By Jan 
Finally, another absolute beast of a song from Jack White! Normally, I’m no longer that crazy about those howling, screeching guitars. But the vicious basslines and related guitar squeals fit so perfectly into the whole that it becomes far more than merely tolerable — almost genius! “G.O.D. and The Broken Ribs” (#1) immediately makes you want to crank the volume knob all the way to the right, and as far as I’m concerned, it puts the man completely back on track!
Great to see The Strokes back as well, turning heads everywhere with “Going Shopping” (#2)! We still have to wait a few more months before their seventh album, Reality Awaits, finally sees the light of day, but this first offering already promises a lot of good things to come!
New talent from Ghent lands at number eight: the serene duo Iznel & Wowie have already made plenty of heads turn with their debut single “Walk The Rain” (#8)! A restrained powerhouse of a song — to put it as a bit of a contradiction in terms! Solid vocals that lean toward Mazzy Star and 10,000 Maniacs, which tells you immediately that this duo won’t be a one-hit wonder!
Just below them, it remains a local affair with the delightfully quirky Augustijn (#9) and the equally playful West Flemish hip hop of ‘t Hof van Commerce with “Geld Doet De Weireld Draein” (#10).
(Jan VH)
Playlist
1 – Jack White – G.O.D. and the Broken Ribs
2 – The Strokes – Going Shopping
3 – Lemon Twigs – I Just Can’t Get Over Losing You
4 – The Dandy Warhols – Rain
5 – Brigitte Calls Me Baby – I Can Take the Sun Out of the Sky
6 – Buzzcocks – Jesus at the Wheel
7 – Cast – Birds Heading South
8 – Iznel & Wowie – Walk the Rain
9 – Augustijn – Zot
10 – ‘t Hof van Commerce – Geld Doet De Weireld Draein
11 – Future Islands – Find Love
12 – Cypress Hill ft. Mellow Man Ace – Campeones
13 – The Twilight Sad – Get Away From It All
14 – Morrissey – The Monsters of Pig Alley
15 – Massive Attack ft. Tom Waits – Boots on the Ground
16 – The Clockworks – Work in Progress
17 – Ladytron – Solid Light
18 – Joe Jackson – After All This Time
19 – Bill Janovitz – Marking Your Time
20 – U2 – In a Life
21 – Bevis Frond – Best Laid Plans
22 – Kevin Morby – Badlands
23 – Uni Boys – Look on the Bright Side
24 – Kurt Vile – Chance to Bleed
25 – Fruit Bats – Think Aboutcha
26 – Pulp – The Man Comes Around
27 – Girls in Hawaii – Is It Happening Right Now?
28 – Beck – Ride Lonesome
29 – Jack Johnson ft. Hermanos Gutierrez – Drink the Water
30 – Tori Amos – Gasoline Girls
31 – The Long Ryders – Down to the Well
32 – The Haunted Youth – Wake Up
33 – Donovan ft. Steve Cooney – Bridget Poem
34 – The Black Keys – Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire
35 – The Sheila Divine – Hurry Up
36 – Kasabian – Great Pretender
37 – They Might Be Giants – Outside Brain
38 – Flea ft. Nick Cave – Wichita Lineman
39 – Fulco – Tuinhuis
40 – Mary Chapin Carpenter ft. The Mountain Goats – Put the Message in the Box