Thursday, 6 December 2012

Christina Aguilera And CeeLo Green: "Baby, It's Cold Outside"



Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green team up again, but this time it's for his Christmas album, Cee Lo's Magic Moment! Having already recorded an original cut, in the form of Lotus' Make The World Move, the pair opt to tackle the pop standard Baby, It's Cold Outside this time round.

Despite Christina Aguilera only "featuring" on the song, it's perhaps unsurprising she remains the more striking voice on the classic: dancing all over CeeLo Green's grounding bass like a butterfly fluttering spasmodically around a slug.

The overall quality of her voice- tone/ timbre/ belts- is definitely much improved on the majority of tracks on her own album Lotus; an odd fact considering it was released after Cee Lo's album. Also, the balanced out dynamics on the top belt make her voice much more palatable. I just wish she'd chosen to attack the notes like this on Lotus: it would have made it a much more enjoyable affair.

[New Music Video] Girls Aloud "Beautiful ‘Cause You Love Me"



Girls Aloud came back cocky, full of swag and under a feminist banner with there first single in 3 years Something New. Admittedly, I didn't like the song, but I couldn't knock the empowering message behind it.

The group's new song, Beautiful ‘Cause You Love Me, is also about empowerment. However, they seem to have forgotten about what they were saying five minutes ago, and have run back to their men- trampling over their feminist banners in the process- for their sense self-worth and security. What happened to "Go girls, go go go, We girls gonna take control, You boys better know know know"? (wow those Something New lyrics look even more hideous written down!)

2013 Grammy Nominations List



The list of next year's Grammy nominees has been released...Yawn....

I don't really have much to say about it, but I'm happy to see P!nk, Kelly Clarkson, Björk, Tamia (!) and Florence And The Machine on the list. Also, I love Rihanna but a nod for "Best Pop Solo Performance" is a joke.

Check em out, and see if your favourite made it on to the list.

Wednesday, 5 December 2012

[Must See] Mariah Carey Performs "All I Want For Christmas Is You" With The Roots And Jimmy Fallon



Mariah Carey has slayed me twice in one week, yet I still live! The wonders of Christmas manifest! If her performance at the Rockefeller Center wasn't a vocal revelation enough for y'all [see here], her cute as a button, ramshackle performance of All I Want For Christmas Is You for Jimmy Fallon has to be heard to be believed.

Everything about this was on point! From the ensemble of musicians, to the kiddy choir, to the voice itself! The little alterations Mariah did to the song's melody were interesting and fresh, and the use of her head voice to reach one or two of the trickier notes was a smart move that worked really well. But she didn't dodge all the big notes, successfully hitting plenty of clear sounding E5s! (I think there may have even been an F5 somewhere in there!)

Tuesday, 4 December 2012

Alicia Keys Performs "Brand New Me" At Royal Variety Gala



Having been subjected to a gazillion performances of Girl On Fire during Alicia Keys' relentless promotional trail, it was great to hear something different from her new album when she took to the stage at the Royal Variety Gala.

Being in Britain, and performing for its royalty, it was a smart move picking the song Brand New Me, as it was co-written with British singer-songwriter Emeli Sande. Whether it was an intentional move or not, only Alicia knows, but it was a fitting song choice.  It gave her a chance to showcase some softer vocals, as well as show fans who are worried about the musical direction of Girl On Fire that the new album still has some "classic" Alicia Keys moments on it.

Monday, 3 December 2012

[New Video] Britney Spears And WIll.I.Am "Scream And Shout"

britney spears scream and shout


You guys know  I love trash, but even I'm having a hard time getting into Britney Spear's collaboration with Black Eyed Peas front man, Will.I.Am.

The track, which is doing shockingly well on Itunes, is entitled Scream and Shout - both things I did when I first heard this wasted opportunity of  a team-up (Big Fat Bass, anyone?)- and unsurprisingly it features that 80's blended, electro-club sound that Will has been pushing since 2009's The E.N.D album.

Thursday, 29 November 2012

[Watch] Sia Sings Rihanna's "Diamonds"



Sia Furler treated fans at the Norwegian-American Achievement Award ceremony (wow, there's awards for everything!) to a stripped down version of her world-wide smash hit Diamonds.

Okay, strictly speaking its Rihanna's hit, but since it was penned by the Australian it's only fair she shares in some of that success. Besides, listening to Sia's rendition it confirms that it wasn't just the lyrics that she was responsible for; with much (all?) of the vocal styling on the Rihanna version being down to her too.