Official Video: Katy Perry - Roar

Katy Perry releases the official video for her infectious song Roar.

I love the message of empowerment by song. The video captures the emotion it wants to get across while being in a fashionably tribal and primitive get-up.

I'm loving Katy's outfit as the female Tarzan. Jungle Jane or The Queen of the Jungle.

Last month she did release a lyric video for the same song

What do you think?

Official Video: Mariah Carey - Almost Home

Mariah Carey releases the official video to the Oz, the Great and Power soundtrack Almost Home.

In the video, Mariah dons a long black ensemble standing on a basin of water to create that symmetry thus elongating her body to make her look slimmer. Not only her singing style on the song was different (and that's pretty refreshing), her usual flirtatious antics and movements were also repressed and almost absent.

What say you lambilys?

Album Review: Alicia Keys - Girl On Fire

Alicia Keys is back with her fifth studio album Girl On Fire. The Alicia we find on Girl on Fire is much removed from how we left her on 2009’s The Element of Freedom, a rumination on the death of her grandmother and the break-up of a relationship. This album still remains my favourite and IMHO, the best AKeys work of her career.

Girl On Fire being the first album of her 30s, Keys is now married (to producer-rapper Swizz Beatz) and the proud mother of a young son. And understandably, the record takes this as its centre.

For all its big beats and stellar collaborations (and there are many: Frank Ocean, Emile Sandé, Darkchild, Babyface and Salaam Remi to name a few), the core of the album is Keys’ remarkable voice and simple songwriting.

The tone is set by the piano introduction, a sombre reflective piece, and then the defiant, nose-thumbing Brand New Me which makes Keys’ stance clear when she sings: “It’s been a while, I’m not who I was before.”

Girl on Fire is classic Keys at her most commercial that contains her signature vocal belts that catapulted her to superstardom.  The beautiful, sensual Fire We Make, a duet with Maxwell, is all muted horns and synth bass, a textbook quiet storm. The more you hear this track, the deeper you fall in love with it. Tears Always Win, co-written by Bruno Mars, is a convincing soul/gospel pastiche, played with a small band.

Not Even the King, written with Sandé, is probably the key track. Shorn of all bangs and crashes, it is a straightforward piano ballad, and although exploring the well-worn analogy of how being rich in love is better than all the world’s money (“Your arms around me / Worth more than a Kingdom”), it is strangely and sweetly affecting.

The credits say that Girl on Fire was “conceptualised and produced” by Keys. When you look at other artists of a similarity, you know that she hasn’t just dropped in to record with the latest producers.

As a result, Girl on Fire is a smart album, at the very least maintaining the high standards set on The Element of Freedom. It showcases her as a maturing performer and keeps her there or thereabouts alongside Beyoncé as the world’s leading contemporary stylist of mainstream RnB.

Noteworthy tracks include Girl On Fire, Brand New Me, Tears Always Win

Track listing


What say you?

Album Review: Christina Aguilera - Lotus

Christina Aguilera treats us with her seventh studio album Lotus

As she mentioned, this album is fun-filled, and she didn't care if it had hits-material. Of course, we'd believe that - right?

With the recent 'tragic' sales performance of Bionic, I feel Xtina was forced to go back to basics - and by this I mean succumbing to the commercially manufactured artist formula. This is the very same formula that brought her stardom to begin with.

I've been listening to the whole album for almost two weeks now. Let's backtrack for a minute… It is not a bad album, per se. It is a competent mix of great vocals, blue-eyed soul ballads, and trendy dance-influenced pop. There are no actually horrible songs.

She collaborates with Alex da Kid, fame and pop super-producer Max Martin. She's also commissioned her The Voice peers Blake Sheldon and CeeLo Greene. Noticing a pattern? After the commercial failure of Bionic, Christina seems to be hungry for a hit, and yet Bionic is actually a better album than Lotus.

