JUST A REMINDER.

We've moved.

Another quite important music video.

It's Frankmusik's new single! And when I say "new", I mean "first (because the other ones didn't count)."



Better Off As Two is pretty much one of the best pop songs of the year, which bodes well for the album, because 3 Little Words was one of the best not-quite-properly-released singles of last year. I mean, it was up there with Annie's album.

Mr Musik is also doing a very exciting thing to promote the single. It involves Twitter, GPS, a mini-tour and you helping him around the country. It's all about flexing his web fanbase's muscle or making a comment on public surveillance or something.

Speaking of The Year of Electropop.

I am reasonably excited about the Filthy Dukes' album, released next month. If you've not yet seen the video for This Rhythm, watch it!



Good stuff. I hope you like it, because there will be more on them next month. While you wait, check out their fancy website.

I'm not quite missing in action yet.

I didn't forget about this, I swear. I've just been Very Busy with my final semester (I hope) of being an undergraduate. I should be back updating properly soon, but in the meantime...


That new Phoenix song is fairly brilliant, isn't it? Very instant. I think Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix will be on heavy rotation this summer.

You can listen to/download 1901 from their exciting website. The flashing purple bits are a nice touch - clearly the band's people are aware that 2009 is The Year of Electropop (well, it might be).

Anoraak continues to be remixed.

The Nightdrive With You EP by Anoraak was one of last year's best releases, no question about it, and Anoraak currently stands as one of Valerie's strongest contenders. The title song has since been remixed a ludicrous number of times, but unlike some cases where droves of artists start throwing glitter at a turd for no reason, this is a brilliant song being attacked by brilliant people.

I figured the gushing stream of remixes would have ebbed by now. But no!

ENTER BMX. BMX are an incredibly fun band who make incredibly fun music with bouncy New Wave influences. War was one of the best songs I heard last year, and it carried with it the same feelgood factor that Nightdrive With You did. So obviously BMX sticking their fingers in the Nightdrive pie would result in something QUITE AMAZING.

Blouse have the exclusive, let's go see them.

Thanks, Blouse!

Equally good news for fans of Kat DeLuna.

Yes, Kat DeLuna! You know...Kat DeLuna?


Kat's first album was produced by Red One, the man behind Lady GaGa's Just Dance and, erm, Heidi Montag's Fashion. He's also behind that amazing Darin single that, coincidentally, featured Kat DeLuna (probably not a coincidence).

Well, it seems that Ms DeLuna's appearance on that single was a way to lay the groundwork in the European market for what should be her huge breakthrough hit. Unstoppable is a brilliant piece of trashy pop with a cameo from Lil' Wayne. The lyrics are spunky and "fierce", there's a rocky guitar throughout that suggests that this girl has got "attitude", and the guitar is probably not being played by Weezy (thank fuck). It all has the makings of a Latina Lady Gaga/Rihanna hybrid, which can only be a good thing.

Shame the video is piss poor then. :(

Good news for fans of 'choons.'

Scotland is firing all dance cylinders this week with the return of not one but two proprietors of "massive choons."


Calvin Harris' I'm Not Alone is the kind of thing you'd hear on dance compilations in the late '90s while being told "it's proper big in Ibiza right now innit", etc. Gone is the quirkiness of the first album, replaced by a quality that annoying radio DJs will call "EUPHORIC" and "LARGE." And I suppose that works as a description - it starts out laid back and chilled out with acoustic guitars and lovely backing vocals, and then there's all manner of whooshing and excitable trance bits. So yes, very EUPHORIC and LARGE.


Meanwhile, Mylo is back. His comeback single (let's not call it a comeback) is apparently called I'm Back (okay, let's do). But it might not be. It is not quite as EUPHORIC or LARGE as the Calvin Harris, but it is quite brilliant. It seems like a very bizarre choice for a comeback single though, as it's not the most accessible of Mylo tracks and it doesn't have Gloria Estefan on it. Still, I'm sure it's a grower.

Faisal over at Ohh! Crapp has got rips for you if you were born in the '80s.

