Discopop Directory

Snow Patrol cover Ray Of Light

2009-11-06T11:51:00.003Z

No, wait... Come back. It's really good.

Snow Patrol - Ray Of Light

"This is wild, I swear"

2009-11-05T11:09:00.004Z

So said Janet Jackson on her first ever hit single, What Have You Done For Me Lately - a song so good that people spread the rumour it had been written by Prince (this was 1986, when Prince could stir up a hit record with about as much effort as it takes the rest of us to stir up a cup of tea).

I love it when songs make reference to themselves at the best of times* but Janet's fleeting ad-lib - which is essentially the singer saying "this groove is so earth-shakingly brilliant, it has made me briefly forget whatever it is I'm supposed to be singing about" - could be cut-and-pasted onto just about any of her singles from the last 26 years.

Don't believe me? Well, take a look at this AMAZING trailer for her Number Ones collection (called "The Best" in the UK where, unbelievably, she's never had a chart-topper). From that first, funkatronic outing, through to the sizzling punchbag pop of Feedback from last year's underrated Discipline album, there isn't a stinker among them.

Except the duet with Nelly. That's a total disgrace.

Janet Jackson - Number Ones (long trailer)

PS: Watching this lovingly-created trailer, with its clever use of remixes and hard-to-find music videos, you have to wonder why there isn't a DVD to accompany the greatest hits album? Sort it out, Universal.

* See also: Carly Simon's You're So Vain, Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, Nirvana's Verse, Chorus, Verse, Pulp's The Fear, Robbie Williams' Strong and any James Brown track where he "breaks it down", "takes it to the bridge" or "hits it and quits".

Nadine Coyle catches a taxi

2009-11-04T16:30:00.003Z

Oh, to have been a fly on the wall for this journey:

It gets better if you translate Nadine's tweet into her Derry accent: "Nayaxt time I'm in Nyaaashville, remind mae to gyet a druyhver with Jay Pay Ay-ess. My accent and his, oh bruther. We fianally mayade it tae the studio, so we did... Byeeee".

Mini Viva: I Wish video

2009-11-04T11:52:00.004Z

The success of Mini Viva's Left My Heart In Tokyo took a lot of people by surprise. It was by no means a bad song - but Radio 1's unwavering support was unexpected in a year when manufactured pop has been overshadowed by the home-crafted synth odysseys of Little Boots and La Roux.

It doesn't hurt that the duo are managed by Simon "OBEY MY COMMANDS" Fuller, nor that they're releasing Xenomania tracks during Girls Aloud's year off (although, according to Nicola, Left My Heart In Tokyo was an old hand-me-down from the sessions for What Will The Neighbours Say?)

But something about Mini Viva doesn't quite click for me. Like Miss Frank on The X Factor, they don't gel as a band. Take a look at their new video, I Wish (below). Frankee and Britt are in the same room, running through their lines and (largely) moving in the direction they've been told to - but it's like neither of them has noticed the other one is there. In that respect, it's a bit like watching two "actors" struggling through an episode of Hollyoaks.

Luckily, the song is pretty good, a hybrid of Call The Shots and a song that's not Call The Shots but still has that song's trademark melancholia, by a band who could be, but aren't necessarily, Bananarama or (at a push) The Sugababes. That's the first Sugababes, with the ginger one in, who are improbably maybe definitely possibly absolutely not reforming. Not the new Sugababes, who are still together despite general indifference and mental illness, although obviously an 11-piece band consisting of Girls Aloud and all the former and present Sugababes singing a song that mixed Call The Shots with a knock-off of Call The Shots would be pant-shatteringly amazing.

Mini Viva - I Wish

Muse break out the keytars

2009-11-04T10:39:00.005Z

The keytar is a mystery. Is it a guitar? Is it a keyboard? No-one knows for sure.

What is certain, however, is that the instrument carries a curse. Sling a keytar over your shoulder and you instantly transform into a grotesque, shaggy-permed wedding singer circa 1987. Or Jean Michelle Jarre.

Now Matt Bellamy of Muse has invited ridicule by slinging one over his shoulder.

Admittedly, Muse have always been on the nerdy side of cool - but Bellamy isn't even using the keytar to summon up awe-inspiring peals of thunder from outer space, he's making plinky-plonky pizzicato string sounds. That's right, the same ones Eternal used to have in all their songs in 1996.

Somehow, though, he pulls it off. I suspect black magic has been involved. How else do you explain the lack of shoulder pads, baggy pants and knowing "ironic" glances to the camera?

