Let's all talk about the Lady Gaga special then.

There is no escape.

So last night something happened and we all know it happened and we might as well just talk about it.

That something was the Lady Gaga Thanksgiving special and it was nonsense.  Not nonsense in that it was bad, but nonsense in that it even exists in the first place. 

First off, let's get this out of the way:  Gaga is ridiculously talented.  She can sing.  She can dance.  She holds her own singing jazz songs with goddamn Tony Bennett, for chrissake.  But the woman is also batshit insane, and not in the "oh-em-gee my outfits are made of meat, you guys" way.  She is batshit in the "I wholeheartedly believe that all of America gives a crap about all of this" way.

It kicked off well enough, to be fair, with a straightforward performance of 'Lady Is A Tramp' with Tony Bennett.  We say straightforward, but with Gaga that means "Tony sang while Gaga made weird faces and seized," but it was good and fun and got things off to a good start. 

Then, friends, it "TOOK A TURN." 

"a turn."

All of a sudden we were meant to care about whatever neural misfire Miss G was having at the time, and had to listen to a bunch of stories for no reason.  She did some things and said some things that for whatever reason must have seemed interesting at the time, and then she cooked chicken and waffles with a chef on national television while wearing some seriously fierce couture, BECAUSE OF COURSE.

Things looked up again, thankfully, when she sang some more and danced some more, and then she sat down with Katie Couric for a KIND-OF-PAINFUL-TO-WATCH interview and plopped a giant fabric strawberry on her head and tried to pretend like it was completely normal, because in Gaga's world that is just the way things are done so fuck you.  

Now, full disclosure: after the Couric interview we tuned out a bit because by that point we had done some (a lot of) tequila shots, so we can't say a whole lot about the last 20 minutes or so, but from what we remember, taken all together it was an oddly appropriate-feeling special.

It was traditional with a twist and - even though it got its ratings ass handed to it by last night's airing of 'The Big Bang Theory' - probably managed to get a few more grandmas in the midwest on board the Gaga train. Because if there's one thing midwest grandmas like, it's a show in which the star self-servingly does all the things that she knows midwest grandmas will like.

Sure, she looked amazing, sang amazing, and managed to hit on an oddly appropriate tone for the holiday, which really is what Gaga is about - taking our preconceptions of something and twisting them into her own grotesque interpretation of them.  But every time she spoke, the whole thing took this air of entitlement and posturing about it that we just couldn't get past until she started singing again. 

But good for Lady Gaga.  We came in to the special expecting to hate it and left only hating the parts where she was herself.  Our 90 minutes with her confirmed once and for all that she is a brilliant musician, fashion icon, and performer, and also that we never, ever want to hang out with her.  And that was what made the special a success in the end.  It was meant to give us a glimpse into Gaga's softer, real-er side, and it did just that - it's just that Gaga's soft, real side is completely insane and self-involved. 

And we wouldn't expect any less.

Our personal favorite from the show was, oddly, her completely lip-synced, by-the numbers performance of 'Bad Romance' because no matter what happens ever it will still be one of the best songs in the history of literally everything, and not even the fact that last night saw it performed on what we assume is the set of an upcoming rococo-themed Cascada video can take that away.

Lady Gaga is hospitalized in fabulous fashion - watch the preview of 'Marry The Night' now!

When I wake up my stylist will be slowly and painfully murdered

Lady Gaga is batshit and we all know it.  We've come to accept it and a lot of people have come to love her for it.  But she's one of the few people who can pull off crazy with some considerable style, and with the exception of the utter turd that was the "Edge Of Glory" video, has managed to be pretty consistently amazing visually.

Sure she's gotten all heavy-handed, and yeah she takes herself WAY too seriously these days, but who else could make a virtually silent preview for their music video, in which they are literally rolled around on a gurney for 2 minutes, a watercooler talking point?

And granted, in this preview ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAPPENS, but to be fair, it's still classier than most anything that's come out in recent memory so quit your bitching and pop a Klonopin.   For once we're taking Gaga's side - the rest of the video might turn out to be an overwrought mess, but this preview teaser thing is wicked cool in a 'London Hospital'/BBC Period Drama kind of way.  WHICH IS MAYBE THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE.

