10. Gold Panda – Marriage (Star Slinger Remix)
Taking the most incredible moment of Gold Panda’s 2010 album and somehow making it twice as amazing. Absolute genius.
9. Visions of Trees – Sometimes It Kills
Oh, this really should have been here last year, and a bit higher up. But it got a video and a re-release in January, so 2011 gets the pleasure of its company. Epic, heartbreaking beauty.
8. Little Dragon – Ritual Union
More of the same excellent stuff from Little Dragon in 2011. More people noticed than before, but they have been this good for a while now. (I think I prefer Machine Dreams to their latest album.) You can’t argue with this track though. Although it’s essentially tasteful pop-electronica, there’s an undeniable magic that lifts it high above its notional genre.
7. SBTRKT (ft. Roses Gabor) – Pharaohs
More on the theme of tasteful electronica… it’s all a bit dinner party music for aging hipsters, right? Once you put that image out of mind it’s surprisingly easy to enjoy SBTRKT, though. Especially this one, featuring Roses Gabor’s incredibly lush vocals. And you could actually dance to this one, unlike most of the rest of the record.
6. Nite Jewel – It Goes Through Your Head
…and if you liked the last couple, but prefer a bit more melody and emotion (and the occasional OTT guitar solo) mixed in, you’ll love this.
5. Air France – It Feels Good To Be Around You
Air France still haven’t released an album. Hopefully 2012 might see one, but I wouldn’t hold out much hope (they’ve been releasing amazing EPs and one-off tracks since 2006). Anyway, as usual their minor obsession with Saint Etienne shines though, which is partly why I have a minor obsession with them. More of this please.
4. Niki & the Dove – The Drummer
Two consistently brilliant EPs in 2011 (this one and The Fox) to add to my favourite release of last year leaves me looking forward to this debut album more than I can ever remember looking forward to an album. And I finally saw them live in 2011 and can confirm they are amazing (unsurprisingly). I hope their recent wider recognition leads them to great success in 2012 – much as I’d love to have kept them as my little secret, they need to be heard by a much wider audience.
3. Gang Gang Dance – Chinese High
Eye Contact was definitely by album of the year for 2011. Constantly stunning, backing up GGD’s existing knack for crafting spectacular soundscapes with a newfound ability to create punchy, infectious melodies. Honestly near-impossible to pick a favourite, but the pretty descending bass riffs that run through this edged it ahead. (Otherwise we may have had an 11-minute track here, which would have been a bit too much of a departure for me…)
2. Joe Goddard (ft. Valentina) – Gabriel
I guess it was pretty predictable that I’d have this there or thereabouts. Pretty definitively the sound of 2011 for me. That Goddard chap is a bit of a genius, and (as we’ve already seen up at #16) I rather like Valentina’s vocalizings. This pretty much has it all in terms of infectious melodies, beats you want to dance to, and actual emotion. A modern classic.
1. Rihanna (ft. Calvin Harris) – We Found Love
Sometimes an amazing pop song is just an amazing pop song. I have a tendency to ignore some of the bigger tunes of the year in my lists as, decent as they often are, they tend to become background noise and a little over-played and over-discussed. I’m genuinely not sure if it’s possible to overplay this song. The video is fantastic – you can deride it as controversy-courting or cynical or whatever, but it’s one hell of a performance if you ask me. And beyond all that, the song itself feels kind of dizzying in the way it uses simplicity to achieve real meaning (“we found love in a hopeless place” still sounds brilliantly jarring as the main hook to a world-dominating pop record). It feels special despite its mass appeal, and is infinitely re-listenable. Best pop song since Bad Romance. (and I almost forgot this excellent Star Slinger remix
2011 done. Now, what’s new?
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]]>Spotify playlist so far is here
30. Labrinth (ft. Tinie Tempah) – Earthquake [*]
I think the synth riff which runs through this song became ingrained in my consciousness for a few months earlier in the year. Kind of infectious, this.
29. Those Dancing Days – I’ll Be Yours
Such a shame we lost these guys this year. At least they went out with a really lovely album. Adorable video too, particular the segments from last year’s Bowlie ATP.
