jakee

The only positives I can find with this performance was that Sarah sounded rather good on the verses. Cheryl was out of tune throughout, as was Nicola. Kimberley missed her timings. They sang out of time in the choruses too which sounded bad enough as their harmonising was weaker than normal. And then to finish the most bum of notes from Sarah.

It's ironic that most folk mime on GMTV yet they actually sang live and sounded like that. Beats Anastacia's worse live performance this year and that's saying something :mellow:

That performance on GMTV started quite promisingly before descending into a train wreck. Absolutely terrible! They were out of time with each other, Sarah well, after improving so much recently "hit" one of the worst notes I've ever heard. Such a mess.

THE SHAME

I've only heard 5 songs of hers, but after seeing her performances on Jools Holland I did think she probably has more potential as an album seller than GaGa. I can't really comment on La Roux as I've only heard 'Quicksand' and I wasn't very impressed, I guess she could be the 'controversial' character like Lily Allen, she is touring with her after all.

La Roux will never sell masses of albums. She's too left-field. Her hope lies with touring I'd say.

Slaves to synth // Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian 17-12-08

Every now and then pop music undergoes a dramatic shift, and if you believe the people who influence what we listen to, we're currently on the verge of just such a new-broom phase. Out, according to record labels, are the male guitar bands who have dominated the charts and airwaves for much of the decade; in are solo electropop artists who have arrived en masse from Planet Quirky. If things go to plan, they'll be leading a return to idiosyncratic, credible pop to an extent that hasn't been seen since the 80s. And this time the hottest prospects are women.

Thanks to artists such as Little Boots, La Roux, Ladyhawke and, tipped as the first early-2009 success story, Lady GaGa, electropop's image as the domain of the male technogeek is getting a makeover. These women, all in their early 20s, are of a generation who have been adept with computers since primary school; when they started writing songs, they turned to their laptops rather than picking up a guitar. They have pretty much nothing in common with the male guitar groups who are spending the final weeks of 2008 watching their much-anticipated new albums fail to sell.

The future, according to New Yorker Lady GaGa, is female and electro. "It's a good time now," she says, speaking on the phone from San Diego, where she is in the middle of a 23-day tour through 21 cities. "There's a big empty space that was waiting to be filled by women." GaGa - Joanne Germanotta to her parents - has already proved a controversial stage performer. She shows a lot of flesh and writes explicit lyrics ("I sing about oral sex in my underwear," as she puts it). This, she says, is part of an effort to produce memorable art. Her inspiration is Andy Warhol, "because of his ability to take commercial art and create an intellectual and artistic space where it was taken seriously. The idea is to make things - videos, fashion, performance art - which are innately significant and insignificant, that will cause argument: 'Is Lady GaGa valid or invalid?'"

Others before her, such as Berlin-based electropop act Peaches, have used a similar combination of a confrontational, sexualised image with a high-minded artistic vision; the difference is that GaGa sells records. Her album, The Fame, reached number 17 in America, and her single Just Dance has been nominated for a Grammy. Her sound is hard, modern, chrome-edged, but she hasn't forgotten to add choruses, as a listen to Just Dance proves. The track is diabolically catchy, and her label is crossing its fingers that it will hit No 1 when it's released here next month.

There is something of the young Madonna about GaGa: she's boundlessly ambitious ("I intend to have an installation at the Louvre and [New York's] Moma"), and is emphatically denies she is a record-company construct. "To be quite honest," she says, "the label had to tone me down. You'd think they were giving me tiny shorts to put on, but it was the other way around. When they met me, I was working in a nightclub in New York, half naked, but I had a big voice and they liked me. If anything, they put more clothes on me."

