The Middle Eight

My silent Valentine

2012-02-11T08:25:00.002-05:00

Will Young singing Silent Valentine on Graham Norton, February 10, 2012. He's the master of the heartbreak ballad, isn't he? It's safe to say that Valentine's Day can often seem like a cruel, pointless holiday. Regardless, this performance is flawless, especially the middle eight at 2:08. The only thing missing is the shower of paper hearts that rained down on Will at the end of the live version I saw in London this fall.

Will's new single, Losing Myself, is one of my favorites on Echoes. Watch this space for the new video on Monday. If you don't already have that album, give yourself - ain't nobody else gonna do it! - a valentine and get it. Even if you live in America and have to order the "old fashioned" CD (the artwork is vare vare good!). It was my favorite of 2011.

Cover Story: Bertine Zetlitz

2012-02-10T21:18:00.001-05:00

Quite literally perfect

Cover Story: Madonna

2012-02-07T06:43:00.001-05:00

Offering up EVERYTHING

Goldfrapp, properly anthologized

2012-02-04T18:52:00.002-05:00

This week Goldfrapp release a stopgap hits record called, imaginatively, Singles. The cover is dire and setlist is weaker, though they have contributed two new ballads to the set. Here it is:

1. Ooh La La
2. Number 1
3. Strict Machine (Single Mix)
4. Lovely Head
5. Utopia (Genetically Enriched)
6. A&E
7. Happiness (Single Version)
8. Train
9. Ride A White Horse (Single Version)
10. Rocket
11. Believer
12. Black Cherry
13. Yellow Halo
14. Melancholy Sky

My friend Mike at Second Disc has a series called Reissue Theory where he imagines what should happen with artists' back catalog. I am going to do that here with Alison and Will.

Aside from a better cover image, my version of the Singles album would be called Collected. The tracklist would be similar, but add a few songs and run in chronological order...

Disc One:

1. Utopia
2. Lovely Head
3. Pilots On A Star
4. Strict Machine
5. Train
6. Black Cherry
7. Ooh La La
8. Number 1
9. Ride A White Horse
10. Fly Me Away
11. A&E
12. Caravan
13. Happiness
14. Rocket
15. Believer
16. Alive
17. Yellow Halo
18. Melancholy Sky

The bonus disc would compile b-sides, remixes and rarities, including a currently non-existent studio recording of an early live epic, the James Bond-worthy Sartorius...

Disc Two:

1. Lovely Head (Staré Mesto mix)
2. U.K. Girls (Physical)
3. Horse Tears (Live at the Ancienne Belgique)
4. Big Black Cloud, Little White Lie
5. White Soft Rope (featuring The Midwich Children Choir)
6. Yes Sir
7. Sartorius (studio version)
8. Gone to Earth
9. All Night Operator (Part 1)
10. Beautiful
11. Boys Will Be Boys
12. Satin Chic (Through the Mystic Mix, Dimension 11 by The Flaming Lips)
13. A&E (Gui Boratto Remix)
14. Road to Somewhere (Acoustic Version)
15. Clowns (live from Union Chapel)
16. We Radiate

A proper collected works with something for everyone. Did I miss anything? Remember to check out Second Disc's Reissue Theory posts. They're more comprehensive than this one!

I wanna be next to Sam Sparro

2012-02-02T07:52:00.010-05:00

Sam Sparro is finally releasing a new album, Return To Paradise, in May. He promises a record that is "a personal journey to self-fulfillment through the music of late 70s and early 80s" with more live instrumentation (versus electronics). Song titles include Bleeding Heart, Happiness, Let The Love In and the first proper release, an excellent track called The Shallow End...

Don't be alarmed if the floors shake, the promo has begun for Paradise! Sam just did an interview with Idol Magazine that's worth your time, and you should also catch his blog - which he recently revved up again when he went to the menswear shows in Paris. He's also doing a mini-tour of 8 US cities in April.

If you've forgotten - or never knew - why we should be caring about Sam Sparro, it really hinges on the still-epic Black And Gold, as well as tracks like Pocket and 21st Century Life.

I'm a hugger. Are you?

2012-02-01T22:43:00.004-05:00

Darren Hayes hugging a lot of people in London on Sunday, January 29.
A beautiful way to be.

Annie are you okay?

2012-02-01T07:54:00.005-05:00

I have a hate hate like love hate thing for Glee, which I think is on the slide. Occasionally, however, they nail it. Like this arrangement /performance of Smooth Criminal...

Naya Rivera is a star, period. The whole thing - cellos to chairs to vocals - is perfect. This isn't totally down to the genius of Glee producers. Idolator makes the point that they co-opted it from an earlier performance by the two cellists. Regardless, the iTunes version of the track is longer, at 3:35, extending the string break in the middle.

The Mary Onettes return, slightly happier

2012-01-31T07:41:00.000-05:00

The Mary Onettes, who specialize in what reminds me of a kind of dreamy Scottish pop - even though they are Swedes - have a new release, Love Forever EP, out on February 25 on the amazing Labrador label. Love’s Taking Strange Ways is first teaser...

THIS IS NOT A DRILL: New Madonna single cover!

2012-01-29T09:12:00.004-05:00

Behold. She is coming soon.
Give Me All Your Luvin

Quote Of The Week: Last word on Gaga and Madonna

2012-01-25T04:44:00.000-05:00

Showing up to an awards show in an egg carries no message other than that you are showing up to an awards show in an egg.

- David Toussaint

from How Do You Solve a Problem like Madonna? Reductive Reasoning

Madonna: Flashback 1995

2012-01-23T08:06:00.004-05:00

A must-see Madonna interview from 1995. It's eight minutes, all of it great,
but the best part is around 2:00 to 5:00.

Up in '12: Albums to live for

2012-01-23T07:23:00.005-05:00

Let's get this out of the way: Madonna has everyone on tenterhooks. Early indications are pretty vexing, but the presence of writer Jean Baptiste (he did a lot of the last Kelis album) and William Orbit are reassuring.

New Dragonette is fixin' to thrill.

We have Emeli Sande, whose album is wall to wall ballads.

Lianne Havas will release her debut. I don't really have high hopes for her or Michael Kiwanuka being anything other than lovely'n'dull.

The ubiquitous hype that is Lana Del Rey? She may pull it off!

Ladyhawke's album Anxiety is out in March

Spring is the release period for the debut album by Bright Light Bright Light - it's called How To Make A Heart.

Fibes, O Fibes release Album on April 11.

Gabrielle has been in the studio for a long while now and may release her new album.

I am not holding my breath for Maxwell's new record, but he has been working on it for most of 2011 (when it was supposedly done well before that). We do know the title: Summers.

Scissor Sisters. Don't like the first single, but I expect the album will kick it.

Yasmin will release her debut album, I hope, which should includes her collaboration with Starsmith. Her label is spinning too slowly on this one.

Sammy Sparro releases Return To Paradise this spring. I am still obsessed with Black And Gold four years after the fact.

Robbie Williams is supposed to release a new record this year. He's like a grandpa now, isn't he? I hope it has his usual witty lyrics and no military sounding songs.

This year's REM mantle - an album that will not be as good as the hopes for it - is taken by Sinead O'Connor, who is a madcap mess in the press right now. How to take this former rock goddess seriously?

Rose Elinor Dougall has finished her new LP

Marina & The Diamonds will release a sophomore record by summertime.

La Roux - see my post.

Little Boots and Ellie Goulding are also to return in 2012 as well.

Autoheart - who used to be The Gadsdens - long awaited debut, which may or may not be called Agoraphobia, is out this year. First single is the stunning Control.produced by Danton Supple

English folkie Richard Walters should have a new album out this year. Preview EP Young Trees is excellent.

I PRAY for the return of the superior Knowles sister, Solange. She's been recording for ages.

After a quiet few years, there's been a buzz of activity at Xenomania HQ in Kent. They will blaze trails in 2012:

The Gossip return with a Xeno produced album. I heard one track at Xeno HQ in late November and it was blazing. This should be great.
Alex Gardner is closing is on completion of his year-late debut album. He's recorded everywhere from Stankonia (Atlanta ) to Kent.
Florrie - my favorite of 2011 - returns with several new singles this year (including a few tracks we've heard before that have been "reswizzed" for further grandeur). And the EP cover image is high fashion haute.
Finally, will Xeno give us new Girls Aloud tracks? I think it is dead certain (no confirmation though).

Sky Ferriera may release a debut this year. but not the scrapped pop record she intended for 2011.

Whatever, we have an album by the lovely Sia to look forward to.

While The Gossip may have run from Mark Ronson, Rufus Wainwright embraced him for his new album called From the Scan Nordic track, we have a debut from Beatrice Eli and most likely something new from Robyn. Will Janet Jack son return? I doubt it. Original Sugabbses are retuning. Thank God.

90's female icons are back:

Garbage releases a new disc this year. Expect it to be true to form while no one knows what to expect form the new No Doubt album two years in the making and their first in TEN years.
Wouldn't it be great if Brandy nailed it on her new disc? Don't hold your breath. And En Vogue have been promising a new album, but seem to have no label.

Clare Maguire is threatening a new blues disc in 2012. Oh God, please no.

Saint Etienne have a new album out this year. Hurrah!

Noughties lovelies Turin Brakes are now a foursome and should have new music in '12.They are on the road now. Not dead!

Keane should have their 4th full-length LP out by summertime. This will be make or break for those boys. Killers are also due out this summer or fall.

Bertine Zetlitz releases a new album - single called Electric Feet - this spring. It's been years.

Alison Moyet has recorded an album with producer Guy Sigsworth - that sounds mega. No date for it yet.

There are rumours - heh heh! - of a new Fleetwood Mac disc, but I find it hard to believe.

Where are they? Anneli Drecker and my friend Lucas Mire. Dunno. (1/25 update on Lucas: he is finishing his album now).

Finally, at the end of the year we get a new Pet Shop Boys album too.

Let us all live that long, please. Prosper! And follow me on twitter to see my reactions as this music appears in our ears...

La Roux: Once in fashion, soon to be rediscovered...

2012-01-21T16:15:00.014-05:00

Q Magazine has a small sidebar this month with Elly Jackson talking for the first time about about the forthcoming La Roux album. It seemed to go noticed, but it was the first time I've felt any excitement over the album, the duo's second.

Some details revealed:

The album will sound "more open and atmospheric." Among the inspirations is Tears For Fears.
The only confirmed song title is Uptight Downtown, inspired by last summer's London riots.
It was recorded in a Devon farmhouse, "but there's no, like, farmyard synths or anything."
The album features piano by Feist collaborator Chilly Gonzales, a big change from the very authentic Human League/1982 synth-based sound of the debut.

and finally, this quote that got me charged up:

My vocals are a lot softer, a lot smoother. I wanted them to ooze sexiness. I wanted sexiness to just sweep across the record. There's a bit of a Diana Ross thing going on.

I was slow to warm to La Roux (evidence), but ended up loving many of their tracks, most notably Colourless Colour, I'm Not Your Toy (with its sublimely weird video), As If By Magic, Cover My Eyes and the fierce Bulletproof. I'm chuffed for the new one because it appears they've taken it quite seriously. No release date is set, but it's expected in May...

The Return of Bertine Zetlitz, Part I

2012-01-18T21:14:00.002-05:00

Song sample here

Emeli Sandé, The Bad News and More Bad News

2012-01-18T07:30:00.011-05:00

First, Emeli's new single, Next To Me, is catchy as f*ck, no help from a
bland performance video...

You can watch the full clip on Vevo, if the embed fails you.

But the bad news, as Popjustice said last week: Going by the very brief samples below, Emeli's album is wall to wall balladry of the schmaltzy kind. Three singles in and she has exhausted the coolness she launched with last summer via Heaven...

