Katy Perry, Liam Payne and Camilla Cabello: The best and worst of New Music Friday

A mixed bag this week. There's a lot of "third buzz track before the album" activity, with the drop in quality that implies. But some gems are hidden in the mix, so stick around.

Katy Perry ft Nicki Minaj - Swish Swish
Stoking the flames of the Katy Perry / Taylor Swift feud, this is a no-holds-barred diss track. Sample lyric: "Karma’s not a liar, she keeps receipts."

But like Bad Blood before it, the red mist has blinded Katy to her better pop instincts. This is a depressingly pedestrian house groove with neither the bark nor the bite promised by the premise.

It's left to Nicki Minaj to give us some perspective: "Silly rap beefs just give me more cheques".




Selena Gomez - Bad Liar
As previously discussed, this is perfect.





Muse - Dig Down
Which finally answers the question, "What if Muse sounded like Take That?" The answer, as it turns out, is bloody brilliant.





Liam Payne - Strip That Down
Just what we needed: A British Jason Derulo.




RAYE - The Line
I saw RAYE perform this acoustically the other day, and was really impressed. But the single is itchy and over-produced, which smothers the song. It's a strange treatment for a song that discusses the boredom of waiting in line for a club ("yeah, we look like sickness, barely moving inches").




Pumarosa - Lion's Den
A hugely ambitious, six-minute single from doom-laden indie quintent Pumarosa. Like a heavier version of Radiohead's Pyramid Song (which is a recommendation, in case you were wondering).






Danger Mouse ft Run The Jewels and Big Boi - Chase Me
Built around samples from the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's Bellbottoms and taken from Edgar "Hot Fuzz" Wright's new film Baby Driver, this explodes out of the speakers like a molotov cocktail of awesome.




Royal Blood - Hook, Line & Sinker
A retreat to safe ground after James Bondian thrills of Lights Out. It probably "works better live".




Cigarettes After Sex - Each Time You Fall In Love
This woozy, hazy ballad about doomed love in LA sounds like an unholy union between St Etienne and Lana Del Rey.




Camilla Cabello - Crying In The Club
Interpolates Genie In A Bottle but otherwise sounds like a composite of every pop trope of the last five years. Disappointing, given the buzz about the former Fifth Harmony singer's supposedly flawless pop instincts.




Plan B - In The Name Of Man
"All the soap in the world won't wash away the blood that's on your hands." A song about the religious certitude that sent the UK and US into Iraq 14 years ago. It's safe to say Plan B is not a fan of Tony Blair.




Bebe Rexha ft Lil' Wayne - The Way I Are
"I'll never sing like Whitney but I still want to dance with somebody."

The week's best lyric squandered on the week's worst song.




Oh Wonder - Heavy
A real treat, this. Oh Wonder really flex their vocal muscles, darting around mushrooming synth lines that mirror the heart-bursting love-struck lyrics: "I could hold you endlessly," they swoon. "Stop the world, it's only you." Beautiful.

Well, that's quite enough of that. See you next week!

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The National are top of my #NewMusicFriday playlist

Here it is, then. My (almost) weekly trawl through the release schedule, in which gems are uncovered and turds are buried.

1) The National - The System Only Dreams In Total Darkness
Standing head and shoulders above everything else this week, The National's new single is a swirling vortex of indie curlicues, which builds to a brassy climax, where Matt Beringer declaims: "I can't explain it any other, any other way".

He's described it as "an abstract portrait of a weird time we’re in". I'm just calling it beautiful.




2) Miley Cyrus - Malibu
In which Miley says, "forget the tongue-wagging, boob-baring, perma-twerking controversy magnet, I am in fact an delicate and innocent country-pop crossover artist."

And, to be fair, it works.




3) Calvin Harris - Rollin' (ft Future and Khalid)
"Bubbling summery discofunk" seems to be the theme for Calvin's recently-announced fourth album Funk Wav Bounces Vol 1 (awful title). This latest single would sound great at any poolside party, which shows how far Calvin has come since he emerged as a pasty-skinned teenager from Dumfries.




4) Imagine Dragons - Whatever It Takes
There's something of the Ed Sheeran about the way Dan Reynolds rap-sings the verses of this song, but it rises above that comparison with a truly fist-pumping chorus.

The middle 8 contains a lot of lyrics about punctuation, for some reason.




5) Felix Jaehn - Hot2Touch (ft Hight, Alex Aiono)
A bit of disco fluff that merits inclusion for the lyric "my heart's like a broken cassette".




