New Britney Spears' video: 3

In which Jive harness the computing technology of ILM to automatically generate a Britney Spears video without any need for user input or creative thought.

So, we get the bit where Britney plays with her hair, the bit where Britney shows a bit of side-boob, and the bit where Britney looks coyly up at the camera with those big brown puppy dog eyes.

It's entirely possible they have a similar programme for writing the song, too.



(If the embedded video doesn't work, you can see the whole thing on Britters' official webthing)

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Ellie Goulding - still very good

We've been writing about Ellie Goulding's new single, Under The Sheets, once a week for the past three weeks, so this post feels like the continuation of some mystic ancient tradition - like Harvest or Hanukkah, only with better music and fewer grown men in frocks.

Now, last week, we inadvertently annoyed Ellie by comparing her video favourably to the new one from Little Boots. We'd forgotten Ellie was supporting Victoria on tour. It was a political nightmare. And then Ellie sent us a Twitter message that simply said :( and we felt guilty for a whole hour.

But she managed to pick herself up and recover from the cruel mental torture. Indeed, just four short days later, she turned up at the BBC and put on this amazing performance for Jools Holland:

Ellie Goulding - Under The Sheets


If you liked that, we suggest tuning in to the full, hour-long Jools Holland show tonight at 11:35pm for further Goulding goodness.

Or, if you have a life, it'll be on the BBC iPlayer on Saturday.

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New music: Middle East - Blood

When work has been a long, hard slog, it's always nice to shut the world outside, dim the lights, and curl up on the sofa with one of those records that makes your shoulders relax with a contented "aaaaaahhhhh". (It also helps to have a mug of cocoa, a toasted teacake, a crackling fire, and a friend to snuggle up to*.)

Middle East - from Australia via Bon Iver's cabin and the Fleet Foxes' local whimsy shop - have made a record that's perfect for this sort of self-indulgent musical therapy.

Middle East - Blood


* But no scented candles, do you hear? And no fucking joss sticks. You'll only end up smelling like an old carpet that's been thrown out of a branch of Lush and left to go soggy with cat's piss in a skip, and nobody wants that.

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Pixie Lott: Cry Me Out video

Cry Me Out is quite clearly the standout track on Pixie Lott's debut album.

Played live by Pixie's pin-sharp soul band, it sounds like the greatest lost torch song of all time (if the greatest lost torch song of all time ripped off Alicia Keys' You Don't Know My Name). The recorded version doesn't quite live up to that promise - the arrangement is a bit too synthetic to allow the melody to soar - but it's a solid 8/10, nonetheless.

The ballad is coming out as a single on 30th November with one beady eye on the Christmas countdown. To help it on it's way, Mercury Records (for whom money seems to be no object when it comes to this project) have splashed out on hiring Jake Nava of Single Ladies fame to direct a Hollywood-style song'n'dance epic.

It isn't going to inspire as many copycat "virals" as Beyoncé's rump-wiggling dance-off, but we'd be over the moon if it sparked a massive surge in synchronised swimming sequences.

Especially if they "accidentally" drown Tinchy Stryder in a paddling pool.

Pixie Lott - Cry Me Out

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Norah Jones sets sail

I know what you're thinking: "Norah Jones? She's AVAST bore and a complete ANCHOR. It's about mariTIME she buggered off. Her music makes me really (skull and) CROSS (bones). Although I admit I'd like to JOLLY ROGER her."

Yes, Norah Jones has made a music song called Chasing Pirates. And the time she's spent hanging out with Outkast, Q-Tip and the Foo Fighters has paid off because it's not some soporific easy listening Katie Melua travesty, but a sultry little shuffle that brushes shoulders with "da fonk", then apologises profusely for getting in the way like that.

The video was directed by Rich Lee, who did the visual effects on the Pirates Of The Caribbean films. It sees Norah hoisting sails on her apartment building and steering it through the crosstown traffic in search of some buried treasure. It's much better than that description makes it sound.

Shiver me timbers, etc, etc.

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New music: Kid Sister - Right Hand Hi

We last checked in with Chi-town rapper Kid Sister back in May 2005, when her day-glo debut Pro Nails popped up on Kanye West's Can't Tell Me Nothin' mixtape.

Since then, she's been working on her debut album, Ultraviolet, and working part time in a children's clothing store. We're not saying the two are connected, but the schizophonic soundclash of her new single Right Hand Hi suggests she's having a tartrazine-induced musical tantrum.

That's a good thing, though. The record grabs your attention, then dunks its head in the toilet, puts electrodes on its nipples, wraps it in fariy lights and takes a polaroid to send to your boss. Which is just a fancy way of saying we like it.

Another way of saying that is: "It's the noise you'd get if Missy Elliot belched Lady GaGa's Poker Face on a kazoo"

Oh, forget it, here's a clip:



If you like it, it's probably coming out on a CD at some point this year, but why wait for that old technology when there's a free, legal download at RCRDLBL today?

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