Let's all talk about how Kylie's 'Timebomb' video is the best she's ever made

Things that are epic.

Kylie is one of those stars who has been in danger for some time of becoming a "heritage act."  One that is great for all their old hits, but whose new output doesn't really connect with audiences.  Like Madonna or Cher or those other divas who have been around for a couple decades, she always had the gays to fall back on, but though her last album 'Aphrodite' was a smash, some worried that lately she'd just been preaching to the choir.

'Aphrodite' spawned one huge single ('All the Lovers') and a couple mediocre ones, but it seems as though everyone - including Team Kylie - agreed a fresher approach was needed.

And we got it, ScopiSubjects.  'Timebomb' the track - a one-off single celebrating K-Mo's 25 years in the business and her 44th birthday - is the perfect Kylie single.  Like 'Slow' or 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head' it features the usually sweet and bubbly pop princess being slightly menacing, taking on a bit of an edge.  With a strategic whisper and a shout or two, she injects her trademark personality into the track, and like the aforementioned hit singles, it comes out all the better for it.

The video, though, is where Team K really hit it out of the park.  Gone is the slick, campy imagery so often chucked out by her gay-husband "image designer" William Baker, and in its place is a gritty, relevant clip that both honors the 25 year legacy of the star and signals to the world that she's not leaving anytime soon.  And all of that without throwing on a leotard and acting like a grandmother in heat (ahem, Madonna).

The 'Timebomb' clip features Kylie at her most natural, which happens to be Kylie at her very best.  It's "now," it's epic, and it should make the young up-and-comers sit up and take notice that to be a truly great pop star you don't need any gimmicks.  Just good editing, a great track, and a world of personality.

'Timebomb' is out now on iTunes UK, Australia and US, and will be performed on the UK's 'The Voice' final this weekend.

Gossip 'Move In The Right Direction' in new video

Hipster nonsense.

Gossip - which one commenter snarkily pointed out are NO LONGER CALLED 'The Gossip' - have been ramping up their new album campaign for a couple months now.  They just played an epic show in New York City last night, which was streamed live across the interwebs, and, as the LP came out last week, are now chucking out the album's second single.  

It is called 'Move In The Right Direction' and it is a slick Xenomania-Fred Falke kind of affair, probably because those are the actual people who produced it.  It's not the catchiest thing we've heard, to be honest, but luckily for everyone, Beth Ditto's sassy vocals could make even a Katy Perry song sound interesting. 

For the video - which may or may not be a temporary "lyric" video, as bands are wont to do these days - the band have gone all black-and-white and drag-queen-makeupy, and from the appearance of the troupe of robotic male Kylie-esque dancers, it seems the group are GOING FOR THE GAYS even more than usual.  And that's saying something for a band whose last album was called 'Music For Men.' 

It's all very good, and all in the aid of album sales (which are NOT SPECTACULAR IN THE LEAST AT THE MOMENT - the album will debut in the low 30's in the UK), as everyone involved knows this isn't exactly going to light the singles charts on fire.  But at least their die-hard fans have an excellent record to jam out to while they wait for everyone else to remember that Gossip are brilliant.


Gossip - Move In The Right Direction by AceVideos

Milla Jovovich's new single 'Electric Sky' is...electric

Leeloo Dallas Multipass.

Way back in the 90's when we were just spotty teenagers and Resident Evil was still just a video game, Milla Jovovich was a burgeoning actress and model who also did some singing.  Though she had a small role in the cult hit 'Dazed and Confused,' and would later shoot to fame in movies like 'The Fifth Element,' it was actually her debut album that first put Milla on our pop-culture map.

The album was called 'The Divine Comedy' and was amazing.  It was released in 1994, with the brilliant lead single 'Gentlemen Who Fell' preceding it.  It was folksy, earthy, catchy and grounded, and though the LP was far from polished, it was a hidden gem of 90's alt-pop that deserved more fanfare than it received from the general public.  To us, though, it was the soundtrack to our year, and was hardly out of our 5-CD changer at any given time.

Of course, right after the album came and went with ABSOLUTELY NO ONE NOTICING, Miss Jovovich's film career exploded and music was understandably shoved to the wayside.  And so it remained for, oh, two decades or so. 

But no longer, ScopiSubjects, because she is back with a big new track called 'Electric Sky.'

It's a world away from her nearly 20-year old debut, and finds the modtress (actel?) taking up a disco-y club style that wouldn't seem at all out of place in the aforementioned 'Fifth Element.'  It's all KILLER BASSLINE and ETHEREAL VOCALS and is under 3 minutes long, so requires very little commitment on the listener's part, which is always a good thing unless you're a 20-minute remix of Kylie or we're on ecstasy and have access to unlimited amounts of glo-sticks.
  
In short, it's a great little pop song, and is only the first track of what Milla hopes will be a "6 to 7 track EP" which will come out......sometime.

Let's hope it's not another 20 years from now. 

Maroon 5 still uses a 'Payphone' in new video

"speak into my mouthpiece"

Ok so we're fully aware that this video came out like 5 days ago, but we were in Vegas trying not to die when everything "went down" and upon our return we were SO MOVED by (read: ambivalent to) the clip that we had to write something about it.

So it's Maroon 5's new single and it is called 'Payphone' and it is good, and even though it is not the heartfelt eulogy to its near-extinct namesake that we hoped for, with lingering closeups of the old rusty bacteria-hives we once were forced to use, the whole thing is still VERY GOOD.  We say it is VERY GOOD not only because it is ACTUALLY VERY GOOD but also because they obviously spent quite a lot on it and made an effort so we'd feel bad saying anything else because it would probably hurt lots of peoples' feelings.

Also, Adam Levine doing hero stuff in glasses....so.......

No Doubt is coming back on Sept 25 with new album

Kids, this is what the 90's looked like.  Yes.  You are right to be scared.

Virtually nothing of note has come out in the last week so we've been kind of at a loss for what to talk about.  Sure, The Wanted sang a song on a tv show, and some kind-of-crap tracks were foisted onto the interwebs, but nothing really piqued our overly-demanding, toddler-like interest.  Until now, thanks to a band that most of One Direction was barely alive to enjoy.

No Doubt is one of those bands from the 90s who seem quaint and safe now, and also kind of like your grandmother might "like" them on Facebook because they're hip enough to score her points with the kids, but safe enough that they're not going to get her barred from the church bridge club either.  It's hard to remember that when they first came on the scene, they were actually pushing the envelope in a number of ways.  BUT THEY WERE.

Musically, they were part of the breakthrough of post-punk ska that acts like Sublime pioneered, and culturally, they gave the world Gwen Stefani who was the 90's Dr. Martin version of Debbie Harry - which despite how it sounds is a good thing.

