Jade Makes A Video!

We've just over a month to go until Eurovision 2009, and our very own entry - Jade Ewan - has just unleashed the video for 'It's My Time' and it's made me warm to it much, much more. Forgetting the jaw-droppingly bad lyrics, Jade's managed to add a bit of personality and zest to the track, building it up and up before letting go in an almighty fashion on the last chorus. Plus look who pops up a minute in.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTos6sAXJ_Q[/youtube]

(The Digital Dog remix is worth a poppers o'clock giggle.)

Review: The New Yorkers, Lilian Bayliss Theatre, Sadlers Wells

Musicals come and go. The lucky ones get turned into films and are immortalised. Everyone's heard of Oklahoma!, Anything Goes and Guys and Dolls. But what about Allegro, Nymph Errant or Greenwillow? No, us neither.

Since 1989 Ian Marshall Fisher has been a one-man musical preservation industry, every year dredging up unfairly forgotten shows by the great writers of the early 20th century and labelling them the Lost Musicals. His latest project at Sadler's Wells (Sundays until April 26) is Cole Porter and Herbert Fields' 1930 society satire The New Yorkers. What hits you first is the minimalist approach. Smartly decked out in evening dress, the company files onto a brightly-lit stage - empty apart from a row of chairs. Each clutches a black folder containing the script. There are no props and only piano accompaniment. It's almost like watching an early BBC radio drama recording. But the performances themselves are boisterous, especially from the remarkable Michael Roberts in a role originally taken by Jimmy Durante.

There's a negligible plot: wealthy young New York socialite falls for shady nightclub owner and ends up organising a jailbreak when he is busted. This being the Prohibition, there are plenty of jokes about alcohol and the lengths people will go to for it, including an entire song, 'Say It With Gin'. The links between the revue-style numbers and story are sometimes tenuous, but sometimes that helps: after one particularly rowdy comedy routine, Corrie Mac steps forward and sings 'Love for Sale', Porter's great, sad song about a prostitute. The effect is devastating.

What's most surprising though is how funny the show still is. Yes, some of the contemporary references are missed, but the acidic swipes at the uber-rich, the justice system, and above all lovely 'liquor', still have the power to raise a laugh. If something as classy as The New Yorkers can be lost, what other musical marvels might still await rediscovery?

The New Yorkers plays each Sunday at 4pm until April 26. Full details here. If you only see one show this month, this should be it.

Shena

In dance music, female vocalists rarely get name-checked, never mind seen in a scantily clad video. We've been dancing to songs like Michael Gray's 'The Weekend' and Alex Gaudino's 'Watch Out' for years but have we ever heard of the vocalist, Shena?

A session singer originally, last week Shena released her new single 'Can't Stop The Rain' and although it didn't do big things, it must surely have tickled the ears of Hed Kandi or Ministry's A&R people. Sounding like the closest thing to Chic, particularly I Want Your Love, in many a year, it's full of funky horns, a hip shimmering bassline and Nile Rodgers' bells. Radio 2 have been playing it on their B-list but I'd love it to pick up somewhere else in the future.

Paul Lester says it better.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxIiAklZ13U[/youtube]

Review: Blok Busta, New Players Theatre

Wandering into a London theatre to be confronted by only 14 other people two minutes before curtain call is always a worrying sign. Maybe it's a hidden gem, we thought to ourselves. Warning: it is not a hidden gem.

'Blok Busta' is a brand new musical from TV scriptwriter and record producer Mike Bennett. Inspired by the glam music of the 70s, it tells the tale of a group of friends in the town of Glamsville who are terrorised by the serial killer Busta. His weapon? The power of disco music and a sprinkling of corn flakes (we have no idea). Aiming to be a farcical who-dunnit, the jokes come fast but more often than not create groans rather than laughs. Indeed the whole plot muddles its way from murder through schizophrenia, misogyny, threesomes before an overly intense and nonsensical ending.

Mixing actual glam hits such as Devilgate Drive, Ballroom Blitz and The Jean Genie with new compositions will go some way to satisfy a child of the day but few of the new songs excite. Al Howell's sweet duet with Delilah, 'Disco Dispair', is a rare highlight as is the later power pop of Kandy Girl's complete with dance routine and lesbian kiss.