6) Harry Styles - From The Dining Table
Harry Styles debut album is out today - and I wrote about it at length on the BBC this morning. In brief, it's a stodgy 1970s rock album with a few moments of real beauty. The closing track is one of my favourites, featuring one of Styles' most delicate and heartbroken lyrics; and a beautiful string interlude in the middle.




7) DNCE ft Nicki Minaj - Kissing Strangers
This has been out for a while, but gets an entertaining new video today, so in it goes...




8) Sub Focus ft Alma - Don't You Feel It
A solid, if somewhat unremarkable, summer jam.




9) Now, Now - SGL
US radio station NPR described this as "a heart-throbbing pop song with a karaoke-bar blast radius", and who am I to argue?




10) Sigrid - Don't Kill My Vibe (Live on Later)
This is a bit of a cheat, because Sigrid's EP came out last week. But this Jools Holland performance is one of those "oh, I get it now" moments, where the singer's charisma bursts through the screen and brings the song vividly to life.

Which, it turns out, is exactly why she sparked a record label bidding war last year - and there's a fascinating account of how Island beat the competition to get her signature over on Music Business Worldwide.

And that's your lot. Not a vintage week, by all accounts. But don't forget the Paramore album is out today, which kind of makes up for everything else.

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Three weeks off - what did I miss?

Huge apaologies for the (latest) break in blog posts. It was a double whammy of work deadlines leading into a family holiday. But I'm back once again like the "renegade master" ("tired father of two"). And here's a round-up of what I listened to in the break.

Paramore - Hard Times
Paramore have really been through the wringer - with an ever-changing line-up and all sorts of legal demands from former members. It got so bad they nearly packed it all in: "Two years ago I asked Taylor (York, guitarist) if we could start a new band," Hayley Williams told The Guardian. "I was so sick of this crap. I said we should just try something new, give it a new name."

But, as she's done many times before, Williams clung on and turned the bad times into a rollicking radio hit. The aptly-named Hard Times takes its cues from Talking Heads and Blondie, all clipped guitar lines and arch vocal stylings. It is an utter triumph.





Lana Del Rey ft The Weekend - Lust For Life
Of course, in Lana Del Rey's world, "lust for life" translates as "drifting woozily over a moonlit graveyard" but what a song. What. A. Song.





Katy Perry - Bon Appetit
Plans for Katy Perry's political album have been shelved in favour of this ode to oral sex.






Kendrick Lamar - DNA
Kendrick's new album, DAMN FULL STOP, doesn't move me in quite the same way as To Pimp A Butterfly - its lyrical and musical introspection makes it a much tougher listen. But DNA is a standout, with Mike Will Made-It's starkly simplistic beats focusing your attention on Kendrick's densely-layered lyrics.

The video, in which he takes possession of Don Cheadle's body, is also worth watching.





Goldfrapp - Systemagic
The lyrics are some old bollocks about the moon - but the song is vintage Goldfrapp, with Alison's ethereal vocals the chocolate sprinkles on Will Gregory's synth cappuccino. (Sorry, I'm all out of metaphors).





Ardyn - Together
Ardyn are twin brother and sister Rob and Katy Pearson, who hail from Gloucestershire. Their new single was written in a caravan on a keyboard purchased from Lidl; and it's messy tangle of strummed guitar and dark-pop harmonies is an absolute delight.





Haim - Right Now
Haim's comeback song is very emphatically not a single (that comes next week, fact fans), which is a relief as Right Now feels very much like track nine on a 10-track album. Great video, though.






Tove Styrke - Say My Name
Tove Styrke's second album, Kiddo, was my favourite record of 2015 - and now she's back, with a typically quirky take on Swedish pop. Her girl power lyrics have transmuted into something altogether more sex-obsessed, but her wayward lyrics are still superb: "Say my name - wear it out like a sweater."





Dua Lipa ft Miguel - Lost In Your Light
A steamy banger, in which Dua and Miguel tussle over lyrics like "let me ride in your love all night". Phwoar.




Harry Styles - Sign Of The Times
According to Cameron Crowe's Rolling Stone profile of Sir Harry Stylesworth, this song is written from the perspective of a mother who, while in labour, is told she will die if her baby is to survive, which is quite a thematic departure from, say, Best Song Ever.

I'm still ambivalent about the song. Depending on my mood, it's either a brave attempt to write a power ballad that mixes the best bits of Life On Mars and Purple Rain, or a Stereophonics cast-off that outstays its welcome.




Royal Blood - Lights Out
This is going to KICK OFF at the Pyramid Stage come June.




Kygo ft Ellie Goulding - First Time
Yet another midtempo EDM song that wimps out at the chorus. Note to producers: A squiggly synth line is no substitute for a melody, and we're onto your trick now.