The band certainly had their highs and lows throughout the years, and when Gwen went solo in 2004, it seemed like the group might be finished for good.  BUT THAT IS NOT SO, SCOPISUBJECTS.  For the fierce foursome are set to return with a brand new album on September 25, as this cute video featuring an inexplicably un-aged Gwen announces.

It's a pretty by-the-numbers interview thingy and doesn't give a whole lot of information but still.... yay! etc.

Cher Lloyd gets all American in the new video for 'Want You Back'

America, meet your newest pop star.

With the sudden and unexpected success of The Wanted (mmmm sexy) and One Direction (eh, we'll have a few drinks first) in the US, other British teen-pop artists are trying to get in on the action.  The latest is X Factor non-winner Cher Lloyd, with her single 'Want You Back.'  It already came and went in the UK, but for some reason her handlers think that this could be the song to break her in America.  BECAUSE IT IS PROPERLY TREMENDOUS.

We already went on and on about how brilliant it was as a tune back when it was originally released, so we'll save you all that nonsense and on that score just say that the "rap" bit by something called an Astro has been taken out and the song is a billion times better because of it.  The weird thing is that Astro is actually an American rapper, so they've removed the one thing US audiences might recognize.  Having said that, the rap was the kind of cringe-worthy "featuring" nightmare that makes us want to sit on a knife, so regardless of how it may hurt the track's chart prospects this has to be considered a win all around.

As for the video, it's a lot like the UK version, in that it involves Cher DOING FACES and BEING SEXY and also dumping edible things on people she doesn't like but of course in this version everything takes place in a diner because what could be possibly more "America In 2012" than a 50's diner..

The key here is that as much as the whole thing is just an HD version of Mandy Moore's 'Candy,' it works (and works rather spectacularly) solely on the back of Cher's undeniable charisma.  She comes off as more authentic and committed than any of the Jojos or Jessica Simpsons or Avril Lavignes, because even though we know she's faking every second of this bullshit, we can also see how much she enjoys it.  She's making those faces because that's what Cher Lloyd does, not because someone told her to.  Never mind the fact that someone obviously told her to.

'Want You Back' (US VERSION) is, in sum, a cute little video that serves as a neat introduction of Cher to American audiences, which is probably exactly the point.  So, well done everyone, cheap champagne all around.

Oh and also there's a puppy.  A really cute puppy.

Sky Ferreira is 'Lost In My Bedroom' in her brand new pop stormer

This is the FUTURE OF POP sucking on something, in full makeup.

Sky Ferreira is one of those artists that has been "up and coming" for what seems like forever now, and like so many other hopeful pop strumpets whose labels insist on edging their career along at a crawl, we kind of wish she'd just get it over with and come already.  Because she is brilliant.

She's not had a "proper release" yet, other than her 2011 UK single 'One' which topped out at #64 on the charts, but her handlers have been chucking out buzz tracks since 2010.   Which means we've been teased with this girl, the ostensible SAVIOR OF POP, for two years now without any real payoff.

During those past two years, Sky has been modeling and fashioning and posting lots of pictures on the Twitters where Terry Richardson pours mud down her cleavage and stuff for no reason, so it's kind of understandable she hasn't had time to fully dedicate herself to "her craft" until now.  But still, we think we speak for everyone who has been following her under-the-radar unofficial releases when we say that IT IS ABOUT TIME TO GET ON WITH IT IF THIS IS EVER GOING TO HAPPEN. 

Luckily we won't have to wait much longer, as it appears we are finally about to get the long-delayed debut album from Miss F.  The album's lead single is called 'Red Lips,' and the the majority of tracks are apparently a bit darker and more artsy than her previous 80's-heavy pop ditties.  But to assure us that she hasn't abandoned her mainstream roots she's chucked out a demo version of a very pop album track from the new LP, called 'Lost In My Bedroom.'

It is VERY GOOD in that way that a song can be very good but should still never be released as a single (which is why it is not being released as a single, we presume).  It's the kind of thing that's not going to be a hit, but is still fun to listen to because who cares if radio doesn't play it - we can still dance our beglittered asses off to whatever the hell we want to before going out to that tragic gay bar where that bouncer drag queen thing always makes fun of us and then we spend the whole night drinking in the corner trying to suck in our guts because we had that slice of pizza yesterday even though we KNEW the first weekend at the Fire Island house was coming up for f*cks sake, but whatever, carbs are a part of life and everyone needs to come to grips with that.  

Anyway, it's apparently the "most electro" sounding thing on the record, which is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on if you wanted the album to be electro or not:



As we said, though, Sky's actual new single is called 'Red Lips' and it's a kind of post-Garbage alt-pop thing that wouldn't be out of place on college radio in the 90's.  Which means it is kind of amazing.  She recently posted a 25-second preview, and this is what it sounds like:



As you can hear, it is VERY GOOD, and fits in very nicely to our fantasy version of the future where Sky and Lourdes Leon battle it out in a Hunger Games style chart war.

Yes.  It's all coming together now.....

The Wanted are 'Chasing the Sun' with vampires in their new video

Just a normal Saturday...

The Wanted are all of a sudden huge in America (and locked in some sort of DEATH RACE with fellow Brits One Direction) and to kick off their just-out first US EP, they recorded two BRAND NEW tracks.  One of them is of course the lead single, and it is called 'Chasing The Sun.'  It is essentially 'Glad You Came' but with a slightly different "OH OH OH" part, and will probably be huge without winning any awards for uniqueness. It's really what The Wanted to best - by-the-numbers pop, but executed flawlessly.

The video is the most interesting thing about the whole thing - first because it's the boys from The Wanted and let's face it they're A LITTLE BIT GORGEOUS except for the one (you know who we're talking about, don't pretend) - and second because it's actually kind of engrossing to watch.  It's all about vampires, because of course, and contains a better storyline and more competent acting in 3 minutes than the Twilight movies have across the entirety of the films. It's all in keeping with the "WE ARE BRITISH AND MYSTERIOUS AND THEREFORE POSSIBLY SLIGHTLY DANGEROUS EVEN THOUGH GUNS ARE BANNED IN OUR COUNTRY" image that has been carefully crafted for the boys, and is certainly worth the watch if you enjoy sexy men doing things on screen.

If you don't then you probably shouldn't be reading this blog anyway, so we're just going to show you the video now.




"ADEQUATE."

Cheryl Cole's 'Call My Name' may be the SONG OF THE SUMMER if you live in like, Wales or something

Invisible.

Much ink has been spilled about Cheryl Cole's viability as a solo artist, and not without reason.  Since her days in Girls Aloud she's been "the one to watch" and with her epic divorce, brush with malaria-death, and often-wobbly X-Factor judging, she has never exactly shied away from the limelight.  But even in the throes of explosive diarrhea, she has always managed to chuck out VERY GOOD SONGS by what seems like complete accident.

