The editors of Modern Tonic present a weekly music update here on Towleroad. The rest of the week, they scan the pop culture landscape for movie, TV, book and Web recommendations in their daily email.
TODAY'S FEATURED NEW RELEASES AND FREE DOWNLOAD:
It’s hard to be Robbie Williams. A gigantic star all over the world, he's ignored in the U.S. (where he currently lives — in Los Angeles — with actress Ayda Field. Sorry, boys). So here comes Reality Killed the Video Star (out digitally today, on CD 11/17), his 8th studio album, and the speculation starts again: will this be Williams' rocketship to American stardom or another one-way trip to Planet Oblivion? Sure, he's got a stateside cult following, but boy band refugee Williams deserves a Justin Timberlake-size audience. The good news? Reality's the best thing Williams has done since his U.S. debut compilation, The Ego Has Landed. Produced by Trevor Horn — the former Buggles main man — Reality, a pun on Horn's "Video Killed the Radio Star," plays to Williams' strengths from start to finish. First single "Bodies" (FREE DOWNLOAD OF FRED FALKE EXTENDED REMIX HERE) layers monk-ish chanting over an Art of Noise robot groove. "Blasphemy" is a theatrical ballad that sounds like Williams' audition for the roadshow of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. And "Starstruck" confronts Robbie's lack of U.S. commercial respect head on. As longtime fans we're used to our fellow citizens' deaf spot, but the reality is we'd like it to change.
Tori Amos used to be a "Cornflake Girl" (to quote a hit title), and sometimes she’s been just a flake —From the Choirgirl Hotel anyone? But as an interpreter of others' songs she’s been damn near peerless. Her take on Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit"? Inspired. Covering Eminem on Strange Little Girls? Ballsy. And now the woman who suckled a piglet at her breast in the booklet for Boys for Pele brings us a juicy Christmas morsel called Midwinter Graces. This being Amos, a straight-up holiday album won't do. She mixes obscure traditional tunes like the Victorian "Candle: Coventry Carol" with seasonally-inspired originals such as "A Silent Night with You." It’s a gift from a "Snow Angel," to quote an Amos original, that’ll sound just as delightful long after the holidays have passed.
On her debut The Bridge Melanie Fiona, the Toronto-based child of Guyanese parents, layers Motown-flavored R&B over sharp-edged lyrics that mix the bitter with the sweet in finger-snapping harmony. The results? 12 potential singles as catchy as a Raphael Saadiq retro jam with extra-added hip-hop attitude. First single "Give It to Me Right" anchors the hook from The Zombies' "Time of the Season" to a non-stop plea for slamming sex. "Bang Bang" is even more lascivious, wherein Fiona wants to "introduce ya to my Lucy" to a beat that can only be called shagalicious. And when you treat her bad, you better "Walk On By," a tune that channels Mavis Staples' earthy soul squeals in a tale of hell-hath-no-fury-like-a-woman-scorned. Perhaps that’s Fiona's way of warning you that The Bridge is one that you won’t want to burn.
MUSIC NEWS:
Susan Boyle will perform the song that changed her life ("I Dreamed a Dream") on tonight's "Dancing With the Stars." She is also scheduled to perform live on NBC's "Today" show on November 23, the day her debut album, also titled I Dreamed a Dream, is released.
Britney Spears made her Australian concert debut last Friday, and (surprise!), a whirlwind media frenzy surrounded it.
Aussie media has made a big deal about her partial lip-synching and how
fans have stormed out of the concert because of it. Apparently, Britney
is "extremely upset" over the controversy.
Hot Chip have announced a release date of February 10, 2010 for their next album, One Life Stand.
Swedish Electro-pop trio Miike Snow will be touring the U.S. next spring. Two of the band's members, Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg, have written and produced songs for Britney Spears (winning a Grammy for "Toxic"), Madonna and Kylie Minogue, among others, under the name Bloodshy & Avant.
Green Day's well-reviewed musical, American Idiot, based on their 2004 album, now winding down a successful run at California's Berkeley Repertory Theater, is confirmed to open on Broadway. No date or theater has been announced yet.
