New music: Wale - Chillin'

Chicago rapper WALE has been hovering around on the edge of my consciousness ever since 2007's excellent W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E, which did to Justice's DANCE what Kanye West's Stronger did to Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.

That came from a mixtape, 100 Miles & Running, which led to guest appearances on tracks by MIA, Kid Cudi, Daniel Merriweather and.... er, Duffy (his remix of Warwick Avenue is actually pretty awesome).

Anyway, a couple of mixtapes later, and he's finally ready to release an album Attention:Deficit, which is due sometime this summer. If the first single is anything to go by, it's going to be amazing. Chillin' comes in two flavours - with and without Lady GaGa. The former features a sample of Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye - sadly not the Bananarama version - and is clearly going to be the radio mix (who would pass on the oppotunity to have 2009's top underwear model all over their breakthrough single?)

But the GaGa version is vastly inferior to the original, which goes a little something like this:

WALE - Chillin'


Best lyric: "Police come around, don't nobody say nothin. And you be with the cops - you niggas is McLovin'"

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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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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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The Veronicas are in the UK

It's only 18 months since we first mentioned The Veronicas and their album Hook Me Up - and now there are only two months to wait before the record comes out in the UK. That's a streamlined marketing process and no mistake.

To launch their imminent assault on the UK charts, the Aussie twins played an industry showcase in London's trendy London last night. Showcases are the absolute worst way to see a band, as (a) they start at the not exactly rock'n'roll hour of 7pm and (b) they're full of journalists and music industry "people" who are to busy maintaining an air of professional detachment to actually do things like clap, sing along or uncross their arms.

Imagine going to a gig with your boss and you'll get the general idea.

Anyway, the Veronicas managed to rise above the cynicism with a short five-song set that turned their album's slightly over-produced electro goth pop into a full-on rock assault. Jessica, wearing an "I hate your band" t-shirt, strapped on a guitar for some vaguely erotic plank spanking, and Lisa wore a pair of fishnets which, I have subsequently learned, were directly inspired by the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

When it all finished, a producer from Blue Peter told me the band were a "bit too edgy" to feature on her show, what with their tattoos and attitude and tabloid-batiting bisexual banter.

So, for those youngsters who might miss out on the whole Veronica "scene" because of the BBC's draconian nanny state attitude, here's a video of them playing Take Me On The Floor on a breakfast TV show in Australia, where they have no such concerns for the impressionable young minds of the next generation.

The Veronicas - Take Me On The Floor (live)

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Girls Aloud: Untouchable video

In The Loving Kind, Girls Aloud were trapped in square boxes. For Untouchable, they are stuck inside transparent spheres.

Girls Aloud - Untouchable


If this trend has to continue, I would like to see Girls Aloud imprisoned inside (in order) a triangle, a rhombus, a parellogram, a trapezium and a dodecahedron. For their final single, they can be captured and forced to live inside a big grid of hexagons. Bob Holness will host. The dance routine has already been choreographed.

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Dirty old man

Despite the fact that they have no editorial value whatsoever, I am posting these photos of Girls Aloud - taken from the video shoot for Untouchable. Phwoar crikey, etc.























Poor old Nadine seems to have developed a nasty spot of "jogger's nipple" by the looks of that last one.

The video premieres at 23:05 tonight on Channel 4. I suspect it's a fairly safe bet I'll post the Youtube (youtube) version tomorrow.

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