In short, she's not one of those artistes who puts out a song and says JUDGE ME ON MY MUSIC, O PUBLIC but for our immediate purposes that's just what we are going to try to do.  So here are some things about the big Cheryl Cole comeback single:

1.  It is a dance corker with a donk on it
2.  It is a thing by Calvin Harris, because of course it is
3.  It is not as good as "We Found Love" but Cheryl Cole is not as good as Rihanna so that seems appropriate
4.  It has a nice eastern-y feel to it sometimes which makes the track feel "a little bit different" in the way that purple cotton candy seems to taste slightly different than pink cotton candy even though it is exactly the same in every way
5.  It is very good and will likely have some discowhistle shirts-off hands-up rave remixes that we'll barely remember dancing to this summer
6. Somewhat confusingly it is by someone named only Cheryl, and not by Cheryl Cole.  This is ostensibly because Cheryl Cole's people feel that she is enough of an icon that she can go by one name.  (She is not.)
7.  It is out June 10, because apparently it's 1994 and people still release singles to radio A MONTH AND A HALF before they are available to purchase even though time and time again this has proven LITERALLY DISASTROUS to the chart prospects of "big time single launches."

Those were some things about the Cheryl Cole single.  And now here it is.



There it was.

Nelly Furtado's BIG COMEBACK SINGLE is here - listen to the premiere now!

This is an amazing single sleeve.

After cementing her place as a duchess of pop (not quite a princess, but not a Dev either...) with hits like 'I'm Like A Bird' and 'Say It Right,'  Nelly Furtado took her millions of royalty dollars and went off to a spa or something for a few years.  And also recorded a Spanish language album because of course.

But now she's BACK BACK BACK and ready to show these new young whipper snappers how it's done.  Her new single, the kind-of-geniusly titled 'Big Hoops (Bigger The Better)' thankfully eschews the clubland donkfest that somehow has become the droning background noise of the 2010s, and instead goes for an upbeat dancehall vibe with an unexpected drum and bass outro.

It's "very good" in the sense that it sounds like not a lot what's out right now, and also "kind of mediocre" in that it's not the catchiest thing we've heard.  To be fair though, Rihanna made number 1 hits out of far less, so we're not ruling anything out.

Her last appearance on the US singles chart was way back in 2007, so if she's going on name-recognition alone she'll have her work cut out for her. But at the very least, it's nice to hear Nelly's unique vocals coming out of our speakers again.  Now we just have to wait and see if the rest of the world feels the same way.

Here's 'Big Hoops':

Marina and the Diamonds previews 'Electra Heart' album - listen now!

Someone hasn't shaved...

Indie-pop darling Marina Lambrini Diamandis, better known as Marina and the Diamonds, dropped the lead single off her new LP 'Electra Heart' a couple weeks ago, and it is brilliant.  It is called 'Primadonna' and is the kind of tune that Katy Perry would be doing if she was less concerned with her chart placing and more concerned with being an actual musical artist.  And also if she actually wrote anything with like, meaning.  The track is hard-hitting both musically and lyrically, with a combination of sunny beats and withering social commentary that we really haven't heard since Lily Allen burst on the scene.  

Understandably, the unbridled brilliance of 'Primadonna' raised expectations for its parent album, but everyone can now stop wringing their hands in fearful anticipation because it appears that the entire album is LEGITIMATELY QUITE AMAZING.

Marina's people have chucked a nifty Youtube sampler thingy on the interwebs, and we've done you the favor of pasting it below.  You should probably go ahead and click "play" on it since we have a lot of ground to cover before we get there.  You might as well multi-task. 

If you followed our advice (and if you didn't you're a dick) you're a few seconds into the opening track, and already are beginning to realize what we already know:  if the half-minute clips are anything to go by this will be one of the best pop albums of the year.  It's timely without being gimmicky, deep without being inaccessible, and, perhaps most importantly, full of Marina's personality and (many) vocal quirks.  We mention that last bit as the "most important" because with Ms. and the Diamonds' swing toward the slick radio-friendly sound of mainstream radio, she ran the risk of her tunes sounding like everything else that's out at the moment.  

Nearly all the tracks are balls-to-the-wall bangers and nearly all of them are amazing.  Sure, the dubstep thing seems a bit unnecessary, and not all the songs reach out and grab the listener right away, but we're prepared to give it a preliminary 7.5 out of 10 solely for the apparent absence of any autotune.  Add in the presence of SOLID TUNES and an opening stomper called 'Bubblegum Bitch' and we have on our hands an album with a hearty 8 out of 10 rating.

Of course none of this necessarily will translate into actual success for the singer.  She's long been knocking around as "one to watch" but as the pop world veers ever further into the seething chasm of slick, soulless tracks with no personality, it only becomes harder for artists who refuse to pitch-correct themselves into chart clones to actually make any impact.  It's the same problem facing the Scissor Sisters' new track - the production, energy and hook are all there.  But the jury's still out on whether the masses will give a chance to something with a little more substance than "I HAVE FALLEN INTO AN AUTOTUNE MACHINE WHILE CLUBBING AND SLEEPING WITH MANY PARTNERS."

In fact, the subject matter Marina covers often preaches against the vapid and fame-obsessed pop culture assembly-line that has steamrolled the music industry with its synth-laden sameness.  But by burying her subversive messages in catchy hooks and sparkly beats rather than her usual brand of acoustic-y indie pop, she might just be on to something.  That she made the switch to dance music without losing her viewpoint and her own sense of artistry - indeed Marina seems to play the role of pop vixen with a knowing wink - makes the whole thing all the more impressive.  And on 'Electra Heart,' her somehow "authentic" transition to dance diva, Marina uses the masses' own musical weapons against them.  The only question is whether anyone will fall for it. 

The Jessie J train rolls on with 'Laserlight' ft. David Guetta

We had something for this...

The other day we wrote about how Calvin Harris has his fingers dipped in just about every pie these days.  We neglected to clarify that he only has his fingers in the pies that David Guetta didn't get to first.  WHICH ARE A LOT.

It seems nearly every mid-to-major popstar has worked with the DJ lately, and now Jessie J has hopped on that train with her new single.  It's called 'Laserlight' and it is all about...well, lasers and lights we imagine.  With these donkfest club bangers does it really matter?

It's not bad by any stretch, but it also comes off as a bit of an also-ran in the grand scheme of things.  The whole dirty-synth club track thing long ago reached what we thought was the saturation point, but it appears that once again we overestimated the masses and their desire for something - ANYTHING different and groundbreaking.

Ah well, it'll be nice to dance to at 2 am. Even if it is no 'Domino.'

The new Scissor Sisters single 'Only The Horses' is very good

Just a normal Saturday night at Scissor Towers

Ok so here's the thing.  The Scissor Sisters rock our socks.  There was a time when Calvin Harris did too, but now that everything in the world sounds exactly like a Calvin Harris song, the sock rocking has diminished significantly.