A threesome of compilations in ten years is a bit much, but since Britney Spears is high on "3" these days we’ll give her a pass, especially when The Singles Collection includes that hot track and 16 more of Spears’ single releases. (The single CD version is released today; a deluxe box set — pictured — will be released November 23).
If it’s change you want out of Washington, D.C., Obama’s not the only brother who’ll make you say 'Yes We Can.' Rapper Wale's (pr. wah-LAY) debut joint Attention Deficit — on Mark Ronson’s label — finally drops after years of well-regarded "mixtapes."
Snow Patrol's the band mainstream alternative didn't know it was waiting for. Their super-catchy arena anthems ("Hands Open," "Chasing Cars," etc.) are collected on the two-disc best-of Up to Now, as well as lesser known tunes from 1998 up through their 2003 breakthrough "Run."
Mini Viva: "I Wish" From the Xenomania production powerhouse comes the frothy duo of Frankee Connolly and Britt Love. “I Wish” is Euro-pop and proud, with an L.A.-set video that adds extra digital color to the land of Hollywood dreams.
Massive Attack: "United Snakes" A sinister tune from 2006 gets a high-tech new video from Massive Attack. Black-and-white geometric shapes morph into menacing configurations on this creepy, provocative clip with vocals from 3D.
Jamie Cullum: "Don’t Stop the Music" The jazzy Brit makes a sexy swing of this Rihanna track, while his baby grand piano, over-stimulated by Cullum’s “jazz hands,” experiences an explosive climax of its own. From new album The Pursuit, due in February.
Pixie Lott: "Cry Me Out" The latest U.K. thrush advises her ex to cry her out of his system in this gorgeous black-and-white homage to ‘30s Hollywood glamour, complete with an Esther Williams synchronized-swimming segment.
The editors of Modern Tonic present a weekly music update here on Towleroad. The rest of the week, they scan the pop culture landscape for movie, TV, book and Web recommendations in their daily email. TODAY'S NEW RELEASES:
Last week, Glee graduated from sleeper hit to full-blown phenomenon, thanks to a ringing endorsement from Rolling Stone (“it’s Liza with a ‘Z’ meets Carrie.”) and the show’s cover of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” earning gold status in digital sales. Surely platinum glory awaits with Glee: The Music, Volume 1, the soundtrack we’ve been impatiently awaiting. Do the numbers hold their own sans choreography? If we said ‘No,’ would that keep you from buying it? Didn’t think so… Just brace yourself for Kristin Chenoweth’s monolithic rendition of Heart’s “Alone," and have tissues ready for "Take a Bow," which grinds Rihanna’s original into dust.
Smarting from the industry redtape that prevented her third album, Because I Love It, from getting a proper U.S. release, Amerie returns with In Love & War, her hotly anticipated Def Jam debut, which delivers on the hype and then some. It blasts off with not one but four rockin’ club bangers — “Tell Me You Love Me,” “Heard ‘Em All,” “Dangerous” and “Higher” — that suggest this former Army brat’s been playing that Santigold album on permanent repeat. Even when the tempo slows down for radio readymades like “More Than Love” (featuring Fabolous), In Love & War still sounds as sweet and tasty as a box of Good & Plenty.
Last June, Broadway heartthrob Cheyenne Jackson and cabaret icon Michael Feinstein performed a series of shows together at Feinstein's at Loews Regency, in celebration of the renowned venue's 10th anniversary season. Now comes The Power of Two, a new album based on that intimate engagement. Sure, you’ve heard these show tunes and standards (“So in Love,” “A Foggy Day,” “Old Devil Moon”) a million times, but they're as classy and timeless as an Armani suit, and what knocks it out of the park is Jackson’s flipped rendition of “Someone to Watch Over Me,” complete with same-sex pronouns. Our favorite Gershwin tune just got better!
It wouldn’t be fall without new sounds from American Idol alumni, would
it? While you await Adam Lambert’s debut (out Nov. 23), appease your
ears with Carrie Underwood’s third album, Play On, which finds the Okie
from Muskogee maintaining that note-perfect balance between pop and
country.
