Moving house (twice) in a short space of time is stressful, and as a result my blogging has suffered in the last few weeks. As I move to London in less than two weeks to pursue my dream of video game journalism I’m thinking of turning this blog, partly or wholly, into a diary of my adventures in the big smoke. For now though, it’s business as usual.
Lily Allen – URL Badman
Lilyhasn’t been perfectly happy with the run of singles from her third studio album, Sheezus. Specifically, the label made her release songs designed to get radio airplay rather than the provocative, sharp-tongued musicals musings Allen is known for. Fans and Lily herself can now rejoice as one of the stand-outs from the album is getting the single treatment, and the popstar is at her satirical best.
‘URL Badman’ is a critique not of bloggers and wannabe journalists (even if it was, I couldn’t help but love it – ironically, obviously) but the keyboard warriors who think their strong opinions and way with words entitle them to slam everyone else. You know the type. Hipsters with a webpage. The video has some cool effects but it’s a bit of a non-event, not that I could think of something to do visually with the songs theme, the track itself is definitely deserving of a download for quotable lyrics like “I don’t like girls much, they’re kinda silly, unless of course they wanna play with ma willy”. Oh, and there’s a Space Ghost reference in the brilliant rap middle eight. You don’t know who Space Ghost is?! pfft, *rolls eyes*
I think I just became a hipster.
Florrie – Little White Lies
Whilst I’m on this ‘too cool for the mainstream’ wavelength I might as well try and get more people into my favourite bubbling-under-the-radar popstar, Florrie. After releasing an EP earlier this year consisting of three excellent tracks (one I covered before) and two average remixes, the singer/songwriter/drummer/astronaut is turning one of the remix tracks into her first proper single, a single that will almost definitely maybe lead to an album that might (not) be out before the end of this year.
Unlike the three songs from the Sirens EP, ‘Little White Lies’ is more a ‘proper’ pop song, with a standard verse chorus verse chorus middle 8 chorus structure as opposed to an upside down and in reverse (reference!) collection of sound bites. That’s a good and a bad thing for me: the song floats along dreamily nice enough, and hopefully it’ll fit in well with what’s currently on the radio but I prefer the excitement of the more left-field edge of ‘Wanna Control Myself’. That being said, it’s Florrie – and therefore Xenomania, my favourite producers ever, of Girls Aloud/Pet Shop Boys/Abs from 5ive fame – so for either to get a hit would be fantastic.
The Saturdays – What Are You Waiting For?’
If anyone is going to give Xenomania a hit this summer, it’s the single from The Saturdays upcoming greatest hits. As well as the single, the group has uploaded a megamix of their hits, which I think is definitely worth a listen, because it sums up the good and the bad of The Saturdays.
If you’ve listened to the radio at all in the last 6 years you’ll probably sing a fair few of these chorus, even if you didn’t think you knew them. You might go ‘oh, that one’s quite good actually’ here and there. But overall, (and I’m fully aware it’s a megamix) the main feeling I get is that The Sats are just a girl group doing girl group songs. Now I do like a good girl group, they are an essential part of the pop landscape, and when they develop their own style, like the aforementioned Almighty Aloud, Destiny’s Child, the Spice Girls, the second line-up of Sugababes and now, Little Mix, they becomes leaders of the pack (reference!). Then there’s The Saturdays. There’s no catfighting or bitchy dramas, diva tantrums or trashy lads mag shoots (well maybe the odd one). On the other hand, The Sats don’t have any sort of unique identity to them musically. ‘All Fired Up’, ‘Ego’‘Up’ and ‘Higher’ are great, but nothing in their catalogue is a stone-cold classic.
As the lead single from their greatest hits, and produced by the masterminds at Xenomania, I was really hoping for that classic to finally be delivered. Instead (and clearly following on from the dreadful ‘What About Us’ being the group’s first number one) we got every generic pop/EDM crossover cliche thrown into one neat package to remind us how unadventurous a lot of chart music has been these few years (My god, maybe I am a URL Badman). It’s got a good beat to wave your arms to in the club, the lyrics are easy enough to sing/shout when drunk but you won’t remember it down the line. The sad thing is, when Xenomania and The Saturdays teamed up before, they created ‘All Fired Up’ which was a club banger with loads of auto-tune and lyrics about partying. Where ‘All Fired Up’ works though is that song didn’t bother with the tired build ups and drops of everything else, and was three minutes and fifteen seconds of a sonic assault, barely stopping for breath. ‘What Are You Waiting For?’ just… plods along. And the music video is Beach Video 101 too. The perfect opportunity to make a deceleration of why you should be a major British pop act, wasted.
Today marks the 46th (!) birthday of Princess (Goddess) of Pop, Kylie Minogue. Her divine powers include defying the ageing process and bringing beautiful music and her heaven-sent cooing to the masses. Like Madonna, the success of her career lies in evolution; from Neighbours loco-motive to disco diva through to The Voice UK legend who knows my hometown of Merthyr Tydfil. Unlike Madonna, Kylie embodies all that is light and pure, despite a few brushes with edgier sounds and lyrics, her songs are little shots that pick you up on any cloudy day. To celebrate this blessed day, I’m going through Kylie Minogue’s 46 best songs. They are in alphabetical order since narrowing them down was hard enough, let alone ranking them. So without further ado, strap on your hotpants and start spinning around (ironically that song isn’t on this list, as great as it was for her career, I don’t like it that much).
1 All the Lovers
The Aphrodite album was Kylie at the top of her game. Catchy choruses with beautiful electronica providing the blanket for the warmth of her voice. ‘All The Lovers’ started the campaign in excellent fashion, with a dazzling video that was all over the TV and made everyone go ‘isn’t that clever?’
Best bit: The middle 8 where everything drops except for the piano and vocals.
2 Aphrodite
Most people would argue the highlight of Kylie’s 2010 Stuart Price produced masterpiece is the title track itself. With its militant drums and uplifting arrangement, its a real toe tapper. As the opening to the spectacular Les Folies tour, when she announces “I was gone and now I’m back”, you know she’s telling the truth.
Best bit: “I’m gonna feel your heart stop in my hand”
3 Better the Devil You Know
The track that shed Kylie’s squeaky clean teen pop image. Kylie amusingly remembers Pete Waterman asking her what songs she liked, to which she replied Cathy Dennis’ current single, the hook of which Pete then ‘borrowed’ for this track. That was the extent of Kylie’s artistic input in her Stock Aitken Waterman days, she noted. Still, a great song is a great song, and the fact G-A-Y play this one as the clock hits 12:30 is a testament to its classic status. Just avoid the Steps version.
Best bit: “Better the devil you know, better the devil you know”
4 Burning Up
The closing track on 2001’s Fever is a tune that’s catchier and most summery than hayfever (see what I did there?). Lyrically, its pretty repetitive but that works in its favour as the perfect wind-down track after the dance-your-pants-off rush of most of the album.
Best bit: “Hey summer madness, totally cool”
5 Butterfly
Sadly, only a promo single for ‘the clubs’, this would’ve been a much better choice for Light Years‘ fourth single proper over ‘Please Stay’. A dancy affair with vocals spanning from seductive low notes to uplifting highs , this one instantly gets in your brain.
