King Gizzar00d & the Lizard Wizard - Trapdoor
The band are a bunch of feckless Australian space cadets called King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. The track features multiple pan pipe solos. And yet, astonishingly, neither of those are the most irritating facts about this single. Trapdoor is as repetitive and one-dimensional as the theme from a Saturday morning children's cartoon. And just as infuriatingly catchy.
Pope Francis - Wake Up! Go! Go! Forward!
Is Pope Francis the first hipster pope? Last week it was reported the pontiff, and noted selfie-enthusiast, had employed a master coffee taster while visiting the US. Now he's put out an album on Soundcloud and it's been reviewed on Pitchfork. The title of this track may be a little Sufjan Stevens, but the music is pure prog-rock. The Pope drones cod-profundities ("No one who sleeps can sing, dance or rejoice") over a lush accompaniment, like it's Creamfields and he's the old dude from Faithless. Deep, man.
Sam Smith - Writing's On The Wall
By now, the forgettable theme song is as much a part of the James Bond mystique as the tuxedo and the pre-credits chase scene. And on to judge it on that basis, Sam Smith has really exceeded expectations, with this anodyne ballad he claims to have written in 20 minutes flat. It's a by-the-numbers Bond theme, to be sure. But is it really as forgettable as Chris Cornell's You Know My Name, or Jack White and Alicia Keys' Another Way to Die? Who knows? No one remembers either of those songs now.
Ellie Goulding - On My Mind
Why the long face? In this brand new video, Ellie Goulding pulls the ultimate power move: riding a horse into a casino, shooting up the owner's office and making off with the contents of his safe. Casino security will be asking tough questions of themselves, one suspects.