Lady Gaga continues her 'Marry The Night' campaign on UK X Factor - watch now

Oh.

So the other night Lady Gaga visited the UK X Factor in her ongoing blitz to ensure that 'Marry The Night' becomes a hit even though everyone got over it a few months ago.  And while the performance was "interesting" in that way that Gaga's performances are always interesting, it also wasn't anything special. 

Miss G spent the first few minutes of the track sitting in a confessional box underneath a big cross because OF COURSE, and then burst out of it to reveal herself as an oddly-proportioned headless woman who sings.  So, par for the course for team Gaga then.  The thing that really troubles us though is that, practically speaking, the whole thing shouldn't work because HOW CAN A HEAD SING IF IT IS NOT ATTACHED TO LUNGS?

We demand answers and fully intend to "Occupy Gaga" until this is resolved.

Anyway, it was good and well done and Gaga was in fine voice as (almost) always but we can't help feeling like this would have worked a bit better 2 weeks ago around Halloween. 

This new Lady Gaga thing is rather amazing - listen now!

If I was born this way I would qualify for some sort of disability benefit

We admittedly were ambivalent to Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way' album, quite preferring her old and less preachy work to it.  But now something has shown up that has made us A LITTLE BIT OBSESSED with it.  It is the remix we have posted below.  It is a mix of ALL OF THE SONGS on the album and it is amazing.  It does wonderful things for each of the songs, and though we are sure some "little monsters" (ED: never use this term again.  ever.) will have us strung up by dinner time, we have no problem saying that we actually prefer the tweaked versions to the album itself.  It's 23 minutes of brilliant pop music all strung together in a genius way.  And it is glorious.


Lady Gaga - Born This Way (Jordan Howe Megamix) by Jordan Howe (jdhmixes)

In case you missed these bits of popaganda...Scissor Sisters, Gaga, and Kylie

Is there something on my face?

Remarkably, things happen in the world of music EVEN WHEN WE DON'T TALK ABOUT THEM, and here are a few of those things:

- Lady Gaga's new video is getting unanimously 'meh' reviews.  It's slick and well put together, but it's....a little boring.  When people point and Gaga and say "but anybody could have done that," she has a problem.  (Star Observer)

- The Scissor Sisters (amazing) are....wait for it...scoring the new Fraggle Rock movie (AMAZING) and it will be out relatively soon (ACTUALLY AMAZING).  (Rolling Stone)

- The Kylie Musical is still happening so everyone can relax and stop pretending it isn't.  (Sky Living)

Lady Gaga sings 'The Edge of Glory' on American Idol while standing on an actual edge

To vote for Lady Gaga, dial MONSTER

Last night millions of Americans threw away their standard text messaging fees on choosing the "best of a bad bunch" winner of American Idol who will be embarrassing themselves in a traveling production of 'Joseph' by the time you read this. But all anyone really cared about was Lady Gaga singing her new is-it-or-isn't-it-a-single 'Edge of Glory.' (Sorry Beyonce, but you knew going in that you were gonna be upstaged - Girls don't run the world, Gaga does.)

The Ladylicious One treated the throngs of lowbrow-television fans to her usual spectacular, and following the pattern started by her literal live interpretation of 'Born This Way' (look, I'm coming out of an egg like I'm being born!), Gaga belted out her new jam while STANDING ON AN ACTUAL EDGE.

With her new album projected to sell 900,000 copies this week she really has no reason to be on the edge of anything, but in true Gaga fashion she still treated us to one of the COOLEST MOMENTS IN POP HISTORY at the 4:00 mark.

Remember kids - Gaga says suicide is awesome as long as you look hot, are wearing a hat, and millions of people see when you do it.

Lady Gaga's album leaked yesterday and this is what it sounds like

I AM INSULATED AGAINST YOUR CRITICISMS

We (along with most everyone else who cares) heard Gaga's new album yesterday at the exact second it leaked, thanks to the wonders of the thing they call the internets.

