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

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

Eeeek! The Tingerators are releasing a single in which Katie doesn't SHOUT EVERY WORD LIKE THAT FRIGHTENING MAN OUTSIDE THE COMMUNITY CENTRE.

Will it see the band's popularity drop off amongst the deaf community? Or will people say "oooh, this sounds a bit like the mildly successful mid-90s jangly indie sounds of The Sundays" and rush out in their droves to buy it from wherever it is that actually stocks singles these days?

Only time will tell.

Ting Tings - Be The One


PS Sorry about the shiteous adverts before the song, but something called Handbag.com has an "exclusive". It'll be on YouTube by midnight, mind you.

Labels: Music, ting tings, video

Janet kicked off her North American tour in Vancouver, Canada last night and the set list looks stunning. Thirty-seven (!) tracks, with just about every hit you could hope for - from Pleasure Principle through That's The Way Love Goes to Feedback.

There were a couple of curveballs, too. A three-song medley of songs from the pre-Control era (when she was rubbish) and the inclusion of the godawful Call On Me. What was she thinking?

Here's a fan video of the opening minutes of the concert. I particularly like how they almost drop the camera in fright when the pyrotechnics go off.



That setlist in full:

Intro
Pleasure Principle
Control
What Have You Done For Me Lately
Feedback
You Want This
Alright
Miss You Much
Rhythm Nation - Interlude
Never Letchu Go
Come Back To Me
Let's Wait Awhile
Again
So Excited
So Much Betta
Nasty
All Nite (Don't Stop)
Rock With U
Together Again
Young Love
Say You Do
Don't Stand Another Chance
Doesn't Really Matter
Escapade
Love Will Never Do (Without You)
When I Think Of You
All For You
Got 'Til It's Gone
Call On Me
That's The Way Love Goes
I Get Lonely
Funny How Time Flies (When You're Having Fun)
Any Time, Any Place
Discipline
Black Cat
If
Rhythm Nation
Luv
Band/Dancer Introductions
Runaway

[via Janet Xone]

Labels: Janet Jackson, Music, video

The recent run of amazing Sesame Street clips has dried up, so here's the next best thing: Rap demigods Run DMC on 1980s teach-kids-about-books TV show, Reading Rainbow.

"Oh yes, indeed I like to read / 'cause reading's fun
Not only me (I'm DMC) / but also Run"

Wasn't it great when it wasn't only Kanye West who was brave enough to set a positive example rap fans?

Run DMC on Reading Rainbow

Labels: Music, Run DMC, sesame street, video

If there's any justice in the world, Elbow will win the Mercury Music Prize later tonight for The Seldom Seen Kid - a towering triumph of classic songwriting.

The band have been telling anyone who'll listen that the reocrd is "our Dark Side of The Moon". Luckily, it's not half as ponderous as that overrated mountain of mystic toss. Instead, it's a collection soaring, heartfelt rock songs written by an endearingly loved-up Guy Garvey.

Coincidentally, with the Mercury awards only 12 hours away, Polydor have released the video for the album's third single, Bones Of You. It is almost like they planned it this way, isn't it?

Elbow - Bones Of You


Update: Well done Elbow! I wish I'd put some money on it now!!

Labels: elbow, mercury awards, Music, video

The cynical opportunism of the Sugababes' new single is so audacious that it deserves a kind of grudging respect.

By stealing the hook from Ernie K Doe's Here Come The Girls and adding some nondescript "independent women" verses, the band have guaranteed themselves a lifetime's supply of performance royalties from wedding disco DJs.

But the song has a distinct air of "will-this-do" hanging over it, particularly in Keisha's middle 8 section, which is more piercing than a tin whistle in a wind tunnel.

The video isn't much better, eschewing the high fashion of the band's previous video, Denial, for (yawn) some people dancing in a nightclub. The mild lesbianics from Amelle were presumably orchestrated by the same marketing focus group that "thought up" the idea for single in the first place.

Teacher's report: C+
Could do better. See me after class.

Sugababes - Girls

Labels: Music, sugababes, video

US lady duo Uh Huh Her are named after a PJ Harvey album, but don't let that put you off (because PJ Harvey is awesome).

