Paul Connolly of the London Lite memorial thread

Dizzee Rascal first encountered music-making in 2000 when as a troubled youth he hooked up with Wiley, the head honcho of the Bowbased band Roll Deep Crew and the progenitor of grime or eski or whatever it's called these days.

Dizzee (aka Dylan Mills) quickly overtook his mentor commercially, something which has strained relations between the two. There's been a lot of name-calling and any number of threats.

In an echo of the vapid current state of American hip-hop it could even be described as a "beef".

I've been banging on about Biffy Clyro for ages now so I'm glad that Puzzle - their fourth album - is going to be huge. Their angular art-metal has been too oblique thus far but on Puzzle they've cracked it.

Even if Good Girl Gone Bad consisted merely of 13 remixes of Rihanna's mighty single Umbrella it'd be worth at least four stars. Sadly, the tall Bajan's third album is not about a lot more than collapsable portable canopies and hip hop royalty.

No, no, no, this isn't what we wanted. What has happened to Bulldog-Chewing-A-Wasp Sugababe? If we wanted yet another sappy, mewling sub-R&B diva we wouldn't have sacked Whitney Houston all those years ago (and, make no mistake, sack her we did).

What is it about Kylie? Am I the only man, straight or gay, who does not either want to have sex with her or be her best friend?

Leslie Feist has been knocking around for a while now. The Canadian singer-songwriter has played with overrated hipster group Broken Social Scene and once lived with potty-mouthed sex-funk singer Peaches.

Most of us consumers are savvy enough to realise that the genre differences between songs as great as Britney's Toxic and the Arctic Monkeys' I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor don't say anything about their quality - they're both fantastic, full stop.

We sometimes forget that pop stars are just people who react like the rest of us when under pressure. Sophie Ellis-Bextor is married with a child now. Perhaps being a pop star is one pressure that she could do without.

• Should Sophie tuck into the pies? Email me: sounding✧✧✧@thelondonl✧✧✧.c✧.u✧

(There's one pie I'd like to see her etc etc etc etc amirite guyz?)

wow he looks older there than in the paper.

This is going to be huge. Imagine, if you will, a grown-up's Justin Timberlake who looks a little like JT, a little like Charlie from Lost (nobody's perfect) but who sounds like Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. Throw in slick, classic soul grooves - and laydees and gennelmen, we have a star.

wow he looks older there than in the paper.

He looks like N Southall's Ghost of Christmas Future.

He may have sung “it ain’t nothing new babe”, but even Johnny Cash knows that innovation is not what matters when it comes to rock’n’roll. What counts is noise, passion and believing in the tired old beast. The key is not to leap forward but to look back and keep pushing on because the past is all you have to work with.

Simon Aldred is Cherry Ghost and the Mancunian's debut album is, implausibly, totally in thrall to the Americana of Johnny Cash, Wilco, Willie Nelson and, er, Hobotalk. The last reference, a Scottish one-man band who released one classic album, Beauty In Madness, in 1999, before disappearing under the radar, is perhaps the most relevant, especially on the gorgeous chug of 4am.

Big is not bad - mainly because of Gray's growl - but you can't help wondering what could have been had someone steered her clear of fluffy Las Vegas showtunes such as Finally Made Me Happy and organised a collaboration with someone such as Swiss Beatz rather than Will.I.Am from Black Eyed Peas.

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Never mind the Canadian invasion of Arcade Fire, Metric et al, how about those Scandinavians? First we had the mighty Annie and now we have The Sounds, soon to be followed by the wonderful Robyn.

The Horrors
Stranger House (Loog)
****

There's something rather thrilling about a band that cites as its influences Joe Meek, The Fall, Screaming Lord Sutch and The Cramps. I also find it difficult not to like a band that numbers among its members Faris Rotter, Coffin Joe and Spider Webb. Of course, all this wouldn't matter if The Horrors weren't also bloody great. They're Gothic, for sure, and they talk of limbs being hacked and suchlike, but it's done with such relish and effervescence, not to mention some great tunes, that it's not in the least bit menacing. Indeed I'm sure I detect some mutant DNA from The B-52s in the band's genetic make-up. They'll never have a radio hit but it's surely enough that they're rock's Christina Ricci to the Hilary Duff that is James Morrison.

Memorial? Is he dead?

He died in a car accident on his way to a Swiss Beats concert

How awful :( I suppose the only saving grace was that he didn't have to sit through a concert from them. Which concert was it? New York? LA? San Diego? Utah? Texas? Ohio? Chicago?

and has anyone actually told anyone at Associated Newspapers this awful news yet?????? One thinks they should be told......

"them"?

I agree someone should break the news. Perhaps if you call 020 7938 6000 and ask to be put through to the London Lite then there'll be someone around.

I called and was very pleased to learn that Mr Connolly did not die in a car crash and currently continues to die on his arse every day within the pages of London Lite.

I'm well aware of the standard of tabloid music journalism (the old concert review standard of "The *clichéd artist description* (wowed/bored) the audience with (thrilling/dull) renditions of such hits as *single A* and *single B*, plus more obscure material like *album track C*. Three Stars"), but... really? How did the dearly departed Mr. Connolly get a job?

He managed Bis, you know.

potty-mouthed sex-funk singer Peaches

I agree someone should break the news. Perhaps if you call 020 7938 6000 and ask to be put through to the London Lite then there'll be someone around.

-- Matt DC, Friday, 9 November 2007 16:23 (5 days ago) Link

Is he your co-worker or your mortal enemy, I can never remember where you grind.

I called and was very pleased to learn that Mr Connolly did not die in a car crash and currently continues to die on his arse every day within the pages of London Lite.

-- TruthSeekerLondon, Wednesday, 14 November 2007 05:48 (3 hours ago) Link

^^^Marcello?

From the official press release:

"Co- written by Alicia Keys and produced by Swiss Beatz and Keys herself, ‘Million Dollar Bill’ is the stunning new single from Whitney Houston."