Best bit: “And it mightn’t last more than a day but I’ll take my chances anyway”
6 Can’t Get You Out Of My Head
You know this one. It was one of the decade’s best selling songs. It’s amazing. If you want to hear a different spin on it, go listen to ‘Can’t Get Blue Monday Out Of My Head‘, a mashup of this and New Order’s 80’s classic.
7 Chocolate
The most effective R&B Kylie song on 2002’s Body Language, ‘Chocolate’ is a slinky, sexy slow number that’s hard to resist. The vocals ooze lust, but in a classy, restrained way. The album version is even better, longer and with a less… aggressive production. That male rapper you hear going ‘check it out check it out’ in the background is actually Ludacris, who recorded a verse that was ultimately cut, but leaked online anyway.
Best bit: the chorus
8 Come Into My World
Basically ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head 2.0′ but with more lyrics. The best thing about the official single version is the inventive yet underrated video directed by Michel Gondry. The true strength of this song is how malleable it is: the Fischerspooner remix is the softcore porn version whilst the Abbey Road version is a stunningly beautiful piano piece. Who says pop songs are throwaway?
Best: The last minute of the Fischerspooner remix
9 Confide In Me
Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to Indie Kylie. Miss Minogue’s first release after leaving the PWL label is dark, combining beats with eastern influences. Kylie’s voice soars along the top of it all, going to places she had never gone before. The “stick or twist, the choice is yours” bit comes from nowhere, before a slower bridge building up into a final crazy minute. A fan favourite for good reason, this song is so layered you could listen to it multiple times and focus on something new.
Best bit: All of it.
10 Crystallize
Kylie’s latest song (released only yesterday!) came with an interesting quirk, to explain more I’m handing this entry over to Mr. 5 Things About Pop Himself:
“Sparkling with pulsing synths and pretty piano work, ‘Crystallize’ was denied its place as the jewel in the crown of Kiss Me Once and was instead released as a charity single. In a unique take on a charity auction, each note of the song was auctioned off for fans to ‘own’ while raising money for One Note Against Cancer (when you hear Note #2499, that one’s all mine). Winning bidders were then presented with certificates of their ownership and are listed in the track’s accompanying video.”
Best bit: And when you’re swimming through a sea of broken promises
You can find me shining like a laser beam
11 Cupid Boy
I really had to limit how many songs from Aphrodite I put on this list, it really is such a good album. ‘Cupid Boy’ stands out though, with its harder dance production provided by one of EDM’s men of the moment Sebastian Ingrosso. Kylie’s vocals on the chorus go into full on sexual pleasure mode, ala ‘Love to Love You Baby’ with a faster beat. One to writhe around to, for sure,
Best bit: “So why don’t you thrill me, like you did before?”
12 Dreams
The closest thing to a title track on the largely ignored but endlessly thrilling Impossible Princess album from 97. Continuing with the experimental and eastern themes of ‘Confide’, this song gives me all sorts of dark fairytale vibes. The production is big, the lyrics powerful and the indie girls of today would die to have something as good as this.
Best bit: “To feel the touch of a man, a woman’s caress, to know the limits of touch and tenderness”
13 Especially For You
I’ll admit, I really dislike this song, so here is Ade Bradley to give us his thoughts:
“Especially for You was the first single I ever bought – there used to be an 0898 number you could call and listen to it, and I always got in trouble with my parents for the phone bill. She has been with me nearly 27 years now – I’ve seen her countless times and I’ll never miss an opportunity to see a Kylie gig. She’s unashamedly camp, witty, hard working and, importantly, fun.”
Best bit: When it ends.
14 Fever
The production kind of sounds like a telephone slowed down, and while that sounds like a bad thing, it helps this track stand out on the ‘Fever’ album. I guess being the title track would help it stand out anyway, but I digress. A perfect of example of Kylie’s level of sexuality in most of her songs; more cheeky wink-wink than prowling for the D.
Best bit: “Heart beating faster and work is a disaster”
15 Flower
The one fans had to wait 4 years for. First performed in 2008 on the KylieX2008 tour, it wasn’t released as a studio recording until 2012 for the Abbey Road album. A heartbreaking song where Kylie ponders if she will ever have children, we get to see a human side behind the popstar construct. Kylie wrote the song and directed the video herself, so accusations that she has no artistic talent can get thrown right out of the window.
Best bit: MAH FLAW-AWAW-AWER
16 G.B.I. (German Bold Italic)
HELLO! This is easily the weirdest thing Kylie has done. So strange and avant-garde that it’d be weird to try to describe it. Just watch the whole thing all the way through and revel in the oddness. FYI, Towa Tei was part of Dee-Lite, who you’ll know for ‘Groove Is In The Heart’.
Best bit: I fit, like, a…. glove?
17 Get Outta My Way
I don’t know why the official video has disappeared off of YouTube but there you go 😦
After the slower but uplifting ‘All The Lovers’, Kylie stormed right back onto the dancefloor with the second Aphrodite single. I love the cheeky lyrics and general attitude of flirting with every hot guy in the club. Thankfully side-stepping the EDM trend that was getting annoying in 2010, this is an uncomplicated italo-disco stomper and I’m all the more thankful for it.
Best bit: “See me with him and its turning you on”
18 Higher
OK, so this is a pretty average song. But of all the many guest stars Taio Cruz has had on the song in different versions, Kylie stands above them all. Her vocals soar on the track, putting Taio, Travie and whichever one of the Pussycat Dolls and the Sugababes did the live versions to shame.
Best: “I feel like I can touch the skyyyyyyyyyyy”
19 I Believe In You
Kylie joins forces with the Scissor Sisters! Far more subdued than what anyone was expecting of this collboration, and all the better for it. As the lead single to her mid noughties greatest hits album, this doesn’t really break any new ground, but nor does it need to. It does exactly what Kylie is best at: lifting your spirits. The KylieX2008 Tour ballad version is even better.
Best bit: “I believe in you I believe in I believe in you I believe in”
20 I Don’t Need Anyone
Another collab, this time with the Manic Street Preachers. This is Indie Kylie rocking it out with all the guitars and strained vocals to boot. Pretty breezy, with a catchy chorus: the perfect antidote to the darker moments on Impossible Princess.
Best bit: the chorus
21 I Should Be So Lucky
Pure eighties guilty pleasure. This is one of Kylie’s most well-known songs, despite a lot of songs being better than it, something the pop princess has herself admitted. The Abbey Road version is why this song makes the list, being another lush orchestral piece with a tender vocal.
Best bit: all of the orchestral version
22 If You Don’t Love Me
The B-side to ‘Confide In Me’ first came to my attention when Kylie performed it on her Aphrodite Les Folies tour. She sat down on the stairs and just belted her heart out. It was a beautiful moment and once I tracked this rarity down, its become a firm favourite. It’s a short and simple ballad, but is perfect for summing up those feelings when your heart is all over the place.
Best bit: the vocals on the chorus
23 In My Arms
It’s not one of Kylie’s most memorable singles, but its good fun nonetheless. Calvin Harris produced this one, though you might not be able to tell since he isn’t recycling ‘I’m Not Alone’ or ‘We Found Love’.
Best bit: “How do you describe the feeling?”