An encounter with GaGa is a bracing experience, and you come away heartened at the prospect of people like her in the charts. Iain Watt, who manages Mika and founded the Wonky Pop brand, which includes live events and a record label, sees genuine commercial potential in the likes of GaGa. "What these girls are doing is based on pop, and it may start out in a niche way," he says. "But because the songs are so good, it'll spread far beyond [that]." They'll also be helped along by the grim financial forecast, he contends. "Next year will be very heavily focused on pop because of the economic climate. People want a two-minute escape from their pressurised lives. It wouldn't surprise me if, out of economic drudgery, comes a creative force in pop music. There's no shortage of supply in terms of people who make interesting pop."

Watt could be describing GaGa or La Roux or Little Boots - all of whom, by the way, are among the 15 new artists tipped for success in this month's BBC Sound of 2009 poll. Compiled from the tips of 130 critics and broadcasters, it's worth pointing out that only two standard guitar bands (White Lies and The Temper Trap) made it into next year's 15; last year's list was nearly 50% guitar-based. It looks as if the classic male guitar group will have trouble finding a record deal in 2009, as labels concentrate their energies on chasing more GaGas and La Rouxs - credible solo talents they're banking on to infuse music with fresh energy.

Is this the end of the band? James Oldham, head of A&R at A&M Records, says: "All A&R departments have been saying to managers and lawyers, 'Don't give us any more bands, because we're not going to sign them, and they're not going to sell records.' So everything we've been put onto is electronic in nature. British guitar bands became characterised as meat-and-two-veg - dull, bland, thin gruel, whereas this is seen as sleek, modernist, exciting, a mish-mash of modern elements."

Oldham says the shift reminds him of "the pop music that happened post-punk, which was informed by radical ideals but put into a much more mainstream sound, like Adam Ant, ABC, Scritti Politti." It's also steeped in attitude. Since making electropop can be a solitary pursuit - all you need is a computer - it produces musicians who are used to getting their own way. Oldham remembers La Roux turning up to sign her recording contract "wearing a T-shirt that said 'I Am a c**t', which I thought showed a certain amount of chutzpah".

La Roux, a 20-year-old south Londoner who was born Elly Jackson, is a cooler Sophie Ellis Bextor: her dance-pop tunes are infectious, she looks striking (her vertical red hairdo attracts frequent comments from strangers), and she says what she thinks. For instance: she believes that if women want to play an instrument on stage, only a synthesiser will do. "Girls look a bit stupid playing electric guitar and drums. It suits blokes better. But girls look wicked playing synths. When they play drums or whatever, it looks a bit butch. I hope that doesn't sound anti-feminist."

She is passionate about electronic music, citing the way "a dark synth" makes the perfect contrast to her thin, intense voice. "Synths make me feel warm and tingly," she says. And if you listen to her first single, Quicksand (out this month), you see what she's driving at. The emotive vocal and skittish, ping-ponging beat are reminiscent of the Eurythmics, and the effect is as warm and tingly as you could hope for.

"What I do is all about contrast," La Roux says. "There are elements of vulnerability [in my music], but I'm also trying not to be vulnerable. It's the story of my life - I'm a slave to my emotions." While the music is expressive and dramatic, she finds it difficult to explain what she's singing about. "It's issues I'm dealing with ... about being f***ed, basically. But when it comes to explaining them, I clam up. It's out there for thousands of people to hear, yet I can't talk about it."

Oldham believes that La Roux's instantly memorable songs and "bright, brash" videos will make her the biggest success of the electro-hopefuls. But the future feels just as promising for the others: their gigs are selling out, and their MySpace pages are chalking up millions of views. My top tip for 2009? I predict an electrogirl riot.

Are we really about to see a meteoric shift forward in the charts in 2009? Have Keane, Razorlight, Kaiser Chiefs et al now essentially died-out? Thoughts? —

Lady GaGa: The Future of Pop? // The Times

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00447/blue-385_Lady_GaGa_447658a.jpg

Even in the OTT insanity that is Las Vegas, Lady GaGa stands out a mile. Dressed in a Thierry Mugler-inspired black rubber dress adorned with gold origami pyramids, stupendously long false eyelashes, crystal-encrusted sunglasses and impossibly high heels, she cuts quite a figure as she wanders past the agog gamblers. “This is just how I am all the time,” she shrugs, oblivious to the attention as she prepares to perform at the wonderfully ostentatious Mirage hotel. “You’ll never see me in flip-flops and a T-shirt.”