Ride - All I Want
I wasn't expecting much from the Ride reunion. The Stone Roses aside, I was never that keen on shoegaze indie; and Andy Bell's stint in Beady Eye didn't exactly set the world alight. But this is, somehow, rather brilliant.




Ibibio Sound Machine - The Chant
Fronted by London-born Nigerian singer Eno Williams, Ibibio Sound Machine smash together West African funk and British electro-pop in a way that will make your jelly shake right off its plate. The Chant has just been added to the 6 Music playlist, and rightly so.



DNCE ft Nicki Minaj - Kissing Strangers
Ridiculous. Good. But not ridiculously good.

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Lorde, Louisa and the rest of New Music Friday: 10 March 2017

Here we are again. In a post-Ed Sheeran landscape, none of these songs have a hope in hell of charting but what are the charts really for any more? Just listen to this stuff on Spotify and get on with your life.

Louisa Johnson - Best Behaviour
It starts off with a Curtis Mayfield bassline and a distorted vocal sample. Then Louisa summons in a chorus of handclaps (never not a good thing), then the hook is played on a panpipe. One of the most unusual and brilliant songs ever released by an X Factor winner. 10/10





Lorde - Liability
A sombre piano ballad inspired by Rihanna's Higher - and which really highlights Bowie's influence on Lorde's new album. Contains the lyric "he made the big mistake of dancing in my storm". Amazing.




Nicki Minaj ft Drake and Lil Waybe - No Faults
Nicki is on fire in this rapidly-recorded response to a Remy Ma diss track. "Soon as I wake up keep an eye out for the snakes," she spits on the single, which precedes her fourth album later this year.




Steps - Scared Of The Dark
Astonishingly good. Imagine if this was our Eurovision entry.




Alt-J - 3WW
If you can imagine Fleet Foxes covering Massive Attack's Teardrop, you're well on your way to imagining Alt-J's new single. Complete with choir chants, strings from the London Metropolitan Orchestra and guest vocals from Wolf Alice’s Ellie Rowsell, it's "quite the thing".




Astrid S - Breathe
A 100 carat electro-pop anthem, mined from the jagged fjords of Norway. Contains my favourite lyrics of the week: "Did you slip me a magic pill? You got me lifted like an astronaut, no helmet on and my lungs just stop. I forget to breathe when I'm with you".




Laura Marling - Wildfire
Laura's sixth (sixth!) album, Semper Femina, is out today and it's possibly the best thing she's done. Wild Fire is one of the standouts, but you should also investigate the jazz-infused Soothing and the gorgeous Nouel.




Charli XCX - Babygirl (ft Uffie)
Today sees the release of Charli's long-awaited Number 1 Angel. It might be a mixtape, but most artists would kill to have these 10 tracks as a single. Babygirl is a highlight - all chunky mid-80s Madonna basslines, with a funky rap verse from Uffie.




Stargate ft Sia and Pink - Waterfall
Stargate are the Swedish team behind Beyonce's Irreplaceable, Rihanna's Rudeboy, and the majority of Coldplay's last album. Sia is a songwriter of some repute. Pink is a pop star turned trapeze artist. Together, they have turned in a song that sounds exactly like you would expect based on their standard operating parameters. Not bad, just so-so.



Steel Banglez - Money
While Stormzy and Skepta make great strides in broadening Grime's horizons, this single relies on the same old stale tropes we've heard a million times. It's a shame, because the production - from one of London's hottest young musicians - is on point.



Goldfrapp - Ocean
"We wanted to sort of bring the synths again," Alison Goldfrapp told Billboard about this new track. And, oh boy, are the synths back. This is huge - recalling the tougher moments of Black Cherry and Supernature, with a shade of Depeche Mode darkness. Not a single, but a stunning song nonetheless.

There's also a Clean Bandit single due out today, but it hasn't appeared yet. It'll probably turn up on Greg James or Zane Lowe's show later this afternoon. Radio, eh?

Update: The Clean Bandit single is out next week. As you were.

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Must listen: Bebe Rexha & Nicki Minaj - No Broken Hearts

"This is a star-studded collaboration," boasts the intro to this song - somewhat inaccurately, it turns out. By my count the only star present is Nicki Minaj. But then again, singer and co-writer Bebe Rexha (best Scrabble hand ever) could easily go stellar this year. If you don't know her already, the Albanian-American singer wrote the chorus for Eminem's The Monster; and sang the hook on David Guetta's Hey Mama.

No Broken Hearts is her first fully-fledged solo single, following last year's well-received I Don't Wanna Grow Up EP. And despite the dated references to "the club", it's an insidiously groovy urban-pop jam.