24 In Your Eyes
Following ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’ was also going to be a tough thing to do, and as such, this song went pretty much under the radar. Which is a shame because it’s a sleek, polished dancefloor jam. The video is also one of my favourites: the colours, the cinematography and dance movements all come together perfectly. Also, the auto-tune/vocoder effects on the ad-libs near the end are wonderfully tacky.
Best bit: “Is the world still spinning around? I don’t feel like coming down (beat drops) It’s in your eyes, I can tell what you’re thinking, my heart is sinking too”
25 Jump
Pretty similar to ‘Dreams’ in that its an Impossible Princess dark, slow song with plenty of atmosphere. The use of “if I’m x let me y” in the verses is very effective too. The song is better off speaking for itself, do give it a listen.
Best bit: “I’m eager and ready, it only hurts sometimes”
26 Kids
The kind of song that could only be released by two popstars at the height of their powers, if this Kylie and Robbie song can’t get you singing along, nothing will.
Best bit: “So come on, jump on boooooooooooard”
27 Light Years
Imagine Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’ with an extra dash of camp and an airplane theme. That’s pretty much what ‘Light Years’ is. Both the parent album (also called ‘Light Years’) and Fever have really strong closing tracks that wind you down but still keeping your face raised into a smile.
Best bit: “Take us to the popstars on the moon”
28 Limbo
This Impossible Princess song cranks up the BPM and hits you in the face right away, standing out amongst the slower, more atmospheric tracks. The high pitched hook is fantastic, and Kylie sings this one like she’s losing her sanity. I can imagine it would work so well in a live setting. This or ‘Drunk’ should’ve been a single from that album instead of the terribly named ‘Cowboy Style’.
Best bit: It’s all really, really good
29 Love Affair
Fever isn’t short of disco-house bangers and whilst it sounds similar to ‘In Your Eyes’, it keeps the album going at a zippy pace. The naff vocoder makes a welcome return here for probably the best chorus on the album.
Best: “I am only here for a minute, why would you like to take me out tonight?”
30 Love at First Sight
This was my favourite Kylie single for a long time until ‘The One’ stole that crown. I adored the way the production dipped as if you were diving underwater and the lyrics, whilst simple, were so unflinchingly joyous. Like, life really is pretty good actually. Then I became hypnotised by ‘The One’ and its hypnotic sound and ‘LAFS‘ slipped into second place. But then… on the Aphrodite tour, Kylie sung one of the lines to me. The Goddess of Pop actually acknowledged my existence! Instant and immovable first place.
Best bit: “Didn’t know what do-ohh, then there was you-ooh” (Kylie sings as she points to and winks at me)
31 Loving You
My all-time favourite non-single. ‘Loving You’ isn’t an album track, or B-side, or charity song, it’s a demo. An unfinished piece of work that will likely never be finished and for fans, exists only in this form that somehow slithered its way onto the internet. The production, courtesy of my favourites Xenomania, is utterly hypnotising. The synth lines are strange and otherwordly, and I’ve listened to this song on repeat for hours on end. The lyrics are a mish-mash of Mirana Cooper-isms that don’t always make sense but sound wonderful, like the line about “breakfast in bed don’t mean I’ll get in the mood”. I’m kind of glad this song was actually finished, it’s oddly perfect as it.
Best bit: the whole thing, but if I HAD to choose it’d be “It doesn’t matter what the movies say, I like it better when you walk away”
32 Made of Glass
The second out of three Xenomania songs in a row, it’s almost like they chose to name their songs the way they did incase some indecisive fan did an alphabetical list like this. The B-side to ‘Giving You Up’ (a rare Xeno song that’s actually rubbish) that the vast majority of fans consider the superior song. The lyrics are typically obtuse yet brilliant, with a fast whispered bit that sounds like total gibberish until you look up the lyrics to uncover more nonsensical genius! Rachel Stevens Of Amazing Second Album Fame was apparently meant to record this one.
Best bit: “Bohemian boys and Brazillian girls, a familiar noise in unfamiliar worlds, its like a million beats in a Parisian heart. From the boy in the west to the girl in the east, they been working a sweat in the name of the beast, it’s where oblivion stops and oblivion starts”
33 Mighty Rivers
A bit more straightforward, this. Xenomania produced two bonus tracks for Aphrodite; the bouncy yet understated ‘Heartstrings’ and this oriental tinged tune. ‘Mighty Rivers’ deserves to be a single, let alone on the album properly, but alas: the best gems are meant to be hidden. The hook is catchy, the chorus is big and the production washes around in the background like the sea (or a really mighty river) so basically: all A grade pop music. The only weak part is the unnecessary auto-tune on the middle 8, but in this post-Gaga landscape, what can you do?
Best bit: “Mighty rivers run right through me, I’ll find them if I dive in too deep”
34 On A Night Like This
The follow-up to ‘Spinning Around’ and a much better song in my opinion. ‘On A Night Likes This’ mixes very early 2000’s dance-pop, Latin influences and strings for a classic Kylie single. The video is a homage to Martin Scorsesee’s crime film Casino and Blade Runner‘s Roy Batty is brought in too, for an all round Hollywood affair. The Abbey Road version slows down the pace and transforms it into a big-band number you just want to slow dance to.
Best bit: “Now I’m, getting closer to you, hold me, I just can’t be without you”
35 Red Blooded Woman
There are many better Kylie songs that could’ve gone on this list, but its worth mentioning for the music video: it’s sure to get the red blooded men at attention. Even more so than ‘Chocolate’, this was Kylie trying R&B to break into the American market after the success of ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’. It didn’t totally work and neither does the song, but its fun to bop along to and do your best sexy dancing to when no-one else is around.
Best bit: “You’ll never get to heaven if you’re scared of getting high”
36 Slow
Right up there with me favourite Kylie singles, the Mighty Aphrodite once claimed this was her favourite song too! It’s not hard to see (or hear) why; the bleepy-bloopy synthpop works its way into your ear whilst Kylie’s voice caresses it. The iconic music video matches the minimalism of the song; as Kylie and some toned pool-goers writhe around in very little in time to the song. You should really try the Chemical Brothers rem- Hey! Are you still paying attention? Stop watching the video and carry on reading. Oh, I guess I can wait…
Best bit: all of the vocals.
37 Some Kind of Bliss
Another Brit-Pop sounding single for Kylie provided by the Manics during the ‘indie phase’. The ‘do-do-do-doo-doo’ hook and the trumpets add some pop flair to the rockier production and it all goes down very well. It’s the perfect soundtrack the music video, which sees a ginger (!) Kylie and Dexter Fletcher on the run after a heist.
Best bit: “Some kind of bliss (TRUMPETS)”
38 Speakerphone
Glitchy. Robotic. Annoying. Amazing. Madonna thinks its the best song from X. Track repeat go on and on.
Best bit: the opening.
39 Tightrope
Not a Janelle Monae cover, but nearly as good. Relegated to B-side status during the ‘Fever’ era, this is another perfect single that wasn’t. A wistful song with production that chugs along with a subtle synth blanket in the background, letting Kylie’s excellent vocals do the work here. Captures the feeling of being in love and not knowing what the hell to do so so well.
