Well folks, she underwhelmed with her last single When You’re Gone, but can Avril Improve with new single Hot?

In Hot, she’s taken the tempo up a bit and dabbles a bit in S&M lyrics - “I wanna lock you up in my closet” etc. Apparently, the song’s a dribbling tribute to her new husband Deryck Whibley (of Sum 41 fame).

Read more & comment »

So, the big news this week is the the biggest names in punk (no children, not Green Day) - The Sex Pistols are reforming.

On one hand, it sounds like great news. This is one act people didn’t expect to see together again. On the other hand it seems like a perfect opportunity to cash in on the 30th anniversary of God Save The Queen.

The reason I’m saying that is because I read in NME today that John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) has been mouthing off about various celebrities on Virgin Radio.

Read more & comment »

Take That have been asked to perform their Oscar-tipped song, ‘Rule The World’ at the first ever National Movie Awards ceremony.

The band wrote the song for new flick Stardust, which stars ROBERT DE NIRO, MICHELLE PFEIFFER and SIENNA MILLER.

The Movie Awards will take place London’s Royal Festival Hall on September the 28th and will be aired on ITV1 the next night.

A Take That spokesman said: “The band are really excited because they have never played in front of an audience like that before.”

I want to share this song with you, because I’m a massive fan of the Australian band The Waifs.

London Still was a single from their 2003 album Up All Night, which remains to this day an unsung classic acoustic folk/blues/country album.

Read more & comment »

As the video for Kate Nash’s new video begins, we see her single-handedly attempting to bring back the lost art of air piano. It never caught on first time round, but who knows?

Mouthwash - Kate’s second single from her Made Of Bricks album - is yer basic ode to normality, innit? Who better to sing such a song than a gal who could have just walked off the Eastenders set?

Read more & comment »

We first wrote about Silversun Pickups way back in April of this year, raving about the power of their song Lazy Eye. Well, word has reached Unreality Music that the Pickups are releasing it as a single in the UK….today!!!

Apparently Lazy Eye’s had mega exposure in the USA, with appearances by the band on Letterman, Leno and others. It has also had a spot on The O.C.

Read more & comment »

Honor-bound to bring you new music, tonight Unreality Music introduces you to Diablo Swing Orchestra. Before you go any further, go over to MySpace and listen to their Balrog Boogie track. Then come back and we’ll talk about it.

Done it? Good. Now let’s talk…

Read more & comment »

Welcome to the UK top 10 for 16th September. A pretty good chart this week with a good mix of pop, hip-hop and other stuff. Sean Kingston is holding up the top spot with Beautiful Girls, and the Plain White T’s are looking to be a fixture for a few more weeks.

Here’s the line-up…

1. Sean Kingston - Beautiful Girls: Kingston’s likeable reggae rehash of Stand By Me is still riding high in the charts. Tell me you haven’t been singing it in your shower…
2. Plain White T’s - Hey There Delilah: Still loving the gentle acoustic ode to unrequited love.
3. Kanye West - Stronger: Bigger, better, faster, stronger. Yup, Kanye is ticking all the right boxes with this tune while not resting on the formula that made Late Registration such a success.
4. James Blunt - 1973: When homicidal feelings start rising, you know Blunt’s released another single. Goddammit. Worse still, I sorta like this one.
5. 50 Cent - Ayo Technology: Even the collaboration with the Timber Brothers can’t save this from being a snoozefest. 50 is such a bloody robot.
6. Rihanna - Shut Up And Drive: The cutest girl in pop right now, but can she push Shut Up And Drive to the #1 spot?
7. Girls Aloud - Sexy No No No: Five PVC-clad popstrels (I stole that word from Smash Hits) and a blazing track that we won’t be tiring of anytime soon.
8. Robyn ft Kleerup - With Every Heartbeat: Robyn and her despairing pop video face are getting a little tedious. And. It. Hurts. With. Every. Repeat.
9. Timbaland ft Keri Hilson - The Way I Are: Timbaland doesn’t leave the charts easily, and this track’s hanging in there alongside his collaboration with 50 Cent, giving him two Top 10 tracks this week.
10. Scouting For Girls - She’s So Lovely: Great pop track - rowdy, uplifting and memorable. Don’t have a clue who these folks are, but damn good effort…

You all know the story - 50 Cent has threatened never to release another album if Kanye West’s new CD outsells his. The full 50 Cent quote is:

Put it like this, let’s raise the stakes. If Kanye West sells more records than 50 Cent on September 11, I’ll no longer write music. I’ll write music and work with my other artists, but I won’t put out any more solo albums.

Well, so far Kanye West’s in the lead sales wise. I have to say, I believe that Kanye deserves this more - he’s charismatic, he’s passionate, he’s an interesting character. 50 Cent on the other hand doesn’t interest me at all. He’s another by-product from the Dre/Eminem school of rap, but he neither matches or surpasses either of his mentors.

Kanye’s taken rap music to a new place, he’s made it interesting again. 50 is still punting out old style gangsta rap that the mainstream has been getting bored of.

so I’m betting on Kanye West to win, and I’m hoping ‘Fitty’ upholds his end of the bargain by not releasing any more albums. That’d suit me just fine.

Tell me in the comments who you’re hoping will win…

If there’s one thing you’re guaranteed with Dave Grohl’s Foo Fighters it’s that every single they release will be an electrifying experience. Who’d have thought that the geeky-looking drummer from Nirvana would’ve managed to carve a stellar career and release such consistently fantastic music?

Needless to say, The Pretender doesn’t disappoint on any level. It starts out with some innocent sounding arpeggios, but soon bursts into life delivering the frenzy that has become a Foo Fighters trademark.

Read more & comment »