According to a press release, Rexha made the chorus up on the spot. "I had been heartbroken three times that week," she says. "I went to the studio, and I was crying my eyes out. As soon as I walked to the mic, it came to me. We captured the first take right when I heard the song.

"There's nothing mathematical to my writing," she adds. "I turned sadness into an anthem for not letting anything or anyone slow you down."

Speaking last month, the singer (who we first met as part of Pete Wentz's side project Black Cards) said the rest of the song wrote itself when Nicki Minaj turned up in the studio.

On my next single. I didn't get to write a bridge cause I was blessed with an incredible rap by someone who murders it.

— Bebe Rexha (@BebeRexha) February 14, 2016

When that verse includes the line: "Keeps his dick wetter than a cruise ship", you have to agree.

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Songs you may have missed: Songs I may have missed edition

Oh lordy. Two weeks off and so much good music to catch up with. Here are some of the highlights, accompanied by a desultory 5-word review.

1) Lana Del Rey - High By The Beach
The template has been refined.




2) Chvrches - Leave A Trace
The creation of a star.




3) Hailee Steinfield - Love Myself
Amazing songs deserve better visuals.





4) Disclosure ft Kwabs - Willing & Able
One to sink into deeply.





5) Dmitri Vegas & Like Mike ft Ne-Yo - Higher Place
Luscious, lilting late night anthem.





6) Calvin Harris & Disciples - How Deep Is Your Love
Generic dance music video ahoy.




7) Duran Duran - You Kill Me
Spot the clunky Bowie reference




8) Krept & Konan - So Long
Samples SWV's Rain. Is good.






9) Robin Thicke - Back Together (ft Nicki Minaj)
He's still going? Sadly, yes.




10) FKA Twigs - In Time
Uncompromising but compelling but bonkers.





11) Odesza - Light (ft Little Dragon)
Wispy, hypnotic and bloody brilliant.





12) Little Mix - Black Magic (live on the Late Show)
Bring back TOTP. Tomorrow, preferably.




13) The Dead Weather - I Feel Love (Every Million Miles)
Potential new TOTP theme song.

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Beyonce and Nicki Minaj: Feeling themselves

Out of nowhere, Nicki Minaj and Beyonce have premiered the video for Feeling Myself - an ode to their own brilliance, featuring such unlikely boasts as "I can kill your migraine (migraine, migraine)".

The clip sees the R&B powerhouses hanging out at the Coachella festival, feeding each other hamburgers and having a water pistol fight.

It's streaming exclusively to half a dozen people on Tidal - but you can see a 30-second preview on YouTube. Or below. Take your pick.

Nicki Minaj and Beyonce - Feeling Myself

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Kylie covers Bette Davis Eyes and 11 other songs you may have missed

Here you go - 11 songs that Discopop Directory forgot from the first week of October.

There are some real gems in this female-heavy edition... but I'm a little pushed for time, so its one-paragraph synopses only.

1) Kylie - Bette Davis Eyes
Recorded for Radio 2's Sound of the 80s, it's hard to imagine a better-judged cover version.






2) David Guetta ft Sam Martin - Dangerous
David Guetta is responsible for so many identikit Eurodance musical obscenities that it's easy to forget he also made Titanium and I Gotta Feeling. This new single sees him plunder the Daft Punk sample bank, and it's really rather magnificent.





3) Beyonce and Nicki Minaj - Flawless (live)
Amateur (ie shit) footage of this live collaboration has been floating around for a while, but Beyonce uploaded a professional version two nights ago. It's quite something.






4) Fiona Apple - The Container
An unreleased track dusted down for the opening titles to new US drama The Affair (starring Dominic West and Maura Tierney) this is the best adult pop theme song since Regina Spektor's You've Got Time.

6) Tove Styrke - Borderline
"I'm borderline happy and I'm borderline sad, I'm borderline good and I'm borderline bad" - a bubbling, scandipop gem from music's second-best Tove. Warning: May cause earworms.






6) Charli XCX - London Girls
Equal parts Toto Coleo, Joan Jett and Girls Aloud's theme song for Freaky Friday, this is a riotous teaser for Charli's forthcoming album, Sucker. Oi!





7) Jessie J - Burnin' Up (fr 2 Chainz)
"It's an uptempo love song that uses fire as a metaphor for lust," explains lyric website Popgenius, with unprecedented levels of insight. Personally, I'm more intrigued by Jessie's reference to "subliminal sex".

And by intrigued I mean repulsed.





8) Karen Harding - Say Something
Getting kicked out of the X Factor at the judges' houses stage last year was the best thing that ever happened to her. Co-written by MNEK, like everything else these days.