Best bit: “There’s so much I want to share, for so long I’ve been too scared”
40 The One
The song that (temporarily) replaced ‘Love at First Sight’ as my favourite Kylie single. When I say I completely adore this song, I’m referring to the album version: the version in the music video is the Freemasons Radio Edit, and whilst it keeps the hypnotic beeps of the original, the subtlety is totally lost. The vocals here are exceptional: simultaneously seductive and desperate as Kylie demands/begs you to love her, love her, love her, love her. People usually associate Miss Minogue with big disco bangers or eighties cheese, but her forte is really classy, minimalist electronic ballads that aren’t ballads.
Best bit: “Can you hear me, I’m connecting with you. Can you feel me, I’ll do anything to have you near me”
41 Too Far
Rapping Kylie! Unlike her Body Language songs, this isn’t R&B at all. It’s back in the realms of hyper experimental indie. The lyrics about going “too far” combined with all the wild background noise in the chorus make this one of Kylie’s most dramatic songs. After all the praise I’ve heaped on Impossible Princess, you had better be downloading it if its not in your library already.
42 What Do I Have To Do
One the Stock Aitken Waterman songs that falls into the realms of Pop Classic, as opposed to dated rubbish (there is no inbetween). Nothing really to special to say about this, it’s pretty straightforward and hits all the sweet spots. If you hear it on a night out in a retro and/or gay bar, you’ll be singing along by the chorus even if you’ve never heard it before.
Best bit: the ‘wah wah wah’ sounds before the choruses.
43 Where The Wild Roses Grow
And now for something completely different: a murder ballad duet with Nick Cave, the master of depressing songs and music critics’ favourite. Its a testament to Kylie and her skills as a musical chameleon that she pulls this song off perfectly: her innocent and naive, yet strong vocal delivery perfectly compliment Cave’s sinister tones. Oh, and she looks stunning in the video too.
44 White Diamond
Another ballad penned by Kylie and longtime collaborator Steve Anderson, during the recovery from breast cancer and the build-up to the album X. Sadly, the album itself lacked this song, or anything really hinting at the struggles she went through during that period. ‘White Diamond’ did, however, become the signature song to documentary film of the same name. Not Kylie’s best ballad, but a touching one, reminding us (and possibly herself) that through the hardships, she will shine on and on and on.
Best bit: “Understand, I will be there for you. I’m a diamond for you”
45 Wow
Exactly the kind of song people who aren’t Kylie fans think is all she does. Whilst this is a catchy, piano-led disco banger with a killer chorus and those underwater drops from ‘Love At First Sight’, true fans know this is far from her best work. Over 5 years after release, this song still packs dancefloors and soundtracks adverts for expensive products we don’t need. Lesser popstars would kill for a tune like ‘Wow’ but for Kylie, it’s just another day’s work.
Best bit: “Such a rush (RUSHHH)”
46 Your Disco Needs You
The definition of ‘subtle’ in the dictionary. Robbie Williams and Guy Chambers (who wrote all of Robbie’s best songs) penned this. The video cost £2.34. No Kylie list can be without it, for better or worse.
Have I missed anything out? Do you strongly agree or disagree? What’s your favourite Kylie song? Feel free to leave me a comment below and thank you very more for reading. I’ll leave you with the promo video Kylie’s team made for her Aphrodite tour date in Cardiff, in which you can see how I get to the Goddess herself. I’m the guy at 16 seconds in who looks like Matt Damon (apparently) wearing a blue and white striped t-shirt
Kylie’s ‘Kiss Me Once’ campaign continues with ‘I Was Gonna Cancel’, produced by Pharrell who is responsible for pretty much everything nowadays – including the wonderful ‘Happy’, the fantastic ‘Get Lucky’ and… ‘Blurred Lines’.
The song is the right choice to be the newest single from the album, but the video really isn’t helping matters. I totally get the ‘retro Kylie’ look they were going for here with the styling and block background colour but by GOD is it repetitive. The Kylie doing minimalist movements in an enclosed space surrounded by loads of extras was done much much better by her iconic video for ‘Slow’ and whilst I appreciate the cheeky illuminati hand gestures, this video is sadly a bit of a dud.
The new series of Britain’s Got Talent is back in full-swing, and that means the loveable Alesha Dixon is back on our screens. She’s known more as a TV personality nowadays, which is a shame because she was a pretty good popstar. She could sing well enough, proved on Strictly she could dance and her rapping was usually the highlight of a Mis-Teeq song. She never really had any major smashes, or anything you could label a classic, but digging into her back catalogue I’ve discovered Alesha has got some pretty darn good songs under her belt, with much more personality (her and her songs) than what you hear on pop radio today. I say some because I tried to make it a top 10, but of her solo and group singles, I’d only consider 8 of them good enough to be featured. Which is at least 5 more than a lot of people on her popstar ‘level’ have. Let’s get on with the (Alesha) show.
All I Want (2001)
Mis-Teeq were kind of like the UK’s answer to Destiny’s Child, with some added garage. Which makes Alesha kind of like the UK’s answer to Beyonce, with the added… uh talent show judging. This song/video is pure early noughties with the dance moves and terrifically cheesy falling through the mirror effects.
UK peak: 2. Best part: Enter!
Knockdown (2006)
Alesha’s first collaboration with production team Xenomania (Girls Aloud, Sugababes, Pet Shop Boys) who, as you all should know, I love. This song was meant to launch Alesha’s debut album ‘Fired Up’, sadly the commerical failure of this and previous single ‘Lipstick’ meant the album only got released in Japan. It’s easy to see why this wasn’t a hit – despite its bouncy ska like production, its a pretty weird track. Apart from the chorus, nothing is repeated or follows the same melody. There’s a bit where people genuinely just go ‘ho ho ho ho ho-ho, ha ha ha ha ha ha-ha’. The single version awkwardly slams straight into the harder, rappier ‘K-Gee Heat Remix’ near the end which is, quite frankly, terrible. The album version carries on with the ska beat and lyrical genius/nonsense but that wasn’t the version released as a single, hence the lower position. A curious oddity, but an infectious one.
UK peak: 45. Best part: Sitting up by my window, WATCHing the summer rain
Can’t Get It Back (2003)
From a song with a terrible single version to one with a much better single version. The Ignorants Radio Edit lifts this R&B jam with oh so 2003 guitar strummy goodness. The chorus is fantastic and Alesha adds another great rap to her collection. There’s not much I can say about it. It’s like a the little sister to the Sugababes ‘Hole in the Head’. I also really like how they begin verse by actually saying (or singing) “verse 1” and do the same for verse two. It’s like how Mark Owen literally did the “x minutes left to go” when it was x minutes left of the song. Cray cray.
UK peak: 8. Best part: the chorus
Radio (2010)
You’d have thought a song written by Emeli Sandé and produced by Naughty Boy would be an instant smash, especially as this was when Alesha was a judge on Strictly Come Dancing (remember that?). This track peaked outside the Top 40, which isn’t as bad as the album, ‘The Entertainer’ which hit the lofty heights of number 84. At least it was released in Britain I guess… poor Alesha. Anyway, you’ll notice that the song sounds a LOT like Robyn‘s fantastic ‘Dancing On My Own’ which is obviously a good thing. Maybe not in the originality stakes but if you’re going to copy, copy from the best. The lyrics are about turning up the radio; not to have a dance to some generic EDM but to block out the emotions from a bad (possibly abusive) relationship.
