EOIN BUTLER'Sguide to singles, downloads and free audiostreams

SHARON SHANNON

Mama Lou Daisy***

If you can forgive Sharon Shannon for The Galway Girl,you might just enjoy Mama Lou. It's a wild, raucous Cajun singalong written by Shane McGowan and performed with Galway newcomers The Cartoon Thieves. I still can't forgive her, but maybe you can.

SHAKIRA

She Wolf Epic**

“There’s a She Wolf in your closet, let it out so it can breathe ...” The video depicts Shakira writhing around in what appears to be a giant colon (...which may help in decoding the possible Freudian subtext here). Also, the use of autotune on the vocals makes the South American temptress sound spookily like Dolores O’Riordan (...which probably doesn’t).

JAMIE T

Chaka Demus EP Virgin****

The title track references a Jamaican DJ (of "... & Pliers" fame). The video was obviously inspired by the film The Cannonball Run.Meanwhile, the lyrics, amongst other things, mourn the loss of the British Empire. Spot the connection? Nope, neither do I.

BRENDAN BENSON

A Whole Lot BetterATO ****

"I fell in love in love with you, and out of love with you, and back in love with you / All on the same day ..."This writer is probably the only person alive who actually digs Brendan Benson's Beatles-esque solo material, while not particularly caring for his work with Jack White in The Raconteurs. It's good to see him step into the limelight again.

DAVID GRAY

FugativePolydor **

In retrospect, that brief window, circa 2000-02, when David Gray and Travis were the two most popular live draws on the festival circuit, was possibly the most depressing sojourn in music history; a sort of collective karmic punishment for '66/'67 and '88/'89 and all those other moments when kids just had it too good. Anyway, Gray is back and he's gone all Elton on us. Can you feel the love tonight? Erm, not really.