One of the album's highlights is the power ballad Blank Page co-written by Sia; the track Light Up The Sky has that LSS effect; and other ballads Sing For Me, Empty Words, Best Of Me who all have been re-hashed from her previous works but still nonetheless a good listen. 

Army of Me was described as the successor to Fighter, but the song lacks the same passion and angst. Let There Be Love could be described as an album highlight with its Max Martin-produced wall of synths, and has that American EDM sound written all over it but the song feels like it came a year or two too late.

Your Body, the lead single from the album, is another stand-out Max Martin produced pop track, which I truly felt was a very catchy track and deserved to be the carrier single. As for Just A Fool, a surprise and delight hit from Xtina and The Voice co-coach Blake Sheldon. The chemistry was just there, the vocals, the whole feel of the song brings a lot of hope for the album's struggle for success. 

IMHO, I feel she is no longer a step ahead of her contemporaries, as she was with 2002’s Stripped and 2006’s retro pastiche Back to Basics. She’s trailing behind, desperately trying to hang on to the heels of her more successful peers. Which sometimes lead me to think that she is commercially misplaced - always next to someone, always being compared to. To date, I feel she doesn't have a solid identity as an artist as compared to the likes of Madonna, Mariah, Britney, etc. Don't get me wrong though, she is a great artist but I think she's reached the plateau of her artistry.

Having said that, Lotus is largely forgettable. While the songs are "good" they aren't as great - nothing that could stand alongside Stripped or Back to Basics. Everything felt like a second-place rehash - from album covers, to messages of the song, and even her voice sounded struggling for power.

Track Listing




What do you think?

Album Review: Kylie Minogue - The Abbey Road Sessions

Kylie Minogue breathes new life to her hits for the past 25 years.  With Flower being the single carrier of the album speaks for the whole feel of the album. Working with long time collaborator, Steve Anderson of Brothers-in-Rhythm, they both re-worked the 16 (+2 in both AU & JP editions) of Kylie's hits into an orchestral remix. It was the turning of I Should Be So Lucky into a torch song for an Australian gig 12 years ago that initially inspired Kylie to reinterpret her glittering back catalogue of pop with the help of an orchestra. Of course she's had plenty of hits since then - most notably here with On A Night Light This, Love At First Sight, and Can't Get You Out Of My Head as well as In My Arms, and Wow; all of which have been stripped off their pop shimmer and allowed the lyrics to come to the fore. Just imagine the synths being replaced by cello and violins. What a treat!

That said, the most frivolous of her PWL years still make for the most interesting listening. Deep sadness has been unearthed on I Should Be So Lucky, Hand On Your Heart, Better The Devil You Know, and Never Too Late. All these songs convey a sad message but with Kylie's charms and PWL's luscious, sugary coating of melody and rhythm, all these songs back then seemed a perky, happy one.

On the other hand, there are songs like Come In To My World, I Believe In You, and Slow, that have been remixed and re-engineered in various genres but nevertheless still a stand out track; Confide In Me and Finer Feelings don't fall far from its original feel but personally it sounds more vulnerable on this record; Where The Wild Roses Grow, the duet with Nick Cave became more morbidly haunting. Locomotion is a playful throw-back to 60's vibe to give tribute to its original - Little Eva

With the re-birth of the old hits and Kylie stepping out of her comfort zone, this work is exploding with so much artistry. It would also be interesting to hear how she would have done Wouldn't Change A Thing, Shocked, Spinning Around, and Get Outta My Way had they been also included on the collection.

This is a treat for all Kylie lovers out there. 

Track Listing

What do you think?

Album Review: Madonna - MDNA

Madonna's 12th studio album MDNA offers some familiar futuristic EDM sound with a touch of Madge. This could sound like her previous work Hard Candy, when all artists at the time were aching to be Timbalandised. As Madge is known to cope with trends very well and can transform into what is relevant, she manages to score an album with today's sound - electronic dance music. Working with producers like Benny Benassi, Martin Solveig, Ray of Light collaborator William Orbit, among the few, Madonna proves yet again why she has the staying power in the business. However, for fans as myself, I feel the album does not deliver a seemingly come-back attempt from a 4-year hiatus, and also that hope for a Ray Of Light ish smash album also dissipated. 

