We clearly don't like the Mercury entries as much as the judges...
Jim
Joy Crookes 7
Massive attack meets Amy winehouse . Even if not really my bag, original and interesting with a few cracking numbers
Kojey Radical 7
This grew on me, and as with JC, original and interesting. Some shades of snoop. Nice that a new hip hop act doesn’t ram the same old tired messages down your throat (take note Beyonce)
Beyonce 5
Sorry Andy but like many of these mega-acts, including her hubby, I think she’s overrated.
Some of it was pretty dreadful - energy and thique to name 2. A few housey baselines and the popier numbers could not save it.
Booties billions bling bitches = boring
Jessie Buckley & Bernard Butler 5
If any one of these had been the slow number on a Primal Scream album it would have worked , but as nice and inoffensive as it was, it was a tad dull.
TOTW Payback - Kojey Radical
Stones Roses - Easiest review we’ve done . It's fighting for the GOAT. 10.1
Andy
Joy Crookes - I really enjoyed this, although Jim's Amy Winehouse comparison almost got too inside my head second time around 7
Kojey Radical - Decent bit of hip hop, he sounds a wee bit like 2Pac at times and I feel like he references that in one of his lyrics, so maybe I'm not imagining things 6.5
Beyonce - On the 3 or 4 listens so far this isn't quite up there with Lemonade, but what could be, but it is still an absolute blast 8
Jessie Buckley & Bernard Butler - Anyone who has seen Wild Rose (highly recommended if you haven't) would have already known Jessie B had a lovely voice and this is the perfect vehicle for it, some absolutely massive tunes on this that make me wish Bernie was still in Suede 7.5
Track of the Week - Footnotes on the Map by JB & BB because I'm finding it hard to split some of the Beyonce tracks up
Stone Roses - A great album but it's not perfect, the run from Don't Stop to Elizabeth My Dear is actually quite bad. The rest more than makes up for it, even after United have purloined This Is The One 9
Guy
Joy Crookes - Not bad but a bit too whinehouse for my liking. Might be alright in the background at a bistro restaurant but less so in my airpods on a sun lounger. 6.5
Kojey Radical - This I thought was pretty decent for UK rap. I was slightly worried by the mention of grime in his bio but it was all quite tuneful and reminded me a bit of France's hip hop icon MC Solaar 7
Beyonce - please lord don't tell me I'm turning into Andy... But I thought this was alright too. (Well certainly not worth some of the scores i suspect she's going to get). Yes, she swears like a navvy and yes she's self-indulgent but it's tuneful and decent fun - 6.7
Jessie Buckley & Bernard Butler - This is pretty poor. Pootles along and doesn't go anywhere. She has a decent voice and the guitar from the Suede guy is OK but it's got no ummph to it 5.5
Track of the Week - Together - Kojey Radical
Stone Roses - The album by which all others are measured. The greatest debut of all time. The greatest album of all time. Every song has something special about. Driving off-beat drums from Rennie, perfect basslines from Mani and memorable riffs from John Squire. Yes, Ian Brown has a poor voice relatively but it's masked to an extent on the album and you can sense he has so much swagger. It's an obvious score from me - 10 (TEN)
Erol
Joy Crookes - a talent to listen out for over the next few years. Soulful with an occasional nod to Amie Winehouse (who I thought was great). A really impressive debut. 7.5
Kojey Radical - I know little about the grime and rap game. Kendrick Lamar, Dave and now Kojey all sound much the same to my uncultured ear. Not really my thing, I’m afraid. 4.9
Beyoncé - Overrated to say the least. In an attempt to be ‘current’ she has developed a potty mouth. B needs to go and sit on the naughty step and rethink her approach. Lyrics aside, the music is pretty poor too. All very disjointed. Shame, as she excelled when she played Glastonbury a few years ago. 4.5
Jessie Buckley & Bernard B - at times this was beautiful and soaring. She has a gorgeous voice, though occasionally the style lapses into corny jazz cafe/ country which tarnished the overall effect. 6.9
TOTW - We’ve Run the Distance by Jessie B and Bernard B.
Stone Roses - I don’t have to listen to this again as I have played it so many times. A stone cold classic, up there with one of the best. 9.9.
Simon
Joy Crookes: not my bag, and I didn't really like her voice. 6
Kojey Radical: not the sort of thing I'd normally listen to, but found it quite uplifting and like the Little Simz album it has a bit of verve and imagination. 6.8
Beyonce: don't know any of Beyonce's music beyond Crazy in Love, and there's nothing here as good as that - tiresome and self-indulgent. 5.6
Jessie Buckley & Bernard Butler: bit slow in places, but it's an intriguing record and she has a cracking voice. 7.5
Stone Roses: one of those albums you don't remember listening to much but still know all the songs... it's legendary status is assured, but it does have a couple of iffy tracks in the middle - fortunately I Am The Resurrection is one of the best closing tracks of all time. 9
TotW: The Eagle & The Dove by Jessie Buckley and Bernard Butler
Mark
Joy Crookes - my daughter put me on to her earlier in the year when she saw her in Kingston, I see she's at Reading too, will check her out. I liked it more when she turns up the reverb and goes a bit northern soul, some crackers towards the end like Feet Don't Fail Me Know and Kingdom - 8
Kojey Radical - decent beats and some inventive samples, but his gruff, laboured vocal was a bit of a turn off for me - 5
Beyoncé - have said my piece on the other chat. The tiresome braggadocio drowns out any merit the music might have to offer. She's loaded and rates herself massively in the sack, ok, we get it - 4
Jessie Buckley and Bernard Butler- massive fan of his Suede and solo stuff so was looking forward to this. Very laid back acoustic start, albeit with her lovely voice, but then gets going and it's a fine mix of Nick Drake and and a bit of moody country soul on stuff like Beautiful Regret. A rewarding listen that gets better after multiple plays, but comes up short of the Bobby Gillespie / Jenny Beth equivalent which was a bit more expansive - 7.5
TOTW - Kingdom by Joy Crookes
Stone Roses - the album of a generation, the mystery and magic, the way it spread by word of mouth during spring/summer '89 and became an obsession, full of grooves and gorgeous guitars. Whatever missteps came afterwards, for that 6 month period way back in our late teens they were untouchable. 10
Matt
Joy Crookes: some songs suited her vocal range better but her voice was was a bit of a distraction 6
Kojey Radical: some genuine variety within the summertime swagger. 7.5
Beyonce: I don't want to listen to this again. 4
Jessie Buckley & Bernard Butler: promised at and ultimately worth the effort but needed a bit of discipline in cutting some of the earlier tracks which seemed to merge into one. 7
Justin
Joy Crookes - great voice. Not all the tracks grabbed me on first listen, but I think it is a grower so 7
Koey Radical great album. Streets ahead of other artists in this genre. Good tunes and lyrics. 7.2
Beyoncé snippets of brilliance and the odd tune that feels it could be remixed into a classic but as it stands as a package at the moment just can't get into it. 5
Jessie Buckley & Bernard Butler some great acoustic guitar and possibly would improve with more listens but did feel a bit like hard work 6.4
Sam
Joy Crookes: nice feel to some of the songs but her voice grates a bit . 6
Kojey Radical : Uk hip hop artist brags about how rich he is , yawnsville … tho I did like the Ghanaian mum bit ! 5
Beyoncé : obviously talented but this is poorly executed and a bit dumb 5
Jessie Buckley and Bernard Butler : lovely voice and some of this is genuinely heart rending stuff . More variety needed however. 7
Tune of the week : We’ve run the distance by Jessie Buckley and Bernard Butler
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