Amy Winehouse - "You Know I'm No Good"

Yes, yes, I know. She's a trainwreck. But hey, if being perfectly mentally balanced and drug-free was a pre-requisite for good music, we'd miss out on some amazing stuff (Kurt Cobain? Elliott Smith? Anthony Kiedis? Thom Yorke? I rest my case).

Amy Winehouse is by far one of the most promising people right now on the pop-jazz scene. And not soft pop jazz like Norah Jones -- whose album (while good) we'll be hearing in romantic restaurants for the next decade. She’s got a strong contralto voice, reminiscent of the old female jazz powerhouses like Ella Fitzgerald and Nina Simone.

Contrary to the image proposed by her first single “Rehab” (which was massively overplayed, and not even the best song on the album), most of her songs are not about alcoholism and drug use – they mostly centre around love gone wrong (very wrong). But hey, it is jazz -- it’s gotta be sad.

--Eithne