Captain Dom!

Hip Hop Lives

Common - The Game

Produced by Kanye West. Scratches by DJ Premier

Pet Shop Boys Live!

We managed to miss the first hour because of an argument over whether or not Vince Vaughn is in Anchorman. He is. Chris Lowe ABE (Albert's British Empire) and (Yes) Sir Neil Tennant were outstanding as always. I asked Albert to write a review but he decided to make a top six of his favourite PSB lyrics instead, enjoy.



Pet Shop Boys - The Night I Fell In Love - iTunes (Ode to Eminem)

Next morning we woke
he couldn't have been a nicer bloke
Over breakfast made jokes
about Dre and his homies and folks
Neither of us asked if or when
we would see each other again
but I thought that was cool
'cause Iwas already late for school
by then
I'd fallen in love

The Pet Shop Boys - How Can You Expect To Be Taken Seriously? - iTunes (about Bros)

You live within the law, and everyone assumes
You must find this a bore, and try something new
You're an intellectual giant, an authority
To preach and teach the whole world about ecology

The Pet Shop Boys - The End Of The World - iTunes

Floods of tears and doors slamming
Stamping feet across the landing
Because of your obligation
To stay home and fight
Sitting down to a composition
Test the limits of your inhibition
If the phone hasn't rung by midnight
It's over tonight

If someone tried, you'd realise
It's just a boy or a girl
It's not the end of the world

The Pet Shop Boys - Left To My Own Devices - iTunes

I was faced with a choice at a difficult age
Would I write a book? or should I take to the stage?
But in the back of my head I heard distant feet
Che guevara and debussy to a disco beat

The Pet Shop Boys - Casanova In Hell - iTunes

For Casanova has the last laugh
Creates the myth and vindication
Of his sexual vocation
Makes the definitive collection
His lives and lovers and above all
His erection
Will live in history

The Pet Shop Boys - London - iTunes

My father fought in Afghanistan
His widow's pension ain't worth a damn
My mother works and goes home to cry
I want to live before I die

Hard Better Electro Kanye?

Kanye and A-Track continue their pursuit of cred. After teasing us on youtube they deliver a one minute snippet.

Kanye West - Stronger Ft Daft Punk (zShare SNIPPET)

Taken from the forthcoming Graduation album. Order here

Will sampling Daft Punk, Thom Yorke and Peter Bjorn and John make them cool? We admire Mr West for trying to push the envelope but in sampling such hyped artists is he not just being a bit obvious/lazy? He uses 'Harder Better Faster Stronger' well but he must be a little embarrassed that Swizz Beatz beat him to the Daft Punk thang first on Busta's Touch it.

Daft Punk - Electroma

Funbongo: I finally watched Daft Punk's Electroma today, its a contradiction; dull and compelling. Unless you are a huge Daft Punk fan or love 'arty' work I wouldn't bother watching it. The film follows around the Daft Punk robots as the strive to become human, there is no dialogue and long continuous passages of film where absolutely nothing occurs. The plight of the robots is vaguely charming but its not something I will ever watch again.

Albert Hoxton: Its like 'Spiceworld the Movie' but with Robots and no Roger Moore.






Daft Punk 'Electroma' trailer

Jay-Z/Amy Winehouse - Rehab (Alternative Verse)

Mark Ronson DJ's For Natasha Bedingfield

Tuesday nights can be cruel. Albert and I missed out because we were visiting Daniel Bedingfield in Re-kebab. Danny is there for sister addiction. Albert also has a mildly worrying Natasha Bedingfield issue; the two had a good ol' Nata-natter.

