Megapost: The last two weeks in a nutshell

Honestly, I turn my back for two seconds and Scouting For Girls go to number one. You lot just can't be trusted by yourselves. Tsk tsk.

Ah well, here's some other musinews and "interesting" links from the last two weeks of blissful inactivity.

:: Thank God for Kelis. Her new single (which actually premiered last November) is a Giorgio Moroder-inspired stone cold classic. It's called a capella, and the video is a triumph. Full marks all round.

Kelis - A Capella


:: Christina Aguilera's new single is called Not Myself Tonight. It's weaker than your nan's tea. (Brightcove)

:: Direct from the 1998 newsroom, reports filter through that Ricky Martin is totally gay for men. (BBC)

:: A novelist reveals the secrets of 24's writing room. Surprisingly, it's not just 12 blokes going "and then Jack punches a guy in the face WITH A HAMMER and everything explodes". But it's close. (New York Times)

:: The Noisettes have done a literally quite good cover version of The Buzzcocks' Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t've) for a Doc Marten anniversary campaign. For some reason, the word "slinky" comes to mind here.

Noisettes - Ever Fallen In Love


:: An insightful, balanced, non-hysterical profile of Lady Gaga of Hitsville. A rare and beautiful thing. (New York Magazine)

:: Another new A-Team trailer was unleashed, featuring gold standard dialogue such as: "I'm B.A. You're going to B.Unconcious" Really? Really?! (Apple)

:: Grammy-nominated R&B artist Janelle Monae has been hovering around on the edges of massive success for a couple of years now. I'd always avoided listening to her because I mistakenly believed she was palefaced West Wing star Janel Maloney (Donna) attempting a godawful music career. Turns out she isn't anything of the sort and her first "proper" single, Tightrope, is good for your ears.

Janelle Monae - Tightrope


:: My interviews with pop warbler Diana Vickers and sensitive troubador Joshua Radin went up on the BBC site while I was away. One was read by 50,000 people, the other by 2,300. Can you guess which was which?

:: Keane have done a song with the teriffic Somalian rap'n'b star K'Naan. The two acts have nothing in common except alphabetical proximity, and the song is… well, put it this way, neither of them looks comfortable in the video. (YouTube)

:: People are still remixing Marina And The Diamonds' I Am Not A Robot and the remixes continue to be brilliant. Expect to hear a lot more, too, because the single's being re-released, properly this time, on 26th April. (Arjan Writes)

:: Mini Viva continued their slow transformation into Mel and Kim (When they were both alive, obviously. Don't be sick.)

Mini Viva - Candy


:: The difference between real 3D (ie Avatar) and cheap 3D (ie everything else) is not being made apparent to cinemagoers forking out £5 extra for their ticket. (The Hollywood Reporter)

:: Popjustice alerts us to the existence of a mysterious new pop duo called Royal Palms, who proclaim "Yacht Rock is back". They have potential. (Popjustice

:: The perils of adapting non-fiction books for the movies (The Washington Post)

:: Break out the keytars! It's only bloody Goldfrapp doing their "massive hit single" Rocket on the telly.

Goldfrapp - Rocket

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Easter slowdown

Is it just me or is there no new music around at the moment?

While we wait for normal service to be resumed, here are the Noisettes live on Jools Holland from t'other night. Mighty impressive, I reckon.

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Noisettes + Killers = Beautiful

The Noisettes are poised to be number one (or two) this weekend with their infectiously funky single Don't Upset The Rhythm. Earlier today, in an effort to scale the chart peak, they broke out the crampons and began to ascend Mount Killers-manjaro. [okay, let's leave that metaphor alone for now - Ed].

In other words, they did a cover of When You Were Young in Radio 1's Live Lounge. It was damned good 'n all.

Noisettes - When You Were Young


Interesting fact: Because of the single's runaway success, the group's album, Wild Young Hearts, has had its release date moved forward from June to 30th April. Despite veering dangerously close to Morcheeba territory on occasion, it's a bit of a mini masterpiece. I'll discuss it more at a later date...

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New music: Noisettes

Don't be frightened, readers! The cast of Play Away haven't been bitten by zombies - this is a band called the Noisettes. And, yes, you're right, that is what they used to call the hazelnut chocolate in a box of Quality Street.

Described on the Wikipedia as an "indie rock trio", they've been failing to reach the top 40 since 2006. Which, I admit, is very indie of them. However, their new single sounds a bit like Brand New Heavies (in the good way). It's called Don't Upset The Rhythm, and it goes a little something like this.



There is a video for this song, which is set in a Lost In Space-style cardboard cutout space scene. It has a segment where lead singer Shingai Shoniwa is hit by lightning (and survives!) and another bit where she stands on the spot as dancers gyrate next to her, thus giving the impression that she, too, is dancing. In the industry, this is known as "doing a Leona".

Sadly, Mercury Records have stipulated that 'embedding is disabled by request' - the absolute worst marketing decision since they took the artificial colours out of Smarties.

Luckily, Mazda are using the song in to sell their new car, and they have no qualms about letting people see that advert anywhere on the internet... Even if we juxtapose it with a picture of Hitler.

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