This performance is sick. You can tell the bassist knows he’s playing a ridiculous bass groove. I seriously consider this one of the greatest basslines I’ve ever heard. Love the live horns. While it’s too bad Antony isn’t singing it, the singer they have is good and a lot sexier, haha.
Apparently “Telephone” was written with Britney Spears in mind, but she rejected it. Here is the demo of Britney’s recording. I know this is just a demo, but that autotune is just awful. The song is pretty flat. I doubt that a completed version would have been half the monster that the Lady Gaga/Beyonce version is.
Also, here are some U.S. troops in Afghanistan doing a video where there they dance to “Telephone”. It’s pretty funny. The dance one of the troops does at 1:05 is priceless.
So, this is the new Christina Aguilera video. It’s NSFW. If this video is any indication, looks like artists are going to start attempting to compete with Lady Gaga. She’s clearly trying to out “sex freak” her. This video apes the “Bad Romance” video and the “Express Yourself” video. I don’t feel much need to dissect the videos, it’s clear when you watch what Aguilera was “inspired by”. From the white aesthetic, to the outfits, to Aguilera crawling to a saucer of milk, to the shirtless men in rain, to Aquilera standing atop a tall balcony… Of course, Lady Gaga wants to be Madonna in ways, and Madonna wanted to be Marilyn Monroe in ways.
But, Christina Aguilera does get my Hot Mom Award™
No one, including me, liked their last album Our Love To Admire much. I cannot explain why, it sounded like Interpol, but something was missing. Maybe good tunes, I don’t know. Maybe the magic was gone. Anyway, if you give Interpol your e-mail address so they can spam you, you get a free download of their new song and a video which shows the “creation” of their new logo. No joke. I guess after no one liked Our Love To Admire, they decided they needed to reboot. The song is pretty good… but it sounds like Interpol. So, new logo, same sound. Who knows. I also wonder if the song title is supposed evoke memories of their first album, Turn On The Bright Lights.
Interpol – Lights
Here is a link to their site, where you can see the silly video of their new logo being “created” and download the song.
So apparently How To Destroy Angels is Trent Reznor’s new shit being done with his new wife Mariqueen Maandig, since he’s “retired” the Nine Inch Nails name. Based on these 40 seconds, it sounds like NIN. Which is fine, just saying. It’d be interesting to hear NINesque music fronted by a woman. Apparently there will be a 6 song EP out in the summer.
M.I.A. must have predicted this new Arizona Illegal Immigration law that amounts to unconstitutional racial profiling, violating the 4th and 14th amendments (I live in AZ by the way). M.I.A. has stopped being polite, and is getting real bros. The video is pretty brutal, be forewarned. NSFW unless your job is a violent job. The song itself is a good electro-punk track. Based on the audio stream of “Born Free” on her website, apparently the ambient bits in the video aren’t in the actual song. Oh well, I liked those. I’m reminded of the videos for Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” and “Telephone” in that I think both Lady Gaga and M.I.A. have clearly decided they have carte blanche to do whatever the fuck they want.
I haven’t talked about Ke$ha yet. I’ve heard her album, Animal, and it’s fun in a trashy, guilty pleasure way. Some of her songs are catchy. But, it’s not “good” in an artistic sense. Here’s Ke$ha’s performances of “Tik Tok” and “Your Love Is My Drug” on SNL last weekend. First, not everyone needs to have dance routines. Especially this… well… white. And, the two astronaut “dancers” dance like they were fans of hers off the line waiting to get in and Ke$ha paid them $20. Second, she clearly needs her auto-tune. And, is it just me, or does she sound somewhat like Alanis Morissette? Third, she clearly is trying to do a “conceptual” costume/art direction thing like Lady Gaga. But, didn’t we see this shit in a Busta Rhymes video from 12 years ago? Finally, how sad is that moment at the end of “Your Love Is My Drug” where she stops and asks if anyone wants to makeout, and like one guy said “Yeah!”
Also, if you don’t already know, she ripped off her sound from Uffie: