Things I Think About Music And Stuff Like That

The Best Music of 2011 - Part 3

2011-12-30T18:46:00.000-05:00

The Best Music of 2011

The Best B-Sides or Bonus Tracks of 2011

Does what it says on the tin!

1. "Silence" [Clip @ YouTube] - Kylie Minogue // Kylie saved the best Aphrodite offcut for the last single release for this era (I guess!); this b-side to the "Put Your Hands Up" single, for me, tops her 2010 b-sides and bonuses. "Silence" is simple: a no-big-deal 4-on-the-floor beat peps along as a springy piano riff surfaces and goes underground throughout the song. But Kylie's performance of the melody and delivery of inspired lyrics that play on the "silent" theme ("the best is what you haven't heard") crank up the volume on "Silence."

2. "The Only" [Listen @ SoundCloud] - Lykke Li // Kicky garage-band pop that would have been a radio hit in 1966, yet sounds 2011 fresh.

3. "Remain Nameless" [Listen @ MySpace] - Florence + The Machine // It's all about that creeping bass and insidious little synth arpeggio. Florence keeps things intense but doesn't quite let it all hang out vocally - thus creating a mysterious, eerily restrained atmosphere.

4. "No Bueno" [Listen @ SoundCloud] - Nadia Oh // I thought the original Colours album was fun, but this bonus track ups the entertainment factor. It's essentially a rework of "Taking Over The Dancefloor," but it has a silly charm all its own. Bueno!

5. "Pressed" [Listen @ SoundCloud] - Jessica 6 // Six minutes of nu-disco delights. This "White Horse" b-side is nice and laid-back, all bleeps, bloops, and warm, sweeping synths.

The 5 Best Remixes of 2011
There were tons of remixes this year, and this category honors the best of the best.

1. "Mirrorage (Lindstrøm Remix)" [Listen @ SoundCloud] - Glasser // Deliberate, methodical, and utterly hypnotic. I saw Glasser's video for "Mirrorage" at the end of 2010 and checked out her debut from that year, Ring, in 2011. Turns out it's one of my favorite 2010 albums... that I didn't actually hear until 2011. "Mirrorage" is the incantation-like jewel of the album, and this remix by Lindstrøm Remix stretches it out for a blissful 7 and a half minutes. One heavy, locomotive-like beat throughout, as "Mirrorage" is played out in various mutations - sounds super-minimal, but each element is used to maximum effect.

2. "Changed The Way You Kiss Me (Mensah Remix)" [Listen @ YouTube] - Example // 55 seconds in. That's when the remix travels to some kind of ridiculous level of nifty. That drop that knocks the air out of you is done a few times during the song's 5 and a half minutes, but it never gets old. I love how this mix transforms the original dance-pop sound of the original track into something downright menacing.

3. "Yoü and I (Mark Taylor Remix)" [Listen @ POP On And On] - Lady Gaga // Though I like the rejigged "We Will Rock You" stomp/handclap of the album version, this remix takes the track into a category of its own: electro honky-tonk. (Much, much better sounding than that might lead you to think!!)

4. "Aphrodite (Denzal Park Remix)" [Clip @ SoundCloud] - Kylie Minogue // The title track of Kylie's 2010 masterwork was practically begging for a hands-in-the-air, super-synthesized victory lap of a remix. Denzal Park delivered. Like "Keep on Pumpin' It (Astral Flight Mix)" refashioned for 2011. In other words: yes.

5. "Scheiße (DJ White Shadow Mugler)" [Listen @ YouTube] - Lady Gaga // Like "Mirrorage (Lindstrøm Remix)", this nine and a half minute-long experience is kinda blissful. Fierceness in musical form.

The 3 Best Leaks (still unreleased) of 2011
Lots of stuff leaked this year, but only tracks that still

remain unreleased are in the running for this category.

1. The Dannii Minogue song leaks // Yay Dannii! With her music career apparently on hold for now, it was wonderful to hear some new old Dannii tunes this year. "Karma Is A Bitch" takes the cake for best title (and the song itself is cute), the aching "Weak" would sound incredible with a full orchestral backing, and "Fear Of Flying" and "Healing On The Dancefloor" would totally have fit right onto the gem-filled Unleashed tracklist. (Check out more info about these leaks at Diva Incarnate and Feed Limmy [posts 1 and 2]!)

2. The Madonna song leaks // Like manna from heaven, Madonna tunes streamed onto the 'net all year long... none through official means, but ah well. My picks of the lot? The instrumentals. SO MANY INSTRUMENTALS. In particular, the Music and American Life album instrumentals hit the right spot: it's like listening to entirely new music, with details that I missed before popping up all over the place. Bring on all the Ray Of Light instrumentals for 2012!! (One can hope!)

3. The Britney Spears song leaks // Lots of really interesting Britney song leaks showed up this year, from the beautiful ballad "Everyday" to the "La Isla Bonita"-sampling "Love 2 Love U." Merry Britmas to all, and to all a good listen!

The Best Album Reissue(s) of 2011

Albums from the past, re-released for a 2011 audience!

1. The Queen album reissues: Batch 1, Batch 2, Batch 3 // QUEEN! 2011 marked 40 years of Queen songs, and part of the celebrations included reissues of each of their studio albums plus bonus tracks. Their '70s album bonuses, for me, were fascinating to hear, especially the BBC sessions and live performances. (I'm admittedly a stan for '70s Queen. '80s and Innuendo/Made In Heaven Queen are awesome too, of course, but there's something about that "no synthesizers" sound that just speaks to me!)

The Best Compilation or Greatest Hits Album of 2011
I judged this category based on the quality of the

songs and the cohesiveness of the album as a whole.

1. Mounqaliba - Rising: The Remixes - Natacha Atlas // Yessss, remixed Natacha Atlas! I adore her voice, but haven't really gotten too into her work since 2006's Mish Maoul. I guess I'm stuck on her electronic fusion sound. So! This collection of remixes of tracks from her 2010 album Mounqaliba was just the thing for me. Lusciously reworked songs like "Batkallim" and "Taalet" are reinvented with undulating, skittering, or simply pounding rhythms by big names like Cheb i Sabbah, Bombay Dub Orchestra, and Beats Antique.

The 3 Best Music Videos of 2011
Tons of music videos popped up this year - these were my favorites.

1. "I Follow Rivers" - Lykke Li // Sleek, super-simple, striking. OK, so it's just a sometimes-hooded Lykke Li chasing a dude through bleak, snow-covered terrain, but "I Follow Rivers" is quietly intense. When Lykke catches her guy at the end, showers him with concerned kisses, and gazes straight into the camera while cradling his head, you can't really tell if her journey is over or if it's just begun.

2. "Shake It Out" - Florence + The Machine // Hazily regal, this ornate illustration of "Shake It Out" sticks with you.

3. Nadia Oh's 2011 music videos - "Taking Over The Dancefloor"; "Jump Out The Window"; "Amsterdam"; "Soopermodel"; "No Bueno" // She gon tek ur money; she's a bad bitch; Nadia Oh is for the win, yo; she climbs on top of shit... in summary: fqn amazin.

The Best Artist of 2011
To be the Best Artist of 2011, the artist must have

maintained a consistent level of fabulousness all year.

1. Kylie Minogue // Well duh! I saw this flawless human being in concert for the first time ever on April 30, 2011 at the Patriot Center in Virginia, during her Aphrodite Live 2011 North American tour. Like a dream come true, except I never even dreamed I'd see Kylie live because it wasn't until 2009 that she graced our shores, and even then I just figured she'd never come near enough where I live (glamorous Maryland!). But lo! She came. And a dream-I-didn't-dare-to-dream came true! I wrote a short review of the show shortly after seeing it (and loving it), and I'll make sure to get that posted soon. But all that needs to be said, really, is that Kylie is an amazing, amazing, amazing entertainer (and singer! She needs more kudos for her voice).

And that's it for 2011! Have a very Happy New Year, everybody! See you in 2012!! :)

Cheery bye, Scarlett

The Best Music of 2011 - Top Singles

2011-12-29T19:22:00.001-05:00

The Best Music of 2011

The 50 Best Singles of 2011

Catchy, memorable, and downright fantastic -
that's what makes a song one of the best singles of 2011!

1. "Shake It Out" [Video] - Florence + The Machine // Beyond its bigger-than-big, elegant sound, it's the lyrics that really got me. As I noted on my LiveJournal, "Shake It Out" and its middle-eight bit ("And I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't..." and especially that "And I'm ready to suffer and I'm ready to hope" line) has actually brought tears to my eyes (see my long sob story to get why). "Epic" is overused, but I think it truly applies to "Shake It Out" and its elegant over-the-topness.

2. "I Follow Rivers" [Video] - Lykke Li // That ambient beginning and end, that honking (in a good way) riff, that chorus ("deep sea, baby... dark doom, honey"): "I Follow Rivers" is so dang beautiful.

3. "Near To God" [Video] - Pati Yang // At about 30 seconds in, prepare to be amazed. The driving synth bass and propulsive drumbeat get serious. Pati's background vocals on the chorus are nothing short of celestial. More like an experience than a song, this one.

4. "Aşk Kaç Beden Giyer" [Video] - Hadise // I have no idea what she's singing, but even I can feel the fierce in Hadise's delivery here. The catchiest song of the year for me - it got stuck in my head a lot (probs because I listened to it so much!). And that middle 8, when she draws the title lyric out all sultry-like, is delicious.

5. "Love Is Won" [Video] - Lia Ices // More mood! In this case, Lia's rich voice, piano, light drums, and bass work to make a cozy atmosphere. It feels like a song you've loved forever. So lovely!

6. "Marry the Night" [Video] - Lady Gaga // It's like Lady Gaga updated Real McCoy's "Another Night" for 2011! I love the Eurodance punch of the instrumentation, and the chorus is amazing. The outro is fantastic - it could last forever and I could never get enough!

7. "Electric" [Listen @ YouTube] - Anniela // Pure, perfect pop! It just makes ya feel good. Not much more I can say - "let the beat just hit you with that feelin'!"

8. "Weekend" [Video] - Class Actress // Such a sexy groove of a tune. Class Actress hit all the right buttons here: a laidback beat, chiming synths, and a killer, melodic chorus.

9. "Killer Bee" [Video] - Anouk // Just try to listen to this and not feel your spirits lift. That chorus! That ascending/descending outro! That voice!

10. "The Streets" [Video] - Camille Jones // Ooooh. This is smooth. I love how the bass bubbles under the track and keeps threatening to boil over.

11. "Bite Back" [Video] - Zowie // SUCH a good song. I wanna hear more from Zowie! A huge hit on my iPod at the beginning of the year, "Bite Back" has such a cool sound, partly thanks to incredibly effective production, and mostly thanks to Zowie's assured delivery. Awesome stuff.

12. "Hold It Against Me" [Video] - Britney Spears // That breakdown. OK, the rest of the song is ace, too (love that vocal thing Brit does with the "little hazy" line) but that bass, those ad libs, those effects ("now-now-now-NOWWWW"), and that lead-up to the final chorus - perfection.

13. "Come Closer" [Video] - Miles Kane // Also perfect. It's short but super sweet, and the chorus of "whoa"s and "ahh"s is the best use of non-word sounds this year (sorry, "Till The World Ends"!)

14. "Rock Paper Scissors" [Video] - Kreesha Turner // Cool. It's pretty unlikely to listen to this and not get addicted. That thumping beat underpins a fantastic, slow-burning vocal from Kreesha, with scratchy synths brightening a deep, dirty groove.

15. "Taking Over the Dancefloor" [Video] - Nadia Oh // Kate Middleton who? It's all about Nadia Oh - as this moombahton epic proves. Everything about it works like a charm, from the squeaky synth zips to the sing-song lyrics.

16. "Meaninglessness" [Listen @ bellinspace.com] - Bell // Was this a single? I saw it offered on a few blogs, so I thought it might be. I dunno. Alls I know is, what a nifty chorus lyric - "all the meaninglessness means so much" is certainly a contender for best line of the year. Bell's voice is so neat - she's got a cool, conversational delivery.

17. "Rock 'N' Roll Delight" [Video] - Hugo // Dreamy, delish, delightful (heh.)

18. "Lady Luck" [Video] - Jamie Woon // This guy. I want to love his album, but I feel like it just didn't hit the highs of "Night Air," "Spirit," and "Lady Luck" - the rest of the album is fine but kinda inconsequential. But "Lady Luck" - ooohh! Jamie Woon's multitracked vocals melt like butter over a bass-heavy mix that will have you hitting "repeat" again and again.

19. "Body Rock (Radio Mix)" [Video] - Barbarellas // Another album that I felt was almost fantastic but was dragged down by a few duds - but not by "Body Rock." This tune reintroduced me to the former B*Witched twins, and I was hooked. So sassy! It's just a good, old-fashioned pop song. Quality stuff.

20. "You'll Never Love Me" [Listen @ YouTube] - Elisabeth Carew // Put an album out, Elisabeth Carew! I'd buy it! She did a song in 2008, "Destructive," that I loved, and I love this one, too. The chorus is kind of a downer, but Elisabeth's voice sugar coats it. Another big hit (on my iPod).

21. "White Elephant" [Video] - Ladytron // Luscious. "White Elephant" is densely layered with regal synths and a twinkling melody, while lead singer Helen Marnie holds court.

22. "Professional Loving" [Video] - Emika // Dat bass. Emika's soft, kinda creepy intonation is the cherry on top of this delightfully unsettling track. A haunted house of a tune.

23. "Born This Way" [Video] - Lady Gaga // Her second entry on this list, Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" caught a lot of warranted melodic/lyrical flack. But at the end of the day, I still feel an urge to shake a tail feather as Gaga expresses herself over that incessantly driving beat. It's so joyful! Misguided, calculated, or a total rip-off it may be, but... I still really like it and its massively over-produced self.

24. "White Horse" [Video] - Jessica 6 // Deep, seductive synths and disco-ready drums combine with Nomi Ruiz's honeyed demands ("let me see you dance, let me see you move") to make a hugely infectious track.

25. "Runaway Love" [Video] - Alice Gold // So '60s that you feel like you should don some go-go boots! Terrific, electric-keyboard (or something!)-touched production is enhanced by Alice's neat voice.

26. "Take A While" [Listen @ YouTube] - Pati Yang // "Near To God" has a passionate urgency, and so does "Take A While." In this case, though, it's less dance floor-ready, with plucked strings and rockin' drums surrounding Pati's expressive vocals - you can hear the sadness in her delivery. Touching.

27. "I Stand Alone" [Video] - Theophilus London // Upbeat production doesn't tell the whole story - "I run this town to be with you" reveals the aching heart at the center of this tune. Love those vocals that come in at the end!

28. "Lucky Day" [Video] - Nicola Roberts // I'm gonna bet that it's nigh on impossible to listen to "Lucky Day" and not feel at least a bit cheery.

29. "Witches Brew" [Video] - Katy B // The spiraling synth and insistent drumbeat coloring the verses are contrasted beautifully with the breakbeat chorus. Katy B's bewitching (heh) vocals cook up (heh heh) something special here.

30. "Party Rock Anthem" [Video] - LMFAO // My fave song of summer 2011! It's great big goofy obnoxious fun. "Party Rock Anthem" is like the novelty songs of the '50s and '60s - "Purple People Eater," "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" and so on - that we don't seem to get as much these days, but with screeching synths. We needs songs like this on the radio - there's always a place for silly!

31. "내가 제일 잘 나가" [Video] - 2NE1 // Going through the channels in the middle of the night and coming across MNET was one of the cooler moments of my year, because that's how I found this 2NE1 tune! Tons of 'tude and infectiously synthy production, the English translation of the title offers a good approximation of the song: it really is "the best."

32. "Ding Dong (Official Version)" [Video] - Dana International // That magnificent middle 8! Such a super-catchy, super-dreamy pop tune.

33. "On the Floor (feat. Pitbull)" [Video] - Jennifer Lopez // Rather heavenly, actually!

34. "Stick Shift (Radio Edit)" [Listen @ YouTube] - Antoine Clamaran feat. Soraya // Not quite as life-completingly amazing as last year's "Live Your Dreams" (another Clamaran/Soraya collabo), but it's a lot more witty, with its references to road rage and other such vehicular stuff.

35. "Superman" [Video] - Hadise // Sexy! Like I said in my album summary, it's the strings in "Superman" that take center stage. They sound like a simple loop during the chorus, but man are they effective.

36. "Moonlightpeople" [Video] - Barbara Panther // Barbara Panther's singular vocals pepper the jingling percussion of this track with soundbytes like "check it out, now" - and who am I to refuse a cool cat like Ms. Panther?

37. "DNA" [Listen @ YouTube] - Wanessa // Dance-pop to the max! I hadn't listened to Wanessa before her latest LP (also titled DNA), and I'm so glad I gave her sound a spin! "DNA" has a classic, divalicious chorus that Wanessa belts out with aplomb. "It's in her DNA," indeed!

38. "Put Your Hands Up" [Video] - Nerina Pallot // Such a lovely song! The colorful strings and buzzing bass highlight the centerpiece here: Nerina's delivery of wonderful, loved-up lyrics.

39. "WORLD OF FANTASY" [Video] - capsule // A bit over 6 minutes longs, and I love every second of it. When the bass comes in to beef up that bright, shining lead synth - well, it's pretty neat.

40. "Changed the Way You Kiss Me" [Video] - Example // The sung bits? Perfection. "We used to be so, so soulful / Al Green on the background vocals" - is also genius.

41. "Drop It Low" [Video] - Kat Deluna // I had a fairly serious addiction to this bouncy ditty during the summer. It's like someone's playing the synth bit on a trampoline.

42. "You'll Be Mine" [Video] - The Pierces // I got a big Fleetwood Mac vibe from this enchanting tune - but the Pierce sisters' voices make this earth-child sound all their own. Like finding a cool shadow on a sunny day; it's bright out, but there's a touch of darkness, too.

43. "Dévoile Qui Tu Es" [Listen @ YouTube] - Jacynthe // Why had I not heard of Jacynthe before this year? I've missed out on so much wonderful pop! I now love her high-quality dance-pop sound - "Dévoile Qui Tu Es" gives an ideal intro to her tunes.

44. "Til Death" [Video] - Wynter Gordon // What a killer (heh) line - "with the music I die." Wynter Gordon is the most underrated voice in pop, and this irresistible ode to dancing till ya die proves why she needs to get big. The Denzal Park Radio Edit adds a clever tick-tocking (at least to my ears) rhythm that takes the song to another level.

45. "Motorcycle 666" [Video] - Pop Levi // Pop Levi's back, and all beefed up! The chugging guitars and sample of a deep voice intoning "six, six, six" work with Pop's super voice to make something sinfully good.

46. "GIMME GIMME" [Video] - MADEMOISELLE YULIA // I can't listen to this sunny track without grinning!

47. "Starlight" [Video] - Sophie Ellis-Bextor // Gorgeous and lush, "Starlight" features a twilit melody and a beautiful Sophie vocal.

48. "Stoopid" [Listen @ YouTube] - CeCe Peniston // Finally! New CeCe! CeCe's voice is as distinctive and club-ready as ever, and the way she tosses off that diss - "you must really think that I'm stoopid" - is already a classic music moment in my book.

49. "La Bete et la Belle" [TV Performance] - Amanda Lear // La Reine Lear is in her spellbinding element here - all mysterious lyrics and booming, anthemic chorus. The production is fab, too - I only wish it lasted longer!

50. "Sweet Suburban Disco (Radio Edit)" [Listen @ YouTube] - Billie Ray Martin // Billie Ray Martin gets - and does - the suburban desire-for-glamour thing better than anyone. Old-school synth stuff, with a dynamite title line - "sweet suburban disco" is one of the best lyrics of the year. So cool.

Part 3 of The Best Music Of 2011 coming up! :) Cheery bye, Scarlett

The Best Music of 2011 - Top Albums, part 2 of 2

2011-12-27T20:57:00.001-05:00

The Best Music of 2011

The 31 Best Albums of 2011, part 2 of 2

A pretty self-explanatory category!

16. Diamonite - Bell // The torrential, windswept "Bulgari" starts this minimal-but-mighty album off right. Bell's crisp vocals navigate that track's choppy waters with style, as she does with the rest of Diamonite. It's an eccentric debut LP, but not in a cutesy "oh look at how quirky I am!" kind of way; rather, Diamonite's sound is based in electronic elements that work with Bell's super-expressive tones and idiosyncratic lyrics ("Meaninglessness" wins extra points for this font-referencing line: "I see, all around me / in the newspaper I read / in the serif and sans-serif fonts on my screen / people all busy themselves idling. Yeah!") to make something truly, engagingly special.

17. Colour Of The Trap - Miles Kane // This and Alice Gold's album (#28 on this list) successfully revived the spirit of swinging '60s pop this year (on my iPod, at least!). Colour Of The Trap has sunny ditties (like the yearning "Rearrange" and the sock hop of "Quicksand"), twist-and-shout rockers ("Inhaler," "Better Left Invisible"), lovelorn ballads ("My Fantasy," "Take The Night From Me"), and even a cooing duet with French actress Clémence Poésy (ooh la la, "Happenstance"!) - in short, a stunning selection of tunes.

18. Zoë - Zoë Badwi // Get ready to dance! (Or wiggle at your computer chair, like I'm doing at the moment.) From the high-flying "Freefallin" to the soaring "Until You're Over Me" ("fighting my feelings on the dance floor" - you will survive, Zoë!), all the way through the rather ethereal "One Step Behind" and surprisingly beatless "Believe You" (Zoë's voice is lovely here!), the Aussie diva makes her debut album a momentous event. (And the TV Rock Edit of "Release Me" is amazing. Amazing!!)

19. Did I Say I Love You - Camille Jones // I'll talk about opening track "The Streets" and its fabness in my forthcoming Top Singles of 2011 list, so let's start with the second track, "Closer." Like the rest of Did I Say I Love You, it borrows the anthemic spirit of classic dance and house songs of the '90s and, in "Closer"'s case, jazzes 'em up even more with zippy production. "Wasted" has a love-drunk disco vibe, "Now You Know" is full of sinister bass and synths, "Better Forget" is wistful, and "Stay Gold" is huge. "The Dark" closes the album, a more aggressive Part II to "The Streets," drawing on the "walk the streets, late at night" line of the latter song. A fantastic dance record.

20. Flash! - Electric Lady Lab // OK. It's not a lyrical masterpiece, it's not a musical revolution. I imagine that this album could be easily dismissed as "cheesy." But I love love love Flash! Electric Lady Lab's full-length debut wears its '80s and '90s dance music influences on its sleeve, from the pulsing synthline in "Last Virgin Alive" (what a title!) to the actual '90s classic-sampling "You & Me" (Snap!'s "Rhythm Is A Dancer" is deployed to excellent effect here). Lead singer Stine Hjelm Jacobsen's voice can go all lovesick ("Imagination," "Dangerous") or serious-business-on-the-dance-floor ("Dancing With A Ghost," "Flash!"), and shines most brightly on the tear-stained "It's Over Now."