Unlike PJ, Camila Grey and Leisha Hailey are vendors of cool'n'moody synth pop. Like PJ, they are cooler than a throng of cucumbers wearing ray bans in the Arctic.

The video for their new single, Not A Love Song, came out in the US three weeks ago but I'm not ashamed of my tardiness for three reasons:

1) Unicorns!
2) Animated Unicorns!!!!
3) General hotness!!!!!1eleven

Check it out:

Uh Huh Her - Not A Love Song

Labels: Music, uh huh her, video

:: Cor blimey, it's only the farking trailer for Guy Ritchie's new film, you slags.



:: The Sugababes' new video is previewed over on Popjustice. Warning: includes strobe lights, bouncing, forty-seven-year-old song.

:: Trailer Addict has the (real, this time) trailer for Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make A Porno.

:: What on earth is going on in the new Kaiser Chiefs video?


:: Out magazine names the 100 Gayest Albums of all time. Showtunes, Madonna and The Indigo Girls - who'd have thunk it?

:: Jennifer Aniston tries out the oldest pick-up technique in the book - "You look kinda tense, why don't I give your shoulders a rub?"

:: Epic marriage proposal failure


:: The LA Times has a great preview of Sunday night's VMAs, which mark the 25th anniversary of the MTV award show. Apparently they're going to use Paramount Studios back-lot to create live music videos. It can only be better than the awful "party in Kanye West's hotel room" from last year.

:: Eleventy buckets of brilliant - Diplo vs Santogold have done a mixtape called Top Ranking. Thirty-five top tunes, including three new Santogold songs. Tracklisting over at Get Weird.

:: Janet Jackson reckons she might bring her Rock Witch U tour to Europe. I'll believe it when I see it.

:: After her interview with Billboard, Janet dressed up as a mushroom and presented her brothers with silver-plated KFC buckets [shurely some mistake - Ed]



:: Am I the only one who finds it frightening that, if John McCain gets elected, Sarah Palin - who says global warming is "not man-made" - is only one weak heartbeat away from being President? Gain some more insight into her fully-thought-through political ideas from her "personal blog".

:: We Are Pop Slags has a new discovery - US teen band Vistoso Bosses, who are the Sugababes multiplied by the Wee Papa Girl Rappers. Just signed to Interscope, apparently. One to watch.

Labels: film, Janet Jackson, kaiser chiefs, links, Music, santogold, sugababes, video

Like a rescued street cat, CSS were once wild and shambolic creatures of the night, but are now carefully-groomed, clean-whiskered balls of fluff. With their balls cut off.

Not that I completely dislike the band's new material, mind you. The second album, Donkey, has a few fantastic fizzy pop moments - but too many of the songs are neutered by the whizz-bang production values, robbing them of the off-kilter brilliance of, say, Let's Make Love (And Listen To Death From Above).

Luckily, the band are choosing the right singles to support the record. Rat Is Dead (Rage) is still in my top 10 of the year so far, and new single Move is exactly the sort of plinky-plonky student disco nonsense the band are renowned for.

The video is smashing, too - full of clever trick photography and quirky humour, marking the best attempt yet to capture the band's South American charms on film.

Also, Lovefoxxx's new hairdo is fucking phenomenal.

CSS - Move

Labels: CSS, Music, video

Our new favourite Swedish pop star Lykke Li was on NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien last week, doing her fractured pop thang. Sadly, it was one of those performances that leaves you wishing for the recorded version - all the subtlety and gentle brilliance of Breaking It Up is smothered by a misjudged barrage of improvised megaphone warbling. Shame.

Lykke Li - Breaking It Up (live)

Labels: lykke li, Music, video

Kanye West and frequent collaborator / former mentor Common have both released quirky, animation-led videos in the last week.

West's is a technicolour marvel, pieced together by postmodern commericial art wunderkind Takashi Murakami. Common's is almost monochrome, but no less eye-catching, with a grafitti-inspired comic strip feel from Hype Williams protege Lil' X.

Both are smashing, but Kanye's is more of a treat for anime geekboys, while Common's is full of eye candy for da ladeeeeez (it says here).