Which presents us with a conundrum.  The amazing Scissor Sisters, who are known for their singular viewpoint and unique take on modern pop, have joined forces with the still-amazing-but-overexposed Calvin Harris who makes everything sound like...well, a Calvin Harris song. 

Is it amazing?  Or is it annoying because the Sisters' sound has been diluted by "the machine" that is radio-friendly pop schlock?  The answer is that in the broader context of "THE STATE OF POP MUSIC" it is a very good version of something we've heard a million times before, albeit with a lot more soul than the usual autotuned garbage that litters the charts.  In isolation, though, when examined on its own musical merits, it is a tremendous feat of pop, and maybe just the thing to rid the Scissors of the stink of failure that still clings to them from their last album.

Plus there are sure to be some stomping remixes so to be completely honest it really doesn't matter how good the song is (even though we have already established that it is, in fact, very good).  Even if it was a hulking pile of absolute shit, the gays would still get some good shirts-off poppers-o-clock discowhistle action out of it, and at the end of the day isn't that what really matters?

The answer, of course, is no, but whatever.

Here's 'Only The Horses.'

THE NEW DRAGONETTE SINGLE IS HERE AND IT IS PHENOMENAL

THIS IS A THING THAT IS WONDERFUL

Only in the rarest of circumstances do we post twice in the same day but THIS IS ONE OF THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES, albeit mostly because we were lazy and forgot to post the Saturdays thing earlier.

But the real reason we are posting twice is because no matter what else happens in the entire world we are morally obligated to write about any new Dragonette music because they are LITERALLY AMAZING, and because they are without a doubt the most underrated band in existence today.  Both of these statements are facts and if anyone reading this doubts them, they can sit on a knife because that person is of no use to a society that values incredible songs and also because fuck you, don't question us.

Anyhoodle, here's the new Dragonette.  We already mentioned that it is AMAZING but let us just underscore once more that it is ACTUALLY TREMENDOUS in the most epic sense possible and deserves to be number 1 for 17 weeks and then win every Grammy including the spoken word children's book category which is an actual thing for some reason.

If you like The Saturdays, you will like their new song '30 Days' - listen to the premiere now!

One of us is wearing very blue tights.

Does anyone else remember a time when an artist's music came out at reasonable intervals and entire album campaigns weren't abandoned after a couple of months?  BECAUSE WE DO.  Apparently, though, the rest of the world has forgotten how nice it was to have a band put out some tunes and then "live with them" for a while.  We loyal listeners would be treated to a few different performances of each single on some different tv shows, and maybe even a live jazz version or something after the track had become a hit so it didn't seem too pretentious, of course.

But those days are over, ScopiSubjects, or at least they are for The Saturdays and their ilk.  Their last album was released in November of 2011, but they group have already moved on to new material - ostensibly from a new LP.  It might be for the best, of course - it's not like "On Your Radar" set the charts afire.  It limped in at a dismal #23 in the UK, and then disappeared into Wikipedia quiz obscurity immediately thereafter.

But never fear, suits at Fascination Records whose new home balloon payments depend on the girls' royalties!  In the interest of "keeping the momentum going" for the band, The Sats' handlers have decided to gloss over that album, pretend it never happened, and start fresh and new with brand-spankin fresh material....that sounds more or less like a track that would have been rejected from the very album they're trying to forget for being "a bit too crap."

Because of course.

That's not to say it's bad by any means - '30 Days' finds the foxy fivesome doing what they do best: slick dance-pop with a ravey poppers-and-glitter vibe.  It's not going to win the band any converts, but at least it's not a complete misfire. 

And on the upside, at this rate we'll have 3 full new Saturdays albums by Christmas.



'30 Days' is out in the UK in May.

UK XFactor Judge Tulisa's New Donkfest Single Is Here

Terrifyingly, this is not the sex tape.

Is it a coincidence that the brand new single by former N-Dubz group member and current UK X-Factor judge Tulisa is coming out mere days after her sex tape "accidentally" leaked?  Tulisa's team says that yes, it is, but we're pretty sure they were winking and maniacally laughing the entire time.

After all, it seems pretty convenient that the whole idea of the track is "oh when you're young you do stupid things, so screw you all I was young and also when I say I'm sorry in the song what I actually mean is f*ck off and then buy my album" considering the surrounding circumstances.

Even if the one-two punch of a sex tape and single (a phenomenon which we're terming "sex single") is a giant promo stunt and everyone knows it, the truth of the matter is it will probably work.  Which is good because otherwise there's no way this song would get noticed.  Pre-sex tape, this track would be a top 40 also-ran.  Now Tulisa's likely looking at a top 10 hit and a place on every tired Ibiza-themed compilation from now until next summer.

"We Are Young" - not to be confused with the Fun/Janelle Monae track that actually contains some artistic merit - is a by-the-numbers Euro donkfest meant to appeal to the lowest common denominator, and will do just that.  Sure there might be some killer remixes, and yeah it'll sound good as background noise while we drunkenly glitter bomb the drunk girl who shoved in ahead of us at the bar, but nothing about this track is particularly special or memorable in any way.

Which is fine.  Thanks to her sex tape we at least know she's good at SOMETHING.

The Gossip are back with 'Perfect World' - listen now!

I am Beth Ditto and you are now my slave

The Gossip are an underrated band and everyone knows that except the people that should be rating them more.  Their frontwoman Beth Ditto is an amazing force of musical nature, and even though she's off pursuing solo stardom she still has been working with her band because THE WORLD CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH BETH.

It's certainly taken a while - their last single was back in 2010 (though their most recent chart hit came in 2009) - but the group are screaming back onto the scene with alt-pop corker 'Perfect World.'  It's not the usual poppers-and-glitter donkfest we fawn over here, but to be fair Gossip have always turned out some BALLS TO THE WALL remixes so we're not too worried.  Also the single is produced by F*CKING XENOMANIA so anyone who has a problem with it can just go sit on a knife.

It's a welcome return and we can't wait to hear the rest of the album.  Unless it's crap.

Marina and the Diamonds are about to drop the single of the Spring - 'Primadonna' is here and it is amazing

I AM AMAZING

So Marina and the Diamonds are this thing that is mostly just a girl named Marina who sings some songs.  A couple years ago two or three of those songs became major players on "the blogs" and minor players on the charts, but it appears that all of that may have just been a quiet, unheralded precursor to Marina ACTUALLY TAKING OVER THE WORLD.

Marina's past "hits" were brilliant in their own understated way - 'I Am Not A Robot' was a particularly enjoyable tune - but it was clear all along that the songs weren't really intended for big chart success.  But with the band's new album 'Electra Heart' EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED.  Big names, big tunes, and (hopefully) big success.