UK peak: 46. Best part: He can’t break my heart if I can’t hear a word
Let’s Get Excited (2009)
This song treads the line between amazing and annoying. Just listen to that beat. You’re either going to love it or despise it. Unlike the similarly Marmite-y ‘Drummer Boy’ I love this song. The production doesn’t ever slow down, insisting that you get up and dance, and it helps the verses are just as upbeat as the chorus. There’s a namecheck for Madonna and a reference to ‘Get Into The Groove’ if you’re into that sort of thing. And in the video, Alesha gets soaking wet from a giant hose, if you’re into that sort of thing.
UK peak: 13. Best part: I’m a detective I’m all over you
Breathe Slow (2008)
Artistic black and white video time! Alesha was at her commercial peak with her 2008 album ‘The Alesha Show’ and this song is her most successful. It was around for absolutely ages, you remember it, I remember it, your Nan probably remembers it. Not much to say here: a solid ballad, strong video and the biggest triumph for a woman who had been through a rocky divorce and career low just over a year before release.
UK peak: 3. Best part: I’m running out of patience ’cause I can’t believe what the hell I’m hearing (hearing)
The Boy Does Nothing (2008)
A mambo record about berating a man for not doing the washing up? So very kitsch. So very Xenomania. The crazy genius production team decided to work with Alesha again to come up with this corker of a comeback single. It fitted right in with the throwback sounds all the best British female stars were doing in ’08 whilst still having its own thing going on. The whole thing is so upbeat and fun to dance to, the chorus takes off, there are two (!) fantastic middle eights and its ends with the repeating chant of “if the man can dance, he’s get a second chance”. It’s just FUN all the way through. Oh, and it has Florrie on drums. I quitelike her.
UK peak: 5. Best part: All of it. If I had to pick: I wanna see ya shake ya HIPS and learn
Before we get to number one actually, I’d like to give some honourable mentions to songs from ‘The Alesha Show’ (and its Encore edition) that Alesha did with Xenomania that weren’t singles. The stuff they created together is pretty overlooked by Xeno fans, which is a shame because there are some fantastic tunes I shall now list:
Play Me: more of an assault than a song, set in the key of awesome. Amazing with headphones in, really gets your heart pumping.
Don’t Ever Let Me Go: a relaxed, accoustic guitar with a hint of synth thrown in before the end. Repetitive chorus but it works with the whole ‘lazy summer afternoon’ feel I get from the song.
I’m Thru: the theme tune for the campest James Bond movie ever made. Another really fun song, made better by the use of the word “shebang”
Mystery: one of those annoying ‘hidden’ songs people occasionally. Best described as ‘hyperactive’, take that as you will. The second verse descends into actual gibberish before a fantastic rapid fire ‘no-no/so-so/polo’ rhyme bit. And the ‘this is the jump off, we wanna see you jump off’ is probably originally from another song Xenomania made but decided to cut and paste into here (as they often do, ie: Biology) and its probably the best bit of the whole album.
The Light: should’ve been the single for the Encore release instead of that naff Gary Barlow penned ballad. A piano and squiggly synth lead slowie, with wistful vocals and an uplifting chorus. Really should’ve been a single.
Scandalous (2003)
Was there ever any doubt? Everything about this song is so effortless. It rhymes “simulation” with “conversation” which is pretty epic in itself. The slick sound comes from production team Xen Stargate, famous for their work with Ne-Yo, Rihanna and Beyonce. All the girls have their moment to shine, with Alesha herself adding some dirty rhymes before the chorus as well as the “that’s why you know should be scared of us” hook.One of the best girlband anthems of the noughties, a decade not at all short on them.
UK peak: 2. Best bit: WOO WOO WOO WOO
So there you have it; a quick whistle-stop tour through the back catalogue of an entertainer (see what I did there?) who never reached the upper echelons of stardom, but has had a better music career than you’ve probably given her credit for. Think about that next time you’re watching Britain’s Got Talent.
It’s been too long since I did a music review round-up, and this time I’m going to avoid waxing lyrical about my favourites Lily Allenand Florrie. Their most recent songs are pretty amazing and you should have clicked on those links already – one at a time please, otherwise you’ll just hear a messy mess of noise or so much amazingness your head might explode.
When Robyn and Royksopp recently announced a ‘mini-album’ to support a tour they’re doing, I thought my head would explode from their combined Scando-superpower. Two tracks leaked online the other day and have since been ripped down from YouTube. Luckily you can listen to them both here.
Of the two, I think most people are going to like the title track, ‘Do It Again’. If I’m being honest, it didn’t majorly impress me on first listen. Lyrically and sonically, it doesn’t sound like either at their best. Thankfully, ‘Every Little Thing’ is a melancholic electronic gem. Its slow and sinister, kind of Royksopp‘s own ‘You Don’t Have a Clue‘ had a baby with Richard X/Norweigan Popstar Annie‘s collab ‘Just Friends‘.
Since I can’t embed a video for either song, let’s remind ourselves of their fantastic 2009 collaboration; ‘The Girl & The Robot’.
The “don’t deny me, call me back, I’m soooooo alone” send shivers down me
Right, let’s move onto the big one. Avril Lavigne with her new single ‘Hello Kitty’. If you haven’t seen/heard/experienced it yet, here it is:
I want to get a few things out the way first, ie: the things most of the internet are talking about. I don’t think the song or video is racist at all. Avril is really popular in Japan and is a self proclaimed massive fan of that country and the Hello Kitty brand. I’m also not against culture appropriation either; I was raised on dubbed anime that changed a lot of character names and references. Personally I don’t believe that’s a bad thing. If an art form such a music video or children’s TV show has familiar elements mixed in with the foreign, it can make it easier to absorb and less alienating.
The whole ‘minority just used a prop/backing dancer’ thing regarding this, Lily Allen‘s ‘Hard Out Here‘, Miley‘s ‘We Can’t Stop‘ performances etc. gets on my nerves a bit. Its starting to feel like everytime a white artist is using someone of different origin in their videos/performances they are blasted online for putting themselves on a pedestal and reinforcing negative stereotypes. I wonder if these keyboard warriors just want to see only white people in a ‘white persons’ music video, and only black people in a ‘black persons’ video? I could start a whole debate but it’s been done to death so lets move on.
Another thing people are blasting Avril for is that she is ‘too old’ to be making this sort of music and having the image that she does. It’s similar to what Madonna has been facing for years and I kind of agree to a point. Should Madonna, at 55 stop singing about going out dancing and enjoying some sexy time? No. People of that age do do that, believe it or not – as much as we like to block out that fact. However, should Madonna keep baring her breasts on stage? Not really. It’s a bit embarrassing at 25 let alone 55. Back to Avril, then. She is 29. Should she ditch her attitude and rebellious rock chick persona? No. People like Joan Jett have been rocking out for way longer and good on them. Avril’s second single from this album (‘Hello Kitty‘ is single #4) ‘Rock n Roll’ is about maintaining that persona and it’s a great song.
‘Hello Kitty’ is not.