Serena Ryder is back on the scene with her third album, Is It O.K. If the Canadian singer-songwriter’s first two efforts garnered mucho Alanis Morissette comparisons, her gruff pipes now bear a striking resemblance to Melissa Etheridge.
In a clear bid to dominate holiday gift lists, Beyoncé will release I Am...Yours: An Intimate Performance at Wynn Las Vegas in a double CD/DVD package on November 23, the same day a deluxe edition of I Am...Sasha Fierce, which will include "Video Phone (Extended Remix)" with Lady Gaga, streets. The music video for "Video Phone," which will also feature Lady Gaga, debuts Thursday on MTV. The Las Vegas concert will air as a one-hour special on ABC on Thanksgiving.
Ellie Goulding: “Under the Sheets” This très
Brit pop newbie makes like Agent Smith stuck in a Baz Luhrmann production in the first clip from her forthcoming debut, which touts production from Mark Ronson and U.K. dubstep guru Burial.
Basement Jaxx feat. Lightspeed Champion: “My Turn” As if we couldn’t get more worked up about the new Basement Jaxx album, here comes a pastel-crazy fantasia, featuring a chorus of adorably destructive bears who swipe the spotlight from… uh… the dude who’s singing.
Tegan & Sara: “Hell” The first video from their new album, Sainthood, starts out bright and cheeky. Until that turquoise-wrapped thing appears in the mirror. Is that the Gimp from Pulp Fiction, or the typewriter from Naked Lunch? Disturbing stuff…
Madonna & Lady Gaga on SNL (dress rehearsal version) One could (easily) argue that this skit was unsalvageable, but at least the twin divas hit their marks and don’t flub their lines in this pre-show run-through. The definitive take, perhaps, though the joke’s still pretty lame.
The editors of Modern Tonic present a weekly music update here on Towleroad. The rest of the week, they scan the pop culture landscape for movie, TV, book and Web recommendations in their daily email. FEATURED ARTISTS AND FREE DOWNLOADS:
Canadian quartet Dragonette are snotty emo electro-punks. And by that we mean that on their second release Fixin to Thrill they wield their synths and scratchy funk guitar and bippity-boppity bass for crunchy musical nuggets of New Wave-inspired rudeness. The cooing Karen O-esque siren Martina Sobrara does have a nasty way with words. "When you wake up I'm gonna punch you out" from "Stupid Grin" is nearly a love lyric from her wicked tongue, with "Get on the floor, don't make a fuss, just do it" her idea of foreplay. And we’d much rather hear her defend a family member's Las Vegas wedding in "Pick Up the Phone" (FREE DOWNLOAD OF RICHARD X RADIO MIX HERE) or slap a brother down in "Liar" than listen to another guy-whiner in guyliner.
Here’s a group to add to your short list of cold-climate European bohemians: The Asteroids Galaxy Tour from Denmark. Fruit, their debut, is a languorous stroll through what XTC once called "funk pop-a-roll." Producer and multi-instrumentalist Lars Iversen keeps the bright tunes fresh and sparkling. And singer Mette Lindberg's like a drunk, precocious 5-year-old, slurring through up-tempo R&B ("The Sun Ain’t Shining No More") (FREE DOWNLOAD HERE) and happy '60s pop ("Sunshine Coolin'") with the same wide-eyed enthusiasm.
So, you star in an indie Irish film about falling in love, you write songs in character for the film, and then, while the cameras are rolling, you actually fall in love. And for your efforts you get what? If you’re The Swell Season — Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová — you win an Academy Award® for Best Song from Once ("Falling Slowly") and an appreciative new audience. Then, while touring the world, you break up under the strain of your newfound success and re-emerge on the other side of fame with Strict Joy, the best work of your career. The Swell Season's soft-spoken drama thrives on contradiction. And a fresh split is the mother lode of inspiration — from the mystical Van Morrison soul flourishes of opener "Low Rising" to the spiritual Grateful Dead folk of "Love That Conquers" these are honest, scathing, beautiful songs that would bring Oscar® gold to any film.
