[New Music] Tori Amos Returns With "Trouble's Lament"

Tori Amos is back, and she's talking about her friend Lucifer again- religious types beware!

New song Trouble's Lament is a jaunty track that sees the Diva personifying "trouble" and giving her an origin story that's deserving of its own comic. Tori spoke a little about the inspiration behind the song, saying:

"It's really in the blood. It's almost like you listen to the land speaking to you. And wherever I am I can hear the South calling me. I really like the idea that trouble was a young woman....I see her on my travels a lot. And maybe I knew her many years ago when I was in my twenties."

Source: Broadwayworld.com

Taken from her forthcoming LP, Unrepentant Geraldines, Trouble's Lament is Tori Amos finally back doing Tori Amos after what feels an age of concept, seasonal and classical-inspired output. Hopefully the single hints to LP number 14 being overall more insular and less collaborative in nature. I need some undiluted Tori, stat!  

[Discuss] Missy Elliot And Timbaland Think Popular Music Is Sounding The Same. Are They Right?

Are they right? I don't really listen to the radio that often, but I do admit that the last time I did, I thought along the same lines. There was a hell of a lot of EDM clogging up my speakers,I tells ya.

However, I'm not entirely sure if this is a new phenomenon. I distinctly remember periods in the past- when I did listen to the radio- that it seemed to be dominated by boy bands (Backstreet Boys/Take That/ Boyzone), then girl groups (Spice Girls/ All Saints/ Destiny's Child) and then rap music (Ja Rule, Eminem, Dr Dre). Heck, there were even times when our Divas appeared to be ruling the waves: first in the earlier 90's with Whitney/Mariah/Celine, and then again at the close of that decade with Britney/Christina/Pink.

[Music Video] Ellie Goulding - "Beating Heart"

Not quite sure what is going with Ellie Goulding at the moment. I'm pretty sure I listened to her last album  Halcyon quite a bit when it was released in 2012(!), but yet I haven't recognised the last few songs she's released as being from it.

Latest song, Beating Heart, doesn't even feature on the album re-release, Halcyon Days- madness, I tell you!! Well, whatever she's doing, at least she's still releasing her brand of folksy electro-pop, as I do quite enjoy it. There's something otherworldly about it.

You vocal fiends might enjoy hearing the little run at 3.26, where the Diva showcases the nimbleness of her voice, transitioning from head to chest voice effortlessly. Take a listen!

(Ok, so I stopped being so darn lazy and looked up where the song is from. Beating Heart is taken from the soundtrack of new movie, Divergent. I probably would have figured that out if I'd actually watched the video, instead of just listening to the song. Silly me. Fans of Ellie, and the movie, can now put the stones down!)

[Listen] Mariah Carey Sings "Happy Birthday" / "You're Mine" Remix Live From The Shower, Angels Cry!

Media personality B. Scott is one lucky Lamb! Not only has he gotten to star in a Mariah Carey music video- Up Out My Face- but he was also bestowed this magical gift of Mimi singing an impromptu Happy Birthday whilst apparently in the shower!

Listen to Mimi kill it vocally with belts, whispers and whistles. Maybe a shower cubicle should be a prerequisite for all her live performances from now on!

[Watch] Sevyn Streeter Covers Beyonce's "Drunk In Love"

Anyone else checked out Sevyn Streeter's EP Call Me Crazy? I'm currently loving this collection of songs! It won't be to everyone's taste, but if you're after an Rnb Diva who can write- she's penned for Ariana Grande, Fantasia and Tamar Braxton- with a capable voice and strong productions, then Sevyn might just be for you.

Lucky for any of you interested, you can try before you buy, as the Diva has uploaded all the tracks from the album to her YouTube page, which I've in turn embedded for your ease and pleasure! Shattered and the bouncy Call Me Crazy are definite favorites.

For those of you who don't have time to be listening to material you ain't familiar with, check out Sevyn (and the fan videoing) sing Beyonce's Drunk In Love, and get a flavor of what the Diva is capable of.

Is Kanye West Protégé Pia Mia Set To Replace Rihanna? Listen To "Red Love" And Decide!

Okay, so the Daily Mail- the place I go to get informed on EVERYTHING- is telling me that Pia Mia (hmm, not sure about the rhyming name) is Kanye West's answer to Barbadian beauty, Rihanna.

Honestly, I don't think he's actually trying to replace her, considering him and Ri be tight like that fecking jar of jam I can't get the lid off of in the fridge. Instead, he'll probably be using her as a template for managing this up-and-coming artist's career- she already has the "edgy" style and the "exotic" look.