And I'll throw in that rather fantastic Calvin remix of Sophie Ellis-Bextor's Off & On, which may or may not be on her new album.

THE NEW UTADA IS QUITE SHIT.

In fact, it's so shit that the audio on all of the YouTube rips has been disabled. But you can listen to it here. Oh dear. I mean, it's not AWFUL, but it's disheartening that her attempts to break the American market have been reduced to distinctly average r'n'b songs that sound like every song that got radio play on Kiss last year.

Let's remember the good times and "photoshop all our bad memories."



...still not quite as brilliant as her Japanese stuff, is it? :(

INCOMING: ANOTHER MOODY POP LADY FROM SCANDINAVIA.

This is Oh Land. She makes Quite Serious music. There are electronic influences. Basically, it's a bit like somebody put Björk and Lykke Li in a blender after straining out the more boring bits on their recent albums (c'mon, Lykke Li's album was pretty boring).

Her album has a merman on the cover! Except it's like in those jokes where the mermaid has the head of a fish and the legs of a person.

:(

You might also have noticed the Björky text bubble there. You might think it's a coincidence, but it's probably calculated because a) I thought this was a new Björk song called Oh Land Fauna when I saw it at first and b) the best song on the album is sort of like The Dull Flame of Desire except shorter and therefore better. Well, it's at least less time-consuming.
Elsewhere, songs like Heavy Eyes mix punchy electronic beats with choral backing vocals (think the theme from Candyman gone wonderfully pop) to create pop that's at once menacing and enjoyably infectious. It's very instant, but it still grows on you. What draws you in at first might not be what keeps you coming back for more once you start to notice the sophisticated piano, the occasional delicate percussion and the various clicks and whirrs that give the album its charm. And let's not even get started on the harmonies (actually let's - they're amazing).

The long and the short of it is the album is really very good and it's one of the Scandinavian releases of last year that you should have got instead of Youth Novels. You should rectify that now. If you still need convincing, here's Frostbite.

Oh Land on Myspace

WHEN MUSICIANS USE SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES.

By now I imagine you're aware of who Little Boots is.


If you are not aware of who she is, she is Victoria from Dead Disco making incredibly catchy, smart electropop. With someone from Hot Chip producing. Stuck On Repeat was the biggest 'choon' of last year and sounded exactly what Hot Chip would sound like if they had lady parts. Things are looking good for Victoria and I expect a lot from her this year (no pressure, love).

This is all fine and well, but what really gives Little Boots an 'edge' (hyperbole alert) is that she has recently joined Twitter. "But, Andrew, everyone uses fucking Twitter, what does she want, a medal?" you ask me. The answer is NO. Little Boots does not want a medal. She just wants to understand what the big deal is about Twitter.

While other artists might employ a team of Ivy Leaguers to update their Twitter status in a cold, calculated manner, Ms. Boots has been very hands on despite not being Harvard-educated in the ways of social networking. In a tweet to Popjustice:

"thank you for being my first twitter follower, whatever the fuck that means."

It's like she's saying what we're all thinking, isn't it?

"is totally convinced her hotel room is haunted"

Seriously, musicians, these are the tweets I want to receive. Little Boots Twittergate (it doesn't really need a -gate, does it?) reached maximum amazingness a little under an hour ago, however, with Victoria serenading the spirits in her hotel room with a YouTubed rendition of Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time.



Really, this post was just an elaborate excuse to pass this on, because it's fabulous and has made my morning. But it makes you think, doesn't it? Journalism.co.uk recently put Twitter at the top of their list of Things What Journalizers Need To Be Good With in 2009 because of the way in which it allows you to enter into a discussion with your readers. Similarly, for artists like Little Boots, utilizing sites like Twitter is a grassroots way of interacting with and building an online fan base. Everyone knows the importance of blog buzz in this day and age, but we're moving beyond even that amount of public interaction as artists harness and construct their own buzz, quite literally from their hotel room and armed only with a mobile phone and a laptop. Moreover, with Little Boots teetering on the edge of huge breakthrough success, social networking is yet another way to placate fans with goodies and messages about what you ate for lunch, effectively parrying the dreaded cries of "sellout" and claims of abandoning one's fans once success is assured.