MUSIC NEWS:
Tweetie bird: Elizabeth Taylor took to her Twitter page and unleashed
an avalanche of tweets (we're having so much fun picturing her doing
this) raving about Michael Jackson's This Is It, which opens worldwide tonight.
She calls it "the single most brilliant piece of filmmaking I have ever
seen" and that it should be "nominated in every category conceivable."
Dolly Parton finally has the record to complement her big hair, big boobs and big talent — Dolly, a four disc box set retrospective of the self-proclaimed Backwoods Barbie from her early country hits ("Jolene") to her pop crossovers ("Here You Come Again").
R.E.M.'s Live at the Olympia — recorded in 2007 from five nights in Dublin in prep for Accelerate — is a welcome addition to their catalogue, with old favorites from the dawn of alt-rock ("Wolves, Lower") to songs still-in-progress ("Houston").
All of 29 now, indie-rock twins Tegan and Sara have thrilled audiences since '99. Their latest, Sainthood, is harder-edged than their last release, The Con, with bigger hooks and much heavier guitar.
She’s a megastar now, but Lady Gaga didn’t do it by herself. Her collaborator Space Cowboy is sure to follow in his employer's footsteps with the club crazy Digital Rock Star, featuring "I Came 2 Party."
Marina & the Diamonds: "Mowgli's Road" Welsh-born Marina Diamandis is part woman, part construction paper creature with super-flexibility on this jaunty single from her forthcoming debut Family Jewels.
Groove Armada: "I Won’t Kneel" From their forthcoming 2010 release Black Light, the English electro duo offer a mid-tempo I-want-you-back-but-I-ain’t-begging crowd-pleaser, featuring the 80s-licious vocals of a Groove Armada discovery, Saint Savior.
Cinema Bizarre & Space Cowboy: "I Came 2 Party" Lady Gaga collaborator Space Cowboy teams with German New Wave revivalists Cinema Bizarre for a freaky costume party that gets stranger by the second. Just in time to inspire your Halloween get-ups!
N’dambi: "Can’t Hardly Wait" Erykah Badu, watch your 'fro, 'cause Dallas-born N’dambi’s here to re-fire the neo-soul revival. In this clip, N’dambi strings along two gorgeous men at a photo shoot before leaving with the photographer.
The editors of Modern Tonic present a weekly music update here on Towleroad. The rest of the week, they scan the pop culture landscape for movie, TV, book and Web recommendations in their daily email.
TODAY'S FEATURED ARTISTS AND FREE DOWNLOADS:
Available digitally since August, The xx's self-titled debut finally gets its U.S. CD release today. The South London boys and girls of this foursome burrow deep within a minimal electronic atmosphere of stark beauty. Think New Order slowed down and obsessed by love’s ambiguities. Vocalists Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim trade lines in a sensual dialogue. "Can I make it better with the lights turned on?" Croft coos on the sultry "Shelter." "Don’t think that I’m pushing you away / when you’re the one that I’ve kept closest," Sim counters on the sinister "Crystalised." And the slinky single "Basic Space" (FREE DOWNLOAD HERE) is a breathy sex song that will keep the indie nation horizontal until the first snowfall.
Little did French electro duo Air know what they were about to start when they released Moon Safari and the international hit "Sexy Boy" in 1998. Since then, the French electro movement has included Phoenix, Justice, Yelle and Mr. Oizo, to mention only a few. But the originators — Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel — are back withLove 2, their best since they took us to the moon, and the first on which they handle all the vocals themselves. They mix soft funk forays like "Love" and "Night Hunter" with the icy New Wave hauteur of "Missing the Light of the Day" and the sinister, punkish "Be a Bee." More proof that there’s nothing better than l'amour. DOWNLOAD FREE ALBUM MEDLEY HERE.
San Diego-based singer-songwriter Greg Laswell's career has been like a slow-burning secret. From his Vanguard Records debut Through Toledo on to 2008's Three Flights from Alto Nido, music programmers have featured his tracks on Smallville, Grey's Anatomy, True Blood and others. His anonymity may still be safe on his latest EP, Covers, which has five songs from Echo and The Bunnymen, Morphine, Mazzy Star, Kristen Hersh and Kate Bush. Yet one listen to his straightforward reading of "The Killing Moon" or the haunting simplicity of "Your Ghost" (FREE DOWNLOAD HERE) and you’re going to want to tell all your friends.