Muse - Undisclosed Desires

Best ever edition of Later... with Jools?

2009-11-04T09:04:00.004Z

Last night's Jools Holland show starred Jay-Z, Foo Fighters, Norah Jones and Sting. Live music doesn't get much better, does it?

Because I am jammier than a Jammy Dodger, I got to go to the recording. As usual, the best bits were the ones you don't see on camera. Such as Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins pulling silly faces at each other and collapsing with laughter, or Sting warming up by stretching his right foot over his head. The man could bite his own toenails if he wanted to - and it'd be properly tasty, because we suspect he's growing a nutritious selection of vegetables down there.

At the end of the show, the strict and efficient BBC Audience team couldn't enforce their usual levels of order and decorum, and the audience staged a pitch invasion. Jay-Z was mobbed, but graciously posed for photos for about 15 minutes, even cracking a crooked smile for one lucky fan.

For me, the musical highlights were Foo Fighters' Times Like These (ear-splitting) , Norah Jones' Chasing Pirates (slinky) and Jay-Z's Death Of Autotune (best drumming of all time). Tune in on Friday night to see the show in all its glory. In the meantime, here are some highlights from the 30-minute live show.

Jay-Z - Empire State Of Mind

Norah Jones - Chasing Pirates

Marina speaks...

2009-11-03T11:33:00.003Z

My four-months-in-the-making interview with Marina And The Diamonds has just gone up on the BBC website. It contains the phrase "wingo wango", But it does not contain Marina's video (due to a soon-to-be-corrected administrative error).

I suggest you click on this link to open the text piece in a new window, then watch Marina's three official videos, which I've pasted below. They've been on the blog before, but that hasn't stopped them from being astonishingly good.

Thanks,
mrdiscopop

Marina And The Diamonds - Mowgli's Road

Marina And The Diamonds - I Am Not A Robot

Marina And The Diamonds - Obsessions

Shakira: Did It Again video

2009-11-03T09:45:00.000Z

Three things Shakira's new video contains

1) Shakira in a sauna
2) Shakira in a skimpy nightdress
3) Shakira dancing on a bed with a "hunk"

Amazingly, number 3 is our favourite bit.

Shakira - Did It Again

"Big lights will inspire you"

2009-11-02T17:02:00.003Z

When is the best time to release your video?

Some would say a couple of weeks after the single hits the airwaves - allowing the song to work its way into peoples' brains first. Others would argue for a simultaneous release for maximum impact. Others still would say blogs are the most important tool in the marketing arsenal these days, so you should hoik the video onto YouTube before you even think about "servicing radio" (nb these people are badly, badly mistaken).

For the definitive answer, let's turn to former record company boss Jay-Z. He's such a prominent, well-respected music mogul that the New York Times wrote a profile of him in their business pages. And coincidentally, he has a new single, Empire State Of Mind, with Alicia Keys. What is Jay-Z's plan for promoting this single? When will the video drop, as they say?

"Yo," declares Jay-Z*. "The song went straight into the top 10 when my album hit last month. This Sunday, it dropped down to number 13. So now I'ma rock the video for y'all, just as you've lost all interest in ever hearing the song again."

See? That's the outside-the-box thinking of a visionary soothsayer. And people say the music industry doesn't know what it's doing any more.

Jay-Z - Empire State Of Mind Ft. Alicia Keys

Jay-Z | MySpace Video

PS: We found this Google Map page that goes through all the song's lyrics and shows you exactly where the Jiggaman is singing about. It is potentially better than the video itself.

* Not really, we made this bit up.

New Britney Spears' video: 3

2009-10-30T14:58:00.004Z

In which Jive harness the computing technology of ILM to automatically generate a Britney Spears video without any need for user input or creative thought.

So, we get the bit where Britney plays with her hair, the bit where Britney shows a bit of side-boob, and the bit where Britney looks coyly up at the camera with those big brown puppy dog eyes.

It's entirely possible they have a similar programme for writing the song, too.

(If the embedded video doesn't work, you can see the whole thing on Britters' official webthing)

Ellie Goulding - still very good

2009-10-30T10:03:00.001Z

We've been writing about Ellie Goulding's new single, Under The Sheets, once a week for the past three weeks, so this post feels like the continuation of some mystic ancient tradition - like Harvest or Hanukkah, only with better music and fewer grown men in frocks.