The concept of MDNA, in reference to MDMA drug, or an abbreviated version of Madonna, or Madonna DNA rocked my brain for a couple of months. Those months I have anticipated that she will deliver an in-your-face album to all of the princesses threatening her of her Queen of Pop throne. But to no avail, I feel that she wasn't able to do so. Perhaps with album sales, she did prove her loyal following. But as a loyal follower myself, I feel she has again succumb to the pressures of the post-GaGa pop world. I was hoping she would be setting new trends and not trying to prove why she is the queen. Although some good tracks were produced, there are no tracks sounding they could pass the test of time. But it might be too early to judge so let's see.

On a lighter note, I want to highlight some of the tracks that are worthy listens: Gang Bang sounds like a sequel to Revolver and its video could only be aptly directed by Quentin Tarantino; other tracks like I'm Addicted (where she repeatedly sings MDNA then it turns out to be MDMA in the end), Turn Up The Radio, I Don't Give A comply to today's standard of what an EDM-inspired track should be. Another track that sounds like her previous hits: Beautiful Stranger for I'm A Sinner; and Ray of Light for Beautiful Killer. Do check out the deluxe edition, as it has some great add ups.

Track list

01. Girl Gone Wild
02. Gang Bang
03. I'm Addicted
04. Turn Up The Radio
05. Give Me All Your Luvin'
06. Some Girls
07. Superstar
08. I Don't Give A
09. I'm A Sinner
10. Love Spent
11. Masterpiece
12. Faaling Free

Deluxe:

01. Beautiful Killer
02. I Fucked Up
03. B-day Song
04. Best Friend
05. Give Me All Your Luvin' (Party Rock Remix)
06. Love Spent (Acoustic) (iTunes pre-order only)

Let me know what you think--

Goodbye Whitney Houston

Such a shocking news this early Sunday morning of 12 Feb '12 in Manila when I learned that one of my personal favourite songtress, the voice, Whitney Houston has passed away. As of yet, details to her demise is still unknown. Though she is known to have a cocaine abuse problem, authorities have not confirmed the cause of death and that investigations are still on-going.

This is indeed a very sad day for the music industry as it lost one of the best voices to ever grace a stage and hold a microphone. I grew up listening to Whitney. She was one of the women who paved for the "diva" singer category. This helped the likes of Mariah Carey and Celine Dion reach a stature in their careers. 

Whitney's voice will be continued to be heard and her legacy will carry on. I love you.

Do you have the same sentiment on Whitney? 

Madonna is on MDNA

Upon hearing rumours on Twitter about Madonna's up and coming album, I felt this blood rush in me. I felt even more pumping (of blood) in my veins when I found out that she will be calling her new album MDNA. Sounds familiar eh? Need I explain further?

I am buying the whole concept -- with this pre-released album cover of having a blurry vision of Madonna, MDNA being Madonna DNA and the reference to the euphoric drug MDMA (popularly known as ecstasy/XTC) -- I'm already getting palpitations of excitement!

Guest artists that the Queen of Pop is rumoured to be working with are the sassy Nicki Minaj and rebellious M.I.A. -- this ought to be interesting as Madonna is now more open to collaboration and sharing her diva space. Contributing producers are Martin Solveig, Benny Benassi and executive producer of the successful Ray of Light, William orbit amongst others.

This is gonna be an exciting year as the Queen of Pop reclaims her throne from the Princesses.

Thoughts please--

Album Review: Beyoncé - 4

Beyoncé is put to the fore with her newest offering 4.  WIth the high bench mark that was set by her previous record I Am... Sasha Fierce, 4 has a very large shoes to fill.

