Hmm, I take back what I said yesterday about ‘digital download day’. It looks like a load of crap. I guess because it was HMV, I was duped into thinking this might be a simple ‘pay money, get something that you own’ situation, but in fact, what they are offering is something very similar to Pressplay, in which after you buy something, you have to continue subscribing to their service in order to be able to continue listening to the music. If you want to burn it to a CD, you have to do it with their special bs software, and pay extra. I wish them the best of luck, but it’s not something I will ever be doing. So, it seems only emusic are doing this in a sensible way.

Billy Nicholls: 'Would You Believe' (CD; Sequel; 1967)
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This album was reissued (well, apparently it was never really issued originally) a few years ago to much fanfare, billed as 'Britain's answer to Pet Sounds'. This set me up for some disappointment, since it really is a completely different kind of album. Nevertheless, it's quite fun.

'Would you believe', the single, is a strong track. It's overproduced and anything but subtle, but fun all the same. 'Come again' has a dreamy Stone Roses kind of feel to it, with jangling acoustic guitars. To my ears, 'Life is Short' has a kind of 80s feel to it. The vocals are very high, and rather lame-sounding. The backing is quite rich, with ba-ba vocals, harpsichord and brass.

'Feeling Easy' is one of the better songs, with piano, strings and a strong, Beatlesey melody. I'm less into 'Daytime Girl', a jaunty, slightly psychedelic pop tune. More effective are the simple piano and guitar riffs of 'London Social Degree' and the delicate melody of 'Portobello Road'.

The album has a cool sound overall, but there's a feeling that something isn't quite right at times. The riff at the beginning of 'Girl from New York' is very catchy, but at the end of the day, I find most of the tracks a bit too precious, and the arrangements slightly too clunky for my taste.