A God-awful Small Affair

She's hotly-tipped by various outlets to be big in 2011, and NME have ranked this album #8 on their 'best of 2010' already (though that may be because, as things stand, she's currently unknown by the mainstream sphere...). But who is Zola Jesus, and why that name? Well I can tell you this much: she's an American soloist whose real name is Nika Danilova. She's in a band called Former Ghosts (who're described as very Joy Division-esque) and has been making music since 2007/8. So to the album. Hmm. 3D gimp masks. ANYWAY. What's immediately obvious about Jesus (I'm going to use the surname for accidental humour) is her voice. It has very obvious comparisons to the likes of Florence Welch, Marina Diamandis and Siouxsie Sioux, in that kind of throaty, ambitious and powerfully emotional sense. The music on the other hand is perfectly pitched for today's indie market: with bands such as The XX, These New Puritans and White Lies very much the music du jou

Just a little review I did on another site... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #50: Jamiroquai - White Knuckle Ride From what I make of him, he's quite an easily hateable personality - what with the fast cars, numerous conquests and rich lifestyle. But he's pretty much a dance music legend, and whilst this year saw a slightly eggfaced comeback thanks to the musical pariahs that are The X Factor female judges, this song was just bloody cool. #49: Neon Trees - Animal They never really took off this side of the Atlantic but I'm told they've cut it in the US. But Neon Trees' debut single this year was this, a ridiculously catchy and endearing song. #48: Belle and Sebastian - I'm Not Living in the Real World Anyway - their sound is usually a lot more self-glorifyingly indie and downbeat, but this album's proved a lovely turn of events - vibrant, singalong, happy. #47: Gorillaz - On Melancholy Hill I thoroughly

Perhaps the foremost reincarnation of soul-pop we have, Cee-Lo has every right to be cherished. Going against the grain of soulless, bland pop, he's delivered and produced some of the recent times' best music: Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy", TLC's "Waterfalls", The Pussycat Dolls' "Dont'cha" (maybe not that one), Kelis' "Lil' Star"...my point? He's rather lovely. So to the solo career. He's already released two albums to modest success, but he's now very much a big name and with the first single "Fuck You" (later censored to "Forget You") proving to be a global smash hit, he's on top of the world. 'The Lady Killer' begins with an intro that's something from a Bond movie - complete with pantomime evil villainry (some vague cackling about killing...ladies...) before descending into a manic frenzy of what I hereby dub "DnBr" - drum 'n brass. It's exciting and