by Jenny (London, UK)

RECORD OF THE WEEK
3 Doors Down - Here Without You: If you want to own an album, that is going to be a very good buy, Away From The Sun, is the best buy. This Cd is just packed with all kind of great music and I feel it's one of my favorites in my collection. The lyrics and the music in itself stirred me. "Here without you" is by far my favorite song on the album, because of its messsage and the meaning beyond the message. I find it to be inspirational in that it shows me that even being from Mississippi myself and a budding musician, that there is still hope for my music ability to be discovered. 3 Doors down are establishing themselves as one of todays essential rock bands. A refreshing change from the hardness of the Nu Metal genre and for those who are like heavy, bitter, and anger-charged rock, this one's not for you. For those who want a combination of rock and rock-ballads, with a helping of human emotion and musical talent, this one's an essential!

HOT SHOT RECORD
Mario Winans featuring Enya & P Diddy - I Don't Wanna Know: The production throughout the album is superb and each individual track has its own unique quality even though most are about him being hurt by a previous love. 'I Dont Wanna Know' is a great song, the beat is banging and the lyrics are summin most people can relate to. His voice is angelic: Mario Winans is a member of a legendary gospel family (The Winans), but this gifted pianist also has an impressive list of r&b singers with whom he's collaborated as a producer. If you like Lionel Richie, Lemar and Usher you will love his track. The lead of single of this album is 'I Don't Wanna Know' featuring Enyaand P.Diddy and it uses Enya beat which The Fugees also used for 'Ready Or Not'. This is a great single from Mario which should do well and make him the big superstar star that he deserves to be in the music industry outside of the R'n'B/Rap industry.

Beastie Boys - Ch-Check It Out: New single "Ch-Check It Out" is classic Beastie Boys and it kinda reminds me of the 'Licensed to Ill Album.' Beastie Boys fans the wait is almost over! After a three year hiatus, Beastie Boys will be releasing their sixth studio album, To The 5 Boroughs, this summer. The album is mixed in NYC and is the first album that has been self produced by the band.
The band will commence touring in support of "To The 5 Boroughs" in June kicking off dates in the US. We will see the return of the extended line up and full band? Apparently not, speaking on www.beastieboys.com Adam Yauch says that shows will be more stripped back "For now I think we are just going to do hip-hop shows, turntables and mics... It's kind of nice to keep it simple for a minute. But I am sure that we will get back into playing instruments again in the near future."

Datsuns - Blacken My Thumb: The Datsuns release a thundering new single "Blacken My Thumb" and it is is the first single to be taken from the bands eagerly awaited second album "Outta Sight/Outta Mind" which comes out on June 7th.
"Blacken My Thumb" (as also "Not Coming Back") were produced by the legendary Led Zep bassist John Paul Jones (who also produced the new album) whilst the other songs were recorded by the mysteriously named Sonic Newth.

Emma Bunton - Crickets Sing For Anamaria: The title track from 'Free Me' is so evocative of James Bond it should come with a free Martini. On her latest album Emma Bunton tries to reinvent herself as a modern Sandie Shaw. 'Crickets Sing For Anamaria' is a cover of Brazilian Marcos Valle's irresistible "Os Grilos" ("The Crickets"). The track is recorded throughout 2003 in the UK and Spain. A marked maturity of sound is featured on this song which Emma herself describes as having, "a real 60's influence". This might be the one to surprise us all within summer, it's the pure english pop you have to look out for! If you enjoy good music and you wanna try something different than the stupidity of 'reality TV' songs, this will be definately your pop summer anthem. Good job Emma, your sophomore effort is incredible.

Evanescence - Everybody's Fool: This is one of people's favorites - Evanescence's new single. The lyrics are amazing in this song. It's about people who are completely fake, but no one can see it. When I heard it before one year when I bought the album, I just wish it was longer. It doesn't cross the line like a lot of songs do and is very strong track: it speaks very powerfully against the problem of idolizing stars.
Nevertheless, Everybody's Fool is a memorable addition to the genre simply because Amy Lee's unfaltering voice is so striking - as angelic as a choirgirl but more than capable of belting out a hefty anthem or two. If you liked 'Bring Me To Life,' and 'My immortal' then you'll love this!

Faithless - Mass Destruction: Everybody knows that Faithless have had tremendous success on the club scene. Here we get another unique blend of narrative vs rhythm: a story and a dance all under one roof!
The lead single version of "Mass Destruction" tacked on the end; it's a funky, breaks-based tune with Maxi Jazz's trademark vocal (used sparingly throughout the album) over live bass and guitars.
Semi-hard-house synth stabs are all but gone, replaced by less dated sounds and more thoughtful use of them. Tempos are lower and the song structure plays a more valuable part for every listener. Theis single is a cohesive body of work that builds and dips in all the right places.

Farm - All Together Now: From Liverpool, England, The Farm is yet another in the long list of early '90s British pop culture. "All Together Now" is re-releasing again and the Farm forge an anthem out of the simple progression of the Pachelbel Canon. Fans of the old Manchester dance scene may feel a certain nostalgia.
Why the single is going to release again on Monday? because the Football Association (FA) has decided to release a cover of The Farm's 'All Together Now' by DJ Spoony as their official song for the European Cup 2004 in Portugal.
Go England, go 'all together now!' (and this one is for the boys who are being most crazy with the football than the music: most of the previous efforts tend to mirror England's performances - failing in both the charts and with the fans who prefer favourites such as Euro 96's Three Lions and the 1990 World Cup's World In Motion).

