Haim go disco and nine other songs you may have missed

The latest in a semi-regular round-up from pop's bargain bins. This week's overlooked classics include:

1) Haim - If I Could Change Your Mind (Cerrone Mix)
A couple of months ago Haim got Giorgio Moroder to remix Forever. Now they've roped in French disco lynchpin Cerrone (the inspiration for Goldfrapp's Supernature) to overhaul If I Could Change Your Mind.

He keeps nothing but the vocals, laying them over a smooth Chic groove, thus transforming Haim into a shaggy-haired Sister Sledge.

Roller skates at the ready...





2) Shakira - Empire
Always at her best when she goes full bananas, Shakira holds nothing back on this furniture-chewing torch ballad. As usual, her metaphors go awry in translation ("And the stars make love to the universe??") but she sings it with such demented conviction you let her get away with it.

If you fancy more Empire, Shakira's performance on last week's The Voice UK was a masterclass in stagecraft.




3) Nick Mulvey - Meet Me There
Until 2011, Nick Mulvey was one of the members of Mercury-nominated jazz outfit Portico Quartet, where he played the Hang, a sort of steel drum invented in Switzerland 13 years ago.

These days, however, he's doing lots of clever, Latin-flecked finger picking on his acoustic guitar. You may have already come across his Jack Johnson-y single Cucurucu, which got to number 26 last year.

Meet Me There is even better - elevated above the usual "wispy boy with a guitar" fare by a beguiling bowed cello counter-melody. You don't get a degree in music from the School of Oriental and African Studies for nothing, you know.






4) Tourist (ft Will Heard) - I Can't Keep Up
Signed to Disclosure's Method Records, Tourist is the alter-ego of DJ William Phillips. Like the Lawrence Brothers, he's been building a profile with a bunch of influential instrumentals, before hiring in a few vocalists to send his career chartwise.

Lifted from his forthcoming Patterns EP (which also features Lianne LaHavas) I Can't Keep Up features the soulful crooning of Ireland's Will Heard, and builds steadily for three minutes before, whoosh, soaring off into the stratosphere.

In the week when Frankie Knuckles sadly passed away, this is just one of a dozen new releases that's utterly indebted to his music.




5) Rita Ora - I Will Never Let You Down (Westfunk mix)
I wasn't sure about Rita Ora's comeback single when it premiered on Monday but, with every listen, it sounds more like a hit. Calvin Harris's production is a little subtle, though, so here's a ridiculous rave remix. Air punch o'clock.






6) Sex On Toast - Hold My Love
Of course there's a band called Sex On Toast, and of course they make retro 80s lurve ballads. This is essentially trying to cover Prince's Scandalous, all slap bass and vocoder solos and sticky-fingered fumbling under your sweater.

At least the band don't take themselves too seriously, as the video demonstrates.




7) Drake - Draft Day
New material from "Drizzy" who's always better when he's rapping. This samples Lauryn Hill's Doo-Wop (That Thing), which should go some way towards paying her legal bills.




8) Chloe Howl - Rumour (acoustic)
Chloe Howl deserves a break. Rumour only got to number 84 when it came out earlier this year - but somehow #Selfie goes Top 10? The world is an unjust place.

Especially when you can make a terrible bit of "online content" work so well in your favour. Would you catch Beyonce delivering a flawless performance on a freezing cold rooftop with her hands shoved in her pockets to avoid chillblains? I think not.



9) Sam Smith - Stay With Me
An acceptable recovery after the godawful Money On My Mind, here is Sam Smith doing what Sam Smith does best - singing a lovelorn ballad with the voice of an angel.

"Hang on," you might say, "Surely warbling over the top of Disclosure songs is what Sam Smith does best?" And you would be right. So here is Sam Smith doing what Sam Smith does second best.




10)How To Dress Well - Repeat Pleasure
With touches of both Janet (breathy falsetto)and Michael Jackson (Human Nature synth line), this is seductive, forward-looking soul from American musician Tom Krell. The comparison isn't completely plucked out of thin air, by the way, he covered Janet's Again last year.

NB: You should stick with this one to the end - it grows and grows like a Wotsit in a glass of water.

The end.

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Here is a new video for Chloe Howl's Rumour

"I'm really struggling to picture a world where I listen to anything other than BEYONCÉ from now on," wrote Chloe Howl on Twitter two days ago.

While I'm inclined to agree, you should utilise any downtime to watch Chloe's new video for Rumour. As mentioned before in these hallowed corridors, it's a smart, narrative song about being wary of gossip, and why young people should be allowed to make mistakes. It's sung by a woman in a bow tie, so presumably it's based on experience.

After her recent nomination for the Brits Critics' Choice award, Chloe's given the track a fresh lick of paint (and added some nice new synth parts, for good measure). There's a video too, which is what The Hunger Games would look like, if The Hunger Games was set during a chess tournament which it isn't but what of it?

Chloe Howl - Rumour

Rumour is out in the new year, release date fans.

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Angry women video bonanza

Why is everyone so flaming angry all of a sudden? Is it the E numbers in your milkshake? Is it the lack of E numbers in your milkshake? Is it people who keep going on about milkshakes for no discernible reason?

Whatever the cause, the result is some corking pop music. First up is Chvrches' new single Gun, which is basically a four-minute threat over a synth riff. "You had better run from me with everything you own," snarls Lauren Mayberry. "Cause I am going to come for you with all that I have."

Yikes.