Consequently we couldn't go to a secret Natasha Bedingfield show featuring Mark Ronson on the decks. Canadian and Scouse were there and a couple of pictures:




Mark Ronson - Tomorrow





Siobhan Update

Free Download of the amazing track 'Ghosts' available on her myspace page


Siobhan Donaghy - Coming Up For Air Live at Pop Justice. You can see Funbongo's hand taking pictures in the last 10 seconds



From her first album

Siobhan Donaghy - Overrated




Natasha Bedingfield - No More Ft Eve (iTunes)



The bizarre lyrics to Daniel Bedingfield - Sister (iTunes)

You're my best friend
No you're not
You're my sister, stay in your place
I can't pretend that you're not
Threatening to me,l need my space
I'm not lying, I value survival
Over you

I'm on my own
No I'm not
I've my sister to fight for me
I can't pretend that you won't
Cause you love myself more than me
I'm not lying, so often you choose me
Over you

I wanna say I'm sorry but I know I'll do it again
I'll do it again
I know what I did but I still don't know the reason
I wanna say I'm sorry but I know I'll do it again

I pull you close
Feel your love
Then I push you away from me
Protect myself
I'm not safe when my boundaries are violated
And it's kill or die
So I choose me
Over you

ADD is my excuse
And with my excuse I shot you down

Lash out in anger
Hit the wrong target
My little sister

Natasha Bedingfield - Say It Again Ft Adam Levine (iTunes)

Next Ronson Single - Mark Ronson - Oh My God Ft Lily Allen (iTunes)

Beckham is Bizak

Albert, Funbongo and Soma will at the nu Wemberrrrleeeee to see it.

New Kanye West Video - Can't Tell Me Nothing

'If the Devil wears Prada
Adam and Eve wear nada
Im in-between but way more fresher'

Not sure how keen we are on Young Jeezy's background "chyeah', 'ha ha' and 'dayum' noises....

Sheik Shiraz Hoxton's Ivor Novello Report

Marilyn Manson - What Goes Around (Justin Timberlake Cover) - zShare



The Sheik left his camels with Albert and went to the posh London bash..

Ivor Novello's 2007

The 52nd Ivor Novello Awards took place at the ritzy Grosvenor House Hotel in London's (s)wanky Park Lane. Admittedly it was much nicer than my usual haunts of soul bars, Pakistani caves and fez clubs.

In town were some music industry elite including:

Sir Elton John, Amy Winehouse, Corrinne Bailey Rae, Quicy Jones, Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys, Albert Hoxton, Fat Boy Slim, Peter Gabriel and Mick Jones.



Madonna walked away with International Hit of the Year; unfortunately the leotard lady of pop was not in attendance to collect her accolade. That was left to super-producer Stuart Price aka Jacques Lu Cont. Clad in a Ralph Lauren shirt, complimented by a jumper thrown over his shoulders - he looked more like he belonged at the Henley Regatta.

Madonna - Sorry (Pet Shop Boys Mix) - iTunes

Amy Winehouse avoided the red carpet treatment and snook into the venue to pick up Best Contemporary Song. Fresh from her marriage to her new bloke over in the states, the pint sized star was pounced upon by the UK's press, all eager to get a piece of musics hottest property (Albert: Ne-Yo wasn't there was he?).



The man that goes by the name of Fat Boy Slim was awarded the Outstanding Contribution to British Music gong. Flanked by former House Martins band mate Paul Heaton, he seemed clearly overawed by the honour.

Fat Boy Slim - Wonderful Night - iTunes



Quincy Jones flew into town to receive The Special International award - admitting to waiting journalists that until Michael Caine explained what the ceremony was about, he didn't have a clue what he was here for! He revealed future plans include a high definition cinematic film about Brazil - with proceeds going to Hurricane Katrina victims as well as the people that live in the Favela's of Brazil.

Michael Jackson - P.Y.T - iTunes

Relative unknown Scott Matthews scooped the Best Song award, Yusuf Islam (a cousin of mine, twice removed) aka Cat Stevens rolled up to be awarded the Outstanding Song Collection (Albert: Someone gave Cat Stevens a copy of Rudebox? Why didn't Rudebox win?).