The surreal city is the perfect setting for a GaGa gig. The Italian-American singer is a perplexing, somewhat camp combination of brash, bright and slightly strange. “It’s the future of pop music,” she insists of tracks such as the excellent new single, Just Dance. Surrounded by four male dancers and brandishing a glow-in-the-dark disco stick, she gamely stagedives into her adoring audience, which tonight includes the R&B superstar Ne-Yo.

Having seen her perform in both Los Angeles and London earlier this year, I can say that her spirited showmanship isn’t reserved only for the bright lights of Sin City. She is just as enthralling at all of her shows, regardless of location. “Some artists are working to buy the mansion or whatever the element of fame must bear, but I spend all my money on my show,” she says of her impressive stage set. “I don’t give a f*** about money. What am I going to do with a condo and a car? I can’t drive.”

In combining music, fashion, art and technology, Lady GaGa evokes Madonna when she was good, Gwen Stefani circa Hollaback Girl, Kylie 2001 or Grace Jones right now. “My art is my whole life,” she says of her “digital age”, multimedia approach to artistry. As well as touring with huge moveable screens that display myriad images, GaGa uploads self-made documentaries to MySpace: “I’ve taken something decidedly commercial and made it interesting.”

Her debut album, The Fame, is indeed just that. Written and co-produced by GaGa, it’s a fantastic mix of Bowie-esque ballads, dramatic, Queen-inspired midtempo numbers and synth-based dance tracks that poke fun at celebrity-chasing rich kids. It’s entertaining, incredibly witty and, above all, captivating.

“I’m defying all of the preconceptions we have of pop artists,” says the 22-year-old with a penchant for Chanel, Gareth Pugh and Marni. “I’m very into fashion — I channel Versace in everything I do. Donatella is my muse in so many ways: she’s iconic and powerful, yet people throw darts at her. She’s definitely provocative, and I channel that more so than anything else.”

There are a lot of other figures being “channelled”, though. Her stage name is a nod to Queen’s Radio Ga Ga, while her ideology is Warholian in essence. She works with a collective called the Haus of GaGa, who collaborate with their muse on clothing, stage sets and sounds. “In this industry, you get a lot of stylists and producers thrown at you, but this is my own creative team, modelled on Warhol’s Factory. Everyone is under 26 and we do everything together.” The point of her pop music, she adds, isn’t merely to entertain, but to provoke response and discussion. “How do I make pop, commercial art be taken as seriously as fine art? That’s what Warhol did,” she says, sipping a green tea an hour before show time. “How do I make music and performances that are thought-provoking, fresh and future? We decide what’s good and, if the ideas are powerful enough, we can convince the world that it’s great.”

GaGa’s success is far from overnight, but after she made a career out of songwriting for other acts, the buzz about her is starting to build. Currently No 5 in the Billboard Hot 100 with Just Dance, she is also the recent recipient of a Grammy nomination. In the UK, she has been tipped in the influential BBC Sound of 2009 poll. If all goes according to her pop masterplan, she is set to be a huge act next year. “I’m filling an enormous hole. There’s a wide-open space for a female with big balls to fill,” the classically trained pianist announces. “I’m here to make great music and inspire people.”

It’s not only GaGa herself and music- industry insiders who are excited. The influential American gossip blogger Perez Hilton predicts she will be “massive” in 2009: “She makes good music, it’s pop with substance. She’s the real deal, the total package.” Another fan is the fashion designer Henry Holland. “Her music is pure, brilliant pop, and I love the fact that she has such an iconic look,” he says. “It’s not very often that someone comes along and looks different and individual . . . I think that’s exciting and inspiring.”

GaGa is apparently already influencing other artists, with numerous blogs gleefully pointing out the similarity of Christina Aguilera’s styling, hair and make-up in recent months. “I’m not sure who this person is, to be honest,” Aguilera sniffed when asked whether she was a fan. “I don’t know if it is a man or a woman.” GaGa, for her part, is unbothered by the backbiting.