You don’t need to mature with every new album, and by age 30 only sing ballads. But at the same time, to regress to the point where your new single sounds like it was written and produced by a 12 year old is a bit ridiculous. Avril’s first album, released at age 17, was more mature than this. It just feels like a massive step backwards. I love a good novelty record from time to time, especially in summer. Heck, I’ve been blasting the heck out of the ‘Asreje (The Ketchup Song)‘ and ‘Numa Numa‘ for the last week and regret nothing. But this isn’t even ‘so bad its good’. It’s just… dire. The horrid dubstep, “a fat kid on a pack of Smarties/throw a chocolate cake at me”, the annoying beat, just… everything. The sad thing, as a population we buy this stuff up normally. ‘#SELFIE‘, ‘Bom Bom‘, ‘GANGNAM STYLE‘ for pete’s sake. Why this gets so much hate is beyond me. Is it because people are jumping on the racist/too old bandwagons, or we know Avril can do better? One thing is for sure though, it’s getting people talking about her. Remember her previous single, ‘Let Me Go‘? Course you didn’t.
With that out of the way, let’s talk about Ed Sheeran.
Now I dislike Ed Sheeran. I respect him for getting where he is and the way he did it but he annoys me. His voice is shrill, his lyrics are poor (and really creepy, in the case of that 1D song he wrote) and his one song I did like (‘Lego House‘) got overplayed like crazy until I hated that, too. But god damn, his new song is pretty good. If you’ve not heard it yet, enjoy:
What you’ll probably notice right away are two things: 1) This sounds like a Pharrell production and 2) This sounds like first album Justin Timberlake. And those two things are exactly why this is good. ‘Sing’ sounds like a better Justin Timberlake single than anything Justin himself released last year. Ed’s voice actually delivers the smoothness needed really, really well. He sounds as confident as the music, effortless whereas before he sounded way too try-hard. Alongside the marvellous ‘Happy‘, Pharrell is getting closer to redeeming himself after ‘Blurred Lines‘ and whilst Ed has a ways to go in my opinion, this is definitely a step – no, a major stride – in the right direction.
So on Monday (March 10th) My 2nd Favourite Popstar Ever Lily Allen debuted a new song and video from her third album, wonderfully titled ‘Sheezus’. Here it is:
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Now, its safe to say reaction to this song and, as a result, the whole ‘Sheezus’ ‘era’ has been mixed. The press were quick to pick up on a (now deleted) reply Lily made to someone’s tweet on Twitter (the best place to make a tweet really) that went like this:
RJwilding: “@lilyallen’s new music is actually docile pop rubbish. So disappointing. She properly just wrote some rubbish to cash some cheques.”
Lily: “@RJwilding what you’ve heard so far yes. All i can do is do my best, the labels and the radio stations won’t play the better stuff. keep the faith.”
That’s a fair few elephants in the room. Whilst I guess its refreshing to be honest (which is what I love Lily for) its sad to see her admit that songs like ‘Our Time’ and ‘Air Balloon‘ are “docile pop rubbish”. Labels aren’t always the best at picking singles (I’m still gutted Gaga’s ‘ScheiBe‘ never got a single release) but for an artist to admit they are unhappy with those choices before the album is even out is pretty major. Especially when that artist is Lily Allen, who you’d think was too outspoken to be forced into releasing songs she doesn’t want or pander to mainstream radio. ‘Air Balloon’ got a lot of flak for that very reason, from people like Mr. Wilding. I myself wrote about it before I said I enjoyed its carefree nature but it was more of a B-side standard. Since then I’ve not been able to get it out of my brain and I actually think its worthwhile as a single. The labels plan worked, as the song has had strong radio airplay and charted this week at #7, better than ‘Hard Out Here’did last year. Personally, I think people are expecting every single song by Lily to have some sort of social commentary, and if that’s your beef you probably won’t enjoy this new one either.
Just a catchy song to show a different side to Lily Allen, or a soulless product designed to get an easy chart hit?
Lyrically, ‘Our Time’ is about a typical pop topic (a popic, if you like): a night out. But rather than being a generic full-on club banger, this is a more chilled tune with lyrics more down-to-Earth than throwing your cash in the air and getting with every single lady you see. And that’s refreshing. Groundbreaking? Not at all. Social commentary? Not really. Does that make it “docile pop rubbish”? I don’t think so. There’s always room for songs about nothing in particular but just lift you up and make you feel good. If every song I listened to was deadly serious I’d be pretty depressed (and/or a Coldplay fan). That’s why I love Kylie Minogue. If I’ve had a stressy day at work or one of life’s little things gets me down, it’s songs like ‘Love at First Sight‘, ‘Lola’s Theme‘, ‘Walking on Sunshine’and even ‘Air Balloon’ that cheer me up. So don’t hate on Lily Allen because not every new song is another ‘The Fear‘ , ‘F** You‘ or ‘Kabul Shit‘.
Seriously, go buy this now.
Writing that last sentence has kind of put things into perspective a little bit. Perhaps the reason a lot of us are disappointed with the songs from ‘Sheezus’ so far is because every song from ‘It’s Not Me, It’s You’ was so, so good. As in, my favourite album of all timegood. Apart from maybe ‘Hard Out Here’, everything from this campaign sounds like a sequel to Lily’s 2006 debut, ‘Alright, Still’. And once again, that’s fine. Although we are promised the ‘better stuff’ is on the album, I’m not expecting it to beat her sophomore effort. If it does, I will be more than pleasantly surprised. If not, I will still have another album of great pop music made by a great popstar. I can’t wait.
If nothing else, this album ‘era’ has given us these two gems and that’s better than what your favourite could ever pull off:
How all nights out in Britain end, fighting with a hot dog
Usually on my music write-ups I gush about pop music by artists that aren’t exactly mainstream, and no one really pays attention to me. So in a blatant attempt to get some views (and for people to read about an artist I really, really like) I’m going to also review two songs by people whose music I always hear ‘in the club’…
First up, Ludacris ‘Party Girls’ (feat. Wiz Khalifa, Jeremih and Cashmere Cat)
Ludacris is really popular, right? I mean, I liked his song ‘Rollout’ when I was like, twelve and didn’t know better. His bit is the only non-chorus bit of Usher’s ‘Yeah’ that people attempt to sing/rap along to and he’s obviously on Justin Bieber’s ‘Baby’. He’s also roped in the guy who did that ‘Birthday Sex’ song, some dude I’ve never heard of but I assume is popular amongst hip-hop fans and the chap from ‘Payphone’ and the song where T-Pain ruins one of my favourite Lily Allen tracks. If that’s not going to get me tons of views nothing will! So onto the song itself…
Oh dear. I imagine Ludacristhink he’s being really edgy and cool by sampling Aqua’s ‘Barbie Girl’ here. Sure, rappers like Flo-Rida have been taking cheesy Eurodance songs and turning them into anthems about having lots of sex with sexy ladies for a while now, but to go further than any rapper has before and interpolate THAT song is pretty courageous, right?
No. In fact, its about as boring as going to Subway and buying just ham on plain Italian. Onto the next one
Jason Derulo – ‘Stupid Love’
About as boring as going to Subway and just having bread.