But where did he find this new protege? Behind the McDonald's, rifling through the bins? Not bloody likely! Pia was probably brought to the attention of the Diva (yes, I'm referring to Kanye) by his sister-in-law, Kylie Jenner. But sure, she looks the part, but can she sing?

Listening to new track Red Love, I'd say yes. There's definitely inflections of Rihanna in the belt and vibrato. But there's more to her voice, with a Leona Lewis-like high falsetto at 3.06 demonstrating an upper range that Ri doesn't have.

Tinashe Releases First Music Video On A Major Label With Single "2 On"

Whoop, Tinashe time! This girl has been someone I've consistently been checking on since she came to my attention via her brilliant EPs In Case We Die, Reverie and Black Water.

However,  new single 2 On sees the Diva's first release on a major label (RCA Records). With this deal obviously comes an increased budget for her videos- just check out the stark contrast between it and last, Who Am I Working For . The choreography and styling is also much improved by the injection of coins.

It's just a shame the song isn't as strong as the material that came from her independent work. The rap was particularly painful to sit through, and I cringed throughout.

Still, I'm psyched for the new album- which should be coming later this year.

Lady Gaga Serves Credit Roll Realness With "G.U.Y" Music Video

There is some sort of narrative going on in the new Lady Gaga video that I'm totally not getting. Admittedly I've drinkin', but still, I get the feeling that it shouldn't be this hard to decipher the message behind the visuals to a pop song. However, instead of waiting till tomorrow, and sobriety, to form a more lucid opinion on it, I decided to get this post up for any of you who wanted to discuss this new video for G.U.Y, sooner rather than later.

The extended clip- which features a ludicrously long credit roll- functions almost as an album sampler; containing tasters of Artpop, Venus and Manicure, but the lion's share is of course devoted to the new single, G.U.Y.

What stuck with me most after watching the clip is the upped the budget for this project- well, comparatively to Applause and the non-video for Do What U Want. The Diva delivered opulence with multiple locations, extras galore and some high production values. Ultimately it invoked memories of her glory days when she was ruling the dominion of pop.

G.U.Y isn't my favourite song from Artpop, but I'm glad to see Gaga back making drawn-out and costly videos again. That's half the fun of her as far I'm concerned.

[Free For All Friday]

This flu/cold will be the death of me.....

If you don't know the score, here be the rules:

• Try not to get too perverted- this site  needs to basically be "safe for work".
• If somebody starts a controversial subject, try keeping it civil when dealing with it. If things get out of hand please flag the conversation.
• It would be nice if it stuck to music, but it's not a requirement! So talk about news, current events, how you're getting your hair done next time you hit the hairdresser! Whateves, really!
• No nasty comments aimed at other users.

Inappropriate hugs to all of y'all (hi fives to the underagers), and wishing you an awesome weekend!

Kylie Minogue shows us how to "Sexcercise" With New Video

A new music video has arrived from Aussie pop princess, Kylie Minogue.

The second song to get the video treatment from Kiss Me Once is the surprisingly risque, and Sia penned, Sexcercise. With a name like that you know the video isn't going to be vanilla in flavor, but I certainly wasn't expecting it to start with a "Parental Advisory [explicit content]" sticker! However, there is good reason for it: this is one suggestive video!

[Listen] Sia Returns To Music With “Chandelier"

Sia is one artist that keeps on delivering- even when writing for others! Her latest single, Chandelier, is no exception, being one monster of a track.

Taken from her sixth album- due this year- this lead single doesn't bend to any current trend, sounding distinctly Sia in both its production and vocal.Something I love about the Diva is how unique her voice sounds when stacked into harmonies, and Chandelier carries on this tradition, supporting the main vocal- which contains some rare head notes- beautifully.

I tell you something, I'll be swinging from the chandeliers when this album eventually hits. You just try and stop me!

[Clip] Lady Gaga Paints Herself With Puke During "Swine" Performance @ SXSW

I'm slightly loath to post on this because I feel like I'm acting as an enabler for Lady Gaga and her exceedingly outlandish antics. But whateves. Why not give her what she wants.

After her brilliant performance of Artpop on the Tonight Show, I was hoping Gaga had finally pulled herself together and was ready for a fresh, and cohesive, push of her latest album. However, having someone barf on her during a performance of Swine at SXSW was not what I- and I can't imagine anyone else- would have expected, or wanted, from the Diva's renewed promotional campaign!

Well done, Gags, you've taken shock value to the next level. God only knows what you're going to do for an encore. ( I can only imagine how I'd have reacted if I'd been at the show, even looking at the YouTube thumbnails made me feel gippy enough!)

I haven't watched the clip myself, because it's not really how I want to start my weekend, but you guys may feel differently. I await the pseudo-intellectual blurb that will no doubt be attached to this career defining moment.