28. Patrick Wolf – The City
Patrick back to doing amazing pop music, complete with beach frolicking video and sax solos. There’s also a good Richard X mix of this.
27. Win Win (ft. Lizzie Bougatsos) – Releaserpm (Nadastrom Mix)
Eh, it’s a moombahton thing that has Lizzie from Gang Gang Dance on it. What’s not to love?
26. Jennifer Lopez (ft. Lil Wayne) – I’m Into You
Yeah, so On The Floor was the big one and everyone was inexplicably obsessed with it. This is far better. Amazing chorus.
25. Slow Club – Two Cousins
Even if the second album was (for me) a bit underwhelming, this alone was a massive leap forward for Slow Club. A really quite addictive one-note piano riff conceals a lot more going on below the surface. Is very lovely.
24. Cher Lloyd (ft. Mike Posner) – With Ur Love [*]
Possibly the best, punchiest pop album of the year. Hard to pick a highlight but this remains pretty addictive and has a great video.
23. Firefox AK – Boom Boom Boom [*]
Few better choruses than this in 2011. Swedish electro-pop perfection.
22. Johan Agebjörn (ft. Lake Heartbeat & Le Prix) – Watch The World Go By
Staying in Sweden, and with electro-pop, here’s a highlight from Johan Agebjörn’s guest-studded (and excellent) Casablanca Nights album. There are also excellent tracks on there from Sally Shapiro and (especially) Queen of Hearts, but I think this dreamy, summery beauty edges it.
21. Zambri – Heather
I’ve long had a soft spot for New York sisters Zambri. Their 2009 EP Bang For Changes was solid gold, and they also won favour with me by covering one of my favourite songs. This year’s wonderfully-titled Glossolalia EP saw them took a turn for the weirder, but this standout track showed they still had that magic.
20. Nicola Roberts – Lucky Day
I think 2011 was the year I finally realised that most things in pop that I love are doomed to be massive failures. Oh well. It’s the mainstream’s loss that they are no longer interested in wonderfully exuberant, fun and catchy pop music like this. My only challenge was picking a favourite from an embarrassment of riches.
19. Metronomy – Everything Goes My Way
My opinion of Metronomy prior to 2011 was a bit blah – decent live shows and the odd good tracks. And then they went and made The English Riviera, which is bloody brilliant. Every track is a winner, but this sparsely elegant beauty featuring Roxanne from Veronica Falls stood out.
18. Chrome Sparks (ft. Steffaloo) – All There Is
This is a thing of great beauty which I’m not sure too many people will have heard. Please give it a listen. Music box prettiness with added cut-up samples from a 20-year old kid called Jeremy.
17. Neon Indian – Hex Girlfriend
I really liked Neon Indian’s shift towards a more widescreen sound on second album Era Extraña. OK, perhaps he lost a bit of individuality in the process, but when you’re confronted by the infectious battering ram verses and swirling fairground choruses here, it’s hard to care too much.
16. Valentina – Heart of Glass
Magical and beautiful piano-led ballad. I listen to this sort of thing sometimes, too. But only when it’s this incredible. Bright future ahead for this one I suspect.
15. M83 – Midnight City
I probably don’t have anything to add on this, since it’s on every other list this year. That’s for good reason though. Pretty addictive, right?
14. Icona Pop – Manners
SO it’s another slightly leftfield electronic pop song by attractive Scandinavians. Big shock, right? Yes. Awesome, in any case.
13. Cookies – Summer Jam
I don’t know much about this song except that it’s by some people from New York and is bloody great. If it’s not twee enough for you already, here is a small child singing it. Thanks YouTube.
12. Mates of State – Sway
Ah, lovely Mates of Statesies. Slighty oddball video (if ultimately quite likeable) but the song is them doing wistful and happy and sad and fun all at the same time like nobody else can.
11. Sophie Ellis-Bextor – Synchronised
Another year, another criminally ignored Sophie record. Within that, a beautiful mid-paced track with some actually lovely lyrics. Give it a shot even if you’re normally not interested – it’s a bit different to her usual output. Would make a really good single, if you ask me, but I guess that’s not going to happen. SHAME.