21. Barbara Panther - Barbara Panther // "Rise Up." Seriously, just listen to "Rise Up," and you'll hear why I love Barbara Panther's debut album: clanking percussion, wordless vocal riffs, Barbara's calls for "a cosmic revolution"... It's all good, and these elements - creative instrumentation and melodies, clever lyrics - are all present on Barbara Panther. Deliciously weird, this album is like a sonic journey - sometimes it gets frantic, lyrically referencing classic horror ("Voodoo" and its "Mr. Frankenstein" shout-out), sometimes it gets quiet ("Wizzard"), sometimes it gets scary ("Empire"). But at the end of the trip, you want to book another round.

22. See The Light - Jessica 6 // "White Horse," aww yeah! But I'll get to that in the Top Singles list. Jessica 6's debut is a bit of a mixed bag of greatness, featuring saucily sweaty funk like "In The Heat" and "Freak The Night" tangling with the smooth disco jam of "Good To Go" and high-energy tunes like "See The Light" and "U Motion." And then there's the torch laments of "Not Anymore" and "Blessed Mother." And and and... I'm not even mentioning the rest of the album because all that needs to be said is go listen.

23. Devotion - Mia Martina // Devotion is dreamy dance-pop of the highest caliber; the piano-pumping title track, the splashy synths of "Missing You," the melodic ballad of "Miles Away," and the darkly glimmering "Chasing The Rush" all highlight Mia's wispy, crystalline voice.

24. Feel It Break - Austra // Need some dark synth tunes in your life? You need some Austra. With lead singer Katie Stelmanis' elegant, sweeping voice guiding the way, Feel It Break gallops to a stunning start with "Darken Her Horse" and only gets better as the album goes on: "Lose It" gets glorious at 2:54 minutes in (the whole song is great, but that little melody is just... oooh!), 2010 single "Beat And The Pulse" lives up to its title (as does the shimmery "Spellwork"), and "The Villain" thumps and thuds and bumps in the night.

25. Emika - Emika // I honestly did not get this album at first. I quite liked "3 Hours" and its slow-and-steady beat, but the rest of the songs were a bit boring. Or so I thought! An off-hand listen to Emika's debut album might not reveal its grimy, bass-heavy charm, but if you dim the lights and let it work its magic, you'll find yourself spinning it over and over again. Even the instrumental track "Be My Guest" is compelling, so imagine how cool the rest of the songs are! Lots of bass, lots of whispered words, lots of bass, lots of eerie melodies, and lots of bass characterize these bewitching tunes.

26. Timez Are Weird These Days - Theophilus London // The best name in music ever? Theophilus London is certainly in the running. He makes a gotta-listen-to-this-guy first impression on "Last Name London," which features his breathless rapping, wailing vocal sample, and a powerful pummel of a chorus. The rest of the album doesn't pound quite as hard as that first song; instead, it picks up sugar-sweet singers like Holly Miranda ("Love Is Real") and Sara Quin (the outstanding "Why Even Try") as it grooves through crooners like "Wine And Chocolates" and "One Last Time" and surf-jams through the incredible "All Around The World." "Stop It" has hooks aplenty, "Girls Girls $" has its vulgar moments but is nevertheless hypnotically fun, and the New Wave-y "Lighthouse" spotlights Theophilus London's fantastic singing voice. He needs to sing more! Love his rapping, but I need more of that voice in my life. (I'll talk about "I Stand Alone" and its amazingness in the Top Singles list.)

27. Love CPR - September // What a coinkidink, September! The party's in my head when I listen to Love CPR! Seriously though, this is a fun album. The scorching trio of "Something's Going On" (this needs to be a single!), robotic "Intimate Connection," and electric "Heat Rising" can't be beat, and the rest of Love CPR ain't too shabby, either. Pop in your earbuds or crank up your speakers and have a party in your head, too.

28. Seven Rainbows - Alice Gold // Yes, yes, yes! Alice Gold's Seven Rainbows is classic pop-rock goodness. "Seasons Change," "Runaway Love," and "And You'll Be There" are simply flawless, "Orbiter" rocks, "Sadness Is Coming" is bittersweet, but "How Long Can These Streets Be Empty" is astounding. Yep, astounding. It's bluesy and filled with buzzing, droning guitars that Alice's sweet growl takes to another level. What a debut!!

29. Made4tv - Little Jackie // LYRICS! Little Jackie has some awesome lyrics on display on Made4tv, with Imani Coppola's fab voice delivering killer lines about everything from sampling dudely delights on "31 Flavors" to the promise that if you give her "the time of day, I'll give you the time of your life" on "Time Of Your Life." The absolutely excellent production on Made4tv means you have to tear your ears away sometimes from the addictive doo-wops and classic girl group sounds to listen out for those clever lyrics. The wit, wisdom, and wonderful instrumentation reach a high point on "Cock Block" (that title!), where it all just gets gorgeous.

30. Tropic Electric - Kreesha Turner // A late entry to my list! Though I adored "Rock Paper Scissors" during the summer months, Kreesha's full sophomore album didn't pop up until the latter part of the year - but it grew on me quickly. From the dubby "I Feel My Darling" to the cry-worthy "Don't Leave Me Now," all the way through "I Could Stay" (why is this not a massive smash? It should be!) and the dance-y, trance-y "Away From You," Tropic Electric gets under your skin.

31. 50 Words For Snow - Kate Bush // What to make of 50 Words For Snow? It's only 7 tracks long, and I'm pretty strict with keeping my Top Albums list restricted to 9-track-minimums (any shorter, and it just doesn't feel like an album to me). But this is Kate Bush. And each of those 7 tracks are looooong. And they're beautiful. Aw heck, I'll just squeeze this one in at the end of my list. In its own category, almost. 30 Top Albums... plus 1. No, it's not my fave record of the year, though I wish I felt that way - it's Kate Bush's first original album since 2005's Aerial, which was her first album since 1993. Lord, that's a long time. Anyways. This is the mother of all moody albums this year, the definition of a collection of songs you must give yourself time to sink into. For me, it's not the sort of thing I put on any old time; I need to be in the right mood - heh - to get into it. But when I do... I love it. I love the magical "Snowflake" (Kate only sings one bit throughout the whole song, but whoa does she sing it good), I love the ice-cold love story of "Misty," I love the sympathetic jingle of "Wild Man," I even love the rather wacky (counting down nonsense words for snow, recited by Stephen Fry? OK! I mean, "Pi" worked, so...) title track. Liking this album so much isn't a case of blind fan love, I don't think. There really is something different, something truly lovely, about 50 Words For Snow. Kate Bush - she's still got it.

Top Singles of 2011 and more coming soon! :) Cheery bye, Scarlett

Hey guys! & The Best Music of 2011 - Top Albums, part 1 of 2

2011-12-21T18:10:00.002-05:00

I'm still here! Just not here, on this blog. I've pretty much always got music on my mind, evidenced by the playcount on my last.fm and the notes about tunes I'm listening to scattered throughout my class notebooks (I'm still pluggin' away at UMD, slowly but surely!). I have all my playlists for the Best Music of 2011 on my iPod (and still have the rest of my 2010 lists too). Tons of great ideas - just don't seem to be able to get disciplined enough to put my thoughts down eloquently (or as close as I can get to it!). Between work this past summer, my usual schedule as a sort of perpetual undergrad (all down to health stuff, blah), and some nasty 2011 developments (more health blah!), I've just not given this blog the attention I'd love to give it.

But! By the end of this year, I'm hoping to finish the Best Music of 2011. Then, I'll get to work on posting the 3rd part of the Best Music of 2009 and the Top Singles and 3rd part of the Best of 2010. Better late than never, right? :)

Let's get started with 2011. What a year for tunes! For me, so much of the music I loved this year can fit into the "mood music" category. Not romantic, necessarily; just, like, moody. Down in the dumps or high on life - this year's best music found inspiration in both. The first few entries on my Albums list definitely have bits that qualify for "down in the dumps" status, but I'm glad to see, as I look over what I've loved this year, that there are also really bright, shiny spots too.

So - here we go!

The Best Music of 2011

The 31 Best Albums of 2011, part 1 of 2

A pretty self-explanatory category!

1. Ceremonials - Florence + The Machine // MAJESTIC. I love Entertainment Weekly's review of this grand album - they describe it as "a baroque cathedral, bedecked with ornate tapestries made of ghostly choirs, pagan-rhythmic splendor, and a whole lot of harp." I wish I had written that! My own thoughts? Well, I was hooked from the start: "Only If For A Night" and its slow-burning, regal procession-like rhythm is like a great big block of awesome in itself, but then Florence lets loose her wail, and suddenly there was nothing I could do. I just fell in love. "Shake It Out" - my favorite single of the year - sealed the deal, but more on that when I get to the singles of 2011 list. And these are only the first two songs on the album! Further into the record, you have the jaunty, glimmering "Breaking Down," the simply gorgeous "No Light, No Light" (surprise! Dubstep middle eight!), and "Spectrum," in which Flo begs you, magnificently, of course, to "say my naaaAAAAme!" It all ends (unless you're listening to the bonus track version - definitely worth the extra bucks!) with the mighty, weary sigh of "Leave My Body." Once again, MAJESTIC.

2. Wounded Rhymes - Lykke Li // This was my favorite album of the year pretty much all year, until Ceremonials was released in the last bit of 2011. Flo's opus was just that bit much more powerful, but oh my goodness, is Wounded Rhymes amazing. Moody, moody, moody, Wounded Rhymes starts with the bang of "Youth Knows No Pain," after which my second fave single of the year, "I Follow Rivers," drifts into earshot. And then? "Unrequited Love" features supportive "shoo-wap shoo-wa"s, acting as a kind of commiserating arm-around-the-shoulder to Lykke's unhappy love story; "Sadness Is A Blessing" includes great lines like "sadness is my boyfriend, oh sadness I'm your girl." And "I Know Places." "I KNOW PLACES," people. I can't even with this, the moodiest track of 2011 - 2011, the year of the mood. A little over 6 minutes, "I Know Places" is stark, bleak, ends with an atmospheric instrumental, and pulling the whole thing together is Lykke's mournful voice - it just hits you where it hurts. But it hurts so good!

3. Grown Unknown - Lia Ices // This too was on my Top Albums of 2011 list from early in the year; it's always been within the top three. Grown Unknown is another wonderfully downtempo entry in the Year of the Mood, its intimate sound suiting Lia Ices' siren-like tones perfectly. The first three tracks form a trifecta of beauty: "Love Is Won" has a warm, '70s singer-songwriter vibe to it, "Daphne" is a celestial duet with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, and "Little Marriage" rounds out the trio with its haunted hush. "Grown Unknown" peps proceedings up with handclappy percussion, and listen out for the lovely melody at the end of the track. Only 9 tracks, Grown Unknown is nevertheless a huge album - quietly full of emotion and feeling. It's the quiet ones you have to watch out for! (They end up making the best albums.)

4. Born This Way - Lady Gaga // Album of the decade? Oh Lady Gaga, you so crazy. But she was on to something. The blistering, pounding production is pretty exhilarating, and when things get a little softer (well, as soft as a Lady Gaga song can get) on "Bloody Mary" and 'Heavy Metal Lover," the nifty little touches shine through: dig those distorted voices and artful humming! All through the album, Lady Gaga's vocal Vogue-ing entrances, the lyrics amuse and entice, and that fantastic production engages. You go, Gaga. You go.

5. Electric - Anniela // It's the least moody album of 2011, but Anniela's Electric takes the cake as the most fun record of the year. From the elegantly Eurodance-y "Candlelight" to the goofy "Party Crusher," all the way through the winking "Love Muscle" and ballad-y "Stay" and "Dark Pearl," Electric is just a good time in album form. I liked a couple of songs from Anniela's 2008 album Extravaganza, but this year's release really got me. When things got a little too moody, it was nice to get happy with Anniela.

6. Wires And Sparks - Pati Yang // No duds here - it's all wonderfully icy electronica, highlighted by Pati Yang's pretty voice. "Let It Go" starts things off at a good pace, but "Near To God" blasts off into space with driving bass and killer beats. When it hits the chorus, it. Goes. OFF. Then, "Hold Your Horses" bops, "Breaking Waves" lingers, and "Revolution Baby" grooves. The album ends with the ghostly "Fold," but it doesn't really end, does it? Not when you keep starting the album over again. It's that good.

7. Old Tyme Religion - Hugo // He's got 99 problems, but a misspelling ain't one - well, it is, but it looks cool. (Signed to Jay-Z's Roc Nation label, Hugo's debut LP features a down-n-dirty cover of the rapper's hit.) Anyways - Hugo could sing the phone book, and I'm pretty sure I'd quite like it - I love his voice. Warm and rich, his vocals sound right at home atop the bluesy rock/pop tunes here; whether filled with grinding organ (the title track), squidgy synth flourishes (the intoxicating "Hopelessly Stoned"), or plain old gorgeousness ("Mekong River Delta"), each song brings something tasty to the table.

8. Vel - Susheela Raman // I fell in love with the earthy, hands-in-the-air anthem "Raise Up" instantly, and it didn't take long to adore the smoky, ancient echoes of "Magdalene." But "Daga Daga," clocking in at 5 and a 1/2 minutes, was a bit of a challenge. What threw me was the stream-of-consciousness vibe of the music and singing - it just seemed to go on and on. And wouldn't you know, that actually became one of my fave parts of the song. Yep, "Daga Daga" got under my skin, and soon the whole album followed. Vel is a collection of songs to spend a lot of time with - each listen yields more delicious touches, like the intense closing of "Paal" or the woozy strings of "Muthu Kumar." So good.

9. Cinderella's Eyes - Nicola Roberts // While opening track and lead single "Beat Of My Drum" isn't my fave song on Cinderella's Eyes, or even on my Top Singles Of 2011 list, it still works as a warning shot for Girl Aloud Nicola Roberts' debut solo album. "Don't it make your heart go 'wow!' / How I've turned this whole thing 'round?" she asks, and just one listen to the personality-filled Cinderella's Eyes later, you can only answer "YES!" The title track's frothy synths and high vocals belie a melancholy set of lines that ultimately reaffirm Nicola's decision to "choose to learn, choose to love, choose to laugh, choose to play, choose to care, choose to ask, choose to speak, choose you." That sad-but-strong undercurrent is apparent in varying doses on the rest of the album's lyrics, but they aren't the only highlight of Cinderella's Eyes - the flawless production and Nicola's charming, highly distinctive vocals (there's a chance they won't be to everyone's taste!) shine brightly, too. "Say It Loud" - this is a fab album!

10. On A Mission - Katy B // Now this is good stuff. I sampled "Katy On A Mission" late last year, but was not impressed with what I thought was tinny production. What in the world was wrong with me? I'm so glad I tried out the full album anyway and didn't rely on my doofus first thoughts. "Power On Me" is all '90s-house-for-2011 (and therefore amazing), "Katy On A Mission" is a shady, shifty club banger (I'm not sure how I arrived at "tinny production"!), and "Witches Brew" - I can't say enough about how cool this song is. All killer here, no filler.

11. To Get Her Together - Anouk // What a fantastic, retro-but-fresh album! It starts off with the kicky jam of the title track, gets all jukebox gem on "Killer Bee," and the brings you down in the best way with the one-two punch of "Ms. Crazy" (a wailer of a tune) and the heartbreaking "What Have You Done." "Any Younger" and its handclappy, sing-along sound will lift your spirits, but the lyrics - "come and dance and party, cuz we're not getting any younger... getting fat..." - probably won't! The songs here are richly produced - lots of organic, bluesy rock elements - and Anouk gives her all vocally. When she cries "cheater!!!" on "Down And Dirty," you feel it.

12. Aşk Kaç Beden Giyer? - Hadise // Aw yeah, Hadise! She was behind my third fave album of 2009, and here, she delivers the goods once again. Only 9 tracks long, Aşk Kaç Beden Giyer? still packs a whole lot of pop into each song. "Mesajımı Almıştır O" has a chorus, complete with sprinkles of chimes (or something like that), that will bury itself in your head, and "Melek" is wonderful dark, trance-y pop. But it's the singles that scale heights your faves could never. The title track reminds me of Britney's Blackout tunes - it melds that urban-electro sound with Hadise's assertive delivery. "Superman," the album's lead single, smolders all over the place, all drawn out, sighing strings and powerful percussion. Yeah. This is a gooooood album.

13. Rapprocher - Class Actress // Sleepy synths and swooning vocals (from the sweet-voiced Elizabeth Harper), all wrapped up in delirious, hazy production - that's Class Actress' debut full-length, Rapprocher. I was addicted to this album when it first appeared, and now, it still has the same chilled-but-electric spark that made me fall in love the first time. It's kinda like if early Madonna fell asleep in the studio and accidentally upped the reverb by 100%. Sounds odd, but it really, really works.

14. Femme Fatale - Britney Spears // Godney brought the goods with Femme Fatale: apocalyptic dance smash "Till The World Ends" blasts the album off to a strong start, "Hold It Against Me" continues the greatness with that breakdown, and then everything gets all turned upside down and "Inside Out." "How I Roll" makes me think of fun Blackout asides like "Toy Soldier" and "Freakshow," while "Big Fat Bass" confounds expectations (how many things did will.i.am produce/feature on this year?) by actually being big, fat, and bassy. It's kind of a goofy track - "it's gettin' bigger, the bass is gettin' bigger!" - but I love it because it marries neat production with a bunch of cool hooks and a confident Britney vocal. Will.i.am sounds good too! And then, "Trip To Your Heart" sweetens the album's sound, all pretty, twinkling and breathy. By the time Femme Fatale is over, you're ready to go back to the start again. Or is that "end"?

15. Colours - Nadia Oh // Flawless masterpiece... or something like that. Where do I start with Nadia Oh's Colours? Nadia Oh's last album, 2008's Hot Like Wow, totally passed me by at the time. Checking out the Popjustice forums this year (a great way to get ideas for music to check out!!) led to a thread about Nadia Oh and the lead opus from Colours, "Taking Over The Dancefloor" (originally titled "Kate Middleton"). Well, that was it. "Taking Over The Dancefloor" took over my iPod, and when Colours was released, I was fully put under Nadia Oh's singular spell. Awesomely amusing lines ("the girls they call me London (swag), cuz I am based in London (swag)") are delivered with fantastic, can't-be-bothered rap-singing by Nadia, but the album isn't a joke or something. It's actually really good, with A+ production and ultra-catchy melodies. Try this album out if you haven't yet - it'll totally get you poppington.

Part 2 coming soon! :) Cheery bye, Scarlett

The Best Music of 2010 - Top Albums, part 2 of 2

2011-01-06T22:18:00.000-05:00

The Best Music of 2010

The 25 Best Albums of 2010, part 2 of 2

A pretty self-explanatory category!

11. Fall From Grace by Infernal: I got hooked on the duo with From Paris To Berlin but was underwhelmed by their 2008 effort, Electric Cabaret; thankfully, Fall From Grace is, for me, a return to form. It has everything that I loved about From Paris: Fall From Grace explores all the best qualities of dance music, from the euphoric title track to the melancholy "Alone, Together" and the aggressive "Materialize!" Then you have "Weird How You..." and its shimmering disco and the gleaming "Club Erotic," which should have been the final track - but the strange "Think Cavalli, Baby" pipped it to the post for some reason. So aside from the bizarre cover art and that last track, Fall From Grace is a wonderfully executed dance album.

12. 2079 by Shena: I didn't even know Shena had an album coming out this year, but lo and behold, there it was on amazon.com! Though I didn't get into her One Man Woman release from last year, I was smitten with her updated disco sensibility - and that dance floor diva voice. After reading the mouth-watering details about 2079 on her official website (the description of Shena's "Dizco" style is reason enough to get the album!) and listening to the tantalizing clips on Amazon, I bought that album and settled in for a Dizco experience. Result! 2079 comes complete with club chatter transitions between tracks, fabulously rich production, and no duds. This is an album you want to listen to the whole way through - no need to cherry-pick tracks to make your own playlist. Simply fantastic.

13. Back To Scratch by Charlotte Church: Of course I knew of Charlotte Church back in the day as the Voice of an Angel and all that, but I didn't actually pay attention to her until she got wonderfully trashy with the party-ready "Call My Name" in 2005. The album it came from, Tissues And Issues, was patchy but showed great pop potential. This year, Charlotte dialed back the beats and synths and instead went for a more sophisticated, adult style of pop. Beginning with lead single "Back To Scratch," a summery kind of tune but with lyrics detailing being back at square one, Charlotte returned to the music scene with a tasteful bang, but Back To Scratch is never boring. The lush instrumentation (like on the pastoral "Snow"), the thoughtful lyrics ("We Were Young" just about breaks my heart with its remembrance of youthful optimism - "And we talked through the night of what we could achieve," she sings, explaining simply that "we were young"), and the occasional boisterous moments (like the amazing, blues-y/countrified "Don't Think About It") all combine to make a really lovely album.

14. Loud by Rihanna: Rihanna bounded back onto the dance floor this year with the singular "Only Girl (In The World)," and I for one was psyched to hear what the album it came from would sound like. And it sounded goooood. "Cheers (Drink To That)" is a wonderfully tipsy sing-along ode to "the freakin' weekend," "Man Down" finds Rihanna in the dance hall with a gun in hand, and "Skin" just blows you away with its understated electronica. Add in the playful "What's My Name," the "bye-bye, so long" kiss-off of "Fading," and the just plain fun "Raining Men" (which features a show-stealing Nicki Minaj) and you've got yourself one excellently eclectic album.

15. כיס אוויר by רוני אלטר (Kis Avir by Roni Alter): I found this album by chance while music-blog-hoppin' and fell in love with it. Roni Alter is an Israeli singer-songwriter with an ear for achingly lovely melodies and a beautiful, understated voice. Even though I don't know what she's singing about (she sings in Hebrew), it's as if the feelings of her simply but elegantly produced songs are still communicated because her voice is so enthralling. This, her debut album (loosely translated as Pockets Of Air), features songs that could soundtrack a lazy, hazy summer day (the title track), a clear, starry night ("לא לתפוס הרבה מקום"), or a bracing fall day ("למות קצת"). Lovely, lovely, lovely stuff.

16. Insatiable by Nadine: From the charmingly soundbyte-filled title track ("It's like whoooaaaaaaaaa, who knew?") through to the cheesy but you-know-you-love-it belter "I'll Make A Man Out Of You Yet," there's a lot about this album that could turn people off. I'm not one of those people. Nadine Coyle's voice is arguably the sound of Girls Aloud and here, she proves that she can do her thing even without the brilliant touches Xenomania bring to the group's songs. "Put Your Hands Up" is a straightforward pop tune with great horn riffs, "Lullaby" is a kicky uptempo ballad, and "Natural," "Raw," "Rumors" and "Unbroken" form a knockout quartet. A solid, satisfying effort.

17. Dr Dream and the Imaginary Pop Cabaret by Emma Dean: Australian alternative artist Emma Dean's Dr Dream is at times reminiscent of the swooping vocal highs and thundering piano chord lows of Kate Bush's first couple albums ("Emma Dean Meets Dr Dream"), at times similar to Queen's bombastic brilliance ("Sincerely Fearful"), and sometimes akin to Tori Amos' piano-driven sensibility ("Thieving Hearts") - and the album is at all times a thrill to listen to.

