For the 25th year in a row, Darlene Love performed Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) on The Late Show With David Letterman. Extraordinary as usual:

May the Christmas Spirit shine on You 2011!

Another loss for Maradona’s Argentina, this time in Asuncion when Paraguay became the 10th country to qualify for next year’s World Cup. Nelson Haedo Valdez gave the home team the lead in the first half, and they were closer to 2-0 than Argentina was to equalizing.

Argentina is now placed 5th in the South American World Cup Qualification group, one point behind Ecuador, who won 3-1 away vs. high altitude colleagues Bolivia today. This means that they right now are set for a play-off against the 4th placed North American team.

Maradona’s desperation is obvious. His team doesn’t function in away matches – today’s loss was the team’s fourth consecutive, and in the last round of the qualification they face arch rivals Uruguay away from home. Uruguay is, after beating Colombia earlier this evening, one point behind 5th-placed Argentina. Judging by the latter’s away record, fans of the La Selección, must probably put their hopes in Argentina securing the 5th place already in the next round (the second last).

Maradona is failing. The Argentinian stars seem to play without a plan, organization is defence is weak, the attack is without movement and the team the team doesn’t create chances. You never get the feeling that there is a team on the pitch, it’s more like eleven individuals who happen to wear the same shirts.

A sign: When Maradona brought on 36 year old striker Martin Palermo (thereby ending a nine year absence from the national team) in the second half, he had used 64 players since he took over as manager ten months ago.

It could have been a winning move, though, Palermo was useful as a target man, and in the 94th minute Argentina got their chance to take a point when Palermo headed down a Gago cross inside the box. It was very close that catapulting defender Rolando Schiavi had connected to the ball and equalized. But he didn’t, and Schiavi’s (36 year old national team debutant), night ended in misery.

But as things looks now, Argentina will hold on to the 5th place and secure their World Cup spot through the intercontinental play-off. I doubt that Uruguay will take any points away on 4000 meters above sea level in Ecuador, who has found great form since Sixto Vizuete replaced Luis Suarez as manager. Coming from behind is also Colombia, but I doubt that they will take any points in Asuncion, where they play against Paraguay in the next round.

4. Ecuador 23
5. Argentina 22
6. Uruguay 21
7. Colombia 20

So, most likely, beating weak Peru at home, will be enough for Argentina reaching the intercontinental play-off. Question is, will it be with Diego Armando Maradona at the helm?

Noel Gallagher has officially left Oasis. Absurd news.

Let’s all make believe, that we’re still friends and we like each other.
Let’s all make believe, in the end we’ll need each other

About a year has passed since Oxford boys Supergrass released their sixth studio album Diamond Hoo Ha. Providing a rougher and less sophisticated sound than its predecessor (2005′s Road To Rouen), Diamond Hoo Ha felt as a sign of Supergrass returning to the fantastic form of 2002′s Life On Other Planets.

The britpop veterans (Note: singer Gaz Coombes was born as late as 1976) delivered an album that started out as a big sucker punch in the face, continued to provide top class 2000s britpop – but the high class faded a bit towards the end.

Opening track and lead single Diamond Hoo Ha Man featured one of the most exciting bass lines I’ve ever heard, and it was followed by the rough Bad Blood (about a late night out in Reykjavik). Supergrass sounded dirtier than ever before. Tracks #3 and #4, the stomping glam rocking Rebel In You and the exciting and endangering When I Needed You (featuring a rememberable guitar solo), were among the band’s top 10 songs ever. The first six songs on the record (tracks #5 and #6 being 345 and The Return Of Inspiration) were… inspiring and together they constituted a block of songs that can’t be matched by many rock n roll albums in world history.

I wouldn’t like to say that the second half of the album is weak in any way, but certainly they didn’t reach the same astronomous levels as the opening numbers. Some of them (such as Ghost Of A Friend and Rough Knuckles) were, while being decent songs, sounding more Road To Rouen than Life On Other Planets. And that was not positive in my book.

