MP3 Frenzy - Holiday edition

Hello! I'm just about to set off on a fancy two-week jaunt around the North-East coast of the US, so I won't be updating the blog for the next two weeks or so.

I'll be visiting Boston, Cape Cod and New York - and hopefully taking in some great live music in the process. I've already got tickets for Regina Spektor, and I'm going to try to get into a Lily Allen gig in NYC. Full reports when I get back.

In the meantime, read all those fantastic websites I've linked to on the right hand side, and enjoy these MP3s of stupid rock acts covering sparkly pop songs.


Damian Rice - Get The Party Started



Travis - Baby One More Time



The 4 Of Us - Sound Of The Underground


Normal service will be resumed on Monday, 16th October. See you then!

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Video of the week: Wild Boys

I can't believe I've been writing this feature since January and not managed to talk about Duran Duran's videos yet. Here's where I make amends.

Many people think of Duran Duran's promo clips as the epitome of wasteful 80s shallowness. And, to be fair, that's not an unfair conclusion. The band jetted off to Antigua and Sri Lanka, hired massive yachts, made girls strip and sprayed countless litres of hairspray directly at the ozone layer.

But the videos do have a few saving graces. They are eye-catching, full of personality, snappily edited, and as often as not, tongue-in-cheek. The video for "Hungry like The Wolf" was so cinematic, in fact, that Duran Duran became one of the first acts to be broken by MTV.

Wild Boys came a few years later and, perhaps, marks the point where they began to lose the plot. It was crazily expensive, and ditched their jet-setting fashion model look in favour of a dystopian fantasy world full of S&M fetishists and disembodied heads. Luckily, the band hadn't quite disappeared up their own arses by this point, so they play their parts with panache, not pomposity.

For director Russell Malachy the video was supposed to be a calling card. He wanted to make a full-length feature based on the frankly freaky 1971 novel "The Wild Boys: A Book Of The Dead" by celebrity junkie William S. Burroughs - and this was a mini-version of that film, produced in an attempt to raise funds.

Simon Le Bon wrote the song based on what little he knew of Burroughs' book (he certainly hadn't bothered reading it) and the video was filmed at the 007 stage in Pinewood studios.

What impresses me most about the whole endeavour is how Malachy managed to get the band to go along with his vision. You can picture the scene:

Malachy: "So, Andy, we're going to suspend you from the roof, where you'll fight off flying gargoyles with your guitar. And Simon, you'll be thrown off a spinning windmill into a swimming pool full of piranhas."
The Duran: " ... "

As you can tell, the video is brilliantly ridiculous. Absolutely potty in the way only 1980s pop promos can be. It won the 1985 Brit Award for Best Video, and is probably the only deserving winner of that prize in the ceremony's history (they abandoned the category in 2001 after Robbie Williams won it three years in a row.)

Here it is:

PS That windmill nearly killed Simon Le Bon when it broke down with his head submersed in the water. If he had died, Duran Duran would be thought of as one of the UK's seminal pop acts, instead of a dreadful joke. Makes you think, doesn't it?

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Short notes

Some articles I have been reading today:

What does Beyoncé look like without her hair weave? Like this.

Extensions or not, Jamelia isn't pleased with Beyoncé at all: "I heard Beyonce recorded B-Day in two weeks," she moans. "When you write an album you need to take breaks to re-connect with your self. I'd have liked it if she'd have been more adventurous... The album is good. It's just not great."

Presumably, Jamelia is pissed off that Beyoncé has managed to release two albums in a year and didn't put her career on halt to have a baby in the meantime. These modern women, eh? They'll be wanting the vote next.

Blur bassist Alex James finds something to do while he waits for Damian Albarn to remember his former band. "The more I think about cheese, the more I like it and the more I want some. That's why I'm taking matters into my own hands." He sounds like a man after my own heart...
Read more at nme.com

Microsoft admits the initial batches of its XBox 360 console were faulty and offers to repair them out of warranty.

Gwen Stefani's range of fashion dolls are unveiled.

How to write a book for dummies, for dummies.

Details of Kylie's new single, White Diamonds (rumoured to be produced by the Scissor Sisters) appear in Australia's Daily Telegraph. "It's such an important part of recovery to get on and do what you do and be who you are. I'm finally starting to come out of that haze," she says. Good for her.

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Alesha Dixon's new video, Knockdown

What has improved since Alesha's previous single Lipstick?

The haircut

The dance routine

The lyrics

What has not improved since Alesha's previous single Lipstick?

The song

The height of her trousers

The likelihood of scoring a hit single

Oh dear.

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Instant review: Janet's 20 Y.O.