18. Sister Sortie by Rebekkamaria: Rebekkamaria (who previously released material under the name As In Rebekkamaria) created an icy but electrified wonderland in Sister Sortie. "Mother Woman" gets all magnificently tribal, with a wise hook ("every man is an island, every woman is the sea"); "Oh Solitude" dares you to not get deliriously cheery while listening; "Sing!" and its driving drums invite you to sing with "all the boys and all the girls;" and the ominous "Winter Winterkill" dances and dives through its chilly synths. Terrific stuff!

19. Tiger Suit by KT Tunstall: Perhaps not as immediate as 2004's Eye To The Telescope or as rockin' as 2007's Drastic Fantastic, the absorbing, atmospheric Tiger Suit sounded the return of a refreshed KT Tunstall. The opening track, "Uummannaq Song," with its euphoric background chants and intoxicating mix of electronic elements with guitars and a galloping beat, "Golden Frames" and its easygoing tempo (which belies the foreboding highlight of the song - "it's coming for me"), and the excellently odd "(Still A) Weirdo" (which sounds like it was recorded on jungle treetops) all make Tiger Suit an album that you want to get "Lost" in (another great track!).

20. Black Lace & Leather by Denise Lopez: I knew of Denise (formerly DeDe) Lopez as the pop tart who Dannii Minogue gave the tracks "Sex Dice" and "Karma Sutra" to (on DeDe's Slave To The Sound album), and that connection was enough for me to check out Black lace & Leather this year. I'm glad I did! This newest release from Denise is a fine pop confection, even if it doesn't have Dannii's magic touch. ;) "Turn You On" (featuring Pras Michel) is a playful, fun back-and-forth between Denise and the rapper/The Fugees member; "Girls & Rock'n'Roll" gets in a reference to KFC ("taste me - finger lickin' good!") amidst a bouncing celebration of ladies and rock; and "Why" closes the album, revealing itself as one of the year's best uptempo pop ballads - that chorus is lush. Nice.

21. High Glow by JES: The rocktronica diva JES kicks off her sophomore album with the simply beautiful "Awaken," an aggressively produced dance number that has that perfect touch of sadness that brings it to another level. "Such A Long Time" continues in the same, fantastic vein; her cover of The Cure's "Lovesong" is just superb; and album closer "All Night" is a pretty, string-laced ballad. It's a lovely sort of cool-down after the workout you get listening to the rest of the album!

22. Stil Zengini by Pamela Spence: I kept feeling like I had heard this album's spirit of fun, unashamed pop before - and then I realized that Pamela Spence is basically Turkey's answer to Geri Halliwell! This is a compliment of the highest order, believe me - Geri is one of my favorite pop people. Stil Zengini begins with the addictive "Say What You Want," which features a powerhouse of a chorus (love those guitars underlining the vocals!), and continues on with the 2010 update of Geri's "Feels Like Sex," "Sex On The Beat." "Benim Farkım" proves to be a perky highlight with its "uh huh, uh huh!"s peppering the chorus, "Besides" takes the tempo down a bit with its plea to understand "you hurt me so," and "Ben Ölmeden Önce" is a simply stunning ballad that you've got to check out. Really, really great tunes.

23. Passion and Lounge Musique by In-Grid: With one album (Passion) released at the beginning of the year and one album (Lounge Musique) released right at the tail-end of the year, In-Grid gave us a lot to love in 2010! I couldn't choose between the two for this list and in any case, they work really well as a pair, with Lounge Musique providing a lovely soundtrack for the lazy morning after partying all night to Passion. Passion's "Amour Ma Passion" is a future club classic - just try to get those "la la la la la"s out of your head! - while "Sweet Desire" has a sexy vibe underlined by In-Grid's breathy refrain of the song title, and "Le Cri Du C'ur" is regal but absolutely danceable. The kicky "Vive Le Swing" and "Papillonne Sur Moi" on Passion provide the inspiration for Lounge Musique, an album that takes you from the dance floor of Passion to a swinging '60s penthouse. In-Grid sounds right at home covering downtempo classics like "Comment Te Dire Adieu" and "C'Est Si Bon," and she turns in a gorgeously chilled reading of "Les Enfants Du Piree."

24. Hande'ye Neler Oluyor? by Hande Yener: "What's going on with Hande?" asks the album title, and Yener replies with a collection of good old-fashioned pop that will fit whatever mood you're in. The upbeat tracks sparkle - "Yasak Aşk" is a dreamy dance ditty, "Bodrum" is a party-ready booty-shaker (a sample even commands you to "shake your booty on the floor, baby!"), and "Sopa" and its straightforward dance beat is guaranteed to get you on your feet. When you're not feeling too dance-y, Hande's got your back with lovely downtempo tunes like the ballad "Çöp," the slow disco dazzler "Bi Gideni Mi Var?", and the yearning "Boşa Ağlayan Kız."

25. Basic Instinct by Ciara: Despite a seeming lack of interest from the music-buying public, Ciara shook the haters off and delivered a confident, solid album in Basic Instinct. I liked a couple of tracks off Ciara's 2009 release, Fantasy Ride, but didn't get into the whole album. I didn't have that problem with Basic Instinct - it's chock full of delicious slow jams ("Ride," "You Can Get It"), mighty floor shakers ("Gimmie Dat," "Turn It Up"), and snippy, sassy kiss-offs ("Yeah I Know," the rather epic "Wants For Dinner") that keep you coming back to replay the album.

All righty, that does it for the best albums of 2010 - the best singles of 2010 are coming up next! :) Cheery bye, Scarlett

The Best Music of 2010 - Top Albums, part 1 of 2

2010-12-27T19:48:00.000-05:00

Hey! OK, so here's the beginning of my Best Music of 2010 series of posts. I'm breaking it down into more posts, because this year I have 25 favorite albums and 65 fave singles. So let's get started! :)

The Best Music of 2010

The 25 Best Albums of 2010, part 1 of 2

A pretty self-explanatory category!

1. Aphrodite by Kylie Minogue: This was my most-played album of the year, and for very good reason - Aphrodite is a shimmering selection of solid pop. The siren song of "All The Lovers"'s chorus pulls you in and Aphrodite doesn't let you go until it's had its way with you - first taking you from the ecstatic highs of "Get Outta My Way" then rocking through the thunderous title track, onto a darkened dance floor with "Cupid Boy," and finally concluding with the celebratory "Can't Beat The Feeling." The triumphant "here's what I do when I know what I can do" from "Aphrodite" defines this era of Kylie's career: she put her best stiletto-clad foot forward and showed us that she knows exactly what she can do.

2. Flesh Tone by Kelis: Released back in May, Flesh Tone soared into the #1 spot on "best albums of 2010" playlist, bested only by the mighty Kylie. Flesh Tone is flawless - 9 tracks of thoughtful dance music. Thoughtful because the lyrics tell of Kelis' love for her son ("Song For The Baby," the stunning "Acapella") and love for herself ("Brave"); dance because hard-edged blocks of synths and pounding beats swerve around those lyrics and inspire you to get movin'.

3. Pilgrims Progress by Kula Shaker: Pilgrims Progress is really, really good. Kula Shaker's trademark mystic '60s vibe pops up on this album, but they don't rely on it alone - instead, that sound enhances already lovely tunes. Every track is strong, in particular the yearning "Ophelia," "Ruby," which could easily become a standard, the ghostly "To Wait Till I Come," and the epic, expansive closer "Winter's Call." Beautiful.

4. Seili by Jenni Vartiainen: I fell in love with the album early in the year, and it still packs a powerful punch. The somber but cinematic title track, the simply gorgeous "En Haluu Kuolla Tänä Yönä," the twinkling "Duran Duran" and "Minä ja Hän"'s melancholy tone set a mood for the album as a whole - elegant, sophisticated, and sprinkled with a touch of inspired darkness.

5. Harmony by Sa Dingding: My favorite musical discovery of 2010. Sa Dingding inhabits the space between Enya and Bjork but creates her own unique sound that hinges on her explosive vocals. The vocal gymnastics she performs on "Ha Ha Li Li" are thrilling and set the stage for the songs that follow: Harmony is like an aural rollercoaster. "Blue Horse" has this killer riff and the chorus on "Pomegranate Woman" has an aching quality, compelling you to listen, while "Xi Carnival"'s hyperactive sense of joy just about wears you out! An atmospheric, enveloping collection of songs.

6. I Speak Because I Can by Laura Marling: I gave a cursory listen to Laura Marling's debut, Alas, I Cannot Swim, and liked the sound of it (and kept "Ghosts" on my iPod), but didn't really connect with the record. Her sophomore release this past March, however, really made a dent. The intense "Devil's Spoke" starts off the album in spookily enthralling style, quieting down a bit with the hushed, intimate "Made By Maid," then kicks up more dust with the haunting "Alpha Shallows" and concludes with a fantastic string of songs - "Hope In The Air" is a future classic and the title track is about as rollicking as folk tunes get. Wonderful stuff.

7. Lights by Ellie Goulding: No one could live up to the kind of hype that was heaped upon Ellie Goulding after she scooped the BRIT's Critic's Choice award. Lights would, under any other artist's name, go down as a splendid debut, but poor Ellie was expected to deliver some kind of world-changing opus, so received mixed reviews. But I love Lights. Starting off with the magnificent "Guns And Horses" (check out the fireworks at 2:47's "I see your face in every star"!) and following through with the one-two punch (more like a one-four punch... or something... OK, I'm not a sports person at all so I probably shouldn't use sports metaphors!) of "Starry Eyed," "This Love (Will Be Your Downfall)," "Under The Sheets" and "The Writer," Ellie's breathless but distinctive voice and the glitchy but sparkling production meld together to make a sort of delicious alchemy. Bright Lights, indeed.

8. The House by Katie Melua: I'll be honest, Katie Melua has never popped up on my radar. I mean, I know of her, but I'd never actually listened to her. That changed with The House, produced by William Orbit, whose work on Madonna's Ray of Light is pretty much legendary. Turns out that Katie Melua has a lovely sound that marries perfectly with Orbit's ambient, atmospheric style of production. "I'd Love To Kill You" gets things rolling with delicate touches of guitar and strings you should pop your headphones on for, then "The Flood" lets forth truly spellbinding stream-of-consciousness lyrics atop a mesmerizing, twisty-turny kind of amalgamation of strings and other cinematic instruments. The slinky "A Moment Of Madness," the swooning "Red Balloons," the folky "No Fear of Heights," and the '90s alt-pop of "Twisted" are highlights of an excellent album.

9. Ten by Gabriella Cilmi: The soul sound of her debut, Lessons To Be Learned, was fun for a couple of songs but really didn't match Gabriella Cilmi's vibrant energy. On Ten, Gabriella embraces pop and sounds all the better for it. Every single song on this album could be a single - they're that solid. Her strong vocals are right at home on the disco-fied "Hearts Don't Lie" and kicky "What If You Knew," but she doesn't just do dance floor ditties - "Love Me Cos You Want To" and "Defender" are more tender tunes that will get you swaying your hands in the air, even if you're just sitting at your PC. "Superhot"'s skyscraper vocals return to the disco, "Let Me Know" gets clap-happy, and then it all concludes with the (relatively) understated, really lovely "Superman."

10. Dreamer by Soraya Arnelas: This is a fun album. "Dreamer" - fantastic, driven dance. "Ticking All The Boxes" - glorious pop cheese. "I Got You" - an Abba-esque confection. "You've Got The Music," "Electric Girl," "Twilight," the whole album - it's all good. And the inclusion of "Live Your Dreams," a collabo with Antoine Clamaran, is the cherry on top of this treat. (The remixes tacked on to the end of the record, however, are pretty superfluous.)

Part 2 of my top albums of 2010 coming up soon. :) Cheery bye, Scarlett

Long time, no blog

2010-12-11T19:27:00.000-05:00

Just a quick update to say that this blog isn't dead yet! My thoughts on Kylie's mighty Aphrodite are waiting to be posted, as is a critique sort of thing of Richard Ashcroft's RPA + The United Nations of Sound album. I hope to review a bunch of stuff I've enjoyed this year before 2010 ends, and of course my annual Best Of lists will be posted too. (Kinda silly to plan all this when I haven't even posted Part 3 of my Best of 2009 list, but I'm nothing if not optimistic!)

Hope everyone out in the blog universe is doing well! Cheery bye, Scarlett

Still not dead, still just resting

2010-05-03T19:58:00.001-05:00

The semester is winding down, yay! Though of course that means that final exams and papers are winding up - not so yay. I'm gonna be busy until mid-May, so I don't think I'll get the last of my Best of 2009 posts up until then.

But! Until then, here are a few musical notes...

Mark your calendars:

KYLIE. APHRODITE. JULY 5. CAN'T WAIT!
Richard Ashcroft returns with his new band United Nations of Sound on June 7, when their album Redemption drops. The righteous first single from the album, "Are You Ready?", and its video were released in January 2010, and the tune's been getting stuck in my head ever since. A good thing, of course! The fan club-only (unless you know where to look, nudge nudge wink wink) digital download, "Third Eye (Colombus Circle)," has yet to make a big impression on me. Perhaps it's a good thing it's not an album track, because while it has some cool melodic and lyrical ideas, it strikes me as a bit under-developed. A sketch of a song, if you will. In any case, I'm still mega-stoked to hear the new album - my second most-anticipated release of the year.

2010 albums I've loved lately:

Seili by Jenni Vartiainen
The Family Jewels by Marina & The Diamonds
Harmony by Sa Dingding
Lights by Ellie Goulding
Songs From The Tainted Cherry Tree by Diana Vickers
Hande'ye Neler Oluyor? by Hande Yener
Pacemaker by Madita
Sana Değil Kardeşine by Mercan (thanks to the posts by PTA and Diva Incarnate!)
H-Logic by Hyori Lee (lol, apparently it's basically mostly plagiarized? idek.)

More on these gems later. :)

2010 songs I've been digging:

"Bittersweet" by Sophie Ellis-Bextor - "Freak" by Estelle - "Live Your Dreams" by Antoine Clamaran feat. Soraya (also thanks to PTA!) - "Happiness" by Alexis Jordan - "One Touch" by Mini Viva - "Stop The Music" by The Pipettes - "Tighten Up" by The Black Keys - "Make My Heart" by Toni Braxton -"Your Love's A Drug" by Leighton Meester - "Dirty Talk" by Wynter Gordon - "Momma's Place" by Roisin Murphy -"Are You Ready?" by United Nations of Sound - "Acapella" by Kelis - "Enjoy The Day" by Katerine - "Ostani tazi nosht" by Gloria - "So Lonely" by Chris Sorbello (once again, thanks PTA!) - "Not Myself Tonight" by Christina Aguilera - "Massive Attack" by Nicki Minaj feat. Sean Garrett - "Clap Your Hands" by Sia - "Waves Of Change" by Samantha James - "Four Floors" by Sunday Girl (PTA!)- "Activate My Heart" by Natalia Kills - "Kick-Ass" by Mika - "Vertigo" by Giulietta Russo - "How Low (DJ Frank E Clean Short Mix)" by Ludacris

More on these later, too!

Hope everyone in the blogging 'verse is doing well! Cheery bye, Scarlett

The Best Music of 2009 - Part 2

2010-03-16T04:16:00.001-05:00

Without further ado, here is:

The Best Music of 2009

The 60 Best Singles of 2009

Catchy, memorable, and downright fantastic - that's what makes a song one of the best singles of 2009!

1. "Bad Romance" - Lady GaGa
She had me at "rah-rah." My love affair with "Bad Romance" started with that collection of nonsense lyrics. Then the verses kicked in, and I was enraptured. By the chorus I was gone. This song, my friends, is pretty much the perfect pop song of 2009 and is my favorite single of the year. Every single part of the track lodges itself in your brain. Now, that alone is not cause for celebration - plenty of songs are catchy, so what? No, what makes "Bad Romance" such a gem is that those bits that get stuck in your head are really, really good. For instance...

The verses: they feature memorable lyrics, especially those Hitchcock-referencing lines.
The bridge: it's a sort of calm before the choral storm.
The chorus: behind the blazing synths and thunderous beats, the melody is just lovely.
The middle eight: where GaGa declares that she's a free bitch, baby. Some random French phrases pepper the lead-up to the reintroduction of the chorus as the Lady belts out "want your bad romance!!"

And do I even need to say more about the "rah rah" refrain? Probably not, but I'm gonna anyway. The best part of the "rah rah" bit, for me, is when the deeper background vocals beef up the "roma" line. For some reason, this part is just absolute bliss.

"Bad Romance." Good song.

2. "Sleep Alone" - Bat For Lashes
A woodsy groove, "Sleep Alone" is a highlight of Two Suns. (Admittedly, had "Glass" been released as a single, it would have knocked "Bad Romance" off the top spot of this list.) As hum-able as it is atmospheric, "Sleep Alone" caught my attention on my first listen and never let go.

3. "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" - Florence + The Machine
"Rabbit Heart" is a 3 minute, 52 second epic, complete with big production and even bigger vocals. This grand fairytale is fresh upon every listen. Enchanting.

4. "Bad Things" - Lal Meri
Melodic and trippy, this is chilled electronica with bite - just listen to the whispered "fuck you"s at the end! Nancy Kaye's syrupy voice is perfectly supported by organic and electronic sounds, all whirling together into a delectable concoction. Seems "Bad Things" is good for you!

5. "Want" - Natalie Imbruglia
This ghostly, ethereal kiss-off heralded Imbruglia's return to music after several years, and I for one was hooked! A driving beat and gauzy production touches sweetened the divaliciously bitter lyrics - "I hope you get all that you want, 'cos I didn't" - making this a most memorable track!

6. "Bodies" - Robbie Williams
Kicked off by chants and an enthusiastic "yeah!" from Williams, "Bodies" stormed onto the music scene last year, and I couldn't get enough of it. An anthemic chorus, a great dark bassline and thunderous beats, and a commanding vocal from Williams all combined to make this one heck of a tune.

7. "Celebration" - Madonna
Okay, so it isn't groundbreaking or anything. But that ain't no big deal. "Celebration" is something of a return to form - no Timbaland in sight! (Of course I quite liked Hard Candy, but the overdose of Timba and Timberlake's influence on it did get a little stifling after awhile.) This is a perfect summer song, meant for dancing away the warm nights and sleeping all day.

8. "Dum Tek Tek" - Hadise
You can't listen to this and not want to shake a tail feather. An insanely catchy chorus and that infectious flute-y thing grab hold of you and don't let go. What a fun song!

9. "Berlin" - Christophe Willem
Just like the big blaring synths that kick this track off, "Berlin" catches your attention. This is electro-dance-pop, from the French Nouvelle Star winner, at its most exquisite. We need more music like this in the world!

10. "New York" - Paloma Faith
Talk about epic. This sweeping, cinematic tune is all the proof you need that Faith is destined for great things. It's the last half of the song that really pulls at your heartstrings - the chorus somehow gets even bigger and better.

11. "Love etc." - Pet Shop Boys
Too cool, this song. I love the icy production, and Neil Tennant's vocals are in fine form. For all the chilly sounds, the message is warm: "I believe that we can achieve the love that we need..." This soundtracked the winter of 2009 for me. :)

12. "For Your Entertainment" - Adam Lambert
Another pop singer contest winner! This tune had to grow on me, but it didn't take long to fall under its glam spell. The undulating synths and Lambert's confident vocals made this song one of my fall 2009 favorites.

13. "When Love Takes Over" - David Guetta ft. Kelly Rowland
"Featuring," nothing! Kelly Rowland owned this track. I really hope she comes out with more tunes like this. For me, this was the summer 2009 scorcher.

14. "Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer)" - Freemasons ft. Sophie Ellis-Bextor
I had the hardest time deciding where this and "When Love Takes Over" should rank in this list. Ultimately, I just love "When Love Takes Over" that little bit more, so it came out one spot above "Heartbreak." (I take my lists very seriously!) However, I called this song "stonkingly" good sometime last year, and I stand by that possibly made-up word! Ellis-Bextor's distinctive voice is perfectly matched by disco-tastic production from Freemasons. Great song.

15. "Ayo Technology" - Katerine
A cover of Milow's cover of 50 Cent's "Ayo Technology," this was a surprise hit for Katerine. I really love this - the simple but effective guitar-and-beats production lets Katerine's lovely voice shine. I played this so much during fall 2009, for some reason. It just sounds really good. :)

16. "Baptized By Fire" - Spinnerette
The insistent drum beat here pushes the verses along to the beautiful chorus. The middle eight is fab too - "I'll be sailing on, I'm going into the sun..." Nice.

17. "Give You Everything" - Erika Jayne
We're transported back to the disco with Erika Jayne's spiffy synth-bass heavy dancefloor ditty! Love the twinkling arpeggios after the "I can give you all my love" line. A great spring 2009 track!

18. "Vulture" - Patrick Wolf
The first single from Wolf's most recent album, "Vulture" is a perfect piece of dark and dirty electro. I'd like to hear him do more music in this vein!

19. "Fixin To Thrill" - Dragonette
I adored this song during the first half of summer 2009. Oh my goodness, the way that the grinding synths and guitars jump up on you at the beginning? That's the way all songs should start.

20. "I'm Not Alone" - Calvin Harris
This song is all about the synths. Past trance classics like "Sandstorm" (Darude) and "Out Of The Blue" (System F) are obvious touchstones here, but Harris makes the sound his own. His vocals give the tune just the right touch of melancholy.

21. "Other Too Endless" - Polly Scattergood
One of the more conventional tracks on her eccentric, eponymous debut, "Other Too Endless" got stuck in my head pretty often for about a week or so last year. And I liked it. :) The string bits toward the end, coupled with the shrieking synths, is one of the coolest middle eights of the year.

22. "The Night Is Still Young" - Sandra ft. Thomas Anders
Sandra fully embraced her 80s pop roots with her most recent album, Back To Life, and pulled in fellow 1980s survivor Thomas Anders on this breezy, Latin-influenced duet. This is so much fun that even Sandra's command to "shake your body to the horizontal mambo" sounds like a good lyric! ;)

23. "Boom Boom Pow" - Black Eyed Peas
You had to live under a rock not to get hit with the boom boom last summer. This exercise in electro minimalism paid off for the BEPs - it was on the US charts forever or something. (I don't pay much attention to charts, but even I was impressed at its staying power!)

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24. "Hayrola?" - Hande Yener
I loved this impeccably produced electro-dance track from Yener all through spring 2009, and its icy charms still haven't worn off. I love how it ends - it's just the first line of the chorus, detuned down to a deeper vocal. I like little touches like that. :)

25. "Get Sexy" - Sugababes
This is pretty much the only Sugababes song that's ever received more than a couple plays on my iPod. And it figures that shortly after this was released, they went and kicked the last remaining member out. I have no idea what's going on with them now, but I do know that I can't help but love this tacky ode to getting "sexy right now."

26. "Hard" - Rihanna
The second single from Rated R, "Hard" lays out the reasons why Rihanna is the "hottest bitch in heels right here." The tougher sound on this tune suits Rihanna, though I'd be ecstatic if she found a way to blend this sound with the dancefloor vibe she's done so well. As it is, though, "Hard" is pretty darn good.

27. "My Secret Friend" - IAMX ft. Imogen Heap
Heap's ethereal vocal flourishes nicely complement the hard-edged industrial electro of "My Secret Friend." This doesn't really go anywhere, per se, but you kind of don't want it to - it's something to savor rather than get over with.

