Representing Canada and America: Rufus Wainwright – Rules and Regulations
I saw Rufus live last night and he was of course as wonderful as ever. He told us about this video so I rushed to check it out when I got home, and he doesn’t disappoint! It’s a bit ‘comedy gay’ but done with elegance and is genuinely amusing. Rufus spends quite a lot of the video dressed in what looks very much like a baby grow! It’s not my favourite of Rufus’ songs but considering he’s currently atop my Last FM chart of most listened to artists, this is no reason to doubt its excellence.
Representing France: K-Maro – Let’s Go
European rap music doesn’t have the best reputation, often being a source of ridicule for Brits who are familiar with it, but I think K-Maro can keep up with his American counterparts. I may not be a big expert on urban music but this doesn’t sound to me too different from things like Usher and Ciara, and the chorus is better as well. I wouldn’t buy his CD or anything (although I really liked his past hit Crazy) but I wouldn’t switch channels immediately, as I do whenever Usher comes on the TV or radio.
Representing Bulgaria: Star Tattooed – Make Me High
This is entirely generic dance music but it’s quite listenable. I can imagine Therese releasing it actually, so if you pretend it’s her it’s not bad. This might be the first song I’ve posted from Bulgaria. Have they got any better known musical acts that I’ve forgotten?
Representing the UK: Elektrons – Dirty Basement
Apparently this lot are from Manchester, but the first I heard of them was in the Souht African top 20! The band name and song title do a good enough job of describe themselves. It’s electro which you could dance to if you wanted to, but it doesn’t exactly get me bopping around my bedroom. Not bad, but there is much better out there – let’s hope they relocate to South Africa and don’t bother us over here.