Now, last week, we inadvertently annoyed Ellie by comparing her video favourably to the new one from Little Boots. We'd forgotten Ellie was supporting Victoria on tour. It was a political nightmare. And then Ellie sent us a Twitter message that simply said :( and we felt guilty for a whole hour.

But she managed to pick herself up and recover from the cruel mental torture. Indeed, just four short days later, she turned up at the BBC and put on this amazing performance for Jools Holland:

Ellie Goulding - Under The Sheets

If you liked that, we suggest tuning in to the full, hour-long Jools Holland show tonight at 11:35pm for further Goulding goodness.

Or, if you have a life, it'll be on the BBC iPlayer on Saturday.

New music: Middle East - Blood

2009-10-30T09:45:00.000Z

When work has been a long, hard slog, it's always nice to shut the world outside, dim the lights, and curl up on the sofa with one of those records that makes your shoulders relax with a contented "aaaaaahhhhh". (It also helps to have a mug of cocoa, a toasted teacake, a crackling fire, and a friend to snuggle up to*.)

Middle East - from Australia via Bon Iver's cabin and the Fleet Foxes' local whimsy shop - have made a record that's perfect for this sort of self-indulgent musical therapy.

Middle East - Blood

* But no scented candles, do you hear? And no fucking joss sticks. You'll only end up smelling like an old carpet that's been thrown out of a branch of Lush and left to go soggy with cat's piss in a skip, and nobody wants that.

Pixie Lott: Cry Me Out video

2009-10-29T22:58:00.004Z

Cry Me Out is quite clearly the standout track on Pixie Lott's debut album.

Played live by Pixie's pin-sharp soul band, it sounds like the greatest lost torch song of all time (if the greatest lost torch song of all time ripped off Alicia Keys' You Don't Know My Name). The recorded version doesn't quite live up to that promise - the arrangement is a bit too synthetic to allow the melody to soar - but it's a solid 8/10, nonetheless.

The ballad is coming out as a single on 30th November with one beady eye on the Christmas countdown. To help it on it's way, Mercury Records (for whom money seems to be no object when it comes to this project) have splashed out on hiring Jake Nava of Single Ladies fame to direct a Hollywood-style song'n'dance epic.

It isn't going to inspire as many copycat "virals" as Beyoncé's rump-wiggling dance-off, but we'd be over the moon if it sparked a massive surge in synchronised swimming sequences.

Especially if they "accidentally" drown Tinchy Stryder in a paddling pool.

Pixie Lott - Cry Me Out

Norah Jones sets sail

2009-10-29T11:49:00.008Z

I know what you're thinking: "Norah Jones? She's AVAST bore and a complete ANCHOR. It's about mariTIME she buggered off. Her music makes me really (skull and) CROSS (bones). Although I admit I'd like to JOLLY ROGER her."

Yes, Norah Jones has made a music song called Chasing Pirates. And the time she's spent hanging out with Outkast, Q-Tip and the Foo Fighters has paid off because it's not some soporific easy listening Katie Melua travesty, but a sultry little shuffle that brushes shoulders with "da fonk", then apologises profusely for getting in the way like that.

The video was directed by Rich Lee, who did the visual effects on the Pirates Of The Caribbean films. It sees Norah hoisting sails on her apartment building and steering it through the crosstown traffic in search of some buried treasure. It's much better than that description makes it sound.

Shiver me timbers, etc, etc.

New music: Kid Sister - Right Hand Hi

2009-10-28T12:59:00.004Z

We last checked in with Chi-town rapper Kid Sister back in May 2005, when her day-glo debut Pro Nails popped up on Kanye West's Can't Tell Me Nothin' mixtape.

Since then, she's been working on her debut album, Ultraviolet, and working part time in a children's clothing store. We're not saying the two are connected, but the schizophonic soundclash of her new single Right Hand Hi suggests she's having a tartrazine-induced musical tantrum.

That's a good thing, though. The record grabs your attention, then dunks its head in the toilet, puts electrodes on its nipples, wraps it in fariy lights and takes a polaroid to send to your boss. Which is just a fancy way of saying we like it.

Another way of saying that is: "It's the noise you'd get if Missy Elliot belched Lady GaGa's Poker Face on a kazoo"

Oh, forget it, here's a clip:

If you like it, it's probably coming out on a CD at some point this year, but why wait for that old technology when there's a free, legal download at RCRDLBL today?

Amazing but useless talent corner pt 267

2009-10-27T12:04:00.002Z

And today's amazing, but useless, talent is... Playing songs on cups.