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50. Class Actress – Keep You
It was great to see a debut album from Elizabeth Harper’s sultry electro-pop outfit Class Actress this year. Rapprocher largely delivered more of the same as 2009′s Journal of Ardency EP, though some of the more subtle guitar-flecked tracks were sacrificed in favour of a more unified electro aesthetic. On the downside, that meant it tended towards being a little samey. This sparkly lead track stood out, though.
49. Monarchy – You Don’t Want To Dance With Me (Moonlight Matters Remix)
Another act I’d been looking forward to a debut album from was Monarchy. To be honest, I was a little underwhelmed by what we got in the end. Nevermind though, this remix by Belgian electro-disco chap Moonlight Matters (of Villa) gives the original a proper boot up the backside. The correct response to the titular declaration is “yes, I do, actually.”
48. Holy Ghost! – Jam For Jerry
DFA’s Holy Ghost! were a very long time coming. Their buzz single, ‘Hold On’, came out way back in ’07. This year finally saw them do some actual stuff, including release an album of poppy (unusually so for DFA) electro gems. This actually rather sad tale about a dead friend is deceptively catchy. Especially when you’re drunk at 4am on the 4th day of a festival watching them play it. Good times.
47. Kito & Reija Lee – Broken Hearts (Dillon Francis Remix)
First of a few tracks from Dave Nada (of Nadastrom)’s Blow Your Head Vol. 2 Moombahton compilation. Inevitably I have sided with the tracks that spruce up indie-ish electropop tracks, rather than the more authentic originals. However, this is catchy AS and what else do you want? Kito & Reija Lee did some decent stuff on their own too, but none of their own tracks had a massive moombahton breakdown in the middle of them, so this wins.
46. Calvin Harris ft. Kelis – Bounce [*]
I’m not just displaying my obvious bias when I say Calvin Harris had a pretty damn fantastic 2011. A quirk of “who ft. who” means I get to include this, as well as another Calvin track further down the list. And that’s a very good thing. Don’t think there has been a catchier hook this year, and Kelis is in fine voice. The video, if you actually pay attention to it (unlike me for the first 500 views or so) is actually pretty great too.
45. Hooray For Earth – True Loves
I’ve featured NYC band Hooray For Earth in an end of year list before, but this is pretty different from the relatively cheery “Surrounded By Your Friends” from a few years ago. This is the title track of their/his debut album proper, which came out this year. I can’t really describe what this is musically, as it’s a little outside my normal comfort zone. It’s a bit brutal, but underneath all the bluster there’s a subtle and addictive melody that I find pretty difficult to resist.
44. Rachel Goodrich – Light Bulb (ANR Remix)
The original of this is a bit overkill-quirk. Kazoos and other pretty grating larking around from Miami resident Rachel. However, this year fellow locals and buzz band ANR worked a bit of magic and picked out the melody and set it against some head in the clouds-y synthpop. And then somehow it ended up on a BT advert. Still amazing, though.
43. Florrie – I Took a Little Something
I’ve kind of gone a bit full circle on the Xenomania-affiliated singer-songwriter SLASH drummer SLASH model Florrie. I loved her early releases, which tended to have something or other to do with Fred Falke and therefore be awesome. Then her couple of EPs kind of washed over me – a bit too much gloss to take in. However, when they pushed out this track from the Experiments EP as a single I finally woke up. This is AMAZING. Dizzying, exuberant pop of the finest kind.
42. L-Vis 1990 (ft. Samantha Lim) – Tonight
Loved this year’s debut Neon Dreams from London-based producer James Connolly (Night Slugs). Subtle, and lacking in HUGE standouts, but this one is representatively lush.
41. Yelle – Que Veux-Tu (Madeon Mix)
I was already a big fan of French hipster-pop artiste Yelle’s comeback this year. The original of Que Veux-Tu features as part of one of my music video epics of the year. But it’s with this refit from mashup DJ wunderkind Madeon that it really hits the stratosphere.