Well, if you came here for Ludacris and Derulo then please stay for five more minutes and listen to this song by one of my favourites artists. She’s been an internet favourite for a few years now, hopefully moving into up-and-coming success in the mainstream territory. This is Florrie…
Florrie – ‘Seashells’
With Girls Aloud breaking up almost a year ago to the day, the Gossip album being a major mixed bag and the whole Amelia Lily debacle, I was thinking this was the end for Xenomania – my favourite pop makers of all time. Luckily, Florrie was there with my second favourite song of last year ‘Live a Little’ keeping my faith alive. Despite finally signing to a label, this singer-drummer-model-fireman combo hasn’t ditched team X to work with the current big names that everyone else is. And despite the songs Brian Higgins and co have put out over the last 2 years nearly all being firmly in the electronic category, ‘Seashells’ instantly hits you with some Asian-sounding production. This is typically Florrie and Xenomania in that it ignores typical verse-chorus song but is made up of nonsensical playground style chants that earworm into your brain. It’s not the most immediate song on first listen, nor does it seem to compare to earlier Florrie songs like ‘Call of the Wild‘ or ‘Every Inch’, but if your curiosity takes you back for further listens, it really grows on you.
The video suits the song too, its not really about anything but its got the chilled aura to it. The Instagram effects coupled with Florrie’s relative unknown status make this pretty hipster friendly but she really is worth getting into, and not just to have an unknown popstar to brag about liking but because her music is really damn good.
No opening paragraph today, just going to get right to the good stuff.
Stine Bramsen – Prototypical
If you don’t recognise this lady, or her voice, then you need to go and have an Alphabeat session right now. Both their first two albums were 50% rubbish and 50% beyond incredible. They had a great run of singles too – ‘Fascination’, ‘10,000 Nights (of Thunder)’, ‘Boyfriend’, ‘Hole in my Heart’ and ‘DJ’ (well, this remix anyway) being my favourites. They had a third album too but I really didn’t pay attention to that, it’s not anything special apparently.
Now Stine is going solo whilst the band is taking a break and after featuring on the incredible ‘I Want You’ in 2011, Bramsen is back with the ‘Prototypical’. I’ve embedded the live session version above and it’s my favourite, but the actual version is worth listening to as well.
Lily Allen – Air Balloon
After making her return late last year with The Annual John Lewis Christmas Song and the fantastically sharp-tongued ‘Hard Out Here’Lily Allen is releasing her second single from her long-awaited, still untitled third album. It’s catchy, combining modern beats with playground melodies and cute lyrics about Elvis getting to first base before Kurt Cobain. It’s good, but in a B-Side-That’s-Not-As-Good-As-Any-Of-Her-2nd-Album*-Era-B-Sides way. Let’s just hope the video takes the day-dreamy feel of the song and elevates it (pun intended) to something worthy of a single from my 2nd favourite popstar ever.
*That 2nd Album is called It’s Not Me, It’s You and its my favourite album of all time. Every song is perfect. Buy it. Now.
(In lieu of any sort of video, here is the single cover and a link.)
Thanks to some naughty internet people leaking things they shouldn’t, we get new songs from 2nd and 1st favourite Popstars in one week. January blues? Not this year!
I only heard this for the first time last night and didn’t really like it, but at that point I had been awake for 20 hours and you could’ve given me a million pounds and I would’ve grumbled it wasn’t 2 million. Now I’ve had some sleep and given this tune a proper whirl I’m ready to give my (still mixed) opinion. It’s not as an Americanised as I’d feared from Kylie‘s deal with Roc Nation (Jay-Z‘s label) but the ‘E-yo-oh-oh-oh’ hook is the basic sounding thing you’d find on a Flo-Rida song and why sing ‘Don’t need no miracle’ rather than ‘Don’t need a miracle’? Just generally unnecessary.
Also, the production on the chorus is a bit too ‘hard’ and contrasts with the feeling but the verses sound divine as expected from the Goddess of Pop herself. To be honest, it’s Kylie and it’s hard to dislike because she delivers warmth and happy fuzzy feelings in spades. I can’t wait for her debut performance on The Voice (where she is instantly the best judge, obviously) and studio album number 12.
It’s been a while. I know I shouldn’t have kept you waiting. But I’m here now.
I do love a good musical reference, if you know the song you get a bonus cookie to go along with the humble pie I have here. It’s been two months since I last updated and I’m not trying to make excuses but going from working on average 17 hours a week to 40+ hours has taken its toll – not to mention Christmas and work experience (full post on that soon, promise!) taking up what free time I have. Anyway, it’s Saturday night and I’m here eating sweets and drinking Fizzy Tooth Rot Max, what better time to talk about the sugary sparkling goodness that is pop music.
Over the festive period, the music channels love to remind us all of the godawful songs we’ve bought in Decembers gone by – Cascada’s cover of ‘Last Christmas’, ‘Bob the Builder’, ‘Proper Crimbo’, the original ‘Last Christmas’ and yes, the Almighty Girls Aloud‘s ‘tepid’ (I’m being nice) cover of ‘See the Day’.
Being reminded of this song’s existence prompted me to list the Girls Aloud singles in order of best to worst because… why not, I’m a nerd. It was a tough decision over whether ‘See the Day’ or the ‘Walk This Way’ cover with the Sugababes got the dubious honour of worst single (the latter ‘won’) but best single.. that was easy.
‘Sound of the Underground’? Incredible but overrated. ‘Jump’? Great fun, best cover single but nah. ‘Love Machine’? Very good but it annoys me when people say that’s all GA are. ‘Biology’? Not mistaking it. ‘Sexy! No No No…’? VERY close but no. ‘Untouchable’? The album version is my favourite song of all time. The radio mix… no.
My favourite single has got to be:
Look at that release date. Now look at the date on your screen. Don’t you feel old now? I know I do.
IT’S FIVE YEARS SINCE THE LOVING KIND WAS RELEASED.
If you don’t remember it, then here it is:
So why do I find this song so fantastic?
Well, it’s a three-way collaboration between three of my favourite entities (for lack of a better word) in pop: the girls on vocals, once again perfect production by Xenomania – who have produced 90% of their output and are the reason GA aren’t another Atomic Kitten – and as the Wikipedia box states, co-written with Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe.
It’s the bloody Pet Shop Boys darling
Some critics wrote this song isn’t as good as an AloudShopBoysmania collaboration could be, whereas others derided it for sounding like a weaker ‘Call the Shots’. I disagree entirely. All parties are at the top of their game here. The girls all get a good share of delivering wistful vocals, with Sarah taking the lead (a rare treat) and Nicola delivering the desperation of her part perfectly. The song wasn’t written for them (but for the Boys own Xenomania produced album, the excellent Yes) but they pull off beautiful Tennant lyrics such as the opening “Sometimes, I watch your when you’re sleeping, I wonder what you’re feeling”. The songwriting captures that horrid feeling when you just know that the romance is fading away. Xenomania are in their element of melancholic electronic and the production is typically layered, such a the faint ‘woahhhh-ohhhhh’s in the background and whooses that lead from one segment to the next. The arrangement isn’t all over the place as something like ‘Biology’, but the “I’d do anything” part sounds like it would be the middle 8 of a more straightforward song, yet here it’s post-first chorus, keeping the energy going before that wonderful drop into the downtrodden “rush hour of another day” moment.
The video is also fantastic, something that can’t really be said for many of the Aloud’s efforts. It’s got a minimalist colour scheme of white, black and red and is wonderfully arty. The girls are in these glass boxes, either looking all sad, doing turns, stretches, pouts and poses (as you do in pop videos) or smashing up old photos and chucking flowers all over the place. It’s pretty simple and sounds dull on paper but the visuals and editing are fantastic. I l-o-v-e (reference!) the bit at the start of the final chorus, where it cuts to each girl all doing the same arms stretched head shaking movement then drop to the floor and back up again.