The girls in the clip are a real band called Lulu And The Lampshades. They have a single out this week. It's not as good as the one in the video, though :(

More info on their Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/helouisamusic

New music: Timbaland - Morning After Dark

2009-10-27T11:41:00.003Z

This one has been floating around the internet for ages, but that doesn't make it any less brilliant. As usual, Timbaland has set the controls for sci-fi and created a deep space club track that sounds like nothing else in the charts. The lyrics are comfortably dumb: Timbo thinks a girl is "dope" (do people still use that word in 2009?) and that girl is astonishingly gracious for the attention of a portly multi-millionaire record producer.

In this track, the girl role is played by French-Argentinian-Italian-Russian-American artiste SoShy. If you're wondering why the lead track from Timbaland's much-anticipated Shock Value II, which features Rihanna, Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake, has guest vocals from a relative novice, here's her picture:

Nelly Furtado also contributes a verse which, in a genuine musical first, she performs entirely through her nose.

Timbaland - Morning After Dark

"Interesting" Cheryl Cole factoid

2009-10-23T14:15:00.005Z

The stand-out track on Cheryl Cole's forthcoming debut album is Parachute, a quirky pop timebomb full of stuttering hooks and a riveting military drum beat. According to Cheryl herself, it was originally slated to be the first single.

A lot of reviews have called this song a "true find", as it was composed by two previously unknown writers. But, says the enigmatic "Q" on the Popjustice Forums, the chief brain behind the track was Ingrid Michaelson.

Now wait just a cotton-picking minute: We know exactly who Ingrid Michaelson is - and we LOVE her!! Her 2007 single The Way I Am is one of the best love songs of the last decade. Her album, Girls And Boys, was the record Sara Bareilles and Gabriella Climi could have released if they'd remembered to write a decent song after the first single. What Ingrid has is the rare and beautiful ability to write happy songs that don't make you want to throw up in the sink.

Have a listen to The Way I Am, then tell us you wouldn't have liked to hear her write Cheryl's entire album.

Ingrid Michaelson - The Way I Am

PS: If you like this, and you like Parachute, promise to buy Ingrid's album for us. It's awesome.

Little Boots & Ellie Goulding's pop challenge

2009-10-23T13:37:00.005Z

Hello!

Today, you are invited to compare and contrast two pop videos with similar propositions, but wildly different different outcomes.

They are both by waifish blonde electropop vocalists, and both feature quirky special effects that mess with your mind. Both performers have their mouths gaping open gormlessly in the "key frame" YouTube has selected as the pre-roll image. And both singers seems slightly uncomfortable in front of the camera. One overcomes this and makes a decent stab at portraying charisma, conviction and attitude while the other looks awkward and lost.

But which is which?

Little Boots - Earthquake

Ellie Goulding - Under The Sheets

Answers on a postcard, e-card, birthday card, house of cards, or cardigan to the usual address.

Now, this is how you make a video

2009-10-21T11:22:00.002Z

Simply, utterly brilliant.

Marina and the Diamonds - Mowgli's Road

Rihanna - what were you thinking?

2009-10-20T18:17:00.003Z

Today, Rihanna unveiled her new single. It is called Russian Roulette, and that's exactly what it's about. Rihanna's man wants to point a gun at her head and pull the trigger. Unbelievably, she acquiesces, saying: "I know that I must pass this test".

I'm sure everyone at Universal is busy patting themselves on the back over this "clever" and "shocking" lyric - but given that Rihanna suffered a brutal beating at the hands of her former boyfriend just nine months ago, it's in pretty poor taste. Even if she hadn't, the lyrics are morally questionable. The character she's playing (and let's assume it's a character for now) is willingly submitting to a lover's chilling, violent fantasy. The song ends abruptly with a single gunshot.

It's a strong, dramatic narrative - and would be superb as part of a bigger story on film or in a musical. But presented as it is, shorn of any context, it's all rather unpleasant - because the only context we have is Rihanna being hit in the face with a pistol earlier this year.

According to the BBC, one in four women suffer domestic violence in their lifetime. Two women are murdered by their partner every week in the UK. Many of those who come through such abuse say that friends and family didn't take their cries for help seriously. Russian Roulette will not help this situation.

Rihanna is, like it or not, a role model. Her strength in standing up to Chris Brown after his vicious assault, and her courage in appearing at his trial, were undoubtedly an inspiration to other women who were going through a similar situation. This song singlehandedly undoes all of that good work.

