Help: A Day In The Life (Part 1)

(see here)

So, first off, this whole venture, despite being yet another repetition of something done in the past, seems a whole lot more likable than either Band Aid 20 or Live 8.
Band Aid 20 raised a lot of money, but it also foisted an uninspired version of a not very good song on us, and felt like it was being bought out of a sense of duty rather than because anyone was really planning to play the song a lot. This could be seen to be pretty irrelevant in the face of doing something so important, but why not have a good song as well as a good cause?
Live 8 did offer something that (some) people would actually want, the chance to see lots of popular bands in one day from a very long way away, but seemed hopelessly muddled in what it intended to achieve by this. 'It's not about the money, it's about the awareness' we were told, before eBay was forced to stop people from selling tickets to it because they were apparently taking advantage of a charity, and a 'golden circle' was put in place, in front of the crowd, of people who had bought the privilege of getting to be slightly less far away.

Help, though, manages to both have a clear and good reason for its existence and to offer something which people really will actually want (a lot of people judging by the meltdown of the Warchild website last night), a lot of new songs by popular bands.

Plus it has outdone the original from ten years ago in at least one way, as that featured a fair few remixes and live versions which can't have been the most exciting, and this features only new songs and a couple of covers. But are they any good? Well, I've listened a few times now, and here are my current thoughts:

1. Radiohead - I Want None Of This
This is, truth be told, not the greatest start to the album. Sounding vaguely like a slightly less evil version of Hail To The Thief's We Suck Young Blood, it has Thom backed just by piano and ghostly wordless backing vocals, singing things like 'if it matters to you, you can sell it all out'. It seems stuck halfway between sinister and moving though, and generally unremarkable. It probably doesn't say anything about how their next album will sound though, and I can't imagine this being reused as Lucky was last time.

2. The Coral - It Was Nothing
The first thing to notice is that the first second or so is In The Morning! Second is that it sounds like it could easily fit onto most recent album The Invisible Invasion. Perhaps this is because The Coral work so fast normally that recording in a day was normal (they have released about 80 songs in 4 years, which is pretty impressive going), but also it is because so many of their mid-paced songs now do have a distinct (to anything else) but very similar feel to them, a problem which really didn't help the album.
This has a really nice mid-section with twangy guitar and 'ooh-ooh's but overall I can't help but wish for a return to the days of Skeleton Key and similar madness.

3. The Zutons - Hello Conscience
'Hello conscience, how do you do? I've come such a long way to talk to you'
The Zutons' lyrics show no sign of getting any less stupid, clearly, but that doesn't matter too much in an enjoyably mindless stomping pop song like this. It takes a little too long to get to the big, garish climax though.

4. Elbow - Snowball
Elbow are my favourite band (review of them live coming soon!), so I am pretty predisposed to love this, it actually took a few listens to sink in though. It is quietly, elegantly lovely (Guy Garvey has my favourite voice ever!) but it is only gradually that the accusatory tone of it becomes apparent too, with 'I told you so' repeated and devestating lines like 'the largest of mistakes can be forgiven, but a snowball of little white lies will crush your house' before building to a dense and furious close. Seemingly political without being crass, despairing and angry yet beautiful, it's definitely one of my favourite things here, although that is no surprise.

5. The Magic Numbers - Gone Are The Days
They still haven't totally won me over, in spite of Forever Lost being so very adorable, and this fits expectations really - almost too sweet for words, though a little forgettable with it.

6. Max Emo Park - Wasteland
Much the same as for The Magic Numbers really. I haven't been persuaded to get their album yet, although Acrobat is fantastic and I quite like the singles, and this is very pleasant and likable but isn't changing my mind on them yet either. The accent is really a fantastic asset especially for some of these lyrics, and it has a great sudden ending though.

7. The Go! Team - Phantom Broadcast
I have to admit to being almost totally unfamiliar with The Go! Team. I really like the sound of this though. True, it doesn't exactly do much, but it does have a fantastic sound! And it onyl lasts 2:30 anyway. So it's fine.

8. Emmanuel Jal - Gua
This is a little bit outside of being the kind of thing that I can comment on with much confidence (not white blokes with guitars, is it?) but for what it's worth I enjoy it. It never goes anywhere near preachiness in making its point, and has really great backing vocals too.

9. Keane & Faultline - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
I don't know the orginal beyond this sounding vaguely familiar (and that's as much because the start sounds like Stars' Set Yourself On Fire as anything) so I can't really say how this compares. It's much better than Keane's cover of With Or Without You though. I don't know what Faultline actually did but the slightly distorted bits may be down to him, as usual it's mainly about that voice though, and even if it's easy to be tired of by now this is very pretty.

10. Kaiser Chiefs - I Heard It Through The Grapevine
Starts off sounding like Seven Nation Army, somehwat unexpectedly, and goes on to be not quite as much of a bad idea as I would have imagined beforehand. Still quite a bad idea though, and that's even as someone who normally really likes them.

11. Bloc Party - The Present
From a band who have released no new B-sides on any formats of any of their three singles this year, it's actually quite surprising to see a song on this as well as a properly new single soon. This is actually miles better than the rather limp Two More Years, building up extremely well and with some really brilliant echoey guitar, plus Kele in emotive but not quite full-on intense mode. Admittedly still not nearly as good as This Modern Love or Blue Light though.

(Part 2 to come tomorrow)