APP-ETIZER: News anchor made to lick an iPad on April 1.
DANI SHAY: Lesbian looks like Justin Bieber.
CAT VS DOG: A slo-mo slapdown.
NIRVANA: Jared Leto channels Kurt Cobain.
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ROBBIE DAW
Robbie Daw presents a weekly pop music update here on Towleroad. Robbie runs his own site called Chart Rigger.
This spring has seen somewhat of an electro-pop revolution coming out of England, and leading the charge, so to speak, is London-based duo La Roux (aka, Elly Jackson and Ben Langmaid).
The pair's single "In For The Kill" cracked the Top 10 of the U.K. chart this week, and a remix of the tune is being included on the "Quicksand" EP that's to be released here in the States via Cherrytree/Interscope this coming Tuesday. In the meantime, you can download "Quicksand" in its original form, as well as several remixes, in an indie EP already up on U.S. iTunes.
La Roux have been doing several North American gigs this week. Tomorrow they perform at San Francisco's Popscene, while Saturday they'll be doing the Wyndham Palm Springs Hotel's Saturday Pool Party during White Party weekend. They wrap things up in the States at L.A.'s Roxy on Sunday night.
Below are some recent synth-heavy clips from across the pond:
LA ROUX: Their video for "In For The Kill."
ANTIGONE: The Aussie-born, London-based singer's "More Man Than Man." Her new single "Promiscuity" was added to iTunes this week, and her album AntigoneLand will be available on April 20.
CALVIN HARRIS: The 25-year-old Scottish songwriter/producer's new single "I'm Not Alone."
LITTLE BOOTS: A live clip of her upcoming late-May release "New In Town." Little Boots played South By Southwest in Austin last month.
It's hard to believe, but today marks 15 years since Kurt Cobain was found dead. Technically, his suicide is said to have taken place on April 5. Whether you're a fan of Nirvana's music or not, it certainly was a moment of cultural significance, and, as cliched as it sounds, the end of an era. Do you remember where you were when the news broke? (I'd just finished classes that Friday afternoon during my sophomore college year, and walked into the library where a bunch of students were talking about it.)
The entire Beatles catalog to be remastered and re-released on CD with extras this September. However, still no resolution in getting the songs onto iTunes.
Boom Boom Pow: The Black Eyed Peas land their first number one hit.
Notice some songs jumped in price from 99 cents to $1.29 on iTunes this week, while others dropped to 69 cents? Best get used to it.
There's a whole lot of smoke-jumpin' surrounding Chris Brown's felony case.
Has Katy Perry enlisted Calvin Harris—who swazzed up Kylie Minogue's "In My Arms"—to produce her next album?
THE WEEK'S NEW RELEASES:
Two Suns, the second album from Bat For Lashes (aka Natasha Khan).
Erasure's career-spanning hits set Total Pop!—40 Hits. Also available in a 3-CD/DVD version is Total Pop!—Deluxe Box. Andy Bell will be signing copies of the collection at L.A.'s Amoeba Records tomorrow after doing an in-store DJ set.
Manchester band Doves' fourth LP, Kingdom Of Rust.
English rapper Lady Sovereign's second album Jigsaw, featuring production from Dr. Luke and Benny Blanco.
Death Cab For Cutie's Open Door EP.
New singles from Antony And The Johnson's ("Epilepsy Is Dancing"), Marilyn Manson ("We're From America") and Teena Marie ("Can't Last A Day").
Please welcome Robbie Daw, who will be penning occasional music posts for us here on Towleroad! Robbie runs his own pop music site called Chart Rigger.
Kelis has been dropped from her contract with Jive Records, and is working on an album of dance tunes with Cee-Lo Green, current singer of Gnarls Barkley. The two have apparently already finished a pop album with British writer/producer Guy Chambers, who wrote many of Robbie Williams' original hits ("Angels," "Rock DJ," "Feel"). Williams himself is currently making a new album with Chambers after the two parted ways five years ago over creative differences following the singer's Escapology record.
If you haven't heard Kelis' 2006 album Kelis Was Here (and many likely haven't, as Billboard notes it's only sold 157,000 copies to date), you probably missed "Lil Star," her soulful, retro-sounding duet with Cee-Lo, which peaked at #3 earlier this year on the official U.K. singles chart.
Given the wide array of musical styles and producers used on Kelis Was Here and in her other work, she might have appeared to be a hard act to market for Jive. Last year's Top 20 single "Bossy" was the only song remotely close to her breakthrough hit "Milkshake."
Currently, Kelis, who is the wife of rapper Nas, can be heard on the Annie Lennox album Songs Of Mass Destruction, on the track "Sing" (although, good luck trying to pick her out, as she's one of 22 other female vocalists featured).
Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine (pictured left) goes the shirtless route in the band's video for "Wake Up Call." Perhaps it's an attempt to jump start the single -- currently at #19 on Billboard's Hot 100 after 11 weeks on the chart -- which is having a slower go than "Makes Me Wonder," which hit #1 in the spring.
Following her stint as a lesbian, Alanis Morissette is now taking a job as a secretary.
Singer Róisín Murphy returns home after damaging her eye socket on stage in Moscow with a chair on Saturday: "Despite serious concussion and losing a lot of blood, her vision is unimpaired."
Simian Mobile Disco's video for their dance track "Hustler" offers an interesting take on beauty and gluttony. Definitely don't miss the last minute of the clip.
Kurt Cobain loses his standing as top earning dead celebrity.
Despite having "nothing left to write about," Oasis trudge on making their seventh album.
Author Lucy O'Brien's book Madonna: Like An Icon makes some interesting claims. Meanwhile, Kanye West is taking his own stab at literature.
TODAY'S NEW RELEASES:
Party like it's 1999! Bumped up two weeks from its original release date, Britney Spears' fifth studio album (and her first in four years) Blackout arrives. Also out is Unbreakable, by Britney's Jive labelmates, Backstreet Boys.
If you'd rather party like it's 1989, pick up head-bangers Avenged Sevenfold's self-titled new set.
Atlanta hip hop group Arrested Development return with Since The Last Time.
Long Road Out Of Eden, the new studio album from The Eagles, will only be available for purchase through Wal-Mart stores.
The soundtrack to Joy Division biopic Control contains tracks by New Order, David Bowie, Roxy Music, The Killers, Kraftwerk, Iggy Pop and Joy Division themselves.
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