Alphabeat are a very electronic band and have thus far stayed with the imagery that befits such a group. That all changes with the video for 'Heat Wave,' which shows the group backstage and performing in some sort of perhaps-misguided effort to paint them as a "proper band" in the vein of those knobbish boys with guitars that play festivals and are generally very crap. It's still quite pretty though, and the guy who is clearly the hot one (you know exactly who we're talking about so stop pretending you don't) keeps getting hotter so we're fine with it. Also, as live videos go, it's a pretty great way to approach it. The effects and such are spot-on.
The song itself is....not their best, but somehow, coupled with the video treatment, the whole things just kind of works. Which is super in theory but will quite obviously do nothing to save the floundering 'The Beat' album campaign. With this run at the charts all but lost, look for some kind of either crap or very brilliant rebranding their next LP.
Here's the thing about the new Alesha single. It is loud, tuneless and a little annoying at the best of times. That puts it about on par with the vast majority of chart-toppers (We are looking firmly in the direction of you, Rihanna), but 'Drummer Boy' has something going for it that many other tracks don't: despite all the foregoing, it also is very very good.
The video is perhaps Alesha's best so far as well. Gone is the girl-next-door simplicity and in its place is high concept styling and a Snooki hair bump to end them all. Long story short, Alesha has really upped her game this go-round. It's a little reminiscent of the Jamelia 'Beware of the Dog' makeover, and we all know that is a very, very good thing.
David Archuleta the American Idol alum has been laying low recently, and as a result we kind of got him confused with Joe McElderry the X-Factor winner who just bravely came out to the whole world, and started writing this whole article about how David is gay now and blah blah blah. Well that is totally not true (in the way that it is ACTUALLY true but David's publicist won't let him say so) so we have to talk about his new single or something instead. It's a decent pop tune and it has a beat and you can dance to it. The end.
The single cover for what is gearing up to be K-mo's biggest single in years (one Mr. Stark can quote us on that) has finally been plopped onto the interwebs and it's kind of crap/fabulous in a low-res 'let's wait until we see the finished product' way. With an absolutely epic remix package and what will hopefully be a big budget video (for once, EMI, please) the GOOMW launch is shaping up to be very exciting indeed. Thoughts?
To be honest we kind of forgot Garbage existed. Not that we didn't love them, they just sort of faded away and as it turns out they didn't leave much of a void behind. But now - because the time is PERFECT FOR A COMEBACK or something - former frontwoman Shirley Manson is finally unleashing her first solo material.
In the interest of managing expectations, let's just say right off the bat that it's a bit underwhelming, so don't get too excited. It's kind of a Fiona Apple cast-off, right down to the copycat "I've been a bad bad girl" lyric and melody ripped from Apple's genius 'Criminal,' and - while not terrible - is completely and utterly forgettable. But, as Shirley takes great pains to point out, this is just a demo, so we can all hope and pray that somewhere tucked beneath her shockingly well preserved exterior she is hiding some brilliant and original ideas.
Hurts are from Manchester. But before you let that turn you off, they are also very stylish and make some excellent music. There are two of them (thus, we imagine, the reason they are Hurts instead of just Hurt) and one of them is very attractive and one of them can sing very well.
Up til now Hurts have been one of those bands that make all the critics vomit superlatives over themselves but don't really find any commercial success of note. That might change, however, with this rather genius Freemasons mix of the group's new single 'Wonderful Life.' It manages to be completely poppers-friendly while still being credible, and as EVERYONE knows that is a very hard line to toe.
The video itself is a re-edit done by something called a 'Riley York' and we are pretty sure it has nothing to do with Hurts officially, but does manage to make the original video fit the feel of the mix a bit more.
And yes. We have a crush on the guy in the band that just stands there too.
It's rare that a truly great ballad comes along these days. Too often they are filled with ridiculous vocal acrobatics (Beyonce/Xtina), "of the moment" gimmicks (we're looking at you, autotune) or just aren't particularly moving or genuine (Celine). But, the foregoing just makes Gabriella Cilmi's new track 'Defender' all the more special, with its restrained delivery, natural production, and a confidence that is rare in fifty-year-olds, much less 18 year old girls.
Yes, barely-legal Aussie songstrel Gabriella has churned out one of this years' finest tracks so far, and as artists are wont to do she has made a video for it. In it she does some things and then gets naked but none of that is really important because the real star of the clip is the VERY GOOD SONG.
Apparently in celebration of Cilmi's "legal to perv on" status, her people have decided to give the video exclusive to the always-classy Sun newspaper. You can watch it here but be careful not to click on ANYTHING ELSE on the site or you may be bludgeoned with boobs and lager ads until you are left writhing in a pit of lowbrow mediocrity and take a job driving an airport shuttle van until you get fired for running over someone while distracted by a girl with big boobs or a football score of some sort.
If you don't want to risk it (we don't blame you) then you can just listen to the song below.
The good news is if you loved Robyn's 'Dancing On My Own' you will ADORE 'Hang With Me' in all its new, rerecorded glory. It has that same "weeping at the discotheque while your mascara runs fabulously down your face" feel of 'Dancing' but has a more accessible and immediate melody. And the bad news....well there really isn't any, because this whole thing is pretty brilliant and even though the video's been cobbled together with "candid" (read: not candid at all) clips of Robyn just "being Robyn" it's somehow still pretty satisfying.
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