We salute Rolling Stone Keith Richards, who's marched with protesters opposed to hospital closures in Sussex. It's good for the spirit to see someone with such celebrity status at one with ordinary people who will surely be hit far harder should the government get away with their mean hearted plans to deny people localised emergency care.

While just around the corner from me a perfectly decent main road is being ploughed up and resurfaced at who knows what cost.

And now the Government want to close our local Post Office... our Postmaster has recently spent £20k refurbing it. Is this closure plan linked to taking TV License payments from the PO... is this closure plan why Royal Mail became Consignia - they hoped we'd forget. Consignia a thoroughly ridiculous and expensive name and logo that all but it's inventor detested for the six months before it was inevitably scrapped.

And how many Government Department's now spend enormous amounts hiring Rupert Murdoch's TNT instead of Royal Mail, is this a bartering for News Corporation (Times, Sun, Sky, ITV) support at the next election.

What can Richard Branson have done to upset the Government so much that he was awarded the National Lottery to then have the decision overturned.

It's worth considering where we are when someone like Mr Branson says we are no longer a democracy.

Sometimes things are as they appear, how many last straws can there be...

Cor that was a gripe, Here's this week's harvest ...

 

Amy Winehouse
Love Is A Losing Game
new single 10 December
A downbeat haunting melancholy and at 2'30", short and sweet. I love the 131bpm Rehab Soulcast remix included here. Superb

Cage The Elephant
Free Love
new single 12 November
This is right on the edge, storming pulsating guitar and frentic vocals ... great message Free Love - deserves hit status it's great

David Ford
Songs For The Road
new album October 15
Decimate is a brilliant single and this album comes as more than a surprise, quite a shock.
Ford's vocals are immediately intimate these songs ooze closeness ''I'm All Right Now' and 'Go to Hell' in particular.
An excellent album from start to finish.

Jim Noir
All Right EP
new EP 12 November
I really like crazy Jim, he's got it .. you know the X-factor. Barking mad probably, but creating a uniquely personal eccentric approach to music making. i hope he strikes it big with this.

Kano & Damon Albarn
Feel Free
new single 10 December
Kano and Craig David, now Kano and Damon Albarn - this is a winning formula and I like the subtle keyboards on this track. Rounding off a great year for Kano with his old school choir and Damon ... more awards in 08

The Grid
Put Your Hands Together
new single 19 November
From the comeback album 'Doppelganger' due in early 08, comes the fdirst new Grid material in 10 years. Dave Ball (one halfd of Soft Cell) and Richard Norris resume with the usual classy stomping electro as featured on Swamp Thing is in evidence aplenty here at 140bpm and on three longer 128 - 129 bpm remixes - hit

The Rifles
Talking
new single 20 October
Much requested, The Rifles already have their cult audience now they need to cut across into the mainstream. If 'Talking' hasn't already done so, it shouldn't be long on the evidence of this.

Wallis Bird
Blossoms
new single 10 October
I'm surprised how much I like this, Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly's a little left field sometimes but this is bang on complimenting 24 year old County Meath girl Wallis Bird's intricate lyric and vocal superbly - brilliant

Ghost Frequency
Never Before Have I Seen A Man Who Looks So Exactly Like A Skeleton
new single 10 December
The debut single 'Nightmare' was much loved here, and this is a well worthy follow-up for a band supporting Hadouken. Longest hit title since The Freshies 'I'm In Love With The Girl The Manchester Megastore Checkout Desk' and that was a few years back.