“I think she’s very talented and, anyway, look at me: I might as well be a gay man. When I hear comments like that, I’m like, ‘She’s dead on’, because she saw the Warhol in me. Of course it bears a resemblance, but nobody can copy me, because I can’t be copied.”

Lady GaGa is loath to give her real name, insisting friends and family refer to her only by her stage name (“When I make love, they say GaGa”), but some digging reveals she was born Stefani Joanne Germanotta on the Upper West Side (“I am New York, I’m a hustler, I ate dust since I was 15 and I kept going even when I was told no”).

She attended the private Catholic school Convent of the Sacred Heart, whose alumni include the Hilton sisters and Caroline Kennedy. Contrary to popular belief, the song Beautiful, Dirty, Rich isn’t about her former classmate Paris Hilton. “I never saw those girls for more than 10 seconds down the hallways.” Yet it seems the school has had some part in her transformation from fitted blazers to Balenciaga shoes: “I was the arty girl, the theatre chick. I dressed differently and I came from a different social class from the other girls. I was more of an average schoolgirl with a cork.”

That cork eventually popped when she graduated from NYU, where she had studied art. Her entrepreneur father was, unsurprisingly, shocked when his daughter ran off to the Lower East Side to dabble in drugs and appear in burlesque shows at dive bars with drag queens and go-go dancers. “He couldn’t look at me for a few months,” she admits of her early experimentations. “I was in leather thongs, so it was hard for him — he just didn’t understand. But my parents saw me getting better, and now my father cries when he sees me perform.”

The drugs disappeared around the same time as her act began to take serious shape. “I had a scary experience one night and thought I might die,” GaGa remembers. “I woke up, but it helped me become the person I am. I see things in quite a fragmented, psychotic manner, which I think is because of that. But I decided it was more important to become a centred, critical thinker. That was more powerful than the drug itself.”

Refining her act in downtown Manhattan, she signed to Def Jam at the age of 19, but was dropped shortly after. “It just wasn’t for them,” she says nonchalantly. She was spotted a couple of years later by the music executive Vincent Herbert and signed to Interscope in January 2008. Impressed by her ear for melody and knack for spotting a great hook, various acts — Akon’s Konvict label, as well as Fergie, the Pussycat Dolls, Britney and New Kids on the Block — have hired her as a songwriter.

Now, though, her music is surpassing those she provided hits for. With plenty of hype surrounding GaGa, only time will tell whether she will take over planet pop — or fizzle without trace. Either way, there’s no doubt she is currently the genre’s most interesting proposition. “If people think GaGa is over the top and decadent now, I’m afraid for them, they have no idea what’s to come,” she laughs, contemplating her future. “I eat, sleep, breathe and bleed every inch of my work. I’d absolutely die if I couldn’t be an artist.”

I agree about the bonus tracks, and don't get me wrong Blackout was an AMAZING album, my fave Britney album along with ITZ (I haven't had Circus long enough to consider it my fave record from her). But at the same time, Blackout was all very samey, all dance tracks with no variety..which is great, but it had no personality to it...something that Circus has IMO.

 

Maybe I love it so much because it is a mixture of everything I love about Britney, from dance to pop to urban...but it works (for me atleast). For me it takes me back to old school Britney without taking her progression back...

But must a great record always require personality to it? I'd argue that not all good pop music requires interaction to be good. Rihanna's music lacks any personality but continues to be of a high standard. In fact I'd argue that often Britney's undoing, particularly with her weaker album tracks is that she makes herself out to be something she's not. A totally false personality: in this case with 'Circus', it's tracks like L&L and MP that on the surface are cheesy but furthermore aren't Britney.

'Blackout' was auto-tuned to death, slick, dark, difficult, any personality zapped out of it: a brilliantly honest and contextual album which reflected her as she was during that period and has ended up being one of the best pop albums of the decade.

Without wishing to sound patronising, I think you could argue that your fondness for 'Circus' is because it replays good memories of times past from when you were younger. It evokes nostalgia I'd agree. I'm just not very nostalgic when it comes to music, be that for better or for worse.

They had the TV special wedged between the X Factor on Saturday (I missed it - hoping to catch up with it on ITV2). It looked good.

 

Norma

I went to the filming of it Kathy. Try and spot me whilst watching :o

Special prize if ya see me.

They are now without a label. EMI has decided to let them go.

Poor Alphabeat. Surely one top 10, two top 15s and a gold album were enought (?!)

Yes, tis true. Alphabeat have been dropped by EMI.

Let us all cry etc etc

This is going to sound really anal but is there anyway it would be possible to change the dimensions used for Youtube and Vimeo? Youtube is now wider (like vimeo is) so the dimensions set on Buzzjack squash videos embedded on both of them.

Hopefully you can make sense of what I've said there :s

I have like 4 other demos by her? There isn't much about...

Remixes of this track will come courtesy of Giantess and Little Boots as well as many more. Exciting.

I like 'Arrows of Eros' as well as this. They're very nice and miles ahead of the Ordinary Boys (more depth). They'll be getting Vampire Weekend comparisons more than anything else.

Oh and they just signed to XL, so I'd expect quite big things next year from them...

Keri over Rihanna? :mellow:

I wonder how much Keri's label paid for that PRIVILEGE.

75 Esau Mwamwaya & Radioclit 'Get It Up' (feat. M.I.A.)

// Taken from 'The Very Best' (Mixtape)

'The Very Best' was an excellent example of how a mixtape should be. Experimental. a partisan D.I.Y. ethic and free of the constraints of a normal full-length album. 'Get It Up' therefore sticks out like a sore thumb. It's the most conventional and pop-savvy tracks by Esau. 'Get It Up' is great example of afro-pop done right. Tribal echoes, thundering drums and a powerhouse chorus from Ms. Arularpragasm. It all works. It's all good fun.

[n/a]

74 Kap10kurt 'Dangerseekers'

// Taken from 'Dangerseekers' EP; Plant Music

Kap10kurt are one of those rare examples of an act I discover live. The gig in question being Yelle one at the Knitting Factory in New York earlier this year. Nearly as good as the woman in question with their unique brand of instrumental space-pop. What I love most about 'Dangerseekers' is the omniscient presence of imagery it creates. As naff as it sounds one can imagine flying through the air, laser gun in hand fending off some ghoulish alien ting. Jake r lame I know. It's backed with some brilliant remixes too. The Shinichi Osawa one particularly stands out.

[n/a]

73 Boy Crisis 'Dressed to Digress'

// Taken from their Myspace; B-Unique/Atlantic

"Fresh to death and dressed to digress" / "I'm just a tiger and I'm looking for a tigress". Yes I can see why the holier-than-thou music critics hate it and well...generally them. But me and the cool kids, we're fans. Boy Crisis are going to be a very divisive band in 2009. Nochalent white boy electro-funk or something more hip and quality? Irrespective of their marmitus, 'Dressed to Digress' has all the trimmings of a summer anthem. It may be from 2007 but it came to the forefront of my Indie-world this summer and will undoubtedly sit there that time next year for the mainstream clientele.

[n/a]

72 Goldfrapp 'A&E'

// Taken from 'Seventh Tree'; Mute

It's really weird. 'Seventh Tree' was a f***ing terrible record. I won't even go into it. Rehashed ground, lax lyrics and a general bore. That said it spawned quite possibly their second best single (nothing will ever top 'Ooh La la'). 'A&E' really took me aback in its beauty. The lush string arrangements. Alison's light vocals over melancholy lyrics. It's proof that they can still have moments of beauty if nothing more.