Has an artist we expected to bring a fresh (if, err, totally 90's) sound to the charts, actually revealed herself to be a knockoff of Adele? A classy one, but still a post-Adele record company play? Is she like those fast-buck balladeer chicks from reality TV contests? No doubt Emeli will get the last laugh as she becomes rich rich rich, but this is not the music I'd hoped for. Again, just 10 second clips... but...

UPDATE, 11:30 pm: I have now heard the full Our Version Of Events and it's disastrous. If you count Heaven, Daddy and Next To Me as up-tempos, there is only one more up-tempo (or mid, actually): the elegant Lifetime. The album is rounded out by TEN BALLADS in varying degrees of torpor. Few carry the warmth or honesty of their blueprint, Adele's 21. It's closer in spirit to some of the Syco albums that have spun out from X Factor, which makes sense given that Sandé has writing credits on recent records by Susan Boyle and Leona Lewis.

I'll be lucky if I ever get to the point where I can pluck out the ballads I do like, other than Clown and Hope, the latter a classic-sounding beauty at the end of the album.

Mixtape: Lazy bank holiday

2012-01-14T12:14:00.001-05:00

Big news! Pet Shops Boys have begun recording their new album n LA with a producer called Andrew Dawson. Intriguing that his background is almost exclusively hip hop/r'n'b, with guys like Drake and Kanye. Just a few weeks now until their new b-sides collection, Format, hits shelves.

My lovely friend Doron talked to Kate Havnevik for Planet Notion about why it took her five years (not six!) to release her new album, You.

Fans of Rose Elinor Dougall - THE COOLEST GIRL ON EARTH - can download a free EP (Distractions) now. This is a stopgap before her new 2012 album, but its really nice. She has one of the finest voices of the last few years- this time set against a Smiths meets Cocteau Twins setting. Lovely for a rainy bank holiday.

Rihanna finally ground herself down to a bewigged nubbin. Her new single You Da One is phoned-in lethargy. As is the video, which features none of her recent retro chic styling. Total stolen-from-Britney white wig fail. Bring on Where Have You Been for a proper single.

Simon LeBon's favorite album of 2011 was... Let England Shake by PJ Harvey? Seriously? Check out his faves of the year. One note: CocknBullKid will pass out when she reads it.

Seventies queens can get the new Diana Ross' 1976 (self-titled) album reissue on Feb 21st. Deets at Second Disc.

Eighties synth dweebs can gorge on the Nik Kershaw reissue of Human Racing. Again, deets at Second Disc. Oh, how I love Wouldn't It Be Good. This set is out on March 6th in the UK.

Burning The Ground, a class act, has the 12" single of Dream Academy's Life In A Northern Town. What a glorious song. They don't make 'em like this anymore.

Popjustice has warned that there are not really any danceable tracks on the Emeli Sande album and that it sounds surprisingly "Leona Lewis." Hmmm.

Have you all seen Tubalr? It allows you to listen to a band's or artist's top YouTube videos "without all the clutter YouTube brings." You just type a band's or artist's name into the search box and select only or similar. Cool beans!

I am fine with admitting I think the new Scissor Sisters single, the goodly titled Shady Love, is terrible. The presence of Azealia Banks is a chafe when they ignore Ana. The whole thing screams "chart bid." Change is good as long as you retain something of yourself and the only Scisstery bit I hear is Jake's amusing raps. And for a band so visually arresting, to have your video starring a bunch of kids is makeshift at best.

Ren Harvieu is a new girl singer from the UK. Her first single is Through The Night, but I prefer the uber kd langish Forever In Blue

Jimmy Harry of Rupaul fame co-wrote Madonna's Masterpiece?! I did not see that coming! The other co-writer is Julie Frost, who probaby had to give up royalties to Beyonce for Countdown.

Marina Diamandis tweeted back to me last weekend and I am still - you guessed it - shaking and crying.

Michael Kiwanuka won the BBC's Sound of 2012. After last year's winner, the crass screecher Jessie J, I am quite wary of what the Beeb thinks. Michael is pleasant, but I hear nothing original. Check out his new single Home and see what you think. Borrrring! Am I wrong or right?

Reading Material #1 A gorgeous blog post on Buffalo style, highlighting photos in Arena Hommes a few years back. Here is a second post. Included is a recent photo of the buffalo queen, Neneh Cherry.

Reading Material #2 See what NME has to say about the rocked out Anxiety sampler from Ladyhawke

Reading Material #3 I also loved the piece NME did on worst albums of 2011. Mine was Bjork (from the angle of disappointment). Among their picks were The Drums and Rihanna. I think they left out Coldplay.

Reading Material #4 Pitchfork interviews Charlotte Gainsbourg (in another world she is my wife) about her live LP, Stage Whisper. She is very self critical and "thinky" and has strong integrity... but you just want to say, "Have a big drink before you go onstage!"

Some tunes I am enjoying in this cold period in pop: Snow Patrol's Garden Rules, Goldfrapp's new single, Melancholy Sky, and Lana Del Rey's This Is What Makes Us Girls
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Prince outtake: Guitars and drums on the 1!

2012-01-12T21:16:00.002-05:00

My favorite Prince song is, unfailingly, Mountains, from 1986's amazing Parade. Above is footage from various cameras during the shooting of the Mountains video. The amazing moments are from minutes 6 to 8, where Prince has some epic chemistry with backing dancer and Under The Cherry Moon sidekick Jerome Benton. It's pure gold and reminds me of Prince's untouchable magic in that era.

I should note the source of this gem came from Felix Howard's blog. Felix, as a child, was the star of Madonna's Open Your Heart video... from the same year, 1986.

I wanna be the one in Control

2012-01-11T06:53:00.001-05:00

Control, the first single/video from London's Autoheart is out now. The video is notable - to my eyes anyway - for two things: a cute white dog trotting along at 1:30 and lead singer Jody's arms and hairy chest. Or is that really 4 things? Whatever, the song is blazing.

The full album is due in springtime and will feature some epic ballads and a few songs with very fast singing, among other surprises. In the meantime, it's all about control...

Control is out now as a free download via the band's Facebook or Soundcloud. One of the first fantastic songs of 2012.

Up in '12: Richard Walters

2012-01-10T09:11:00.001-05:00

Richard Walters crisp new EP, Young Trees, is perfect for the dead of winter. This is folkpop, high on melody and really pretty. Of the songs on the record, my favorites are the title track, Regretless and Infinity Street. Music for a snowy day, a glass of wine or a walk alone.

Richard, who seems to tour endlessly, recorded this new music in hotel rooms... both facts make him sound like Rihanna, yes? Though Richard was perhaps not at The Peninsula.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://richardwalters.bandcamp.com/album/young-trees-ep"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Young Trees EP by Richard Walters&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Young Trees, which has a very spare, elegant cover of Echo And The Bunnymen's Bring On The Dancing Horses, is available on iTunes and from Richard's bandcamp. He's done a video for Young Trees, the song, below...

Happy Birthday, Mr Bowie

2012-01-08T00:18:00.002-05:00

Today is David Bowie's 65th birthday. It appears he is essentially retired now from music, but we can dream...

On his 60th, I did a post of favorite Bowie tracks. Read it if you will.

Coming Soon: Llama Del Ray

2012-01-04T22:46:00.000-05:00

Thanks wotyougot

Favorites 2011: THE LIST

2012-01-04T06:57:00.001-05:00

Cheers 2011...

Catherine A.D. Going Wrong
Ryan Adams Chains Of Love, Invisible Riverside, Lucky Now, The Sun Also Sets
Adele THE WHOLE ALBUM, Someone Like You (Jonathan Gering remix)
Keren Ann My Name Is Trouble
Azari and Ill Reckless
Alpines Cocoon
Autoheart Control, Ordinary Fool
Katy B Power On Me, Broken Record
Beyonce Lay Up Under Me, Schoolin’ Life, The Best Thing I Never Had, I Miss You
Sophie Ellis Bextor Starlight, Synchronised
Birdy Skinny Love, Shelter, People Help The People
Black Room Control
James Blake The Wilhelm Scream, Limit To Your Love
Mary J Blige Need Someone, No Condition, Empty Prayers
Bon Iver Holocene, I Can’t Make You Love Me
Bombay Bicycle Club Shuffle
Bright Light Bright Light Disco Moment, Being Sentimental
Emily Browning Asleep
Claudia Brucken This Is Not America
Melanie C Think About It
Kathryn Calder Turn A Light On
Tony Christie and Roisin Murphy 7 Hills
Cocknbullkid Asthma Attack
Coldplay Princess Of China
Josie Cotton See The New Hong Kong (Loverush UK Club Mix)
Lana Del Rey Video Games, Blue Jeans, Off To The Races
Dirty Vegas Never Enough
Beth Ditto THE WHOLE EP
Thomas Dolby Oceana
Drake Take Care (with Rihanna)
D:Ream All Things To All Men
The Drums Money
Echoes Love Won’t Save You Now, Footprints
Kathleen Edwards Change The Sheets
Beatrice Eli The Conqueror
Erasure What Will I Say When You’re Gone, Then I Go Twisting
Estelle Break My Heart
Fantasia Collard Greens & Cornbread
The Feeling Leave Me Out of It (with Sophie Ellis Bextor)
Feist A Commotion, Caught A Long Wind
Sky Ferreira 99 Tears
Bryan Ferry Me Oh My, Song To The Siren
Florence + The Machine Shake It Out, Only If For A Night, No Light No Light, All This And Heaven, Spectrum
Florrie THE WHOLE EP
Foster The People Pumped Up Kicks, Call It What You Want, I Would Do Anything For you, Warrant, Broken Jaw, Waste
Frankmusik Do It In The AM, Ludicrous, Warrior
Friendly Fires THE WHOLE ALBUM
Noel Gallagher Everybody’s On The Run
Diego Garcia All Eyes On You
Glee Cast For Good
Goldfrapp Yellow Halo
Wynter Gordon Still Getting Younger
Gotye Save Me, State Of The Art, Giving Me A Chance, Someone That I Used To Know Graffiti6 Blue Ridge Mountains, Free
Cee Lo Green Anyway
Darren Hayes Talk Talk Talk, Stupid Mistake, Bloodstained Heart, Nearly Love, Hurt, Angel, Black Out The Sun (Extended Mix)
Kate Havnevik Mouth 2 Mouth, Happy Sad
Holy Ghost! Jam For Jerry
Benjamin Francis Leftwich Don’t Go Slow
Jessica 6 White Horse, See The Light, Prisoner of Love
JLS Eyes Wide Shut
Kimbra Cameo Lover
Lady Gaga The Edge Of Glory, Marry The Night, Scheisse, Electric Chapel, Bad Kids, Heavy Metal Lover
Little Boots Shake
Holestar The Queen Of Fucking Everything
M83 Midnight City
Madonna Masterpiece
Clare Maguire The Last Dance, I Surrender, Burn, Happiest Pretenders, Shield And Sword
Amanda Mair Doubt, House
Majiker The Struggle
Mariana and The Diamonds Radioactive
Laura Marling Sophia, I Was Just A Card, The Beast
Medina Gutter
James Morrison Up
The Mummers Call Me A Rainbow
Stevie Nicks Annabel Lee, Italian Summer, Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream), New Orleans, Secret Love
Sarah Nixey The Burial Of Love, Frost At Midnight
Nerina Pallot All Bets Are Off, Grace, This Will Be Our Year, Put Your Hands Up, Will You Still Love Me, History Boys
Gretchen Parlato Holding Back The Years, Lost And Found
Frank Ocean Nature Feels, Strawberry Swing
Oh Land Perfection, Speak Out Now
The Original 7even If I Was Yo Man
Penguin Prison THE WHOLE ALBUM
Rihanna We Found Love, Do Yo Thang, Where Have You Been
Nicola Roberts Porcelain Heart, Say It Out Loud, Everybody Has To Learn Sometime
Robyn Call Your Girlfriend Sultan and Ned Shepard Remix)
Kelly Rowland with Alex Guadino What A Feeling
Emeli Sande Heaven, Daddy
Scritti Poliiti A Day Late And A Dollar Short
Duncan Sheik The Ghost In You
Lucie Silvas Roots
Sneaky Sound System Big, I’m Not leaving
Snow Patrol This Isn’t Everything You Are, Garden Rules
Sound Of Arrows Conquest, There Is Still Hope, Wonder
Britney Spears Hold It Against Me
Sunday Girl Love U More
Take That Don’t Say Goodbye
Those Dancing Days Can’t Find Entrance
Tracey Thorn Night Time
Tyson Out of My Mind
Judie Tzuke Joy, Hurt In Your Heart, One Tree Less, Solid Shoulders (with The Goodes)
Uh Huh Her Another Case
Paul Weller Starlight
Wild Beasts Albatross, Loop The Loop, Invisible, Reach A Bit Further
Amy Winehouse Half Time
Patrick Wolf The City, Together, House, Slow Motion, Bermondsey Street
Wolf Gang Dancing With The Devil, The King And All Of His Men, Suego Faults, Where Are You Now
Jamie Woon Shoulda, Street, Night Air
Yasmin Finish Line, On My Own
Will Young THE WHOLE ALBUM, Come On (Beatless Version)
Young Galaxy B.S.E.

