spice of life for their third album, and have gone for a dizzying rush of different styles and influences throughout the twelve tracks.

Ulysses, the album's lead single, makes you think the album might have taken on a darker tone than its predecessors, and there's something very Joy Division about its steely sound. It's a promising start, but get past this and it's clear that Tonight isn't going to be as guitar-twangingly memorable as their older songs.

There seems to be an eternity of fairly ho-hum indie efforts throughout the first half of the album, and you begin to wonder whether ditching the studio sessions with Girls Aloud producers Xenomania was really such a good idea. It's far more diverse than second album You Could Have It So Much Better, but anthems seem conspicuous by their absence.

Luckily the best tracks are the later ones, with Live Alone and Can't Stop Feeling sounding very party-friendly. Yet the highlight really is Lucid Dreams, which improves massively on the single version released last year with an epic acid instrumental.

Tonight is a massive departure from Franz's usual fare. Great in parts, but iconic it isn't.

Album provided by Tesco, Llandudno Junction

Lady GaGa
So Real
Genre: Pop
Highlight: Summerboy

IF ANYONE ever gets round to drawing up a list of albums which sum up the squalor and misery of the credit crunch, it's fair to assume this won't be on it.

The Fame, debut album from sultry New York songstress Lady GaGa, isn't exactly this year's subtlest release. It's a bling-friendly and very American effort, making absolutely no apologies for its repeated references to a world where everybody is a Range Rover-driving rap star. Not that it needs to, because its sixteen songs will still go down a storm with UK pop fans.

Lady GaGa previously worked with the Pussycat Dolls and anyone who plucks for this album can expect the same sort of thing, with hints of Christina Aguilera, Pink and early Madonna thrown in for good measure. As an album it takes a while to get into its stride, but the greed-is-good vibe of Beautiful Dirty Rich pretty much sums it up perfectly.

Unfortunately it's just a little short of both Pussycat-style obvious anthems and real songwriting flair, treading the safe handbag territory currently dominated by the likes of Girls Aloud. Summerboy would be my bet on being a future smash hit, while the title track has an endearing quality, but far too many of Lady GaGa's songs sound like hen night hits crying out for a remix.

The Fame is a happy throwback to the glitzy 80s pop of Madonna and Michael Jackson and in its favour Lady Gaga does sound fresher than her immediate contemporaries, but anyone expecting the turntable to be reinvented is going to disappointed.

It's hardly Earth-shatteringly innovative, but for Friday-friendly pop you can't go far wrong.

CD provided by Tesco, Llandudno Junction

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AS YOU'VE probably notice Culture Vulture hasn't quite been looking its normal self lately.

I'm told this is due to a technical problem which is affecting some of the other blogs on the North Wales Weekly News site, which our team of highly-trained web whizzes in London have been dispatched to fix.

Normal service will be resumed soon, I promise...

CHECK OUT this week's edition of the North Wales Weekly News (out tomorrow, January 15th) to read more about the Mini adventures I've been up to.

More than 200 owners of Britain's best-selling classic arrived in Llandudno last weekend as part of the Wirral to Llandudno Mini Run, and thanks to owning a Mini myself and being a reporter I was allowed to gatecrash the normally invite-only bash.

From glorious Mini Coopers of the 1960s to today's BMW-backed cars, the lineup on the town's promenade really was something to behold...

UPDATE: A Mini-tastic video I made featuring the event is now available here. Watch and enjoy!

Jeff Buckley
So Real
Genre: Rock
Highlight: I Know It's Over

READERS who haven't been living under a rock for the past month can't have failed to notice how Hallelujah, the trademark track of this tragic artist, has dominated the singles charts.

Jeff Buckley may not have been the creative genius behind the first track to hold a Christmas number one and two simultaneously, and the jury's still out on whether X Factor winner Alexandra Burke did it any justice, but it does mean this album's been given a welcome boost into 2009.