The first real track from the album (the earlier released buzz track 'Radioactive' has been axed from the LP) is called 'Primadonna' and it is one of the best singles to come out so far in 2012.  It's got a killer melody, a sickeningly catchy hook, and - judging by the teaser - is going to have a rad-ass video to go along with it.

Here's 'Primadonna' in all its radio-ripped glory, and a short snippet of the video just to whet your visual appetite.

YOU'RE WELCOME.

Madonna GOES FOR THE GAYS with 'Girl Gone Wild' video - watch the teaser now!

I'm like your grandma.  But naked.

So not everyone (read: almost no one) was super pleased with Madge-mantis' BIG COMEBACK SINGLE 'Give Me All Your Luvin,' and after it made its one-and-done appearance on the US charts and epically flopped in the UK, all the new album's hopes were pinned on the second track from her new LP.  

The track is called 'Girl Gone Wild' and it is kind of a shitshow.  It's essentially a retread of 'Celebration' (both songs were done by Benny Bennassi) and manages to sound both over- and under-produced at the same time.  It's a bit behind the curve of the whole "dance revolution" that has taken over the pop world, but to be fair it has some stomping remixes to accompany it so not everything is lost and it might just rule the clubs for a good few months.

While its chart prospects may be in doubt, we're not sure that was ever the point.  Because what we are sure of is that this is not a track intended to appeal to the mainstream.  Like, at all.  Madonna knows that her only remaining hardcore fan-base is THE GAYS, and anyone with one or more gay as a Facebook friend knows that the second this came out they were ALL OVER IT in epic fashion, tossing all the "werk"s and "furrce"s they could muster at it even though it is terrible.

If that wasn't sign enough that this track is squarely aimed at the confirmed bachelors of the world, we also have handy proof in the video teaser for the clip which showed up online today.  It's all Kazaky-ish abs-and-pecs madness with guy-on-guy action and quick black and white cuts (courtesy of the literally awesome photo team Mert & Marcus of Vogue, W, and general Conde Nast-y fame) and the whole thing would be RATHER SHOCKING INDEED if this was 2003 and if Lady Gaga never happened.

Also Madonna fingers herself in the preview.  Because of course she does.

'Girl Gone Wild' is out now for download and is....not doing well.  But when you're selling out 100,000-capacity stadiums at $400 a pop and boatloads of albums, who cares about putting out a relevant single?

Not Madonna.  Because fuck you she's Madonna.

As a caveat to all of this, however, the rest of the album is kind of brilliant in an epic sense - which actually just angers us more because OF ALL THE TRACKS SHE COULD HAVE CHOSEN WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE THIS GARBAGE?


Madonna - Girl Gone Wild (Teaser) from Roberto on Vimeo.

Calvin Harris keeps chucking out singles - listen to 'Let's Go' feat. Ne-Yo now

This is Calvin Harris with his hair done.

There was once a time when musical artists would release a song to promote an album, and then actually release an album.  But that time has passed and we are now living in an age where an act can get away with shooting parent-albumless singles out every orifice like some musical Teen Mom nightmare in a Wal*Mart bathroom.  We call these tracks "orphan songs" (sadface) and though most end up on an album sooner or later (even if it is a NOW! collection or some other nonsense) we still feel a bit sorry for them.

Calvin Harris hasn't quite gone that far, as he keeps telling us an actual LP is coming.  But we're now on the fourth (!!) single from his new album and there's not even a release date on the books. 

Not that it seems to matter - all of the singles have done VERY WELL INDEED - 'Feels So Close' and his duet with Kelis, 'Bounce' each barely missed #1 in the UK (they both stalled at #2), and everyone in the world is still humming along to his #1 smash with Rihanna, 'We Found Love.'  So maybe Calvin is on to something here.  Rather than sell an entire album of songs for ten bucks, sell a couple EP's of the same song for 7.99.  With no parent LP eating into later singles' sales, the only way to get each song is to buy the track or remix package, so Calvin's label gets tons of money, the people get their track, and everybody goes home happy not knowing the difference except the people who bought the 7th Heaven Remix EP because SERIOUSLY GUYS, DO SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT FOR ONCE.

Regardless of the weirdness of the Calvin Harris promo campaign, 'Let's Go' is still a nice little dance romp, though probably only if you like Calvin Harris.  If you don't then you probably will not like it and also probably shouldn't listen to the radio at all for the rest of the year because literally everything that is coming out sounds exactly like this. 

JoJo's big comeback single 'Sexy To Me' is LITERALLY EVERYTHING - listen to the premiere now

Lattisse.

We have not posted anything in 7 days for the sole reason that we have been locked in our room listening to JoJo's new track on repeat.

It is called 'Sexy To Me' and is tremendous in a way that is somehow both completely old-school but also forward-thinking through and through.  It's kind of what would happen if P!nk's 'There You Go' had a baby with Britney's 'Blackout' album that then shot discoglitter out its pop-snatch.

In other words it is a stellar shitshow of amazingness, and accordingly will probably flop but whatever, the gays will love it and it'll keep B-list remix DJ's in business all summer.

By the time it is officially out, JoJo will have been off the radar for a full 6 years, which in pop time is about the length of the entire Industrial Revolution and JoJo is like some random pastoral rhubarb farmer who was in a coma or something - because she was kicked by a cow, let's say - and now it's 1910 and she's woken up all like HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS HAVE COMBUSTIBLE ENGINES except the combustible engine is THE INTERNET and "you guys" is ALL THE OTHER POP STARS who have been actually doing things for the last half-decade and have learned how to properly record and market a pop single in the modern age.

In other words we are not entirely convinced this whole "comeback" thing is going to be a blazing success.  First, because everyone forgot about JoJo and these days once people stop caring it's nearly impossible to reverse that decline unless you get fat and judge a TV singing competition or bang someone who is actually still famous, have a well-publicized meltdown and then judge a TV singing competition, and second, because even in all its EVERYTHING-AMAZINGNESS, 'Sexy To Me' still kind of sounds like a Hilary Duff b-side.

But whatever, as long as her leaked track 'Forever In My Life' is on the new album we'll be fine.

Here's 'Sexy To Me' in all its glory:

This "Chris Brown doing music with Rihanna" thing needs to be stopped immediately - listen to his track feat. Rihanna, and hers feat. him

pow.

We haven't made it any secret that we are at the point of being completely over the inbreeding vocal orgy of "so-and-so featuring so-and-so" that has taken over music.  In only the rarest of circumstances does it have anything to do with making a track better, and is nearly always exclusively about selling more records.

Add to our hatred of opportunistic "featuring" credits our loathing of Chris Brown, and we have a PERFECT STORM OF US BEING FUSSY ABOUT SOMETHING.