Errrr (we mean Sir) Elton John turned up to join Scissor Sisters on stage as they won the Most Performed Work award (Albert: AKA worse single in pop history). During his acceptance speech, the Lord of the Piano jokingly told Alex Turner from the Arctics that he could have a ride up to Sheffield with him in his private helicopter (what a cheeky man) - and warned Amy Winehouse that she'd better not cancel her next gig (Albert: ha ha Elton your a comic genius, stop now).



Wino famously pulled out of two gigs in London and was pictured looking suspiciously thirsty in her local branch of Tescos - whether the fact she was in the alcohol section at 11am on the day of her gigs was the cause for this cancellation is anyones guest. (Albert: she was allegedly in Shoreditch's Griffin pub with certain suppliers that night)


Amy Winehouse - Take The Box (Headquarters Mix) iTunes



Last but by no means least, Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys (Albert: The R Kellys of Indie) demonstrated a more mature approach to awards ceremonies. Clearly understanding of itsrespect in musical quarters - the frontman was apologetic for past actions:

'usually we just get these awards, get on stage and gob off... maybe it's cos I'm so young that I didn't really realise the importance of these awards...

The press scrum around him grappling to get a soundbyte of the Sheffield man
clearly backed this up.

Arctic Monkeys - Fluorescent Adolescent -iTunes

All in all an interesting awards ceremony. By no means the most Rock 'n' Roll
event when compared with the likes of the NME's (Albert: rubbish awards) and Q awards (Albert: who cares?), but nevertheless, a plethora of big name talent turned up to show their respect for what is seen as a highly prestigious ceremony.

Shake Your Tambourine...

The Filthy Few Invade Proud...The Penelope Hoxton Show

Download the FREE Filthy Few Podcast 'ere

The Filthy Few rocked it...

Albert Hoxton: Yes we did. No stupid bands, just DJ's. I hate live music.

Funbongo: Princess Penelope's debut was special



DJ's Shiraz, Captain Dom, DJ Risco and Christian 'Nails' K acted as great support to Penelope Hoxton. Albert's sister showed that there is at least one member of the Hoxton clan that doesn't think burping into a mic is beatboxing.



The Princess Penelope DJ Masterclass



Simply Red - Something Got Me Started



DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince - Boom Shake The Room



House Of Pain - Jump Around







Backstage



Cassidy - Hotel Ft R Kelly

Watch the video for R Kelly's PINK rapist outfit, the guy is bananas!

McCartney Does Something Good

The kids at Fader found this Michel Gondry treat featuring McKenzie Crook. The song, 'Dance Tonight' is actually quite good. Listen out for the track at the end of the video because that sounds cool as well. Out on iTunes on 4th June, its taken from the new album called 'Memory Almost Full'.

Willy Mason Live! Ft Jessica Simpson and Will Ferrell

Willy Mason




Albert Hoxton: Who?
Funbongo: Never heard of him either... anyway Ophelia Hoxton went along to take her mind off the divorce from Albert.

What happened?

Ophelia Hoxton: So we got to the gig just as Elvis Perkins the support was starting. The songs he sang were mostly happy which made a nice change from your usual men singer songwriters whining about love. He had a trumpet player, violinist, viola player, and some weird accordion type guitar which was pretty classy. He definitely got the crowd going.

Albert Hoxton: Like in Blades of Glory?

Chazz: We're gonna dance to one song, and one song only: "Lady Humps" by the Black Eyed Peas. "What you gonna do with all that junk, all that junk inside your trunk? I’m a get you, get you drunk, get you drunk off my lady humps, my humps, my humps, my lovely lady humps."
Jimmy: [disgusted] I'm not skating to anything with references to lady humps. I don't even know what that means.
Chazz: No one knows what it means, but it's provocative...
Jimmy: No, it's not, it's gross...
Chazz: ...It gets the people going!



Ophelia Hoxton: Then Willy turned up and he looked like he hadn’t made any effort. He was dressed in what you would wear to do your Saturday toilet cleaning.

As soon as he started singing that was all forgotten and yours truly was totally spellbound. I could wax lyrical about him for quite some time but I'll stop here.



