Sister Act

We went all gooey-eyed over Kid Sister's last two singles Pro Nails (with Kanye West) and Right Hand Hi - both records you SHOULD have on your iPod if you like Queen Latifah, Salt'N'Pepa, Missy Elliot or Eve. They're seriously, seriously good records.

Daydreaming is the next single off her debut album, Ultraviolet (out in May) and it's a bit of a deviation from the bug eyed electro-rap we've gotten used to.

Co-written with Gnarls Barkley's Cee-Lo Green, it shares musical DNA with Boy Meets Girls' Waiting For A Star To Fall and Kelis' Little Star - aka the one everyone said Cheryl Cole ripped off for Fight For This Love, even though the only similiarity was the use of a glockenspiel in the bridge, as if those were the only two songs in the history of music ever to feature that obscure and outlandish musical instrument you find in EVERY ORCHESTRA IN THE WORLD.

Anyway, the song is pretty catchy in a summery, carefree way. A solid 6/10, compared to the 8/10 we'd have given Kid Sister's previous efforts, but well worth three minutes of your day.

Kid Sister ft Cee-Lo - Daydreaming

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New Music: Broken Bells

Danger Mouse - the producer behind Gnarls Barkley, Gorillaz' Demon Days and Beck's Modern Guilt, has teamed up with James Mercer out of The Shins.

Together, they are Broken Bells and they've made an album that smushes up hip-hop, electronica and soft rock, producing an all-new musical genre which I am calling Hilectrosoft. Or Hoptronirock. Or Rock 'n' Ron [that's enough of that, thank you - ed].

It's not out til March, but here's a preview track, called The High Road. It's nice.

Broken Bells - The High Road

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Do not watch this while eating lunch

Word up, it's the new Gnarls Barkley video and it's gruesome, gory, gigglesome, groovy, gross, and other words beginning with the letter "g".

Gnarls Barkley - Who's Gonna Save My Soul?

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Video: Gnarls Barkley - Going On

Shot in Jamaica, and featuring precisely no members of Gnarls Barkley, this is already one of my favourite videos this year.

The choice of camera angles and colouring reminds me of Mark Romanek's video for Janet's Got Til Its Gone, while the location and energy brings to mind Fernando Meirelles' Brazilian gangster flick City of God.

Yes, it really is that good.

Gnarls Barkley - Going On

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Gnarls Barkley on SNL

It's all gone very quiet round here... It must be mid-term break in popworld.

In the meantime, here's a barnstorming, bewigged video of Gnarls Barkley thrashing out Run on Saturday Night Live. It's the sort of thing to make you really regret their cancelled gig in London earlier this month.

Gnarls Barkley - Run (live on SNL)

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Gnarls Barkley: Run video

Justin Timberlake is at something of a loose end, it seems. He keeps cropping up in other people's songs and videos like an over-enthusiastic dad crashing a teenage party and offering to mix up a batch of cheeky vimto.

His latest escapade is on the set of the Gnarls Barkley video, where he plays a hep and happenin' TV host from back in the day. Note the Beat It-inspired leather jacket.

Yes, that's right, Justin still wants to be Michael Jackson...

Gnarls Barkley - Run


The song itself is a pretty funky slab of gospel-soul-psychedelia - recalling the likes of Smiley Faces from GB's debut album. What's great is that this track would never have stood a chance of getting radio play without the head of steam built up by Crazy two years ago. It's good to see an established act that doesn't try to toe the commercial line and instead releases something daring and fresh. I wonder how Run will fare chart-wise?

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Run for your lives, it's Gnarly

Gnarls Barkley have been secreted away in a studio for the last couple of months concocting their new album, The Odd Couple.

According to Billboard, the album has been recorded with live musicians to give it a more organic feel than the million-selling St Elsewhere.

But the first taster, Run, sounds very much like the sampladelic hip-hop soul of their previous work, and it's all the better for it (I love those playground samples). Billboard reckons it has been leaked on purpose, which makes the record company's policy of suing the asses off anyone who downloads it even more perplexing.