So Real is one of those Ronseal albums which really is what it says on the tin; a watery-eyed riposte to everything the glossy pop perfect world of The X Factor stands for. Hallelujah, originally penned by Leonard Cohen, may have kept Buckley in the public eye enough to posthumously bag him a festive number two but anyone expecting a pop album is in for a shock.

Buckley, as the commercials plugging this compilation point out, was tragically killed in a swimming accident over a decade ago, and So Real seems to subtly reflect this on its melancholic trip through the singer's finer works. Although some tracks, like Eternal Life, do slip into almost grungy and rather dated homages to other Nineties rockers, this isn't an album to cheer you up.

There's no doubting his songwriting flair, and almost all of the tracks have dated far better than anything Lenny Kravitz or Nick Cave, his solo artist contemporaries, have done. Even the eclectic choice of cover versions visiting artists as diverse as The Smiths and Edith Piaf, and serve his searing vocal style brilliantly.

Yet this album - and probably Buckley's legacy - is always going to be dominated by Hallelujah, which is a shame. So Real isn't going to be everyone's taste but as an introduction to the late singer it's going to be hard to beat.

Album provided by Tesco, Llandudno Junction

MGMT
Oracular Spectacular
Genre: Indie
Highlight: Kids

TO GET a flavour of what record company bosses think will be big in 2009 you have to go back to one of 2008's slowest burners.

Industry plaudits reckon we'll be going back to the 1980s with acts like electro-friendly La Roux and Empire of the Sun just around the corner, but if you want to get in on the nostalgia without the wait you could do a lot worse than picking up MGMT'S glossy debut album.

Oracular Spectacular - from the New York duo formerly known as The Management - may have been overshadowed by the success of homegrown rivals the Ting Tings but the smart money's on the duo playing an ever bigger role in music, and on the back of this effort it isn't hard to see why.

Between them, members Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser have created a sound which draws itself from all sorts of influences - the melodic pop of the Beach Boys, the hardened punk of The Stranglers and bits of Bowie to name but three - but it's in recent single Kids where they've really managed to make their mark.

It's a riot of synth-driven beats underlined by lyrics so catchy it's almost annoying, so it's surprising both it and MGMT's album have been cruelly missed out by so many.

Lead single Time to Pretend, with its bass laden, dancier feel, also shows this band mean business; think Franz Ferdinand brought bang up to date and you won't be too far off. MGMT aren't as accessible as The Ting Tings but prove infinitely more rewarding.

2009 is already shaping up to be a vintage year for music lovers everywhere but here's hoping that MGMT will be in with a slice of the action.

CD provided by Tesco, Llandudno Junction

IT'S BEEN a corking year for culture even if the sky seems to be falling according to just about everyone else.
World economy about to implode, Ross and Brand in radio sex scandal, millions still unaware that Torchwood is an anagram of Doctor Who; 2008's been a bit of a weird year. Yet there were still plenty of things to keep Culture Vulture amused:

1) Albums that grow on you

Annoying when you've just reviewed them but better musically. For the record, I'd like to add at least one star to Travis' Ode To J Smith because on balance it's a great album. Song to Self is the best track the lads have put out in years.

2) Wales' Got Talent

Or rather, Ysgol Glanaethwy has. Bangor's best choir have been given a massive boost this year after starring in Last Choir Standing and now getting the recognition they deserve. A five star act in all senses.

3) The Rock Project

The Denbigh-based music maestros who earlier this year expanded across North Wales. I worked with them earlier this year on a story and really admired their Pop Idol for Welsh youngsters strategy.

4) Feeder

For spectacularly slamming the entire British record industry in an interview I did with drummer Mark Richardson earlier this year. I like a band that has the balls to say it.

5) Ashes to Ashes

Not as good as Life on Mars? Rubbish. Even after the questionable ending where Bolly Knickers stayed in 1981, I was still lusting after an Audi Quattro and some Human League on the cassette player.