And the thing is in this case it's not even just one track.  No.  It's two.  THAT IS DOUBLE THE AMOUNT OF ONE.  Because while we all knew last week that Chris "Domestic Abuser" Brown was to feature on Rihanna's 'Birthday Cake,' what we didn't count on is that she would decide to return the favor and guest on Chris's 'Turn Up The Music.'

We're still seething at Brown's super classy opening line on 'Birthday Cake' - "Girl, I wanna fuck you right now / Been a long time, I've been missing your body" - so admittedly we're not listening to his new track with a particularly open mind.  But even if that weren't the case we're pretty sure we'd still call it mediocre at best.


Here's 'Turn Up The Music':
   

And in case you missed it, Rihanna's 'Birthday Cake':

Queen of Hearts FREE DOWNLOAD ahoy! Listen to (and download) "A Moment In Love" now!

"I am a queen except not really.  Also I am very pale."

There is a thing called Queen of Hearts and it is very good even though it is neither a Queen nor a Heart.  It is actually a woman and instead of queening or pumping blood it sings songs.  The songs are very good in an "I AM AN ELECTROPOP ARTIST WHO WILL NEVER HAVE A HIT BUT WILL BE FEATURED ON MANY BLOGS" kind of way, and luckily for all the people out there (read: everyone under 50) who get their music online now, that means Queen of Hearts is, by necessity, quite technology savvy.

The Queen (we call her "The Queen" even though she is not, actually, "THE QUEEN," although if Queen Elizabeth of England put out a single we think we can all agree it would be a little bit phenomenal in a life-changing way*) has been running an online media social blitz for the last few months now, and has finally drummed up enough interest to warrant an ACTUAL RELEASE OF MUSIC albeit in the form of a free download.  Unsurprisingly, the track featured as the download is one of her best we've heard so far, and is all cool computer beats and Kylie-esque warblings with a fauxhemian edge.  In other words it is VERY GOOD, and accordingly should be downloaded by everyone.

Beware, ScopiSubjects - it's only available for another 24 hours so get your 'Moment' before it's gone!


* Queen Elizabeth's single should be a poppers-o-clock donkfest with a middle-8 breakdown and a discowhistle, and feature a spoken word verse with a chorus sung by Dev or Keri Hilson or the lady from Dragonette.  Also it should clock in at under 3 minutes but come with remixes that are at least 12 minutes long and sample unrecognizable but "credible" 80's rap records.  LMFAO should not be allowed anywhere near this project. 

Whitney.

There once was a boy from the Midwest who was shielded from everything.  From culture, from music, from anything having to do with the big bad world.  He lived his life totally ignorant of the world of “pop,” until one day after church he sat with his Baptist Minister father, his mother and his sister, in a Michigan Taco Bell.   

Nacho in hand, the boy suddenly looked up and, wide-eyed, stared out the window in a blissful haze.  Because on the radio was something like he’d never heard – something that, one way or another, he was determined to hear more of. 

The boy went out, bought the cassingle of the track he’d heard, ran home to his boombox, and put it on repeat for what must have seemed to his parents to be the next few years, but in reality was probably more like 3 weeks or so.  It was a song that literally changed his life – that opened up a whole new world to him.  It was called “I Will Always Love You,” and it was sung by Whitney Houston. 

Whitney was the boy’s first pop concert – he dragged his parents with him to the Pontiac Silverdome late in 1993.  Whitney was how the boy first experienced true raw emotion through music.  And Whitney was, in one way or another, the soundtrack to his teenage years. 

He'd been a musician all his life - he started playing piano ten years earlier, at age 3 -  but the second he heard the sound coming out of that Taco Bell speaker he knew he wanted to do pop.  And when he finally bought “The Bodyguard” soundtrack CD – his first pop album ever – he flipped over the case, looked at the address of the label, Arista Records, and wrote the company a letter asking how he could be a star just like Whitney.

The letter never got answered, of course, but the seed of his dream had been sown.  Whitney awoke something in him that set him down the path he still walks today.  As a teen he sat in his parents' Audi and blew out the speakers blasting "One Moment In Time," because he was determined to have just one moment of his very own.  He became a published songwriter, a TV host, an entertainment lawyer, and music blogger, all, in some strange way, because Whitney Houston told him he could. 

One could argue that if it hadn’t been Whitney it would have been someone else.  But the point is it wasn’t someone else.  She had something special that crossed over where nothing had before, and reached into the sheltered life of an adolescent kid and shook him out of his ignorant sleep. 

Even though they drifted apart in later years, she was always there.  In the background at a restaurant, on the screen at a bar.  And recently, with her semi-successful comeback, “Million Dollar Bill,” she even ended up with the unofficial song of his summer. 

Now she’s gone, and the boy is realizing just how much a part of his life Whitney really was, and just how much he owes to her. How everything was different before she came into his life, and how different things would be today if she never had.

So, to Whitney, now that you're asleep:  Thank you for waking that boy up.

Katy Perry will not give up until she beats Michael Jackson - listen to her new single 'Part of Me' now!

"Sir I'm afraid this is for first class passengers only"

Oh Katy Perry.

Maybe it's her ruthless and insatiable desire for success.  Maybe it's that she just broke up with her husband and wants to prove he's missing out.  Or maybe she's just a vapid cog in her management team's moneymaking scheme.  But regardless of the reason, Katy is soldiering on in her quest to shatter the record for most number 1 singles from an album.  And that, friends, means 'Teenage Dream' is getting re-released, BECAUSE OF COURSE IT IS.

'Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection" is the star's last ditch attempt at landing a giant, noteworthy chart record of her very own.  She recently tied none other than THE ACTUAL MICHAEL JACKSON, who until recently was the only artist in history to notch 5 number ones from a single LP, but obviously Katy won't settle for second best unless we're talking about men or album producers. 

It almost happened a couple weeks ago, but things didn't go quite as planned for 'The One That Got Away,' Katy's last single, though it did make it all the way to #3 before it sputtered out.  But NEVER FEAR, POP FANS - since the words "flogged to death" mean nothing in this day and age, the entire parent album is being retooled, some mixes added, and of course, it will feature a BRAND NEW TRACK which may very well set the charts alight.

Whether new single 'Part Of Me' will hit the top is still to be determined, of course, but even if it does it will likely have a dubious place in the record books.  Does having 6 #1 singles from an album really count if one of them wasn't even on the album in the first place? (everyone: "NO.")

Our guess is Katy Perry's management thinks so, and so will just about every press release that Capitol Records chucks out for the next year if they pull this thing off.

In any case, the new track is "very good" in that way that Katy Perry songs are "very good" if you like Katy Perry.  If you don't, you probably aren't reading this post anyway, so we'll just save the typing and get right to the preview:



"so there's that then."

Ladyhawke is back with Black White & Blue - watch the premiere now!