I listened to the album but not continuously and eventually stopped. The carrier single Run The World (Girls) was not too persuasive and I pre-judged it for being just another artist album. It was only after a month of its release that my friend asked me if I know that Love On Top song. With my response as no, it bothered me a little and at the same time sparked a reborn interest on the album.

With my mission to discover the hidden gems of the album, I realised that I have missed to see the bigger picture -- 4 is a collection of tracks that were almost stripped off their rhythmic and melodic coating and Bee's vocals are put to the fore. Her vocal prowess in all of the tracks are just impeccable, something that she gave us a taste of with the disc 2 of I Am... Sasha Fierce; now with this album she came in full blast like a comet ready to impact the surface!

Songs like 1+1, Rather Die Young, the seemingly Irreplaceable re-hash Best Thing I Never Had and Love On Top all have successfully showcased Beyonce's ability to hit notes and be called as one of this generations note worthy artists.While the playful song Party remained to be one of my favourites in the collection both vocally and melodically. On the other hand, songs like Countdown and End Of Time will just make you shake ya booty the Bee way.

The album, at first, may sound too familiar and repetitive but it does bring in a value - a contribution of an artist to the industry that she is in.; the throw back's in the past, the overall sound engineering of the album, and vocal style all make this album a standout amongst the Euro-dance sounding American artists out there trying to be relevant. 

Track list:

01. 1+1

02. I Care

03. I Miss You

04. The Best Thing I Never Had

05. Party

06. Rather Die Young

07. Start Over

08. Love On Top

09. Countdown

10. End Of Time

11. I Was Here

12 Run The World (Girls)

Deluxe edition:

01. Lay Up Under Me
02. Schoolin' Life
03.Dance For You



What do you think?

Album Review: Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Make A Scene

After so many release date push-backs (and album name changes), finally, Sophie Ellis Bextor's fourth studio album Make A Scene was released in June 2011 in the United Kingdom (April 2011 in Russia)

Having done collabs with the likes of Armin van Buuren, The Freemasons, Calvin Harris and Junior Caldera, the album achieved that Euro electronic vibe. I LOVE IT!

The album spawned quite a number of singles and the two that captured my attention were her collabs with AvB, Not Giving Up On Love and Junior Caldera, Can't Fight This Feeling.

Other noteworthy tracks include: Revolution, Bittersweet, Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer), Off And On, Starlight, Dial My Number and Synchronised.

Tracks:

01. Revolution

02. Bittersweet
03. Off And On

04. Heartbreak (Make Me a Dancer)

05. Not Giving Up on Love (with Armin van Buuren)

06. Can't Fight This Feeling (with Junior Caldera)

07. Starlight

08. Under Your Touch

09. Make a Scene

10. Magic

11. Dial My Number

12. Homewrecker
13. Synchronised

14. Cut Straight to the Heart

Thoughts please--

Album Review: Britney Spears - Femme Fatale

Britney Spears releases her seventh studio album Femme Fatale that delivers fatal blow of electro pop tracks - it could be, IMHO, her best record released yet. It's everything a Britney fan could ask for. And for those who aren't fans, they will most likely become fans if they like catchy electro dance music.

Femme Fatale is an electro-pop masterpiece that melds pop, techno, and even dubstep together. Every song has fantastic production, creative lyrics, and a star quality that only Britney can pull off. This album is one you will want to listen to whenever and wherever, in the car, at the club, at home, at parties. Trust me, I have done so. I have also realised that she could have done this album without her doing any actual thing on it. The tracks sound so mechanical - in a very good way - and I thought the producers just needed a sampling of her voice from the previously recorded ones and they can just make a track out of after whipping in some webs of synths and electropop sounds.

Another question I got in my head is: Is Femme Fatale better than Blackout? That is up for you to judge. Femme Fatale is definitely sex-driven, just like Blackout. Every song on this album is different and unique sounding, but there are definitely a lot of similarities to Blackout. Femme Fatale is more like the Blackout 2.0, it's definitely far from the sound of Circus.