Chvrches - Gun

Next up is Chlöe Howl, whose furious No Strings, is finally getting a proper release in August. "You're so immature," she berates some poor schmuck. "You don't even know if I'm the right sex, do ya?"

Again, yikes.

Chlöe Howl - No Strings

Now, can everyone please have a milkshake and calm down?

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Particularly good Chloe Howl remix

If you remix Chloe Howl's name, you get "Oh Hell, Cow".

If you remix Chloe Howl's new single, Rumour, you get this:



Good, huh?

Chloe's first EP is available as a free download on her Official Website. It contains the original version of Rumour, the sweary-and-brilliant No Strings, and a ballad. What more could you want? Videos for all three? Oh, ok then.

Chloe Howl - Rumour EP

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Bonjour from Paris!

Hello there!

I'm taking a quick break from the blog to send some time in Paris. I've already seen their version of X Factor (awful, gaudy, just like the original) and a dubbed version of House MD (where Hugh Laurie is apparently voiced by a lisping French Syd Owen).

While I'm off, here are a few videos I've added to the holiday playlist.

1) Marina and the Diamonds - State Of Dreaming
It's amazing they still let Marina make videos for the Electra Heart album - but I'm pleased they do. This is decidedly low-budget, focusing almost entirely on a single shot of Ms Diamantis lip-syncing to State Of Dreaming, one of the more "bells-and-whistles" tracks from the album. She looks gorgeous, though, and they even splash out on some confetti for the climax. Lovely.




2) Arlissa - Sticks and Stones
Finally out this week, Arlissa's "proper" debut single still sends shivers up the spine. Worth 79p of your hard-earned cash, surely?




3) Chloe Howl - Rumours
According to our Dulux colour wheel, orange and green are opposite but complimentary, so well done to Chloe Howl for the striking colour scheme on her debut video. The low-key performance reminds us of early Sugababes appearances - but the shifty eyes suit the song's subject matter to a 't'.

This one's also available now, as a free download on Chloe's website. Well, I say free, but you have to surrender your email address so Chloe can email you incessantly with "news" about "product". Hopefully the mailing list will also have one of those birthday form letters so we can get a personalised email greeting from Chloe next to the ones from Shane Ward and Bucks Fizz.



...and that's it for a week. A bientot, mes petits choux-fleurs.

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Chloe Howl continues to be excellent

Do you know what? It's nice when pop songs aren't all cluttered up with noise. Sirens and klaxons and parping trombones are all well and good, but sometimes all you need is a strong melody and a sexy drum shuffle.

So thank goodness for Chloe Howl, who first cropped up on Discopop Directory last December. Her new single, Rumour, has lots of brilliant flourishes (the "bang-bang-clap" in the middle of the second verse, the post-chorus chorus) but none of them obscure the song. Which, coincidentally, is excellent.

Like Plan B minus the nihilism, Chloe narrates the story of four girls in terrible circumstances - "he kept her prisoner growing up, told her Jesus was enough" - before cautioning us not to believe everything we hear about strangers. It's a superb, narrative-driven lyric, which is a rare and precious commodity in the current pop scene. The fact that it comes from a 17-year-old makes it even more impressive, and suggests great things for Ms Howl, who has just "inked" a "deal" with Colombia Records.

Line Of Best Fit ran a cheeky interview with Chloe last week, which is worth clicking over to while you listen to the single. Nice.



PS: If you search for Chloe Howl on YouTube, there's a surprising number of dogs called Chloe being forced to bark by their owners. The human race, there.

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New pop find: Chlöe Howl - No Strings

You know how pop songs are all "I'm totally in love with this person and I just can't deny it (d-d-deny it)"? Gets a bit tiresome. We prefer the pop songs that bare their teeth a little. Key examples include Cee-Lo Green's F**k You and Beyoncé's Irreplaceable.

Now we can add No Strings to that list.

It's by 17-year-old newcomer Chlöe Howl (digging the umlaut) and it's a furious sweary pop belter. "You don't even know if I'm the right sex, do you?" she taunts her partner.

Ouch.

Chlöe Howl - No Strings

Recently signed to Columbia Records, Chlöe is so fresh and new that the internet is bereft of useful information. So I spent the last hour stalking her (genuinely very entertaining) Twitter account. Here are my conclusions.

1) She has a big face

The chocolate coin is the size of my face guys. And I have a pretty sizeable face. twitter.com/ChloeHowl/stat…

— Chlöe Howl (@ChloeHowl) December 14, 2012

2) Her dad lives in Legoland

Still watch the legoland fireworks from my dad's window after 13 years. And they're always as good as they were 13yrs ago. Fireworks <3

— Chlöe Howl (@ChloeHowl) November 3, 2012

3) Chlöe has principles

I will never use the phrase 'mash potatoes' in a song

— Chlöe Howl (@ChloeHowl) November 21, 2012

4) Chlöe is an "ideas person"

I can't wait til the day iPhones can identify smells

— Chlöe Howl (@ChloeHowl) November 23, 2012

5) Never feed her a Snickers

Today my minor allergy to nuts has developed into a medium allergy to nuts. Angelina Jolie lips are back.

— Chlöe Howl (@ChloeHowl) November 25, 2012

6) She is a trainee vampire

One of the waiters told me he'd put his own blood in my cocktail. Why.

— Chlöe Howl (@ChloeHowl) December 12, 2012

(I still drank it though, it was probs just grenadine)

— Chlöe Howl (@ChloeHowl) December 12, 2012

So now you know.

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