Let’s do something different this week. Let’s look at this song in two ways and review it twice.
The first way? Let’s pretend we have absolutely no idea who Muse are
and this is just a random song from some random band from some random
place. Wow! A nice electronic beat, a solid bass line driving the song, a
simple but lovely lyric about the madness of attraction; “I tried so
hard to let you go, but some kind of madness is swallowing me whole” and
an incredibly catchy backing vocal that is easy to pick up and too easy
to continue humming long after the song is over. I need to know more
about this band, if they’re capable of this kind of magic, what else
have they got in store?
Jo Michelmore gives 'Madness' four Shirley Mansons's out of five...
Madness(Take 2!)
by Muse
The second way? Let’s talk
about Muse. They've built a very large fan base around a particular
sound, a particular way of song writing and rightly so. They’re a hugely
talented band that has an incredibly loyal following. However, beside
the familiar vocal of Matthew Bellamy, this song sounds so dissimilar to
anything they’ve done before it can be hard to imagine this is Muse.
The stripped back sound, the electronic beat, the 80’s sounding guitar
and layered vocals about half way through, this is a track that’s going
to divide their fans and that is something I really like. It encourages
conversations about music (which should always be encouraged!) as well
as showing maturity and confidence within the band. The ability as
artists to understand their strengths and weaknesses and to experiment
with them isn’t easy; it’s relatively rare in the commercial music
industry and is something that should be applauded. Regardless of their
history, as a song itself, Madness seems to have influences of so many;
80’s Prince, George Michael (before he got too annoying), Queen maybe
even early U2; how could it possibly be bad with those kinds of
influences? It couldn’t, regardless of whether you’re a Muse fan or not.
Jo Michelmore gives 'Madness' four Shirley Manson's out of five...
(Does that make 8 heads? No, it makes it 4. My review, my maths.) Total: 4 heads!!
If Tim Burton was to make a new film, what would he make it about? A
boy who brings his beloved dead pet dog back to life, of course. If he
needed to ask someone to feature on the soundtrack, who would he ask?
Kimbra, Neon Trees, Robert Smith, The Flaming Lips and Karen O, among
others, of course. If Karen O was to write a song for the film, what
would she write? A sweet childlike love song, with a Theremin solo,
backing vocals of dog barking sounds and the sweetest lyrics “when
there’s beauty on the inside, the outside there’s nothing to change” of
course. Does it sound weird or tacky or immature or silly? No, it sounds
cute and catchy and perfectly matched to a Tim Burton film. How does
she do it? A bit of attitude, a lot of confidence and an incredible
skill for song writing. Easy. Easy if you’re Karen O, of course.
Jo Michelmore gives 'Strange Love' three Karen O's out of five...
NEW MUSIC VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Trying Not To Love You
by Nickelback
Album: My research skills have their limits... (probably 2012?)
George Costanza, what are you doing to yourself? We already know that you're a filthy old perv, but I didn't need to see the (admittedly PG) crap you think when looking at Gennifer (with a G). I will say this though; I was so confused as to how your stock fell so low that I completely forgot there was a Nickeback song playing in the background. For that, I say thank you. For the video I say...
Matt Bond gives the 'Trying Not To Love You' video one Chad Kroeger Lavigne out of five...
Don't worry, I'm going to resist the urge to do what I really want to... post some amazing covers of 'All By Myself!' Instead, we're talking today about lead singers that need to break away from their bands and release some sweet, sweet solo material. Some of them may have already put an album or a song out and others might have never appeared without the support of their bandmates. All I know is, the next ten singers have got to break free. Now, I know it's been a couple of weeks since the last '10 And 1,' so I'd better explain what's the G-O again. I'll list ten singers that could release an amazing solo album that would make us all very, very happy and finish with one that should never, ever even consider it. Not even for a second. Let's get to it...
We've been told this a million times... sex sells. Especially in music and, well, porn and a whole bunch of other stuff, but especially in music. You're already starting to wonder where this is going, so I'll get straight to the point. This week, Richard Russell, founder of the amazing British label, XL Records, spoke about the joy that Adele's overwhelming success has given him in a world that's been overrun by "faux porn" pop music;
“The whole message with [Adele] is that it’s just music, it’s just really good music. There are no gimmicks, no selling of sexuality...What a great thing, how amazing. At the level it is at now, it is radical. It is clearly about the music and the talent and the things it is meant to be about. Adele is a good thing to be happening."
Adele is, indeed, a very good thing to be happening for the music industry. Could you say the same of Lady Gaga? Sure, she's running around in a bikini half the time, but would you class her as sexy? With the message she's trying to sell on Born This Way, I haven't really bought into any sexual message. Is Ke$ha sexy, or is she just that drunken easy chick you're willing to lower your standards for? What about Britney Spears? Maybe we shouldn't go into that one. I can't speak for what YOU find sexy, but I can speak for what the good people of FHM and I do, so we're going to do a bit of a face-off today. First I'll give you FHM's ten highest ranking singers in their annual '100 Sexiest Women in the World,' before showing ten women that I believe define the word sexy.
Not only has Santi White returned to save us from the mundane, she's brought along Karen O with her. Can Santigold get any cooler? No... no she can't. She is the coolest of the cool. 'Go' has been making the rounds on virtually every music blog and the consensus is unanimous; this is destined to go down as one of the best songs of the year. It retains White's signature sound; dark, electronic beats swirling in a mixer combining elements from fifteen genres at once. The track also proves that this sound can definitely be sustained over more than one album. Like 2011 wasn't good enough already, now we finally get new Santigold!
Who doesn't love Karen O? As part of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs she's been at the forefront of the Indie Rock scene for nearly a decade, becoming a fashion icon, sex symbol and fully fledged rock star. Since the release of Fever to Tell (2003) she's also shown incredible growth musically and become an inspiration for women AND men looking to break into the scene.
Fever to Tell was a groundbreaking album which has become appreciated much more over time. It made countless best of the decade lists and featured the massive alternative hit 'Maps,' which really caught the attention of the masses. Follow-up Show Your Bones (2006) was much more subdued than its predecessor but it gained the band even more popularity which can be strongly attributed to hit single 'Gold Lion.'
The latest album, It's Blitz (2009), received almost universal critical acclaim and took the band in a more electronic direction. O's vocals and lyrics were praised in virtually every review. Recording the soundtrack for the film version of Where The Wild Things Are saw even more praise pointed in Karen's direction and saw her 'cool cred' sky rocket. The soundtrack was recorded under the name Karen O & The Kids and featured many of O's friends from the Indie realm.
Karen O has a reputation for delivering unforgettable and crazy shows and I strongly encourage you to look into seeing her and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs live if you ever get the chance. It may be some time until we hear a new album from the Yeahs, but we can expect that when they do return, Karen O will have come up with something insanely cool that everyone can't help but to love.