Risk your savings by clicking on the following links:
:: Gnarls Barkley - Run (sharbee)
:: Gnarls Barkley - Run (zshare)

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Pop on the box: A comparative history

People keep asking why Top Of The Pops, CD:UK, Popworld, and all the other decent pop programmes have died and gone to telly heaven. I think I have a theory...

Exhibit A: Otis Redding performing I Can't Turn You Loose on ITV pop show Ready Steady Go, 1966.

To gee himself up for an appearance on national TV, Otis burns his hand on a stove, licks a car battery and shoves a frog up his bottom. That's why he dances like an epileptic windmill. It's invigorating stuff:



Exhibit B: Gnarls Barkley on chin-stroking muso wankfest Live from Abbey Road, 2007.

The biggest moment of drama in this performance comes when someone turns the volume knob on their keyboard from four to slightly louder than four.

Cee-Lo may have the voice of an angel, but it would have been better if, just before the director called "action", someone had slapped him with a kipper and called his mum a slag:




I put it to you, the jury, that music television went wrong when we stopped making singers flail around like demented baboons and decided that exhibiting any sort of enjoyment somehow "devalued" the "music".

I blame Oasis, myself.

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Kelis made a great album in 2006...

...and I didn't buy it.

Why? Because lead single Bossy was a tuneless self-aggrandising crunk'n'b dirge. Imagine that, folks: a tuneless, self-aggrandising crunk'n'b song. It is almost too hard to fathom, but I swear on my life it is true.

Scout's honour and everything.

But the rest of the album is superb, and Kelis is on the verge of releasing one of its standout tracks in the UK. Called Lil Star, it's a duet with Cee-Lo out of Gnarls Barkley. It's a melodic, mellow masterpiece, and you can preview it on this link. (I was going to post the video but, in a stroke of genius, youtube has removed it - even though it was Kelis's record company who put it there).

Once you've finished listening to that and going "aaaaah", head over to the recently resurrected Beauty N The Beat, which has just run an exclusive interview with Kelis. In it, the big-lunged, gold-toothed, Nas-marrying, milkshake-shaking diva shows exactly why she deserves more recognition from the R&B community. And that's basically because she's worked out exactly what her place is in the grand scheme of things:

My job is to bring things you don't know you like yet. There's a difference between performers and artists. I'm not the greatest singer in the world. I already know that. But I know I'm an innovator. I always say the greatest artists in the world are not the most talented people, they're the ones compelled to bring you something different because they don't know what else to do. They're the painters who paint not because they can make money but because they cannot stop.

That quote alone should make you think about checking out Kelis Was Here. The fact that it's only £6.99 at CD WOW gives you no excuses whatsoever.

Here endeth the lecture.

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Mrdiscopop's Top 10 Albums of 2006

Here it is, folks. An entirely "surprising" list of the best albums that have been troubling the Discopop Towers "ghettoblaster" over the last twelve months.




1) Regina Spektor - Begin To Hope
I haven't written nearly enough about how much I love Regina Spektor on these here pages. Every single track on this album, her major-label debut, is magic. As an added bonus, she is stark raving bonkers. One song is about her illicit relationship with biblical strongman Samson. Another discusses how Regina only ate tangerines for an entire month. What marvellous nonsense, eh? Think Tori Amos or Fiona Apple, but with tunes that stick in your head for months, instead of making you think "oh, she's a really accomplished musician, isn't she?".





2) Nelly Furtado - Loose
It's not consistent - there are far too many Timbaland songs that sound like a good beat in search of a melody - but seven or eight of the tracks on Loose are actually perfect. Quite how Nelly transformed from being a bark-eating, yoghurt-knitting world music aficionado with no fans into a globe-straddling pop strumpet is anyone's guess, but who cares? Just sling on your dancing trousers and turn this album all the way up to 10.