Best 2011: Top Albums

2012-01-02T19:37:00.007-05:00

2011 was a schizo year for pop music. There were some points when it was a feast of beats and beauty. But other periods, like summer, were just so depressingly lifeless. As is often the case, half the records on this list are debut albums - in some cases ones I'd been waiting for, while others were fantastic bolts out of the blue. I should note that many of my reviews below were first published in 2011 in the American (print) magazine Instinct.

Album Of The Year is a TIE

Friendly Fires Pala
Fires pulled off that elusive trick: creating a sophomore album far superior to their debut. In this case, they were aided by genius producer Paul Epworth, who knows his way around spine tingling Moments. Tracks like Blue Cassette and Live Those Days Tonight were steeped in a sort of widescreen beauty... perhaps even sentimentality. Pala is a meta album: music about how music has changed us. The slinky Hurting was my single of the year, while the album cover is also a favorite. I actually bought this on vinyl, it was so beautiful.

Standout tracks: All were great, but I'll choose Hurting as my favorite, followed by Live Those Days Tonight, True Love, Show Me Love, Blue Cassette and Pull Me Back To Earth

Will Young Echoes
That lush lipped popstrel Will Young's new album might never be released in the US does not dampen my affection. Ten years into his career (like some grand ol dame of pop!), he remains a class act. Echoes, however, is a game changer of the Madonna meets William Orbit model. In this case, the wunderkind collaborator is another British electro-icon, Richard X. The result is still very much mid-tempo – not quite disco - but the "sonics" are lush and current, with Young’s soaring voice climbing up and down strong melodies. Jealousy is the most elegant hit single this year.

Standout tracks: Jealousy, Come On, Runaway, Good Times, I Just Want A Lover, Losing Myself, and Happy Now

...and more fantastic albums, in no order:

Adele 21
It's hard to talk about this album briefly, so read my track by track review. I appreciate Adele bringing the pop charts back to a focus on songwriting and vocals after a few years of spectacle. People were hungry for something honest and emotional: music minus artifice. 21 was the album I played most consistently and obsessively in the early months of 2011.

Standout tracks: Just buy it if you don't already have it.

Darren Hayes Secret Codes and Battleships
L'Hayes has come a long way from riffing on cherry cola in his Savage Gardens days. Four years in the making, Secret Codes shimmies and sways deep into the dark side of love. Check this bon mot: “I can make you pray to God and wish we never met.” That those words are pulled from the soaring up-tempo Hurt is testimony to Hayes’ strength. He leavens the gravity of the lyrics with the album’s dominant aural motif, gorgeous bursts of strings. They lift tracks like Nearly Love, and Bloodstained Heart and provide a lush coda to recent hit Talk Talk Talk. Fifteen years into his career, Hayes’s unerring sense of melody remains a trademark. Secret Codes is a concise, emotional Pop Moment. For more on the making of this album, see my interview with Darren.

Standout tracks: Talk Talk Talk, Bloodstained Heart, Hurt, Nearly Love, Stupid Mistake, God Walking Into A Room

Penguin Prison Penguin Prison
Having built an online following over the last few years, Penguin Prison’s Chris Glover finally released his debut and it’s mad brilliant. Coming from the same New York milieu as Holy Ghost!, Glover rubs his inner Prince - he would die 4 u on Multi Millionaire - against an intuitive pop elegance to create gems like the smart Golden Train and the poptastic The Worse It Gets. But the stunner here is Don’t F*ck With My Money – a sentiment we all shared in 2011, especially when it shimmers like these tunes.

Standout tracks: The whole thing is like a Greatest Hits album

The Sound of Arrows Voyage
In the game of music review referencing, Sweden's The Sound of Arrows might be "Pet Shop Boys seated with Vangelis and a children’s choir in a cathedral pew." Whether that sounds epic or dire is down to you, but there's no doubt that Voyage is a strong debut. It only takes a few plays to forget those other artists. The 8-minute There Is Still Hope epitomizes synthpop grandeur, while tracks like Conquest and Wonders are concise, melodic and - on some sexy planet with magenta skies - radio hits.

Standout Tracks: Wonders, Ruins Of Rome, Into The Clouds, Conquest, There Is Still Hope

Wolf Gang Suego Faults
A fine debut. Preceded by three solid singles, including the gorge Lions In Cages, the album revealed a cache of unexpected surprises, including the mid-tempo Where Are You Now and an Elton John-meets-Queen progrock ballad called Planets. The title track, about an elusive utopia, is colossal. The band (primarily Max McElligot working with producer Dave Fridmann) took their time making the record and you can hear that in the richly detailed results. The Maurice Sendak-esque album cover is equally amazing.

Standout tracks: Lions In Cages, The Kings And All Of His Mean, Suego Faults, Where Are You Now

Clare Maguire Light After dark
2012 was not kind to Clare Maguire, whose label pushed her as a monolithic superstar (Last Dance) and then promptly stopped promoting her when she didn't turn out massive hits on her first two singles. Unfair, because the record is a feast of pop anthems (if a bit full on at times). I Surrender is the most beautiful of these songs, but iTunes bonus track Burn - produced by Starsmith - also shines.

Standout tracks: I Surrender, The Happiest Pretenders,The Sword And The Shield, Last Dance, Freedom and Burn

Patrick Wolf Lupercalia
Happy is not a word one would associate with Patrick Wolf in recent years, but Lupercalia is the soundtrack to a love affair that lasts. Rarely has his music been so euphoric. The album came with superb artwork as well.

Standout tracks: Together, House, The Future, Bermondsey Street, Slow Motion, The Falcons

Florence + The Machine Ceremonials
Church bells announce the return of Florence Welch on her sophomore album. The track, Only If For The Night, is all things we desire from Flo: ghosts, chants, and booming drums. The surging Spectrum needs to be a single in 2012, purely for its wicked whip sounds, while All This & Heaven Too is a silvery linguistic epic. What keeps Ceremonials from perfection is its over-reliance on LOUD. There are no proper ballads - most songs hammer their way home - but it’s a lush journey all the same.

Standout tracks: Shake It Out, Only If For The Night, All This & Heaven Too, Breaking Down, Spectrum, and No Light No Light

Florrie Experiments
Florrie tweeted to me last summer, “If the cheeks don’t shake, the song is dropped.” Indeed. Her previous gems only hinted at the layers that she'd reveal on this self-released summer EP. Collaborating with Xenomania and Fred Falke, Florrie delivers a perfect discopop collection. If you want to taste one track, try I Took A Little Something, in which the shimmer of the arrangement belies the melancholy lyric. Check Florrie’s website for a collection of free pop gems, which will likely disappear as she prepares to launch round two in 2012.

Standout tracks: I Took A Little Something, Experimenting With Rugs, Begging Me, What You Doing This For?

Wild Beasts Smother
Hayden Thorpe's voice is an acquired taste - let's get that out there. But on Smother he finally found the perfect setting for his operatic emoting. This is one of the slower albums of the year and the better for it. For me, it is rainy day music for popping a Xanax and drinking wine (is that dangerous?). Enough said.

Standout tracks: Albatross, Loop The Loop, Invisible, Plaything, Reach A Bit Further

Foster The People Torches
FTP are of rare provenance on this blog: they're Americans! Their debut is reverential LA pop at its most effervescent... it totally swings. I Would Do Anything For You is the best here - an ice cream of an anthem that manages to channel sunny Fleetwood Mac, MGMT and Josh Rouse (in his happy phase) in one harmonic ooh lala convergence. The 5+minute Warrant is a massive house-rattler built on a piano and chanted chorus. On the flipside, Waste offers a sweet line hidden inside a verse: "I'll just wait and here and listen to you when you speak... or scream." Torches was and is my California summer dream.

Standout tracks: I Would Do Anything For You, Call It What You Want, Broken Jaw, Warrant, Pumped Up Kicks and Waste

Jamie Woon Mirrorwriting
One of the BBC's Sound of 2011, it's hard not to hold Woon in contrast to moody boy-hipster James Blake. Woon is better. He massages dubstep to beautiful melodies and soul vocals. Standouts include Night Air and the emotional Spiral, vocally reminiscent of long lost master Terence Trent D'Arby. The percolating loop on Shoulda counters the regret of its lyric ("I walked when I shoulda run...") with a measure of hope - it's my favorite song. Street is emblematic of this album's mix of steely elegance (those synth stabs on the chorus!) and the choirboy lushness of Woon's voice gliding over these night beats.

Standout tracks: Shoulda, Night Air, Spiral, Street

Other great 2010 albums:
Nerina Pallots' best album, Year Of The Wolf
Laura Marling's A Creature I Don't Know
Gotye Making Mirrors
Ryan Adams Ashes And Fire
Jessica 6's debut, See The Light

Follow me on Twitter | Read my Top Songs of 2011 | See 2010's album faves

Best 2011: Top Songs

2011-12-31T15:50:00.009-05:00

We do like a recap, don't we? This list is hard to do as it changes constantly. Here is one last attempt. I should note I learned about many of these songs, which are not all singles, from you. Some of the sound quality on the streams is a bit meh (#apols, as one tweets).

1 Florrie I Took A Little Something UK SONG OF THE YEAR #1
The unusually long intro (about 75 seconds) heralds the arrival of a great pop diva and the first truly magic Xenomania track in two years. A few reasons: 1) The amazing aural hook sounds like my cell phone text alert. 2) The lyric "I'm dreaming that you're crawling into bed" kills me every time.

2. Friendly Fires Hurting UK SONG OF THE YEAR #2
A bit of pain is rewarding. I fear the pop kids may have missed this gem because they decided Fires were for drunk dancing boys, like the lead singer, Ed. But Hurting is actually a song to dance to while your pants are slowly falling off. Favorite moment: 3:55, when he whispers hurting this way, hurting this way...

and the rest:

Rihanna We Found Love UK/BARBADOS
This all comes down to the hook, "We found love in a hopeless place." Gorgeous.

Sky Ferreira 99 Tears USA
As I said earlier this week, the bridge (2:30) is epic. The impressive vocals/lyrics have an emotional heft that extends beyond the song's "I want to make that bitch boy cry" message. "Do you wanna know how it feels to be me? / When your heart's on the floor and your dream's all gone." Preach, child!

Darren Hayes Talk Talk Talk AUS/UK
Of the many solid tracks from "Darryl Hanes" this year, I choose this superb return single. Lovers in a state of flux, talking it out, not walking out. The strings at the end of the album version seal the deal, but fans should note there is an "attic" version of this song that recasts it as a hushed ballad. Amazing...

Stream it here (embed disabled)

The Goodes feat Judie Tzuke Solid Shoulders UK
If you are prone to high drama, walking around with massive strings orchestrating your every move, then this song is a tonic - or a catalyst - for you. Released with The Goodes (but all Judie on vocals), it pulses, bangs, dips and swoons... one of those urgent, string-laden epics that could collapse under its own weight, but never does. Needless to say, the topic is love. A bit of a spoiler: the "don't leave me hanging" ending is a moment of genius.

