Yes, I realise that Lady Gaga’s debut is long-since released, number one-d and on its way down the charts again. But I never reviewed it, and now I feel bad :(
You see, over the past fortnight, I’ve totally fallen in love with Just Dance. From Lady G’s rallying call of “red wi-ine” at the start to the brilliant lyric that is “I love this record baby, but I can’t see straight anymore”.
Is it an anthem? I’m beginning to suspect it it.
While I strongly doubt that Dr. Meaker is any sort of real doctor, he certainly knows how to knock out an album’s worth of amazing music.
Described as a blending of “Massive Attack’s progressive beats with Amy Winehouse’s soulful sounds”, Meaker’s debut album A Lesson from the Speaker
So, you’re in the club, chatting up a girl you’ve met. Next thing she’s wearing your bloody Rolex. Happens me all the time, folks, so I’m glad Wiley wrote a song about it.
Seriously though, tracks like this are taking over the charts, and with good reason. There’s been an explosion of UK urban talent recently. Not that guys like Wiley haven’t always been around – it’s just that they’re crossing over into the mainstream in their droves. It’s practically an invasion.
We haven’t seen her since All Saints disappeared from the scene in 2006, but Shaznay Lewis is back with a banging* new collaboration with Wideboys.
Daddy-O isn’t just catchy. It’s one of those songs that gets lodged in your subconscious and won’t come out. In fact, Daddy-O proves Lewis should ditch the dead weight in the Appletons and the other sexy All Saint, and go it alone.
You’ve got to admire the sheer nerve of Fragma – they’ve been re-mixing and re-releasing Toca’s Miracle since the original came out in 2000. But that’s alright in my book, because it’s simply one of the best damn dance tracks ever.
The 2008 reworking is probably a much slicker effort, but the beats are a little more restrained and the vocals aren’t quite as dramatic as Coco’s original. I suppose it’s like when you’re familiar with the original version of a song, no cover version can quite match up to it.
Oooh, I’m liking this new direction from Craig David. His new single, 6 Of 1 Thing is a continuation of that pure pop style he launched a couple of months ago with Hot Stuff (Let’s Dance).
The Urban Review blog made an interesting comment about Craig, saying that he’s “been a star for quite a while but never really gained that ‘musical respect’ that some British artists have.”
We’ve been a bit hard on Kylie here at Unreality Music lately. 2 Hearts didn’t light a fire under us, and we felt she might have gone off her game a little bit.
However, her new single Wow is a bit of a return to form. It’s a classic Kylie floor filler, one of those giddy pop songs like Spinning Around which seems to center around some hot-bloke-inspired delirium.
Work is the single where Kelly Rowland finally steps out from the shadow of Beyonce Knowles‘ formidable ass and stands on her own. Well, almost. The BBC Chartblog has taken the time to compare the original version versus the Freemasons’ remix.
Needless to say, the the Freemasons version of Work is far superior. But where other people are hearing an ethnic-influenced riff, I can only hear a variation on the Knight Rider theme. That’s not a bad thing, just an observation – the Knight Rider theme has been used successfully in pop music before.
Rihanna returns with new single Don’t Stop The Music, borrowing a line or two from Michael Jackson’s Wanna Be Startin Somethin along the way.
If this single proves anything it’s how diverse Rihanna can be with her releases. Sure, she’s firmly grounded in pop, but she can handle the low-key hip-hop of Umbrella, flip to classic balladry like Unfaithful through rock like Shut Up And Drive and then to a thumping club track such as Don’t Stop The Music.
You all know I’m a big Rihanna fan anyway. This isn’t my favourite track, coming in a little monotonous for my tastes. All the same, it’s one of those tracks that has a great foundation for endless club remixes.
No video to share today, because although Universal Music Group are clever enough to put the video on YouTube for free, they’re too damned primitive to allow us to put it on our site. Grrr.
Don’t Stop The Music made our list of the Top 5 Rihanna Singles. Check it out and tell us if you agree.
How best to describe Booty Luv? They’re a disco-pop juggernaut, I suppose. I’ve lapped up everything they’ve released to date, and I might – wait for it – throw down some dough and buy the album. (Yes, you’d think they’d send it to me for free. They might after this review!)
Some Kinda Rush is… wow. Just awesome. And guess what, it’s their own work. While they’ve worked their magic on covers up until now, Some Kinda Rush is ORIGINAL MATERIAL. And it may just be the best thing Cherise and Nadia have released to date.