And a few less impressive bits of 2008:

6) C**p comebacks

Specifically Oasis, The Verve, and Led Zeppelin for marking their return with albums that were good but could have been so much better. Whether Blur can pull off the same trick will be one of 2009's big questions...

7) The Welsh language

Which I think is great, even though I can't speak it. Yet proposals by Richard Brunstrom to have all North Wales police cars run in Welsh-only livery angered more than it delighted. A risky move.

8) Paunch dancing

The Rhyl Visitor's rather-misguided attempt at sending me to a belly dancing class. The resulting video should be banned for fear of scaring small children.

9) Australia

Baz Luhrmann's epic has epic production values but is also epically annoying; who uses Elgar to illustrate a poignant moment in the Outback? They'll be using Vaughan Williams in Lethal Weapon soon.

10) The credit crunch

Need I say more?

Culture Vulture wishes all of its five readers a happy New Year.

A NORTH WALES band say they are looking forward to 2009 with a series of gigs across the region planned to accompany their upcoming album.

Abergele indie act Junebug will be celebrating New Year [December 31] with a performance in Eglwysbach, and will be playing in Holywell later this month to promote their still-untitled sixth studio album.

"The end of 2008 was really quiet for gigs in North Wales but as there are a few venues popping up it's good to be able to do more gigs locally" said Guy Latham, the band's bassist.

"We'll keep on going as ever. We've got a great line-up and a strong fan-base, and we hope that people will continue to enjoy our music throughout 2009."

It is one of several shows the band will play this year, including a stint at Manchester's Surface Unsigned Festival, and have also applied to play at Glastonbury's Unsigned stage.

The threesome say that although they have been approached by record companies several times they have remained an unsigned act, saying that they prefer playing smaller gigs and keeping creative control.

"It's really difficult to get a deal when a recession's on, but we're not going to be bugging the bigger labels anyway" Guy added.

"As long as people listen to the tracks and enjoy them, that's all that matters."

Junebug will play a free gig The Old Wine Vaults in Holywell on January 11, with the performance starting at the pub on Cross Street at 8.00pm For more information about
Junebug visit the band's official website at www.junebug.co.uk or find out more about their gigs on www.myspace.com/junebugtheband.

Keep up to date with the latest on North Wales bands on the Culture Vulture blog at www.culturevulture.northwalesblogs.co.uk.

Ysgol Glanaethwy
O Fortuna
Genre: Vocal
Highlight: Adiemus

WHEN A Welsh comedy legend pronounces your choir as star of his own show, you know you're onto a winning formula. That's exactly what Max Boyce did on his latest tour, and anyone who saw Ysgol Glanaethwy at his Llandudno gig last month will already know how electrifying they are live.

O Fortuna is actually the third album from the Bangor-based choir but it's only since starring in BBC series Last Choir Standing that the mainstream media have really taken notice of this performing arts school. Given the talent which so obviously ripples through this choir's ranks, maybe the world's cottoned a little late.

As an album it exhibits an appeal reflective of Glanaethwy itself; ever so Welsh and yet multi-lingual and international in its reach. Whether singing in English (Circle of Life), Welsh (Dyrchefir Fi) or just plain jibberish (Adiemus), the many singers involved won't fail to keep you entertained and enlightened.

Anyone expecting an album in the traditional, narrative sense is going to be disappointed, but it would be wrong to expect that. This instead is an assortment of songs which have kept their loyal live audiences stunned throughout 2008, and thankfully any instrumentation is kept to a minimum. It lets the voices - quite literally - do the talking.

Perhaps its only failing is that its many covers will inevitably invite comparisons, but after hearing the Welsh version of You Raise Me Up any doubts are blown away.

It won't be everyone's bag but to dismiss O Fortuna is to miss out on a gorgeous album which revels in this choir's velvety vocal talent.

CD provided by Tesco, Llandudno Junction