If any band has been hyped to death this summer, it's Florence + The Machine. But there's a reason - they're quite good! They did a lot of festivals and were featured prominently in the BBC's coverage of Glastonbury. All that hasn't given them a great deal of commercial success though; according to Wikipedia, their highest chart position so far has been number 12.

The album "Lungs" was released this summer, and on the first listen-through, this track stood out for me. It's something about the rhythm, and the building vocals. If you don't "get" Florence + The Machine, give it a go, and see what you think.

No official confirmation yet, but it looks like Michael Jackson has died. There are reports that he suffered a cardiac arrest, was not breathing and had to be resuscitated at the scene. There's speculation about an overdose of sleeping pills.

I think he was incredibly talented in his earlier years, and that is how I like to remember him - although by the time I was old enough to actually buy his music (his 1991 album "Dangerous" was the first album I ever bought), his strange metamorphosis had already begun. If you look at a picture of him as a child, and then as a 50 year old man, you would never think they were the same person. It's such a shame that he had to radically alter himself so much in order to feel better about who he was.

Listen to this track, and remember him for who he was, not who he became.

Pretty sure I've blogged this before, but in response to Rampie's post, here is my favourite Feeder track. It brings back memories of nights out at a certain sticky-floored club in Birmingham, and it also has a great video. The band got their fans to video themselves messing about to the track, and edited a load together. This is the result!

Some of you may be aware that I am a massive No Doubt fan. They're touring this year (USA only, unfortunately) and working on a new album, but as is so often the way with this lot, they've got a single sorted already.

It's being announced that they are going to release a cover of "Stand and Deliver" by Adam and the Ants! Now, as atrocious as that might sound initially, I think that they could really pull this off. Their style is a bit manic, and Gwen's voice could fit quite well. The likes of the Kaiser Chiefs have kept the spirit of Antmusic alive with their riot predicting ways, full of yips and oohs.

And don't forget, No Doubt had some success with their cover of Talk Talk's "It's My Life" a couple of years ago. Not a bad version, in my opinion:

My only worry is that they've chosen to premiere the song on an episode of Gossip Girl, to air in May. Oh deary deary me.

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The Bird and the Bee are a double act who play sort of cool jazz alternative indie stuff. It's very hard to define, but it's all very good. I love this track of theirs, but this isn't the official video. It's a fan video, all done on a Mac, demonstrating a load of software, and quite cool!

(Oops! Posted this in the wrong blog first! Sorry!)

I was introduced to Jewel (well, musically, at least!) by a good friend of mine about twelve or thirteen years ago. She has a beautiful haunting voice, which ranges from quite girly and coy to deep and resonant, sometimes within the same song. I love her album "Pieces of You" - much of it was recorded live, which makes it so much more personal in my opinion. You know it hasn't been produced and remastered to make it sound better.

This is my favourite track from that album. It's quite a sad song, it has brought me to tears on more than one occasion - you can really feel the emotion in it when she sings it. I couldn't find the album version on Youtube, but this one's pretty close.

NotBob just posted Breathe by Pink Floyd, but this is the track I think of when that title is mentioned. It's from the late nineties, when Kylie was a bit indiefied. Post pop-princess, pre club diva.

First up is a remix by Sash, and it's my favourite version. It's quite repetitive, but very cool.

In case you're interested, here's the original, with the official video.

That's my gay card secure for another year!

Ok, last one* for today, I promise. A text from Landers made me think of this group.

The Polyphonic Spree are a group of what seems like about 87 people who play big music. Even if you've never heard of them, I can pretty much guarantee you know some of their stuff. Sainsbury's used their music in their adverts for a long time, and it's even better with lyrics.

The song I'm posting though is their cover of Lithium by Nirvana. I love the original, but this has something extra. It's almost gospel, it's so uplifting. I originally heard it when channel 5 used it in an advert for CSI or Numbers or something like that, but I don't hold it against them. I can't help but smile when I hear it.

EDIT: If you're one of those people who just clicks play and listens to a few seconds, I beg you, please listen until at least the second chorus - that's when they really get going.

* Oh, ok, so I lied. Here's the Sainsbury's one too (as featured in Scrubs) - Light and Day.

Sorry for two music posts so soon after one another, but I really wanted to share this.

As so often happens with me, the week I discover a new artist I like is the week after they play anywhere near me. There's a music venue in Galway called the Róisín Dubh that hosts a really wide range of artists, and Ray Lamontagne played there very recently. Bugger.

I was introduced to his music by Topofthestairs, whose blog is largely about music. I love most of what I've heard so far, and this track (from his second album, Till the Sun Turns Black) is perfect for just lying in the bath, relaxing. It starts slowly, but it's beautiful and almost haunting. It stays with you.

I don't think this is an official video, he doesn't seem to do them. Someone just put some black and white footage to the music, but it works well.

Dirty Water by Made in London. I fupping loved this when it was released about 9 years ago. Yes, they're basically All Saints clones, and no, their follow up singles didn't do very well, but this track is a regular appearance on my iPod. A great sing-along chorus.