The Jools Report

Jools Holland's Later is the late night, honey yoghurt desert of British music TV viewing. Pretty much the only thing I watch (well, until Green Wing comes back). What I love most is that he always has such a variety of artists.

The show is never dull even if the bands are, because Jools creates quite wonderful juxtapositions. You may have to shift to and fro' between thumping heavy metal, spanish guitar, blues, gospel, jazz and bright African clothing music.

Every now and then I'll do a little report about what was on, just to give myself something to look back on during those barren months when he's off-air.

Last night's show kicked off with Muse kind of poppy, I'm sure lots of people will like it. They did have a nice-ish sound with the singer trying be another Thom Yorke. They have been described as various things but basically this is a slightly rinsed out version of Radiohead and they do seem to have dabbled with one of that bands producers. The bass player is a double for the evil prison warden character out of Midnight Express. The second song, Map of the Problematique, had at least a little originality with heavy banging noises, loud guitar and piano all mixed in with the singer's wailing screams. I did wonder though, if the song was more about showing off his shiny guitar than about musical innovation. But don't let me put you off, if you like the kind of stuff that's in the charts right now, you'll love this. It might even grow on me given time.

I haven't worked out how to enjoy Amy Winehouse yet and the sound did seem a bit flat - maybe her engineer had the cold? Her guitarist had one of those big round Chuck berry electric guitars though, so that was good. She's described as "a distinctive '20 a day' voice ... jazz ... contemporary, quirky" and she did sound much better in a short vocal-piano duet with Jools than on her set.

The Gipsy Kings made an excellent shift. Four or five flamenco guitars, a bass and singer, and a mixed Cuban-Spanish sound. Apparently these guys have sold over eighty million records. I wonder if that's a lot? Very upbeat and happy, probably too happy for me but very nice. They do that funny guitar playing where you strum a bit then hit your fingers off your guitars in a strange and jolly form of self-flagelation.

I really love it when Jools interviews people, it's so thin that it's gorgeous. Here's his interview with John Legend

Jools: "What sights did you see in London?"
John: "None, I was working."
Jools: "Where do you keep your grammy awards?"
John: "On my piano at home."

Yup, that was it, two questions, (chuckle) - he's a funny wee thing.

The Raconteurs were quite noisy but I thrived on this stuff in my youth and can still happily listen to it. Quite a heavy sound with some tiny reminiscences of Cream and Ted Nugent although by no means in that class. Their second song, wandered a bit along the edges of monotony but then perked up with a piece of Keith Emerson inspired synthesiser that made me think right back to ELP. They were all bent over their instruments for this song, trying to project that heavy thrashing image. I do hope they weren't suffering from simultaneous constipation.

Found John Legend quite difficult, and a bit plain. he's described as R&B but I've heard a lot better R&B than this. Still, the drummer was wearing a pretty cool blues brothers hat and one of the backing singers showed off a pair of knees that were pointing together in a visually, very fascinating way. I guess it must have been her pin tight dress. With this kind of music, I can see why he needs the odd visual distraction.

The highlight for me, was an Irish band called Duke Special. Long scraggly hair, an open sided piano, clarinet and something that looked like a broken violin with bells on being used as a double bass. There's definitely a vocal resemblance to Neil Young here, if that's possible with an Irish accent. The sound is a bit James Blanket, or was it Blunt, but with all the glossy bits thrown out. Just plain songs but with a slight edge. Worthwhile and one to watch. Apparently this guy has done a cover of The Doors People Are Strange. Now there is a classic song, boy would I love to hear that on stage.

Amy Winehouse and Duke Special both have the kind of sound that works best live rather than on shows or in the studio. Definitely worth catching.