Uh Huh Her Another Case USA
The surprise track from the American duo is the SEX. Rock'n'roll on a highwire. Sometimes you hear a song and think "this is me" - and no one would ever guess. I like that.

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds Everybody's On The Run UK
I mentioned in another post that this track's swooning, melancholy orchestral bridge makes it his finest song since 1995. Listen for it from 3:55 to 4:30. Mad beauty from an unexpected source.

Lana Del Rey Video Games UK
Lean in for a big kiss. No other song in 2011 came so out of the ether and captivated people on first listen. Nothing comes close in that regard. Video Games will be lippy Lana's blessing and curse, it is so utterly perfect.

Florence + The Machine All This And Heaven Too UK
From a heavy, heavy record, this is probably not the tune people expected I'd choose. It could easily have been empowerment anthem Shake It Off or the album opener Only If For A Night. But I love the emphasis is on the lyric here. Linguistics never sounded so celestial.

Adele Set Fire To The Rain UK
Another album with a cache of potential songs to put on this list. I chose Set Fire because I played it the most, simple as that. That swooping vocal near the end does it every time.

Jamie Woon Shoulda UK
For me, the most melancholy song of 2011. I associate strongly with a particular moment. Enough said.

Gotye Save Me AUS
In my own lush brain, this was the longest running #1 hit of the year. The lyric is so uplifting. "And you gave me love | When I could not love myself | And you made me turn | From the way I saw myself."

Emeli Sande Daddy UK
She brought back a sound we'd forgot we loved. This is a triphoppian epic with blazing strings. The kind of music that sounds great in your ears on a cold, grey city day or deep in the night. I hope she'll be all over my 2012 lists.

Beth Ditto I Wrote The Book USA
A danceable classic, but Beth always takes it a beat beyond fierce. She's not that simple. Her lyrics are among the best this year: "Heartbreak and then some | Tell me, where is a friend when you need one? | Before you take a second look | Remember I know every trick in the book."

Jessica 6 See The Light USA
Sweaty night music that builds over five minutes in a frenzied orgasm of sound. Jessica 6 and Nomi Ruiz are the wicked cool heart of New York.

Will Young Jealousy UK
Hands down, Will's most accomplished, artistic single. It represents the album perfectly in not only how elegant it is, but how his vocal restraint gives way to the tension on the song. This is a seriously slow burn and the album version is the keeper, you should know. Flawless.

Alpines Cocoon UK
Bjork did not deliver the kind of edgy, widescreen Utopia I wanted, but this pretty (and totally unknown) London duo did. It's also the Video Of The Year.

Play it here (embed disabled)

Clare Maguire I Surrender UK
O Clare. The album failed, but that doesn't take away from its quality. I shockingly never wrote about this song, which was, for a long time, the crown on my list for 2011. It's like the best of Fleetwood Mac reconstituted for today's popstrels. That it wasn't released as a single is a pop injustice. "Be mine. It's a physical thing."

Kathryn Calder Turn A Light On USA
I heard this one drizzly day on NPR and crushed hard. It starts out sweet but goes godamned celestial by the end. Glorious.

What did I miss?
_________________________________

Some songs that made it to this list and were cut and added and cut at various times: 1 Marina and The Diamonds Radioactive, 2 Sophie Ellis Bextor Synchronized, 3 Patrick Wolf Together, 4 Friendly Fires Live Those Days Tonight, 5 Beyonce's Schoolin' Life, 6 Lady Gaga's The Edge Of Glory, 7 Penguin Prison Don't Fuck With My Money, 8 Darren Hayes Bloodstained Heart, 9 Yasmin Finish Line (Freemasons Mix) and 10 Foster The People I Would Do Anything For You and the plus one, Will Young's Come On.

Click here to see more of my favorite songs from the first two quarters of the year. Where was I in Q3?

Best 2011: Top Ten Musical Moments

2011-12-28T11:49:00.009-05:00

Top Ten (Plus One) Musical Moments of The Year

10 Lady Gaga's finest musical moment ever comes in the clanging final minute of Marry The Night. From 3:35 onward, it blazes. Ironically, it sounds like she is singing Madonna at about 3:50, right? And that bassy bed of synths at 4:05? Chills.

9 The swooning, melancholy orchestral bridge of Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' Everybody's On The Run, his finest song since 1995. Listen for it from 3:55 to 4:30. Mad beauty.

8 The 90-second "showgirl" piano intro to Kylie's live Les Folies version of Everything Is Beautiful. Indeed, it is.

7 The moment in the gorgeous middle eight of Friendly Fires' True Love when it goes from funk to swirling synth. From 2:25 to 2:41 - I play this segment over and over and over. The whole album is filled with this kind of detail.

6 The string coda (3:01) on the album version of Darren Hayes' slayer of a summer single, Talk Talk Talk. It's emblematic of the album's incredible string arrangements. In this case, they emphasize the sadder subtext of a dancey pop song.

Stream it here (embed disabled)

5 2:58 to 4:00 of Jessica 6's See The Light. This tracks kills me DEAD. J6 are totally in the NOW and deserve a big budget for 2012. We need Nomi Ruiz as a pop icon - she makes the listener feel as fierce as she is.

4 The slow horn-laden section (2:25 to 2:42) of the sweetest love song this year, Patrick Wolf's Bermondsey Street. "Regardless of religion. Braver than any faith..." Again, chills.

3 The closing 40 seconds of Jamie Woon's heartbreaker, Shoulda. "A sign for what's been. Sign for what'll never be." This one makes me really sad; enough said.

2 The bridge (2:30) to Sky Ferreira's 99 Tears. The impressive vocals/lyrics have an emotional heft that extends beyond the song's "I want to make that bitch boy cry" message. "Do you wanna know how it feels to be me? / When your heart's on the floor and your dream's all gone." Preach, child!

1 The unusually long intro (about 75 seconds) to Florrie's I Took A Little Something, my favorite pop song of 2012. That amazing aural hook sounds like my cell phone text alert. I love the way it builds and opens up at :46. Hear it. The edited clip below doesn't have the long intro, but does have the moment where the track kicks in (:35).

and the inevitable Plus One goes to...

The final 50 seconds of Florrie's indie masterpiece, Experimenting With Drugs. Hear it. Jesus God, that song is brilliant. It moves from layers of shimmer to a lonesome New Order guitar. This girl is the real deal.

What are your favorite moments in songs this year?

photo by Slimane

Best 2011: This Is Bigger Than The Grammy Awards

2011-12-22T20:26:00.049-05:00

Xolondon in London

Pretend I am giving out these awards in a posh hotel in London, surrounded by drunken popstrels...

Artists of the Year: Will Young and Florrie. He finally reaches his sublime peak with Echoes ten years into his career. And Florrie, after a period of finding her musical voice, releases Experiments, the most listenable, concise pop music collection this year.

Singing Voice(s) Of The Year: Ed MacFarlane from Friendly Fires, Will Young, and Wild Beasts' Hayden Thorpe, whose voice finally tipped from weird to so right in 2011. And lippy Lana Del Rey (aka Lizzie Grant) for some fearless "monotonic" trilling. And Adele, of course.

Wiggling Butt Trophy: Ed MacFarlane. Behind every great voice is a great ass.

Most Precarious Hype: Okay, yes, Lana Del Rey. Let's admit it now: this could crash and burn. Latest release Off To The Races gives some hope though. Born to die, indeed.

Producer Of The Year: Richard X for his work on Will Young's perfectly realized Electro Pop Moment, Echoes. Total eleganza. Careening emotion without breaking a sweat.

Three Wise Men Who Deserve More Respect/Attention Than They Receive: Chris Glover, aka Penguin Prison, for his gem-laden debut, which is almost a Greatest Hits record. This guy has it all and not enough people understand that! Wolf Gang's Max McElligott, who did an equally fine job merging indie with pop melodies on Suego Faults' 10 tracks. I'd also add Jamie Woon, whose debut Mirrorwriting is the most subtle, lovely fuck music of 2011.

Best Musical Trend: The perfect EP. Following Robyn's EP mentorship in 2010, Beth Ditto and Florrie NAILED it down in 2011.

Lyrics of the Year: There are so many, but some are quite plain, with a personal meaning. Instead, here are two great lyrics that wordsmith big emotion...

Jamie Woon, for the heartbreaking conclusion of Shoulda:

A sign for what's been
Sign for what'll never be.
The line under what's been
The line for what'll never be.

When the years are collected
I pray that we are regretless.
You and I, the connected
You and I and the blood and the bone.

And the chorus of Bon Iver's Holocene:

…and at once I knew I was not magnificent
hulled far from the highway aisle
(jagged vacance, thick with ice)
I could see for miles, miles, miles

Worst Lyric of 2011: This clunker from Marry The Night by Lady Gaga: "Love is the new denim or black."

Live Show Of The Year: Without a doubt, for sheer (gay) spectacle and audience love, Kylie Minogue slayed them (in Fairfax, VA of all places). Also loved Will Young at Shepherd's Bush Empire in West London. He owned the stage... "totes" imperial/totes adorbs. Both had excellent tour programmes too. Laura Marling was a blessing since I saw her in a synagogue.

Most Unexpected Pop Moment of 2011: Sitting on a couch in Brian Higgins' big studio/office in the Xenomania HQ in Kent, answering the question of what I thought of Lana Del Rey with "I need to hear an album first."

Cutest 80's Popstar (Aging Well): Nick Heyward of Haircut 100

Album Cover Of The Year: Friendly Fire's Pala ties with Wolf Gang's Suego Faults. For complete packaging, Darren Hayes' deluxe edition Secret Codes and Battleships and Nicola Roberts' Cinderella's Eyes.

Best Vinyl Package: Wolf Gang's gorgeous (and $$$) limited edition 12" single for The King And All Of His Men. Look at the art here.

Best Ass Package: That Jonas brother.
Best Promotion Featuring Penises: LeKid's Oh Alright album release party invitation (definitely NSFW or children)
Best Summer Album: Torches by Foster The People. Chipper California sunpop.

Fave Musical Women of Tweet: Same as 2010: Tracey Thorn, Judie Tzuke, and Helen Terry, but I'd add Cher and Rihanna.

Best Musical Man of Tweet: Aaron Gilbert of Delays.

Most Favored Social Media: I lovex3 Tumblr

Most Missed Blog / Website: Remember The Eighties, supposedly due back in 2012.

Top Remixes Of The Year: Melanie C Think About It (7th Heaven Club Mix), Adele Someone Like You (Jonathan Gering Mix), Robyn Call Your Girlfriend (Sultan and Ned Shepard Remix), CocknBullKid Asthma Attack (Wawa Mix), Tracey Thorn You Are A Lover (Clock Opera Remix), Emeli Sande Heaven (Mojam Remix), Marina And The Diamonds Radioactive (Starsmith Rework), Florence + The Machine Shake It Out (Benny Benassi Mix), Florrie Call 911 (Florrie Remix), Will Young Come On (Beatless Version), Kylie Minogue Put Your Hands Up (Blue Satellite Remix), Kylie Minogue Put Your Hands Up (Pete Hammond Mix), Hurts Sunday (Seamus Haji Mix), Yasmin Finish Line (Freemasons Mix), Sophie Ellis Bextor Starlight (JRMX Club Mix), Lady Gaga Sheisse (DJ White Shadow Mugler Mix), Casey Spooner Faye Dunaway (French Kiss Mafia Remix), and my favorite remix of 2011, Josie Cotton See The New Hong Kong (Loverush UK! Club Mix). Just glorious.

My Own Favorite Blog Posts (On This Here Blog, By Me): A few: When Clare Maguire Rings, A Ke$ha Kristmas?, 10 Musical Thoughts on Marry The Night and an interview with Darren Hayes.