What do you think?

Britney is Femme Fatale

Following the announcement and confirmation on her Twitter about the working title of her seventh studio album, Femme Fatale has been a trending topic worldwide for the past week.

Official Video: Kelis - Brave

Brave is the fourth single off Kelis' latest studio album Flesh Tone.

This video reminds me of Alanis' Head Over Feet.

On the video, Kelis bleached her hair, donned a much fairer skin against a white backdrop making her look like a white woman. Although I cannot decipher the message of the video, I think she still rocked the video! Brave is one of the three songs I love about Flesh Tone. In my opinion though, she could have made a much heavier impact video - the kind like Scream or 4th of July (Fireworks) have.

Here's the MV:

Your thoughts please--

Official Video: Mariah Carey featuring Patricia Carey - O Come All Ye Faithful

Mother of songbird, Mariah Carey, joins her daughter in a duet of a Christmas classic Oh Come All Ye Faithful. Patricia, who is a soprano brings more flavour and colour to the song when blended with the melismatic style and 5-octave range of this diva.

Here's the video:




What do you think?

Official Video: Rihanna featuring Drake - What's My Name?

Simultaneously released with its single, the video for What's My Name, Rihanna's second single off her fifth studio album loud was released a few days back.

On the video, it features Canadian rapper Drake. The song and the video reminds me a lot of Rihanna's 2007 collab with Ne-Yo with Hate That I Love You. The formula for the song and video is very much similar as well.

Take a look at it yourself:

What do you think?

Official Video: Kelis - Scream

Kelis releases a video for her third single Scream. I have always thought that Kelis has a very strong artistic mind that even during this post-GaGa era, she still manage to stand out.

The song was in collaboration with David Guetta; and we all know what that means -- it's a treat for all dance/electronica lovers. With Guetta's signature sounds and Kelis' husky meets soothing voice, this is one great track off her album.

The music video has a 3-D version which can be found over on her website. One of the coolest videos I have ever watched and the outfits are fabulous!

Enjoy it!

Your thoughts please --

Album Review: Robyn - Body Talk Pt. 3

The Body Talk series has come to it's final stages with the release of Body Talk pt. 3. Robyn was proud to announce that a continuation and final installment will be released in select regions whilst a complete compilation - Body Talk will be released in major markets.

The final installment part 3 contains five tracks - the dance version of Indestructible and four new upbeat, club-friendly tracks.

I got the leaked record a few days before its release. However, I want to get both Body Talk and Body Talk pt. 3 in physical copies to complete my collection. 

The part 3 is more of a celebration of the body talk series. The 5-track CD contains infectious beats that you'd just want to step out, hit the clubs and sing "I Came To Dance Not To Socialise" out loud. Well, that's what I'd do. 

Comparing it with its two predecesors, Body Talk pt. 3 impact is short but sweet. It is straight forward - dance like there's no tomorrow. Of the five tracks, my favourite would have to Get Myself Together. The dance version of Indestructible is also a good track however, its acoustic version claims the crown in being the better version. Another noteworthy track is Call Your Girlfriend; one would need to listen to it to understand what I mean. 

Given the same collaborators and producers, the songs in part 3 are very familiar with the sounds of part 1 and 2. Nothing very new aside from an extended array of choices for great Robyn songs. But one thing is for sure, you cannot just listen to the part 3 alone. It will make you crave for Robyn more. That's how great this record is people!

Track list:

01. Indestructible

02. Time Machine

03. Call Your Girlfriend

04. Get Myself Together

05. Stars 4-Ever

What do you think?

Official Video: Kylie Minogue - Better Than Today

Exciting news greeted me two weeks before the release of this video when it said that it will be released earlier. When it was confirmed that Better Than Today is the upcoming third single off Aphrodite, I was uncertain whether I was excited or disappointed. It is a good song but I'm still not confident about it being a single.