Fountains Of Wayne - Mexican Wine: The New York-based power-pop quartet delivers a diverse feast of infectious melodies and endlessly clever lyrics. Songwriters Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood still slide on a sweet scale between the Beatles and the Monkees. The first single-flavour "Stacy's Mom" has huge heavy-rotation airplay and 'Mexican Wine' is another Ric Ocasek-esque pop track (Cars).
'Mexican Wine' is very catchy, much more mature, much better thought out, much catchier than their other singles. Think the Beatles at their catchiest, about '65, around the time of their album "Revolver" - or think the Byrds at their best. Whether or not they can achieve success in the UK market with a video that doesnąt feature an A-list celebrity, time will tell. Either way, it's a fabulous hearing to this New York four-piece and underlines that while Fountains of Wayne are like so many other bands, nobody else is doing what they do as good as them right now.
No single will sound better with the sun on your back this summer!

Ian Van Dahl - Believe: Yes they're back! Global phenomenon Ian Van Dahl return with their brand new single Believe, which is taken from their forthcoming album Lost and Found, set for release this summer.
In case you were missing the sunshine, Believe is a sparkling slice of overblown euphoric trance and comes complete with bubbling bass, tinkling undertones, and the familiar quality vocal. Ian Van Dahl is singer/songwriter Annemie Coenen. Annemie was born in Belgium and started singing at the tender age of 7. She spent two summers in Ibiza where she got the dance vibe and all these influences are translated into the lyrics and vocal melody lines of the Ian Van Dahl singles.

Lulu - Keep Talkin' I'm Listening: This track is a brilliant set of sounds that grow with more listens. 'Keep talking I'm Listening' is an instant classic song with great lyrics and melody. Her latest album, "Back on track," is certainly aptly titled. Only her third album in about twenty years, this follows 1993's "Independence" and 2002's "Together" by showing how versatile this star is, and that she's not afraid to push the envelope and embrace new styles.
There is probably no other singer in the world that has reinvented herself as often as Lulu. Who'd have thought that the chubby teenager who first hit the UK charts back in 1964 with a cover of the Isley Brother's "Shout" would not only still be making hits forty years later, but creating her very best output from such a long and varied career!

O-Zone - Dragostea Din Tei: The success history of O-Zones, alias to Dan Balan, Radu Sarbu and Arsenie, begins 2002 in Romania (the trio is coming from Moldavia). Their debut single 'Dragostea Din Tei' promoted as the new dance music stars of Europe. O-Zones first single 'Dragostea Din Tei' is the original version of the hit, which was covered by Haiducii and which is storming Charts in Italy. If you are laughing with 'Macarena' or 'Asereje' then this single will bring the smile in your face... A song which nobody will remember it after 2 weeks - even the UK dance/pop stations doesn't play it!

Stacie Orrico - I Could Be The One: At 17, Stacie Orrico shows more youthful exuberance in her self-titled collection of upbeat pop and more R&B-influenced tracks. Stacie Orrico is a fabulous, fabulous singer and has put together a classy array of R'n'B tinged pop song that stray from the norm. The new single 'I Could Be The One' has words which are well written and you can relate to them. (This song is a Christian one, so some people might not get it if they don't know that it is.) The song talks about going out to help others to follow God. Stacie brings a fast pop into this song, and it ties in nicely - a very catchy song that gets anyone motivated. You are going to love the tune: it's very entergetic and happy, the words are very positive and I feel a good song that makes you want to dance!

OTHER SINGLES RELEASED THIS WEEK
3 Doors Down - Here Without You
Aloud - Sex And Sun
Beastie Boys - Ch-Check It Out
Blue States - Across The Wire
D-Side - Pushin' Me Out
The Datsuns - Blacken My Thumb
Drowning Pool - Step Up
Duke Spirit - Dark Is Light Enough
Emma - Crickets Sing For Anamaria
Englebert Humperdinck - Release Me
Evanescence - Everybody's Fool
Faithless - Mass Destruction
The Farm featuring The SFX Boys Choir - All Together Now
Fountains Of Wayne - Mexican Wine
Franklin - You
Good Life - Lovers Need Lawyers
Headland - Nicholas Trend
Hoobastank - The Reason
Jagged Edge - What's It Like?
Jetplane Landing - Brave Gravity
Josh Ritter - Hello Starling (Snow Is Gone)
Kid Symphony - Never Been A Rockstar
Mario Winans featuring Enya & P Diddy - I Don't Wanna Know
Melys - Eyeliner
My Red Cell - In A Cage (On Prozac)
New Found Glory - All Downhill From Here
Peter Andre - Insania
Pink Grease - The Pink G R Ease
Pop! - Heaven And Earth
Primero - F**k It (I Don't Want You Back)/Not In Love
Rueben - Freddy Kreuger
Space - 20 Million Miles From Earth
Stacie Orrico - I Could Be The One
Story Of The Year - Until The Day I Die
Thirteen Senses - Do No Wrong
Tom Morley - My Song For The World
Twen2y 4 Se7en - Hide
Vero - How Does It Feel?
Yellowcard - Way Away