New BIG SINGLE Roundup

It's rather typical really.

I'm without the Internet for a month and a half and in that time, half a dozen new songs drop, including some seriously anticipated releases.

Rihanna - 'Diamonds'

This must have been the most anticipated song of the last few years. Rihanna's big comeback. It had been a whole THREE WEEKS since the last single from 'Talk that Talk' and people were getting seriously impatiant. She'd left it too long, they said. The pop scene has moved on and left her behind. She's a hasbeen.

Of course I am joking, and the Rihanna album conveyer belt jokes are well worn by now. As much as she's becoming a parody of herself these days, she does continue to bang out the hits at an alarming rate. This Sia-penned track is a move in a different direction for RihRih, more midtempo than her previous lead singles and a welcome change. Her last few big hits have proved to be serious trendsetters, so let's hope this might be a signal that the winds of pop are about to change.

Christina Aguilera - 'Love Your Body'

Now this actually WAS anticipated. After the shameful bomb of her last album 'Bionic' (well deserved in my opinion, that album was a dud and she can do SO MUCH BETTER) Christina is back with the first single from her album 'Lotus'. Awful title. It's a Max Martin track which is typically a ticket to $ucce$$ these days, and while this is definitely very pop, very radio friendly and very singalong, it's a little more restrained on the dance muzak than most big smashes in the charts these days. No reinventing the wheel, just a pure pop song that really works. She sounds great, the video is fun and hopefully the album shapes up to more of the same. Less pretension, fewer sloppy tacked on 'themes' and just well crafted songs with good melody.

Ke$ha - Die Young

Some nice second album development here from Ke-dollar sign-ha. The synths are still here, talk-singing present and accounted for and the slightly generic anthemic chorus box is CHECKED. But hold on. There's a new vibe sitting in there. Dare I say - a little Fun.esque? Not the hippy folky comeback that was suggested, but a great way to move forward while securing a big hit to lead the album and not alienate your previous fans. Well played.

Forgotten Classic of the DAAAAY!

Edwyn Collins - 'A Girl Like You'

Featuring one of my favourite outros of all time, this 90s monster is currently bounding up the iTunes charts for some unknown reason. Well done to all involved.

Mercury Prize APPROVED

I can't say that I pay particular attention to the Mercury Music Prize. I tend to hear, and then forget, who wins, but aside from that I don't see it as anything other than a bunch of indie types gathering together to congratulate each other on being indie, of course with the occasional urban or *shocker* even POP record gaining a nod in a bid to show just how DIVERSE these nominations are. It's the equivalent of a landfill indie fan 'ironically' liking Girls Aloud, but only after they're covered by Arctic Monkeys of course.

This year is different. This year I am one of them. Because this year, half of the nominees are my favourite bands of the moment.

Jessie ware - '110%'

From the album Devotion, I do believe I have posted this before...*basks in hipster cred*.

Django Django - 'Default'

From their self titled debut, Django Django make feel good music of the HIGHEST ORDER.

Alt-J - 'Breezeblocks'

My favourite is actually 'Tessellate' but I really struggle to spell that. Oh wait, did I do it?

Definitely NOT HERE for Lianne La Havas, but Michael Kiwanuka and the Plan B album 'Ill Manors' also meet with my approval.

Lets not also forget that the darlings of 2010, and one of my favourite evening listening bands, have a new album out:

The xx - 'Angels'

I just feel very credible right now. I need an antidote, perhaps this:

Sam and the Womp - 'Bom Bom'

Or if that doesn't do it:

PSY - 'Gangnam Style'

There we go.

Upcoming Release - Lady Gaga

'ArtPop'

Yes, that is the name of the upcoming Lady Gaga album.

I don't want to dedicate this post to discussing whether or not this will be a return to world-dominating form lost to Gaga during her tiring and self-indulgent 'Born this Way' era (although my initial feeling would be to say it won't).

I don't want to spend a paragraph requesting an album of 'Heavy Metal Lover' type songs, nice as that might be.

I shant be pondering what her hair might look like on the album cover.

No, I want to say my piece on what a GODAWFUL title that is for an album. 'ArtPop'? Really Gaga? Do you honestly think you're being clever here? Apparently it comes from the idea of turning PopArt on its head, in which case, it must have taken some really long and agonising hours to come up with the title by switching the words around. Stroke of genius there. My real problem is twofold: Warhol. AGAIN. I want to smack the entirety of pop culture over the head and remind them that other artists have existed besides Andy bloody Warhol. Yes, I know he dealt with the concepts of fame and all that and so I suppose is relevant, but give it a rest now. The influence is tired, and worse, it's entirely obvious. Someone who is supposedly such an art boffin as Gaga should be able to pull some different and fresh influences out of the bag, especially given the rather obscure and random artists she's been prone to ripoff in the past (allegedly...).

Secondly, it's patronising. Pop music is art, Lady Gaga likes art, is artistic, etc etc. This is the same bloody message she's been peddling for the last however many years and I think people have got it by now. Only four years into her career and she already seems doomed to repeat herself. Maybe if she hadn't birthed out all of her ideas at once last era, she might have something left to mine in this one.

But it's just a title, I suppose.



New Songs I'm LOVING

Mumford and Sons - 'I Will Wait'

From their new album 'Babel', this is just as melodic and folky as I've come to expect from the Sons. After their last album became a massive sleeper hit (at least in my opinion - nobody seemed to be talking about it and yet everybody seemed to be buying it) I predict that this could blow up and give them some serious single success.

