2002 is the year of the…..flute. Well okay, a pretty poor observation and one which will almost certainly not be borne out by – say – March even. However I cannot help but notice that two big tracks for January prominently feature a bit of flute action. S Club 7 get the flautist in for You – which is a sure fire number one hit despite being not quite as good as the very similar Reach (that said it is very short, and I would imagine it will easily be the shortest number one of the last two years when it makes it to the top). Secondly Dre uses a lovely, lilting and breathy flute loop on ‘Bad Intentions’ which luckily helps distract from another lame-o Dre rap and an even more embarrassing effort from Knoc-turn’ Al. That has also got to be one of the worst rap names ever, I would love to hear the origin. Young Alistair played too much Postman Knock as a child – but I digress.

So perhaps by late March we will see the new flute heavy Craig David album and a Nas version of Annie’s Theme.