28. "Heavy Cross" - Gossip
Beth Ditto's voice deceives at first, singing sweetly over chugging guitar - and then she descends like some mighty force. "Heavy Cross" is kind of like "rock disco," a term I've just coined because the song is that good - it needs its own genre.

29. "Love Comes" - Bananarama
Produced by the incomparable Ian Masterson, who did all those amazing Trouser Enthusiast remixes and many wonderful Dannii Minogue songs, "Love Comes" is a synthy anthem with storming beats and great vocals from the Bananarama Two.

30. "Le Dragueur" - In-Grid
Accordion? In a pop song? It's more likely than you think. And it's awesome.

31. "Bulletproof" - La Roux
The ricocheting beats and La Roux's distinctive voice combine with the synth-happy production to make a nifty 21st century version of the 1980s. This one had to grow on me, but I'm glad it did - what a great song.

32. "Zero" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
This is how electro should be done. I heard the anthemic chorus and thought, "This could be a classic." And after the first chorus, when the song really kicks in - that's just phenomenal. Mark my words - this is a future classic.

33. "Box N Locks" - MPHO
When the eff is her debut album gonna be released officially? This "crazy little mixed-up kid" has a fab album that deserves to be loved, and "Box N Locks" is a perfect way to get introduced to it. I love MPHO's voice and she samples [insert name of some song I can't remember the name of or the band who recorded it] to fantastic effect. MPHO's one to watch out for

34. "Promiscuity" - Antigone
I really like how the beginning verses here have a sort of downtempo feel, and then the chorus bursts into a pop-filled release. Antigone has a great voice, and she really shows it off here!

35. "Lentamente" - Fey
Sort of like Kylie, right down to the "la la la la"s, only in Spanish! The chorus is fantastic, and the production is very much like that of X - that is to say, heavy on the electro. Just the way I like it! :)

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36. "Seviyorum Sevmiyorum" - Nil Karaibrahimgil
I love this song. I came across Karaibrahimgil's most recent album by chance and was hooked by this, Nil Kıyısında's lead single. It's the "mm-hmm, uh huh, mm-hmm, uh huh mm-hmm uh huh" bit that really got under my skin.

37. "Alay" - Subliminal ft. Dana International
I actually didn't find out about this December 2009 release until January 2010. I've been playing it ever since, though, and so I went back and amended my Top Singles of 2009 playlist. All fixed! Anyways, Dana doesn't really feature on this club banger - she steals the show with her chorus vocals and ad libs throughout the song. Now get a new album out pronto, Dana!!

38. "Make Me" - Janet Jackson
The heavy bass, piano, and beats here give this dancefloor number something extra, and Jackson is in great form.

39. "5 Reasons" - Sylvia Tosun & Loverush UK!
Such a wonderful summer track! Well, that's what it makes me think of, anyway. :) Dreamy and dazzling, "5 Reasons" is a top-notch dance track, and I for one want to hear more from Sylvia Tosun!!

40. "I'm Just Here For The Music" - Paula Abdul
Okay. Reasons I shouldn't have listed this here: The Kylie demo is the definitive version of this track and Paula Abdul should have mooched off someone else's unreleased back catalog. Reasons I did list it here: That bass. And I can't help it: I just like this song! I do so love a good flop.

41. "Obsessions" - Marina & The Diamonds
A rather jangly piano affair, this. This was my intro to Marina, and I've been hooked ever since. Her quirky voice is somewhat calmer here, and those lovely "ah ahs" toward the end really give this song that little something extra special.

42. "Don't Miss You" - Ricki-Lee
A fun and danceable kiss-off. I love the lyrics - especially the one about how all the other names she could call him "would only get bleeped"!

43. "Mi Delirio" - Anahi
This is a poptastic gem! A sort of funky, disco-ish tune, "Mi Delirio" has an infectious chorus and fantastic groove.

44. "Wonder" - Shelley Harland
A beautiful, understated tune, "Wonder" has the most melancholy vibe, but it's got such warm production that you don't really feel too sad. Well, okay, you do - but it's a kind of happy sadness. :)

45. "No You Girls" - Franz Ferdinand
A lot like "Take Me Out," but updated for 2009. I love it when Franz Ferdinand meld punky pop with funky grooves, and this song has that all over.

46. "New In Town" - Little Boots
I was completely bewildered by critics saying Little Boots was the new Kylie - what's wrong with the Kylie we've got? All ranting aside, this was one Little Boots song I really enjoyed. So much so that I put it on this list. :)

47. "The Fear" - Lily Allen
Her witty lyrics are on top form here, and Allen's soft voice is perfectly suited to the dream-pop production of "The Fear."

48. "Dreamland" - Emilie Simon
Simon's newest album was one of my top 15 of 2009, and "Dreamland" is just one reason why it landed on that list. Her sweet vocals are punctuated by synth splats and electro drums. A really lovely little song.

49. "Darling, It's True" - Locksley
Saw this video toward the end of 2009 and fell in love with the song. (Video's cute, too.) It's just good old-fashioned pop rock. :)

50. "3" - Britney Spears
I love to hate this song. It gets on my nerves, but it's so inane that I just can't not love it.

51. "Terrifying" - Pop Levi
Another artist on this list that I'd love to hear a new album from! The dirty guitars, cymbal-crash-heavy drums and Levi's fuzzily distorted vocals are a new vibe for him - and it sounds great!

52. "Rain" - Anjulie
I became addicted to "Boom" early in 2009, but it had been released officially in 2008, so it can't be on this list. Thankfully, Anjulie's talents aren't limited to just one song! "Rain" is the kind of song I'd love to see get popular - it's like Anjulie took the best bits of what's on the radio and added her own special magic, and came up with "Rain"!

53. "Three Days In A Row" - Anouk
Oh man, that first "I've been loving you"! Anouk's gorgeous, bluesy voice is showcased to perfection here.

54. "Stamina" - Cozi
This is the same Cozi who featured on the PhonJaxx track "Sensual," which I simply adore for some reason. Cozi should be huge, because "Stamina" is a fab dancefloor stomper, and her voice is pretty but not lightweight. I wanna hear more!

55. "Causa Y Efecto" - Paulina Rubio
The great beats and guitars here, along with Rubio's vocals, make for a summery, fun sing-a-long.

56. "My Fantasy" - Shena
Disco is back, and Shena does it best! This sounds like authentic 70s fare, never falling into pastiche. And her voice! What a fab tune!

57. "Can't Hold Back" - Bellatrax ft. Tina Cousins
This one seemed to be under my radar for awhile, but I'm so glad I found it. The lovely chorus is the highlight of "Can't Hold Back," and Tina Cousins' vocals are fantastic.

58. "Love Sex Magic" - Ciara ft. Justin Timberlake
The chorus here is absolutely infectious. Ciara and Justin Timberlake are well matched here, their voices teasing each other against that addictive bassline.

59. "I Cut Like A Buffalo" - The Dead Weather
This is weird, but in a wonderful way. I don't get the choking noises, but I do love those descending organ bits. Great stuff.

60. "Manos Al Aire" - Nelly Furtado
I loved and still love Loose, so I was sort of underwhelmed by Furtado's first new single since 2006. But! Once that excellent chorus kicks in, I realized that there's nothing underwhelming about the song at all. Welcome back, Nelly! :)

OK! The Best Music of 2009 Part 3 is coming soon! :) Cheery bye, Scarlett

Not dead, just resting - plus cool artists to check out

2010-02-21T09:28:00.000-05:00

Oh my goodness, I've been away from this blog for too long! The rest of my "best of 2009" posts are forthcoming, and then hopefully I'll get a bit more consistent with posting. Hope everyone in the blogosphere is doing well! :D

I've received a few emails about nifty new stuff from cool artists - I just have been as slow as molasses about actually posting about them! Here are artists that you need to hear right now!

Elika, you might remember, is a nifty electronica outfit, and they've just recently put out an EP called "There Was No Summer." Find more details about this release on their News page!

"The music of The Greatcoats is, at heart, music that reminds you of better times." That's what The Greatcoats' MySpace says, and I agree - but I'd have to add that listening to the warm and inviting sounds of The Greatcoats' retro-inspired debut album makes now one of those better time. The Greatcoats is released on March 9, 2010, and you can check it out at iTunes, CDBaby, and their official site!

Miami-based musician Tristan Clopet has a new EP out, called "Purple." He has a charming, versatile voice, sounding just as at home atop the grinding guitars of "Proximity Bomb" as soaring above piano on "So Alive." The tracks on "Purple" promise great things for this artist, so check them out at his official site and iTunes!

My Education has created and will release in late April 2010 an original score, titled Sunrise, for the 1927 F.W. Murnau silent film, Sunrise: A Song Of Two Humans. Based on a listen to a track from the album titled "Oars," this instrumental group have something special on their hands. "Oars" is an atmospheric tune that builds up to an epic end, and it highlights the group's skill at conjuring a mood. Visit their official website and MySpace!

All righty, moving right along from "Oars" to... Whores! Whore's Mascara, that is! This trio is gonna be big - their newest single, "Monogamous," can be seen on MTV LOGO, MTVmusic.com, SpikeTV, Fuse.tv, and Fuse On demand. Whore's Mascara is synthy electro with its tongue firmly in cheek (and elsewhere). Try out "Monogamous" and their debut album, Like This But Sexy, on iTunes - even if just to look at the song titles. "Dance Party (Up Your Butt)"? This is a band to get behind (so to speak...!).

The psychedelic group The Boxing Lesson (remember them?) have announced that they will be releasing two new albums this year! To whet your appetite, listen to three new demos from their 2009 sessions on their MySpace!

Last but certainly not least, Peter Squires released his debut album, Woe Is Me, in late 2009. It's a short album, but Woe Is Me is long on quality. It's a folky sort of affair that showcases Squires' witty lyrics. You can download it for free at his official website - a pretty sweet deal, doncha think? :)

The Best Music of 2009 - Part 1

2010-01-01T21:25:00.000-05:00

OK, so it's 2010 now. But I haven't forgotten to do my "best of 2009" posts. Here's the beginning! :)

The Best Music of 2009

The 15 Best Albums of 2009

A pretty self-explanatory category!

1. Two Suns by Bat For Lashes: March 2009 marked my first listen to this, Bat For Lashes' second album. As I write this now, on New Year's Day 2010, Two Suns remains an incredible and captivating work. It's an album to get lost in, wander around, and eventually find your way back - although you'll find you don't really want to leave. Highlights include but are not limited to the epic storytelling (not to mention the exquisite musicianship) of "Glass," the jangly hooks of "Sleep Alone," the threatening tones of "Peace of Mind," the desolate dreamscape of "Good Love," and the on-the-road-again feel of "Travelling Woman." My favorite thing about Two Suns is that even amidst the big sounds of tracks like "Daniel" or "Two Planets," there are little moments, little details that emerge upon repeat listenings. What an extraordinary album.

2. Lungs by Florence + The Machine: For a while I thought this debut from Florence Welch would overtake Two Suns as my favorite album of the year. Still, second place ain't too shabby! :) Lungs is truly an astounding record. Florence's powerful vocals alone would make an impact, but here her force is matched by pounding percussion, glittering harps, and screeching strings. Songs like the grandiose "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)," the sonically aggressive "Howl," and the thundering "Drumming" sit anxiously next to slightly less attack-ready tracks like the eerily excellent "Girl With One Eye" and the modern classic (mark my words!) "My Boy Builds Coffins." And that's why the album works so well - you feel a sort of exhilarating anxiety the entire time you're listening, not sure about where the sounds will go next, even on your hundreth listen.

3. Fast Life by Hadise: This album by Turkish singer Hadise was my favorite pure pop album of the year so far back in July, and it's still my pick for the best, unashamed pop pleasure of the year. The supercharged electro- and r'n'b-tinged pop Fast Life features eleven single-worthy tracks, like the fantastically fierce "On Top," downbeat stunner "Hero," and Turkish-flavored Eurovision entry "Dum Tek Tek." Memorable lyrics, top-notch production, and Hadise's lightly soulful vocals make this album a winner.

4. Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful? by Paloma Faith: A bombastic collection of soul- and jazz-inspired tracks that never devolve into pastiche, Do You... showcases the personality and voice that is Paloma Faith. Her expressive, endearing vocals are supported by dreamy lyrics and beautifully arranged strings, horns, and background choirs. Showstoppers like "New York," "Upside Down," and the title track combine with the no less wonderful rest of the album to make a spellbinding, satisfying debut.

5. Polly Scattergood by Polly Scattergood: Polly Scattergood's eponymous debut will either have you rolling your eyes or eager to hear more. I'm in the latter camp. I love following Scattergood's rambling lyrics and wondering where they'll take me next. The instrumentation and production is minimal but effective - check out the ghostly voices in "Untitled 27"! Pretty melodies and lyrical ideas in songs like "Unforgiving Arms" and "I Am Strong" share space with harsher soundscapes and darker subjects, like in the phenomenal opener "I Hate The Way." With this album, Polly Scattergood proves that hers is a voice that must be heard.

6. Back To Life by Sandra: After 2007's mostly mumbled The Art Of Love and a divorce from her husband and producer of the majority of her work, Sandra's sound was ready for a new start. And it turns out that the best way to start anew is to look back a bit! Sandra always shines with uptempo, cheery tunes and Back To Life goes back to that kind of feeling. "Say Love," "Never Before," and "These Moments" are standouts but the whole album is a celebration, from start to finish. She can also sing a mean ballad, and the few that pepper the album, like "Just Like Breathing," recall and update her best slow songs. Such a fun album!

7. Macadam Flower by Emma Shapplin: Released at the tail-end of the year - I think November 30 in some territories, and early December in others - Macadam Flower is a late addition to my list. In the relatively short time I've been listening to it, though, the luscious production and beautiful vocals from erstwhile opera-pop singer Emma Shapplin have gotten under my skin. I say "erstwhile" because this album is apparently (if scuttlebutt on the internets is to be believed) quite a departure from Shapplin's classically-inspired work. Alls I know is that Macadam Flower sounds fantastic! Dreamily sung, delicately produced tracks like "The Hours On The Fields" and "White Sail" are complemented by heavier, faster-paced songs like the vicious "Reptile." A really lovely, rewarding listen.

8. Caféine by Christophe Willem: The album kicks off with the lurching, icily synthesized and just plain amazing "L'homme en noir," and only gets better. "Berlin" is a rollicking electro stomper and "Coffee" has a campy sample that rides atop a fun melody and kicky beats. There's even a Kylie Minogue duet - a slightly reworked version of X track "Sensitized"! Willem's ballads are gorgeous, too - listen, for instance, to "Entre nous et le sol" and its airy production and vocals. I'd never heard of Willem before this album - what an introduction!

9. Come To Life by Natalie Imbruglia: This is a tale of two halves - the singer-songwriter-y first half of Come To Life, and the electro-tinged pop of the second. It speaks to Imbruglia's strength as a songwriter and singer that even though the album feels like two separate works tacked together, it still makes sense and sounds good! The aching "Fun" and driven "My God," from the first half, are more organic but no less lovely than the second's shadowy electro beauty "Want" and dark dancer "Cameo." This is an album that might not stun ya on your first listen, but one that you'll embrace more over time. Enchanting.

10. Hayrola? by Hande Yener: Yener's cool electro/dance album was released in April, but it took awhile for it to register with me. I loved the title track but couldn't quite get into the rest of the songs. In December, though, I found myself listening to it a lot - there's just something about the expert dance production and confident vocals from Yener that I just fell in love with. Among the album's best tracks are "Ok Yay," which brings to mind the euphoria of Madonna's "Get Together," the slick "Deliler," and the simply infectious "Narsist." Also listen out for "Arsız (feat. Teoman)," a really good duet that got stuck in my head for a few days!

11. Spinnerette by Spinnerette: This is just good, old-fashioned rock. The lead singer is Brody Dalle, who is likely best known as the lead for The Distillers, and her voice is distinctive and made for thrashing against rough guitar licks. I probably like this album so much because beneath the choppy surface, these are great songs with quality melodies and hooks. Every song on this album is highly enjoyable, but some tracks to cherish are the menacing "Cupid," brilliant "Baptized By Fire," and odd one out "Impaler" - it has a really organic, tribal feel.

12. The Big Machine by Émilie Simon: Let's just get this out of the way - yes, an obvious inspiration for Simon's newest album is Kate Bush's early work. I don't see why this is such a bad thing. The Big Machine is not derivative, but instead has the out-there spirit that Bush's work embraces. The album cover art, to me, really describes the sound of the record - colorful, twisting, and turning. "Nothing To Do With You" highlights Simon's singular voice, "The Cycle" has a delightful bell-like riff, and "Rocket To The Moon" is a jazzy, hand-clappy sort of affair.

13. Yes by Pet Shop Boys: I wasn't in love with the Boys' newest album at first - perhaps I expected too much? - but then it hit me. These songs are future PSB classics. From the clever lyrics of "Love etc." and "Pandemonium" to the shadowy melancholy of "The Way It Used To Be" and regal stature of "Legacy," Yes puts the PSB's best songwriting on display - and pins it to fab beats. :) There isn't a dull track on it, and each song gets you revved up and eager to hear what will come next. What an enjoyable album!

14. Lal Meri by Lal Meri: I've listened to this album by Lal Meri (which features chillout wiz Carmen Rizzo, musician Ireesh Lal, and the honeyed tones of Nancy "Rosey" Kaye) a lot this year. To be more specific, I've fallen asleep to this album a lot this year. I like to do that - pop on my earbuds and doze off to a good album. An album has to be really excellent for me to do that - though it can't be too loud! ;) - and Lal Meri's debut is fantastic. "Dreams Of 18" is deliciously trippy, "Bad Things" has a groove I just can't get enough of, and "My Ocean" brings to mind visions of balmy beaches at sunset. I can't wait to hear what Lal Meri do next, but for now, I'll just keep spinning this record!

15. Reality Killed the Video Star by Robbie Williams: Williams' newest album, his first after the mostly forgettable Rudebox (I have to admit to having the title track on my iPod, though - it's fun!), is a splendid collection of strong tracks. "Morning Sun" is simply beautiful, with a Beatles-ish middle eight, and lead single "Bodies" is a triumphant return to form. Williams' ballads, like "Blasphemy" and "Deceptacon," are lush oases amidst the fist-pumping energy of "Do You Mind?" and "Difficult For Weirdos." "Don't call it a comeback," Williams sings, but... well, it's a darn good comeback.

More "best of"s coming later! :D

Cheery bye, Scarlett

Good news and sad news

2009-12-20T17:41:00.006-05:00

So the year is coming to a close - and you know what that means! My "best of 2009" posts are coming soon. :)

First, though, some musical notes:

Richard Ashcroft must be busy - a recent NME.com article details how he not only composed the title song for The Journey, a film that "aims to highlight the plight of sex trafficking," but he also recently recorded "'between 20-30 songs'" with rap producer No ID! Hopefully we'll hear what Ashcroft and No ID have come up with in 2010, but for now you can buy "The Journey" on iTunes - and as it says on Ashcroft's official site, your purchase of the track from the film means that "money will be donated to the Helen Bamber Foundation" ("a UK-based human rights organisation, formed in April 2005 to help rebuild lives and inspire a new self-esteem in survivors of gross human rights violations"). Great song, and an even greater cause.
Very unexpectedly and sadly, today actress/sometime singer Brittany Murphy died of cardiac arrest. She was only 32. I knew of Murphy for two things that I love: her voicing of King Of The Hill character Luanne, and her vocal performance on the Paul Oakenfold 2006 song "Faster Kill Pussycat." "Faster Kill Pussycat" was and still is one of those perfect summer songs to me, and her great work on that track led me to wonder if Murphy might start up a pop career at some point. Brittany Murphy will be missed.

Cheery bye, Scarlett

Paloma Faith - Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful? (2009)

2009-11-28T22:12:00.007-05:00

Paloma Faith released her debut album, Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful?, in late September. I wasn't too interested in listening to it initially - from what I'd read about her, and from the quick listen I had to a snippet of one of her songs, she just seemed like another Amy Winehouse-wannabe.

Well, that was a mistake on my part. I found out my error in judgment when I gave her whole album a good listen. My first thoughts were so, so wrong - and I ended up loving Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful?. To write Paloma off as a wannabe or imitator would do her talent a huge disservice. If any comparisons are to be made, I'd say that Paloma sounds more like Duffy with bite. In any case, Paloma's voice is actually more 30s-jazzy than bluesy, at least to me!

What I'm getting at here is that it's worth giving music you're not generally inclined to listen to a chance. Good things can come of it. :)

Now, on to Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful?!

Right from the horn and piano hook that starts "Stone Cold Sober" off, I knew I was going to like this song. Great lyrics give the song an extra kick, like when Paloma tells anyone who would dare to mess with her to "take a rocket out to space"! As good as this track is, it does seem kind of derivative of Duffy's "Mercy." Still, it makes for a memorable start to the album. "Smoke And Mirrors," the next track, has a grand sound - it gets even grander with the big chorus! I love the "give it up" bridge, especially how Paloma sings "lover" as "lovahh". Her voice sounds neat during the wordless middle eight, and when she lets loose towards the end... just, wow!

In the lovely ballad "Broken Doll," I can hear how Paloma's voice might actually turn people off. It's very stylized and distinct. For those of us who love her vocals, this bass-heavy, slow-paced track puts the focus right on her pipes. After the superb displays of self-confidence in "Stone Cold Sober" and "Smoke And Mirrors," it's endearing to hear the bits of vulnerability Paloma displays here. Listen for the cool way she sings "piece me all together" at 3:30.

"Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful?" Well, I don't know about truth, but Paloma certainly gives us something beautiful in this song! I like that she dialed it back a bit on this one - she sounds just as good in a low-key setting as in a full-on orchestral sound. The guitar flourishes that enter at 1:26 are excellent touches. More strings sweep through as the song progresses, and horns blare, too, all adding up to a nicely layered production.

My favorite track on the album, at least next to "New York," "Upside Down" is irresistible. The jazzy-30s vibe is tailor-made for Paloma's voice, and the male background vocals complement her well. This song will get you moving! The middle eight is my fave bit, especially when she takes a melodic page from The Andrews Sisters' "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy." I hope this gets released as a single!! "Romance Is Dead" starts off dreamily, with atmospheric, gauzy production and a pretty melody. The second verse has fantastic lyrics, like when Paloma sings "you kiss with such a potential." I love how her voice cracks at 2:18 - Paloma is such a captivating singer.

"New York." What can be said about this piece of absolute loveliness? Sumptuous, larger than life, and featuring a tour-de-force vocal from Paloma, "New York" is the highlight of an already excellent album. I adore the lilting background vocals that enter in the second chorus. The whole song is amazing, but when the choral background vocals come in at 2:33, this track moves from the pop realm into the sublime.

"Stargazer" has a beautiful chorus, both melodically and lyrically: "how will I shine anymore without your atmosphere?" Perhaps not as ambitious as the other songs on the album, it still sounds beautiful. "My Legs Are Weak" is like a gorgeous, downtempo funeral march. The chorus cry of "goodbye sweet angel" is movingly mournful. The bombastic closing track, "Play On," is sort of like a companion piece to "My Legs Are Weak." That blast of a chorus is just wonderful - Paloma really belts it out! The strings and horns are in particularly good form here. A rather epic way to end a really lovely album.