3) Gnarls Barkley - St Elsewhere
On first listen this comes across like cats fighting in a dustbin but, with perseverance, it reveals its magnificence like a saucy lady in the Moulin Rouge. Gnarls Barkley are labelled a hip-hop act, but they're far too eclectic and inventive to be filed alongside Nas or 50 fucking Cent. Songs like Who Cares and Transformer are frenetic, majestic and affecting all at the same time. And it's a concept album about mental illness. Yipes!





4) Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
While Gnarls Barkley are just singing about being barking mad, Muse are the real deal. On this album, they're constantly banging on about spaceships, conspiracy theories and a strawberry pony called Helen (I may have made that last one up). But Matt 'spoons' Bellamy sings about it all with such conviction that you kind of accept it. Plus, they've largely ditched the 12-minute axe solos and made tight little poperas that literally explode from your speakers. Warning: Do no listen to this album on a motorway or you will accidentally start going far too fast for your own safety. I know this to be true.





5) Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
Put this album on and you could be forgiven for thinking it was a lost classic from the heyday of Atlantic Records. Except, of course, that the lyrics feature such delightful couplets as "What kind of fuckery is this?" and "You don't mean dick to me". The lady with the potty-mouth is Amy Winehouse, and here she puts Christina Aguilera and Joss Stone in their places by concocting an album of soul standards that sounds fresh and real, rather than a faded facsimile of the real thing.





6) Pet Shop Boys - Fundamental
I have never liked a Pet Shop Boys album before, but this one is superb. Back together with producer Trevor Horn, the PSBs find their form after a very long fallow period. Lead single I'm With Stupid had great lyrics and a so-so melody, but the rest of the CD towers above it - with heart-rending ballads Luna Park and I Made My Excuses and Left the stand-outs. But shame on them for shunting the superior Richard X collaboration, Fugitive, onto a bonus disc.





7) Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium
A caveat: This top ten placing is only for the tightened-up, 14 track version of the Chili's double album I put together after sifting through the 38-million songs they puked up halfway through the year. Each of those 14 songs is lifted above the ordinary by John Frusciante's breath-taking guitar playing. Nearly all of the tracks on the album (even the ones I don't like) feature some new sound, clever effect or moment of heart-breaking virtuosity. Damn him.





8) The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers
The White Stripes, but with discipline, Jack White's side-project proved to be a formidable lesson in classic blues rock. There aren't any major surprises or innovations here - just the sound of four musicians playing their tiny little hearts out. Could do with a haircut, though.





9) Beyoncé - B'day
In which Beyoncé spends the best part of an hour shouting at someone (Jay-Z?) for cheating on her. Whatever personal crisis inspired this album, and no-one's spilling any beans, it was worth it for the music. For the first time in her career, the thunder-thighed scream queen has turned in a CD you can listen to without your finger poised over the skip button. And it was all done and dusted in a week. Kate Bush, take note.





10) Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
Like Nelly Furtado's Loose, this album is permanently smudged with Timbaland's mucky fingerprints but - unlike her album - there isn't a standout track that overshadows the rest. But there are several gems, from the filthy S&M anthem SexyBack to the tender, Coldplay-esque I Think She Knows (which should have been a full song, rather than a 2-minute interlude). The quality only drops towards the end when Timbaland absconds from production duties - presumably because he eventually needed a bit of a kip.



And that's 2006 done and dusted... And the best thing about it all was that a big"wig" in charge of the record industry suddenly twigged that bloated 80-minute epic albums were all a bit rubbish and issued an edict that all CDs should fit onto one side of a D90 casette (note to youngsters: a cassette is an ipod with moving parts that can hold a laughable 90 minutes of music). Thus, and henceforth, all of the albums above - bar the Chilis - clock in at well under an hour. This is quite literally a-mazing and should be celebrated with a balloon.

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The Discopop Top 10 singles of 2006

Here it is, then, the Discopop Directory Totally Unbiased Top 10 Singles of 2006. As ever, instead of using any critical faculty, this is completely based on iTunes play counts - plus an amazing little bit of algebra that stops records from the start of the year automatically getting to the top of the list. That's what an AS-Level in maths will do for you, folks.