To say expectations were high is a DRAMATIC UNDERSTATEMENT.  So how does it stack up to the lofty projections?  Let's take a look, shall we:

1.  There are 2 great songs, a couple good songs, some mediocre songs, and a bad song or two.
2.  Every song has a tempo change for NO REASON
3.  Every song has a speaking bit for NO REASON
4.  Every song is far less good than 'Bad Romance' but some are far better than 'Alejandro.'
5.  It's a bit preachy and up itself which should come as a surprise to absolutely no one.
6.  It is not the ALL-CONQUERING, GENRE DEFINING MASTERPIECE that Gaga thinks it is.
7.  It is not terrible but it is also not brilliant and is actually just an above-average pop album from an above-average pop star.  And from anyone else that would be good enough.

So there you have it.  There are some good bits and some bad bits and more than a couple cringey bits.  But it's still better than Nickelback.  So...at least there's that.

3 OUT OF 5 SCOPITONES

Listen to Lady Gaga's BRAND NEW SINGLE 'Edge of Glory' right now because it is AMAZING

"we are the same, you and I..."

We don't know just how we feel about new singles coming out literally minutes after the previous single's video debuts, but there's nothing we can do about that as it is JUST THE WORLD WE NOW LIVE IN, so whatever.  We do, however, know how we feel about Gaga's brand new track she just unveiled on the interwebs, called 'Edge Of Glory.'

WE FEEL VERY GOOD ABOUT IT INDEED.

It's an amazing, teary, amazing song that sets the album up far better than either of the two prior singles, and might just win us back to her side if she plays her next few moves right and doesn't start preaching again.

MIGHT. 

Oh look it's LADY GAGA'S JUDAS VIDEO

...as you do.

Lady Gaga has a song out and it is called 'Judas' and she has done a video for it.  Some of it is in black and white and some of it is in color, and some of it is in black and white and color all at the same time.  There are bikes and boobs and also some dancing, but mostly there are weird religious overtones and Lady Gaga looking ACTUALLY HOT.

It is what people tend to call "VERY GOOD" and almost makes up for how "meh" the song is.  But not quite.


EDIT: FIXED VIDEO - it should work until the interweb police find it again :(
EDIT 2:  You can watch the video HERE (for now)

Listen to a clip of LADY GAGA'S 'JUDAS' before it premieres later today!

are you a good witch or a bad witch

Now that some time has passed, we have decided that 'Born This Way' was pretty crap and all this talk of it being a CLASSIC SONG OF EMPOWERMENT is utter bullshit propogated by the liberal media machine.  The people that love it are the same people who think 'Glee' is a quality show and don't understand why everyone hates Gwyneth Paltrow.

But, as we discussed at length when the track came out, 'Born' was less a reflection on Gaga's "new sound" than it was on her clever choice of a divisive high-impact single.  So it stands to reason that Lady's second single off her sophomore (sort of) album will much better reflect the direction the big G is taking.  Enter 'Judas,' the long-rumored second single that will properly kick off the 'Born This Way' album.

In true 2011 meta fashion, Gaga has chosen to drop hints and snippets of the song all over the damn place, and with news that the track will premiere on UK radio later this afternoon also comes a very long, very crappy clip.

AND IT IS AMAZING.

Even with tons of noise and low-quality-ness going on it is amazing.  If nothing changed from this clip between this preview and its actual release it would still be in the top 15% of all music released this year in terms of quality and fantasticness.  Think 'Bad Romance' for 2011 and if 'Bad Romance' were better.

So, AMAZING.

Lady Gaga - Judas - Snippet 5 Vidéo MrMusic sélectionnée dans Musique

Gaga goes country for her brand new version of 'Born This Way' - listen now!

Stop or my mom will shoot

Ok so we did a whole thing a while back about how 'Born This Way' is kind of crap and is essentially a poor rip off of Madonna's 'Express Yourself.'  And all that still applies - to the "original version."  But this brand new recording of the track, the 'Country Road Version,' goes a long way in showing the song's merits on its own.  It's clearly got a melody and also some lyrics, and that's really all you need, right? 