Biggest Surprise Album: The pop indie chick debut solo record by The Nicola, Nicola Roberts of Girls Aloud. My favorite songs are Lucky Day, Say It Out Loud and Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime.

Obligatory Madonna Award For Single Not As Good As It Should Be: Masterpiece. I'm not really in love with it.

Most Obviously Tired Award: Lady Gaga wins for the third time in a row. The Edge of Glory video-shoot meltdown said it all: personal drama ruins what should have been her finest moment. Rihanna's running a very close second.

Flop Of The Year: Bjork's would-be return to pop, Biophilia. Amazing album cover, tuneless music. Bjork has maybe not lost the plot so much as willingly tossed it, which is even more depressing. I blame her hot husband. Note that Biophilia also has the biggest discrepancy between album art (uhhmazing) and songs (what songs?).

Disappointing Albums: These are disappointing because I really do think the artists are talented and worthy of attention. First, the crap: Frankmusik's absolutely horrid gone-to-LA turd Do It In The A.M. (I hope he doesn't read this!), and Beyonce's screechy 4, complete with creepy, uncharacteristic pregnancy-whoring. Then some bewildering stuff: Kate Bush's 50 Words For Snow aka 50 Words For Slow, Feist's torpid Metals (which may someday grow on me, I admit), Stevie Nicks, whose latest solo record wove about five solid tracks into a tapestry of dull... or better yet, a shawl of meh. Rihanna made her umpteenth album in a matter of weeks in random hotel rooms. It sounds like it. Though TTT has a few great singles, the rest is filler.

THE WHY ARE YOU SCREAMING AWARD goes, sadly, to my girl Florence Welch, who shouts her way through one of the loudest albums of the past few years. I've heard Ceremonials sounds much better on speakers in a room (versus earbuds). Maybe when I move into a cathedral I'll finally understand what that means.

Best Look: Florence Welch for her Virginia Woolf Goes To A Marvelous Party styling . Mannish elegance. Andre Leon Talley has the vapors.

Best Pop Diva Moment #1: Madonna reclaiming her throne with a simple declaration: "I absolutely loathe hydrangeas."

Best Pop Diva Moment #2: Darren Hayes telling me to have the French toast while he chose some berries. "Tell them I eat." he said, waving his fork over the bowl.

Worst Trend #1: Artists on Twitter responding only to negative tweets, thus 1) fueling more negativity and 2) alienating fans who come offering a positive comment. I don't care if its hard for you to respond to a compliment; that is a part of fame. Say Thank You and move on.

Worst Trend #2: Also on Twitter: Self aggrandizing hashtags and retweets. We do not need to see that everyone loves you. Bully for you, boring for us. And that hashtag branding? Gauche.

Good Riddance Award: The haughty/phoney Natalia Kills. who is probably waitressing at an Angus steakhouse in London. This shit happens when you rip off an artist (Gaga) who has already used up her own bag of tricks. It's like double jeopardy.

Artist I Abandoned Because She Seemed To Give Up: Clare Maguire, who performed at Lovebox, completely ignoring any tracks from her debut album. The whole thing inspired this post. I should note Clare's song I Surrender is one of my favorites this year.

The "I Have No Idea What You Are On About" Award: Marina And The Diamonds blathering away to Popjustice about archetypes and selling out for a slice of the American dream, all the while actually selling out for a slice of the American Dream. It's as if, by arting it up, we might not notice her going what seems to be a very uber commercial route. That said - let me be contrary like Marina herself! - I fucking love her and Radioactive has truly beautiful bones.

The PR Award: Really? You Expect Me To Fall For This? I absolutely loathe Jessie J. And Ed Sheeran: pointless and derivative, if less offensive than Jessie.

Worst Song: Price Tag by shriek queen Jessie J. Followed closely by a Lady Gaga tie: Born This Way or Judas. You pick based on how loose your bowels feel in the moment.

Thanks to all who read this blog in 2011. I know that "nobody reads blogs anymore," so I appreciate anybody who takes their time to check out what I have to say. And thanks as always to my online friends and the London boys and girls. Music makes the people come together, etc etc bla bla bla. xo
______________________________

Not done yet! Next: Top Songs, Top Albums and a huge-ass list of almost every song I loved in 2011. Follow me on twitter in 2012!

Cravenly, I am also on Tumblr and lastFM. And here are my 2010 lists...

Will Young, hung by the chimney with care...

2011-12-14T06:06:00.012-05:00

Will Young is doing a little advent calendar thingy, complete with a horrible Christmas sweater (he seems prone to crushingly bad sweaters, especially in his TV series, Bedlam). Today's bit is the chance to win Christmas card from Will, which I entered. The contest, not Will himself.

Will Young's Twelve Days Of Christmas

Will has just announced a June 2012 tour of the UK - a forests tour. One would like to see Will in the woods, wouldn't one? No word on a new single. Meanwhile, he is going to place very high in my end of year lists. How high? Stay tuned, willies.

UPDATE: We also love Will for THIS MOMENT at the Palladium Monday night, especially for his final comment: "Make sure you buy some merchandise."

Hat tip, Spitzer.

Fibes goes to... Cerahtonia?

2011-12-13T11:32:00.004-05:00

Fibes, Oh Fibes! are back in April 2012 with a new album called... Album. The first release is Cerahtonia. What is that? Where is that? They drop a lot of F bombs there. The song was produced by Pontus Winnberg of Miike Snow and is a diversion from their previous work. I am not sure what to make of this one, but the first proper single, Apex Of The Sun, is actually out January 21st.

Fibes, Oh Fibes!

If you're unfamiliar with Fibes, scramble to iTunes and look for these tracks: Get Up, Love Child, Love Will Always Find A Way, Run To You (with Kim Wilde!), Dubious and Silhouette.

The Lady Sarah Nixey's Christmas

2011-12-12T05:08:00.001-05:00

The lovely Sarah Nixey has a new Christmas single called - this is meta - Nixey's Merry Christmas Single. Same cheeky humor from her days in Black Box Recorder! UK fans can buy it here, while US fans can go to Amazon.

Remember that Sarah had an album out this year. I highly recommend two tracks in particular: The Burial of Love and Frost At Midnight.

And yes, she looks gorgeous in that photo...

I wanna be the one in control. Autoheart

2011-12-09T07:04:00.008-05:00

It's been two long years since The Gadsdens released their beautiful single, The Sailor Song (watch it), and they are finally back, now called Autoheart. I asked Jody Gadsden about the new name and my suspicion was correct (I am wily like that): the name comes from a line in The Sailor Song: " I saw through your automatic heartache..."

Control is first track from their 2012 debut album and they've nailed it. Produced by Danton (Coldplay) Supple, it casts the band in a more uptempo setting. This one really surges and soars...

Control by Autoheart

Control will be released as a free download on December 19 via the band's Facebook page (or now on the Soundcloud link!) If you want to know more about the band, I did an interview with Jody in late 2009. They also recently put out a teaser video - a gorgeous ballad call Only A Fool - check it out too.

Ladyhawke can't protect you

2011-12-07T08:02:00.003-05:00

Ladyhawke returns with a new album called Anxiety in March. Music is saved for
the second time in 24 hours. Here is a preview...

It begins again... Miike Snow

2011-12-06T20:15:00.001-05:00

The incredible Miike Snow are back with a slayer of a tune, Devil's Work. New album done and dusted. Music is saved in 2012.

miikesnow

Cover Story: Lana del Rey

2011-12-03T13:42:00.000-05:00

Bee-stung Lana Del Rey is starting to reveal details of her debut album, including this cover image. Wow, am I disappointed. This girl's music evokes so many cool, old school images and this mugshot is what they choose? Fail. Perhaps this is just the single cover.

The next single is, obviously, album title track Born To Die, which you can stream below. In some sense it's more of the same. The vocal that was so unique on Video Games can seems a bit somnambulant or even drugged at times. Which is, I suppose the point! Regardless, this track has a booming chorus and some big budget, widescreen orchestrals.

When I was in England, a very famous record producer - I'll talk more about that later in December - asked me what I thought of Lana. I said, "Well, I love the two songs we've heard, but I cannot imagine a full album of it." She is being positioned as THE new icon, but this sound could get old fast. What do you think? The CD is out January 30, so we'll know soon enough...

10 Musical Thoughts: Marry The Night

2011-12-02T07:10:00.006-05:00

Last night, I live-tweeted (isn't that what all twatting is?) the new Lady Gaga video, Marry The Night. As always, if you can't stream the video, go to youtube. Here are some revised thoughts from my tweets...

1. The track itself has perhaps the most compelling minute in pop music in 2011, from 3:35 onward, it fucking blazes.

2. That said, it also has one of the most awkward lyrics of the year, "Love is the new denim or black." Inane.

3. This video is a 13-minute closing statement for why Lady Gaga has lost the plot. That plodding, overwrought intro piece before we ever get to the music. And what should be the payoff dance sequence at the end? It gets all chopped up so we don't see it. What was that? Did she try to tell the story of her career in final minute?

4. Gaga, people liked you for your pop songs and get-ups, not because you self harmed, aborted a child or whatever you are vaguely alluding to for 8 long minutes. How that moment affected your fame, I don't get. Apparently the answer to all woes is "I will be famous!"

5. She is straining to shock: I had an abortion, I am showing my tits to my Monsters, I am puking, it turns out I paint on my hair color while drugged up in a bath. Am I sick in the bath or am I sexy, writhing around with my hot tats?

6. As @jbspitzer said, "Can we talk about her Madge voice?" What was that enunciation in the narration? And yet another brazen Madonna getup when she goes to the dance school and they're all looking down at her (which is overcooked symbolism).

7. How much did this bloated self indulgence cost? And how is this video 13 minutes long and yet it still feels incomplete? There are huge gaps in the narrative, especially given the glimpses of visuals in the final minte. This is a VIDEO, Gaga, show us, don't tell us.

8. Somebody at Lady Gaga's label - we know it's Interscope because its scratched on her hand at the end - needs to stand up to her and say "You need a seasoned video director who can help you tell your stories." Madonna and Michael hired the best and never had the hubris to think they were better. This is the career moment where Gaga should use her industry bona fides to bring back big guns like Mark Romanek.

9. What do I think is good? The blow job cheek/hand motion. A few of the looks, like when she marches up to the dance troupe at the end and takes off her glasses. Or the very brief big hat ("I made it! My hat is too huge for my car service!"). And the signature dance move - that leg kicking thing. Let's all do that over some beers and forget this vagazzled mess.

10. Silver lining: One would think that Madonna will see this Gaga video and say FOLLOW THIS PUSSYCAT. My own roommate summed up Marry The Night best when she said, "Who's got time for all that bullshit?"

no no no, Gaga. It's embarrassing now.

Up in '12: Beatrice Eli

2011-11-30T12:40:00.004-05:00

Popjustice recently made Beatrice Eli's debut track The Conqueror their Song Of The Day. Out of the blue, she is really strong. From what I can tell, she's quite young, but has one of those cracked wise-beyond-my-years voices. It's just one song so far, but: 1) I think she's Swedish - which means she is born superior! - 2) her first song sounds ready for the big time, 3) she has the goods acoustically - here is the proof and 4) hey, it's pop... she's visually striking too.

Beatrice Eli - The Conqueror

Follow Beatrice on Twitter. The Conqueror is out January 16, but she's going to light up the blogs this week, no doubt.

The Nicola: Bringing me up, bring me down

2011-11-30T07:17:00.004-05:00

I feel like a yo yo yo yo...

Of all the clothes she tries on in this video, she chooses the purple velvet dress?

Had she chosen the black dress, the video would've had a happy ending. Trust!

If Vevo messes with the embed, click here to watch the clip. Nicola Roberts

Mary Jane shuts it down

2011-11-25T16:00:00.003-05:00

For all the bitches who say La Blige can't sing live, watch this and repent.