"I'm prettier when you can't see my teeth."

So last night some lady sang some songs at the World Bowling Championship or something and it was VERY VERY GOOD even though the whole opening was ripped off Kylie's 'Aphrodite' Tour in a shockingly blatant way.  But today life must go on and SO IT DOES in the form of a rather brilliant track by retro-svengali Ladyhawke.

It's called Black White & Blue and is an obvious play on the AMERICA F*CK YEAH theme but also on bruising (?) but most importantly it is a LITTLE BIT TREMENDOUS. 

Equally tremendous is the video for the song, which is all retro-chic with soft lighting, late-70's pastels and a kind of awkward photo shoot that feels a bit like when your uncle used to make you bounce on his knee even though he wasn't really your uncle, just some guy your dad knew from the bar, and also the fact that you were 16. 

Anyway, the video is really good and even though everyone is still talking about Madge's all-conquering halftime show, it deserves some goddamn recognition.

MADONNA'S SINGLE COVER IS AMAZING - album/single press release ahoy!

This is what we in the business call a "brilliant single cover"

So Madge-Mantis is gearing up for her first studio album since the...less than spectacular 'Hard Candy,' and if the promo campaign for the record is anything to go by, that LP's relative failure taught Miss M some Hard lessons.  (Ed:  groan.)

First, Madonna's wisely moved up the availability date of the track on iTunes.  Originally it was slated to be available on February 7, two whole days after her Superbowl performance.  It might be a reflection of the terrifyingly fast-moving world we now live in, but those two days could have (likely would have) meant the difference between possibly having a chart-topping hit for the first time since 'Music' way back in 2001, and everyone forgetting that the song even exists.

The revised plan is now for the video to debut during American Idol on Feb. 2, the track will be available from iTunes on Feb. 3, and any pre-orders of the album made between Feb. 3 and Feb. 6 will come with a free download of the single and remix.

The second big piece of information the Evil Queen has deigned to give us is that the album will feature no less than EIGHTEEN TRACKS (amazing, unless half of them or filler which - let's be honest - they very well might be) from the likes of William Orbit, her 'Ray of Light' collaborator, Martin Solveig, The Demolition Crew, Marco “Benny” Benassi and Alessandro “Alle” Benassi, Hardy “Indiigo” Muanza, Michael Malih and of course at least one written by Madonna - presumably her Elton John/David Furnish-incensing 'Masterpiece' from her film 'W.E.'

To be fair we haven't been this excited about a Madonna project since 'Confessions on a Dancefloor' came out, so fingers crossed that everything goes right.  But with a killer single (and flat out amazing single cover) and the most prime promo gigs available, we're not too worried.  And we imagine neither is she.


Here's a promo for the video that includes approximately 2.3 seconds of the clip in seizure-like flashes:



Yes.

Kylie shows she's a true artist on BRAND NEW 'Finer Feelings' - watch now!

Fierce and mighty.

So there was this girl named Kylie and she was a soap opera star in Australia and then a soap opera star in England and then a pop star everywhere for the next TWO AND A HALF DECADES.  She was at the top of the music heap then at the bottom, and then pulled herself up by her gold hotpants and became the PRINCESS OF EVERYTHING ALWAYS - in the process conquering cancer, having some of the biggest hits of the 2000's and becoming Britian and Australia's most powerful celebrity. 

In case you're wondering how she managed all that, the long answer is very complicated and involves branding and marketing and promotion and PowerPoints with lots of tedious graphs and such, but the short answer is THROUGH DECADES OF CONSISTENTLY AMAZING MUSIC.  And just in case you need more clarification about that, someone has chucked together this handy compilation clip that sums up the Pop Princess's videos in a remarkably un-tedious 17 minutes.  It advertises itself as a celebration of one star, but in reality is a time capsule of pop music itself over the last 25 years.  It traces popular song from its 80's infancy to the all-powerful force it is today.  But be warned, ScopiSubjects - you think you'll watch it for just a couple minutes but then 20 minutes later you'll look up from your screen, bleary-eyed and wondering what happened.


Worldwide she's as big as Madonna, and in the U.S. she's a cult celebrity with a fanbase (read: the gays) more rabid than America's biggest acts could ever hope for.  And to celebrate sticking around for 25 years, K-Mo has launched the K25 "project," which is essentially a YEAR-LONG CELEBRATION OF HERSELF - which we think we can all agree is AN AMAZING THING TO DO.  Included in that celebration is new material, and an album of her greatest hits recorded with a live orchestra at Abbey Road studios.  And to kick things off, Kylie has given us this video of her 'Finer Feelings,' which proves once and for all something that die-hard fans learned during her late-90's "indie phase," and what the general public is starting to finally realize - that underneath the glittery pop veneer, Miss Minogue is an ACTUAL ARTIST.



"Perfection."

Brillballs Gabriella Cilmi is back with some 'Vicious Love' - watch the premiere now!

Haters can ride it.

In "ABOUT GODDAMN TIME" news, Gabriella Cilmi - who gave us the literally amazing 'Sweet About Me' and 'On A Mission', is back on the scene with a sort-of-single, sort-of-teaser to give a taste of what is in store for her new album.  And it is VERY GOOD.

The Aussie songstress started out at the age of just 16, riding the new-soul tidal wave that brought us Amy Winehouse and Duffy, but then went full-on pop for her second album.  This new material seems to have more in common with her low key soul roots, but luckily for us it seems like she didn't forget everything she learned on her sophomore long-play, as the first track still has a definite pop edge to it.

It's no wonder her handlers have decided to turn back the clock, though - her first album outsold its follow up 2-1, and even spawned some success in America - something she couldn't replicate with her last album, '10'.  Perhaps they're trying to get back some of that chart magic, but we doubt we're alone in hoping there's at least one disco-stomper on the new LP.

Welcome back, Gabriella.  We missed you like whoa.

FREE DOWNLOAD AHOY - The new Santigold is very good but "not everyone's cup of tea"

Santigold used to be called Santogold but isn't any longer.  She also used to make music but then stopped for like, 5 years or something.  Anyway, new name in tow, she's returned with a BIG COMEBACK SINGLE that will probably win a thousand Grammys but be played on the radio only once by a late-night NPR DJ who is a close personal friend of the artist.

It's got some of the hallmarks of a hit - sick beat, "now" lyrics - and anyone with a keen ear might hear a kinship between it and recent tracks by Beyonce and Nicola Roberts.  That's because it was produced by Switch, who did music for each of them. 

But regardless of its pedigree, it's MORE THAN A BIT STRANGE and miles away from anything chart friendly.   The video certainly doesn't help matters, as it's a low-budget celebration of 90's live animaction with a few quirks of its own.  Look, bad lighting and no makeup!  Squiggly lines everywhere!  Hi-tops!!