40. Young Galaxy – Peripheral Visionaries
Lovely, lovely stuff. Delicate guitars and a driving beat, very much lo-fi Fleetwood Mac. Great song title. The video (which kind of calls to mind Radiohead’s Paranoid Android in some non-specific way, for me) – is interesting in and of itself, but feels a bit incongruous with the beauty of the record.
39. Lissi Dancefloor Disaster – Glowing Hearts
Another slightly odd video, but at least there’s some lyrical relevance (if you look hard enough). On to the music – when I first heard Lissi Dancefloor Disaster’s stuff (tracks like Oh My God from a few years ago) I thought it was a bit of a bloody racket, if I’m honest. This, on the other hand, is Knife-pop at its heartfelt, melodious best.
38. Dominique Young Unique – Gangster Whips
Energetic and infectious stuff from a precocious young talent who’s shared stages with the likes of Big Boi and Gucci Mane. Resist this.
37. Lia Ices – Love Is Won
One of about 2 tracks on here that hopefully prove I actually have a heart and don’t just listen to brash/shiny/dancey nonsense. Downbeat but wonderfully pretty folky stuff from a Brooklynite who is named after an ice cream. Like with a rich ice cream though, one scoop’s enough for me – an album of this proved a step too far.
36. Alex Metric & Steve Angello – Open Your Eyes (Original Instrumental)
Epic. Banging. Tune. Then they put Ian Brown on it and ruined it all (though on the plus side, it did have a pretty cool Serafinowicz-fights-robot video).
35. Cut Copy – Need You Now
Cut Copy’s third album Zonoscope was a bit of a slow-building beast of an album. Lacking the punchy immediacy of its predecessors, it yielded its rewards only after multiple listens. This lead single was a definite highlight, particularly at the live shows.
34. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Maniac
So… it turns out I still love a good bit of rollicking indie-rock from time to time. And always nice to see a band properly return to form. He still sounds a bit like a spaced-out David Byrne though.
33. Lovelle ft. Lady Chann – Uh Oh
Insanely catchy debut single from 20-year-old Lovelle, which manages to sound authentically London (via a fierce appearance from bashment star Lady Chann) and very radio-friendly at the same time. Would like to hear more from her.
32. Asobi Seksu – Perfectly Crystal
Perfectly Crystal indeed. It’s taken until their fifth (I think?) album Fluorescence for me to properly get into NYC/Japanese dream pop band Asobi Seksu. This track is a pefect example of why I chose now – the waves of layered MBV-esque effect-laden guitars are still there, but the vocals and the melodies have been turned up to POP. And I like that.
31. Nadia Oh – Taking Over The Dancefloor (Kate Middleton)
Novelty record? Maybe. “Fake”? YES INDEED – the absolute definition of it. All knowing, winking, nudging artifice. No depth, no meaning. And most of all, fantastically inauthentic. Nadia Oh was the perfect antidote to the tedious, soul-crushing quest for the meaninglessly meaningful and arse-strainingly “authentic” that seemed to dominate 2011. And for this you have to salute her. More amazing Nadia videos under those words I just wrote. Hard to pick a winner, but this zeigesty Middleton/Moombahton/Anythington referencing gem did it. The real version is 6 minutes long, in case these tease-tastic videos don’t quite do it for you.
And that is that. I got so enthused by Nadia Oh while writing this that I contemplated scrapping the rest of it and making her number 1. I need to go and calm down now.
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]]>Well, largely it didn’t go into me updating this blog. This was partly a time issue, and partly because I felt I’d lost my neutrality somewhat, since I now have a day job at a record label (that’s a DECLARATION, in case you missed it).
However, I am still addicted to year-end lists. Once again I found restricting myself to 50 impossible. Getting it below 100 was a massive struggle, but I managed to settle on 75, like last year. None of the (asterisked) choices in which my employer has an interest were chosen for that reason (though hearing some of them 15 times a day probably helped influence me at least a little).
My rule every year on this list is one track per lead artist. This means that someone can show up multiple times as a guest artist, but only once in their own right. Clear? Good.