Also worth seeking out is the pretty, relatively restrained "Press Lightly," an iTunes bonus track. You can find places to buy Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful? here! :)

Cheery bye, Scarlett

Hadise - Fast Life (2009)

2009-11-25T04:43:00.004-05:00

A couple months on from my declaration that Hadise's Fast Life was probably my favorite pop album of the year, I stand by what I said - Fast Life is a fab album!

Kicking things off right is Hadise's Eurovision entry, "Dum Tek Tek." Turkish rhythms and western beats combine to make a melting pot of fabulousness, with male choral "hey!"s coming in towards the end to heighten the excitement. What a shame this didn't win the prize! "Fast Life," the second single from the album, features lyrics about being busy, busy, busy, and unable to find love. It's less energetic than "Dum Tek Tek," but that doesn't detract from the electro-tinged pop proceedings. Love the line "on my high heels, try walking a mile on these"!

The next track, "Supernatural Love," has a nice bridge ("and it's burning...") and ultra-catchy hook - "I don't even have to ask-ask-ask, will this love last-last-last?" Fast-paced and fun, this is one you'll want to play over again. "Long Distance Relationships" is that rare kind of song that is at once both melancholy and danceable. The high-pitched atmospheric synths that come in at 1:35 and the background vocals that enter at 2:08 really add depth to the sound.

My favorite track of the album (tied with "On Top," which comes later), "Here" is a song about moving on. Beautiful strings and guitar work soar above grungy beats and buzzing synths, and Hadise's lightly soulful voice sounds perfect for delivering lines like "being sad made me strong." A great song - in fact, the title of her 2009 Turkish album is taken from this song: Kahraman, the Turkish version of "Hero." Coming up next is "Married Man," the only song on the album that doesn't really go anywhere (but sounds awesome anyway). Hadise sounds fierce as she advises us to "never mess with a married man." I particularly like the high note Hadise hits in the middle of the song, and the back-up vocals that warn "don't do it, girl!"

Funky and ferocious - that's "On Top"! The lyrics are fantastic, with lines like "once my army hits your shores, you'll wish you could end this war" highlighting how Hadise is the head bitch in charge! The groovy bass intertwines with zippy synths, making this a perfect funk-electro hybrid. The moral of the story? "You better not mess with Hadise!" The next song, "Obsession," has such a great chorus - it's just good old-fashioned pop. The middle eight distorts the vocal, "tossing and turning," so that it sounds like it's doing just that - tossing and turning! Nice touch.

Turkish-flavored like "Dum Tek Tek," "Double Life" has got another killer of a chorus. It's not that it's big or anything, it's just the perfect blend of great lyrics and great music. I love the "I gotta be with you" ad libs and the flute-y sounding instrumental flourishes - cool stuff! The cute "First Steps" is musically kind of like electro-doo wop, but without "doo wop"s. The "running around" middle eight is heavenly!

The final song on Fast Life, "I'll Try Not To Cry" ends the album on a high note. Big beats, sweeping synths, and expressive vocals from Hadise convey the sadness and need for strength in a breakup. Love her big vocalizations towards the close of the track. It's a nice conclusion to a fun pop experience!

You can buy Fast Life on iTunes or 7Digital. It doesn't look like it's been released in the US yet, but you can buy Kahraman on iTunes! :)

Cheery bye, Scarlett

GaGa ooh la la

2009-11-10T18:04:00.005-05:00

Have you seen Lady GaGa's new video for her newest masterpiece, "Bad Romance"? It. Is. Phenomenal! I like the "Paparazzi" vid but didn't quite get why everyone was so buzzed about it. The "Bad Romance" video, however, has made me love the Lady even more.

What I think I love most about this visually arresting video is that it defines Lady GaGa - she is not afraid to be "weird." She doesn't do safe. And yet, she manages to be sexy and fierce even while going outside the box. No, she's probably not a super-serious artiste, but who cares? She's fresh, fabulous, and fun - and the most exciting pop star out there right now. (Well, at least until Kylie comes out with another single! :) )

Also - because I seem to relate everything back to the Mighty Boosh - anyone else think of this...
...during this part?

Great minds, I guess! :)

Cheery bye, Scarlett

Short takes

2009-10-03T20:35:00.011-05:00

I've been listening to a lot of 2009 albums over my ~hiatus~ - unfortunately, not every album I listen to can end up as one of my favorites. Here are a few that I won't be adding to my "best of 2009" list at the end of the year, but that I think are still worth a listen. :)

Utada - This Is The One
The album doesn't start very memorably - "On And On" is just bland. "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence - FYI" is also rather formulaic, but I love the way a melody, which is cribbed from a song composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto, is incorporated. The next track, "Apple And Cinnamon," has nice piano and beats, and I like the "chemistry like apple and cinnamon" simile - but otherwise the song just doesn't have that "something." But "Taking My Money Back" has a bit of a 90s groove and great lyrics, like "what a waste of a man so fi-i-ine," so things are looking up! "This One," the best ballad so far, features the lyric "I've been living on my own like Freddie" - nice reference! :)

I found that this labum gets better as it goes on. "Automatic Part II" has neat vocoded vocals, and is full of catchy swagger. "Dirty Desire" is fast-paced and I love the heavy beats and nice synth breakdown toward the end. A great guitar riff and fun lyrics like "Oops! Did I turn you on?" make "Poppin'" the album's best track. Listen out for the "yes" after the "we have it better" lyric. At first I thought I preferred the Seamus Haji & Paul Emanuel remix of "Come Back To Me," but the song sounds just as good as a ballad. I suppose it just depends on your mood! Love the chorus, which is beautifully melancholic but not sappy. The album closes with "Me Muero," an up-to-date, 60s-loungey track. It's a fine song but feels out of place; an odd way to end a patchy album.

BWO - Big Science
Big Science begins with my favorite song on the album, "Right Here Right Now." The next track is really good too. "Love Came Crashing Down" has a piano intro that instantly brings to mind Bob Dylan's "Ballad Of A Thin Man," while the chorus reminds me of "Everlasting Love." So OK, the song is derivative, but I still dig it. The big, gospel-infused ending is cool. "Kings Of Tomorrow (Ballad Version)" is moodily downtempo, and I have no idea what it's about. It references "sealing fates," "waiting for signals," and "fighting the resistance." So, yeah. I dunno. The next song, "Burning Down The House," is very 60s-inspired, especially by the Four Tops' "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)," but is ultimately kinda flat.

Current single "Rise To The Occasion" has nice violin work and hand-clap beats, and I like the "oh whoa oh oh"s in the chorus. "You're Not Alone (Ballad Version)" has cheesy beats, but the synths are great. The next song, "Bite The Bullet," is a bit dull, really... "In Too Deep" is pop-by-numbers... but "Thunderbolt" strikes next to save the day with its driving beat and chilled middle eight. Definitely better than the last few songs. "Rhythm Of The Night" is a midtempo track that's decent but not great. There is a nice Queen-esque vocal rise toward the end, though, so listen for that. "Singing In My Car" is just far too cheesy. I'm a big fan of cheese but this just grates on my nerves (pun intended!) for some reason. BWO can do much better than this. The next song is some sort of sci-fi love song. "Shoot From The Heart" is one of those super-fast BWO songs that I love. The final two tracks are "disco versions" of "Kings Of Tomorrow" and "You're Not Alone," and I much prefer them to the ballad versions.

Little Boots - Hands
"New In Town" kicks things of excellently. It's irresistibly catchy and the chorus is fierce. Little Boots' voice, though, doesn't grab you or compel you to listen. The music is great, but there's no personality driving it. Still, "New In Town" is really, really good stuff. "Earthquake" is synthesized heaven with a pretty chorus. The disco-y "Stuck On Repeat" doesn't really go anywhere, but I like the beautiful "every time I try" melody. "Click"is icily bubbly and has a fun chorus - I really like this one. The dance-y and catchy "Remedy" sounds like Lady GaGa, which makes sense, because it was produced by RedOne. "Meddle" has a fantastic chorus, but only OK verses. The military beat of "Ghost" is good, but the rest of it isn't anything special. Clever lyrics, plus a nice melody on the "heart plus a heart" bit, keep "Mathematics" from being too flat. "Symmetry" is very 80s, but in a good way. Little Boots' voice goes well with Philip Oakey's (of The Human League), but his vocals highlight how soft and, well, dull, her voice is.

"Tune Into My Heart": I can hear that it's a nice song but it just doesn't strike a chord with me. "Hearts Collide," on the other hand, does. This dark track is the best song on the album after "New In Town." Hands closes with "No Brakes," which has a good bridge, but is really a weak ending to the album. The trouble with Little Boots is that you want to like her - she's pop! she's electro! she covered a Freddie Mercury song ("Love Kills")! - but her songs leave you feeling like you had a big meal but still feel empty. Her tunes do sound tasty but just aren't satisfying.

Erika Jayne - Pretty Mess
"Stars" is first and is a disco dream! Erika's kittenish voice, somewhat like that of Donna Lewis or Saint Etienne's Sarah Cracknell, is perfect for this pop confection. Great synth work and cool vocal effects (love the descending vocal at the end of each verse!) and Erika's delivery bring the attitude to "Just A Phaze." The bit at 2:58 is rather euphoric, really. "Everybody Wants Some" of this next track, which starts with a very French-sounding accordion, then gets into a dirty groove. Love the way Erika sings "she's so bad!" Her purring and meowing get pretty silly, though. "Give You Everything" takes us back to the disco. Everything about this track is fantastic - the chorus is instantly memorable and the production is top-of-the-line. The Mike Rizzo Funk Generation remix of this song is really great, too, by the way! "Pretty Mess": Oh dear. The one track on the album that just doesn't work. The sex-driven lyrics are just tired, and basically the song is only a few of those lyrics repeated. Sadly dull.

"Beautiful" is more like it! A perfect summer song, all about beaches, sunsets, and sunrises. Hot beats and shimmery production touches give this track a beachy kind of cool. Deep 'n' dirty bass underscores the fabulously filthy lyrics of "Roller Coaster." No, this track doesn't really go anywhere - but like a rollercoaster ride, it's not the destination that matters. What matters is the ~journey~. ;) On the next track, Sheila E. provides some seriously infectious beats. But "Time To Realize" is otherwise kinda boring - you'd think a track featuring Sheila E. would have more energy! The bitchy-fun lyrics, like "is that your real hair?", make "Run Along" a memorable track. "Sex Shooter" has bite: Erika has incredibly confident delivery. The tempo slows down with "Without You," a pretty track that proves Erika's voice works just as well floating atop downtempo beats as riding dance drums. "Love You Forever" starts off as a slow jam, then segues into a delightful dance number. I suppose this song has the slow-to-fast formula of "Pretty Mess," but for some reason "Love You Forever" works much better. "Lose Myself" is set in Paris in 1922 - no, I have no idea why either! - and accordingly this mellow groove features some French words d'amour. The production is beautifully atmospheric. Erika should try some more songs like this - she's not just a disco dolly! "One More Time" closes this album with panache. Erika's voice is really pretty here, supported by breezy, gauzy synths and beats.

All in all, a worthy album, especially considering it's a debut. Sure there are a few less-than-stellar tracks, but a couple clunkers out of 14 songs is pretty good, I'd say! :)

La Roux - La Roux
You either like La Roux's Elly Jackson's high-pitched vocals, or you run screaming in the other direction. Personally, I quite like that her voice isn't your typical pop vocal. The album gets the show on the road with "In For The Kill," a nicely icy synth-pop gem. Elly's tough delivery on "Tigerlily" gives the song a great aggressive vibe. The chorus, in contrast to the forceful verses, is rather pretty. Elly Jackson's father gives a Vincent Price-in-"Thriller"-esque voiceover toward the end of "Tigerlily," and to me it's too obviously derivative to be fresh. "Quicksand" was the first La Roux song I heard, and I loved it! It's pretty simply arranged, with no big chorus or anything, but it just sounds really good. I'll be honest, I didn't like "Bulletproof" at first. It sounded like an ad jingle for a toy store or something. Then I listened again, and the ricocheting drums and fierce melody got lodged in my brain. I guess it was the bubbly synths at the beginning that threw me off at first! Gentler vocals from Elly and a lovely melody make "Colourless Colour" a highlight of the album. I love how the chorus introduces a driving beat - it gives the song that little extra punch.

Though "I'm Not Your Toy" was a single, I think it is fairly average stuff. To be honest, the "I'm not your toy" thing was done much more meaningfully by Lesley Gore with "You Don't Own Me" in the 60s. Still, "I'm Not Your Toy" is not a bad song, it just pales in comparison to the first five tracks of La Roux. The soft vocals from Elly and the twinkling synths of "Cover My Eyes" makes me think this would've been a good slow-dance song in the 80s or something. I like the background vocals here, "ooh"-ing and echoing key lines. To me, this song, aside from those neat bg vox, is one of the reasons why La Roux songs are thought of as just pastiches of 80s synth-pop. By all means, get inspiration from 80s artists - just don't stick to their formula! The melancholy but bouncy "As If By Magic" reminds me of Ladyhawke's sound. Next is "Fascination." From the beginning of this track, my interest was piqued. The catchy melody is enhanced by thumping beats and galloping synths.

"Reflections Are Protection": By this track, I realized I prefer La Roux's more fast-paced songs. When they slow it down, the fairly simple synths are less effective than when paired with more energetic vocals and beats. I do like the chorus of this track, though, so it's not all bad. The album closes with "Armour Love," a huge step up from "Reflections..." More downtempo than just slow, "Armour Love" has more "oomph" to it because of the nifty beats and synths that don't sound as color-by-numbers. Bonus track "Growing Pains" is stronger than, say, "Reflections...", so I would have included it as an album track. The chorus, with its complaint that the answer Elly gets to her questions or struggles is simply "it's just growing pains," sounds a bit like a whiny teenager! But the melody's good, so I can forgive her for the chorus lyrics. :)

All of these albums should be available on iTunes, though I'm not sure about BWO's Big Science... Anyways - happy listening! :)

Cheery bye, Scarlett

Florence + The Machine - Lungs (2009)

2009-09-25T17:30:00.007-05:00

As I noted in my last semi-review: Florence + The Machine's Lungs is exquisite. Here are my thoughts about this beauty of a record. :)

Lungs begins with the 2008 single "Dog Days Are Over." It starts off calmly enough with plucked harp strings... then some hand claps... then the "run fast for your mother" bit comes along and BOOM! Well, that's the first, smaller BOOM of the song. Wait for the moment after the gentle piano interlude, when the BOOM! really gets ya. "Happiness hit her" indeed! The jolt at 3:05, when the song quiets down then explodes back into the chorus, is the final brilliant BOOM! of "Dog Days Are Over." The album, by the way, is not short on BOOM! moments. It is a testament to Florence's great skill, because though the BOOM!s are many, they never feel unwelcome or dull.

Dreamy sounds kick "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" off. Every section of the song is delicious, especially the "here I am, a rabbit-hearted girl" bridge, and that lush, Enya-like "ahhh-ah" right before the chorus. And of course, I love that there's a potential Kate Bush reference in the line "I must become a lionhearted girl." :) This is really an epic little tune, with its references to Midas, lambs and knives, and water turning from blue to red. I absolutely love the final, weary "this is a gift..." The next track, "I'm Not Calling You A Liar," didn't really appeal to me on first listen. There's nothing wrong with it, it just doesn't hit me the same way the rest of the songs do. However, I do love the creepy imagery of the lyrics - "there's a ghost in my mouth... wraps itself around my tongue as it softly speaks." The harp-accompanied "there but for the grace of God go I" part of the song is lovely, too.

Oh my goodness. "Howl." Can you say "intense"? Everything about this song is fantastic. The pounding percussion and squealing strings pulse around Florence's primal wail. Make sure to brace yourself for 2:16 - 2:30, especially the point where the music drops out and Florence cries "I hunt for you with bloody feet across the hollow groooound!" Sends a shiver down my spine, I can tell you. The song concludes with just Florence's voice, on the word "ground." Beautiful.

I'm reminded of Siobhan Donaghy's Ghosts album when it comes to the next track, "Kiss With A Fist." Just as "12 Bar Acid Blues" sounded great but didn't quite fit with the rest of Ghosts, so "Kiss With A Fist"'s punky garage rock sits awkwardly amidst the raw regality of the rest of Lungs. This one particular guitar lick towards the end of "Kiss With A Fist" brings to mind the nifty ending of Queen's "It's Late," when the band has a short freak-out and Freddie's voice and Brian May's guitar squeal before returning to the main melody. OK, so anyways...! "Kiss With A Fist" is fab for what it is, but it's just not a perfect fit with the rest of the album.

Now, the next track fits the album perfectly. Ghostly guitar leads us into the tale of the "Girl With One Eye." Eerie, kinda gross ("I took a knife and cut out her eye"), and rather brilliant, really. The "I said hey, girl with one eye" refrain is addictive. There are 3 BOOM! moments to treasure in this song: at 2:22, when Florence's voice soars over the erupting song; 2:45 and its sharp intake of breath; and 2:57's "I said! [BANG!] Girl with one eye...". You just can't get any better than those wonderfully jarring instances.

"Drumming," the current Flo single, is next. The percussion at the beginning reminds me of the beats from the "How d'you gets to kill a 'roo?" song from The Mighty Boosh's first series episode, "Killeroo." (There's Florence glaring at Noel Fielding for some reason, in the picture at left.) Anyways! Now that's out of the way, "Drumming" is one of those songs that is more of an experience than just a tune. Such wonderful, evocative lyrics, like how the "drumming noise inside my head" is described as being "such an almighty sound." It's almost a couple different songs in one, and yet it works so well. Excellent stuff! More excellence comes in the form of "Between Two Lungs," one of the less heavy songs on the album. Beautiful lyrics about "the breath that passed from you to me" float upon jaunty piano and jangly beats. A magical little song.

Speaking of magic - "Cosmic Love"! This song is out of this world (lol). Florence booms "the stars, the moon, they have all been blown out," and that's just what it feels like when you listen to "Cosmic Love." Another "experience" song, really. The next track, "My Boy Builds Coffins," made an impression on me on my first listen to the album. It just sounds like it's an old classic; the lyrics are simple but compelling and the music is the most restrained on the album. It's a fabulous little gem of a tune. And then comes "Hurricane Drunk"! I love the joyfully resigned chorus to this: "I'm going out! I'm gonna drink myself to death!" Florence makes being down in the dumps a delightful notion with "Hurricane Drunk": the music has a skip in its step and I imagine would be fun to see performed live.

The album technically closes with "You've Got The Love" (such a fun cover of the Candi Staton song), but from what I've read it's supposed to be a bonus track, so for me the album really ends with "Blinding." And what an ending. The menacing harp motif, the awesome atmospheric touches, the lyrics: "no more dreaming of the dead as if death itself was undone," "no more calling like a crow for a boy, for a body in the garden" (what's up with Florence and the death-y imagery?!), and "all the walls of dreaming, they were torn wide open" are but a few of the lusciously morbid lyrics in "Blinding." My favorite thing about the song is that it ends with a sharp breath. I mean, I love all of the song, but I adore that it ends so dramatically.

If you haven't listened to Lungs yet, go forth and listen! :)

Hallelujah!

2009-09-18T13:20:00.005-05:00

Great news, or greatest news ever?

[Siobhan Donaghy] is carrying her trusty laptop, containing work-in-progress from a new musical project; words that will be a comfort to the members of her fanbase who felt a sense of mild panic when she recently announced that she would be taking a sabbatical from the industry. “I feel like I have had that break now” she says, though her relaxed demeanour and self-confessed perfectionism betray the fact that she won’t be rushed.

Discovering Siobhan Donaghy's album Ghosts (and then her debut album, Revolution In Me) in 2007 was one of my favorite musical moments in the last few years, so I was gutted to read in January 2009 (though the page is now incorrectly marked as being from Sept. 2009, for some reason!) that she had "no further plans to undertake a record of my own."

But a new interview with PonyStep (from September 16, 2009, and it includes stunning new photos!) reveals that Siobhan's fans' prayers have been answered. A new musical project! I am stoked. There aren't even any other details about the project out yet, and from the looks of the quote ("she won't be rushed") it'll be some time before we get to hear her new stuff, but I'm just thrilled that she's back in business.

I think Siobhan is a really special artist. I can't really explain it, though I tried in my reviews of Ghosts and Revolution In Me. I dunno. All I do know is that I like what I've heard, and now I can't wait to hear more. :)

Cheery bye, Scarlett

I'm still here!

2009-09-14T19:34:00.003-05:00

Guess what? I'm not dead! ;) Here's an eye saga update from my LiveJournal from August 13:

I saw a neurologist twice, and he confirmed that I have optic neuritis. He says I will definitely recover, but it will take time, and I'll have to be checked out once every few months for the next couple of years. I'm just glad that things have settled down now - but it's a wonderful thing that I've got some great doctors looking out for my health. :) ... After all this nonsense, I'm actually in good spirits and all, so things are pretty good right now. :)

Turns out that after everything settled down, though I was in good spirits, the stress of what I'd been through this summer with my eye sort of hit me - and so I kinda just chilled through August. This meant a lack of posts here, and a lack of reading all the cool music blogs I love. It really hasn't been that long, but life moves fast in the music world - so much has happened in music while I've been AWOL! I've been jotting down notes about albums I've listened to during this unintentional hiatus and I can't wait to get back to rambling. ;)

I hope everyone has been doing well and enjoying some great tunes! :D

Cheery bye, Scarlett

Florence and Hadise

2009-07-09T21:44:00.007-05:00

Quick health update: My eye is still wonky. I can see a little better out of it, but it's still not right. My ophthalmologist is erring on the side of caution so I've had a second MRI, and am awaiting an appointment with a neurologist. So I'm sort of playing the waiting game at the moment. I'm kinda nervous, but very optimistic that things will turn out OK. :)

I haven't felt up to reviewing since this started, but I've got to write about two albums that I've absolutely adored recently:

Florence And The Machine's new album Lungs, released on July 6 (and on July 7 here in the US), is really, really good. I had first taken notice of Florence on XO's Middle Eight, when the video of "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" was posted. I think I had listened to a track or two of Florence's before, but whatever I listened to didn't really make much of an impression on me. The lush, ornate "Rabbit Heart," however, did. Even so, I still didn't pay a great deal of attention to Florence And The Machine after that exposure to "Rabbit Heart." I have no idea why; I guess I just wanted to wait until I heard the actual album until I decided if I loved Florence's music or not.

It turns out that Lungs is exquisite. Florence has a powerful, booming voice, a beautiful voice that invites comparisons to other strong vocalists like Grace Slick but holds a tone and quality that belongs solely to Florence. Her regal yet somehow raw sound finds its inspiration in Kate Bush's darker moments, Stevie Nicks' most ethereal turns, and in the folk-rock of the 1970s. I may be off the mark here, but I think there's also a slight Enya influence, at least in the layering of the vocals - and especially in that delicious "aaah-ah" right before the chorus in "Rabbit Heart." Florence's lyrics range from the epic ("Howl") to the domestic ("Kiss With A Fist") and everything in between. I love how it feels like you're paging through a great big dusty old leather-bound book of fairytales when you listen to the album.