9) Oh Land - Head Up High
First single from the cheekbonally blessed Danish singer's forthcoming album, Earth Sick. Synthalicious.

10) Ibeyi - River
Signed by XL Recordings, nu-soul group Ibeyi consists of French-Cuban twin sisters Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi Díaz, daugthers of the Cuban percussionist and Buena Vista Social Club member Anga Díaz. (I copied this directly from Stereogum, spelling mistakes and all, so blame them if the facts are wrong).

Judging by this Google image search, the twins were tragically born with conjoined hair, which much make their concerts interesting to watch.




11) RKCB - Elision
Fans of Jungle will get a familiar thrill from the hushed electro-funk of this track, courtesy of LA production duo RKCB. Lovely late-night stuff with impressive use of the "stereo field", for music nerds.




12) Cheryl - Only Human
I haven't been bowled over by the singles from Cheryl's fourth album but this - a pre-order giveaway - is a vast improvement. Spiralling of melody and fulsome of bass, it's one of the best things she's done across her entire solo career.

OK - that's your lot. More of the same next week.

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Nicki Minaj erased from history and 10 other songs you may have missed

A semi-regular round-up of songs that slipped through the cracks. The late September collection sounds a lot like this.

1) Jessie J and Ariana Grande - Bang Bang
Amazingly, there are still radio stations that won't play pop songs with a rap breakdown in case it "alienates" their listeners. Never mind that Jay-Z is 44, and Grandmaster Flash is pushing 60 - apparently there are people who cannot comprehend a musical genre that originated five decades ago. It's like a 1970s radio station refusing to play Born To Run because the saxophone solo might remind people of the jazz era.

It doesn't help that the record labels pander to this nonsense, which is why a Nicki Minaj-free version of Bang Bang exists, despite her verse being the only respite from three minutes of sub-Aguilera screeching.






2) Queen + Michael Jackson - There Must Be More To Life Than This
Started in 1981, finished a couple of weeks ago, this track will feature on the upcoming compilation Queen Forever.

Queen's sessions with Jackson allegedly faltered when the King of Pop objected to Freddie Mercury inhaling vast amounts of cocaine in his living room. On the basis of this track, it does sound like Jackson was a little overwhelmed by the moustachioed rock legend, with his fragile, quivering vocals no match for Mercury's bravura performance.

A Jackson-free version of There Must Be More To Life Than This surfaced on Mercury's 1985 solo album Mr Bad Guy. This re-dub has been produced by William Orbit who adds strings, guitars and a bombastic coda that recalls The Beatles' Hello Goodbye.






3) Brika - Options
"Sometimes love isn't enough to stop trains and planes like in the cinemas".

This stripped-back, tabla-powered song is pop at it's most elegant and groovesome. I love it to bits.






4) Hozier - Do I Wanna Know (Live Lounge cover)
A real stand-out moment from Radio One's More Music Month, transforming Arctic Monkeys' rollicking rock stomper into a lachrymose lament. Soul-stirring.





5) Mary J Blige - Whole Damn Year
The second track to emerge from Mary J's London Sessions album is an Emeli Sande / Naughty Boy collaboration, and sounds almost exactly like you'd expect - a break-up ballad in the classic soul template, with a killer vocal and an sucker-punch lyric.

"It took a whole damn year to repair my body," groans Mary J Blige. Ouch.






6) Hugh - One Of These DaysA lolloping, laid-back, smooth-as-peanut-butter groove from London newcomers Hugh.

Apart from being impossible to Google, the four-piece take pride in their melting pot of influences - Soul II Soul, Grizzly Bear, Beach House, Young Disciples. You can hear them all in this track, the opening number from their forthcoming EP.





7) Prides - Out Of The Blue
Hardcore synths, pop melodies and a vowel-chewing Scottish accent? No, it's not Chvrches, but hotly-tipped newcomers Prides. You may have seen them at the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games while you were waiting for Kylie. They were impressive then and they're impressive now - with the 18-months-in-the-making video for Out Of The Blue, one of the tracks that got them noticed last year.




8) The Knocks - Classic (feat. Powers)
The Knocks are great. Powers are great. Together they are classic (do you see what I did there?)

The video, for reasons that are never explained, is a tribute to Machiavellian time-sink computer game The Sims.




9) Jessie Ware - Kind Of, Sometimes, Maybe
I'll be honest. I haven't listened to this, in the hope that there'll be a few surprises on Jessie Ware's album when it finally comes out next month.

But if you're the impatient sort, this Miguel-assisted duet is bound to be a beauty.