No, it's still not the EPIC GAGA JAM that we were hoping for, and yeah, Kylie already did the country version thing for all of 'Aphrodite' with her "Dolly Parton Test," but at least Miss G still has some almost-inspired tricks up her sleeve. 

Gaga's 'Born This Way' video premieres and it is.......ugh, just watch it

She was born this way.  With a makeup artist, airbrushing and a giant wind machine.

This whole Lady Gaga thing has swiftly turned a corner and become a sort of epic shitshow of self indulgence and art-school narcissism.  It sorta began with the 'Alejandro' video, which received some pretty scathing reviews from just about everyone, and, apparently, Gaga took those criticisms and said 'screw you all, I'll do the same thing just weirder and with less of a point and an actual birthing scene for no reason.'

Sure there are some good bits.  But there are far more bad bits.  Also, we do not need to see ANYONE being ACTUALLY BORN, thank you very much, regardless of....well, regardless of anything, really.  

To be fair to the woman, you certainly can't look away from this clip - but it's kind of the music video equivalent of last night's Oscars ceremony.  It's trying desperately to be young and hip, but really just ends up being self-congratulatory, expected, and a little cringey to watch.

Womp womp.

This is why the Gaga song is crap also why it is amazing

I enjoy the new Lady Gaga track

Yesterday Egyptian Presi-dictator Hosni Mubarek finally stepped down following 18 days of mass uprisings among his people.  Conveniently for him, this happened just moments after the new Lady Gaga single debuted worldwide, so ABSOLUTELY NO ONE NOTICED.

The Gaga track we are referring to, in case you have been in some sort of isolation for the last few months, is called 'Born This Way,' and is all about how no matter how messed up you are it is FINE because you were BORN THAT WAY. 

Off the bat you might notice a problem, as this particular philosophy would allow the Hosni Mubareks of the world to just say "oh I was born this way so you have to deal with my executions and intimidation," but whatever, that's a whole other thing and just illustrates one of our pet peeves about Gaga's 'BE WHO YOU ARE NO MATTER HOW SELFISH AND TWATTISH IT IS' campaign, and it really is best we leave that conversation for another time when we all are drunk.  So to smooth things along let's just all agree to realize that what Lady Gaga is REALLY saying is "you're fine because you were born this way, as long as you fall within my own particular view of social norms and don't eat children or something and also are not Republican or terribly religious." 

So great, the message is super empowering and gay-friendly.  "But what about the music?" you all cry.  Well the easy answer is that it is VERY GOOD but unfortunately there is a giant asterisk after that statement. 

A giant asterisk

See, you might have noticed in the hours since the track's debut that much ink has been spilled over how the song contains the exact same chord progression and, at some points, melody, as Madonna's 'Express Yourself.'  And don't get us wrong - that was a great song and anything that tips its hat to it is fine by us.  But 'Born' goes so much farther than just a wink and a nod, and therein lies its one terrible flaw.

When the general population over 30 (and gays over about 20) listen to 'Born This Way,' they can't help but hear 'Express Yourself' in their head.  So, fair or not, the track is constantly being mentally compared to a 20-year-old bona fide classic.  Judged on its own, 'Born' is a sleek and powerful jam with a killer hook and even killer-ier verses.  But stacked up against its predecessor it all starts to fall apart: 

First, 'Express Yourself' is so much more clever, lyrically, that it kind of isn't even worth comparing the two.  For instance, the chorus of 'Born' is essentially Lady Gaga saying 'born this way' over and over again to the point it becomes a bit tedious and comes off at least A LITTLE BIT LAZY, while Madonna managed to shove an entire poetic discourse on empowerment into her chorus. (insert joke about Madonna managing to shove a lot of things into...NEVER MIND)

Second, the production on the two couldn't be more different, and again, Gaga's comes out as the definite loser.  Not because it is bad, mind you - the production is actually pretty spectacular.  But, the Lady chose to go the "SOUND OF NOW" route which all too quickly becomes "THE SOUND OF TEN MINUTES AGO" and eventually becomes "THE SOUND OF DATED AND TERRIBLE THINGS."  On the other end of the spectrum we have Madonna, who crafted a track that took a classic sound and molded it to her needs, in the process creating a timeless song that sounds as fresh today as it did in 1989.  It has an old school, organic sound which pretty much will never go out of style - and Madonna certainly knew that.  'Born This Way,' on the other hand, has synths that will sound outdated in 2 years, and production that is gimmicky and will be beat to death by every other artist trying to replicate her success.  Long story short:  'Express Yourself' was timeless, and 'Born This Way' is so of the moment that it's almost frightening.

