The great Hyperballad opinion poll of 2010

On Sunday night, Iceland's warbling wonder Bjork was presented with the Polar Music Prize by the King Of Sweden. You don't get that at the Brits, do you?

After she received a cheque for £80,000 (again - not what you'd take home from the BPI), Ms Godmundsdottir was made to sit through a Swesish singer "interpreting" a number from her back catalogue. Luckily, the singer in question was Robyn, and the song was the elegantly barmy Hyperballad. A "win" for all concerned.

But Robyn's not the first person to cover Hyperballad and the results have been, um... varied. Which is your favourite? Have a listen and vote below.

Robyn - Hyperballad



Whitley - Hyperballad


Dirty Projectors - Hyperballad



Some bloke on a guitar - Hyperballad



Bjork - Hyperballad






Hint: It is not the Dirty Projectors

Tweet

BMX Bandits

One of the best things about Mark Ronson's new album, Record Collection, is that it sounds completely spontaneous and relaxed, even though it must have taken months of painstaking work (and phoning up his mates) to piece it all together.

It's a neat trick, because collaborative projects like this often turn out to be studied and ponderous (I'm looking at you, Damon Albarn). Ronson's skill as a producer is that, despite numerous revisions, guest vocals and mixes, he always manages to preserve the giddy headrush of the original creative spark.

The second single off Record Collection is called Bike Song and it is a case in point. Unlike Bang Bang Bang, which was based on the words to a nursery rhyme, this actually sounds like a nursery rhyme (but a very cool nursery rhyme with a rap in it, obviously). It sounds like it was just finished five minutes ago, but listen closely and you'll hear tons of little details - the vintage bicycle bells, the way the guitar line teases and toys with the melody - which can only be the product of pure hard graft.

The video has been deliberately aged to look like one of those 1970s public information films (although, sadly, no-one gets electrocuted after throwing a frisbee into an electrical pylon). Embedding is disabled by Royal Request, but there are two important things to observe:


1) Kyle Falconer of "The View" continues to have ridiculously improbable hair.


2) Just because the cool kids don't wear helmets, it doesn't mean you should follow their example. Reflective clothing, functioning lights and bicycle clips for your pantaloons are also advisable.

The highly-enjoyable video is available on Youtube (Youtube). And there we have it.

Tweet

Tumbleweed corner

Shhh... It's all gone quiet. There won't be any new music round here today. Not unless you want Katy Perry album tracks, questionable taste cover versions or South African rap artists so bad you think they may be taking the piss out of you, themselves, Nelson Mandela and music itself.

In the meantime, then, here is one of my favourite award show performances of all time. No prizes for guessing its a Janet Jackson clip. Two things to note here:

1) The dance breakdown at 4'00" is one of the best pieces of pop choreography ever committed to film.

2) I used to have a massive crush on Nikki Pattenburg, the curly-haired dancer on the far left. These days, she is married to R&B schmaltz-meister Babyface.

Janet Jackson - That's The Way Love Goes / If (1993 MTV VMAs)



Enjoy the bank holiday weekend. Apparently we're due a new Kylie video when we get back to work on Tuesday, so that's nice.

Tweet

Robbie and Gary's duet is a good thing

Burying the hatchet can't be easy, especially when you're in the public eye. So it's heartwarming to see Gary Williams and Robbie Barlow kiss and make up (almost literally, judging by the video) after all these years.

But amidst all the gooey-eyed nostalgia for The That, we have to remember that conflict fuels art. No Regrets, Robbie's two finger salute to his former band, is by far his best song. So the potential for the GazWaz duet, Shame, to be a mawkish chumfest is very, very high indeed.

The early signs are not good. We open with an acoustic guitar riff that is legally (but not audibly) distinct from The Beatles' Blackbird. It's followed by the world's most tired cliché: "There's three versions of this story - mine and yours, and then the truth". It puts the ewww in re-eww-nion.

But, like the singers' relationship, the song starts to mature. The Nashville harmonies and gently strummed guitars conjure up a real sense of nostalgia and regret.

Some of the lyrics - particularly Robbie's "I wrote a letter in my mind / but the words were so unkind / about a man I can't remember" - have the ring of bitter truth.

Other moments - like when Barlow sings about Williams' "poster 30ft high at the back of Toys R Us" - have the rind of a bitter 30-year-old cheese.

Nonetheless, it's a clever and brave single. By pouring all of that emotion into a song, they've not only cleared the air, but neatly sidestepped a thousand interviews about the missing years. The video even suggests that the Take That + Robbie Williams "comeback", which could have been a cynical business arrangement, is based on genuine affection.

On first listen, it sent shivers up my middle-aged spine. But then, I'm a big softy. What think you?

Tweet

Scott Pilgrim bonus material

Comic book film Scott Pilgrim vs The World came out in the UK yesterday. Starring Michael "Arrested Development" Cera, it's a high-calorie energy blast of eye popping action movie mayhem - but with a soft, tender underbelly.

If you grew up in the 80s and owned a Sega Mega Drive, this film is for you. If you didn't, it's still worth checking out.

Over at the BBC, I've put together an intricate, 11-panel comic strip showing how the graphic novel was lovingly and faithfully translated to the big screen. Please click on this link to justify my existence.



And, for those of you who are interested, I've posted the full transcript of my interviews with director Edgar Wright and stars Michael Cera and Jason Schwartzman "after the jump".

Read more »

Tweet

Cee-Lo's new single (nsfwbtfa)

That's "not safe for work but totally freakin' amazing", acronym fans.

Cee-Lo Green - F**K YOU


If you hear that song, with it's mix of doo-wop harmonies, Atlantic Stax soul production and foul-mouthed expletives, and think to youself "I preferred it in the 1960s when soul music expressed itself in a more poetic way", then you have never heard this version of Jackie Wilson and Lavern Baker's Think Twice.

Jackie Wilson & Lavern Baker - Think Twice [version x]

Now go and wash your ears out.

Tweet