It's as if all of fauxhemian Brooklyn got together and said "let us anoint a 35 year old woman from Philadelphia as our queen" and this is what resulted.  Which isn't to say it's bad.  Just that we're going to wait for the next single before we pre-order the album.

Luckily this track is ABSOLUTELY FREE over at Santigold's website

So, weird or not, it's still going on our iphone.

Mission accomplished, Santigold.  Mission accomplished.

Alexandra Burke is back with BONA FIDE CLUB BANGER 'Elephant' - listen now

...you've got something on your lips, dear...

Alexandra Burke has had quite a time of it hasn't she?  She burst onto the pop scene as winner of the UK X-Factor in 2008, and has since tallied up 3 number 1 singles and a chart topping album.   She was the first female solo artist to sell a million copies of a single, and sold 105,000 copies of her debut track...in a single day.

But as is the way in these fast-moving times, things got a bit wonky toward the end of her first album's campaign.  Granted, it was the sixth single from the parent LP, but final release 'Silence' only limped to #16, and many started wondering if Alex's follow up album would suffer from the dreaded sophomore slump.

Well it's about time to find out, as the lead single from Ms. Burke's second record is finally here.  'Elephant' is an of-the-moment donkfest of the highest order, with a thumping beat and bubbly bassline.  But while that formula once nearly guaranteed chart success thanks to the dance music craze, one can't help but feel that Alexandra is jumping on the bandwagon just a bit too late.  In fact, we're pretty sure that 2012 will be the year that the current manifestation of club music jumps the shark and is replaced by some random underground oddity that will be co-opted by an up and coming pop act. 

Only time will tell whether Alexandra's foray into poppers-o-clock pop will prove successful, but at the very least we get a jam of a song out of it.

The Wanted take over Ellen for their first American tv appearance - watch now!

Buy my single and I'll move the sign.

So apparently 2012 is not only the year in which the world ends, but is also the year in which England once again launches a pop invasion of the US.  With Cher Lloyd already gunning for the American charts with 'Want U Back,' fellow teen popstars The Wanted have just upped the ante by performing their UK #1 single 'Glad You Came' on Ellen.

The group have already been trapsing around to radio stations and playing club gigs in seedy eurotrash gay bars, but with a radio re-release of the track slated for January 24, it appears the boys are going big or going home to jolly old England.

The performance itself is pretty by the numbers, with some awkward standing around and then some QUITE THRILLING (read: not thrilling at all) running around in the audience.  But it is notable for being pretty damn on-point vocally, and even for the world's top pop acts that's a big feat these days.  If anyone had doubts these kids have some serious vocal chops this video will go a ways toward silencing them.  But that doesn't mean their infectious brand of UK cheese will make any impact in the charts.

As we've seen lately with everyone from Kylie to Leona Lewis, US success has less to do with quality than it does with quantity and relentlessness of promotion.  Despite a balls-to-the-wall fierce America's Got Talent performance, K-Mo's singles off her latest album floundered outside the dance charts, and with no in-person promotion to speak of, Leona's 'Collide' barely made an impact.  A lot of this is just because the US is so damn big that a few tv and radio spots can't possibly cover the number of people required to have an actual hit, but it's also because the charts have become so homogenized of late that unless you're Katy Perry, Britney or LMFAO, no one is going to play your song anyway.

Sure, the UK gave us Adele, but let's not forget that she also was on most every awards show there was in 2011.  Her whole album was lightning in a bottle, but more importantly, she had the touring and promo schedule to back it up.  The question for The Wanted is whether they are willing and able to do the same, and are ready to sacrifice the time and effort it takes to make it Stateside. 

We're guessing they are - if only just so they can have ultimate bragging rights over JLS.

'Glad You Came' is out to download now in the US, and will be rereleased to mainstream radio on January 24.

Cher Lloyd's rather amazing 'Want You Back' finally gets a video

What do you mean I wasn't supposed to put on ALL the makeup?

If you live in the UK you've probably already made your mind up as to whether you love or hate Cher Lloyd.  If you live anywhere else, you probably have very little idea who she is, which is exactly why Cher's handlers have gone ahead and chucked an American rapper on her new track for literally no reason at all.

The dude's name is Astro and he came in like 11th on US X Factor or something, but no one cares so that's all we will say about that.  What people SHOULD care about is the video, which is KIND OF TREMENDOUS.

Cher's strong suit has always been her personality - she doesn't just sing words, she injects them with her own unique weight and meaning - and it's on full display in this clip.  It's basically her spunkily stalking her old (very hot) boyfriend and his new girl, jumping into their pictures and videos and dumping stuff on them. 

For anyone who's been through a painful breakup recently it could be a meaningful and cathartic experience, but for the rest of us it's just QUITE A LOT OF FUN.

Also she looks amazing.  So good for you, Cher.  Now stop letting them put rent-a-rappers on your tracks.  Thanks.


Cher Lloyd Feat. Astro - Want U Back (HD) from mike roda on Vimeo.

Goldfrapp's new single 'Melancholy Sky' is a gorgeous slice of electropop heaven

CAN SOMEONE HELP ME FIND MY CAR KEYS

Goldfrapp is an amazing band that everyone thinks of as an EPIC DANCE GROUP but is really an EPIC ELECTRO-CHILL GROUP.  Much of this confusion comes from the fact that nearly every chart hit the band has had has been a poppers-o-clock thumpfest, but has also not really been representative of their overall sound.  Like, at all.

Sure, they did one largely-clubby album, but other than that their output has always consisted of mostly low-key melodic e-folk.  Which is fine.  We don't judge.  ("hahaha, that's a joke" etc.)

Anyway, their slower, more pensive tracks are arguably their best ('Black Cherry' and 'A&E,' anyone?), but we have to admit that every so often we still long for the stomping, faux-flapper discobitch that gave us 'Ooh La La' and 'Strict Machine.' 

Every time we get our hopes up,though,  they let us down - albeit in literally the BEST WAY POSSIBLE.  Everything inside us calls out to them to give us a donkfest club stomper, but instead we are given gorgeous, glittering, pitch-perfect downbeat pop that puts most every other group to shame.  And their new single is no exception.  It's ethereal, melodic, and a wholly immersive experience that pretty much no other band is doing and certainly no other could pull off, which might be exactly why the group insist on giving us these tracks instead of going along with the current dance music trend. 

Long story short, 'Melancholy Sky' may not be the banger we were hoping for, but if disappointment sounds this good, we'll take it.

2012 starts with a f*cking bang - the Scissor Sisters have just put out what may be the single of the year

We just blew your minds with our amazing new single.

What you are about to hear is epic in every sense of the word.  It is current without being trendy, it is pop without being pandering, and it is

literally

tremendous.

Here is Scissor Sisters' new single 'Shady Love.'

Shady Love (Clean) by Scissor Sisters Official