Golden Sheen

A mention here for M.I.A's mate Santogold (real name Santi White) who is due to release her debut album in a month's time. I actually can't wait for this release - she may not be as gritty as her Sri-Lankan-via-London colleague but White is fun, danceable and still more experimental than other artists of her kind right now.

While the popular single "L.E.S. Artistes" may not show this so much - although this is a good, solid pop-meets-R'n'B-and-dance tune - "Creator", her first single, certainly does. To compare her once again to M.I.A., it's like "20 Dollar" meets "Bucky Done Gun" with less political commentary. So more of an easy listen, but Santogold still creates a great tune. Maybe I should describe it as good noise. But definitely not in the ever so slightly unbearable way that someone like Crystal Castles might make it....

What I'm Listening to Right Now - "Rebel in You" by Supergrass

Operator!

How glad I was to see Operator Please on Later... the other night. They are a well put-together Australian band with some really good songs. Personally I don't rate "Just a Song About Ping-Pong" and think that it's a little annoying. Their other singles have been of a much better quality and embrace all the styles of the five band members. Frontwoman Amandah's voice sounds best on "Leave It Alone" (which is my favourite of the singles they have released) and "Get What You Want", which shows her taking a more aggressive stance.

I think that you could tell that "Just a Song..." was one of the first songs they probably wrote. It's much more naive and doesn't have the depth that their other singles do.

Nevertheless, they're a good band and I'm looking forward to hearing more from them. I think they should probably build on the fact that they have a violinist in the band while still trying to maintain a gritty edge.