In a world where the CD single is dying on its arse and various music retailers are going into administration, it's perhaps comforting to know that the public are more involved with the music they listen to than ever.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go tweet at Little Boots and tell her to cover Total Eclipse of the Heart or something.

A QUICK UPDATE ABOUT POP'S GREAT HOPE OF 2009 (et. al.).

Frankmusik has recently been going Myspace crazy. After changing his background a few times (honestly, it needs an epilepsy warning) and updating about an encounter with a UFO, Frank/Vincent/Mr Musik mentioned working with Tinchy Stryder on his new single (!), Better Off As Two. According to his Myspace header it is "OUT IN MARCH." How exciting!

You might recognize Tinchy from the Gang Gang Dance album of last year. You'll also recognize him from this rather amazing collaboration with Taio Cruz.

Anyway, we can expect good things from this. It worked before!



I call it Finchymusik.

NEW JAMIE T IS NOISY, EXCITING.

Jamie T's website is now streaming the video for what is - presumably - a new promo single, Fire Fire. If you're used to the lilting pop of Calm Down Dearest or the bittersweet Sheila, this might throw you at first. It's...a bit of a racket.



Good heavens, you boys! Blue-blooded murder of the English tongue, etc. etc.

I wasn't sold on this at first. Sheila was one of the best singles of 2006 (and then it was one of the best singles of 2007 upon its reissue), and young Mr. T struck me as being one of the most refreshing artists to break out at the time, so to hear such a brash change of pace from him concerned me somewhat.

The more I think about it, though, the more Fire Fire's chorus reminds me of those thrash-y interludes on '90s Beastie Boys releases that harked back to the band's roots. And that's a good thing! For an artist as intriguing as this, more of the same might have been disappointing and met with little interest. As it stands, Fire Fire is an exciting explosion of noise and a testimony to Jamie T's willingness to explore other musical avenues. At first concerned, I'm now cautiously optimistic to hear more of what he's been up to since Panic Prevention.

Fire Fire is available for free download at jamie-t.com.

LA CHANSONS.

Hello, La Chansons!


La Chansons are a pop duo from Atlanta, GA who decided to start a band on a whim during a date. Now married, they produce sweet synthpop that's a bit 'Glass Candy gone bubblegum.' Workout Love is deliciously and unashamedly '80s. WARNING: incredibly addictive pop ahead.



In their ongoing quest to turn dance floors into candy-coated exercise video sets, they are offering the amazing You Put The Moves In Me (80s Fun Mix) for free on their website. Lovely!

La Chansons on Myspace

"INTERESTING" MASHUP ALERT.

This is the very adorable Aira Mitsuki. Her debut album, C.O.P.Y., is a fairly promising and incredibly uplifting slice of vaguely chiptune electropop (apparently 'the kids' are calling it J-Tek, but don't hold me to that). 2008 single China Discotica was accompanied by a very appropriate video, equal parts cute and hipster:



2008 was also a pretty big year for M.I.A., who saw new heights of success when her popularity soared on the back of Paper Planes being featured in Pineapple Express. Hooray!

No surprise then that an Aira/M.I.A. mash-up would be one of the better mash-ups of late, even if it is a bit heavy on the annoying glitches. I mean, obviously they're compatible, they both like shiny leggings and odd lipstick colours.

Aira Mitsuki + M.I.A. - Bucky China Discotica

Well played, tofubeats.

IN LIEU OF AN ACTUAL POST.

How many times have I listened to this amazing piece of pop since Ben Adams entered the Big Brother house?



Only two. :(

I have listened to Summertime of Our Lives five times though! It is an amazing piece of late '90s Europop, complete with flamenco guitar and a music video featuring dolphins and non-threatening boys. Pop really was a powerhouse back then, etc.

IN THE QUICKSAND.

This is La Roux.


