For those of you who've been living in a stained-glass bubble, adrift of any communication with the outside world, last week saw the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's death (December 8th to be precise). To commemorate this, Amnesty International have launched the Make Some Noise project, which sees various established artists from across all areas of the musical spectrum tackle some of Lennon's best-known works.

This first EP brings together Black Eyed Peas, The Cure, Snow Patrol and The Postal Service like some musical version of Big Brother. So, which one would you evict first? Any one of Black Eyed Peas except the one with the "lovely lady lumps", obviously, cry we. Hmmmm.

To be fair to Black Eyed Peas, their interpretation of 'Power To The People' is a soulful melange of Arrested Development-style propaganda that serves as a terse reminder of why they were so highly feted by the hip-hop underground for years - before the inevitable Justin collaboration, William's increasing Wyclef-like annoyance and the aforementioned 'My Humps' booked them their place in the musical equivalent of Hell forevermore.

The Cure's take on 'Love' shows no surprises, i.e. The Cure doing what they've always done best, which is downbeat melancholia over a spacious melody that, if no one had known any different, could quite easily be a recently discovered outtake from the Bloodflowers sessions.

Likewise with Snow Patrol, in that their version of 'Isolation' isn't for the faint-hearted either, treading a fine line between thinly veiled paranoia and almost insatiable humility. Gary Lightbody's vocal occasionally feels apologetic, in that the band don't believe they're worthy enough to be singing the words of such an icon as Lennon, but by the end their own speciality - grandiose desparity at its best - pulls them through in no uncertain terms.

Best of the bunch, though, has to be the least-known but undoubtedly most engaging act, The Postal Service, who turn Lennon's eternal lament to Yoko Ono, 'Grow Old With Me', into a whispered-but-sinister rallying cry against senile decrepidity.

At just £2.50 for the lot, 'Make Some Noise' is a healthier option to spend your hard-earned cash on than that third pint down the local. Better still is the option to buy each track as a single download rather than the EP as a whole, meaning you can while away ten minutes of tranquil solitude in the company of The Cure, Snow Patrol and The Postal Service and still have enough spare change left over for a packet of crisps.

The 'Make Some Noise' EP can be downloaded HERE.