Here's a new track from those cheeky New York rascals Vampire Weekend - who picked up a Q Award for best video earlier today.

It's called Ottoman, and it features on the soundtrack to forthcoming Michael Cera film Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. The song has been tucked away in the Vamps' live repertoire for quite a while - and in fact predates a lot of the material on their eponymous debut album.

You will also be "interested" to find out that it is the original source of Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa's brilliant / inexplicable lyric, "Feels so unnatural, Peter Gabriel too". Here it is:




And, in case you haven't seen it already, here is that afroementioned best video of the year - directed by the Hammer & Tongs team, who did the animated milk carton for Blur's Coffee and TV, and the not-quite-as-good-as-it-should-have-been Hitch-Hikers' Guide film.

Vampire Weekend - A Punk

Labels: MP3, Music, vampire weekend, video

More SNL Tina Fey goodness - now with added Queen Latifah! And some guy!

Labels: TV

Some distractions to last you the weekend...

:: Tina Fey lampoons Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live… And while it's brilliant, it's neither as funny nor as terrifying as the real thing


:: Here's a free download of Annie's superfantastic cover of Stacey Q's Two Hearts - Click here. Annie's album, Don't Stop, is due out this week, next week, sometime or never.

:: How popular is your name? Check out this site that tracks the popularity of first names (in the US) since 1880.



:: "When you hear a rhythm that is being played by an instrument you can’t identify but wish you owned, you are hearing Timbaland". A great profile of the super-producer, courtesy of the New Yorker

:: I was recently on a plane that was struck by lightning, and I'd have felt just a little bit safer if I'd had this guide to how land a jumbo jet handy.

:: Brad Walsh has remixified Britney's Womanizer and made it available for download. It takes a song that sounds like it was written by a computer program and makes it sound like the computer has had a psychological "episode". Full marks all round, particularly for (muso alert) "breaking it down in the middle 8" .

:: 10 People From Your Past Who Will Haunt You On Facebook.

:: The video for Alicia Keys and Jack White's Bond theme misses out on the one thing that would make it tolerable - footage from Quantum Of Solace.



:: Fans of Ferris Beuller are planning to recreate the film's iconic carnival scene at New York's Hallowe'en Parade on 31st October. If you're going along, get in touch - I'd love to get your photos on the blog at the end of the month!

:: Amazon's computers have begun phase two of their plan for global domination.

[via Photobasement]

Labels: alicia keys, annie, Britney Spears, film, links, Timbaland, tina fey, white stripes

The Western world is on the verge of economic collapse, Peter Mandelson is back in the UK cabinet and the USA is about to elect an air stewardess as vice-president - but what's on the front page of London's newpapers this morning? The revelation that Catherine Zeta Jones has acne.

According to the Sun, the following shots of the movie star's "odd complexion" have "caused a major stir" and her "make-up artist might need to go into hiding". Look at the evidence:



And, in case you missed them, here are those zits "in full":



Ignoring the fact that the first picture has some of the world's most unflattering lighting (just look at that enormous shadow), is this really, really the most important news event of the last 24 hours. And, even if it is, wouldn't the more approproate headline be "Actress Zeta Jones has functioning immune system"?

As Swiss author Mme de Stael said: "The more I see of man, the more I like dogs".

And I really, really dislike dogs.

Labels: catherine zeta jones, film, gossip

This is where your uncritical revival of the 1980s will inevitably lead:



You have been warned!

Labels: Music, TV

The latest in Stephen Fry's series of excellent, but all-too-irregular podcasts has got me thinking about the content of this website.

He's having a rant about journalism - and makes the very valid point that "the problem with a daily or weekly column is that emotion is so much more easily accessed than reason" when trying to construct a narrative against a deadline.

It's a concern that's been plaguing me for a while. In the rush to publish a story (or, let's be honest, to avoid being caught writing a story at work) it's all too easy to fall into the trap of making a snap judgment about typing it up as SOLID FACT.

I've been guilty of this a couple of times recently - I slagged off Pink's So What weeks before it became lodged in my head and was upgraded from "utter shit" to "basically tolerable". On the opposite end of the scale, I waxed lyrical about Los Campesinos! before it occurred to me that shouting teenagers hitting a glockenspiel with a hammer is actually the noise they play you in hell's waiting room.

I'm not alone, of course. Music blogs are full of posts that basically declare "OMG HERE IZ TEH FIRST SONG I HEARD THIS MORNING AND IT HAS CHANGED MY LIFE". How many times have you read someone bang on about a paradigm-shifting Radiohead remix, or the totally amazing new EP by Botson cryo-funk combo TitBishop, and thought to yourself "have they even heard this bilge?"

Because, I admit, there are occasions when I get 30 seconds into a song and think "this is so good, I have to write something about it" - without noticing that the rest of the song is a turgid droning dirge.

Not that an immediate emotional response is a bad thing. Pop music should be in-your-face, upfront, instantaneous, accessible and obvious. But, at the same time, some of my favourite records have revealed themselves over many, many plays. Indeed, The Cardigans' Long Gone Before Daylight - probably one of my top 10 albums of all time - only really displayed its ethereal beauty after two years in my CD collection.

