Old Band Releases New Album That Almost No-One Will Buy

And with good reason too -- cos what I've heard isn't very good. Who am I talking about? The STEREO MC'S. Remember them? Were they ever really anything more than a one-hit wonder? It's hard to remember now. What I do know (circumstantially -- I came across an ad while looking up events in DC at RA) is that they've got a new collection of songs out, and it's called 'Emperor's Nightingale'. It's not terrible, to be honest, and probably if I paid more attention to the lyrics I might even like what I'm hearing. But the music backing up said lyrics just doesn't stand out to me in any particular way -- it's a bit dancey, a bit poppy, but I've not heard anything special. For some reason I keep thinking of that other old dance band, Faithless, though I have no idea why cos I don't think the music is really that comparable. I think it's cos of Rob Birch's voice sounding a bit like Maxi Jazz's. You can judge for yourself at a mini-site with some streaming tracks and a video here. Videos. I'm surprised anyone bothers with them anymore; I mean they cost money, and most people don't even spend money on music now. If you go the website do listen to the tracks 'Tales' and 'Bring it On' -- really quite decent and deserving of a bit of attention. And you know what, I've just Youtubed the Stereos and I feel a little bad now. I mean check out 'Connected':

That is class! Look at Rob Birch! He hasn't aged at all -- cos he can't. How could he possibly look any older? And what about 'Step It Up'?:

These videos make me happy -- they remind me of how seriously Brits (used to?) take their pop music and culture -- the clothes, the look, the feel! Lovely stuff. Probably a book could be written on why music is taken so seriously in the UK -- to the point that bands like the Strokes and the Killers broke over there before they did in their native US. But that book will not be written by me (and surely it's already been written?). I'm pretty sure this new album will get lost in the mix, in the thousands of new releases that are out every month -- but who knows, maybe it'll get picked up on the radio and talked about in the UK? We can only hope.

UPDATE: I've now listened to 'Bring it On' a couple of times and have decided that it's wicked. So, with that, and cos I know many interwebbers are ultra-lazy, here's a Youstube of said track: