It's Pop & Kelis are back in business

After three weeks without blogging, a rather great interview of Martina-from-Dragonette (coming soon, I promise), a rather dull album from Rihanna (Cold Case Love is cool, though, as well as a few other tracks but it generally cannot be compared to Good Girl Gone Bad), more Gaga-fever unleashed on the world, and no time to sit at my computer and write about pop music, I'm back. and so is Kelis. Remember her awesome hit Milkshake back in 1458? Well, after being quiet for quite some time, she teamed up with French hitmaker David Guetta on her rather awesome new track Acapella. It's poppy, up-tempo, rather harmless and perfect to get everybody on the dancefloor. So for that, I say thanks to Kelis and Dave. Suddenly the winter seem warmer...

Kelis - Acapella

More than eighteen months after I first heard about her, I might start to like Lady Gaga. Sure, her tunes are catchy and sometimes really good (Lovegame). But to me, she's trying too hard. However, with The Fame Monster, the re-release of her first album The Fame, which is now said to be released as a proper 8-track disc with a deluxe edition containing the songs from The Fame (are you still following?!), I'm changing my mind about her. The first single Bad Romance is already proving to be a genius pop song, while the other leaked track Alejandro sounds like a slice of electro-pop heaven. The latest track to leak is the absolutely awesome Dance In The Dark. All I can say for the moment is that I loved it instantly and will be spinning it a LOT in the coming days. If you haven't already, I'm afraid it's time to surrender to the power of the Gaga.

Dance In The Dark

Alejandro

 

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Britney Spears' video for "3". Sadly, no threesome involved :(

Whaaaat ????!!! Next!!!

Paloma Faith, artist, wonder, and more

With a name like hers, Paloma Faith sure seems more like a popstar than, say, a plumber or a brocker. That said, "Paloma Faith, plumber" wouldn't sound that bad, and would probably urge you to have your pipes checked. So miss Faith has chosen a career path that's a lot less useful to people with a clogged sink on a Sunday night, but God was she right!

With a voice such as hers, it would have been a total waste to even think about doing anything else than sing. For those of you who like comparisons, she's like like a giger-hared mix of Amy Winehouse and Adele, a deep, strong and soulful voice that won't leave you disappointed. And thank God, her songs totally do her songs justice.

Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful?, her brilliant first album, is here to show what a multi-talented and ambitious singer she is. Right from the the opening track Cold Stone Sober, a delicious Motown-inspired number, the tone of the record is set: it's all about classy production, sweet arrangements and great vocals. The rest of the album goes really smoothly, with slightly retro-sounding up-tempo tracks (Smoke And Mirrors and Upside Down are real successes), and more beautiful intimate moments like Broken Doll or Do You Want The Truth...

The current single New York is an impressively classy piece of pop-soul. Listening to Paloma sing how the city stole her man away from her is just one of the best musical moments of the year. Sorry Pal'! Stargazer starts off with strings that reminded me of Janet's Together Again (lol). Don't worry the comparison stops right here. The song is more of a big ballad with a huge chorus. Certainly not the most subtle one here, but it's no less efficient and enjoyable.

Play On closes the record on a cabaret note, all at the same time melancholic and a little desperate, and here again Paloma's voice does wonders.

The UK is obviously well-equiped in XXIst century soul singers ever since Amy arrived. Paloma Faith has something girls like Duffy, Adele o Pixie Lott don't have: a multi-referenced, multi-arts and very personal universe. As an actress, we'll see her soon in The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. She's also proving to have a real eye for fashion and all things visual, a little bit like a not-vulgar version of Lady Gaga who doesn't think she's the World eighth marvel. It sure will be appealling to many, many people.

Alphabeat - The Spell album review: the 90s are back!

Two years ago Alphabeat released an awesome album which paid tribute to the 80s, with an impressive sense of fun and melody. Now the Danish band are back with The Spell, an album that will remind people of my generation their very first parties... Yes, this record is like 1995 is happening all over again. And while it might seem like a very bad idea to bring back Corona and Gala back from the dead, the Fantastic 6 manage to create a brilliant album.