So I have resolved to try to mention more of those slow-burning masterpieces on the website, starting today with Laura Marling - the 18-year-old singer-songwriter who was nominated for a Mercury Prize earlier this year for the dark folk of her debut album Alas, I Cannot Swim.

It's usually the sort of music that'd make me run a mile - lilting acoustic ballads with added Irish fiddle - but I was given a copy back in July and it has slowly assimilated itself into my weekly "most listened to" playlist. There is something captivating about Marling's gutsy vocals - so full of youthful tenderness, yet haunted and troubled beyond their years.

Here's her latest video, Night Terror. Give it a couple of goes before you dismiss it. It's what Stephen Fry would have wanted.

Labels: discopop, laura marling, Music, stephen fry, video

...The real video for Katy Perry's Hot N' Cold has appeared

Things to watch out for:
1) Man in bridesmaid dress!
2) Blatant product placement (Diesel! Nokia!)

3) Betty Boo*
4) Camp dancing vicar!
5) A zebra! A fucking zebra!

*Not really

Katy Perry - Hot N' Cold


PS: Don't be fooled by the likeability of this song and I Kissed A Girl - Katy Perry's album is mostly awful.

PPS: Best pop fact ever: Katy Perry has a cat called Kitty Purry.

Labels: Katy Perry, Music, video

Like Natasha Bedingfield and Lily Allen before her, Katy Perry has recorded a "simlish" version of her new single for hit PC game The Sims 2.

If you ask me, the nonsense lyrics are an improvement.

Katy Perry - Hot N' Cold (simlish)


PS: I usually can't stand video game sequels, but The Sims 3 looks stunning.

Labels: Games, Katy Perry, Music, video

Nebraskan purveyors of off-kilter pop Tilly And The Wall have been given Song of the Day status over at the almighty Popjustice for their current single Beat Control.

But there are two videos doing the rounds - the official one, complete with special effects and a man wearing a watermelon necklace; and one made by a bunch of grade four children at an international school in Taiwan (seemingly led by Justin from Ugly Betty).

So which is best? Watch both and cast your vote below.


Beat Control - the official one


Beat Control - Made in a primary school

Labels: Music, tilly and the wall, video, vote

It's (provisionally) called Out Of Control !

All the info - and a hi-res version of The Promise video - can be found on the BBC. And here's the "amazing moment" when Kimberley revealed the news.

Labels: Girls Aloud, links, Music

It's strange to think that when Britney was at her lowest ebb last year, she managed to turn out the most consistent run of singles of her entire career - Gimme More, Piece of Me and Break The Ice.

Now that she's seemingly back on the mend, she's got some new material and it's... also rather good. Womanizer (you can hear it on Britney's beta website) may not have the chutzpah to announce "It's Britney, bitch" or the cheeky, self-aware lyrics of Piece Of Me, but it's a damned sexy slice of electronic chart cake.

It is the sort of cake that has two layers of melody, plus a nice filling of creamy harmonies and a strawberry jam synth line. Britney's robotic vocals suggest it might be more of a mass-produced supermarket Victoria Sponge than a home-baked Vanilla Slice, but at least it's not one of those experimental Heston Blumenthal cakes made out of gravy, or iced cats livers or what have you. [that's quite enough of the cake metaphor, thankyouverymuch - ed]

But I have a huge problem with the song, and it is this... When Britney sings the bridge:


I can't help but sing this instead:


Yes, that's right. In my head, I have confused Britney Spears and Lulu.

I think I may need a shower now.

Labels: Britney Spears, Music

Here's a quintuple dose of awesome to kick off your weekend:

1) Alesha Dixon's new single
Through the medium of mambo, Alesha is reaching out to her two, distinct audiences - (a) People who mourn the passing of Mis-Teeq (b) People who only know her because of Strictly Come Dancing.

The Boy Does Nothing is the name of the song, and I can prove to you how amazing it is in just 20 seconds:



There's more on Alesha's MySpace.

2) Ninja Cat is comin' to getcha



3) Ben Folds Five and Regina Spektor
My two favourite people who sit behind a piano and sing at the same time have sat behind two pianos and sung at the same time as each other. Result = Brilliance.

Ben Folds - You Don't Know Me (feat Regina Spektor


4) Barack Obama visits the West Wing
Aaron Sorkin takes time out from writing a movie about Facebook (the mind boggles) to imagine what advice The West Wing's Jed Bartlett would give the current Democratic Presidential Candidate.

:: Jed & Barack [New York Times] Warning: Socks will be blown off.

5) A Girls Aloud video with a budget in excess of £2.50

Girls Aloud - The Promise


Trivia: I interviewed Kimberley yesterday. She was tired, but very polite.

The End.

Labels: Alesha, ben folds, cats, Girls Aloud, MP3, Music, regina spektor, west wing

Without make-up and without Nadine (shingles, apparently) Girls Aloud have just made their third trip to Radio 1's Live Lounge, which was temporarily relocated to Jo Whiley's garage for some reason.

As ever, the format is to perform the new single (Promises: Growing on me all the time) and a cover (One Republic's Apologise: Screechy).