10) FKA Twigs - Two Weeks (Live on Later)
FKA Twigs delivered a brilliant, blistering rant about being labelled "alt R&B" in The Guardian last month.

"When I first released music and no one knew what I looked like, I would read comments like: 'I've never heard anything like this before, it's not in a genre,'" said Tahliah Barnett. "And then my picture came out six months later, now she's an R&B singer. I share certain sonic threads with classical music; my song Preface is like a hymn. So let's talk about that. If I was white and blonde and said I went to church all the time, you'd be talking about the 'choral aspect'. But you're not talking about that because I'm a mixed-race girl from south London."

It's an excellent point. This sounds nothing like R&B. It sounds like the future. And, now that she's been on Jools, I finally know how to dance to it.





11) Breach - The Key (ft Kelis)
Speaking of mis-labelling, Kelis's new album, Food, has been labelled "Alt R&B" - I think on the basis it was produced by a white man from an indie band. Rubbish - it's classic soul with a modern twist, and one of my favourite records of the year so far.

The Key began life as a reworking of Rumble, one of the first singles from the album. But Kelis liked it so much, she jumped into the studio with Breach (aka Ben Westbeech) and re-recorded the vocals. It takes me back to the singer's ahead-of-its-time dance album Fleshtone. In other words, it is excellent.

And that's all for this week. Thanks for tuning in!

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Usher is singing about his sexual prowess for a change (ft Nicki Minaj)

Let's face it, if Usher's last single, Good Kisser, had had a catchier tune, it would have been this year's Blurred Lines. A five-minute ode to oral sex, containing the line "you pull it out, then you open wide" - if it didn't make you wretch, you were listening to it wrong.

So the news that he'd teamed up with noted feminist Pharrell Williams for the follow-up didn't fill me with hope. Nor did the title - She Came To Give It To You (we can assume "it" is not a toy train or a birthday card, although it might be a subpoena for a sexual harassment trial).

But actually, the lyrics are not that bad - they're just lazy R&B clichė (from the man who once spent an entire night making love in the club, we should expect nothing less). And the groove is a solid gold Pharrell classic.

Stick around to the end of the video for a Christopher Nolan-style mindbender.

Usher - She Came To Give It To You (ft Nicki Minaj)

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Kiesza dances with Chewbacca, and nine other songs you may have missed

A semi-regular series, rounding up the most interesting and striking new songs, videos and remixes doing the rounds on the internet. This week's top 10 are:

1) Kiesza - Hideaway (live on the street)
This sequence, filmed live for the Jimmy Kimmel show, is a masterpiece of choreography - both in the dancing and the camerawork. I wonder if the Chewbacca moment was planned?




2) Nicki Minaj - Anaconda
Fans of buttocks rejoice. Not only has Nicki Minaj sampled Sir-Mix-A-Lot's Baby Got Back, but she has posed for the artwork in the popular supermodel pose: "doing a poo".



3) Sir-Mix-A-Lot - Baby Got Back (with the Seattle Symphony)
Speaking of Baby Got Back, here's a surprisingly funky orchestral version. Kudos to the bespectacled dancer. She's clearly been waiting for this moment all her life.



4) Katy Perry - This Is How We Do
Nice video, shame about the song.



5) Katy Perry - Roar (at the White House)
This, on the other hand, is lovely: A stripped-down, semi-acoustic version of Roar, performed during a Special Olympics reception at the White House.

"I love Katy Perry," said President Obama, introducing the pop star on stage. "She is just a wonderful person. I just met her mom, now I know why she's such a wonderful person."

Oh, get a room you two.



6) Tove Styrke - Even If I'm Loud... (White Sea Remix)
The jitterbug groove of Tove Styrke's comeback single is currently my default "blast the speakers" song in the car, but this remix throws the pop hooks into a cinematic abyss. Unsettling but wonderful.




7) Stevie Nicks - The Dealer
Not quite a new song from Stevie Nicks - this was originally written for Fleetwood Mac's Tusk album in 1979, and a demo version has surfaced on bootlegs for a number of years.

In fact, it was those bootlegs that inspired Nicks to polish off the song and re-record it with Dave Stewart (urgh) for a new album, 24 Karat Gold — Songs From the Vault, featuring a ton of "lost tracks" from her recording career.



8) Ben Howard - End Of The Affair
How do you announce your comeback after your debut won two Brits and a Mercury Prize nomination? Why, with a pensive eight-minute ballad that frequently lapses into complete silence, but ultimately climaxes with two minutes of howling muso nonsense.

Daytime radio gold.



9) Tkay Maidza - Uh-Huh
This technicolor jam from Adelaide's Tkay Maidza isn't the first rap track to reference Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Fabolous got there first - but it is the best.