We really could go on for a while about this, but in the interest of responsible time management - and also not being killed by Gaga's rather terrifying army of obsessive "Monsters," we are going to go ahead and skip to our 2 GIANT CAVEATS that render all of the preceding text essentially pointless:

First: 'BORN THIS WAY' IS AMAZING.

So amazing that it's actually a shame that it so blatantly conjures up Madonna's track at all, because compared with most of the trash that is on the radio these days it's a giant leap forward.  But, when you're taking on a classic, you'd better make damn sure you improve on it, and this time Gaga just didn't. 

Second: At the end of the day, the musical and lyrical content of 'Born' really isn't even the point.  It's not one of those songs that is supposed to stand the test of time and become a classic for decades to come.  It's a song that is supposed to announce something and make a statement, and in its own tiny way make everything seem just slightly different somehow. 

And that, ScopiSubjects, is where 'Born This Way' triumphs over everything.  Love it or hate it, the instant the track debuted the world turned into an ACTUALLY DIFFERENT PLACE.  It became a world where 'Born This Way' is what everything must sound like.  Where people write articles about whether Gaga ripped off Madonna, or one-upped her, or if the two really are in on it together and are one day going to erupt out of a stage at an awards show and do a mashup of the two tracks and then scissor.  It's a world here producers scramble to figure out just what Gaga's people did to get "that sound," and where we've heard a track that is so of the moment that it actually DEFINES that moment.

And at the end of the day, that's really how 'Born' should be judged.  It did what it came to do, and it did it in style.  Gaga has plenty of time to pull a new classic out of her meat dress, and if history is any indication, we're pretty sure she's not going to have any problem doing it.  But for now we can sit back, enjoy a QUITE-ABOVE-AVERAGE rip off of 'Express Yourself,' and rest soundly in the knowledge that somewhere on the tip of the Sinai Peninsula, Ex-President Hosni Mubarek is sitting in a Barcalounger, surrounded by guards, popping in his iPod earphones and singing softly to himself:

"I was born this way."

Lady Gaga and Elton John duet on 'Hello Hello' - listen now!

You smell like Ke$ha

Elton John is many things.  Bloated boozebag.  Glitter queen.  Gifted musician.  And now he's for some reason he's decided to add "Animated Filmmaker" to his long, long resume. 

He and partner David Furnish have a musical adventure coming out this month called 'Gnomeo and Juliet' (see what they did there) and it looks super fun in a Shrekky kind of way.  More fun, though, is the news that the film will include a - wait for it - DUET BETWEEN ELTON JOHN AND LADY GAGA. 

We know.  We're excited too.

The track is called 'Hello Hello' and it is a ballady thing that clearly accompanies some poignant moment in the film, where something happens for some reason, and we all know to be sad about it because the music is slow and somber. 

We'd love to play you the song in all its Gaga glory, but there's a bit of a hitch regarding that.  While the duet track will feature in the film itself, the soundtrack album will inexplicably contain an Elton-only version.

Because that makes sense.

Anyway, here's a dodgy copy of the Gaga-John version.  To be fair it doesn't sound that interesting anyway so we're probably not missing much.  We probably could have told you that at the beginning of the article and saved us all some time, but whatever.  Here's 'Hello Hello.'

Elton John & Lady Gaga - Hello, Hello (Preview) by gagadaily

The NEW LADY GAGA in HQ with an artsy video to boot - watch now!

"...and then she fell over"

Yesterday we chucked up some Cloverfield-style footage from a fashion show, during which a good deal of thumping went on.  This thumping was apparently a new Lady Gaga song, but no one could really tell anything about it for sure except that it was kind of like 'Teeth' but "stompier" and also that it was VERY GOOD.