The girls did pretty well without their vocal lynchpin, especially as it was their first ever performance of the new song. Have a listen and let me know what you think...

:: Girls Aloud - The Promise (live lounge)
:: Girls Aloud - Apologise (live lounge)





More pictures over at the Radio One website. I covet Jo Whiley's bookcase, by the way.

Labels: Girls Aloud, live lounge, MP3, Music

Discopop Directory will be moving over to a new server on Friday, so it might disappear from the internet for an hour or two. But don't worry, I'll be back as soon as the boffins have pressed all the right switches.

See ya!
Mark

Labels: discopop

So, who was the beatboxing pop star I mentioned yesterday?

Why, it was none other than Sugababe Amelle Barberadicksonererah!



Amazing.

Labels: discopop, Music, sugababes

While I was away, a colleague sent me the lyrics to the Jack White / Alicia Keys Bond theme. I took one look and thought "fake".

Turns out I was wrong, and this terrifically incompetent bag of balls is the genuine article.


JW: Another blinger with a slick trigger finger for Her Majesty
AK: Another one with the golden tongue poisoning your fantasy
JW: Another pill from a killer turn a thriller to a tragedy
AK/JW: Yeah, a door never open, a woman walking by, a drop in the water, a look in the eye, a phone on the table, a man on your side, someone that you think that you can trust is just another way to die.

(snip...)

To fade: Just another, just another, bang bang bang bang.

To be fair, the words work a lot better in the context of the down and dirty bombast of the song - which you can buy now on iTunes. But I still prefer the two spoof themes performed by Adam and Joe of… er, Adam and Joe fame. Here's a sample of Adam Buxton's chorus:

I'd like a quantum of solace, but no more than a quantum
I know they do big bags of solace... but I don't want'em
I only want a teeny, tiny slice of solace
Before I shoot you

Much, much better, I'm sure you'll agree.

Adam Buxton - Quantum of Solace


Joe Cornish - Quantum of Solace


Perhaps we could collect together all these themes, and the ditched Amy Winehouse one, and put on a show, Kids of Fame-style, right here, right now.

I'll call Bruno. Can you text LeRoy?

Labels: alicia keys, bond, film, Music, Radio, white stripes

The Killers have made an amazing career out of one (admittedly brilliant) trick - sounding a bit like New Order and Joy Division at exactly the same time!

Many thought their last album, Sam's Town, was a bit on the ponderous side. It aimed for the epic sweep of Bruce Springsteen's middle America anthems, but it was suffocated by its own ambition, wrapped in a woolly blanket of pretension and drowned in a black lagoon of muddy synths.

So for third album, Day and Night, the band sought out the talents of Stuart Price (whose nimble fingers once tweaked Madonna's knobs) and flicked the big red switch marked "pop".

Sadly, it hasn't worked. The record's first single, Human - which premiered on Zane Lowe's show on Monday - is a yawnsome retread of their earlier efforts.

It starts with that same, tired fuzzy synth sound, and a lyric that wants to be profoundly mystical but actually sounds like the daft ramblings of an agoraphobic nutjob ("sometimes I get nervous when I see an open door").

Things pick up when the chorus kicks in - with a thumping drum beat that suggests an awesome club remix is on the cards - but the melody is a bit of a dirge. Perhaps inadvertently, Brandon identifies the band's biggest problem - a desire to be important that outweighs their pop instinct. "Are we human, or are we dancers?" he wails.

Why can't we be both, Mr Flowers? Why can't we be both.

:: The Killers - Human (mp3)

Labels: killers, MP3, Music

Which very successful UK pop star is using her lips and mouth to imitate the sounds of a drum machine in this clip????!



All will be revealed tomorrow...

At Sunday night's Emmys, Josh Groban sang a medley of 26 TV theme tunes in four minutes.

It is the most mesmerisingly shit piece of television in all of the history of everything ever.

Labels: TV

Hello! I am now back from the beautiful French Riveria and ready to start bringing you more top tier writing about music and that.

But, first things first, here's that Girls Aloud single that premiered while I was away (why didn't they check with me first???)

It's called The Promise and, in Nadine's words, it is "mouuure on the sexties kinda feel-good vibe that's happenin' neow wi' muuuuusic, but it's still Girls Aleeouwd."

Translastion: It's a bit like I Can't Speak French but with Mark Ronson horns in it. I kind of like it. Kind of.

The song is undeniably catchy, and it's interesting to hear them lead off a new album with what counts for a ballad in Girls Aloud world. But with weaker vocal performances it could be a Kylie track.

But, given that the band's "comeback" singles always underwhelm (Long Hot Summer, The Show, etc) I've still got my fingers crossed for a storming second single at Christmas (Biology, Love Machine, No Good Advice, Call The Shots).

Lots more to catch up on - including Jack Black and Alicia Key's Bond theme - so keep coming back!

:: Nadine interview (mp3)
:: Girls Aloud - The Promise (mp3)

PS - I must give a huge, gargantuan, planet-sized thank you to Lisa, who sent me an mp3 of the song while I was away from the British airwaves. She is marvellous, and no mistake.

Labels: Girls Aloud, MP3, Music