The strength of this band is that they don't take themselves seriously at all, but they do take very seriously a kind of music that is not. That's why The Spell is a total triumph. Of course if you like dark, meaningful lyrics and moody atmospheres, this won't be you cup of tea. But if you're into unashamedly fun, highly danceable and bouncy music, you're in for a treat.

Right from the first track and single The Spell, they set the tone: it's up-tempo and incredibly enjoyable, and this impression never leaves. The Beat Is and DJ are sexy electro numbers urging you to the dancefloor, as are Hole In My Heart, Heart Failure and Heatwave, three odes to rave-dance music and probably the best tracks here. Even when the bpm decrease, the songs remain huge (Chess, Q and A) and remind us that the 90s could slow it down too. The whole lot is very consistant both in influence and quality and never can you spot even a tiny bit of mockery for a kind of music that clearly made the band what they are today.

I'm so sad this record wasn't released when I threw my first proper birthday party, with spotlights, dancefloor and all. This would have been a hell of a dance! Now go buy this album as soon as it's released and put your hands in the air like Scatman John is still around!

Heart Failure
Hole In My Heart
Heatwave
Q and A

Cheryl Cole - Three Words album review. It's not that bad.

One of the most expected and at the same time the most feared album of the year is released today. Remember when I told you a few months ago that Cheryl Cole was working on an R'n'B album, I was very concerned. Well now, hearing the result, I was partially right.

It was to be expected. I mean Cheryl Cole belongs to one of the most successful girlbands of all time, a band that gained credibility over the years after being put together through a TV show. That's quite an achievement. Taking a year-long hiatus, Girls Aloud members are focusing on solo projects before the band get back together in 2010. Cheryl is the first one to release an album, Nadine's effort being scheduled for early 2010.

The main problem with this album isn't that it's not good. It's more that it isn't good enough. Not good enough for a proper popstar whose career as a girlband member features songs as brilliant as Biology, The Show, Sexy No No No or Untouchable. No song on 3 Words is even close to one of these pop masterpieces. This can probably be explained by the fact that 3 Words is not a pop album. It is a modern  and generic R'n'B record mainly put together by men who are repeating their own formula on an artist that isn't them. Will I Am (yeah, the Black Eyed Peas twat) is to be blamed here for bringing songs like Heaven or Boy Like You to the table. They feel so rushed and uninspired ("that will do the trick") that I wonder why Cheryl even agreed to sing them. Title track and future single 3 Words is way better, but a little too reminiscent of BEP's I Gotta Feeling. Parachute also has an appealing chorus and drum beat that makes up for its lack of originality.

Fight For This Love, well, you know this one. It's grown on me so much over the past few weeks that I've come to really love it if not be literally obsessed by its chorus. Rain On Me has to be my other favourite track here, probably because it's more pop and goes somewhere Cheryl seems comfortable and competent.

Make Me Cry is a little funkier than the rest and has grown on me quite a lot but unfortunately it doesn't seem to be going anywhere. It's just fine. Happy Hour is slightly better and with time, it could probably become one of the album's best tracks.

Stand Up, which was written by Taio Cruz, is the only real up-tempo club-friendly track. It's really efficient and enjoyable, but it won't win any award for its lyrics. And FYI, Taio, a "pair of Vans" has never been, is not and will never be the male equivalent of a pair of "Louboutin" [for those who don't know these are shoes]. NEVER. But apart from that detail, it shouldn't be too difficult to dance to that tune.

Don't Talk About This Love is 'the' ballad. It sucks.

The album closes with the rather dull Boy Like You which Will I Am apparantly stole from Frankmusik. It's not good, and fortunatlely the last track is better, even if Heartbreaker is in fact a Will I Am featuring Cheryl Cole single that was out two years ago. Opportunistic much?

