Video of the week: Grimes - Go

If you boiled BBC Four's excellent Kate Bush documentary down to a sentence, it was this: "Kate Bush is really rather good, and here are lots of musicians we found who were prepared to say so".

But the progamme's other big point was that Kate Bush succeeded because she cut her own path. Those swooping, hollering vocals; the bizarre key changes; the adventurous instrumentation - no-one else had ever sounded like that before. That's why she was the first woman to score a self-penned number one in the UK, and that's why her comeback concerts have been so enthusiastically reviewed, despite sounding like an excruciating evening of utter bollocks experimental theatre.

Near the beginning of the documentary Elton John is interviewed about Wuthering Heights. "It was not your normal song," he says, "but that's why it was so brilliant. It was great to hear something out of the norm. Things like that don't come along very often. I mean, when has the next Kate Bush come along after Kate Bush? There hasn't been one."

I don't quite agree - Bjork redefined pop in the 1990s with the same cavalier disregard for the rules; and you could argue Kanye West did the same thing for rap in the 2000s. But those sorts of talents are truly once-in-a-generation.

Someone who could manage it for the 2010s is Grimes: A sonic innovator, with a preternaturally assured approach to the way she presents herself and her music. She hasn't quite crossed over to the mainstream yet but, as her new single shows, she has the pop nous to have a go... Assuming that's what she wants.

As noted here before, Go was written for and rejected by Rihanna. But it works better with Grimes' wispy, waspy vocals. The video, coincidentally, looks like something Kate Bush might put together if she was 19-years-old in 2014.

Grimes - Go (ft Blood Diamonds)

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Songs you may have missed: Santa Claus edition

Hello!

I'm about to wrap up the blog for 2013, with just the annual Top 10s to come between now and New Year (unless something ridiculous happens like, say, Adele suddenly releasing a 24-track video album recorded on the moon with a backing band of hamsters on Boxing Day). So, for one last time, here's a round-up of songs you may have missed, interspersed with a few festive favourites.

1) James Brown - Go Power At Christmas Time
Not a sleigh bell in sight, but it's still a big shiny bauble of brilliance.



2) Busta Rhymes - Thank You ft. Q-Tip, Kanye West, Lil Wayne
Q-Tip and Busta have a long history of top-drawer collaborations, starting way back with A Tribe Called Quest's Scenario in 1992. Their latest, from Busta's forthcoming album E.L.E. 2 (Extinction Level Event 2), is no exception.

Based around a sample from Alicia Meyer's I Want To Thank You, it also features verses from Kanye and Lil Wayne who, frankly, sound a little intimidated by the competition.

And if you want more of the same, Busta and Q-Tip have just put out a free, collaborative mixtape, The Abstract and the Dragon, which is available here.




3) Disclosure - Help Me Lose My Mind (SOHN Remix)
If you thought Disclosure's Help Me Lose My Mind was minimalist before, wait til you hear what London-Austrian producer SOHN has done with it.

His hushed, stripped-back production makes a virtue of Hannah Reid's choral vocals, drawing you deeper and deeper inside the song as it unfurls like ink in water.





4) Kate Bush - December Will Be Magic Again
"Oh Saint NICK-o-lass, Up the CHIM-en-eee." Totally amazing.





5) Grouplove - Ways To Go
Grouplove are basically the indie-pop Scissor Sisters and this song, which has featured in an advert for GoPro cameras, looks like it'll be their breakthrough hit.

The video, in which a young Kim Yong-Un becomes a fan of the band and starts wearing Hawaiian shirts around Pyongyang, is a must-see:





6) Blood Orange - You're Not Good Enough (Holy Ghost bootleg)
Poor Dev Hynes (aka Blood Orange, aka Lightspeed Champion) lost everything - even his pet dog Cupid - in a New York apartment fire this week. The letter he published about the devastation ("It's my life. It's everything I've ever owned... loved... it's all gone") will break your heart.

At one point, he talks about going back on tour to give his life a sense of normality. I'm not sure that's wise - but whatever works...

In the meantime, handing over some cash for the music he's made could help him get back on his feet. Thankfully, that includes such classics as Solange's True EP, MKS's Flatlines and Sky Ferreira's Eveything Is Embarrassing and this, his new single, remixed by DFA's Holy Ghost. It's terrific.





7) Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You
Next time someone tells you "well, of course, objectively speaking Fairytale Of New York is the best Christmas song ever written" put this on at full blast and tell them to get a grip.





8) Angel Haze - A Tribe Called Red
Furious, thrilling, magnificent.





9) Vance Joy - Riptide
This was a huge hit in Australia earlier in the year, and I can see it doing the same in the UK in 2014.

Jammed full of pop culture references (Midnight Cowboy and Michelle Pfeiffer to name a few) it also carries a shrewd lyrical observation in the chorus: "I love you when you're singing that song - and I get a lump in my throat cause you're gonna sing the words wrong."

Warning: Riptide is a little bit like the Lumineers' Ho Hey played on a ukelele, so steer clear if that's the sort of thing to make you want to rip apart a cushion.