So without further ado, here’s numbers 75-51…
75. Hard Mix – Now Her
Woozily disorienting synthy/dreamy stuff from South Carolina producer Noah Smith. Behind all the cut-up and flipped-around vocals though, there’s some lovely piano melodies and a decent beat to boot.
74. Marina & the Diamonds – Radioactive
I’m not really sure what was going on with Marina in 2011. Lots of high concept/low interest stuff about characters and personas and all of that. In the middle of it all though, a thoroughly contemporary slice of dancefloor pop music that probably deserved more credit than it got.
73. The Streets – Roof of Your Car
Mike Skinner’s swansong as The Streets wasn’t exactly the ‘back to the start’ return to form promised, but it definitely had its moments. This bouncy, slightly off-kilter track came closest to recapturing old glories – wide-eyed cut-up ravey vocals, tricksy and funny lyrics, and just a straightforward good tune.
72. LCMDF – Future Me
Quirky, catchy, in fact downright infectious electropop from Finnish beauties LCMDF (or Le Corps Mince de Francoise, for those with a longer attention span). It’s joy-filled stuff, but kind of resolutely uncool (in a way that for me pushes it right back into cool again) and possiby a little testing for those who aren’t so into ‘quirk’.
71. Jessica 6 – White Horse
Hercules & Love Affair co-conspirator Nomi Ruiz’s Jessica 6 project didn’t quite fulfil the promise of this single in 2011. However, what promise. Sultry, inviting nu-disco – like Hercules, unsurprisingly, but with more warmth and heart. Damn sexy video too.
70. Memory Tapes – Today is our Life
2011 seemed like a year of lots of acts making second albums that were determined efforts to prevent themselves being pigeonholed in some awful rut of a genre (chillwave?). Dayve Hawk’s Player Piano embraced psychadelic pop, huge, syrupy tunes and credibility-testing falsetto vocals. This was the highlight – three minutes of swirling fairground fun that takes a sharp turn towards beautiful, hypnotic melodrama around the 3.45 mark.
69. Foster the People – Helena Beat (*)
Pumped Up Kicks? So 2010. This follow-up is gloriously preposterous, overblown and everything else you could ask from this genre of pop. Hard to tire of, as evinced by it being pretty much my most-played track of 2011 according to last.fm (I think that was largely accrued in Jan/Feb, hence the slightly lower placing than you’d expect). Also any video with post-apocalyptic feral kids gets my vote (even if this one’s not quite in the same league as for e.g. Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Y Control).
68. Casey Spooner (ft. Jake Shears) – Spanish Teenager (Acid Washed Remix)
A rather lovely remix of an originally quite overblown track from the Fisherspooner man’s 2010 solo effort Adult Contemporary. This achieves quite a feat in making it a more upbeat and more dreamy at the same time. Ticks many boxes.
67. Lady Gaga – The Edge of Glory
It feels rather sad including Lady Gaga so low down this list. I sort of feel like I shouldn’t have bothered. The trouble is not that I disliked her 2011 work – far from it, Born This Way is easily a top 10 album of the year for me. More that there was a surfeit of really good stuff on the album, but no one standout track for me. This Springsteen-esque and massive-sounding single was just about the highlight for me, despite the slightly ropey video.
66. Cocknbullkid – The Hoarder
The return of Anita Blay with her first full-length Adulthood was an underrated joy of 2011. The singles were good, but the album littered with greater gems, like this little ditty, which to my mind sounds a bit like Saint Etienne circa-Finisterre (certainly no bad thing).
65. Tove Styrke – Call My Name (*)
It took me a while to get on board with Swedish pop starlet Tove Styrke. I’m now 100% there though, thanks to this not entirely un-Robynesque 80s-synth-decked stomper.
64. Ladytron – White Elephant
Hmm…. 2011 Ladytron. The released their 10-year best of, which should have been a thing of glory, but was in fact a bit of a sprawling, odd mess (apt, perhaps, but hardly likely to win over new converts). Then the strangely subdued new album… but hey, it’s all worth just for a song like this. Restrained emotion bursting out beneath studied, measured precision – Ladytron doing what they do best.