As you may have spotted, I'm a massive Janet Jackson fan - going right back to the days of Control, which was released when I was (eeek!) eleven years old.

Janet's new album 20 Years Old marks the anniversary of the release of Control and it's out today. Being something of a traditionalist in these matters I have held out 'til the release date and bought it in a shop, on a CD.

Given that the two singles have been pointless drivel, I'm not holding out much hope for the 12 new songs but I'm going to give it a try, and I'll take you along for the journey.

Lucky you.

1. Introduction A tape rewinds. Clips of classic Janet tracks are played in. Janet says there's no theme for this album. She just wants to have fun. Me too.

2. So Excited We've heard this before, and it actually sounds a lot better than the MP3s that have been floating around. My hopes are raised just a little...

The song features a cheeky old skool drum beat, complete with orchestra hits and saucy little rap from Khia. But the melody is paper-thin and, despite Janet's declaration, this song is about something. It's about sex.

3. Show Me If you want a piece of Janet, you've gotta work for it. That's the message here. Oh, and also, Janet likes sex quite a lot.

4. Get It Out Me The title suggests this could be an ode to the rhythm method of contraception. Sadly, no. "Boy don't you stop. You found my spot," sings Janet. She has had approximately seven orgasms in the first ten minutes of this album...

5. Do It 2 Me ...But she's not finished yet. Honestly, the woman has a one track mind. And that track is definitely not Jermaine Stewart's We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off (To Have A Good Time).

6. This Body This one's about a porn mag. Seriously.

7. 20 Part 2 (interlude) By virtue of the fact that it has no lyrics, this is the first track on the album that doesn't concern doing "it" over and over again until your mimsy is raw.

8. With U A ballad! And clearly an attempt to recreate the sound and success of Mariah's We Belong Together. It's nowhere near as good, obviously, but quite sweet nontheless.

9. Call On Me First single. We all know this. And none of us likes it - it bellyflopped into the charts at a lowly number 18 yesterday. The album version is mildly better, like chicken pox compared to shingles.

10. 20 Part 3 (interlude) Incomprehensible conversation between Janet and one of her friends. Skip!

11. Daybreak This is more like it. The first composition solely written by Janet with her long-time collaborators Jam and Lewis. It harks back to the mood of Escapade and Runaway, with a light carefree tune and lyrics about Janet sneaking out to meet her boyfriend after everyone has gone to bed. This woman is 40. How strict are her parents?

12. Enjoy Oh, this is brilliant. The first track on the album that makes me feel like dancing. Another Jam & Lewis production, I note. The backing track sounds like a sample, but there isn't one listed. That's how instantly familiar and wonderfully catchy this is. If you're downloading one track, it should be this one.

13. 20 Part 4 (interlude) There is a contractual obligation for every Janet album to feature a track which consists solely of rain sound effects.

14. Take Care A spiritual successor to ballads like Lonely and Any Time, Any Place. Janet is, once again, in a sexy mood. "Only you can fill my needs," she says to her absent lover. "I'll lay here and take care of it till you come home". Too. Much. Information.

15. Love 2 Love This is just utter bollocks.

16. (outro) 20 part 5 With all seriousness, Janet intones: "Time flashes by / like lightning in the sky". Ahahahahahahahaha. Hahahahaha. Haha. Ha Ha Ha Ha. Ahahahaha!

In conclusion, then - 7 :( out of a possible 10 :('s

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Cheap as chips!

It's the new Girls Aloud video:



For those of you who can't do youtube, here's a scene by scene breakdown.

00:00 The girls have upgraded their motorbikes from the Wake Me Up video to sports convertibles. Fame is indeed a harsh mistress, viewers.
00:37 Sarah changes gear. This is clearly unnecessary given that her car is stationary and being filmed against a backdrop.
00:53 It's already quite clear that this video is cheap and tacky.
Plus ca change, eh?
01:21 Cheryl forgets how to face forward.
01:34 Anticipating the band's imminent dissolution, the girls practice their thigh-slapping panto moves.
01:40 But quickly remind us that they are still the industry leaders in hair tossing.
01:48 Crotch shot! How rude.
02:03 - 02:07 This bit is oddly empty and awkward, in a tribute to Harold Pinter.
02:31 Flashing headlights! Did you know that, although this is a polite gesture in the UK, to French drivers it means 'fuck off'?
03:06 Nicola is wearing some highly ill-advised lipstick. I bet it stains her white polo-neck later on.
03:15 The End.

If you missed my earlier post (where were you?!) the song is called Somthing Kinda Oooh, and its out on October 23rd.

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