All in all, this album appears as a fair deal for Cheryl, who's gonna have a hit with it, and a great one for Will I Am who's gonna get some extra money for writing and producing half of it. It's too bad the feeling I got was that it was as much a Will I Am show as it was a Cheryl-Cole-from-Girls-Aloud-first-solo-record. This spoils the fun "a little". The songs are not that bad, some are even good, but I can't help but wonder how amazing the whole project would have been if Cher' had put a little more enthusiasm and commitment to it.

Conclusion: she's a fifth of the best pop girlband in the world.

This is a rather interesting article about the marketing campaign surrounding the release of Three Words.

And this is a way for you to hear 1-minute clips of the songs.

EDIT !! You can get the album legally for free HERE. It's probably a mistake so enjoy it while it lasts !!

Here's Marina And The Diamonds' video for Mowgli's Road: very nice

Marina And the Diamonds is an artist I truly love. I can't wait for her debut album, due out in February 2010. After two amazing buzz tracks, I'm Not A Robot and Obsessions (click for vids), she's releasing Mowgli's Road as her first big single. The song is awesome and will hopefully be the hit she deserves. She's just released the simple yet brilliant video for it, which you can watch right below.
Marina is an artist you instantly know you're gonna like. She's fresh, clever, funny and those qualities show in her music. Her pop, which can be described as "indie" is absolutely modern in the best possible way, but also timeless. I have no doubt that her album will be in the same vein and will start the new year with a bang! Until then, enjoy the few tracks she's released, and mark your calendars, cause you'll hear about her again, a lot...

So, yeah, Rihanna's back with a song called Russian Roulette

I think you'll understand why I chose the "extra large" size for the picture above. Cause, you know, it's all about the details ! So Rihanna is back with Russian Roulette, and after a few days of not knowing what to expect and a countdown, the song premiered on her website.

Well the least we can say is that this is quite an unexpected song choice for a come back. Choosing a dark ballad when your finest work includes Don't Stop The Music, SOS, or Umbrella (ie uptempo songs), and your last album is one of the iconic ones of the years 2000 is a risky move. But I could pay. Mainly because the song itself is good and sets a new, edgier image. At least she can't be accused of choosing a safe path, with a song that will probably not appeal to her younger audience.

Anyway, let's praise this daring move from one of the most interesting popstars around, instead of crying over the fact she didn't pull an Umbrella 2.0 off her sleeve. From her image to her sound, it really seems like Rihanna wants to set the record straight: she is the future of pop.

Her new album, Rated R, is released on November 23rd, which is the same day as Lady Gaga's Fame Monster... It will be interesting to see who wins the battle.

A few songs you might like

These are songs I've been wanting to write about these past few days. So there you go.

Hurts - Wonderful Life

This band is still pretty unknown, but I've come across this fine tune, and I tend to think this might get big in the coming months. Think Coldplay + Erik Hassle, or something like that. (Myspace / Video)

Kylie Minogue - Speakerphone (2009 Remix)

One of the best songs on X got a remix treatment for her recent US Tour. Exactly what the track needed. Amazing. (Video)

Alexandra Burke - Dangerous

This is the b-side to her smash hit Bad Boys. Well, let's say that for a b-side, it's pretty enjoyable. No, in fact, it's really good.

 

Lady Gaga - Bad Romance

Although I'm not really a fan of the Gaga, I must admit this one is kinda good. Still a little too RedOne-sque for me (so too similar to her other songs), but the chorus and the rama-mamama thing are amazing.

Nerina Pallot - Real Late Starter

This girl's latest album The Graduate is a real treat for the ears, so I'll probably write about it later. For now, enjoy this perfectly crafted pop song. Honestly, if you can resist singing this chorus, I'm afraid I can't do anything else for you. (Video)

Happy Birthday It's Pop!

One year ago I started this blog not really knowing what to expect. Well, after 170 posts, 10 of which were about Girls Aloud (!), and a first post about Mya, I can say I'm pretty happy with what it has become. So thank you to those who read regularly, to those who pop in from time to time, to those who support me with kind words and to the people I've become blog-buddies with! I hope you enjoy what you read and feel free to suggest anything for the future. For a more direct contact, you know you can follow me on Twitter. See you next year.