A God-awful Small Affair

OK at this stage in the game, Kylie Minogue does not need to be releasing albums. She is lying to us and herself when she puts them out and says "all 11 tracks are definitely worth listening to". Because we all know there are only ever three or four at best. But - WHAT'S THIS - there's definitely five this time around so that's what I'll give her. Well done Kylie, see you again next year. Rating: 5/10 Highlights: I Was Gonna Cancel; Into the Blue; Feels So Good; Million Miles; Kiss Me Once Avoid: Beautiful; If Only; Fine Artwork Watch: What airbrushing? Up next: FKA Twigs  

It is now tradition for a fascinating, new British popstar to bedazzle us with 2 albums at most and then kindly fade into obscurity. Breaking that mould somewhat with her third release is the admittedly ten thousand times more charismatic Ms. Faith, although it'd be nice if we could just give her that final push and break this #2 chart spot streak she's on. Faith's voice has always been divisive: it was haunting and outstanding where her songwriting allowed it to be, but in a gentler backdrop she often comes across as shrill and, at times, unbearable. She did manage to pull off a chart-topper this year, but there she was surrounded by all sorts of strings and synths to dilute her. Here, she's given a little more prominence and a plethora of genres to excel in again, but anyone expecting another New York (I'm sure I went through this futility reviewing Fall to Grace ) is going to leave mildly disappointed. 2014's most insistent cockroach makes a most

Now there's a title I didn't think I'd ever get to write. Following the career of Azealia Banks these past three years has been stressful, so it's impossible to imagine how Ms. Banks must be feeling right now. The feuds were often childish and needless, the musical-chairs game with her labels grew tiresome by the start of 2013, and the constant threats to leak her own album were never followed through. It was often quite easy to forget the talent that was bubbling away underneath all of the drama, and all of the pushbacks in the world - it turns out - haven't had much of a bearing on the impact of Broke With Expensive Taste . It sits quite comfortably at a strong 4/5 on most critics' reviews, whilst her contemporaries fling themselves carelessly at whatever's popular and likely to chart at expense of their capabilities.  Clearly, the feud with Disclosure did not put Banks off her love of the UK's surging house scene. Most of Broke With Expens