So, from the top...

1) Nelly Furtado - Maneater
Was there ever any doubt that Maneater would top the list? It's a perfectly crafted pop single, starting off with a massive drumbeat that screams "look at me", which is immediately followed (and this is a measure of just how brilliant the writing is) by the line "Everybody look at me".

Do. You. See. What. They. Did. There? Pure genius.



2) The Raconteurs - Steady As She Goes
I was surprised at this, too. Granted, it toddles along very pleasantly with a crunchy guitar hook and one of those melodies they used to write in olden times, when men rode horses and women had big skirts for the hiding of turnips inside. But the song has probably made its way to the top because it's suitable for every occasion. I've played it in the car, at parties, and in my pyjamas. What a saucepot, eh, viewers?



3) Gnarls Barkley - Crazy
This clearly should have been at number two. I'm currently looking at all that maths and trying to see if I got it wrong somewhere.

I hope I get marks for my working out.



4) Amy Winehouse - Rehab
They tried to make her go to rehab. But do you know what she said? She said NO. Thrice.

What's more, she did it all over a pseudo-Motown funky soul backbeat that made everyone go "oooh, she's not half bad, is she?". Top marks, too, for referencing Donnie Hathaway and Ray Charles.

And did you see Winehouse's fantastic appearance on TV pop quiz Never Mind The Buzzcocks???





5) Robyn - Konichiwa Bictches
Shame on you, punters, for not buying this sugary slab of fizzy pop. It's as good as a Wham bar, only on CD. Here's a sample of the words in the song, which are completely nutso-bonkers:

I'll hammer your toe
Like a pediatrician
Saw you in half
Like I'm a magician
Tear you down
Like I'm in demolition
Count you out
Like a mathematician

Luckily for you, its being re-released in 2007. Buy it, and slip into a musical diabetic coma.



6) Beyoncé - Irreplaceable
Let's face it, Beyoncé needed a bloody great ballad in her back catalogue to offset all those gloopy Destiny's Child stinkers. This will duly be her pension fund - a great big kiss-off to a cheating partner with not a small amount of ego in the chorus. "I can have another you in a minute" indeed. Get her.



7) Muse - Supermassive Black Hole
Muse generally write ridiculously overblown rock operas that would make Freddie Mercury think: "Actually, that's taking things a bit far", even if he was riding on Liberace's back in a gold lamé jumpsuit at the time. So this three-minute pop song was something of a surprise. Coming on like Britney Spears on one of her dark days, it made Muse fans furious. "It sounds just like a fucking song to dance to when you're at a wedding," fumed one. But isn't that exactly the point, my dear?



8) Red Hot Chili Peppers - Dani California
Initially, this sounded like every other Red Hot Chili Peppers song ever. Seven months on, it still sounds like every Red Hot Chili Peppers song ever. But why change a successful formula? In fact, why not just go mental and make a double album of the same song over and over and over again? "Yes, that's what we should do," quoth the Peppers. Marvellous.



9) Nelly Furtado - Promiscous
Hmmm... I suspect this is making an appearance in the Top 10 because its right next to Maneater on Nelly's album, meaning I automatically listen to it at least twice a week. It has a clever lyrical conceit, if you discount all the other duets about a man and a woman chatting each other up - i.e. every duet in history except that one where Nick Cave does away with Kylie Minogues.



10) Girls Aloud - Something Kinda Ooooh
Well, they had to make an appearance, didn't they? The trailer for their hugely successful Greatest Hits album, Ooooh was a proper saucy little dance minx. There was an allusion to the sex act involving the bottom and something about a Toot-toot - which be a veiled reference to a lady's mimsy if I'm not mistaken. Oooh-er.



So, there you have it. If you haven't heard any of these (a) get thee to iTunes forthwith and (b) where have you been all year?

I'll be back in 2007 with my top 10 albums, and a review of Kylie's comeback tour in Wembley. Have a great New Year everyone!

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