So however we feel about Madonna-mantis nowadays, no one can deny that she had some DEFINITE JAMS. One of our favorites of the above-mentioned jams was a 1983 tune called 'Burnin Up,' which was actually Madge's first ever single. It didn't dent the Hot 100, but did peak in the top 3 of the dance charts, and set the Material Monster up for her worldwide dominance that she enjoys from her macrobiotic oxygen pod today.
So when we heard that Britney was planning a cover of the song we were understandably VERY EXCITED. And then we heard a clip and we were VERY VERY EXCITED. And now the full version has leaked and it is KIND OF AMAZING.
Sure, it sounds like a b-side, and yeah it doesn't top the original, but who here really expected that it would? The answer is no one.
The Wanted's new song is a step in a very "now" direction, but while many artists and groups are ruined by blindly following trends, it just so happens that the club-banger-hands-in-the-air thing suits the boys from the band very well indeed.
We first brought you the sexual pun of a song a couple weeks ago, and now the gents have ramped up promotion for the tune with a music video. It all starts off with some big titles in white letters and then some shots of the guys in the band and then some more letters and HOLY SHIT THEY'RE NAKED.
We first told you about Florrie quite a while back, just about when she chucked out the ACTUALLY AMAZING 'Summer Nights' - which incidentally has been getting us through some STANK-ASS HOT Summer Nights here in New York City lately.
With the news that she would be releasing a new EP of tracks this summer we decided that now was as good a time as any to revisit the subject of her as an artist, so, as any good music writer would do, we spent 2 minutes on Wikipedia reading about things that people say that she has done that may or may not have happened. And we found many (read: not many) things. Such as the following...
Some fun facts about Florrie "the artist":
1. She was the house drummer for Xenomania (amazing)
Some fun facts about Florrie's music:
1. IT IS VERY GOOD (amazing)
Some fun facts about Florrie's new video:
1. It is very good in the way that a more talented version of January Jones writhing around a soundstage in black and white would be good (amazing?)
And that's all we really have to say about that.
'Experimenting' is off Florrie's upcoming second EP, which will be out on June 14
It's quite a good time to be a ginger, isn't it? Nicola is gearing up to lord over the pop landscape, Flo-Mo is holding down the indie side of things, and last we saw, Rihanna still refused to rinse the neon Kool-Aid out of her hair.
Obviously (read: not at all obvious and, in fact, quite unlikely) seizing on this GINGER REVOLUTION, Miss Machine has opted to release a brand new song. It continues the Flo's tradition of chucking out tunes that are quite good, though some of that can be put down to the fact that it was first done by a bona fide pop icon by the name of Buddy Holly who was so awesome that Weezer did a song about him.
The whole thing is in aid of this Buddy Holly covers album thing that is happening, so unfortunately this doesn't signal an impending new Florence album, but we'll take what we can get as gingers are notoriously thrifty with their musical output.
Seriously, when was the last time Ginger Spice put out a song?
We have sort of a love/hate relationship with Katy Perry. In fact, you might say that our feelings toward her are Hot and Cold (Ed Note: this is terrible. DELETE.). But not only is her new song 'Last Friday Night' kind of great, she's begun teasing what promises to be a genuinely amusing clip for the new single. This is VERY DISCONCERTING for us, as we were quite comfortable in our haughty disdain for the sugary starlet.
While she never took herself seriously in the way Gaga has of late ("EVERYTHING I SAY IS VERY IMPORTANT "), KP always gave off the impression that she took not taking herself seriously very seriously ("NOTHING I SAY IS IMPORTANT AND IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU KNOW I THINK THAT") which is maybe even more annoying. Because, as any kid on a family vacation to a water park can tell you, forced fun is infinitely worse than no fun at all.
But here we have Katy "bringing the LOLz" and such, and that throws a giant glittery monkeywrench in our Well-Oiled Machine of Largely Unwarranted Hate. And we will never forgive her for making us like her.
Melanie C was a Spice Girl and then she wasn't. She was a solo dance-pop star and then she wasn't. Most recently, though, Mel was a sort of indie-rock chick, but if her new single is anything to go by, NOW SHE ISN'T.
If all of this flip-flopping leaves you a bit confused as to what Melanie "is," exactly, we don't blame you, and it certainly doesn't help matters that the single that is meant to announce to the world that she is NO LONGER "ROCK" is ACTUALLY CALLED 'ROCK ME.'
But her management's utter lack of situational awareness aside, C's new track is actually kind of a jam. Not a "this will be huge" jam, though. More of a "this would have been huge if it had been recorded by Kelly Clarkson in 2004," or perhaps more accurately, "by Sophie Ellis-Bextor when she was, you know, popular," kind of jam.
As for the video, it's nothing spectacular. Since the song will be used as the theme for the upcoming FIFA womens' soccer/football competition, there are lots of soccer-y people doing soccer-y things which is all well and good, but we don't even get to see them until like a minute into the clip after Mel has firmly established that she should NEVER AGAIN BE ALLOWED TO DANCE UNDER ANY SET OF CIRCUMSTANCES.
So the new Nicola single is PROPERLY OUT now, and the breakdown of reactions goes something like this...
...except the uneaten pie stands for people who love the song and the small, sad, eaten portion stands for people who obviously have no taste in music and therefore do not enjoy the tune in the least. And also just had a LOT of empty calories.
Though it's been out only a couple hours, 'Beat' is already in the Top 20 of iTunes, so apparently the large number of people who love the song are also the same people who are the sort to legally download a track that they like, which is definitely good news for everyone on Team Ginger.
The bigger news, however, is that ahead of its "official debut" tomorrow, the video has already found its way onto the interwebs. And it is what we term a RESOUNDING TRIUMPH.
It's obviously made "on a bit of a budget" but is a perfect example of how natural charisma and a few fun and unique ideas can do quite a lot with very little. In fact, it has more spunk and energy than most any of the videos coming from the big stars these days. It's free from the overblown audacity that has become a near requisite element of post-Gaga music video making, and it is all the better for it.
There is no sweeping camera work, no "bigger is better" explosions or giant dance club scenes for no reason - it's just a girl with a ton of talent doing what she does best in front of a filming crew. The viewer is left with the (correct) impression that Nicola is in fact the MAIN EVENT of the video, and we should all be grateful for this. With a tiny flip of her hair and a few dance moves that look as effortless as they are well executed, Nic is shaping up to be "the real deal" and all the other divas out there who rely on tricks and big budgets and all manner of unshockingly-shocking antics should be VERY WORRIED INDEED.
Posts