However, the music video that was both directed by William Baker (Kylie's long-time stylist, creative director and friend) and Kylie herself, gave the song a more impact and meaning. Watching the video makes you listen to the song and appreciate it more. I thought it is a simply chic video! Kylie donned her high fashion couture with her signature smoky blue Aphrodite eye make-up. The best thing about the video is its backdrop! The psychedelic visuals of mixed abstracts and pacman!

The male synth players donned a pacman head mask. When I say pacman - not referring to the boxer, alright? The video showcased a recreation of one of Kylie's live performances, except that it's lip-synch on the vid. Kylie does sing live in almost all of her live performances.

Some of the peeps I know had some comments that it reminded them of the 2 Hearts video but a way better version - which I agree on to a certain degree.

Enjoy the vid!

Your thoughts please?

Official Video: Taio Cruz featuring Kylie Minogue - Higher

I saw this news via Twitter that Kylie and Taio Cruz are doing a collab on one song. I am not keen on Taio Cruz and his songs but given that Kylie is in it, it got me really excited!

The song is called Higher - a fitting title for Kylie and her music genre. I don't really dig the song much, except the part that Kylie sings. The line it's taking me higher, higher suits her voice a lot!

In the video, Kylie and Taio barely touched each other - probably the image that Kylie has that a newbie cannot just touch a goddess. K's look in the video reminded me a lot of her Red Blooded Woman video

Here's the vid:

What do you think?

Album Review: Rihanna - Loud

Rihanna's 5th studio album Loud landed in most markets today 15 Nov 2010. Though I got the leaked iTunes version, I'm still waiting to grab myself a physical copy of the album. 

Having done my initial listening sessions, I've really fallen in love deeper with Only Girl (In The World) and thought that it was the best choice as a lead single. The song speaks so much about the album's feel and character - fun, carefree, flirty, LOUD! The synths entagled in rich rhythm and drums plus the signature electro sound of Stargate makes a perfect club anthem! This song is sure to join the ranks of her other hits that will forever be etched in her career that launched her to stardom. Songs like Umbrella, Don't Stop The Music and Unfaithful. 

I also noticed the evolution of Rihanna's voice in the album, her range was higher, wider giving a vibrant impact on the album's loud attitude. This is mostly evident in Only Girl and Complicated

It was also confirmed by Rihanna's team that What's My Name (featuring Canadian R&B sensation Drake) will be the next single and the video is already being shot. My impression of the song is Stargate's Euro synthpop meets Rihanna's Barbadian singing style plus Drake's sexy voice. The result, a dancey, radio-friendly record but otherwise, forgettable. 

Other songs like the provocative S&M, which is another Stargate produced track was also confirmed to be the third single and an accompanying music video will also be released. Man Down is probably the most Barbadian-influenced track in the album - very similar to her I Got That track from Good Girl Gone Bad. The fun & playful Raining Men (with Nicki Minaj) is also an attention grabber along with the mellow side of the album California King (Bed), Cheers (Drink to That) and Love The Way You Lie - Part II which this time, features rapper Eminem) proves Rihanna's versatility as a recording artist. Love The Way You Lie part II is an acoustic throwback to RiRi and Eminem's chart-topping hit Love The Way You Lie. Do you remember Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' The Empire State of Mind? A. Keys also had her own piano version of the song in her 4th studio album. Nothing, I just want to segue that info and relate it to how Rihanna did it with hers. LTWYP2 in my opinion is a much better version with Eminem's less raps and more of part from RiRi.

Noteworthy tracks: S&M, Only Girl (In The World), Love The Way You Lie - Part II, Cheers (Drink to That), California King (Bed)

Track list:

01. S&M

02. What's My Name

03. Cheers (Drink To That)

04. Fading

05. Only Girl (In The World)

06. California King (Bed)

07. Man Down

08. Raining Men

09. Complicated

10. Skin

11. Love The Way You Lie - Part II

What do you think?