I used to glance beyond the stars....

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Earworms of the Week

> "You Think I Ain't Worth A Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire" - Queens of the Stoneage

Their gig at Rock City during One Live in Nottingham in 2002 remains one of the best concerts I have ever attended, and "Songs for the Deaf" is still a fantastic sounding record. I bought it on a whim too, and spent the rest of the day before I listened to it wondering if I'd made a terrible mistake and thrown £10 down the toilet. I needn't have worried: it's a masterpiece. The Josh Homme and Mark Lanegan songs are superb, but once in while I find that I need a little nihilistic screaming in my life, and Nick Olivieri fits the bill just perfectly. What a way to start an album. Dave Grohl returned to the drum stool as a favour to the band, and - naturally - sounds fantastic throughout. Shouty rock. Nice one.

> "D.O.A." - Foo Fighters
> "Keep The Car Running" - Foo Fighters

Jools Holland is an unctuous toad at the best of times, but "Later...." seems to have been absolutely diabolical this series. You used to at least be able to rely on a few really top mark acts to make things interesting, and I quite often found that I'd discover something new - Bloc Party, Ray LaMontagne, Interpol, Devendra Banhart. This series has been so poor though that I'd almost given up looking who was on. Not quite though, and I had a quick look this week to discover that the Foo Fighters were on. Well, they've got a Greatest Hits album to plug, after all. They played "Wheels", one of the new songs on the hits album, and "Times Like These". Neither are from the very top drawer of their ouevre, but they're not bad, and it's great to see a proper band performing on the show. Worth watching, if only to see the handover from a heavily bearded Sting performing awful lute-ridden seasonal music to Grohl kicking straight into "Times Like These". Neither of these two songs, incidentally, is on the Greatest Hits. "D.O.A." should certainly be there, no? I'd have put it on, anyway.

Anothe band appearing on the show were an unsigned band from Oxford called Stornoway. Well, judging by their awful lyrics talking about "going back to Uni", they should probably stay that way, eh?

> "99 Problems" - Jay-Z

Jay-Z was also on "Later....", performing "Empire State of Mind" and this song. He's quite a big deal, apparently, but he seemed happy enough to be playing second fiddle to the Foo Fighters. As I've said before, I'm not a big fan of the Zed, in the main, but I do like "Empire State of Mind", and you really can't go wrong with "99 Problems", can you? It's so good, in fact, that it inspired our team name at the quiz on Wednesday night: If You've Got Deep Fried Seafood Based Issues, I Feel Bad For You Son. I've Got 99 Problems but the Fishcakes Ain't One.

We won, of course... but I think I enjoy the laughs for the team name almost as much as I do winning.

> "Bad Romance" - Lady GaGa

"Rah-rah-ah-ah-ah-ah!
Roma-roma-mamaa!
Ga-ga-ooh-la-la!
Want your bad romance"

I love Lady GaGa. Official.

> "Protection" - Massive Attack
> "Karmacoma" - Massive Attack

Another set of earworms resulting entirely from listening to music in the bedroom. I try to choose something a little bit mellower as I drift off towards the land of nod. Massive Attack seemed to fit the bill just nicely. Mind you, last night I went to sleep listening to Probot, so it probably doesn't make all that much difference, eh?

> "Hurt Feelings" - Flight of the Conchords
> "Carol Brown" - Flight of the Conchords

Well, sorry about this, but they've brought out a new album and I can't get enough of them.

"Have you even been told that your ass is too big?
Have you ever been asked if your hair is a wig?
Have you ever been told you’re mediocre in bed?
Have you ever been told you’ve got a weird-shaped head?"

Rappers cry diamond tears, you know.

As for "Carol Brown", well she caught the bus out of town.....

If the last album is anything to go by, I'm afraid that you can expect a lot more of this kind of shit over the next few months. Sorry about that.

> "Manhattan Skyline" - a-ha
> "Stay on These Roads" a-ha

Two of the real highlights from Monday night's gig at the NIA, both showcasing Morten Harkett's undiminished vocal power. To be honest, I'm still reeling from the show. They were fantastic. I really wasn't expecting much, and - what with being in Birmingham and all - the whole thing seemed a little bit of a drag.....but they blew my expectations out of the water. They were superb, and I'm so pleased to have seen them. They're splitting up, but there's a farewell tour on the way, and I'm definitely going to see them again.

> "Earth Song" - Michael Jackson

I loathe this song, but you have to take your hat off to it's earwormability...... All together now

Ah aaaah aaaaaaaaaah-ah-ah-ah!
Ah aaaah aaaaaaaaaah-ah-ah-ah!

Grrr. If this has to be stuck on my internal jukebox, where's my internal Jarvis Cocker when I need him?

See you next week kids. Be good.