A previously unheard song from The Jackson 5 has been released on iTunes today, and it's also streaming at the band's site. It will be included on the album I Want You Back! Unreleased Masters, out November 10.
The most important name in electronic music is Kraftwerk. If you don’t
know why, here’s where you get schooled: The Catalogue, remastered
versions of 8 seminal albums from 1974's Autobahn to 2003's Tour De
France. Released individually today, the full boxed set streets November 17.
Brandi Carlile releases her third album, Give Up the Ghost, a mixture of absolute torch 'n' twang to make kd lang proud.
Gossip's Music for Men finally gets released on CD in the U.S. (it's been available digitally for a couple of months), and we couldn’t let another opportunity pass to declare it's one of the best of 2009.
Trip-hop forefathers Massive Attack release the roiling, brooding EP Splitting the Atom, four tunes featuring Elbow's Guy Garvey, TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe and more. A full-length is due early 2010.
Röyksopp & Fever Ray: "This Must Be It" The Norwegian electro duo and The Knife’s frosty chanteuse Karin Dreijer Andersson (dba Fever Ray) take a synth-fueled joy ride through a Mad Max-like world on Röyksopp's latest single from Junior. Alejandro Sanz and Alicia Keys: "Looking For Paradise" Hell's Kitchen’s hip-hop poet duets with the sexy, low-key Spanish balladeer on this rollicking acoustic joint from Sanz's forthcomingParaíso Express.
Various Artists: "Beds Are Burning" Kofi Annan introduces this star-studded remake of Midnight Oil's hit to benefit awareness for the Global Humanitarian Forum for climate reform in Copenhagen on December 7. International artists — who sing from a series of wall posters — include Serena Ryder, Duran Duran, Marion Cotillard, Fergie and many more. Download the mp3 for free on their site. Ultra Naté featuring DJ King Tutt: "Faster, Faster Pussycat (Let's Go!)" A freaky club diva and an anonymous figure in tight black vinyl exhort us to "get on and ride / Do it tonight" while a Matrix-type motherboard overloads with techno rhythm. So what are you waiting for? Get on and ride.
The editors of Modern Tonic present a weekly music update here on Towleroad. The rest of the week, they scan the pop culture landscape for movie, TV, book and Web recommendations in their daily email.
TODAY’S FEATURED RELEASES:
Significant days deserve observance, and September 29 is now apparently Gay Icon Album Release Day. Today, three superstars — Mariah, Madonna and Barbra — vie for the No. 1 spot with new album releases. We probably should have used a sick day to take it all in.
After being blindsided by the film Glitter, the resilient
R&B artist and actress Mariah Carey has not only re-risen as high
as her glorious voice can go, she’s gone higher. Since her comeback
album The Emancipation of Mimi in 2005, Carey’s been on a roll unmatched by any singer of comparable stature and her latest recording, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel,
isn’t going to stop it (nor will her role in the forthcoming film Precious.) She’s always been a superlative singer, but
she’s gotten better with every release — not just technically, but in
the tangle of emotions she can evoke in a single note. Proof? Put Memoirs
on your iPod on shuffle. If forced to choose favorites, we’re voting
for the low-riding jam “More Than Just Friends” and the transcendent
Foreigner cover “I Want to Know What Love Is.”
Is there anything else that can be said about Madonna?
Kaballah blah blah blah divorce blah blah blah African child blah blah
blah. But what about her songs? If you’ve forgotten about the musician
behind the celebrity, Celebration — a two disc best-of with two
new tracks (plus a third on the iTunes version) — is here to remind us
how much we love the way she sounds. From late-disco hits “Holiday” and
“Borderline” to the slinky slut-fest of the underrated “Erotica”
through the alt-electro “Ray of Light,” 36 tracks produce an
unerring 2½ hour high. And that includes the two new cuts —
“Revolver” featuring Lil Wayne and the party-starting title track, both
new-styled Madge turns that can stand tall with her body of hits. And, there’s a bonus track on iTunes: the
slamming new disco jam “It’s So Cool” which is, well, so cool. (A Celebration DVD collectionincludes 47 MTV-tested videos.)
