Singles: Out to Download Now

Alicia Keys - Doesn't Mean Anything
Alicia Keys tries to piggyback the success of her cameo on Jay-Z's Empire State Of Mind by relaunching herself with Doesn't Mean Anything. While she's always been a talented songwriter, she's a little bit bland, and her personality (or lack of it) doesn't really shine through on this effort. While strings and horns in the chorus maybe be a cliched, this song really needs something with a bit more kick to make it in any way interesting.
www.myspace.com/aliciakeys

The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die
It's been a pretty good year for The Prodigy. They've gone back to what they do best - dirty angry beats and crazy vocals. Invaders Must Die, whenever I hear something like this I always like to think what would happen if you went back in time and played this to the Victorians. They'd go insane, ha ha. A great song, by a great band, back on form.
www.myspace.com/theprodigy

Ian Brown - Just Like You
You may have heard this tune it on the Adidas ads - its official title is Just Like You (A.D.I.D.A.S.) which seems like a bit of a sell out. I remember when I was a kid I used say Adidas stood for After Dinner I Did A Shit; well this song isn't much better than that acronym. When promoting this album, Brown claimed that he wanted to make a record like Thriller, with every track being a single. This isn't a very good single.
www.myspace.com/ianbrown

Taio Cruz - No Other One
Fuckin' hell - you know how people say trends in America take about 6-12 months to cross the Atlantic? Well we are now in the middle of our Auto-Tune phase, and Taio Cruz is on of its chief proponents. I don't really hear any difference between this and Tynchy Stryder and N Dubz, and they all sound rubbish to me. It's a bit European-y, David Guetta type tune, with elements of Akon about it, and a rap where he basically tell us he's got a tenner. Well done.
www.myspace.com/taiocruzmusic

Timbaland feat. Nelly Furtado & SoShy - Morning After Dark
What to make of this effort? It's trying to be about 15 different songs at once: is it pop, R'n'B, dancehall, techno, rap? Christ knows, I'm not even sure Timbaland knows, a producer who's stock has fallen so quickly his appearance on the credits for anything is nearly short-hand for over-produced shite. Very little about this track appeals to me, and I can't even see it working on Radio, TV, internet...maybe if someone did a stripped down folk version of it? No that's ridiculous. Avoid.
www.myspace.com/timbaland