[19-10-05-05-02-02-02-13-24-31-37]

71 High Places 'Vision's the First...'

// Taken from 'High Places'; Thrill Jockey

'Vision's the First...' is a track made up of many many layers. Really it is a feature which runs through all of High Places' music. These layers mix in elements of afro-pop, psychedelia and folk to form a distinctive, organic sound. Mary Pearson's vocals wind in and out of tracks. From drones to shrills. It doesn't always go right (their self-titled album is a mixed affair). But when they do get it right, such as with 'Vision's the First...' you're listening to a wonderful sound. When does sound become music? Or is music, sound? High Places are very clever when they want to be.

[13-08-16-24-28-35]

70 Solange 'Sandcastle Disco'

// Taken from 'Sol-Angel and Hadley St. Dreams'; Geffen

What does Solange think of Beyoncé? Well she most probably loves her (you'd hope). But what does she think of her music? One can only assume Solange secretly think her big sister's music is "whack" or words to that effect anyway because both take such a different musical thesis. Solange likes minimal electronica, directing her own music videos, writing her own lyrics. Whereas Beyoncé likes to nick other people's songs and videos. Hmm. 'Sandcastle Disco' summises astutely why I am so fond of Solange. The soulful vocal, the lovely lyrics ("I'm nothing but a sandcastle, please don't blow me awayyy" she coos). It's just so very lovely. A wonderful autumn track.

[n/a]

69 Golden Silvers 'Arrows of Eros'

// Taken from 'Arrows of Eros' 7"; Young and Lost Club

Here's a song that takes me back to our damp squib of a summer. Such a sunshiney song. Mixing afropop, doo wop and a general old school London vibe Golden Silvers could sort of be described as the UK's answer to Vampire Weekend; expect they're not. They're better. 'Arrows of Eros' tells the story of some boy (I think?) "Behold his golden wings"/"and behold his bronze gold". Perhaps it's mythological? I don't know. Whatever it is, it sounds f***ing good.

[40-29-27-37-x(2)-07-07-13-17-25-28-27]

68 Kelly Rowland 'Work' (Freemasons Remix)

// Original track taken from 'Ms. Kelly'; RCA

Never have I come across a remix which improves on the original quite so dramatically. 'Work (Put It In)' is a hideous song. Why any producer would put it in that tempo is perplexing in itself. It's just so naff and dreary. Luckily the Freemasons can turn pretty much any old c**p into a decent song with their remixing talents (they did it to pretty much the entirety of 'B'day after all). Their remix of 'Work' is FAR more interesting than any of the Beyoncé ones. Sculpting a Middle Eastern soundscape, the track utilizes (fantastically) disco, house and pure pop elements. If only Freemasons' original material was quite this good.

[02-02-02-06-13-18-31-38]

67 Lil Wayne 'Mr. Carter' (feat. Jay-Z)

// Taken from 'Tha Carter III'; Cash Money

Lil Wayne is a bizarre mix of hyperbole and cusses. Rap's savior to some and the most rubbish of people to live ever to others. He is neither of these if I'm being honest. Rap's always needed saving. It's just the way rap works. 'Mr. Carter' is somewhere close to reaching the top (in terms of quality at least) in Hip-Hop in 2008; though alas it's it's old school aesthetic which helps it along so niftily. The squeeky helium-like chorus to the very 90s rap on the verses by Jay-Z. It's all so inspired, fresh and forward. Lil Wayne shows his best features too, clever, honest rapping. He shows how human he is and that's something Hip-Hop could do with learning.

[n/a]

66 M83 'Kim & Jessie'

// 'Taken from 'Saturdays=Youth'; Mute

I span the f*** out of this over summer and now have come to something of a wall with it. Another song for the memories. Those few summer days when it was actually capable of existing out of doors. Escaping the smog and running for the hills (quite literally). Those light and airy days really. This light and airy track being that perfect accompaniment.

[27-33-22-10-09-06-12-18-26-33-26-34]

"She didn't even write the lyrics". LOL @ that. It's reviewing the album not her. Those lyrics are on the album therefore they will be critiqued.