Surprises:

Ophelia Hoxton: He saved Oxygen to the end, which I suppose wasn't a surprise but a bit disappointing. The bassist broke a string at one point which meant that he had to entertain the crowd and he didn't really know what to do. That was pretty funny.




How did you find Shepherd's Bush?

I hate Shepherds Bush as a venue. The floor is flat and there were some tall people in front of me, and I'm pretty tall [Taller than Max anyway]. The sound quality was grand and when he was talking to the crowd you could hear what he was saying which is important.




What was his banter/interaction with the crowd like?

Excellent. Some idiots were shouting out requests and he dealt with it really well. He got into a bit of a bind with his guitar strap and the band played some comedy music while he was sorting it out which was also good.

Rating out of 14.6:

13.9

Willy Mason MySpace

Jessica Simpson - These Boots Are Made For Walking Ft Willie Nelson



NO COMMENT

Movement By Myself, A Force When We're Together

Peter Doherty before he became a crack pipe baby

Sheik Shiraz Hoxton found this little gem...

Calvin Harris, Albert, Disco and Nappies

Calvin Harris - I Created Disco (Sony)

There have been mumblings in the dance community: 'Who is this cheeky chap that makes dance music but embraces pop culture?', 'Anthony and Cleopatra! He has gone top ten, lets hate him and act like Mylo is better.'

Mylo destroyed rock and roll, Calvin Harris created Disco.

This album is strong but Calvin has left himself room for improvement. 'Merrymaking', 'Acceptable in the 80's', 'Electo Man', 'Disco Heat' and 'The Girls' are the obvious high points. He is not able to maintain the thrill for the entire 55 minutes but the album is certainly full of hustle. Its FunBongo's favourite dance album of the year.

8.2 out of 11

Half Year Bingo Bango Dance Party Time Chart

1.Calvin Harris - Its fun and addictive
2. Justice - Occasionally special but generally too cool for skool, not enough knowledge for college.
3. Groove Armada - 4 or 5 great tracks but lacks coherence as an album.
4. LCD Soundsystem - The odd seminal moment but James Murphy takes himself far too seriously to be worth the long, dull passages.

Woo! Calvin wins!!!

Albert Hoxton: This should have been on the album Calvin Harris - Love For You (iTunes)

Order Calvin's album here

Justice Vs Maroon 5, Siobhan and Rihanna

Justice - † (Ed Banger Records)



To say this album sounds like Daft Punk is not quite accurate; it sounds more Thomas Bangalter's solo work ('Outrage' in particular). Apart from borrowing all the Daft Punk kit Gaspard and Xavier brought along the signature Justice sounds, a chalk-board, a set of nails and a fox screaming in pain. The boys have some great moments, D.A.N.C.E is a brilliant slice of infectious, uplifting disco. 'DVNO' will get a lot of butts on the dance-floor and the last minute of 'Let There Be Light' is beautiful.

Sadly the album is full of songs that are almost really good but fall at the last hurdle. 'New Jack' almost satisfies but after a short time falls into classic Justice territory... 'the grate zone'. The same can be said for 'Phantom PT 1'and 'Valentine'. 'Phantom PT 2' and 'Genesis' also offer great promise but are somewhat butchered by Justice's blunt overkill production tastes. The 'Party' features the one trick pony, Uffie. Uffie only has one 'flow' and her boring delivery becomes stagnant after 25 seconds.

Certainly quite a enjoyable album in places but no Daft Punk replacement; ignore the ridiculous beatz and buzz.

7 out of 11

Albert Hoxton: Calvin Calvin Calvin Calvin please.

Justice - Let There Be Light (iTunes)

Siobhan Donaghy - Ghosts (Parlophone)



Siobhan is difficult to write but a delight to listen to. The Sugababe back-catalog is hardly busting with consistent merit but its gingerly departed co-founder Siobhan Donaghy has delivered a collection of songs as stunning as her beauty. Siobhan has concentrated on making an album full of honesty, rather than hits. The production of the LP is cloaked in atmosphere, captured most evidently by the back-to-front vocals of the title track 'Ghosts'. "Medavac' finds Siobhan in full Kate Bush 'Wuthering Heights' mode; its one of the songs of the year so far. We like Mutya but she wont top this...