Ellie Goulding - 'Anything Could Happen'

Again, from her upcoming second album (Halcyon, out in October). Now, I'm no fan of Ellie Goulding, but I enjoy this. It's nice and synthy in all the right places, has a dreamy quality to it and some nice lyrics around that repetitive chorus. Just be glad it's not more along the lines of this:

Skrillex - 'Bangarang'



Genres In My Life

Shoegazing

I've always been a fan of M83, and to a lesser extent Maps, but it's only recently that I've gone overboard seeking out new music in this vein, or digging out some old classics from my iTunes such as Delphic and Cocteau Twins. One song I've been loving lately has been this one:

Porcelain Raft - 'Drifting In And Out'

Witch House

Now I'll admit, this is one of those subculture things that I really don't get and won't pretend to understand the finer detail of what exactly makes something 'witch house'. I can't imagine it's all too important, but what I'm thinking of generally involves spooky, sparse electronics and ethereal vocals. Like this:

oOoOO - 'Break Yr Heartt'

Lovely to listen to but not the easiest thing to spell.



A Word About Frank Ocean

Frank Ocean - 'Pyramids'

Don't worry, this is not an essay on how much I love Frank Ocean now he has admitted to having been in love with a man. Nor is it a defensive rant about how I liked Frank BEFORE he exploded all over the news because I am so totally hipster like that of course. Finally, it is not the place where I express how brave his decision was and how admirable it may be. That is of course true, but my sarcastic little blog isn't the place to dissect such things. Perhaps it should be, but for now, I can't really claim to understand what the world might be like for an openly gay American RnB star, so I'm won't pretend to.

I am, however, nothing but glad to see his face on major news outlets all over the Internet. Cynics may point to the imminent release of his album 'Channel Orange' and suggest that the timing is somewhat convenient, but again, I won't be going into that. What I do know is that an amazingly talented but still under the radar singer has been given huge exposure, rightly or wrongly.

Of course, Frank was not unknown in the UK. His feature on Jay-Z and Kanye's 'No Church In The Wild' has already given him a chart hit. He also came second in the BBC's Sound of 2012 poll, pipped by Michael Kiwanuka. I want to talk about his music, not his sexuality. I haven't heard all of his stuff so far, but 'Swim Good', 'Novacane' and 'Pyramids' are incredible material to emerge with. 'Pyramids' in particular is a masterpiece, an incredibly daring 10 minute sonic landscape drawn together by Frank's silky smooth vocals. His voice is of course a thing of beauty - incredibly subtle and restrained, his lyrics speak for themselves, needing nothing more than a delicate touch.

Who knows whether his recent decisions will help or hinder his career, but this man deserves his place in the spotlight, for whatever reason.

Frank Ocean - 'Swim Good'



Upcoming Release - Little Mix

Little Mix - 'Wings'

Well this is rubbish.

Little Mix appear to have tried to be the Spice Girls, Girls Aloud and En Vogue all in one. Shame someone forgot to try and make this a good song.

From the cliched lyrics, dated retro throwback production and lack of a memorable chorus or hook, I'm afraid it's back to the drawing board. This is the single most predictable direction they could have taken, when everyone knows X Factor winners need to pull a surprise out of the bag to really be successful.

A Forgotten Classic...With Some Modern Listening

Remember this?

Plain White T's - 'Hey There Delilah'

A few years ago this rather lovely, if bland,  ode to Delilah was everywhere. I remembered this after having listened a couple of similar strumming songs dedicated the lady in said strummers' life.

City And Colour - 'The Girl'

Death Cab For Cutie - 'I Will Follow You Into The Dark'

Those were nice and strummy.

Forgotten Classic Of The DAAAAAY!!

Blur - 'The Universal'

Ok, so I suppose this song isn't exactly forgotten. You might just have forgotten that this is actually a real song, by Blur, with lyrics and everything, rather than just an inspiring instrumental for the British Gas adverts. It is definitely forgotten in one way, however, and that is that it fully deserves the place of 'end of night drunken singalong song' that has been fully stolen by 'Wonderwall'. I guess Oasis won the war after all.

New Artist Love - Nina Nesbitt

Nina Nesbitt - 'The Apple Tree'

This was the only official video I could find on Youtube, from up and coming singer songwriter Nina Nesbitt, whose EP 'The Apple Tree' has been on non-stop rotation in my ears for the last day and a half.

This isn't actually my favourite cut from the EP, although it is a rather lovely jaunty tune itself. No, I much prefer her slower stuff, namely the utterly stunning 'Make Me Fall' and the gorgeous 'Hold You'. Her voice is simple and effective, delicate and heavenly in all the right places. Her songs are mostly acoustic, full of heartfelt, relatable lyrics with an added dreamlike atmosphere.

Her track 'Only Love' is currently available as the iTunes free download of the week, and I would utterly recommend you take advantage, and of course then check out and download the rest of the EP.



Butchering the Classics

Radio 1, Dot Rotten, you have some explaining to do.

You see, I feel a swell of euphoria everytime I hear THIS come on the radio

Or at least that's what my cruel brain tricks me into thinking it is. Robert Miles 'Children' one of the greatest dance tracks of all time and filed with Chicane 'Saltwater' under SONGS THAT MAKE ME WEEP WITH JOY.

Now what I am ACTUALLY hearing on a daily basis is THIS monstrosity

Dot Rotten: 'Overload'

Just because the lyrics aren't about da club does not make this ok. I won't forget this, DOT ROTTEN. I BET THAT'S NOT EVEN YOUR REAL NAME.

Forgive my hysteria and excessive capitalisation, I'm just very upset.