The question is, which is best? Watch and vote, my lovelies.

Kanye West - GoodMorning (Official Video)


Common - Announcement

Labels: common, kanye west, Music, video

I was pretty cruel about Pink's new song last month, but I have to admit she gives good video.

Pink - So What

Labels: Music, pink, video

Beyoncé's little sis Solange, like so many pop siblings (Dannii Minogue, Daniel Bedingfield, the other Jonas Brother) is the victim of a huge cosmic joke, whereby she is given 80% of her sister's talent, looks and charisma, and then expected to try to live up to the reputation of her surname.

Her s last single, I Decided, stalled at an embarassing number 27 despite a terrific remix from The Freemasons. Her new one, Sandcastle Disco, isn't going to do any better.

Everything about it is almost brilliant. The FX-laden primary colour video is charming; the Motown-inspired beat is groovesome; the vocals shimmer like water playing on the mediterranean sea. But, ultimately, the melody is so flimsy it evaporates like an ice cube in a heatwave.

Solange - Sandcastle Disco


Luckily, we have found one use for the would-be soul diva - and it's a guaranteed way to make a living if you're an underperforming sibling (just ask LeToya Jackson) - The "naughty little sister" interview.

Here is Solange in the current issue of Blender magazine:

What kind of drunk are you?
I am a Miss-Tina’s-in-the-back-of-my-head kind of drunk.

You mean, your mom. What is she saying?
"Girl, you better have some panties on!" My mom’s so reserved — last year, for my 21st birthday, she was like, "You can have one glass of champagne, and that’s it." I said, "First of all, I haven’t lived last with you since I was 17. Second, I’m divorced. And third, I have a kid. I am drinking tonight."

Awesome.

Labels: beyonce, Music, solange, video

As I have explained at length in the past, Cassie is a criminally bland R&B singer whose sole selling point is that she is, like, totally hot (and so is her best friend, if this youtube video is anything to go by).

But despite her distinct lack of, er, distinction, Cassie's debut album took up near-permananent residence on my iPod's most-played list two years ago thanks to a couple of demonically catchy robo-pop hooks on songs like Me and You, Ditto and Long Way 2 Go.

Now, the 22-year-old has returned with a bigger budget and a pair of expensive sunglasses with a comeback single, Official Girl. It's 100% by-numbers slick, modern R&B, with a beatboxed percussion loop, a guest rap from bad boy du jour L'il Wayne and a zeitgeist-tickling title. I can't see it being an all-conquering transatlantic smash á la Umbrella, but the chorus is firmly lodged in my brain already.

Cassie - Official Girl


As this premiered in the US on Friday, it's already hit a lot of the Stateside blogs, who seem to be up in arms that Cassie isn't very good at the whole singing malarkey. Is this really an issue any more? Pop history is littered with terrible vocalists who triumphed over their better trained, less charismatic counterparts. Cassie could drone like a malfunctioning Dyson and still outsell Keri Hilson or Nicole Scherzingereeningeer, as long as the songs she's given don't stink of slurry. Is that so really hard to grasp? (Clue: it isn't).

Labels: cassie, Music, video

Estelle's is now onto the fourth single from her Mercury-nominated Shine album. This time round, it's the Cee-Lo-featuring Pretty Please, another one of those sunny barbeque joints she's proved so adept with.

The video is another attempt to convince Americans that Estelle one of them, and features cameos from the following stellar talents:

:: Aubrey O’Day out of Danity Kane!
:: Taraji Henson who was in Boston Legal this one time!!
:: Jackie Long, former beau of Serena Williams from tennis!!!!
:: Malik Yoba, who was in Cool Runnings in 1993!!!!!!

Cee-Lo Green has confusingly chosen not to board this runaway train of talent.

Estelle - Pretty Please

Labels: estelle, Music, video

It's no Thriller, but Ladyhawke's new video makes effective use of zombies and werewolves.

Ladyhawke - Dusk Til Dawn

This effectively dates the current 80s pop revival at 1984, which means it's only five years 'til someone remakes Ride On Time. I literally can't wait.