In fact, it is only the lively nature of the young cast, who play all their own instruments, that manage to keep us in our seats for the duration. Ignoring a distracting performance from Susannah van den Berg as Tiger Feet and a whopper of a bad note from Mikey O'Connor's Inspector Stone, the real delight is newcomer Clare Kinson who takes on the duel roles of perky teenager Delilah and saucy policewoman Jean Jeanie. One to keep an eye on.

Blok Busta continues at the New Players Theatre, Villiers Street until April 18 with tickets at £20.

Rochelle

When London band Rochelle released their first single 'Fer De Lance' on Kitsune Records last year they were exactly the type of band you could imagine getting remixed and being played by bloggy people at little dance nights in East London. It was glitchy goodness, with a touch of the overstyling, but didn't have that big hook that might interest anyone out of E2. Now they're back for 2009 and pushed the pop fader up a little bit, resulting in the much more accessible 'Chin Up'.

First things first though, Rochelle are a band - not some shiny electro diva. Lydia is the name of the Amy Winehouse look-a-like and if I were her manager I might be suggesting a bit of a hair colour change to stop any ridiculous confusion. She's even managed to rock a key-tar in this Klaxons-y video months before Little Boots is allowed to waggle hers about in a video. 'Chin Up' is out in April and they're playing live at Yo-Yo on Thursday night. Of course you will all be at Miss-Shapes instead.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E6Q71avbtc[/youtube]

Can anyone figure out what the 'one for sorrow, two for joy...' bit of the verse sounds just like?

Review: Metro Station - Metro Station

If Billy Ray is your Dad, Miley your little sister, and you want to have a career in rock music, you'd have to come up with something pretty amazing to be taken seriously. Latest Cyrus on the block, Trace might be trying to do just that as part of Metro Station, but their debut album leaves us feeling distinctly underwhelmed.

Originally released in the US back in 2007, it's taken two whole years for the Metro Station sound to hit our shores. In that time similar sounding but much better bands like Shiny Toy Guns, The Answering Machine and Stefy all failed to make any impact at all over here. So what is it about Metro Station that makes them different?

Their first UK single 'Control' might have fizzled by without anyone noticing but it's the 2nd, 'Shake It', that's made us sit up and pay attention. Powered by a huge sing-a-long chorus that would have any dancefloor stomping and chanting along to. It's a power pop, almost Disney, version of the darker emo sounds offered by labelmates Fall Out Boy. Similarly the gloomier 'Wish We Were Older' has a brilliantly goofy 'Woah-e-o-e-o' hands in the air chorus. The problem with both these songs and perhaps the rest of the album is that they seem to be built entirely to support the chorus with the verses being utterly unmemorable. Indeed songs like the twinkly 'California' and dreary 'True To Me' easily merge into the background.

Utterly harmless, Metro Station have shown they have the potential to write a killer hook. Their debut album is just not the showcase for that talent we were hoping for.

Review: Ronan Keating - Songs For My Mother

Ahead of Mother's Day each year albums designed to appeal to your mum trot out in stores around the country. As well as dabbling with a Boyzone reunion, 2009 is the year for Ronan Keating to make his mainstream comeback starting with a release of 'Songs For My Mother'.

This, his fifth studio album, is a collection of covers recorded by Ronan with a live orchestra. It's no rapidly chosen covers album though; instead it's a group of songs Ronan remembers his mother, who he lost to cancer at the height of his success in 1998, listening to throughout his childhood.

Covering songs as cherished as Don McClean's 'Vincent' and Joni Mitchell's 'Both Sides Now' is always going to aggravate fans of the original but on the whole, Ronan manages to create careful versions filled to the brink with emotion. Bob Dylan's 'Make You Feel My Love' crackles with tears, popular Celtic folk songs such as 'Carrickfergus' and 'The Wild Mountain Thyme' are tender and the orchestral arrangement of Cyndi Lauper's 'Time After Time' adds an extra layer of euphoria coupled with the sadness of the lyrics.

Only a cold heart could refuse to be moved by the gentle 'Mama's Arms'. Originally performed by American singer-songwriter Joshua Kadison, the heart tugging lyrics must have been hard to Ronan to sing, his voice cracking on the beautiful line 'all you want is mama's arms'. The mood is only ruined somewhat by the suddenly jolly 'Suspicious Minds' and echo-heavy cheese fest cover of R Kelly's 'I Believe I Can Fly'.

It would be easy to thrown scorn on 'Songs For My Mother' but instead it's a sweet, and surprisingly enjoyable compilation of gorgeous songs. Perfect to show your mother how much you care.

Originally for Orange Music