63. Pixie Lott – All About Tonight
No, I didn’t expect to be including a Pixie Lott single in this list either. Hard to ignore this though – trashy pop perfection. The soundtrack to a million sweaty Bacardi Breezer-flavoured snogs, I would wager.
62. Toddla T ft. Shola Ama – Take It Back
Feelgood old-school dance vibes as hammered by Annie Mac. Should have been a HIT. Was not a hit. Disappointing.
61. Will Young – Jealousy (*)
Perfect, moving, and strikingly modern comeback from national treasure Mr. William Young. Produced by Richard X and co-written by members of the hugely underrated Kish Mauve, I was never not going to love this.
60. Leona Lewis / Avicii – Collide (*)
Can we ignore all of the faffing around over who wrote what and whose name appears where, and just enjoy the peerlessly infectious tune, and the best use of Leona’s huge voice yet? Good, thanks.
59. Britney Spears – How I Roll (*)
I think Femme Fatale is my second favourite Britney album (after Blackout, obviously). This Bloodshy & Avant track (they wrote Toxic and are Miike Snow) is so absolutely, wonderfully ridiculous that it has to be the highlight.
58. Jay Z & Kanye West (ft. La Roux, etc.) – That’s My B*tch
Another genuinely great album (top 5, I reckon), Watch The Throne also didn’t quite have a standout track for me. TOO MANY GOOD SONGS. I enjoyed the deployment of La Roux on this one, though.
57. Katy B – Broken Record (*)
Lots to choose from in terms of singles from Katy’s debut too. None quite matched up to to the peerless Katy On A Mission, but all were great in their own ways. Broken Record edges the others, just.
56. Charli XCX – Stay Away
Massive tune. I am surprised that Charli XCX is not in more of those ‘sound of 2012′ type lists. Maybe she’ll be like Niki & the Dove (and various others) and pop up a year later than you expect. Sound of 2013, perhaps? Anyway. 18 years old. Makes dark synthy pop. Deserves to be huge.
55. Eleanor Friedberger – My Mistakes
Disclosure: am a bit obsessed with Eleanor Friedberger. Over and beyond how amazing the Fiery Furnaces are, she’s just rather captivating, OK? In 2011 she got to take a little break from all the backwards vocals, awkward song structures, and guesting grannies (all of which are amazing by the way) and just showcase her lovely, lovely voice. OK, so it still sounds a bit like the Fiery Furnaces, but frankly I’d be disappointed if it didn’t. Another bonus: an actual proper video (rarely seen in FF-land).
54. Body Language – Falling Out (Golden Touch Remix)
This is just lovely, summery, cheery music. I don’t feel the need to write anything else here. Give it a spin.
53. Sophia Somajo (ft. Howlin’ Pelle) – Wristcutters Inc.
This appeared very early on in the year. I then spent most of the year waiting for something else to happen (a video? an album? anything?). Apparently she is trying again in the near future, and being rebranded as ‘Soso’. So-so? Hmm. Anyway, this is a beast of a song, catchy singalong arm-waving nonsense that somehow survives its lyrical theme being about “twisted wristcutters” (ahem) and being a 2011 song featuring Howlin’ Pelle – yes, him off of THE HIVES.
52. TEETH – Flowers
London noisemakers TEETH impressed with their debut single See Spaces in 2010 – and this is nearly as good. I’d like it if they stuck to making fantastic futuro-rave anthems like these two, rather than making detours into shouting and general noise. But they seem to like being contrary, so I doubt we’ll see much of a change anytime soon. This is amazing regardless, so I’ll stop moaning now.
51. Neon Hitch – Get Over U
Neon Hitch (REAL NAME, fact fans) has been faffing around for a bit too long if you ask me. Since first popping up in about 2008 you might have heard her doing a quirky cover of a hip hop track or 500 (I remember her doing Drop It Like Its Hot about a million years ago, and she’s spent half of this year fiddling with Kreayshawn, Wiz Khalifa and who know who else). She’s also showed up on tracks by the likes of Ke$ha and 3OH!3. Thankfully she managed to find time to release a couple of actual pop songs of her own in 2011. This one, released way back in January, is the best – probably because it was co-written with Sia, who is amazing.