Labels: ladyhawke, Music, video

Friendly Fires may have taken two years to record their debut album - but it turned out to be a good thing, as otherwise they'd have been branded with the cursed "Nu Rave" tag and sent straight to the dumper.

For while these St Alban's boys do bear a passing resemblance to the Klaxons' sirens-o-clock noisefest, they also bring to mind the noodly synth superness of Hot Chip and LCD Soundsystem. Singer Ed Gibson describes their style as "psychedelic, funky, groovy house". Thankfully it sounds nothing like that, either.

Their excellent new single Jump In The Pool is out on 1st September, and the band endured a day semi-drowned in a 20ft deep tank of water to make the video. Check it out:

Friendly Fires - Jump In the Pool


Friendly Fire's album is also released by XL Records on 1st September. Have a look at the video for their previous single, On Board for more dance-rock excellence.

And if you like what you hear, Spinner.com has a free, legal MP3 of Jump In The Pool.

Labels: friendly fires, links, MP3, Music, video

Seattle band Natalie Portman's Shaved Head have the potential to be very, very irritating indeed. From the high irony of their band name to the achingly knowing lyrics, they have all the sincerity of Gary Glitter at a Unicef fundraiser.

But their new single, Sophisticated Side Pony Tail, is just short and aparky enough to overlook the studenty nonsense and cause a sugar rush for the dancefloor. Imagine the Ting Tings without the knockbacks, or Bis before the Powerpuff Girls theme song.

And, despite myself, I can't help but smile every time I hear the line about everyone's favourite Seaworld Whale, Shamu.

Labels: Music, natalie portman's shaved head, video

Well, is she? Let's look at the evidence:



In conclusion, then, Santogold IS Neneh Cherry, only a little bit worse. Poor Santogold :(

Here is her new single, and Neneh's vastly superior (but vaguely similar) Manchild from 1989.

Santogold - Lights Out


Neneh Cherry - Manchild

Labels: Music, neneh cherry, santogold, video

Aussie teen star Gabriella Cilmi has been opening her pipes in Radio One's Live Lounge. She did her Anastacia-esque single Save The Lies (Good To Me) and a twinkly cover of Ne-Yo's Closer. All very nice if you like that sort of thing.

Here are some MP3s for evaluation purposes.
:: Save The Lies (Good To Me)
:: Closer

For those of you asking "Who the flip is Gabriella Cilmi", this is Gabriella Cilmi:

Gabriella Cilmi - Sweet About Me


This is surely the most perfunctory post on the blog ever.

Labels: gabriella cilmi, live lounge, MP3, Music, video

...In his new video, where a Kanye mannequin competes in the Olympics. Except it's not really the actual Olympics at all because of the intricacies of international copyright law.

As regular readers know, we're big fans of puppets in music videos, so we applaud the idea of a fuzzy felt Kanye West. But is it a successful promo in its own right?

Only a mathematical diagram can help to answer this conundrum:



Oh well.

Labels: kanye west, Music, video

Kylie is poised to release her fourth and last single from the so-so X album, and it is called The One. Apparently, you will only be able to download it as the record label have denied it a "physical release".

At school, I was always told that denying physical release was better known as the rhythm method, but I suppose times have changed.

Peter Robinson out of Popjustice reckons the song is one which "eight months ago, many fans instantly identified as one of the best on X, a somehow mournfully elegant disco belter which screams 'hit' in the first two seconds".

Furthermore, he argued in Attitude magazine, this is the song that should have been Kylie's big comeback single, instead of the "impossible to dance to" 2 Hearts which "flopped in at number 4".

Maybe I'm not the right sort of fan, but The One had completely passed me over 'til now. And I certainly prefer the stompy glam-pop of 2 Hearts to its bland Kylie-by-numbers electro nonsense. Even an arms-aloft Freemasons remix can't raise it above "slightly better than Red Blooded Woman" on our patented minogue-o-meter.

However, it has to be said, the video is magnificent. There are two main reasons for this:
1) A selection of wigs
2) A lack of robots.

Here it is:
Kylie - The One


PS Peter's Attitude article, on why X was a missed opportunity, is a blimmin' good expose of how not to put together a pop album in 2007. There are scans of it here.

Labels: kylie, Music, video