January 's biggest music event was undoubtabley the 50th Birthday of David Bowie, which he celebrated in good style with a huge gig in New York with guests including Lou Reed, Billy Corgan, Dave Grohl and more. Material played covered the entire span of his back catalogue with new songs equally well recieved as old. January also saw the release of Bowie's new single Little Wonder, with the album Earthling to follow shortly after. Little Wonder shows him branching out in yet another new direction, the sound being described as `industrial junglism', and is further proof, as if any were needed, that David Bowie is without a doubt the artist most deserving of the title "Pop Star!"
In Your Car crashed into the UK top 40, allowing Kenickie to begin reaping some of the attention and sales they deserve. Other perky pop tunes in the form of The Supernaturals The Day Before Yesterdays Man and the increasingly popular Geneva with their second single Into the Blue also caught our ears and eyes.
After a far too lenghty absence Pavement finally made their return with the single Stereo. The forthcoming album Brighten the Corners should give us another chance to take a further trip into that laid back, low-fi land which they rule with such ease.
I'd like to write a little about Arab Strap, but sadly I don't know much about them. I was introduced to them this month by Stu, who bought their album The Week Never Starts Round Here after hearing one of their songs on the radio. They're another very laid back bunch for whom, we're told, stardom beckons. The lp is a wonderfully relaxed piece of work that sounds like it was recorded half in someones bedroom and half in a cheap studio, and was released on the Chemikal underground records label. Parts of it are very reminiscent of Trainspotting, especially The First Big Weekend with it's Scottish accent narrative.
The final January mention should go to Lopez, a great single released by 808 State with a style of it's own and prominent mostly due to the vocal contribution of James Dean Bradfield.