And also, don’t the girls look stunning?
So many Cheryls! It’s like a heterosexual man’s dream.
There’s only one Queen Nuhdeen!
No pun here, just reiterating how the endless reflections look fantastic.
So yeah, fantastic song, brilliant video, the team-up being the thing of pop nerd’s dreams. But that’s not (just) why I adore ‘The Loving Kind‘ so much. I’d always enjoyed Girls Aloud‘s music on the same level I enjoyed most chart stuff before I really listened to music more in-depth. Catchy stuff, knew the choruses and most of the words (whatever anything in ‘Love Machine’ means), happy to dance to at a party. But then ‘The Promise’ came along and I thought “this is something pretty special”, and a lot of people thought so too, it hit Number One and so did the album Out Of Control. And then I saw ‘The Loving Kind’ video and fell in love. I dipped into some of the album tracks from that album, and never turned back. As I wrote about before, Girls Aloud musically opened my eyes (ears) to a lot more musically, and were my gateway into an online pop community. ‘The Loving Kind’ is where it all started.
Which is a shame that it’s not a massive hit. It was the girls 20th (not counting ‘St. Trinian’s Theme’, sadly counting ‘Walk This Way’) consecutive top 10 – an incredible feat, specially as once an album is out, the singles don’t really do the numbers anymore. It’s in the top ten best selling songs of theirs according to those MTV count down shows and was on the music channels and radio a fair bit when it was out. But it’s not really stuck in many memories five years on (I’m still dumbfounded its been that long) and that’s sadly because it was massively overshadowed by its predecessor. In fact, it may not have even been a Top 10 hit at all (it landed exactly at #10) if it wasn’t for hardcore fans:
Didn’t help that all the promo the girls did for the song was before Christmas. They scraped by this time, but Untouchable wasn’t so fortunate.
Despite it not being critically or commercially Girls Aloud’s crowning glory, I still treasure this song deeply 5 years to the day after it was released as a single. Of course, fans will know it isn’t the only Aloud song released on 12th January 2009…
One of the reasons I love Girls Aloud (and risk sounding like a total hipster) is that their B-sides are all kinds of incredible. Not just their singles (unlike a lot of artists), not just their album tracks (like most artists) but the songs they only put out on CD (remember those?) or vinyl (your parents remember those?). Before 2012 and the bonus disc of their greatest hits TEN, you had to buy a 50 quid limited edition boxset to get this song on disc and therefore; legally onto your iPod. It added to the cult feel on the song, and it really is a fan favourite. In a poll to decide the album tracks and B-sides for the TEN bonus disc, this song was the runaway winner and with good reason.
From the opening stop-start synth lines, to Kimberley’s vocodered, echoey first verse “Late at night I dream I’m falling into love again, twenty five electric angels are dancing in the rain” this track oozes dark and moody, with ethereal qualities Ellie Goulding could only dream of (sorry housemate Jade!). Like ‘The Loving Kind’, it’s full on Melancholic Electronic (if I ever made an album, it’d be called that) but in a much more dancier way. Typically nonsense but intriguing lyrics (“paradise with ice cream skies”, “wondering if sheep count us when they can’t sleep at night” only make sense to songwriter Miranda Cooper), incredibly busy but pin-sharp production and gorgeous solos from only Kimberley and Nicola, the two who are usually seen as the background members of the group by the general public, come together perfectly. It’s so perfect that when Nicola released a solo version, with exactly the same instrumental and just her singing all the vocals, it wasn’t right. Kimberley’s deeper voice opening the song sets the mood, and the contrast between there vocals as the second verse goes into the bridge is one of my favourite bits. I appreciate Nicola for trying to please the fanbase, but don’t mess with perfection.
Even though it adds to the less commercial, more pop-cult feel of the track, I do find it a bit of a shame that song wasn’t given single treatment. It would’ve been a joy to hear in clubs, especially with so much dance pop focused solely on the same old getting drunk and putting your hands up stuff I tired of ages ago. But at the same time it’s cool, in a weird way, to have this incredible piece of music that almost ‘belongs’ to a certain group of people: dedicated pop and Girls Aloud fans.
Five years ago I was just getting into this group and discovering their flawless catalogue, with the promise (reference!) of 3 new albums following a brief hiatus exciting me no end. As we all know, that hiatus lasted 3 years with four new songs (three of them just as wonderful as I was waiting for, and the other being ‘Beautiful ‘Cause You Love Me’) and a tour that wasn’t a farewell tour but was a farewell tour. Obviously they never would have performed ‘Memory of You’, being a HITS tour but I am GUTTED that ‘The Loving Kind’ wasn’t performed. I know it wasn’t their biggest hit and apparently Nicola doesn’t like it very much but to me, of all their singles, it was the most special of all.
If the legacy of these songs amounts to nothing but the following video, then that’s fine:
Happy Fifth Birthday, The Loving Kind and Memory of You.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed but the ‘chart music scene’ has been really, really bad recently. We’ve had to endure Robin Thicke‘s tacky rape anthem ‘Blurred Lines’, Miley Cyrus‘ tongue antics, endless auto-tuned EDM put your hands/drinks up in the club/to the sky ‘bangers’ and everyone twerking as if it was something only invented this year (it wasn’t).
Despite all the misogyny flying around, pop music is usually an area where girls do it best, but I can sum all the recent albums from Lady Gaga, The Saturdays, Katy Perry and Avril Lavigne with a big meh. Where’s the spark?! Things clearly need to be done.
Luckily, my second favourite popstar of all timeLily Allen has decided to come out of musical retirement, and dropped the name Lily Rose Cooper she used when featuring on P!nk‘s ‘True Love‘, to bring take pot shots at the sorry state of the music industry, and the rampant sexism – all wrapped up in one of the best singles of the year.
This, is ‘Hard Out Here’
So, it’s clearly amazing. I could go on about how clearly amazing it is; nearly every line is quotable, the production sounds like a Lily Allen song (twinkly piano et al) in 2013 should sound like an the video if full of screen-cappable gems. Here’s my top 5 favourite bits.
NUMBER 5: I personally like to think the amount of times Lily uses the word bitch in the song is directly referencing Britney‘s ‘Work Bitch’. Which is still a terrible piece of music. NUMBER 4: “If I told you ’bout my sex life, you’d call me a slut / when boys be talkin’ ’bout their bitches, no one’s making a fuss.” NUMBER 3: The ironic, and perfect (over)use of auto tune where its really not necessary. Kanye, T-Pain, Rihanna and the like must be REALLY big fans of that Cher song from ’98. You know the one. NUMBER 2:
This is my new favourite saying
NUMBER ONE (unsurprisingly):
This just sums up Lily’s humour: sharp and to the point, but not afraid to self-depreciate herself at the same time as putting the (music) world (of 2013) to rights. I’m so excited, that the album and tour tickets are going to be pre-ordered the moment they go online.
Keep it coming, bitch.
(Oh, and the John Lewis advert Keane cover is lovely and all too. #diversity)
joeanderton 