Personally I prefer 'Blackout'. It's a good representation of her life at the time and something different. So what if it was mostly autotuned? Good music isn't all about organic vocals and besides she's always had a bit of autotune going on. We all know that.

'Circus' imo is a step backwards. It's not as cohesive or well thought out as 'Blackout'. Tracks like 'Out from Under' take her back to ground covered on her first four records. It sounds so out-of-date. 'Kill the Lights' just plays on the same theme as 'Piece of Me', as does 'Circus' to a certain extent (I still love it though). 'Circus' also has a horrid tracklisting. It just isn't fluid: 'Out from Under' to 'Kill the Lights'? It doesn't work for me and then loads of bonuses which didn't make the album? Much better than many of the actual album tracks? I could go on.

I do love Britney. She's my favourite pop tart but 'Circus' is a disappointment for me. With all the artists I love I look for strides forward. Progression musically. Britney seems less keen to do that which is a shame. Oh and as for the requirement for cheesy songs? Wha'?! She doesn't need them. They're tacky and very 90s D:

80 Brandy 'Long Distance'

Taken from 'Human'; Epic Records

'Long Distance' is a bit of a sore thumb on 'Human'. It's the only ballad-proper and it's the only track without any notable electronic influences. In a way that's what makes the track the highlight of the entire disc. Not to say the electronic trappings don't work (they most definitely do). 'Long Distance' just allows for Brandy's sound to be stripped backed and her greatest asset; her lovely voice, come to the forefront. 'Long Distance' is aching and yearning. From the beautiful vocal arrangments to the powerhouse ending. The best RnB-ballad since 'We Belong Together' it most definately is. Gorgeous.

[n/a]

79 The Long Blondes 'Century'

Taken from '"The Couples"'; Rough Trade

From that first monotone synth I was shocked. Long Blondes and electronic?! What? "Where had the girlie groove gone?". I so simplistically thought. Then the ethereal, church-like vocals come in courtsey of Jackson and I'm hooked. "Everything I touch" she coos. "This sound suits The Long Blondes", I begin to think, somewhat surprised. It's something I still think all these months on. The noir-edge and spastic breakdown all add into this ambitious single. It may not compete with anything from their brilliant debut record's singles but it certainly stands its ground. Fierce.

[16-15-16-09-11-12-20-27-38]

78 Martina Topley-Bird 'Poison' (Van She Tech Remix)

// Original track taken from 'The Blue God'; Independiente

Martina Topley-Bird's inextricable surname is just about the most interesting thing about her or her bloody ordinary music. The second most interesting thing is this wonderful remix of one of the barely palatable tracks from 'The Blue God'. Why I'm quite so fond of this remix I do not know. Perhaps it's because it sounds eerily similar to that Madison Avenue single back in the 90s. Perhaps I like the thundering second half of the track, badum badum etc it doth go. Or perhaps we will never know. Perhaps is an over-rated word isn't it?

[31-28-23-22]

77 Crystal Castles 'Vanished'

// Taken from 'Crystal Castles'; Last Gang Records

Crystal Castles are a musical collective/duo/person who raise issues as to the identity of music and belonging. Already they've gotten into trouble for their nicking of someone else's art. Some questionable use of samples too have left them looking a bit daft (the same can be said of others using their music too; oi Timba). 'Vanished' is another song that leaves me wondering and philosophizing as to who owns what exactly. Because really this is just a remix of a Van She track 'Kelly'. It is brilliant but it isn't Crystal Castles' really. Niggles aside I judge this for what it is. A pop and go, brilliant interpretation. Loff.

[18-17-11-03-05-05-09-11-18-27-38-37]

76 HEALTH '// M \\'

// Taken from 'HEALTH'; Love Pump Records

Crash. Bang. Pause. Swish. Bang.

Noise-pop is so much fun isn't it? There isn't much to say about this track other than it's a pretty good summing up of HEALTH as a band and that's something I do in my album year-end. WOO, you'll have to wait until then.

End.

[40-19]

Obsessions Video

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?kjltyg3mmmz