And now on to Eurovision hopeful Hadise, who released an OK album (titled Hadise) with some awesome singles last year ("My Man and the Devil on His Shoulder" in particular). This year, after giving us the addictive Eurovision entry "Dum Tek Tek," Hadise came out with what I think is my favorite pop album of the year so far, Fast Life. The electro/urban-inflected pop songs are all worthy of being released as singles but work together as an album, too. A testament to how good music can make you feel better even in the weirdest times: on my way to my first MRI two weeks ago, something I'd never had done before and was nervous about, I listened to Fast Life on a whim and found myself loving it in spite of my anxious self!

Like I said, every song could be a hit single, but my favorites are "On Top," a fierce attack on a girl trying to get with Hadise's guy (how very dare she!), "Hero," a lovely downtempo track about how "being sad made me strong," and the wonderfully catchy "Supernatural Love."

Proper reviews of Lungs and Fast Life are coming, but I just wanted to share my thoughts on these albums and update this poor blog! :)

Cheery bye, Scarlett

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!

2009-06-21T18:36:00.005-05:00

I'll be heading off on Monday with the family for our annual vacation in oh-so-glamorous Wildwood, New Jersey! :)

Sorry for the recent lack of posts, but this past week was a little nuts - the vision in my left eye went weird and I had to get an MRI. Not fun! I've been listening to a lot of music that I want to write about, though, so I have plenty to review after the beach. :)

Cheery bye, Scarlett

Summer Tunage!

2009-06-04T19:27:00.008-05:00

It's time now to post what's on my Songs of Summer 2009 playlist so far!

First, though:

I've been listening to Dannii Minogue non-stop for the last few days. I just got in the mood to listen to her and simply couldn't stop! Dannii, please come out with some new music sometime! :) I've particularly been enjoying listening to some of my old favorites like "Hide & Seek," which next to "I Begin To Wonder" is my favorite Dannii ditty.
I also went on a Kylie Minogue binge about a week ago. She's only about 200 songs away from topping Kate Bush on my last.fm charts!! :O Never thought I'd see that happen. Anyways, I really enjoyed listening to Impossible Princess again. Despite this being my favorite Kylie album ever and placing in my Top 5 fave albums of all time, I don't listen to IP as often as you'd think. To put it simply, it tends to get me down because it reminds me so much of a bittersweet time in my teen years. Bitter, because I had just dealt with my first round of OCD badness; and sweet, because I have good memories of school and friends from that time. Hearing the darkness of "Too Far" and the frantic "Limbo" again remind me of how far I've come since I first heard the album at 16.

Sorry for getting depressing there! OK, now onto the Songs of Summer 2009. :)

"Who Do You Love Now (Bart Claessen FM Edit)" by Riva, featuring Dannii Minogue, is a 2009 reworking of the classic club stomper. This remix is not as epic as the original - but it's still a good, trance-y mix with lots of blazing synths. There's also a rejigged version of the video to match - check it out here!
Sophie Ellis-Bextor's distinctive vocals can be heard on Freemasons' "Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer)," a stonkingly great dancefloor anthem. (I'm not even sure if "stonkingly" is a word, but that's just how good this song is - it makes you invent new words!) The video edit has an awesome breakdown and buildup with some lovely strings. Well worth a listen!
I had listened to "When Love Takes Over," by David Guetta featuring Kelly Rowland, a couple of months ago but it didn't really make a dent with me then. After reading an entry singing the praises of the song over on Pop Trash Addicts, I thought I should give the song another listen. Now it has earned a place on my Songs of Summer 2009 playlist! The keyboard in the song reminds me of great big dance tracks of the 90s, which is a very good thing. :)
I have been absolutely adoring "Berlin" by French singer Christophe Willem. The album it comes from, Caféine, features Christophe singing with Kylie (or singing with her recording, whatev!) on a new version of "Sensitized," which prompted me to give the album a try. Now I adore Caféine too! Christophe looks kinda goofy, yes, and his voice often sounds eerily like that of a woman on Caféine, but this just makes me love him more. Caféine is perfect electro-pop and I'll probably review it soon! :)
The Black Eyed Peas are back and I quite like their new single, "Boom Boom Pow." It's pretty minimal electro-hip-hop, but it's highly addictive! :)
In-Grid, another fine French singer, has a song called "Le Dragueur" out right now that I really love. The accordion or whatever works so well with the beats, and the "yeah yeah yeah"s of the chorus are cool too.
Dragonette are back with a new single! "Fixin' To Thrill" is full of awesome deep bass, synths, guitars, and fierce vocals from the lead singer. Can't wait for their new album!
I'm really liking Pop Levi's new glam grunge single, "Terrifying." Different in that it's not nearly as upbeat as last year's Never Never Love singles were, it's still awfully catchy! I actually prefer it to the other single he's got out now, "Police $ign."
BWO has a new single out, titled "Right Here Right Now." All the usual BWO bits are here: light but infectious beats, pretty synths, and and anthemic chorus. A fine slice of pop, perfect for the summer!
I'm kind of on the fence about Niels Van Gogh's revamp of Livin' Joy's 90s hit "Dreamer." The extended remixes are great, but the only radio edit of the song I can find is the Denis Koyu & Micha Moor Radio Mix (for my summer playlist, the songs have got to be short and sweet!) - a good mix, yes, but a little long at 4:30. Otherwise, it's a dancefloor-ready tune!
Speaking of the dancefloor - Cascada has a new song out called "Evacuate The Dancefloor." It's kind of a carbon copy of Lady GaGa's "Just Dance," but it's got a charm all its own. The Wideboys Radio Mix really takes the song to the club, and has found a space on my summer playlist. :)
Last but not least is "The Wind Blows (DiscoTech Remix)" by The All-American Rejects. I'm not a big fan of them but I seem to always like their singles. I really would have liked a big club mix of this track but this electro mix is good too; the deep synths and fat beats beef up the ballad-like original.

Cheery bye, Scarlett

Polly Scattergood - Polly Scattergood (2009)

2009-05-30T20:36:00.009-05:00

So I wrote a little about Polly Scattergood awhile back. I noted that "I'm this close to loving [her new album, Polly Scattergood], but I can't quite commit to that feeling yet." I've since decided that I do, in fact, love this album. Listening to Polly Scattergood gives me the same feeling I had listening to Siobhan Donaghy's Ghosts in 2007: like I'm listening to something very, very special. Will it eclipse Bat For Lashes' Two Suns as my favorite of the year so far? You know, it just might. At the very least, the two albums are tied for my fave at the moment. On to the album review! :)

"I Hate The Way" begins with barely-there ambient synths and beats. Polly delivers the first verse in a quavering, quiet voice. The first instance of the beautiful chorus is pretty dark, with some deep synthesizers creeping around under the mix. Polly's voice gains strength as the songs progresses, as do the beats and instrumentation - the second time the chorus comes around, electric guitars join in as an incessant drumbeat pounds. Things blow up artfully around the halfway mark of the track, as a high-pitched synth whines and weaves its way around the production. Everything gets quiet and Polly adds in some angelic background vocals, but the intensity isn't over. Organ-like synths and a delicate piano melody make an appearance towards the end of the track, right before what sounds kinda like a spaceship hovering into view sweeps through. Polly then recites a spoken-word thing over a shuffling drumbeat and odd noises floating all over the place, with cool echoing effects toward the closing of the song. I adore the lyrics of this piece: "I will hold you even though you're slightly mad," "my doctor said I've got to sing a happy tune," and "girl you've got a million different faces, so why do you put on that disguise?" are some of my favorite lines. Polly's almost stream-of-consciousness lyrics are a highlight of the album.

On to the next track! I can't believe we're only on to the second track - sorry for that mini-novel I wrote up there! I just really like "I Hate The Way." :D All righty. The kicky beats and bright synths of "Other Too Endless" belie the song's vulnerable lyrics, like "it can't be real, no it can't be real, if I close my eyes maybe I won't feel this." I love the strings that show up towards the end of the track - really great instrumental work here! Now we move on to "Untitled 27," which starts out with a solo piano and synths for atmosphere, plus some ghostly vocals asking "where are you?" and saying "I'm lost." Creepy! The lyrics here read like poetry - take the first verse, for instance:

Suicidal tendencies
Drain creativity
Auto-pilot
Numb the music
Sick

Deep drumbeats, screeching synths and what sounds like a distorted background vocal wail combine with the lyrics to produce something haunting and beautiful. "Please Don't Touch" is up next, all bouncing beats and guitars - quite a change from the darkness of the first three tracks! But don't worry, there's still something wonderfully "off" about this. :) The chorus is a simple, catchy melody, underscored by hand-claps and punchy piano. The synths and background vocals that come in near the end really give that something extra to the song. More nifty lyrics like "although I lost my mind sir, I think you lost yours quicker" come up here.

"I Am Strong" is quietly pretty, driven by piano and a simple drumbeat. It's an atmospheric song too, with wafts of windy synths and wispy background vocals entering the mix every so often. It finishes, and the album moves on to "Unforgiving Arms." It's sort of sung/spoken, and Polly pulls this off. The chorus has a pop song feel, and is the most "normal" sounding bit on the album. I love the break in her voice at around the 2:30 mark, during a chorus - this adds to the feel of listening in on someone's private thoughts. That's a good way to describe the album, actually - it's like you're listening in on someone's thoughts. Set to music. :)

Solo piano starts "Poem Song" off, as Polly sings about how "times takes many tears away." Soft synths pop up occasionally, and a solo violin plays the melody right in the middle of the track. At a little over 6 minutes long, this song is deceptive - you hear that the song isn't going to be full of big sounds like "I Hate The Way," so you think it'll get boring, being so long. But this isn't the case: you find yourself wanting to listen to what Polly is singing, because her vocals and lyrics are so compelling.

"Bunny Club" is like a more restrained club track. The song tells a story - I think it might be about a girl in a brothel. The bassline and drumbeat push the song along, and the deep synths and hi-hat that enter toward the end of the track really make you want to move! "Nitrogen Pink" is next. It's full of buzzing synths and the feel of the song builds in intensity as it goes along - frantic drums and those synths beef up the sound as Polly becomes more and more vocally uninhibited. Not so much a song as a little snapshot of emotion.

Bird callings and piano introduce "Breathe In Breathe Out." A delicate ballad, with a gorgeous chorus - just Polly's voice, her piano and an atmospheric synth. It's such a beautiful song, and the lyrics are sad but pretty: "saw a sparkle, felt a tremor..." When the song ends, you feel like you have just listened to a pretty special album.

The iTunes version (at least the US iTunes; not sure about elsewhere!) of this album comes with a digital booklet and 4 bonus videos, including a charming short video about Polly, and is a bargain at only $6.99. If your interest was piqued by my thoughts (I should be so lucky, lol!), I really encourage you to try this album out. :)

Cheery bye, Scarlett

Scarlett's Summer Classics!

2009-05-27T19:48:00.008-05:00

I'm a member of several music-sharing communities on LiveJournal, and there was a recent request post asking for your favorite summertime songs. This prompted me to put together a playlist of my summertime favorites - songs that have heated up my summers through the years. Quite a few of the songs are those from recent years, but all in all it's a playlist that is sure to make the heat rise! :)

So without further ado, here is: Scarlett's Summer Classics! I believe that most of these songs can be found on iTunes or Amazon, but if you have trouble finding something, send me an email and I'll see what I can do. ;) :D

01 Destination Calabria (Original Radio Edit) - Alex Gaudino feat. Crystal Waters
I first heard this in 2007 and it has become my favorite summer song. This is like my summer anthem! It makes me think of going to the beach. :)

02 Delius (Song Of Summer) - Kate Bush
I think I must have first listened to this song a few years ago. It's got a wonderfully hazy, sleepy feeling, like you might feel on a summer evening.

03 Money To Burn - Richard Ashcroft
A feel-good sing-along kind of track! I love those horns that pop up every so often!

04 Summer Calling (Radio Edit) - Andain
This one makes me think of summer nights, full of fireflies and yummy smells from cookouts!

05 Anyway You Choose To Give It - The Black Ghosts
This is from last year, but it really made an impression on me! I remember listening to it at the beach last year and loving the fast-paced beats.

06 How Bizarre (Radio Mix) - OMC
A classic one-hit wonder! I loved this song back during a summer in the mid-90s and I always make sure to give it a spin during the summer to bring back memories of being young(er) (I was probably around 10 or 11!) and stupid(er)!

07 Chariots Of Fire (Credheadz Remix Radio Edit) - BWO
A couple of years ago I found myself listening to this at the beach on repeat. This remix takes the original pure pop track and beefs it up, making it into a rather epic kinda thing.

08 Everytime We Touch (Radio Mix) - Cascada
Cheesy old song it may be - but it makes me smile! :)

09 Closer to Your Heart - Clannad
A lot of Clannad songs remind of the summer, because I started listening to them many summers back. I chose this one because it's fun and bouncy!

10 Makat Hom [i la dirla da da] - Dana International
I started listening to Dana a few summers back too, and this one is a lot of fun and very summery!

11 Sunrise - Dannii Minogue
I loved this track from The Hits & Beyond, and it reminds me of the summer it came out!

12 Hot Summer Night (Radio Edit) - David Tavare (Feat. 2 Eivissa)
A relatively new track with a great hook and breezy production.

13 Jesus Doesn't Love Me - Dragonette
Not really summery, technically, but I always associate it with summer because that's when I first heard it! A fun electro-pop ditty with sinfully good lyrics! ;)

14 Crickets Sing for Anamaria - Emma Bunton
A perfect song for "summertime, when all the crickets sing"!

15 Thnks Fr Th Mmrs (Lenny B Short Term Memory) - Fall Out Boy
I listened to this and the BWO track a lot during that summer, despite not being a Fall Out Boy fan. I am a big fan of remixes, though, and this mix really has a lot of attitude!

16 Trippin' Me Up (1st Demo Version) - Kylie Minogue
It's not an officially released song, but it easily could have been - it's fantastic!

17 Summertime - Geri Halliwell
Rather sexy, actually, and beautifully put together. I really like the guitars.

18 The Way - Fastball
If you listen to the lyrics, it's a sad song. But if you just focus on the cool chorus, you'll turn that frown upside down!

19 Long Hot Summer - Girls Aloud
Not my favorite Girls Aloud song, but it specifically mentions summer and I just had to include the Girls in this playlist!

20 From Paris to Berlin - Infernal
Oh man, what a scorcher! I absolutely LOVED and still adore this track. Memory time: I was shocked a few summers ago to hear this song on the boardwalk as my family and I left the nut house in Cape May - Morrow's Nut House, that is! :D I had no idea the Nut House was that hip!

21 Ray of Light - Madonna
A really great, hyperactive song!

22 Faster Kill Pussycat - Paul Oakenfold ft. Brittany Murphy
Listened to this a few years back and loved it. I can't believe Brittany Murphy, who voices Luanne on King Of The Hill (great show, btw!), did the vocals on this!

23 Umbrella (The Lindbergh Palace Radio Edit) - Rihanna
You couldn't get away from this song a few summers ago, and why would you want to? This remix brings the song fully into the pop realm.
24 Cry For You (Radio Mix) - September
Ah, what a cool song. That cry of "you'll never see me again!" is positively anthemic!

25 Kayitz (summer) - Ofra Haza
Hebrew for "summer," "Kayitz" is a cute little ditty that you'll love, even if, like me, you don't speak Hebrew!

26 Tattva - Kula Shaker
Have yourself a psychedelic summer with this hippy-dippy tune!

27 Saturday Night Forever - Pet Shop Boys
An ode to the carefree joys of Saturday nights! Saturday nights in the summer are always worthy of celebration.

28 Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days Of Summer - Nat King Cole
A absolute classic. It's just not summer if I don't listen to this! :D

I'll be posting what I've got so far on my Summer 2009 playlist once I've got more songs than the few I have now! :)

Cheery bye, Scarlett

Bat For Lashes - Two Suns (2009)

2009-05-19T17:07:00.006-05:00

My first proper album review in a few months! :O I'm done with finals, yay! :D

Bat For Lashes, also known as Natasha Khan, came out with Two Suns in April. It leaked in March, however, and at that time I thought it may be my favorite album of the year so far. Now it's May, and it's still my fave of the year so far. This is a really beautiful album, full of unique songwriting and excellent production.

"Glass" starts the album off calmly enough, before thumping drums usher in an epic storm. Khan's deliciously visual lyrics tell an adventurous love story replete with a "knight in crystal armor" and "two suns spinning at two different speeds." That particular lyric, though only one line in a song full of regal imagery, is probably my favorite because the words, combined with Khan's delivery and the music sweeping around, are full of motion and energy. Next, twangy guitars and deep bass get "Sleep Alone" going. Excellently detailed percussion pushes the verses along, and once you get to the chorus - ah! "Lonely, lonely, lonely," Khan wails, supported by heavier production and some nice, warm synths. I love the ethereal "aah" that washes over the mix after the wonderful line, "they say for every high high, there must be a low, low, low, low, low."

A delicate piano ballad with lovely strings (or synths) for atmosphere, "Moon And Moon" features otherworldly echoes of each line in the second verse. I really like those mournful "ooh"s that make an appearance toward the end of the song. Sad lyrics about not seeing the one you love anymore might get you down, but fear not - "Daniel" will pick your spirits back up! You know that guitar lick that heralds the arrival of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)"? That's what the almost trumpet-like synthesizers that set the mood for "Daniel" remind me of. What I love about "Daniel" is that the synths aren't really trying to sound like real instruments (except, perhaps, for the string synths that pop up every once in awhile). It's like this song takes place in another time - another world! Love the way Khan intones "just kids in the eye of the storm" - what a great line, and fab delivery! All that greatness, plus the song's even danceable. You can't get any better than that!

Foreboding synths and a jangly guitar start "Peace Of Mind" off. What makes this song awesome is the gospel chorus that repeats each line Khan sings. Khan's vocal performance is particularly dramatic in this track. I loe the dark, country-tinged sound of this one - her delivery of "peace of mind" is more a threat than a chorus! "Siren Song" is up next. You can hear some nifty flute work in this! This is sort of the calm in the storm that "Glass" started, yet the choruses are full of a restless energy, heavy with drums and dark lyrics. We bop back to dancing percussion with "Pearl's Dream." "A star in me needs to be free,"Khan proclaims, before mentioning battles, kingdoms, and a thousand night in the chorus. It's all underscored by infectious beats and handclaps. Again, the synth work, which is amazing throughout Two Suns, gives this song a unique sound. The "you know that it's time to go up" melody almost sounds like it could have been on the radio in the 1960s. Cool stuff.

Organ takes the spotlight in "Good Love," the name of a town Khan "passed... last night in a dream" (I absolutely love her lyrics!). "Good Love" drifts lazily along, but with purpose, and before you know it "Two Planets" swings into view. A solo spoken word intro and battle-ready drums begin this track. "I am one of two planets dancing" and other magical lyrics like it soar above ringing, jingling percussion. This is more like an experience than a song - you'll want to listen to it over and over again to hear all the neat production touches (which is true of the whole album, really!). Creepy deep vocal swoop in near the end, and then we continue our journey through Two Suns with "Travelling Woman." It's a song of encouragement to a, well, "travelling woman," to, among other things, "never fall in love with potential." Piano and a leisurely drumbeat give this a timeless, ballad-y feel. Khan's vocals and the instrumentation become a little more aggressive about half-way through the track. The track quietly but prettily ends on a fade-out.

The album closes with "The Big Sleep." Wonderfully theatrical, this one, with lyrics about "spotlights coming down from heaven" and the acknowledgement that "it's curtains-down time." Khan's lovely voice is joined by Scott Walker's deep, dark vocals on this eerie and engaging closing track. The last half of the track features just a haunting solo piano, and ends with some kind of synthesized white noise pulses.

I mentioned in an earlier post that Bat For Lashes' 2006 debut, Fur And Gold, failed to win me over. Two Suns, however, has got me positively Batty! Check this album out on iTunes or in stores. :D

Cheery bye, Scarlett

More nifty blogs!

2009-05-03T20:30:00.004-05:00

I think this semester has zapped all of my blogging mojo. I think, though, that after my finals are over and my summer break has begun, I'll be able to unwind a bit and let my musical musings ~flow~. ;)

For now, here are some neat blogs I've added to my "cool blogs to visit" sidebar!

Babakazoo's Classic Groove has tons and tons of classic 70s and 80s albums to check out!
Visit DJ Chromatic's Ultimate Mixes for a nice selection of pop and dance remixes!
Finest Def Mix has an absolutely awesome collection of pop and dance singles and remixes.
Heat My Deck's posts feature cool dance/electronica/electro singles, plus great mixtapes.
I stumbled upon Nineties Club CD Maxi Singles and ended up browsing it forever! It's fab!
Ohh! Crapp… has lots of danceable and often exclusive electro/electronica remixes and tracks!
The Vault is amazing, not just because it has hard-to-find Kate Bush singles, but because it has a wonderful selection of pop and dance singles!

Have fun blog browsing! :D

Cheery bye, Scarlett

Let's try this again!

2009-04-15T22:17:00.002-05:00

I said I was back... but that was in late March! School has been keeping me extra-busy, but I'm determined to keep this blog full of my rambling thoughts. ;)

I've signed up for a Twitter, and I'm going to use it to keep track of mini-musical-musings - the stuff that doesn't warrant a huge post, but that I'd like to make note of anyway. I'm not too sure how that'll work out but it's worth a try! Check out my updates (none as yet) on the sidebar!

Great new albums have been released or leaked recently. I'll be writing proper reviews of my favorites soon, but for now, here are the albums that you should check out right quick! ;)

Bat For Lashes' Two Suns, released April 7 in the US. Just beautiful. It's on iTunes, on Amazon.com, pretty much everywhere, so you have no excuse to not listen to it! ;)
IAMX's Kingdom of Welcome Addiction, to be released in May. It was well worth the wait - the album is full of IAMX's lush, industrial-infused electronic rock and his idiosyncratic, dark-minded lyrics. Search Google for it, have a sneaky listen, and then buy it when it's released! :)
Lal Meri, a trio that includes Nancy Kaye (formerly known as Rosey) and chill-out maestro Carmen Rizzo, have released their debut album titled Lal Meri. And what a gorgeous album it is! Download it from iTunes or Amazon or wherever and get lost in the beautiful grooves!
Sandra released her comeback album of sorts (a triumphant return after her divorce from Enigma mastermind Michael Cretu), Back To Life, in March. It's characterized by bright, happy lyrics and fabulous music that matches - light years (Kylie reference intended!) from The Art Of Love, a darker album that had the potential to be an introspective, intimate sort of record, but fell short of that mark.
Polly Scattergood. Oh, Polly. After listening to her debut, self-titled album, I just wasn't sure what to think. I'm still kind of in two minds about Polly Scattergood. I'm this close to loving it, but I can't quite commit to that feeling yet. At first listen the songs sounded super minimal, with lyrics that could be interpreted as pretentious. But! I felt compelled to revisit the album a week or two after listening to it the first time. I found myself enchanted and haunted by the first track, "I Hate The Way," and this feeling continued through the whole album. I really wanted to hear what else Polly was going to sing, what other melodies she was going to plink out on the keyboard, what other atmospherics she was going to weave. Are her lyrics pretentious? You know what, I don't even care. They work. Polly Scattergood makes you care about what she sings. There's something about this girl. Her stark musical illustrations are polarizing, I think, and she will definitely strike some listeners as rubbish. But those who give her a chance might just discover that she's really something special.
Hande Yener, a fab Turkish pop star, came out with her newest album, Hayrola? (What's Up?, I think is how it translates) last week. She's definitely worth a listen - her ice-queen electro-pop sound is hypnotic (fittingly, her last album was titled Hipnoz!) and catchy at the same time.