Well now there's a full-on remix thing on the interwebs, posted by one of the team behind the fashion show.  It features a super art-school-y video that shows a bunch of things that very few people would care anything about if it wasn't paired with a new Gaga track, but all around the whole thing is doing quite an alright job of drumming up interest in the Lady's 'Born This Way' album.

Because it needed so much help.

Anyway here's the video.  We warn you.  It is good.  Well, as good as 4 minutes of one phrase repeating over and over to a beat can be.  Which is still pretty damn good.

A new Lady Gaga song is here and it is good. Watch now!

She let a doctor "Poke-her Face"

We have a whole theory about Miss Gaga that she has achieved a completely unsustainable level of fame and notoriety, and that she will soon end up being the Cyndi Lauper of this generation, eclipsed by a new Madonna.  Part of that is because her music is brilliant but also challenging, but mostly it's because she wears MEAT AS CLOTHING because it is somehow interesting.

To be fair we really have no idea how the whole Gaga thing will turn out, but with the debut of this 'Born This Way' album track yesterday at Thierry Mugler's runway show, her sophomore (sort of) album is shaping up to be nothing less than fantastic.



"Yes."

Is anyone else a bit sick of Lady Gaga pontificating?

....Just us then?



We get it.  Gaga's a huge star.  She has sold millions of records and holds the rapt attention of millions of gay hipsters the world over.  And to be fair what she's advocating in this video is quite a good thing - we here at ScopiSat are staunchly against Don't Ask, Don't Tell (we are a pop blog for chrissake).  But something about this video just rubs us the wrong way...

Maybe it's that she "addresses" it to specific members of the Senate of the United States of America, before "educating" them on what, exactly, Don't Ask, Don't Tell is.  Because, as members of the US Senate, they clearly don't know.

Maybe it's the SUPER SERIOUS voice she puts on while reading her script.

Maybe it's the (actually quite good looking) lip injections she CLEARLY had.

Or maybe we just need a break from the Lady for just a bit.

In any case, she got a lot of people talking about Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and regardless of how she did it, we're appreciative of that.  And let's not forget she showed up to the MTV Awards with a bunch of discharged gay servicemembers.  And gives (a lot of) money to (a lot of) great causes.  And in all actuality the rest of the video past the 2:00 mark is kind of good.   But still....

Let's just avoid the "talking down to elected officials" thing, shall we?

Oh look, it's a brand new Lady Gaga song - watch now!

Lady Gaga has been pretty quiet since she hit the road for her Monster Ball tour, but in keeping with her fondness for trying out new tracks in front of live audiences, a piano ballad called 'Living On The Radio' has surfaced in dodgy YouTube form.  It's not going to change the world, and for those of us a little bit over the Gaga schtick it's not going to make us reconsider, but it's certainly pleasant enough. 

The new material raises an interesting question, though - if the Lady returned with a new album of ballads and rock-oriented tracks, would her Little Monsters still love her?  Maybe it's just the mechanics of performing on the road, or a conscious choice for her image, but Miss Ga seems less and less interested in the 'Just Dance'ing and more into being 'Speechless.'

THE INAUGURAL SCOPISAT VIDE-OFF: Kylie 'All The Lovers' vs Gaga 'Alejandro'

Welcome to the very first ScopiSat VideOff, where two videos face off in an EPIC BATTLE TO THE DEATH. Each video will be rated according to a number of largely meaningless factors which are then assigned arbitrary point values.

The ALL NEW ScopiSat VideOff (c) is being trotted out now because, well, we feel like it, and also because Gaga and Kylie have given us two superstar videos that couldn't be more different, each competing for the same audience.

First, here's Kylie:


And the Gaga:


Now, in response to HUGE DEMAND (read: no demand whatsoever), here is a dodgy MS Word cut and paste comparison chart.

Let's see how they stack up, shall we:

There. That's decided.