And that’s your lot for now.
(Spotify playlist of tracks so far revealed is here.)
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]]>Anyway, just for the records, here’s a selection of some of my favourite videos from in and around May 2011.
Posting on here will still be relatively infrequent for the next few weeks at least, so why don’t you sign up to my Best of 2011 Spotify playlist, which I update much more regularly.
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1. JUSTICE Civilization
2. LADY GAGA Judas
3. CREEP FT. NINA SKY You
4. JOHAN AGEBJORN FT. QUEEN OF HEARTS The Last Day of Summer
5. ALEX WINSTON Sister Wife
6. AUSTRA Lose It
7. DIGITALISM 2 Hearts
8. PATRICK WOLF House
9. GRIMES Crystal Ball
10. KOUDLAM Sunny Day
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Canadian electro trio Kidstreet’s rather irritatingly titled X has been doing the rounds for quite some time now, but I’ve only just caught on to its video. It contains a lot of hipsters partying. The song itself is actually quite incongrously naive-sounding, though. There’s a repeated refrain of “I want you so bad it’s wrong”, but the whole thing’s just kind of jolly-sounding and innocent. Still – lots of fun, whistles and danceable bibbling. Lovely drop out and build up around from around the 2:30 mark, too.
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]]>Sometimes I skip over these big event videos – I’m rarely quick enough on the draw to have a post up before there are 5000 others doing the same. But hey, what is this thing for if not for rambling on about amazing pop videos?
Admittedly, this isn’t Gaga’s finest hour – either musically or video…ically. But it’s still more exciting than about 99% of things out there. Taking the song first – I love the trashiness of it all, designed for tinny iPod speakers and making that a virtue rather than a hindrance. I love that it sounds like it was tossed off in a few minutes – casual almost-brilliance. It may be a second rate Bad Romance, but a second rate Bad Romance is better than pretty much anything else. And even if you hate the rest of it, three words: I CLING TO.
The video spends most of its time suffering from that thing… where there’s too much going on and the colours are all too similar… that afflicts a lot of big pop productions these days. The amazing costumes and make up shine through as ever, but it is all very BACKGROUND. Again, there’s a big exception, being the entire section with the lipstick gun. Which is ace.
ANYWAY. As you were.
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]]>This is easily the loveliest thing I’ve heard in a long time.
Italian-born/London-based Valentina Pappalardo is a folk-indebted songwriter with a little more to her than that first suggests. This is simple, but devastatingly powerful piano ballad of the kind you don’t get enough of these days. Wonderful voice too – cutting, powerful yet fragile. Gorgeous.
The video above is just a little teaser thing, but you can listen to the majestic sweep of the full track below. It’s from her debut release, the Weights EP, out now.
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We’re already been introduced to Domino’s Toronto-based electronic pop three-piece Austra, through the 6-minute dark epic Beat and the Pulse (and its rather racy vid).
Next up is the relatively more upbeat Lose It. The video is slightly less gothy lingerie ad this time, and a little more colourful and personal. That’s not to say it’s not still pretty bloody weird though. Amidst all the enigmatic symbolism and operatic cooing though, this is quite pretty.
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]]>It’s a hipster Kanye cover! Luckily though both Hooray For Earth and Zambri (especially Zambri) are awesome, and this is therefore very enjoyable. HFE frontman Noel ducks the need to actually rap by disguising his voice with an ocean’s worth of reverb. Got to love those Zambri girls though. Fundamentally, this just looks like a lot of fun, doesn’t it?