That's it for now! Cheery bye, Scarlett

Singles and such

2009-03-21T23:59:00.000-05:00

You'd be forgiven if you thought I'd dropped off the face of the earth - it's been eons since my last real update!

To start things off, here are some songs I've been adoring for... well, a good while. :)

Pet Shop Boys are back with their new single "Love Etc." from forthcoming album Yes (which I'm so so excited about!). It's classic PSB, with plinking synths and a wonderful chorus.
Bat For Lashes (aka Natasha Khan) will be coming out with her new album Two Suns this April. The first single from the album, the beautifully layered "Daniel," is out with a fabulously freaky video. I tried to get into her first album, 2006's Fur and Gold, but sadly could only find myself enjoying the first few tracks. I'll be giving it another try now, though, because I've had a sneaky listen to Two Suns and it has already gained a place on my "best of 2009" list (yeah, I keep track of my faves in list form in my head all year!).
Sandra, of 80s Europop classic "Maria Magdalena," returns with a gospel-flavored feel-good song called "In A Heartbeat." Her last album, The Art of Love, felt like it was all spoken - it seemed like only the choruses featured Sandra singing! "In A Heartbeat" is a fine return to form, beautifully produced, really really catchy - and no spoken/sung bits! ;)
I gave the new single - "Wild" - from Valeriya a try, despite never having heard of her before, but now I'm definitely looking forward to more music from her! Actually, I'm not even sure if this is her new single - her UK website says something about another song called "Back to Love" being released in April. So I'm not sure what's going on with "Wild"... Anyways - great beats and cool guitars. :)
Anjulie is a new artist with a voice like Nelly Furtado, but her tone is a little sweeter. She will be releasing her debut album, Boom, sometime this year (it leaked early though - and via another sneaky listen, I can tell ya that it's really cool!). She released an EP in late 2008 so I guess "Boom" is the lead single. It's got this awesome deep guitar riff, and then when the chorus comes in - "boom, sha-la-ka..." - that's it. You're hooked! :)
Calvin Harris, that electro kid, has a new club-ready dance single out called "I'm Not Alone." Love those shrieking synths!
I'm addicted to Dizzee Rascal's "Dance Wiv Me (Jason Nevins Radio Edit)", which features Calvin Harris and Chrome. It's club, rap, and rock all rolled into one fab package. I didn't listen to the original in 2008 but I'm loving this 2009 attempt to bring it to the USA. :)
I'm not a big fan of the album version of Beyonce's "Diva," but "Diva (Maurice Joshua Remix)" - now that's good stuff. So danceable, and a bit funky too! :)
Lily Allen's back with "The Fear," the lead single from her neat new album It's Not Me, It's You. "The Fear" is pure pop with excellent beats and clever lyrics like "I'm a weapon of massive consumption."
A new trio of musicians, Lal Meri, is out with "Bad Things", from their debut self-titled album. Lal Meri features the smoky, delicious vocals of Nancy Kaye, who has previously released two albums under the name Rosey. I love her voice and it really suits the lounge-y, psychedelic trip-hop of "Bad Things". Definitely a new group to listen out for.
Marina And The Diamonds have a couple of songs out, and I've gotten hooked on "Obsessions." It's a beautiful song, and Marina has a distinctive voice, almost theatrical but not in an annoying way. Can't wait for their album!
Patrick Wolf is due to release an album this year and his first single from it, "Vulture," is absolutely addictive. I really hope that this deep, dark, and rather sexy sound carries over to the rest of the album. :) (The video in that link is a little NSFW, so wait till you get home to watch it!)
Last but not least is Chester French. "She Loves Everybody" is a single from their forthcoming album, and it's just great pop/rock. Synths flourishes don't sound out of place in the largely guitar-based instrumentation, and I've gotta mention the beats - I'm a sucker for a good beat. :)

Cheery bye, Scarlett

A quick note

2009-02-14T20:11:00.003-05:00

Hey all! I know I've been away for awhile, it seems, but I promise I haven't given up bloggin'. ;) Actually, I've got some family stuff going on at the moment that has been keeping my mind off the music for about two weeks. I will definitely get back to writing (depending on your point of view, this may or may not be a good thing! ;) ) but I'm thinking it will be another couple of weeks before things settle down.

Hope everyone out there in blogland is doing well! :) (And Happy Valentine's Day, by the way! I kept meaning to do a post of my favorite love songs, but I'll do it some other time I suppose!) :D

Cheery bye, Scarlett

O hay guys!

2009-01-31T13:29:00.003-05:00

Hey, just wanted to post a quick note to assure anyone who was wondering that I am indeed still alive - it's just that the spring semester started last Monday and I've already got a boatload of reading to get through! Reviews and such will definitely be coming up soon, though. :)

But before I go and finish Moll Flanders and get started on reading my science textbook ;), I've got to rave a bit about capsule, a Japanese electro duo. Their latest album, More! More! More!, is absolutely awesome, and had I listened to it in 2008 (when it was released) it surely would have been on my "top albums of 2008" list. I particularly love the frantic, fierce rap in "the Time is Now" and the bright and shiny title track. Other cool songs to listen out for include "Phantom," which sounds like some Daleks crashed the studio and demanded to be recorded, and "e.d.i.t.", a non-stop energy rush.

So go give capsule a listen. They're great! :)

Cheery bye, Scarlett

Stefani Vara

2009-01-17T21:01:00.004-05:00

I got an email about Stefani Vara, an up-and-coming R&B/pop singer, and I was more than happy to give her singles "Water" and "Lately" a spin. It wasn't until Stefani was in high school that she decided to pursue a singing career. She left her home in Houston, Texas for New York, met Siri Music CEO Chauncy Jackson, and the rest is history. Stefani is now signed to Siri Music and worked with Chauncy, Kim Croft, the Insomniax, and Keynon Moore (among others) on her debut album Storybook Diaries (the release date is yet to be confirmed).

The sumptuous synths, guitars, and beats of Stefani's latest single "Water" are perfectly complemented by her sweet, breathy voice. Her previous single, "Lately," is a dreamy, uptempo R&B-flavored pop tune that really suits her pretty, almost whisper-light vocals. With her vocal talent and great music-makers supporting her, Stefani is sure to do well!

You can watch the video for "Water" on Stefani's official MySpace, and download her songs on iTunes! You can also read an interview where Stefani answers fans' questions at Pop Nation!

Cheery bye, Scarlett

Musical musings :)

2009-01-17T06:40:00.009-05:00

Just a few thoughts I've had lately about random music stuff:

I never thought I'd actually find myself digging a commercial jingle, but every time the Chris Brown Doublemint commercial comes on I can't help but love those beats. For anyone else wondering about the song, and has been living under the same rock I apparently have been under, the song used in the commercial is a rework of his single "Forever" with new lyrics about... well, gum. :)

I didn't know, until today, that there was a Ralphi Rosario vocal mix of Pet Shop Boys' "To Step Aside". I had the dub, but whilst browsing CDs today at one of my fave used CD shops, I found the US maxi-single of "Se A Vida É" - which included a mix of "To Step Aside" called "Ralphi's Disco Vox"! It's pretty good, much better than the dub, with a great house piano line. Nothing beats the album version of "To Step Aside," though! Speaking of PSB, they're releasing their latest album, titled Yes, on March 23! :D

When oh when is Amelia Brightman, alias Violet, going to release her debut album? Judging by the songs on her MySpace, the little sister of Sarah Brightman has loads of talent and such a lovely voice. The Wikipedia entry about her states that she plans to release an album in 2009, but who knows how that will turn out - apparently her album was supposed to surface in 2003! :O

And Shweta Shetty! I could've sworn I read on the Nemo Studios website at some point that she was working on an album. I discovered Shweta, strangely enough, because of Sarah Brightman - Shweta contributed vocals to Sarah's Harem album and also sang during the Harem tour. I really like her voice and I hope we get to hear some tunes from her soon. :)

This was a really scattered post! :)

Cheery bye, Scarlett

AGF - "Disturbia" cover (2008)

2009-01-15T08:27:00.004-05:00

I just signed up at The Hype Machine and have been having fun browsing the blogs and the tunes. I came across a cover of Rihanna's "Disturbia" that I just have to talk about. :) AGF (a.k.a. Antye Greie) is an artist (read her full bio here) who took the lyrics and melody of "Disturbia" and twisted them up into a distorted, awesomely frightening electronic concoction (free download!). Washes of her ghostly, at times incomprehensible, vocals zoom in and out of the white noise that flickers throughout the track while synth bass notes fall heavily into the mix. The end of the song is especially chilling, as her cries of "Disturbia!" are cut-up and affected, before the song finally concludes with one final interrupted "Distur--".

I knew I couldn't be the only one who thought that "Disturbia" went a little deeper, a little stranger, than most pop songs go. Or at least that, in other hands, it had the potential to do so. If you're into music that isn't afraid to be really, really weird, check out AGF's cover of "Disturbia." :)

Now on the flip side, I also found a cool remix of Kanye West's "Love Lockdown" by a band called My Dear Disco. Funky bass and disco beats make this one fine mix. :)

Cheery bye, Scarlett

Anavi - "Mustapha" (2007)

2009-01-13T01:40:00.009-05:00

Back in 2007, the Lenny Bertoldo radio edit of "Mustapha" by Anavi was included on the May Promo Only Dance Radio compilation. I wondered, before I listened to it, if the song was a dance cover of Queen's mighty "Mustapha," from their 1978 Jazz album. I was right! Now, some might consider this sacrilege - I mean, why even try to match Freddie Mercury's amazingness? It simply can't be done.

But! As I noted in my post about the remixes of Queen's "Flash":

You can't improve upon the original. But you can have some fun with it!

And I really do believe that. I also believe that Freddie would probably have been amused and delighted by this trashy dance version of "Mustapha." So you shouldn't feel any shame while bopping along to this hot mess!

Musically, Queen's "Mustapha" is a rock song, with awesome guitar work by Brian May and glorious layered vocals from Freddie (and Brian and drummer Roger Taylor, I guess). Lyrically, however, the song is rather different compared to the rest of Queen's work. (Of course, "Bohemian Rhapsody" famously uses the word "Bismillah," an Arabic phrase that means "in the name of God," in the "let me go" section of the song, so the lyrics of "Mustapha" are not too much of a departure.)

The song's lyrics are often thought to be in Arabic, but this is only partly true: though never officially confirmed (like, by the band or anything), the lyrics are probably a combination of English ("[will/we'll] pray for you"), Arabic ("Salaam Aleikum"), and either Farsi or Gujarati. That said, I really don't have any idea what the lyrics are, or what they mean. I can pick out "Salaam Aleikum" and the English bits, but nothing else. Someone transcribed the lyrics on YouTube and allexperts.com, but I can't personally verify how true they are, so I just dunno!

So Queen's "Mustapha" has amazing vocals, flawless music, and tongue-twisting lyrics that no one seems to be able to pin down. What kind of fool would attempt to take all that and put dance beats and synths on top of it?! Anavi, that's who.

Turns out Anavi isn't that foolish. Her version of the song actually works. Anavi has a nice voice, better and more intriguing than the average dance diva's. Whether or not her vocals are used well depends on the remix. Now, the remixes I bought from iTunes are almost all mislabelled. Using the samples on Anavi's official website and the samples from another single on iTunes, I was able to correct the titles for my own iPod.

In case you decide to invest in some "Mustapha" remixes on iTunes, use this handy guide!

Track 1. Phunk Generation Radio Edit is really Original
Track 2. Lenny Bertoldo Radio Edit is OK!
Track 3. Klubjumper's Radio Edit is really Phunk Generation Radio Edit
Track 4. Robert G. Trancelicious Remix is really Mr. Ali Club
Track 5. Original is really Robert G. Trancelicious Remix
Track 6. Mr. Ali Club is really Lenny Bertoldo Club Mix
Track 7. Lenny Bertoldo Club Mix is really Klubjumper's Radio Edit
Track 8. Klubjumper's Club Remix is OK!
Track 9. Phunk Generation Club Remix is OK!

OK, so let's get on with the reviewing, using the correct titles! :)

The Original uses synths, keyboards, and guitars in the production and thus stays truer to the original. It rocks! The Lenny Bertoldo Club Mix and Radio Edit don't use all of Anavi's vocals, so they're more like a dub, but those "Mustapha" chants still sound great the way Lenny uses them. The Phunk Generation Club Remix and Radio Edit are my favorites of the bunch. The mix follows the chord progression of the Queen original and the synths are spectacular. It makes me want to dance, and trust me, I am not a dancing kinda person! ;)

The Mr. Ali Club is an extended version of the Original, and it's all right. It's almost ten minutes long and does get sort of tiring. But the Original acts as a condensed version of all the good bits of the Mr. Ali Club so all is right with the world. :) What is not right is the Robert G. Trancelicious Remix. It sounds like crap. It's badly edited and really sounds like an amateur put it together. (I mean, even I could probably do better! ;) ) Finally, the Klubjumper's Club Mix and Radio Edit sound like a classic 90s house track but updated for today. My second favorites on the single. :)

So take a chance on this song, you just might like it! :)

Cheery bye, Scarlett

Cool beans & cool blogs to visit

2009-01-10T20:19:00.005-05:00

The absolutely wonderful and classy Mike at Pop Trash Addicts named this blog as having one of the best end of year countdowns in "the first but most probably not annual" Pop Trash Addicts Blog Awards!! Thanks a bunch, Mike! :D Other fabulous winners include some of my favorite blogs to browse - like FABTASTIC! Music (in Best New Blogs), Trip The Switch (in Best Blogs Devoted To One Artist - Kylie, in this case!), and The Isle Of Deserted Pop Stars (as the runner-up for the grand prize of Best Blog!)!

I haven't done a post about blogs I like for awhile, so this seems like the perfect time to let you know about some cool blogs! :)

Here are some new awesome affiliates...

Adventures Of An Audio Diva is the divalicious Jennifer's amazing blog, full of her fun and engaging musical musings on a variety of genres and artists. Definitely one of the friendliest blogs I've ever come across! :)
Different Is Dangerous is thankfully here to stay after a rocky period of time where probablyrustin was unsure about continuing with the blog. His thoughtful reviews are not to be missed!
The forum at FlopPOP! is the place to be! All the best pop trash fans hang out there, including yours truly (but I need to post more!!), so get over to FlopPOP! quick! :)
Groovin' Lima has all the latest music and music news, plus a lot of downloads! Coolness!
Mystical Star is the chillout/New Age spin-off of Luckystar Music (both are private, so you'll have to visit the Luckystar site to email and request an invite - it's well worth taking the time!) and the best place to find tunes to relax to after partying hard to the tracks you'll find at these other blogs! :)
obscuria. is relatively new but already has a lot of nifty things to read and listen to! Obscure and lesser-known artists get featured here, and you're sure to find some great new tunes to enjoy!
Get your hip-hop fix over at The Prophet, where you can find all the latest tunes and news about your favorite music stars! :)

And some new links in the "Cool Blogs to Visit" section of the sidebar...

You can find new and classic Israeli and world music at the great Just (Random Blog)! There are lots of neat new artists to discover. :)
Nau Pyrata is a cool collection of music blog links. Lots of new blogs to discover there!
POPTastic! has all the newest music, but I like this blog for the "blast from the past" posts! :)
The Isle Of Deserted Pop Stars is like the holy grail of flop pop star blogs - this blog highlights and champions those pop stars whose efforts fell by the wayside. Tons of unheard of or little-known pop stars get their time to shine at The Isle! :)
The Passion Of Indie Music is your source for downloads of new indie bands and keeps the pretentiousness to a minimum. ;) I discovered HK 119 there, so as far as I'm concerned this blog is a-OK in my book! (Er, blog!)
Totally Fuzzy is like the ultimate collection of blog links, except it's even better, because it has posts on updated blogs every day. Well worth a visit or two! Or three, or a million...
Trip The Switch is the fantastic Kylie blog I mentioned at the beginning of the post - you've got to visit and check out the beautiful layout and even prettier posts! :)
VIP Music Only! has pop music news and downloads - a fun place to visit!
●●● (a.k.a. Please Don't Stop The Music) has all the newest indie releases, plus some older material. It's fun to browse the posts and find new artists to listen to!

Have fun blog-hopping! :)

Cheery bye, Scarlett

Liz Scott - "Angel" (2008)

2009-01-03T23:27:00.003-05:00

I got an email about Liz Scott, a US-based Australian singer who has been working recently with Markus Moser of electronica duo iiO. She just released her first single, "Angel," on December 16 - and it's such a promising debut! Her voice is sweet and light, but never lightweight - this is a voice you're going to remember. "Angel" has a fab bass groove and sweeping synth strings that weave in and out of the laid-back beats and little keyboard motifs. If you like chilled but soulful electronica, like Jennifer Paige's 90s hit "Crush," you're going to love Liz Scott and "Angel"!

Liz will be releasing her debut album, Princess, on February 10, 2009 - mark that date on your calendar! Check Liz out at her official site or her MySpace, and be sure to pick up "Angel" on iTunes!

Cheery bye, Scarlett

Built By Snow - MEGA (2009)

2009-01-03T22:15:00.006-05:00

Built By Snow is an indie rock band that hails from Austin, Texas. I got an email from one of the guys in the band and loved how he described Built By Snow's sound: "Catchy keyboard rock with an explosion of velcro melodies and magnetic pop hooks that hit your brain like an Atari blasting out of a bazooka." This sounded like the sort of music I could get into!

The songs don't tend to last beyond two and a half minutes but they're definitely not short on quality. The opening instrumental track "Giant Robot Attack" sounds charmingly like an old-school Nintendo game, but beefed up with guitars and hand claps. It acts as a sort of intro to "Something In 3D," which keeps the 8-bit sounds going amidst psychedelic lyrics about "fighting asteroids with my mind" and "dreaming in 3D." Bizarrely catchy!

The hand-clap-happy "All The Weird Kids Know" (great title!) has perhaps my favorite lyric on an album rife with fun one-liners - "just like Pac-Man my brain eats beats"! "Implode Alright" starts off sounding like Pong or something, but don't let the cheery bleeps fool you - this is a rather tender song. "a-beta" comes next and demands that you "put your Walkman on and save the world from a smart invasion" in the morning. I know that I certainly do nothing less of a morn! ;) Great distorted guitars and walloping drums keep this track chugging along.

I just love the lyrics on MEGA. "Algometric Touch" somehow manages to use algometry, a way to measure pain sensitivity, in a love song! (I can't lie, I had to look up "algometry" to make sure of what it was. I like music that makes me think. :) ) "Algometric Touch" sounds kinda like someone electrocuted the Beach Boys - and I like it!

More punchy hand claps and buzzing synths drive the next tune, "Invaders." Even with its bleeping melody line, "Invaders" has more of a "rock" sound than the rest of the "electronic rock" tracks. "Science Of Love" is full of blips and blops and shouts of "we are magnets!", which in its nonsense somehow makes perfect sense! "Attachment" marks the end of the album and works also as kind of a come-down from the highs of "Science Of Love." Glitchy snippets finish off the last few seconds of the track, and there you are, wanting to listen to it all over again.

You can find Built By Snow on their official website and MySpace, and can buy MEGA (which will be released on January 20) on iTunes or at one of the vendors on their site. :)

Cheery bye, Scarlett

The Story Of - Until The Autumn (2008)

2009-01-03T20:50:00.003-05:00

Got an email from one of the guys from The Story Of about their new album (Until The Autumn, released November 14 2008) - and what an album! They recorded it while living in a cabin in Colorado, which they turned into a studio, and the album progressed from there. You can really hear and feel in the music that the album recording process must have been a natural, organic one. It was a real treat to check this album out.

The album starts off with "Berkeley" - easy-going, sprawling indie-rock that sets the tone for the rest of Until The Autumn. The next track, "Hawk Gospel," is a lot of fun, with great vocal work and interesting lyrics that give you something to think about. At times it's mellow, at others it gets some jaunty tambourines going - cool stuff! "The Flock" follows with atmospheric production and gently strummed guitars that make the lyrics about getting away really take flight.

"Lights On The Landing" continues the theme of escaping, this time to somewhere "light years away." The rich string work and interesting, flitting percussion give the track a dreamlike feel. The cinematic opening of "Veteran's Day" gives way to guitars that sound like they're marching along to the beats - and at the end of the song, they erupt into one final battle before fading out. The avian imagery of "The Flock" returns with "Sparrow." The soaring chorus gives a sense of what it must be like to fly above the clouds!

"Anniverary" is a short but melodic burst of energy, followed by "How It Is." Musically, "How It Is" is great midtempo indie rock, but it's the lyrics that I like the best - we start off with a "broke and beaten down" narrator, but by the end of the song they have found some strength and are encouraging us to "don't stop living." The next song, "Dodge City," is probably my favorite track on the album - I love the echoing guitars and the chorus that ends with a bit of a yell! Throughout the album, I really enjoyed the vocals, especially when they were layered. On the album closer, "Centralia," the background vocals swirl around the main voice at times and make it a pure pleasure to listen to. It's rather an intense song, musically and lyrically, and makes for a solid end to a super album.

Check The Story Of out on their website and MySpace, and buy Until The Autumn at their online shop! :)

Cheery bye, Scarlett

The Best Music of 2008 - Part 3

2009-01-01T06:32:00.003-05:00

OK! The final part of my year-in-review! Enjoy! :) (Also, hope everyone has a happy and healthy New Year!)

The Best Music of 2008

The Best B-Sides or Bonus Tracks of 2008

Does what it says on the tin!

The "WOW" b-sides ("Do It Again"; "Carried Away"; "Cherry Bomb") by Kylie Minogue: I just can't choose which song I love the most! Kylie's b-sides are often gems - and these are nothing less than three jewels in the X era crown. "Do It Again" and its chunky beats and rather regal melody, the fabulously frenetic pace and great lyric - "just too sexy" - of "Carried Away," the slow and steady electro of "Cherry Bomb"... it's all so cool!
"Amnesia" by Britney Spears: By all rights, this boppin' tune should have been a proper album track, but was sadly only available as a bonus track on some versions of Circus. Thumping drums and a fun melody combined to make one of the best bonus tracks of the year.
"For One Day" by Dido: Available as a bonus track on the limited edition or deluxe version or whatever it's called of Safe Trip Home, "For One Day" has shuffling beats and heartbreaking lyrics that I assume are about spening one more day with her father, who passed away in 2006 after battling cancer. A beautiful song.
"Ave Maria" by Mylène Farmer: A stunning, hushed version of the classic aria that begins and concludes with the pulse of heartbeats. Mylène has never sounded so angelic as on this song! It's a hidden track on some releases of Point De Suture.
"Hip To The Beat" by Pop Levi: More of the cool synths that pop up often on Never Never Love give this bonus track on the Japan edition of the album a hard edge that contrasts with the melody really well.

The 5 Best Remixes of 2008
There were tons of remixes this year, and this category honors the best of the best.