Though the chart is certainly exhaustive, we feel that there is somehow more to be discussed here. "An opinionated editorial on the state of pop music and the deeper meaning of the differing ways artists choose to express themselves?" you ask?

Yes. Yes exactly.

Much of pop discourse has been about Kylie/Madonna and Gaga/Madonna. But most of what has been said can be applied to an EPIC KYLIE/GAGA SHOWDOWN as well. For instance, a lady from The Telegraph once said "Simply, Madonna is the dark force; Kylie is the light force." Similarly, Rufus Wainwright famously told The Observer that "[Madonna] subverts everything for her own gain. I went to see her London show and it was all so dour and humourless... I love Kylie, she's the anti-Madonna. Self-knowledge is a truly beautiful thing and Kylie knows herself inside out. She is what she is and there is no attempt to make quasi-intellectual statements to substantiate it. She is the gay shorthand for joy."

It's becoming apparent that each quote could be just as easily be applied here, by simply replacing "Madonna" with "Gaga." Perhaps the biggest thing that watching the videos side by side exposes is just how concerned Lady Gaga is with making her image and statement in a very self-conscious fashion, while Kylie has emerged as an artist completely confident in her talents and strengths, but more importantly herself and who she is. To break it down, Gaga seems like the high school girl trying desperately to be shocking in a bid to be noticed and somehow find herself, while Kylie is the confident, self assured college woman who couldn't give two shits what anyone else thinks - she just wants to have fun.

Pop is about both things equally - it is a vehicle through which many find themselves and glean inspiration for where they'd like to go, but pop is also about expressing exactly who we are right at this moment, and celebrating everything that we are and that exists as it is.

Gaga, a still-emerging artist with visions of a future where the "freaks" turn the tables on the rest of the world, speaks to the youth of today who all feel a bit like "little monsters" in their schools and social cliques. She necessarily condemns one view while espousing her own, in a constant effort to shape the future.

Kylie, on the other hand, a seasoned pop star who has seen artists come and go, seems to recognize that this struggle of subculture versus culture will always be going on - that the subculture will one day become the culture and a new subculture will wage war against it. Instead of diving into that ultimately futile war, Kylie takes the focus off of us and instead celebrates the genuine contentedness she feels in her life right at this very moment.

All this seems to be a bit overdramatic, admittedly. It's "just pop music" after all. But these two videos represent two equally dynamic world views. One is always clawing toward a future that may never come, while the other celebrates each moment as it happens.

So which one are you, pop fans? Are you a Gaga or a Kylie?


EDIT: One reader noted that we are all probably a little of both Kylie and Gaga (and indeed some of us may be neither, though we'd never want to meet those people...what a sad life they must live), and still more have noted since this was originally posted that it comes off a bit harsh toward Gaga. We have nothing against the woman - any casual perusal of this blog will reveal a high degree of respect for the Lady. She's a newer artist, and one that comes at pop and life with a very different - and very successful - approach. Her music is brilliant, her videos are incredible, and her persona is delightfully outlandish.

We're still totes a Kylie though.

So the Lady Gaga 'Alejandro' is finally here - watch the premiere now!!

Here is the Lady Gaga video (amazing).  It is 9 minutes long (ridiculous).   It is black and white sort of but at the same time not (amazing). 

ScopiSat has made it no secret this is our favorite track from 'Fame Monster,' with its Ace of Base beat and overdramatic flair.  The video, then, had a lot to live up to.  Never one to disappoint, the Lady has offered up a taut, other-worldly adventure where women lord over buff male models with their eyepieces and have guns strapped to their boobies.  All in all it's very 'Gaga' which is great, but in danger of getting a little old.  Chalk this one up as a big win for pop but with the caveat that it's certainly not going to win Miss Germanotta any new fans.  To be fair, though, is there really anyone left that hasn't made up their mind about the star yet? 

In the interest of full disclosure we should tell you that we weren't really feeling the clip, until exactly 5:37 when something INCREDIBLE happens and the remainder becomes something of a masterpiece. Just when we think the whole 'Gaga world domination' thing has turned a corner she pulls it back from the brink and wins our sad, doubting asses over. 





'Alejandro' is out for download now.