Need Someone To Love You, live on Jools Holland

Commuter Love

2011-11-25T12:47:00.007-05:00

Having just gotten back from a trip to London that involved what I calculate to be about 20 trips on the tube in five days, I am impressed by I Am A Camera's new single, Commuter Love. That city is filled with people I'd gladly drag down a tube tunnel for some "commuter love." Style and beauty moving fast through London town...

I'd love to tell you more about this band, also Londoners, but there is virtually nothing available on them. They're a duo and they create electronic music, s'all I know. The single is out December 4. They don't yet have a finished album - that's coming in 2012 - with some of it produced by Cameron McVey, aka Mr Neneh Cherry.

I Am A Camera - Commute r Love

Don't be thrown by the opening seconds of this video. The music, reminiscent of Human League, finally arrives 24 seconds in.

Follow I Am A Camera on Twitter

Patrick Wolf's bearing gifts

2011-11-22T22:15:00.000-05:00

New EP! Brumalia. Out December 4.

Bitten
Together (alternate mix)
Time Of Year
Jerusalem
Nemoralia
Pelicans
Trust

Hear samples at Amazon UK.

I am in London, bitchez!

2011-11-21T05:11:00.000-05:00

I shall return at the end of the week.

Rihanna, The Hottest Girl In The World

2011-11-20T01:52:00.000-05:00

Today Rihanna releases Talk That Talk, her umpteenth album in 6 years, this one just as rushed as her last opus, Loud. To celebrate, Riri has been adding photo albums chock full of personal snaps from her vacations, recording, tours etc. They are actually quite amazing and tell an alternate story of who she is. Be sure to catch them on her Facebook page.

Here are a few to wet your... appetite.

*Note, my hard drive/iTunes is DEAD, so I have not yet heard her new album, though Where Have You Been sounds beyond.

What London gave me

2011-11-18T09:29:00.000-05:00

I am in London today. My first solo visit in many years. I've been coming here since 1995, when BritPop exploded. England has always been about music; there is always a soundtrack associated with each trip. Here are some songs that will forever be London and me.

Dubstar Stars | Memory: Sitting on my bed in a cute b'nb on Ladbroke Terrace in Notting Hill playing Stars over and over, having never heard it before that moment. That song has to be in my top twenty of LIFE.

The Divine Comedy Something For The Weekend | Memory: The CD cover catching my eye during a three hour spree in the Virgin Megastore on Oxford Street - my idea of heaven, long since lost. I'd not heard of the band, but this song and the album cover were all I needed. I'd end up seeing Neil at an afternoon show in a TINY club in Virgina over ten years later.

Coldplay Yellow | Memory: Coldplay's debut single Yellow had just come out in July of 2000, the first time I was in London alone. The single cost like 1.99, so I thought "why not?" and ended up buying the album on that trip too. I still think this is their best song. Chris Martin looks like a 13 year old beggar in this video.

Keane Your Eyes Open | Memory: Another song that has never worn out on me, it's so beautiful. We had this moment with Keane, where male vocals were 80s style swoony and lush. I first heard this song lying on a hotel bed near Paddington. I remember it was a hot May and my traveling companions were napping while I played my new CDs on a Walkman. I also remember sitting by the lake in Hyde Park for hours, watching people. The best.

Yasmin tokes up in Cuba

2011-11-17T05:22:00.003-05:00

I've spent much of 2011 getting all torqued over Yasmin, a new pop diva who has the potential to go far. Her first two singles On My Own and Finish Line were blazing. She's also one of the most beautiful girls to hit pop in many years. And now we have her third single, Light Up (The World), out in January.

And it's terrible.

This is barely a tune propped on a rickety reggae beat. It showcases... what? The cleverest thing about the song is its punny title, placing "The World" in parentheses to emphasize...well, the toot toot.

That said, the video, filmed in Cuba, is gorgeous. She can't look bad and she actually smiles a lot, a rare thing in pop. Big money was spent on this, but its reliance on Ms Dynamite makes me wonder if Yasmin's route is more cliched than I'd hoped. Not even Freemasons can really save this one, and that's saying something...

Light Up (The World) (Freemasons Edit)

itsYasmin

Let's just go back to the 'Masons mix of Finish Line, which is BLINDING.

Finish Line (Freemasons Pegasus Club Mix)

itsYasmin

Mixtape: When we see London, we see...

2011-11-15T04:21:00.002-05:00

So much has been happening. I'm sick as a mouse in an icy gutter, my hard drive with itunes on it died this week (so my iPod is suspended in time, no new music), and imma bout to hop a plane to London! I wanted to be there when it's lit up for Christmas, which reminds me of...

Every year there is one whackadoodle Christmas album - this year it's Weiland (good GOD!). I am excited about the She & Him Christmas LP (and yes, I will listen to Buble... why not?)

The Nicola was flipping the switch for the Christmas lights in Manchester this week. She looked super fetch.

Kate Bush is in Word. I have to admit I am nervous about this album - the kind of thing I may never play? One track, Misty, is 13 minutes long and the whole thing is slowwwwww.

Would you like to see Simon LeBon's doggies? Here they are.

An actual quote from Seal in The Guardian: "Contrary to popular belief, when my wife first saw me – in my cycling shorts – it wasn't my front bottom she liked, it was my bottom!" Whevs, Seal, your new album is another cheapass soul covers affair. Rod Stewart much?

Michael Stipe was never a "nice guy", always willfully odd. And he is so clearly over REM in this Guardian interview. I've decided that he almost ruins their gorge new song We All Go Back To Where We Belong by wailing in the last 20 seconds in a most grating way. Hear it for yourself.

The Guardian also interviewed Wee Willy Young a few weeks back and the gist was that's he's got it all figured out at 32. Right. Words of wisdom? "A low V neck is a no-no." he warns, wrongly I think. And then there's this bon mot: "There are still lots of people who don't want to think about" – he pauses and laughs – "anal sex, to be honest. And I don't have a problem with that." It's actually a really good interview that manages to include clothing advice and anal sex in one piece!

And then there is Laura Marling, interview by The independent. She is only 21, 11 years Will's junior and she is already over the music business! "In some ways, I'm just passing time until I can have children. I love music and I will make music always, but this lifestyle is already getting to me." Oy vey Laura! I should add that I saw her perform this fall in a synagogue in DC and it was literally amazing. Her voice was even better live than on record, the band was tight, the arrangements varied and she's really funny. See her live this time around - she has a major future in music.

If Marling decides to go AWOL, Beth Jeans Houghton is waiting in the wings. She's almost too much of the Marling Mumford ilk, but the new single Liliputt is solid.

I hope ya'll have seen @davidmcalmont in his new incarnation, Fingersnap, doing Amy Winehouse while he's signing CDs. I sound JUST LIKE THIS while paying bills...

I doubt I will ever play that Bjork album again. Seriously. Where are the songs. I know some will disagree, but I think it's her worst album.

Foxx On Fire is a new London band I am digging. Their single March Into The Sun is shimmering and harmony laden.

Have you seen how cute Nick Heyward is at 50? CHECK HIM OUT. He's recording a new album with Haircut 100, no joke.

My friend Doron interviewed Nerina Pallot for Notion Magazine. Nerina got up to some trouble this week when she basically tweeted that Little Boots new track, Shake, is shit. Whoops. I actually like Nerina more now!

Still loving my tumblr and still tweeting wayyyy too much... catch me there or on the streets of Londontown.

This Isn't Everything You Are

2011-11-14T07:35:00.003-05:00

Didn't see this coming, but I like the Snow Patrol single, This Isn't Everything You Are, and I LOVE the video. It deftly moves from gritty to gorgeous in seconds (and back again).

If the Vevo embed bungs up, watch it here.

Pet Shop Boys, formatted

2011-11-13T14:30:00.012-05:00

Pet Shop Boys just announced via the Cambridge student newspaper ,Varsity that in February they are releasing a new bsides collection covering the years 1996 to 2009. It will be called Format.

We’re putting out another B-sides album in February, like an ‘Alternative’ part two. But we’re calling it Format,” says Neil, referring to their classic B-sides collection from 1995.

Chris sounds a little concerned, “We’re not announcing that yet, are we?”

“Well why not - these things are usually leaked through some Japanese website anyway. I’d rather it came out here,” insists Neil. “It’s all our B-sides from 1996 to 2009, starting with The Truck Driver and His Mate”.

“Oh I like that song,” Chris pipes up, “It’s just our little tribute to Oasis. In fact Jon Savage pointed out that it’s the chord change from Some Might Say. Though he’d better not put that in the sleeve notes when he writes them.”

“Actually I think some of our best songs are B-sides,” declares Neil, “Because on a B-side you can do what you like”.

I don't have strong memories or favorites from the b-sides of that era, as I do earlier tracks like Miserablism or Decadence. A few that do leap out:

The Truck Driver and His Mate

The Boy Who Couldn't Keep His Clothes On
We're the Pet Shop Boys
Delusions Of Grandeur
The Resurrectionist
Always
We're All Criminals Now
My Girl

Which ones are the best of those years? Remind me!

Tell me I’m the only one, though it’s not the same

2011-11-09T20:16:00.005-05:00

As was the case with Uh Huh Her's debut single, Not A Love Song, three years ago, their new one, Another Case, is SEX. Love it. Rock'n'roll on a highwire.

Sometimes you hear a song and think "this is ME" - and no one would ever know.
I like that.

Duran: No supermodels were harmed during the making of...

2011-11-08T07:41:00.006-05:00

Girl Panic!

What a masterstroke. Duran Duran produces one of its best videos ever for its finest song since 1993's Ordinary World. In fact, Girl Panic! is essential Duran: tribal percussion, a fizzy rhythm section and synth lines as exhilarating as anything on their classic, Rio. The jagged final minute of this song is pure class.

Girl Panic!, the video epic, has London, champagne and Polaroid cameras [the older, cooler version of a cell phone snap?] and loads of Sexy. Tons of girls in skimpy leather, licking each other groupie style. Naomi probably does the best job, playing Simon, but Yasmin LeBon has the best moment as the side-man guitarist with no name ("As you know, we tend to change guitarist players a lot" quips as Cindy Crawford as John.).

John interviews Cindy playing John

Funny how the supermodels have aged better than the men (bar John Taylor, of course). Imagine that.

Should the Vevo embed not work for you, click here.

This little bird

2011-11-07T07:59:00.006-05:00

Birdy's debut album is out today - an all-covers affair, bar one original, Without A Word. Check out the sampler below - I particularly like her redo of The National's Terrible Love. It's a bit more uptempo, with a full band and geetahrs. I'll Never Forget You, originally recorded by Francis And The Lights, is a weepie, while her Phoenix cover, 1901, is actually rougher than the original.

Birdy - Jasmine Van den Bogaerde - is only 15, so this album is apparently a way to "soft launch" her career as a proper singer/songwriter. She's giving away the gorge Fleet Foxes cover now:

Birdy White Winter Hymnal FREE download

Note that the iTunes special edition adds covers of Mew and Smashing Pumpkins.

Cover Story: Kate Havnevik

2011-11-04T09:45:00.002-04:00

A graphic MOMENT from The Havnevik. Her album, You, is out soon. Here is a teaser, Castaway:

Review: The Sound of Arrows' Voyage

2011-11-03T05:00:00.003-04:00

In the game of pop music referencing, Sweden's The Sound of Arrows might be "Pet Shop Boys seated with Vangelis and a children's choir in a cathedral pew." Whether that sounds epic or dire is down to you, but there's no doubt that Voyage is a strong debut. Aside from the vehemently Neil Tennant-y Ruins Of Rome, it only takes a few plays to forget those other artists and hear The Sound of Arrows on their own merits.

In the age of building a group's presence on the Internet, independent bands like Arrows often shoot their glitter gun before the album is ever released, bringing out multiple singles and leaked tracks. What we'd already known of Voyage, like the gauzy Into The Clouds (watch it) and Nova (watch it) is here, but they've saved some of their best work for long-player. The eight-minute There Is Still Hope epitomizes synthpop grandeur, while tracks like the jaunty Conquest, in which vocalist Stefan Storm seems to channel a young Green Gartside of Scritti Politti, are concise and melodic.

