Perhaps the biggest mistake Liam Gallagher has made with Beady Eye – a band containing four-fifths of Oasis's final lineup – is to refuse to play any Oasis songs live. Not only have Beady Eye's live shows consequently lacked the fist-punching highs of his former band's sets, but too distinct a line was drawn between the two acts, leaving Liam struggling to bring Oasis's fan base along with him. Not so Noel Gallagher. On Sunday night, Liam's elder brother performed several Oasis songs at the first live outing of his High Flying Birds solo project, in Dublin. As fan-filmed videos at youtube.com/beadyeysis prove, even played acoustically and sung by the wrong Gallagher, Supersonic and Wonderwall can prompt mass, beery singalongs. So, too, do the best of Noel's new songs – particularly the barrelling AKA… What a Life. Not surprising, then, that Noel has just announced a date at London's 20,000-capacity O2 Arena, while Beady Eye have yet to sell out November's 5,000-capacity Brixton Academy show.
Another act currently striking out from former glories while presumably hoping to snag the interest of existing fans is the D.O.T., the new project from the Streets' Mike Skinner and the Music's Robert Harvey. Having previously collaborated on the Streets' last album, the duo have now uploaded 15 videos to the-dot.net, almost all of which contain song demos. Harvey sings lead vocals on most of the tracks, which are built around some pleasingly propulsive grooves, with Skinner taking the lead on the thoughtful, string-soaked Weapon of Choice. There are also a pair of what appear to be snatches from a wider filmed narrative, with dodgy deals occurring in Sometimes (It's Hard to Be a Man) and Skinner playing a factory tough guy in Unholy Monster. Some of the acting is a touch hammy, but these clips only add to the intrigue.
The much-touted Emeli Sandé doesn't release her debut album until February, but even she's trying to move on from a previous moniker. The Scottish R&B singer was originally known as Adele Sande (without the accent), but took on her middle name after getting a deal, presumably to avoid confusion with her better-known namesake. But, there's still plenty of evidence available from Sandé's Adele era on YouTube. The 2009 live footage at bit.ly/adsande1 proves she had the voice, if not the haircut, while a 2008 piano-based session at bit.ly/adsande2 has more in common with Alicia Keys than her current, beat-driven direction. In both videos, Sandé's talent is obvious. But you only have to watch the acoustic Angel Studio Session videos at youtube.com/emelisande to see the enormous leaps in performance and songcraft she's made since.
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