Like sipping a smooth cognac while the rain patters outside, Streisand’s latest studio album is pure sonic buttah. Guided by pianist/producer Diana Krall — that’s Mrs. Elvis Costello, alt-babies — Babs' jazzy Love Is the Answer takes on standards like Frank Sinatra’s “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning,” Jacques Brel’s “If You Go Away (Ne Me Quitte Pas)” and affirming opener “Here’s To Life.” Now is it too much to ask that our favorite Funny Lady make another movie?
"I Should Be So Lucky": Kylie Minogue's long-anticipated debut U.S. tour kicks off tomorrow night in Oakland, California. Over the next couple of weeks,
the performer, who enjoys a Madonna-style level of popularity outside of
America, will also hit Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto and New
York. Towleroad and Modern Tonic are giving away three pairs of tickets
to see Kylie at The Hollywood Bowl this Sunday, October 4. To enter to win, click here. Contest entry period ends Thursday September 30 at noon EST.
Britney Spears' new single "3,"
with the controversy-courting subject of the joys of being in a
threesome, debuted on New York's Z-100 this morning. It will be featured
on her second compilation, The Singles Collection, due November 24.
Is there life after chill? London downtempo duo Zero 7 — and guest vocalists galore — say hell yeah on their fourth album Yeah Ghost.
Emo-boys, make sure your mascara is waterproof. Paramore, the Tennessee alt-rockers fronted by Hayley Williams, will make your wimp asses cry with their muscular third album Brand New Eyes.
Brazilian bossa nova babe Bebel Gilberto releases her sixth album, All in One. Sit back, sip a smooth caipirinha and let the sensual sounds of South America accompany you on your next staycation.
MUSIC VIDEOS: Priscilla Renea: “Dollhouse” This fierce Floridian rips a page from The Veronicas' playbook with a punky tale of wrestling back control from her overbearing boyfriend. She starts like a little girl in her dollhouse until she grows too big to be contained. (From her debut album Jukebox, out December 1).
Snow Patrol: “Just Say Yes” The earnest Scots, intoning from their forthcoming import compilation Up To Now, are a vision in white on another aching love song that will echo for years.
Amerie: “Heard ‘Em All” If you want to get with this Korean-African American princess from Massachusetts, listen up. Amerie and her grimy futuristic dancers shimmy like Tina Turner herself through this tribal track from new album In Love & War(out November 3).
Ke$ha: “TiK ToK” Flo Rida’s feisty collaborator on “Right Round” steps out for a night on the town in a clip that’s every suburban mother’s nightmare. She mouthwashes with a bottle of Jack, can’t keep the boys from touching her junk and interrupts the family meal in the latest slut chic her parents’ plastic can buy.
The editors of Modern Tonic present a weekly music update here on Towleroad. The rest of the week, they scan the pop culture landscape for movie, TV, book and Web recommendations in their daily email.
FEATURED NEW RELEASES:
Kid Cudi (born Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi) lent his space-age hip-hop skills to Kanye’s out-there 808s & Heartbreak. But where Kanye sounded lost in orbit, Cudi (pronounced “Cuddy”) is right at home. This brother from another planet shape-shifts hip-hop on his startlingly fresh debut Man on the Moon: The End of Day. Opener “In My Dreams (Cudder Anthem)” — a slowed down mix of soul strings and spoken word — makes it clear this ain’t an old-school rap. From there the Brooklynite via Cleveland does some truly creative s**t — he samples OMD’s obscure “ABC Auto-Industry” for the hook of “As Simple,” he collaborates with Ratatat for the creepy-crawly “Alive (Nightmare)” and he whips a military beat over the apocalyptic jam “Sky Might Fall.” He may be an unlikely candidate for mega-stardom, but he’s not too weird for anyone who wants a glimpse into hip-hop’s future.