There have been numerous electropop duos over the past few years - Visitor, Monarchy, etc - most sliding into oblivion, but there's something warmer about The Sound Of Arrows. For some, the music on Voyage will take them back to the 80's, when pop stars actually tried to make cohesive albums. Today's bedsit electro noodlers will recognize an expensive sounding model. Either way, the disco storming Wonder (watch it) implies that, surely, there exists a sexy planet with magenta skies where these tunes rules the airwaves.

Voyage teaser, set to There Is Still Hope:

Voyage, out November 7, comes with a second disc - an instrumental version of the album.

Quote Of The Week: William Orbit

2011-11-02T22:38:00.003-04:00

William Orbit on completing Madonna's album:

Feeling like that we’ve [been a] part of a special moment in all of our careers. Including M’s. Who, I have to say has amazed me anew in unexpected ways during the last few months.

#JESUSGODBRINGIT

It's never too late for Ghosts

2011-11-02T21:49:00.000-04:00

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://simonghosts.bandcamp.com/track/never-too-late"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Never Too Late by Simon Ghosts&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;
WHO: Simon Pettigrew of Ghosts, the excellent Britpop band that released one underrated pop gem of an album, The World Is Outside, in 2007 before getting caught up in a nasty legal battle with, you guessed it, their music label, Atlantic. Among their greatest songs were Stay The Night and my favorite, Stop.

WHAT: Never Too Late is a powerpop epic culled from sessions for Ghosts' unfinished second album. Say You're Mine is more of a midtempo from the same period.

WHEN: You can buy it right now for 99p but it's not clear when or if Ghosts' next album will emerge. If you like that band, you'll love this song. Try it, it's cheap! You can also still buy their debut on iTunes or for a UNDER a pound on Amazon Marketplace.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://simonghosts.bandcamp.com/track/say-youre-mine"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Say You're Mine by Simon Ghosts&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

You Need This Song: Everybody's On The Run

2011-11-02T07:05:00.006-04:00

One of rock's great disappointments has been the inability of Oasis to live up to its first two albums. Their second disc, (What The Story) Morning Glory was the soundtrack to my first trip to England, so it now resides in a golden hue, pretty untouchable. There've been a few random gems since then, like 2008's Falling Down, but over the years the band have always sounded like they were trying too hard to make hits. Coupled with that was the fact that Liam's voice began to wear pretty quickly as he barreled his way through tracks.

Everybody's On The Run is the lead song on Noel Gallagher's long overdue debut solo album. And it's fucking stunning. A top tune. Aside from the anthemic "you gotta hold on" Britpop hook, Noel goes where he hasn't since the early days. He delivers actual beauty in the final two minutes of the song, in the form of a heartbreaking string break. This is lighters in the air, arms aloft stuff. Well done.

The Queen Of Fucking Everything?

2011-10-29T19:57:00.007-04:00

Holestar is a woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman. Capisce? For those of you with a semblance of cultural awareness, this is what we call a Victor Victoria Moment. My good friend Phil has hooked up with Holestar to produce a follow-up to her esteemed classic Show Me Your Banana, this one called The Queen of F***king Everything. Watch the video above all the way through for a well-deserved bit of Simon Cowell placement.

Baby queens should also recognize that Holestar has a touch of another legend's glitter. Divine, minus the dog poop. Watch this clip:

Stream all three EP tracks on Holestar's Soundcloud. As Phil eloquently puts it, "You need to support those creative queers: the ones who create something out of nothing with little more than buttons and the odd BJ." Mmmm hmmmm.

iTunes UK | iTunes US | Amazon UK | Amazon US

Madonna: Fruit hurts my stomach

2011-10-27T21:27:00.005-04:00

On the one hand, this new Madonna clip is complete hokum.. a forced faux exchange between mother and daughter. On the other hand, it's beyond quotable:

M: "Fruit hurts my stomach"

M: "I don't eat things I can't identify."

Or this exchange:

Lola: "Totes magotes.... they say that now."

M: "Whatevs"

Lola: "They don't say that anymore."

M: "Excuse me? I say it in my world... I'll say what I want in the... timeless world."

Lola: "In the OLD world."

R.E.M. A final single...

2011-10-27T12:00:00.006-04:00

and it's beautiful. We All Go Back To Where We Belong:

The upcoming hits collection will include two more new songs: A Month of Saturdays and Hallelujah.

I haven't liked R.E.M. much for about 15 years, but I am still gutted about their demise. I hope Mr. Stipe does some inventive solo work... I'd love to hear his voice in a new musical environment.

Emeli Sande's street symphony

2011-10-21T12:43:00.012-04:00

Just days after Rihanna was smoking nine cigarettes at once with her bad Irish boyfriend in We Found Love, we now find Emeli Sandé having it off with Mr. Wrong in her new video for Daddy...

The video's solid, but the song is they key. It's one of the finest of 2011: a triphoppian epic with blazing strings. The kind of track that sounds great in your ears on a cold, grey city day or deep in the night.

Like Sandé's previous single, Heaven, Daddy is produced by Shahid Khan, aka Naughty Boy. In fact, the song's credit is "featuring Naughty Boy," which makes it sound like there's a rapper feature that, thankfully, there is not. The single is out November 20, with several remixes, but we have to wait until February 6 for the album, Our Version Of Events.

And let's just say this now: There is surely no one who is going to top Emeli for the BBC's Sound of 2012. We can end that contest right here, right now.

When Clare rings

2011-10-21T06:14:00.010-04:00

XO's Phone: [ringy ringy]

XO: Helloooo?

Clare Maguire: Is this Xolondon?

XO: Mmmm hmmm?

Clare Maguire: This is Clare Maguire

XO: [drops phone. screams]

Clare Maguire: Hello?

XO: ohmigodClareMaguireIloveyousomuch!!!!Wherehaveyoubeen
ISurrenderisthegreatestsongeverohmiGod!!!!!!

Clare Maguire: I wanted to tell you I am recording a new album-

XO: ohmigodClareMaguireIloveyousomuch!!!!Iwantdetailsand
ISurrenderisthegreatestsongeverohmiGod!!!!!

Clare Maguire: It's true! It's a bluesy soul record inspired by artists like Johnny Cash

XO: [silence]

Clare Maguire: Yes, I know, biiig news right?

XO: [silence]

Clare Maguire: ...hello?

XO: [click. dial tone.]

Up in '12: The Jezabels

2011-10-20T22:59:00.006-04:00

The Facts: The Jezabels are a pop-rock band from Australia (isn't everyone from there these days?). They are quite guitary. Starting to hit the UK. Debut album called Prisoner hit #2 on the Oz charts. You can see several of their videos here. What do you think?

The Jezabels - Endless Summer by thejezabels

New Kate Bush images

2011-10-19T06:50:00.004-04:00

There are so few photos of Kate Bush these days, that we cling to any that appear. A more mysterious image, which should have been the album cover, has also surfaced...

50 Words For Snow is out Nov 21

Why do I love Rihanna? It's all right here.

2011-10-19T06:24:00.003-04:00

That's the first part of Rihanna's Making Of piece for her beautiful new single We Found Love. The whole thing's entertaining, but the moment of gold comes at 3:56 when Rihanna, in closeup, describes how "we gonna fuck on a tractor..." It goes on from there.

There's also a moment later in the clip when she describes the new video:

We've never done a video like this before. This is probably one of the deepest videos I've ever done. Its all about love and love being like a drug... you definitely get that from this. The good feeling of it and the dangers of it.

And here is the final We Found Love video. Amazing, proper film-making.

This song has the most beautiful/sad vocal hook of the year, both lyrically and melodically. Nothing touches it: We found love in a hopeless place.

Florence: Visualizing Ceremonials

2011-10-16T14:00:00.000-04:00

On Saturday Flo released this short video of the Ceremonials photo shoot.
Need I use an adjective?

FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE

Ceremonials is out on Halloween day, but here are some short previews of
what sound to be some of the best tracks...

Only If For The Night

Breaking Down

Never Let Me Go

Spectrum

Flo performed last night in Brooklyn. Here she is doing Heartlines...

Interview: Darren Hayes unlocks Secret Codes

2011-10-10T21:00:00.006-04:00

It is not dramatic to say that four years in pop music is a lifetime. Since Darren Hayes released his last album, the double-LP This Delicate Thing We've Made, lesser careers have come and gone. Rihanna's been through multiple hair colors and a certain alien-like New Yorker has taken over the pop world. Throughout all of it, Darren has been creating his fourth solo album, Secret Codes And Battleships, out October 21/24 worldwide.

Just as I put together this interview with Darren, Apple's legendary leader Steve Jobs died. I thought about how my iPod is always a few feet from me, day and night, and how that little device tells my own life story through other people's voices. Steve Jobs' impact on the emotional experience of music reminded me that Darren Hayes is also a music fan at heart. It clearly pervades how he approaches his career...

XO: Darren, this whole project seems like a dream version of a what a fan would want. So few artists are able to deliver that 20 years into their career. It's in the way the singles have been revealed, the b-sides, mixes, the special collector's items, attention paid to fans and, of course, the final album itself. You've had a long time to think about this and prepare it as a full... experience.

Darren: I am a fan first. I understand what a fan wants because it's what I want: respect, attention to detail, blood sweat and tears. If an artist isn't giving me that, it shows and I lose respect. I have made a point of ensuring that there is a physical world to counteract our disposable digital world and how that affects music releases. The games, the interaction, the codes, the colors - all of it had been meticulously planned and designed and I wanted to engage and involve my audience as much as possible. Doing things like creating physical versions of the artwork on the code pages (and sending them out to those who deciphered them) flying a winner to London, making real treasures to hide around the world : these were the tangible things I wanted to offer up. Not in place of a virtual digital release but in spite of and in addition to. I feel like this way there is something for everyone. The collector's edition and special addition bonus tracks are really album quality songs - almost a whole album worth of 'more' stuff. Stuff that didn't quite make the record but finished with a degree of respect and admiration for my audience. The bonus material isn't just cobbled together junk of no value: it's the album and then some.

I get the sense that you approach each project as if it's your last. You even sing about the "last night on earth" on Roses.

I do approach every record like it could be my last because, honestly, each one could be. Who knows?

But, after being your own boss for several years, did you worry that a major label wouldn't play along with how you envisioned this music and the marketing of it?

Let me clarify this very clearly: no one has messed with my vision. Not in the songs, the marketing, the videos, the singles choices. Nada. I got in to bed with Universal in Australia and then EMI, in the UK, precisely because they respected me and our vision and in fact were inspired by it. The president of Universal in Australia uses our album campaign as an example to show new artists what a really great campaign is. Maybe for newer artists, or in the past, people had this idea that a record company runs it all and controls things (and perhaps this is the case with less involved artists), but from my experience everyone was thrilled I had such a clear vision.

You've referred to this as a "pop record." Wasn't your last album, Delicate, a pop record too? ... Although I'd say that was like your own Sign O' The Times. A sprawling opus. What is it that makes Secret Codes "pop"?

When I say this is a "pop" record, I mean literally that it is refined and polished and I paid attention to stripping away anything that was unnecessary. Sometimes I get taken out of context and it appears I'm apologizing for my previous work. Not the case at all. I'm so proud of The Tension and The Spark and This Delicate Thing We've Made, but this was a new challenge. I might want to do a completely different record next time, or a strange side project or whatever takes my fancy. It just so happened that I wanted to make something that was "classic" pop. Pop like the kind I used to make, but with all the texture and color of the experience gained form the last decade of experimentation.

When did you actually start the album?

The first piece of music was written, I believe, at the end of 2007 and the first song recorded in mid-2008! So it's been a long, long process.

Four years later, it's about to be heard in full. Was there ever a fear that, by the time we reached this point, your feelings about it might change or that you might start to tinker with the music? Or maybe that your own taste would change in that span of time?