She is probably going to be Quite Big In 2009 - Popjustice likes her (and her giant pineapple), for once thing. For another, she looks like a baby Tilda Swinton, and Tilda Swinton's non-traditional and striking looks have long been a shining emblem of mainstream success.

That was a horrible lie, but she will probably be Quite Big anyway. Here's the video for her new single.



You can buy the single from Kitsune now.

And go on, here's the rather fantastic Reflections are Protection. It's the kind of pop song Sonic The Hedgehog would listen to, and he probably has very good taste.

SO I LET THE FUNKY MUSIC DO THE TALKING.

My friend Sam tells me that the French for "yeah" is actually "ouais", and of course it is. I have gone to extreme lengths (read: I went into settings and pressed 's' on my keyboard) to amend this horrendous error.



SORRY, FRENCH PEOPLE. That is a mistake I will possibly never make again. I mean, I have GCSEs in French and Italian so I am obviously very good at absorbing this kind of information.

INCOMING!

Everyone else is posting it, so why can't I?




Expect amazing things from The Sound of Arrows this year. 'M.A.G.I.C.' is already floating about and is basically The Go! Team gone Scandipop with some Justice-style spelling choruses thrown in for good measure.
ETA: Obviously it has been a very long day and I am tired, excuses, excuses, because 'M.A.G.I.C.' is apparently available for free from Labrador. Here is the link.

The 'Danger!' EP is also worth your time.

The Sound Of Arrows - Danger (Mr Pedro Remix) by no-ouais

Myspace

AN ALBUM THAT PEOPLE SORT OF IGNORED THIS YEAR.

And by people I mean myself.

Small Vessel
SJ Esau

SJ Esau's third album proper could be a difficult album for some, largely because of how different it can be from the output of his anticon labelmates. SJ - a British anticon signing - "[sticks] out like a freshly hammered thumb" as he notes on 'Human Annoyed.' It's not a bad thing, because at least the throbbing thumb is fresh, and this freshness is often what elevates Small Vessel above being...well, annoying.

Classifying the album perhaps presents the listener with the most difficult task. Standing somewhere between the more indie rock leanings of labelmates Why? and the cutesy toytronica or folkpop of Psapp and Tunng, Small Vessel doesn't make any moves to pigeonhole itself. At first daunting, this quality is eventually rewarding when the pieces begin to fall into place. Album standout 'Depth Perception Lack' plays like something at once familiar and yet exciting and unpredictable. Frequently switching pace and tone, SJ manages to make something that intrigues but that also has an instant singalong factor (the refrain of "you know something I don't know" is catchy in the best and worst ways possible).

There's certainly a roguish avant-pop charm here, though it may be buried away too deeply on first listen. 'I Threw A Wobbly' (note for non-Brits: a wobbly is what happens when a two year-old doesn't get their way, screams bloody murder and starts throwing toys at your breakables) presents a wonderfully thrashy shoutalong chorus that can be a joy but in the wrong mood might just irritate. Meanwhile, slower tracks like 'Under Certain Things' give way to lush instrumentation reminiscent of talkdemonic but not nearly as brief. Placed directly after 'Wobbly', it's a great song that nevertheless may have you pacing about and waiting for it to just get on with it, and this stop-and-start pacing is all over the album. It would be unfair to say that it frequently stalls, but the tracklist can sometimes do a disservice to the songs.

That the highlights might pass you by at first is symptomatic of the kind of music Small Vessel is. Skimmed over, it might not present much of note. Repeat listens, however, peel away the layers to reveal a grower of an off-kilter pop album that's worth delving into for the few pop gems alone. He won't top any end-of-year lists just yet, but SJ Esau shows promise here that suggests that the lesser known weird kid of anticon ("weird" is relative here) might soon be making a viable attempt to usurp the spotlight from his labelmates across the pond.

You can visit SJ Esau's space here, and you can buy Small Vessel here. You'll also want to watch the video for 'Under Certain Things', which is set in the kind of pub Alison Goldfrapp will probably open to keep her occupied when she retires.



Lovely.

NOT THE LOVING KIND.

This is just a test post to make sure I don't hit any 'bum notes' as it were.



Oops.