EOIN BUTLER's guide to downloads, singles and free audiostreams
GLEN HANSARD
Lover Don't Leave Me WaitingAnti Records ***
On the first single from his Rhythm and Repose album, Hansard tackles the hot- button issue of tardiness in a relationship. Other titles mooted for inclusion on the record include Lover Does It Really Matter if the Toilet Seat Is Up or Down? and Lover If You Make Me Go to Ikea With You Again I’m Going to Shoot Out My Eyes.
THE FLAMING LIPS ft ERYKAH BADU
The First Time Ever I Saw Your FaceWarner *****
This 10-minute desecration of the Ewan McColl standard is one of the most astonishing pieces of music you’ll hear this year. It’s almost akin to Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life, except, you’re less likely to pause it halfway through and never get around to finishing it. Or was that only me?
THE STRYPES
You Can’t Judge a Book by the Cover ****
On their latest video, the Cavan teenagers warn against judging by appearances. Had I made
that mistake when I saw them setting up their instruments at the Flat Lake Festival last summer, I’d probably have assumed Jimmy Saville had posthumously fixed it for them to be there. But I hung on to hear them play and, boy, did they put on a show.
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI
Oxegen *
"Yo, what's your name girl? My name is Caroline. Caroline? You're my match point." This music video by Rory McIlroy's tennis-playing girlfriend is so thoroughly, woefully and yet almost life-affirminly ill-conceived that I can't decide if it deserves no stars or five. (Am I imagining it, or does she actually set an Alsatian dog on a man in a wheelchair at one point?) Unforced error, Caroline. Double fault. Er, rain . . . stop play now! youtube.com