Plus, it is a terrible piece of music.

Hear it on Rihanna's website if you must

Holy smoke, Alicia

2009-10-20T10:52:00.002Z

In Alicia Keys' new video, Doesn't Mean Anything, everything the singer touches is mysteriously vapourised, making her some kind of anti-matter King Midas.

The clip starts off in Alicia's loft apartment (furnished with an amazing crystal piano that I would like for Christmas), but slowly everything around her evaporates in a puff of smoke.

Alicia seems unphased by this. Her only reaction is a fleeting look of confusion when a photograph disappears in her hand. Do you remember what Marty McFly did when that happened to him? Yes, he totally freaked out and snogged his mum and set fire to a car with lightning. Alicia Keys does none of those things. Even when the entire planet is reduced to rubble and dust, she just mopes around singing about her ex-boyfriend. And then, for no good reason, she goes rock climbing.

It is probably the best video this year.

It's Cheryl effing Cole

2009-10-19T09:09:00.004Z

Against most people's expectations, Cheryl Cole's performance on last night's X Factor was pretty damn good. The vocals seemed to be live - unless she'd done Janet Jackson's trick of pre-recording a rough "as live" vocal and miming over the top - but all in all it was a clean, charismatic debut.

It's clear that the song is going to go to number one this week, which is good as Cheryl has the makings of a proper pop superstar, but bad because it vindicates the decision to launch her career with a bunch of dreary r&b knock-offs.

Speaking of knock-offs, did you spot the following "influences" in Cheryl's act?

Any other insights or observations? Let me know.

Update: ITV have stopped letting Youtube users embedding the video, as is their absolute right as the copyright holders. You can still watch by Clicking here.

Create your own Alesha Dixon review

2009-10-16T15:27:00.002Z

Simply cut out the following words and rearrange into a paragraph reflecting your own opinions and thoughts on Alesha Dixon's new, Gary Barlow-penned, single To Love Again.

Here is the video if you need some help in finding a point of view.

Alesha Dixon - To Love Again

Guns, maps and goo

2009-10-16T12:05:00.004Z

Back in pre-histoy, when men rode dinosaurs to work and Simon Cowell was still a teenager, this blog was born. I often wrote about games and games culture, particularly around the birth of the Wii - when the possibilities afforded by waggling a thingy in the air (fnar) seemed endlessly exciting.

These days, however, I'm struggling to care about my consoles. I spend a lot of time on Rock Band and Guitar Hero - but they're just another way of listening to music (even if some of that music is by Tool).

Then there are those "open world sandbox games" that promise a million solutions to each task. They always sound promising, but they can't hide the fact that the task in question is, without fail, killing someone. Your choices ultimately boil down to this question: "Which noun would you like to use in committing a brutal murder?" As someone whose favourite game moments came in the cartoony, imaginative brain-teasers of the Super Mario and Banjo Kazooie series, the endless parade of headshots and body armour and healthpacks and "melee assaults" is horribly uninspiring.

Furthermore, thanks to Grand Theft Auto, every game now seems to be set in the middle a huge, sprawling city. Even Burnout has adopted this format - leading to the ridiculous situation of a racing game where you can take a wrong turn. Do you remember the last time you went the wrong way in your car? Was your reaction either (a) to say "hey, this is a really exciting, unpredictable driving experience" or (b) to bite a huge chunk out of your steering wheel and shout "you fucking imbecile" into the rearview mirror? If you answered (a) then congratulations, you have won a job at Microsoft Games Studios.

The obvious conclusion is this: Games need rules. It's as true of Monopoly as it is of kiss chase. I’d rather that designers concentrated on giving me focussed, structured gameplay than sending me on aimless quests around endless maps telling me I should enjoy the freedom. Wandering around unsure of what you're supposed to be doing is what you do when you've got Alzheimer's or a seat in the European Parliament. If it not fun, it's not a game.

But enough grumbling, let me tell you about the best game I've played this year. It's called World Of Goo and it's a taut little puzzler, full of charm and character. All you have to do is stack little blobs of gloop together to reach a big pipe in the sky - but the designers have taken the care to create a quirky, satirical story around the tiny goo-balls' predicament. It's utterly compelling, and frequently hilarious.

This weekend, you can get it for the bargain price of $0.01 (or whatever sum you decide to pay, Radiohead-style). I heartily recommend that you do.

In the meantime, here's a lovely little video from Adam and Joe's Radio 6 show that perfectly encapsulates my formative gameplaying experiences.