10) The Chainsmokers - Kanye (ft Sirens)
After the abomination cultural phenomenon that was #Selfie, The Chainsmokers are back with another zeitgeisty dance track.

This one, at least, has a neat lyrical conceit: "One day I’ll stand with a crown on my head like a god," sings the sweet-voiced Sirens. "I wanna be like Kanye".

Will be inescapable within a week.

That's plenty to be getting on with, I'm sure you'll agree. But if you're hungry for more - check out the links to the rest of this week's posts on the left hand side.

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Lykke Li riddled with bullets and 10 other songs you may have missed

Here you go: A semi-regular round-up of songs I didn't have time to write about during the week, including tasty morsels by this load of reprobates.

1) Lykke Li - Gunshot
Let's start with the most disturbing video of the week, in which Lykke "laugh-a-minute" Li stumbles round the world's oddest car park, being shot by invisible bullets. A lighthearted romp.





2) Cam'Ron ft Nicki Minaj - So Bad
The video is hilariously low-budget (hello, green screen!) but the doo-wop indebted duet is damned catchy. Plus, Cam'ron makes the world's worst Angry Birds pun, so well done on that front.





3) Haim - Oh Well (live at T In The Park)
Always a highlight of their live shows, this Fleetwood Mac cover lets Danielle Haim let fly with her crazy axe skills. One of the highlights of the TV coverage of T in the Park.





4) DJ Fresh ft Ellie Goulding - Flashlight
Originally a bonus track on Ellie's Halcyon Days re-release last year, this has been given a fresh lick of paint and turned into DJ Fresh's new single. As they said in the 70s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.





5) Moko - Your Love
Produced by Chase & Status (for whom Moko sang Count On Me last year) this chiming soul-house track is a guaranteed floor-filler. Nice pigtails, too.





6) Alt-J - Hunger of the Pine
A simply stunning video.





7) Pharrell - Get Lucky (live at T In The Park)
Great performance from Pharrell on last year's song of the summer. I'm not sure "make it rain" means the same in Scotland as it does in his native Virginia, though.





8) Marina and the Diamonds - Untitled new song
This brief snippet, posted on Instagram during the week, is the first taster of Marina's forthcoming third album.

A simple piano/vocal, with shades of Lana Del Rey (or anyone else who sings over a piano, to be honest) it sounds extremely promising: "There's no rush anymore, time's on my side," sings Marina, "All my worries are gone, I'm enjoying the ride."





9) Mike Mago & Dragonette - Outlines
Pop's best kept secret (that's Dragonette) team up with some Dutch guy (that's Mike Mago) for this dreamy dance track. Too deep to match the chart success of Dragonette's previous collaboration - Martin Solveig's Hello - this is a welcome addition to my summer playlist nonetheless.






10) Indiana - Heart on Fire
I meant to post this two weeks ago when it came out, then my brain went fzzrt.

Better late than never, though, here's Nottingham-born newcomer Indiana (aka Lauren Henson) with a great big "sobbing over a drum machine" popballad. Fans of Robyn will like this quite a lot.




11) Sigma ft Paloma Faith - Changing
As fresh and exciting today as it was on Monday, when I first wrote about it - even though, as Don't Falter hitmaker Mint Royale pointed out, it's "obviously based on a Lana sample which they've then replaced with 'something similar'".

Interesting choice of outfit from Paloma, as ever.

And that's that. Enjoy the sunny weekend!

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Three colours Alicia Keys

Talk about indecisive: Alicia Keys has just released three versions of her new single, which she'll be performing at the MTV VMAs this Thursday.

The song finds Keys in default power ballad mode but the title - Girl On Fire - is likely to make fans of The Hunger Games sit up and make this noise.

As far as I can see, the track isn't officially linked to the book/film (whose protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, is nicknamed The Girl On Fire) but there's nothing to suggest she wasn't inspired by it. Certainly, the lyrics would fit the story of the determined-but-troubled heroine perfectly:

Everybody stands, as she goes by

Cause they can see the flame that's in her eyes

Watch her when she's lighting up the night

Nobody knows that she's a lonely girl

And it's a lonely world

But she gonna let it burn, baby, burn

The three versions of the song aren't vastly different, but fans will find it difficult to choose a favourite. Here they are, complete with handy colour-coded artwork.

1) Version One - Red

Featuring a surprisingly subdued Nicki Minaj, "Inferno" is the urban mix.

2) Version Two - Blue

Much less bombastic. Sounds a bit like Phil Collins. Destined for Radio 2.