No, I never worried my taste would change. I only worried that if I waited too long the music would sound dated. I'm lucky that it's not a particularly "trendy" record so it escapes the comparisons to what is "hot" at the moment. Also delaying the mix and going back and tweaking things allowed it to still feel fluid and unfinished until it absolutely had to be delivered.

I remember thinking, as you released those Making The Album videos a few years back, "WHAT IS SONG S? WHAT IS SONG D?!" or whatever you called them. It drove me nutty, because I knew it would be a long time before we fully got the references, or - heh heh - secret codes. Were you just going medieval on us? Did it make you impatient to keep it secret?

I genuinely only have good intentions when it comes to the very little I reveal about details before songs are released. I'm trying to involve the audience in the process and in my excitement, but at the same time I'm trying to protect the surprise element which I still think is crucial in music. Leaks are so dull and frankly ruin the fun. Forget the commercial aspects and arguments pro and con - when an album leaks or a demo leaks early, it's a joy kill for an artist because it takes away the bit I most love about releasing an album: the journey. Because we live in a culture of instant gratification I understand the need to have something yesterday, which is why I use blogs and social media to involve everyone as much as possible, but I'm old school in that I still want there to be some mystery and something to marvel at, on your own, on release day. The fun part for me on this album was that I was leaving clues very early on. For example, I wore an anchor on a necklace during my New Years Eve show in London 2 years ago and my twitter background page for the longest time had been a painting of a ship in distress.

There was a point [during the making of Secret Codes] when someone - who? - told you something to the effect of "This album is not done" and you went back and did more. What was missing?

My managers at the time - although I'm now managed by just one of them, Cathy Oates - said, essentially, that the record was brilliant, but was lacking the defining career moment. Just that. No big deal right? Just go write one more career defining classic song!

Oh... just pop it out. And what was the result of that?

The song was Bloodstained Heart. I rest my case.

Bloodstained Heart:

I actually tweeted to you that I feel like it's a "watershed" song for you. There's also been a great response to Black Out The Sun. It's natural that a fan would look for clues about their favorite artist inside a lyric. Some of the songs on Secret Codes are about depression, the collapse of relationships, loneliness. Is there a message you want to give fans about those particular songs?

Everything I do is deeply personal, to the point of sometimes feeling too exposed. Hurt is about me. I am that guy. All I can say is - if there's darkness, it's mine and I own it. But I want my audience to read themselves into the music and the stories so as I get older, I'm less and less inclined to explain the meaning. Read in what you will. The only thing that is absolutely not to be taken from the record is that my own love life is or ever was in crisis. The break ups and the heartache on the album were a result of what I saw and felt around me, and a betrayal of trust in a long long friendship that just about broke me. But it made for wonderful songs.

Black Out The Sun:

I wasn't "going there" on that [your relationship], but when I heard Talk Talk Talk and Nearly Love, I did wonder if people would read into the lyrics. Tori Amos recently said, outright, "My husband and I are still together, don't worry!"

It has come up a lot and, even before it came up, I was prepared for it because I'm quite a personal songwriter so people tend to read everything literally which, if you know anything about my music, you'd know about half of it is literal and the rest shrouded in metaphor. The trouble with being open about your private life is that it exposes it to speculation or judgment. The only reason I'm even slightly open about my marriage is that from a civil rights and social responsibility point of view, the fact that I have a beautiful relationship is evidence that there can be a happy ever after for folk like me. But we're certainly not a celebrity couple and I'm certainly not a celebrity.

Is that curiosity, or even - as you say - judgment, hard to accept?

When I wrote these songs and this album I did have that conversation with Richard and said, essentially, everyone is going to think we're breaking up or we're in crisis, which was clearly not the case. We sort of didn't care, but at the same time I certainly didn't want to ask for that hideous cursed bony finger of tabloid pessimism invited into my home, because I'm extremely protective of my relationship. It's a tough one, because I also hate explaining songs. In some ways who cares if people think we're happy, sad or adopting babies? You have to have a sense of a sacred place in your life that is immune to gossip in this business and for me it's my marriage. I'm the luckiest man in the world. If anyone is looking for clues as to my marriage on this album it's in the references to joy. The record is about two major themes. Love - how important it is to hold on to it when you've got it - and how easily it can slip away. It's about being lost and forgetting who you are - and the journey back.

Talk Talk Talk:

Your fans talk about how much they appreciate your honesty; that you express feelings they have that might normally be hard to speak about. Many of your lyrics over the years have dealt with dark feelings [watch Darkness]. Going back to the new song Hurt - which is a favorite of mine - it seems so self hating on some level: "I can make you hurt. I can take you down so low, I'll make you want to cry... you'll be better off when I'm not around." So when you tell me, "I am that guy," it's hard to square that darkness with your persona today.

Well that is a tough song. I think people have a view of me that is one thing - but the reality is of course I have a side to me that still feels utterly unlovable. That song is obviously an extreme moment in a snapshot of a nanosecond of my life some days. I'm rarely that person. But he's still a part of me. In a weird sense, showing people flaws makes it easier to avoid the expectation to be perfect. It's why I publish not-so-flattering iPhone shots of myself on twitter. I like to avoid the expectation to be a hero. I still laugh when I'll post a new picture and someone will write, YOU LOOK TIRED!! GET SOME SLEEP!!! I often write back, "Oh honey I'm not tired. I'm 40. This is what 40 looks like." [smiles]

Ha! I am your age and I think that too! But here's the thing about the sad songs: You merge those lyrics with music that is often uplifting. It may not surprise you to hear me say it, but the sudden flourishes of strings are my favorite thing about about this album. I think they are defining sound of Secret Codes.

I love that you said that. I think my focus on the record was melody - and using strings to score music in the way my favorite albums did like Hall And Oates records, even Daryl Hall's Three Hearts In The Happy Ending Machine album. Motown, Quincy Jones and E.L.O come to mind. Big bold beautiful symphonic celebratory strings. Even in the darkest moments.

Which brings me back to Bloodstained Heart, which has an anthemic quality. The video's got a twist; it's not quite what it appears to be. Apparently people are arguing over its meaning on message boards. When you leap off the building, what is the message?

Again, I don't like to explain it. The video is definitely meant to make you watch it a bunch of times and come to your own conclusion. I don't think she ever gets up from that hospital bed is all I'll say. I think the minute she gets up and I follow her is about ascent. I still find the video incredibly moving and the relationship portrayed describes precisely the one that inspired me to write the song in the first place.

This is one of many songs you wrote with Carl Falk. I told you that when I heard you were working with him, I looked him up and was like "Huh?" I thought "Errr, where is this going?" But he turns out to be a sort of William Orbit to your Madonna and, unexpectedly, his collaborations with you anchor the album...

My connection to Carl was incredibly accidental - put together to write songs for a boyband - I too had looked at his CV and thought that he was clearly not someone I would want to collaborate with on my own material. How wrong I was. We never did deliver a song to that boyband, but boy did we deliver between us. He and I both think Bloodstained Heart is the best thing we've ever done. And that's the truth. So wonderful to be able to say that at my age and this point in my career.

You're online a lot, or appear to be. What has Twitter has meant to your career?

This might not be the answer you seek, young Jedi, for my jury is still out on twitter. It has pros and cons for me. The positives are obvious: I get to interact with my audience in a really casual but personal way. I get to reconnect with other people in the music industry and media. It is a source for an instant up to the minute temperature reading of pop culture. The downsides are pretty significant though. In order to be real and be present on twitter, you have to try to read what people are saying to you and there is of course no filter so every now and then you are confronted by a rudeness and a self righteousness that astounds you. It's a careful balance and I try to keep enough of a distance that I can retain a sense of perspective but, at the same time, I would hate for my facebook or twitter to be some junior in a back room of the record company pretending to be me. So it's me. On a bigger scale, even though I think I'm known as someone who is very much a part of social media and have been from the beginning of my career (there is an old interview with me in 1996 when in answer to the question 'What do you like to do in your spare time?" I replied, sincerely, 'I just bought a computer and I'm quite enjoying going on the internet') I still find the culture of being glued to our devices quite draining. There is a huge part of me that would like to become a luddite and move to the countryside and do a Kate Bush. Maybe. Someday!

Yes or no: Is there a Star Wars reference on this album?

No.

We could go on - or I could - but let's stop with the part where you called me young Jedi...

___________________________

Follow Darren on Twitter (and follow me... why not?). Also check out my 2009 interview with him, among other posts.

First thoughts: Kate Bush's Wild Man

2011-10-10T07:39:00.004-04:00

This morning I live tweeted my reaction to Kate Bush's first proper new single
since 2005, Wild Man...

Playing the new Kate Bush single now.

I like the music, but what the hell, is she singing the chorus?

Oh dear.

And, no, Andy Fairweather Low (old Welsh dude) is singing the chorus, because that's what we all wanted from Kate's first new song since 2005.

Well, that is not the most chart-bothering single ever, is it? #KateBush #WildMan

and there we have it. Hmmph. What do you think?

Sneaky Sound System: This could be big

2011-10-10T06:56:00.004-04:00

I am no authority on Australian pop duo Sneaky Sound System - you need to read Adem With An E or Pop Trash Addicts to get the real story - but I do love some of their new tracks and mixes. And the cover for their new album From Here To Anywhere (above) is hilariously 80's.

The uplifting new single Big has been given a blazing work-over by Oliver...

Sneaky Sound System - Big (Oliver Remix) by weareoliver

The 14th Minute mixes of We Love include a major interpolation of Prince's I Wanna Be Your Lover. Amazing.

Sneaky Sound System - We Love (The 14th Minute Edit) by The 14th Minute

I've not heard the new album yet, but I'll let you know what I think. Update:
You can stream From Here To Anywhere NOW!

Last, the Vegas-lovin' video for Big:

Birdy

2011-10-06T21:15:00.003-04:00

Latest tracks by OfficialBirdy

Amazing. More soon.

Up in '12: Amanda Mair

2011-10-04T06:44:00.002-04:00

16 year old Amanda Mair, from a small town near Stockholm, Sweden, is gaining fast attention for her sophisticated singles, House and Doubt, released via the elegant Labrador label. Rather than take the electropop route, she's chosen a chiming, airy sound similar to that of her producer Philip Ekström's band, The Mary Onettes.

She reminds me a bit of a baby Anneli Drecker. What do you think?

Amanda Mair's debut single, House:

And her new release, Doubt

You can download Doubt for free via Labrador. An album follows in early 2012.

Emeli Sandé, part II

2011-10-03T22:30:00.006-04:00

Each weeks brings us closer to Emeli Sandé's January album Our Version Of Events. If you worried that she might be a one hit wonder, fear not, her new single Daddy, carries the same drama her debut, Heaven, did.

Bring on the foreboding strings, the inner city moodiness and the swirling grandeur of, yes, the middle eight.

Daddy is out November 20. Emeli has UK shows coming up in November with the brilliant Alpines as opening act on several dates.

And the only solution was to stand and fight

2011-09-30T08:09:00.014-04:00

Florence + The Machine performed at a London party this week, previewing two new Ceremonials songs, Only If For A Night and Heart Lines.

Only If For A Night sounds monolithic. NME said, "A harp interplays with a hiphop beat. It's the first of a few tracks which feel expensive, and schooled in the US world of production. The flow (sorry Flo) reminds us of The Big Pink's Dominos." You can hear that link in the heavy hiphop drums. Check it:

Heart Lines is more tribal. Slight sound issue on this one...

The picture above is from the new issue of US magazine Interview. You can read an excerpt of the issue, in which she is interviewed by Baz Luhrmann, here. Billboard also has a definitive piece on the making of the album, which is said to feature more subtle vocals than Lungs.

UPDATE: Amazon US has 30 second samples from Ceremonials. It's going to be a very "big" album.

Still waiting on the video for her amazing new single, Shake It Out.