"4 Minutes (Peter Rauhofer Peter Saves Paris Mix)" by Madonna: Why this remix? It takes the already cool "4 Minutes" and beefs it up into a banging old-school club mix. It's almost 9 minutes long but I wish it went on forever!
"Great DJ (7th Heaven Remix)" and "That's Not My Name (Soul Seekerz Club)" by The Ting Tings: The catchy "Great DJ" gets a huge house sound courtesy of 7th Heaven, who give their mix thudding beats and spiky synths while the Soul Seekerz turn "That's Not My Name" into a club thumper. I just can't choose between these two!
"Dégénération (Tomer G Sexy Club Mix)" by Mylène Farmer: Tomer G took the best elements of "Dégénération" (like the blazing synths and the clanging percussion) and applied them to a booming club mix. Epic!
"The Alternative (BitRayker Remix)" by IAMX: Originally a garage-band-beat-filled rocker, "Ther Alternative" is given an electrifying, dirty dancefloor makeover by BitRayker. Now if IAMX could only get a new album out...! ;)
"Wow (Death Metal Disco Scene Mix)" and "In My Arms (Death Metal Disco Scene Remix)" by Kylie Minogue: Another pair I can't decide between! Gritty, raw electro production makes DMDS's refreshing takes on "Wow" and "In My Arms" sound vastly different to their original state.

The 3 Best Leaks (that are still unreleased) of 2008
Lots of stuff leaked this year, but only tracks that still remain unreleased are in the running for this category.

"Obscured by Crowds" by Siobhan Donaghy: This song comes from the Ghosts album sessions and would have made a beautiful b-side or bonus track. Just as elegant and pretty as the rest of the album tracks!
"Like An Angel Passing Through My Room" by Madonna: This ABBA cover from Madonna's Ray Of Light era is sumptuous and soothing, with layered vocals and soaring strings. Beautiful.
"Fever" by Lady GaGa: "Fever" (not a cover) and its piano rock would have sounded a little out of place on the largely electro-dance The Fame, but I really like it!

The Best Album Reissue of 2008

Albums from the past, re-released for a 2008 audience! Well, in this case, one album -
I didn't come across more than one stellar album repackaging this year, sadly!

Malaria: The Lost Album by Robyn Loau: Mike's posts about Robyn Loau at PTA got me interested in the Aussie diva, and what a great time to get interested - her previously shelved 1998 album finally got an official release this year! (So this isn't so much a "reissue" as it is an actual release, but whatev!) The album is full of terrific trip-hop-inspired pop songs that aren't afraid to be "out there" - like "Sick With Love" and its dark, twisting string riff, or the frantic drum'n'bass of "Ziggy."

The Best Compilation or Greatest Hits Album of 2008
I judged this category based on the quality of the songs and the cohesiveness of the album as a whole.

Beginnings: The Best of the Early Years by Clannad: Clannad have released their fair share of "greatest hits" compilations over the years - probably a few too many, if truth be told. But I can't fault them, really, because had it not been for the comps An Diolaim (a collection of some of their early work) and Rogha (some of their later work), I may never have become the fan I am today! :) Now, what the other compilations they've released have lacked is the group's early material. An Diolaim consists of tracks from only two albums, and the other comps by and large focus only on their output from Magical Ring and beyond. Of course, that material is excellent - but in my opinion, so is their early traditional work. Most of their 1970s albums (I believe only the live record Clannad In Concert isn't represented) finally got recognized in 2008 with Beginnings. Whoever chose the songs made great choices, because most of my favorites are there! ;) Check this 2 CD album out if you haven't heard Clannad's early tunes, or if you're a fan of (sometimes jazzed-up) Irish folk!

The Best 3 Music Videos of 2008
Tons of music videos popped up this year - these were my favorites.

"Disturbia" by Rihanna: OK, Rihanna may not be very charismatic during her live performances (at least the ones I've watched) - there's a reason she's called the Ribot on ONTD. But darned if she didn't make the most intriguing, stunning video of the year! She must have some charisma somewhere, because the way she visibly relishes singing the word "disturbia" towards the end of the video sends chills up my spine. Her ice-queen demeanor suits the video so well: just watch her detachedly pat some guy on the head as she sashays through a room, or coldly blow smoke into a writhing model's face. I noted on FlopPOP! awhile ago that I for some reason am really intrigued by music and, in this case, music videos, that explore ideas of mental distress or even madness. It's like, by creating something artistic that references madness, that madness is being owned or reclaimed by the artist (or even the listener). Not for a minute do I believe that that's really what was intended with the song "Disturbia" or its video - that goes a bit deep for a pop song! - but it's how I read into it. Anyways, what a gorgeously creepy video!
"Circus" by Britney Spears: The best song on Circus gets a video that enhances its greatness! The old-fashioned, almost sepia-tinted style of the vid contrasts beautifully with the high-tech beats and synths of the song, and Britney looks absolutely lovely.
"Amor y Lujo" by Monica Naranjo: It's Monica surrounded by drag queens. Faaaaabulous!

The Best Artist of 2008
To be the Best Artist of 2008, the artist must have maintained a consistent level of fabulousness all year.

Kylie Minogue: Kylie didn't release a proper studio album this year (except for X in the US) but her single releases and that sensational tour were more than enough to keep me captivated! I don't tend to like to listen to live recordings of tours, but man oh man, I absolutely love to listen to the audio of the tour DVD! You keep doing your thang, Kylie. :)

Honorable Mention

Monica Naranjo: She released an album, went on tour, and appeared all over TV and in magazines - did she ever get a chance to breathe this year? :) Just releasing the amazing Tarantula would have been enough!

Cheery bye, Scarlett

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T01:18:00.000-05:00

Here's a classic account of Jesus' birth by one Arthur Shepherd (Peter Cook), as told to a reporter (Dudley Moore) from the Bethlehem Star. :)

Hugs, love, and cheery bye, Scarlett

The Best Music Of 2008 - Part 2

2008-12-23T18:49:00.014-05:00

And now we come to the best singles of 2008! :D

The Best Music of 2008

The 30 Best Singles of 2008

Catchy, memorable, and downright fantastic - that's what makes a song one of the best singles of 2008!

1. Love Is Noise - The Verve Coming in at #1 is this comeback single from the recently reunited The Verve! This was my favorite single of the year because a) it features the fab Richard Ashcroft's distinctive vocals, b) it is catchy as heck, and c) it's a perfect mix of pop and rock that will get you moving. :)

2. 4 Minutes - Madonna
You can love or hate Hard Candy, but you can't deny that Madonna knows how to create a wicked single. The brass! The beats! The Timbaland! Madonna, Justin Timberlake, and Timbaland collaborated on this still uniquely Madonna track that I often find myself singing along with!

3. Disturbia - Rihanna
Lyrics that imply something dark and, yes, disturbing, are supported by simple but so effective dance production. Listen closely and you'll hear a synthesized scream under the chorus. Who knew that mental distress could make such a hot song?

4. Europa - Mónica Naranjo
An ambitious, larger-than-life epic, "Europa" mixes the grand gestures of opera with the best of dance, pop, and rock music. Don't speak Spanish? Doesn't matter. Just let the awesome music do the talking. ;)

5. Womanizer - Britney Spears
You couldn't escape this song this year - and why would you want to? It's Britney, bitch, doing what she does best: making fabulous pop music! This energetic lead single was one of my most played tracks this year on my iPod. :)

6. The Promise - Girls Aloud
Inspired by the girl group sounds of the sixties but updated with fresh production, Girls Aloud heralded the release of their newest album with this catchy confection! It's impossible to listen to this song and not feel happy.

7. Not A Love Song - Uh Huh Her
The coolest electro-pop song of the year, "Not A Love Song" is both melodic and danceable. Pretty vocals, zippy synths, and great bass made this the best debut single of the year. And what's even better is that the album matches up to the promise shown by the lead single!

8. Poker Face - Lady GaGa
Lady GaGa's media blitz this year kicked off with "Just Dance," but it's her lush electro ditty "Poker Face" that made me love the gal. Infectious beats, hard synths, and Lady GaGa's fun vocals made "Poker Face" one of the most memorable songs of 2008. Check this tune, 'cos it's marvelous!

9. Bamakom Hachi Namooch Be'e Tel Aviv - Dana International
Dana knows how to bring it! In this electro-disco cover song, which translates to "In The Lowest Place Of Tel Aviv," Dana delivers the lyrics with feeling as the beats rush on. This was a great summer song this year!

10. Dégénération - Mylène Farmer
Somehow, Mylène singing about comas managed to be... sexy! A chilly, minimal techno track is topped by Mylène's ice queen vocals. Absolutely hypnotic.

11. Mercy - Duffy
Duffy had a great debut year thanks to this throwback that never devolves into pastiche thanks to great production. That bassline and the "yeah, yeah, yeah"s are cool enough on their own, but add Duffy's rich vocals, and you've got something special! I had fun bopping around campus last spring listening to this on my iPod. :)

12. Shut Up And Let Me Go - The Ting Tings
Probably the most polarizing sensation of the year (you either love 'em or can't stand 'em), The Ting Tings gained wide exposure when this song was used for an iTunes (or iPod, I forget which) ad. I love this punchy pop tune! It's simple, but it works so well. The guitar licks will get stuck in your head, and the driving beat will get you up and dancing.

13. Rock With U - Janet Jackson
I had a hard time choosing between this and "Feedback" - on the one hand, "Rock With U" is a hazy, hypnotic disco track, but on the other, "Feedback" has the epic line where Janet claims she is "heavy like a first-day period." Good taste won in the end. :)

14. Up - The Saturdays
The Saturdays followed in the fine tradition of Girls Aloud and other danceable girl groups by releasing this pure pop single. Though I wasn't impressed by The Saturdays' album, "Up" is so fantastic that I haven't given up hope on them - they've got fab potential!

15. Dancefloor - Crystal Waters vs. Speakerbox
What a diva! Crystal Waters throws it down with this half-rapped, half-sung dance tune. Crystal extolls the virtues of the dancefloor, a place where she can "throw my wig down and let the booty go." I love this girl! :D

16. Can't Shake It - Kate Miller-Heidke
Quirky but so very listenable, "Can't Shake It" is about dancing, too - but in this case, the singer can't dance! References to booties seem to have been popular this year: it turns out that with regards to being unable to dance, Kate notes that "the perpetrator lies between my back and my thighs." :)

17. Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) - Beyonce
Taking on the moniker of one "Sasha Fierce" for some reason, Beyonce came out with this, well, fierce diss to a former lover. "If you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it" she declares as waves of synths blare and beats bump. The former lover should now consider himself thorougly pwned.

18. Don't Believe In Love - Dido
A fine return to form after several years without a peep, this song reminded us how much the music scene lacks when Dido's out of commission. Dido sings of love and independence in this beautiful, bass-heavy tune. Next time, don't leave us waiting so long between releases! :)

19. Love Lockdown - Kanye West
Artfully auto-tuned vocals and really minimal production characterize this single from Kanye's new album. Tribal beats come in at times to beef up the sound, but the beauty of this track is that it doesn't try to be "big" - it just is.

20. I Decided (Part 2) - Solange
Beyonce's little sister made a name for herself this year (luckily it wasn't Sasha Fierce, or else Beyonce would've been mad!) with "I Decided," a song equally at home in a 1960s lounge or on MTV. Part 2 is actually remixed by the Freemasons, who gave the song thicker production and heavier beats than the original Neptunes work. I like the original just fine, but there's something really great about Part 2!

21. Trains And Winter Rains - Enya
Enya's signature sound is in wonderful form on this magical little tune. After a couple of years without an Enya release, this song is very welcome indeed!

22. Violet Hill - Coldplay
I know, "Viva La Vida" was the big Colplay song this year. But I loved this song, with its banging piano and trudging beats. "If you love me, won't you let me go" Chris Martin pleads at the end of the track, but you'd be hard pressed to let this gem of a tune go!

23. American Boy (feat. Kanye West) - Estelle
Estelle proved to be one of the most refreshing voices of the year with this playful ditty that features a fun rap by Kanye West. It's a bit lounge-y and a bit dance-y - and completely great.

24. Dita Dimone - Pop Levi
Squelching synths and handclaps gave this song an infectious sound, and Pop Levi's engaging, electric vocals made you want to sing along with him! Another great summer tune, this one. :)

25. Under My Skin (T.S.O.B. Mix) - Sarah Connor
Rather sexy and ultra-danceable, "Under My Skin" is what got me listening to Sarah Connor (even though I'm not exactly the dancing type! ;) ). What makes the song excellent is the grungy, dirty pop production.

26. Save The Lies - Gabriella Cilmi
Gabriella's just a teenager, but she's got a voice beyond her years. In this funky, 70s-sounding track, she demands that her man "save the lies... you better be good to me!" This girl is one to watch!!

27. C'est La Vie - HK119
HK119 (or HK 119, I'm not sure which way is correct!) is actually Heidi Kilpelainen, but the barcode-like "HK119" suits her eccentric, sci-fi-inspired electro sound perfectly. The song tells the story of HK119, sent to Earth to find out about... love! "You've got to be human" to understand it, HK119 concludes, amidst bleeps and squidgy synths and cool beats.

28. The Tears - Robots In Disguise
Deep piano strikes, frantic electric guitar, and a kicky beat underscore this distraught tale of red lights and "panic, terror, error!" My favorite song from their latest album. :)

29. So What - P!nk
P!nk puts on a tough front in this witty divorce anthem, but she lets her vulnerable side show through for a second when she sings "you weren't there, you never were... you let me fall." True to her self-confident form, though, P!nk gets right back to being fierce while that awesome guitar riff chugs along. Cool.

30. L.E.S. Artistes - Santogold
A steadily plucked bass (or guitar, whatever) keeps this nifty debut single rolling along. Atmospheric production and Santogold's intriguing vocals gave this tune a really neat sound. Definitely an artist to keep track of!

Cheery bye, Scarlett

Merry Christmas 2008!

2008-12-21T23:10:00.003-05:00

I'll get back to my "year in review" tomorrow - first, here's a holiday gift from me to you! :)

I hope the holiday season is treating everyone well. To further enhance your Christmas experience, I give you my annual Christmas compilation! It's largely unchanged from last year's edition - I removed a South Park tune ("Oh Holy Night," as sung by Cartman!) and added in two others by Sarah Brightman (a cover of "Happy Christmas (War Is Over)") and Britney Spears ("My Only Wish (This Year)").

And So This Is Christmas [2008 Edition] (m4a)

1. Jingle Bells (Bing Crosby)
2. Happy Xmas [War Is Over] (John Lennon)
3. Wonderful Christmas Time (Paul McCartney & Wings)
4. Christmas Angels (Clannad)
5. December Will Be Magic Again [Bongo Version] (Kate Bush)
6. I'm Gonna Spend My Christmas With A Dalek (The Go-Gos)
7. Oíche Chiún [Silent Night] (Enya)
8. All I Want For Christmas Is You (Mariah Carey)
9. Santa Baby (Kylie Minogue)
10. Silent Night [Ghost of Oxford Street Version] (Sinéad O'Connor)
11. Christmas Day (Dido)
12. Carol of the Bells (Moya Brennan)
13. Jingle Bells / Jingle Bell Rock (The Muppets)
14. Last Christmas (Wham)
15. Mary's Boy Child / Oh My Lord (Boney M)
16. I Wonder As I Wander (Jewel)
17. I'll Be Home For Christmas (Dannii Minogue)
18. Thank God It's Christmas (Queen)
19. Christmas Don't Be Late (Alvin & The Chipmunks)
20. Christmas Eve / Sarajevo 12/24 (Trans-Siberian Orchestra)
21. Sleigh Ride (Spice Girls)
22. Christmas Time Is Here Again (Ringo Starr)
23. Merry Xmas Everybody (Girls Aloud)
24. Wonderful Dreams (Holidays Are Coming) [Radio Version] (Melanie Thornton)
25. The Christmas Song (Nat King Cole)
26. White Christmas (Bing Crosby)

BONUS TRACKS ("Bonus" because they aren't hugely essential tracks to me, but they're pretty darn spiffy anyway!)
27. Christmas Time Is Here [Vocal Version] (Vince Guaraldi Trio)
28. Happy Christmas [War Is Over] (Sarah Brightman)
29. December Will Be Magic Again [Single Version] (Kate Bush)
30. A Dream In The Night (Clannad)
31. Little Drummer Boy / Peace On Earth (Bing Crosby & David Bowie
32. My Only Wish [This Year] (Britney Spears)

Enjoy! :) Cheery bye, Scarlett

The Best Music Of 2008 - Part 1

2008-12-20T21:24:00.018-05:00

Okey-dokey! Now I've got more time on my hands, as I have successfully completed the Fall 2008 semester and am on break. :) So to kick off my being "back" (although I never truly left!), let's take a step back in time!

The year is swiftly coming to an end, so that means it's time to take a look and a listen back at the music that provided the soundtrack to the year 2008. The layout of this "best of" list will be a little bit different to last year's list - all the categories will be there (except for "best group reunion," as no groups that I like reunited this year!), but this year I'm splitting the list into three posts - the first will be the "top 15 albums of 2008," the second will be the "top 30 singles of 2008," and the final post will be all the rest of the "best of" categories like best remixes, best videos, best compilations, etc.

Without further ado, here is:

The Best Music of 2008

The 15 Best Albums of 2008

A pretty self-explanatory category!

Tarantula by Mónica Naranjo: Back in May, I noted that Tarantula was my favorite album of the year so far. It turns out that nothing else this year could top the delicious excess of Mónica's masterpiece. Beginning with the operatic, epic "Europa," and going out on a high note with "Revolución," Tarantula finds the perfect, dramatic balance between dance, rock, and pop. Though I don't speak a lick of Spanish, Tarantula needs no translation - the music speaks for itself.
Out Of Control by Girls Aloud: My love for the album has only increased since I reviewed it! Decidedly more melancholy (though still dance-ably so) than any of their previous albums, Out Of Control has overtaken Chemistry as my favorite Girls Aloud album. And that's saying something! Highlights like the bluesy "Love Is The Key" and incredible "Untouchable" are indicative of the album's quality as a whole. Pop has never sounded so good!
Circus by Britney Spears: Personally, I think Britney still needs a lot of time and love to recover from her lowest points. By all appearances, she hit rock bottom, and for a lot of people it's not an easy climb back up to stability. Like a lot of fans and even casual observers, I just want her to be happy and healthy. Now, about the music - if you look back at the last few years in Britney's life, you wouldn't have expected 2007 to result in an awesome album like Blackout, and you certainly would be shocked to discover that lightning struck again with this year's Circus. Circus leans more toward classic pop than its predecessor with the three-ring antics of "Circus" and the naughty romp "If U Seek Amy," and even gets in a few sweet ballads, like "Out From Under" (and I must be one of the few that rather likes "My Baby"!). Say what you want about Britney - she still makes a darn good pop record.
Hard Candy by Madonna: Perhaps I was a little over-excited about the album in my review of it in May... but I still just can't get enough of Hard Candy. Admittedly, I skip "Candy Shop" on most listens because it really is atrocious. But all the way from the too-much-fun "4 Minutes" to the haunting "Voices," Hard Candy really is a treat. This urban-tinged pop album has gotten a bit of a bum rap with fans and critics alike, but don't write it off completely - a little bit of Hard Candy can't be too bad for you!
Curiouser by Kate Miller-Heidke: A late addition to my "top albums of 2008" list, Curiouser is wonderfully weird, with Kate's operatic squeal working its way into many of the tracks in strange and fun ways. I even compared "Politics In Space" to my one true musical love Kate Bush's "Them Heavy People" in an October review. Curiouser might strike some as a bit too saccharine, but for those with a sweet tooth, the album should hit the spot.
The Fame by Lady GaGa: I started off kinda disliking Lady GaGa, but with a few more listens to The Fame, I fell under her spell. Songs like "Love Game" (with its infectious rap about a "disco stick"!) and the dark dance beats of "Poker Face" make for a fun, electrifying listen.
I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too by Martha Wainwright: We take a break from the dance pop that has characterized the last few entries in this list with this sort of alt-folk album. I've really enjoyed this album since I first heard it - the melodies and instrumentation, not to mention Martha's distinctive light vocals, make each song something special. Songs like "Jesus And Mary Chain" and "So Many Friends" may sound dark, but there's a warmth there, too. A beautiful album.
Common Reaction by Uh Huh Her: I wondered, in my thoughts on this album in this post, if Common Reaction would end up in my "top 5 albums of 2008." It's a few places down, but that doesn't make Common Reaction any less of a refreshing electro-pop experience! Singles "Not A Love Song" and "Explode" demonstrated that you can join electro sounds with pop sensibilities, and the rest of the album consistently reaches the heights set by those tunes.
Forth by The Verve: In August I reviewed this album, and I stand by my declaration that when Forth "is good, it's glorious!" Low points like "Numbness" and "Columbo" are forgotten in the dense psychedelia of "Sit And Wonder," while lead single "Love Is Noise" might just get you up on your feet and dancing! Though patchy in parts, Forth is ultimately a great listen.
Home by Maple Bee: I first found out about Maple Bee awhile ago thanks to the awesome (but on hiatus) Electro/Retro, and her new album, Home, is definitely worthy of attention. The lush, lively opening track and lead single "While You Were Sleeping" sets a high standard that the rest of the album matches, from the quietly intense "No Place" to the beautifully anguished "This Face This Name."
Safe Trip Home by Dido: Safe Trip Home is a mature progression from the meaningful downtempo of her first two albums - the songs are still low-key but there are some new and interesting twists. Lead single "Don't Believe In Love" is surprisingly funky, "Grafton Street" features lovely Irish notes, and the sprawling, special, almost 9 minute long "Northern Skies" never wears out its welcome.
Sexy As Hell by Sarah Connor: I'd never listened to Sarah before this album, and now I wonder what else I've been missing! This is fun urban-electro-pop from beginning to end, with a few quite lovely ballads in between. Club bangers like "Under My Skin" and "Sexy As Hell" are just that - sexy as hell! - and other highlights include the bouncy 80s-inspired "Beautiful View" and the vocoded but sultry "Touch." Good stuff!
Never Never Love by Pop Levi: My "find" of the summer, Pop Levi's Never Never Love brings glam rock and kicky electronica together to make one heck of a catchy album. Heavy tracks like the guitar-and-bass-driven "Wannamama" and "Dita Dimone" and its grinding synths share space on the album with slower tunes like the pretty "You Don't Gotta Run." An eclectic, engaging listen!
We Started Nothing by The Ting Tings: Starting out with ultra-catchy single "Great DJ" and ending with celebratory jam "We Started Nothing," The Ting Tings' debut album (which I reviewed in May) is full of fun 'n' punchy electro-pop. Music snobs think they're too trendy, too contrived - but give 'em a listen, and you'll hear why The Ting Tings are so much fun.
We're In The Music Biz by Robots In Disguise: RID's punky brand of electro-clash-pop is in fine form on this, their best album to date. Not only can the Robots do fast-and-fierce tunes like "Can't Stop Getting Wasted" and the title track, but they can also slow it down and come up with less party-minded songs like the delicate "The Tears" and the theological thinker "I Don't Have A God."

Hopefully I'll get the next post done tomorrow! :)

Cheery bye, Scarlett

Quick update!

2008-12-19T01:17:00.002-05:00

More reviews and such will definitely be coming - I've been a bit busy with end-of-the-semester studying! :)

Cheery bye, Scarlett