3) Version Three - Full colour mix

This is the "original", and is essentially the Nicki Minaj version minus Nicki Minaj. It will be played on rural radio stations who still insist that rap never happened.

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Here is Nicki Minaj's video for Starships

The much-delayed, heavy-on-the-subtlety video for Nicki Minaj's Starships has finally arrived.

If you've been hoping the clip would linger on uncomfortably explicit shots of Nicki's boobs then, boy, are you in luck.

Nicki Minaj - Starships


So, is starships basically a euphemism for tits? Answers on a postcard, etc.

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Madonna's Super Bowl performance: 10/10

Even LMFAO couldn't spoil it...

Madonna - Super Bowl Half Time performance 2012


As one friend pointed out on Facebook: "Madonna makes an amazing cheerleader because behind that smile you know she's a bitch."

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Cheerleaders and leotards

What is this, Madonna? 1985?

Madonna - Give Me All Your Luvin'


Madge'n'MIA'n'Minaj (Madgina for short) are performing this at the SuperBowl this weekend... If it's as good as the video, it's going to be spectacular.

If you can't watch the video at work, here are the key frames.

1) Nicki Minaj can't believe her luck.

2) M.I.A. shakes her pom-poms.

3) For Madonna's big entrance, she is pushing a pram, because she is just a regular mum like the rest of us.

4) M.I.A. is left holding the pram because Madonna doesn't really care about children, after all.

5) Bum cheeks.

6) Director instructs the principal vocalists to line up in descending order of height.

7) Cunning perspective trick resembles cut-price version of Lionel Richie's Dancing On The Ceiling.

8) If Madonna entered a Madonna look-alike competition, do you think she would win?

9) Literally no idea what's going on here.

10) Backing dancer has an opportunistic grope.

11) It all ends up at the imaginatively-named "Disco Club".

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New from Nicki Minaj - Roman In Moscow

My, my, my, she's pelican fly - but I've always thought Nicki Minaj had her wings clipped when she signed her record deal. Her early mix-tapes and guest spots were scene-stealing claps of thunder but, Superbass aside, the Pink Friday album was curiously weak.

But maybe I'm not the best judge of these things... According to Nicki's Twitter profile, she's a "Platinum selling recording artist, writer & actress. PINK FRIDAY boasts the most charted singles by any female rap album in Billboard history." Eat on that, haters.

Refreshingly, the follow-up to Pink Friday seems like it'll go heavy on the snarl and swagger. Nicki released the first track, Roman In Moscow, over the weekend and it literally collapses under the weight of its own attitude.

By the two-minute point, the Moment 4 Life hitmaker is just listing things she's not prepared to do: A hook, a third verse, refrain from swearing, "etc".

Roman In Moscow is available to purchase now and it sounds like this.

Roman In Moscow by Nicki Minaj


PS Gabrielle's blog is a good read, if you fancy finding out any more.

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Kanye West goes for gory

On the same day that a government review has called for age-ratings on music videos, Kanye West has unveiled a six-minute gothic horror film which instantly demands an 18 certificate.

Monster is, for me, the standout track on Wests's latest album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. A sparse, schizoid earworm with cameos from Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj and Rick Ross, it's one of the few tracks that doesn't suffer from the record's grandiose production excesses. Clips from the video surfaced back in December, so it's not entirely certain why it's taken so long for the finished product to arrive - although there were rumours that MTV wouldn't show it in its original form.

Featuring a grisly parade of ghouls, vampires, decapitations and deformed bodies, the new edit hardly seems suited for daytime TV, either. Here are a few of the most memorable moments... They're not recommended for the squeamish.

Notably, the video is preceded by a petulant disclaimer "THIS IS AN ART PIECE AND IT SHALL BE TAKEN AS SUCH" which anticipates the inevitable attacks from the conservative media. It also provides a neat echo of Michael Jackson's pre-roll statement in the Thriller video ("this film in no way endorses a belief in the occult") to which Monster owes a considerable stylistic debt.

The video isn't available for embedding - but click on this link to take you to Kanye West's official site for the premiere.

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Must watch: The Muppets cover Kanye's Monster

This might not remain on YouTube for too long, so catch it while it's fresh... A fan video remixing Kanye West, Jay-Z and Nicki Minaj's awesome, profane album cut Monster, with added input from the Jim Henson workshop. Brilliant editing. Required viewing.

Kanye West - Monster (Muppet Mix)

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Blue-screen disasters of our time

Here is a new version of Will.i.am and Nicki Minaj's single, Check It Out, where someone has chroma-keyed in a performance from Cheryl Cole.

Put it this way, James Cameron's special effects team won't be losing any sleep.



Oh dear.

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