10) Otis Redding - Merry Christmas Baby
"Santa came down the chimney
Half past three y'all
Left only my good old present
For my baby and for me
HA HA HA"

The sound of a man in the recording studio after one too many sherries.

Hmm, looking back at it, that's quite an eclectic mix of styles and genres. Well done for getting to the end. And have wonderful Christmas, one and all, wherever you are.

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MPHO covers Kate Bush

You can't really go wrong with a Kate Bush cover, but it certainly helps to have a gorgeous, melted butter popcorn soul voice. Whatever that means.

Here's MPHO giving it some welly.

MPHO - Running Up That Hill

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A whole bunch of stuff from the web

Hello and welcome to Monday! There's a few things to get excited about today, so here they are in a time-saving handy list.

:: Kanye West + Santigold + Lykke Li have an amazing song called Gifted, which they recorded with uber-producers N.A.S.A. We mentioned it before. They've done a video now, but Kanye, Santi and Lykke must have been "in bed" when the director called, as they are completely absent. Result: Awful animated claptrap.

N.A.S.A. - Gifted

:: One of my favourite music magazines, Blender, has been shut down. The US publication always looked a bit like a jazz mag when it landed on my doorstep, but it always contained a good selection of new bands and waspish commentary alongside the semi-naked pop stars. A couple of the former writers have been lamenting its demise online. Read about it on idolator

:: Here is another Annie single to get excited about before it flops / is cancelled / sets the world on fire (delete as appropriate in eight weeks).

Annie - Anthonio


:: Kate Bush is possibly the last great eccentric British pop star. Need proof? Blogger Rich Juzwiak has gathered an astonishing collection of footage from her music videos and TV appearances - which eventually begs the question: "How on earth did social services allow her to escape into the community?". Click here for the lot, or just marvel at this one...



:: I did my first ever red carpet reporting shift at last night's Empire Awards. It was utterly terrifying - from the moment they pushed a completely unknown extra from RockNRolla into my face and expected me to have an intelligent question to ask ("who are you... er, ah, looking forward to meeting" was my best effort) to the end of the night when we were drawing straws to decide who would get to ask Guy Ritchie about Madonna's new baby (luckily, he bailed). Anyway, Empire Magazine were so impressed with my efforts that they put up a picture of me "interviewing" (staring at the magnificent cleavage of) Helena Bonham Carter.

:: Akon and Cassie have teamed up for a new song, Let's Go Crazy, produced by Red One - the team Lady GaGa references at the start of Just Dance. If there is a God, he will ensure a Freemasons remix of this.

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Fillitup, turnitloose

The average ipod owner only has 375 songs on their MP3 player, according to The New York Times. Indeed, 50% of people who own an MP3 player have fewer than 100 songs loaded onto it. Which seems a massive waste: why bother spending all that money when you could just carry a couple of CDs around with you?

Anyway, we thought we should help out here. If you need new music to spice up your shuffle, or to max out your mini, here are a few ideas:

Franz Ferdinand - "Eleanor Put Your Boots On"
One of a few pre-release album tracks from Franz's new LP, over at Dreams of Horses.

Nellie McKay - "If I Needed Someone"
A Beatles cover to keep us amused while we wait for Nellie's delayed second album. Available via something called The smudge of ashen fluff.

Jon Pertwee - "I Am The Doctor"
Just Plain Odd... Most people are aware of Captain Kirk's mauling of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds", but it takes a British sci-fi hero to make a truly weird record. Over a soft-funk version of the Doctor Who theme, Jon Pertwee (Doctor number three) delivers a rap that appears to be the test run for Vincent Price's effort on "Thriller". Available for download at Jamies Runout Groove. Caution: May frighten young children.

James Knight & The Butlers - "Funky Cat"
'Just like catnip', says the man and he's got a point. There are three reasons to download this song: The sample-tastic drum solo, the earsplitting crescendo of the saxophonist's solo, and the moment where the vocalist is so satisfied with his band he purrs. "Funky cat, cat, cat, cat", indeed. Get it on Aurgasm.

Sugababes - "Push The Button"
Super bouncy pop, even though it sounds like Tina Turner's "The Best" in a car crash with "Last Christmas". Plus, we're currently obsessing over Mutya's hotpants in the video. The song is available on Fluxblog.

Kate Bush -
"The Man With The Child In Her Eyes"
Because everyone needs a bit of Bush. Go to: Bubblegum Machine.

Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings - "What Have You Done For Me Lately?"
Listening to this, you'd think that Janet Jackson's 1986 hit was a cover version of a James Brown-era funk workout. Not so: this is the cover version, and its vintage groove dates from... well, 2002 actually. Click here to download.

warchildmusic.com
And after you've treated yourself to all those freebies, go and spend £10 on the new warchild album, "Help: A Day In The Life". There are 24 tracks - including new songs by Radiohead, Coldplay, Gorillaz and Razorlight. Most of it's great - but we'd skip Kaiser Chiefs doing "Heard It Through The Grapevine" if we were you. Spend your money here!

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