The full SXSW set by Gaga will air at the end of March......I may give it a miss....

[Music Video] Jennifer Lopez Blurs Lines With "I Luh Ya PaPi" Video

I think the way I think about Jennifer Lopez is how others think about her nemesis Mariah Carey: Are there still people actually out there that care enough about her music to make it a viable revenue stream for the Diva?

Either there are fans buying her music, or this new assault on the airwaves has to be a music career in its death throes. Whatever the case, a new video has arrived for single, I Luh Ya PaPi- which comes from her TENTH album! TEN albums!??! Now that is a shocker.

The song is actually cute, I don't think I'll be bopping to it again, but I did enjoy the lightheartedness of it all during my first listen. I may even check out its housing album, depending on my feelings on single number two.

The video is also kinda hot neat, with JLo turning the objectification trope on its head- think lots of men in skimpy clothes. However, that does slightly fall apart when French Montana appears for his segment, so maybe this video an equal opportunity objectification session. Either way, there's something for all ya pervs.

[Watch] Ariana Grande Covers Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing" @ "Women of Soul" Concert

Perhaps keen to move away from the Mariah Carey comparisons, Ariana Grande has now taken to covering Whitney Houston's material in her setlist. For her part in the Women of Soul concert, held at the White House, the Diva did her best to recreate Whitney's classic, I Have Nothing. But how did she fair? Take a look below!

The cover was good, but Arina's voice doesn't have the weight or gravitas that Whitney's legendary voice had. As such, the voice sounded to be struggling in parts, especially with its dynamics and a consistent tone, with the Diva trying too hard to mimic the original vocal. I was also surprised to hear quite a bit of tension in the voice- which is something I can't say I've noticed in Arina'a voice before.

The vocals improved greatly when it came to singing her own material, which consisted of a stripped back version of Tattooed Heart. However, her part in the closing ensemble- which featured Patti Labelle, Janelle Monáe, Jill Scott, Tessanne Chin and Melissa Etheridge- had the Diva coming in WAY too high, thus sounding like she didn't know the melody!! Either that or I've heard a different version of Proud Mary.

Still, I enjoyed watching this little video- especially since it was for a good cause.

[Free For All Friday]

Today's cat gif accurately sums up my current feelings about the blog (I even feel that's what I look like when typing up posts)...I need to get my focus back! Also, I saw Beyonce on Wednesday at the O2 and, unsurprisingly, she was amazeballs.

If you don't know the score, here be the rules:

• Try not to get too perverted- this site  needs to basically be "safe for work".
• If somebody starts a controversial subject, try keeping it civil when dealing with it. If things get out of hand please flag the conversation.
• It would be nice if it stuck to music, but it's not a requirement! So talk about news, current events, how you're getting your hair done next time you hit the hairdresser! Whateves, really!
• No nasty comments aimed at other users.

Inappropriate hugs to all of y'all (hi fives to the underagers), and wishing you an awesome weekend!

Idina Menzel Scares Children With "Let It Go" Performance @ 2014 Oscars

It was probably for the best that the 2014 Oscars were on too late for the kids to stay up and watch. The parents of these (hypothetical) children at least now had the night to work out an excuse as to why Idina Menzel's performance of Let It Go was unlike the version they had heard, and sang along to, while enjoying animated flick Frozen.

There was without a doubt problems emanating from Idina's voice, with tuning issues and some cracking (on the top note). But the biggest problem, for me, was the mismatch in timing between the orchestra and Idina. It were almost as if they were in a race to see who could finish first, making the performance sound even messier than pitch problems alone would have caused.

I'm still not sure if I've been trolled, and the versions uploaded to YouTube- because I did not watch the show live- have actually been edited to make it sound worse than it was. I honestly find it hard to believe that someone who has cut their teeth on Broadway could deliver a rendition like this.

I really like Idina, but this here was a mess from top to tail. 

Pink Stuns With "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" Performance @ 2014 Oscars

When I heard Pink was performing at the 2014 Oscar Awards, I did wonder why. However, it wasn't any of her own material that the rocker was bringing to the stage. Instead Pink's talented pipes had been called on to cover the iconic Somewhere Over the Rainbow in honor of 75 years since the Wizard of Oz's release.

Needless to say, she SMASHED It. The rendition was perfectly simple- in staging- allowing for the montage honoring the film to be beautifully scored by the performance. I'm sure there will be those who find fault in the harsher tone Pink's vocal brought, especially when compared to Judy Garland's voice, but I really enjoyed hearing her sing it. Her vibrato was a definite revelation!

The ruby dress was a nice touch, too!