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INSTANT HITS: BEST OF APRIL 2011
(00:40:48)
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1. Nadia Oh – Taking Over The Dancefloor (Kate Middleton) (01:28)
2. Kito & Reija Lee – On The Jam (03:10)
3. Alex Metric & Steve Angello – Open Your Eyes ft. Ian Brown (03:28)
4. MNDR – Cut Me Out (03:15)
5. Niki & The Dove – The Fox (Audio Only) (04:20)
6. Lykke Li – Sadness is a Blessing (06:41)
7. Big Boi feat. Janelle Monae – Be Still (04:37)
8. ANR – Big Problem (05:05)
9. Monarchy – I Won’t Let Go (03:55)
10. Gold Panda – Marriage (Star Slinger Remix) (04:42)
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OK… So I’ve had a little bit of a quiet month on here. Fully intending on getting things back up and running at full steam in May, but in the meantime here’s a little collection of some of the better new things that appeared in April. Enjoy!
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]]>One half of my favourite bands The Fiery Furnaces, Eleanor Friedberger has one of those voices I would gladly listen to reading the telephone directory. This is the first teaser from her upcoming debut solo record, which is out soon, along with about 9 albums (yes, really) by co-conspirator and brother Matthew, and (we’re promised) eventually another Fiery Furnaces record.
Unsurprisingly less complex and prones to flights of fancy than Matthew’s work, it’s a much more straightforward breezy summery strum of a track. The twists and turns that characterize some of the Fiery Furnaces best stuff aren’t really there, but it’s still pretty irresistible. One for sunny afternoons.
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]]>An amazing trip into the world of the potential of 3D video, trust me. Especially if you love rotating black tubes in front of band logos. I don’t actually have any 3D glasses, so perhaps I’m missing out on some amazing secret 3D action. Perhaps.
Thankfully the song itself is much more worthy of attention. Lovely Scandiavian female-fronted synthpop. Much more upbeat and poptastic than their (admittedly lovely) previous release My Slow World. Very promising.
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Two more ridiculous teaser videos from the supremely tacky (but also amazing) Nadia Oh.
In the spirit of her Kate Middleton teaser, they both feature Nadia against a green-screened background, and excellent Macarena-style subtitled lyrics. It’s all wonderfully tongue-in-cheek stuff, undeniably outrageously daft, but actually paired with some pretty catchy tunes, notably Jump Out The Window (above), which also features a quite entertaining “in-depth interview”.
Amsterdam (below) is less exciting, but nonetheless worth a look:
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The video above is a cute, but ultimately a bit too silly slice of folksy twee from Rachel Goodrich, released about a year ago. While there’s a catchy tune in there, it is all a little bit grating.
What was really needed was a fresh, sexy remix, that kept the infectious melody intact, but brushed aside all the frolicking kazoo shenanigans. Hotly-tipped Miami twosome ANR have obliged, and it’s a now a thing of real beauty, with the silliness replaced with sunny, summery beats and occasional washes of house-y piano. Lovely.
Rachel Goodrich – Light Bulb (ANR Remix) by 10Kislands
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]]>God, I love Niki & the Dove so much!
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Just catching up on this one from last week. Synth-pop duo Monarchy’s latest video features weird experiments, raining cupcakes, and kissing ladies (essentially). It’s pretty good.
Still not 100% sold on the song, mind. It builds nicely, but sort of lacks hooks. Still, worth a click.
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Pretty, synthy instrumental action from Canada Canada’s Germany Germany. The video is moody and smoking-centric, and the track is almost post-rocky in its structure, building from merely distracting to utterly compelling by the climax. All good. More good Germany Germany below:
Reflections by Germany Germany
Toro Y Moi – Still Sound (Germany Germany remix) by Germany Germany
Take Your Time by Germany Germany
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]]>Despite a slight concern that nothing Niki & the Dove do will ever really live up to the absolute perfection of last year’s DJ Ease My Mind and Under The Bridges, I feel compelled to post every new song that crops up. But really the key question in my mind right now is: Mylo? That Mylo? Where’s he been hiding then?
Anyway this goes on a bit (sort of a 12″ disco remix type thing) but it’s pretty good whenever Malin Dahlström’s voice is on it.
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]]>Bit busy at the moment, so here’s another quickie.
Sexy, twitchy almost-pop dubstep from the rather wonderful Kito & Reija Lee. It’s from the Sweet Talk EP, out now on Mad Decent.