The Bonus Track: Becky Hill, Emily Middlemas, Jesse Hector, Peter Gabriel, Spoon
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Your support makes all the difference.Hill hath no fury
Knocked out at the semi-final stage of the first series of The Voice, that might well have been the last we we’d hear of Becky Hill. Except that, last month, Hill, now 20, became the first contestant from that show to score a number-one single with “Gecko”. Take that, British public. Which bodes well for her debut album, due out later this year. “Caution to the Wind” is out now
See Emily play
Talking of talent shows, TeenStar has been a feeder to X Factor before (remember dreadlocked Devon boy Luke Friend?). So expect to see more of this year’s winner, Glasgow’s Emily Middlemas. Watch “Goodbye Kiss”
Beautiful loser
What is it about forgotten old punk rockers that continues to fascinate? Following last year’s Basically, Johnny Moped documentary comes A Message to the World, which tracks down Jesse Hector (of Hammersmith Gorillas lack of fame), who coulda, shoulda, woulda but didn’t in mid-1970s London. Funny, sad and a tribute to an indomitable rock’n’roll spirit, the film is being shown at this weekend’s Port Eliot Festival, and will be available on DVD soon. Watch the trailer
Genesis to revelation
“We started out as a label driven by Peter’s passion for music other than rock or pop.” Twenty-five years on, Peter Gabriel’s Real World is preparing to celebrate its quarter-century with a three-CD best-of (out in September). Highlights include Yungchen Lhamo’s “Happiness Is …”
Next week’s biggie…
Kevin Harley reviews They Want My Soul, the eighth album by Texas rockers Spoon. Watch the slightly disturbing video for “Inside Out”
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