Still, the final parts didn’t make Diamond Hoo Ha a poor record. It was LOUD, glammy and stirring – a great rock n roll album that could have been a classic if it had ended in the same manner as it began.

VERDICT: 8/10

Best tracks: Rebel In You, When I Needed You, Diamond Hoo Ha Man, Return Of Inspiration
Spotify Link

Britpop at its best: Dodgy, a quite early britpop act, who used to be supported by Oasis in the early 90s. This clip is from the Phoenix Festival ’96. The song is In A Room, from the fantastic album Free Peace Sweet (1996).

Stumbled upon an interesting debate (in which I am participating) about FC Internazionale’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s performances in the Big Matches, over at The Offside: What Is Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Problem?. Providing evidence in the form of Ibrahimovic’s mediocre goal record in the Champions League knockout rounds and at the FIFA World Cup, Daryl is proposing that Ibrahimovic in fact may be a “big game bottler”.

I’ve heard this reasoning before, especially concerning his performances for the Swedish national team, and I think that it is based upon a quite weak argumentation. His World Cup record is obviously not the best, but it should be remembered that he was only a little-used substitute in Japan 2002, and that he was affected by his thigh problems in Germany 2006.

At the European Championship, as well as in important qualification matches, he has often delivered. In seven matches in Portugal 2004 and Austria/Switzerland 2008, he has scored four goals, out of which three were of crucial importance.

Also, as Brian notes in the debate, the theory implies that there are no Big Matches in the Serie A and Coppa Italia, where he has continously delivered in important clashes with Milan, Juventus and Roma.

What about the Champions League then? Well, the facts here might look harder to dismiss. But from my perspective, I wouldn’t say that Ibrahimovic in any way was mediocre or underperforming in the recent ties against Manchester United. The problem here is more related to his team – his mates in Inter’s offensive line-up is unfortunately not good enough to provide a substantial chance of prospering against teams like Man U (or Liverpool in last year’s Champions League). Also, it could be argued that the margins were simply not on Ibra’s side in the matches against Manchester United – his finishes were flawless, and could just as well have provided him and Inter two or three goals.

After living with Oasis‘ new album Dig Out Your Soul for seven days, the time has come for my review. It is positive, because this is Definitely the band’s best album since 1997′s Be Here Now, and Maybe the best since 1995′s (What’s The Story?) Morning Glory. I would actually stretch myself as far as to say that the five opening songs of the record are almost good enough to appear on any Oasis album.

However, the quality of the album is decreasing towards the end, and this fact prevents it from becoming an definitive classic. Questionmarks must be raised for Noel’s judgement when putting Andy Bell’s quite mediocre The Nature of Reality on the record, as well as when placing Soldier On as the final track, leaving out the nice tune Boy With The Blues. That said, both of those songs fit in well with the general vibe of the album.

The sound is groovier than before, and this proves to be a success for Oasis, being more experimental than they ever been; On To Be Where There’s Life, there are no guitars to be heard. With Waiting For The Rapture, (Get Off Your) High Horse Lady and Falling Down, all sung by Noel, the Chief breaks new territory. For the most part, the result is positive.

Overall, the album is full of surprises. Not only does the band sound better than I ever thought they would do again, but this is also the record where Liam Gallagher’s tunes for the first time can compete with his big brother’s efforts; I’m Outta Time is perhaps one of Oasis’ best songs ever, and the rough Ain’t Got Nothin’ is packed above limits with attitude.

Verdict: 9/10

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Track by track review:

Bag It Up 10/10
written by Noel, sung by Liam
An AWESOME opener, perhaps Oasis best song in eleven years. I would actually say that it is one of the band’s top efforts ever. It’s a groovy piece, including the characteristic Oasis guitar grinding that we haven’t heard since Be Here Now. Like several other songs on this album, it is not cooked from the usual verse-chorus-verse-chorus recipe. Oh, and Liam’s new, more mature, voice is absolutely ace!