The Portuguese-Canadian singer Nelly Furtado has never seemed more at home than she does on the warm, spicy Spanish-language Mi Plan. She borrows the best from rock en Español — upbeat choruses, high drama — and sings her heart out in the process. Flamenco guitars are slathered all over the title track. “Vacación” is mariachi reggae perfect for a beachside stroll in Cozumel. And “Silencio” is Madonna’s “La Isla Bonita” with extra cheese, thanks to Josh Groban. Furtado has talked about the possibility of recording a Portuguese-language album in the future as well.
U.K. dance comes in all kinds of flavors — big beat, rave, techno, Eurodisco — and we love pretty much all of them. Yet what’s best about Simian Mobile Disco (aka James Ford and Jas Shaw) is that they’re not specialists. These greedy buggers love all things dance; their sophomore release Temporary Pleasure is a Whitman’s Sampler of sweet grooves and guest vocalists. Need a genuine disco rush? Check out Gossip’s Beth Ditto on the sultry “Cruel Intentions.” If you’re longing for a Hayzee Fantayzee-style island-hopping ditty, there’s “Pinball,” featuring Brooklyn’s Telepathe. And Jamie Lidell takes the Chemical Brothers to a sex club on the promiscuous “Off the Map.” That’s a lot of pleasure indeed, but SMD are selling themselves short if they think it’s only temporary.
U2 will release a remastered 25th anniversary version of The Unforgettable Fire on October 27. It will come in four configurations (vinyl, single CD, deluxe double CD and super deluxe box set) and will include B-sides, rarities, alternate versions, and previously unreleased songs, in addition to various physical extras in the deluxe versions.
Just when you think they can’t get more pretentious, power trio Muse drop an honest-to-goodness three-movement symphony to close out their supermassive rock record The Resistance. It’s prog-rock that’s also fantastically glam (first single “Uprising”), bluesy (“Undisclosed Desires”) and heavy (“MK Ultra”).
Gary Go follows Snow Patrol up the mountain to commercial bliss on his self-titled debut. Big emotions, bigger choruses, and an extra dollop of sincerity lift this Brit-popper’s open-hearted future hit “Open Arms” and the grandly romantic anthem “Engines.”
Yo, haters, give Scarlett Johansson a break. Break Up, her duets album with Pete Yorn, shows off her jazzy voice on standouts like “I Am the Cosmos” and the barroom blues of “Wear and Tear.” Gorgeous, (debatably) talented actress and she can sing. Okay, hate her, just don’t ignore her.
Marié Digby’s much more than that YouTube cover girl who remade Rihanna’s “Umbrella” (and Linkin Park’s “What I’ve Done” and Britney’s “Gimme More” and…). Her sophomore release Breathing Underwater is girl pop writ grand, catchy as hell and sure to grace a thousand TV and film soundtracks in the near future.
There have been a lot of cruel summers for the women of Bananarama. Big stars as an ‘80s trio, the duo-since-1991 are back with their Euro-disco import Viva. If their successors Sugababes and Girls Aloud can storm the charts, so can these elder-stateswomen.
Fever Ray: “Seven” The side project of The Knife’s Karin Dreijer Andersson, Fever Ray offers a creepy clip for this lingering lo-NRG electro track, featuring an old woman, a hairy-faced shaman and barnyard animals. Get a FREE DOWNLOAD of the CSS remix of "Seven" here.
Editors: “Papillon” From their forthcomingIn the Light and On This Evening, the Birmingham quartet add triumphant synths to their dark alt-rock on a song about escape where men run the night streets of a silent metropolis.
Young Soul Rebels/War Child: "I Got Soul" This charity single for the War Child organization re-imagines The Killers’ “All These Things That I’ve Done” with Pixie Lott, VV Brown, Tinchy Stryder and other U.K. up-and-comers.
Micachu & The Shapes “Turn Me Well” This songstress from Surrey dons mime makeup for an abstract clip of a minimally experimental tune that makes The Knife sound like Muse. From their debut Jewellery.
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