10.6 out of 11

Albert Hoxton: I wanna have your babies


Siobhan - Ghost Album Sample (iTunes)

Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long (Universal)



Maroon 5 are set to cement their position as one of the world's biggest acts, they are also destined to remain one of the most hated. There is always a backlash against bands that make heavily commercial albums. In Maroon 5's defence they have never been ashamed of their pop sensibilities. They have always used the most cliched, and harmonious chords; perfect for daytime radio and dinner parties.

Adam Levine and and the boys spoke of the album being their raciest to date, I assume they are referring to the semi-funky bridges in the global monster "Makes Me Wonder' and 'If I Never See Your Face Again'. This album, unsurprisingly, lacks imagination. Levine re-uses his own vocals from Kanye West's 'Heard 'em Say' on 'Nothing Last Forever', surely a verse from Kanye would have broken up the monotonous tone of the album a little?

Despite the album being totally predictable it is still a decent pop effort. If you don't like Maroon 5 I suggest you don't listen to the radio for the next 18 months...

6.8 out of 11.
Albert Hoxton: Why the chop did Sony let Universal snare Maroon 5?

Maroon 5 - Makes Me Wonder (iTunes)



Rihanna 'Good Girl Gone Bad' (Def Jam)



Interesting album title... 'Bad Girl Gone Good' would have made more sense. 3 albums in 18 months, that Jay-Z fella certainly is a slave driver. This is Rihanna's first album of any note. It is by no means a fantastic but they seemed to have worked it to Rihanna's strengths, her dancing. Second single 'Shut up and drive' rocks a la P!nk/Kelly Clarkson and Ne-Yo provides a ballad that will be stuck on American radio for months. Rihanna shines the brightest when she avoids the mid-tempo type of slush that ruined the Amerie album. The Justin Timberlake penned 'Rehab' seems unspectacular at first but grows with every listen.

6.9 out of 11

Rihanna - Umbrella Ft Jay-Z

Filthy Few Live! Albert has lost it...

May has arrived and so has a whole world load of Filthy Few Madness. Here is what the FunBongo Bingo Bango Squad made of the festivities....

Burmese Days



Funbongo: The lead singer does my paper round.
Albert Hoxton: Was that the rat who stole mi free copy of Mikey Oldfield 'Tubular Bells'?
Funbongo: Fo Shizzle.
Albert Hoxton: Pretty good for a band with guitars and no girls.
Funbongo: Here here, Im with you on that one Bert.

MySpace


The Real Heat




Funbongo: Didn't we see them at PopJustice?
Albert Hoxton: Yes, they decided to wear clothes this time.
Funbongo: I'd be more inclined to like them if they were actually attractive, it does wonders for the Sugababes.
Albert Hoxton: They are entertaining in a perverse way, a bit like Noel Edmonds.
Funbongo: You can't compare The Real Heat to Mr Blobby's boyfriend.
Albert Hoxton: Bruce Forsyth then?
Funbongo: Hang on, they ain't that hot.

MySpace


Florence and The Machine




MySpace

Funbongo: She sang acapella because her lazy bum of a guitarist (fucking musicians) was watching Eastenders.
Albert Hoxton: This is why I say we should move the night to Wednesday, people get the dirty Den Dilemma if you compete with the Walford Massive.
Funbongo: Albert keep quiet about Leslie Graham's webcam, you got him in a lot of trouble last time.



Albert Hoxton: Back to the script... she was/is amazing. A cross between Barbara Windsor and Joss Stone.



Funbongo: Not really Albert, thats your perfect woman. She was unbelievable, arguably the best Act the Filthy Few has ever had. The crowd even forced her to do an encore.

Check the youtube below...



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EMO + Hip Hop = Gym Class Heroes