The Turning 9/10
written by Noel, sung by Liam
The album continues in the same high class manner as it began. The Turning is a more mellow version of the classic Oasis hit mixture, with the album’s strongest chorus and a great guitar solo from Noel. Fabulous bullshit lyrics in the verse as well.

Waiting For The Rapture 10/10
written and sung by Noel
Bag It Up’s Noel-sung cousin is the major surprise of Dig Out Your Soul. An inspired Noel sings in falsetto on this groovy song, and the result is his best vocal effort since Don’t Look Back In Anger.

The Shock of The Lightning 10/10
written by Noel, sung by Liam
The party continues. It’s Definitely Maybe all over again. The first single of the album is Lyla’s less considerate sister song. When Zak Starkey’s drum solo leaves place for exploding guitars, it is one of Oasis’ greatest moments in what feels like millenia. A top tune!

I’m Outta Time 10/10
written and sung by Liam
Wow! Oasis’ most touching moment since 1997′s Don’t Go Away. And by a landslide the top Liam-penned tune ever. It is a tribute to John Lennon. “I’d like to sing with him, but he’s busy doing something else now”, Liam said in MTV2 last week. Mr Lennon would be very proud of this one. But Liam should have written a second verse, and he should have left out the “lalala”s in the beginning. If he had, this would have been a timeless classic.

(Get Off Your) High Horse Lady 6/10
written and sung by Noel
To be honest, I don’t really get the greatness of this one. Noel sounds quite tired, and it pales in comparison with Waiting For The Rapture. It is a good song for being Oasis in the 2000s, but it’s not up there with the prime tunes of the band, and not the prime tunes of this album either.

Falling Down 8/10
written and sung by Noel
Like many other tracks on this album, it doesn’t really sound like anything Oasis’ did before. It’s a beautiful song, and Noel’s voice suits it perfectly. The “catch the wheel that breaks the butterfly” part is terrific!

To Be Where There’s Life 8/10
written by Gem, sung by Liam
Not really Oasis by numbers… This tune lacks guitars, but includes a great bass line and a sitar. Not the best melody, but the groove is good, and the somewhat silly “To Be Where There’s Life”-line is highly addictive. When Liam screams “Dig Out Your Soul!!! Cos’ here we go!”, you know that you are listening to one of the best albums of the century. Arguably Gem’s best Oasis song.

Ain’t Got Nothin’ 9/10
written and sung by Liam
Well, this cousin of Meaning of Soul is a surprise. When we heard the demo of this song a couple of months ago, most Oasis fans hoped that this would not make it to the album, least to say. But it did, and it is saved by an extreme load of attitude and the fact that it is held quite short (clocking in at 2:14, it is the shorteskortt song of the album). Oasis noise at its best.

The Nature Of Reality 5/10
written by Andy Bell, sung by Liam
No, this doesn’t work very well, unfortunately. When Andy sent demoes of five new tunes to Noel before recording the album, he considered this the worst of the pack. Apparently, Noel thought that it wasn’t. Probably, Noel was wrong. The lyrics are weak and Liam’s voice isn’t very good either. But it still has the great groove that characterizes this album, and that makes it work OK as a tune on the album.

Soldier On 7/10
written and sung by Liam
An interesting piece ends the album. The melody is quite weak, but for some reason this tune grows on me all the time. This is not the swagger that usually ends off Oasis albums, but neither is it a crap song like Heathen Chemistry’s Better Man. Liam surprises again with great (albeit succinct) lyrics, and the melodica towards the end is ace.

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BONUS TRACKS

The Boy With The Blues 9/10
written and sung by Liam
Finally, this song appeared after years of rumours. A lovely little tune, The Boy With The Blues is Soldier On’s more majestic and less groovy big brother. The gospel-sounding ending is interesting, and would’ve closed off Dig Out Your Soul well.

I Believe An All 7/10
written and sung by Liam
The typical Liam-penned song, much in line with acoustic numbers like Pass Me Down The Wine and Won’t Let You Down. Not the greatest of tunes, but it’s OK and does its job on the bonus CD of Dig Out Your Soul.