LORDE RELEASES VIDEO FOR HUNGER GAMES SONG 'YELLOW FLICKER BEAT'

Lorde is charge of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 soundtrack, y'all. She is 4 years old. Here is her own entry to the soundtrack, the excellent Yellow Flicker Beat. As per usual, Lorde is a little creepy and disconcerting in the surreal video, but that's just how I like my teens, creepy and disconcerting. Yay!! Anyway, check out the clip and the song below and like it.

REVIEW: TAYLOR SWIFT - 1989

Taylor Swift has officially gone pop. I mean, come on. Wasn't she always pop? Sure, a country twang snuck in, but the thing that strikes me is that the songwriting on 1989 is the same as her other albums, they are just to a different beat. And that's a good thing!!! 1989 is the year this bitch was born, y'all!! And just barely: December 23, 1989. We are all old! There is definitely some 80s influence on this album, especially with album opener, the excellent and anthemic Welcome to New York, but this is not a retro album. What this album IS is confessional. Taylor always writes about her life and, frankly, that is what makes her music so popular and entertaining. There are juicy songs about relationship troubles like the synth-soaked Out of the Woods; the biting Bad Blood, a song supposedly about her feud with Katy Perry; and even songs about hopeless romanticism like Blank Space. Taylor writes with some pretty heavy weight pop names here: Max Martin (Britney, Pink, Katy Perry), Shellback (Pink, Britney, Usher) , Ryan Tedder (U2, Adele, Beyonce), singer/songwriter Imogen Heap, and Fun's Jack Antonoff. This makes for an album of many influences, but surprising cohesiveness. The possibility for singles is staggering; the pulsing Style is a definite highlight and the gorgeous All You Had To Do Was Stay is a genius title and continuation of Taylor's personal stories of love and heartbreak. This is not just an experiment of some country girl playing in the pop world, this is a genuinely inspired pop record. Of course, first single Shake It Off already hit #1 and she hasn't even had to officially release a second single yet. Interestingly there are a couple of obvious modern influences, like the Lana Del Rey whisper of Wildest Dreams, which finds Swift crooning and scooping her notes so perfectly that I had to check if Lana wrote the song. She didn't. This, again, is not a complaint. The results are quite lovely. There is also influence from another young singer that is a friend of Taylor's, Lorde. I Know Places is VERY Lorde and could easily fit on Heroine, her debut. Of course it would be easy to label Swift a copy cat, but to dream that artists are not inspired or influenced by their contemporaries is ludicrous. Another highlight would have to be the absolutely breathtaking This Love, written solely by Swift. Soft, floating and airy, This Love has GOT to be a single, y'all. The album closes with the Imogen Heap assisted Clean, a song heavily influenced by the singer and it features Heap on backup vocals. It's a dramatic end the first album in a new era for Taylor Swift. 1989 delivers exactly what was promised, a more pop Swift.

BBC MUSIC LAUNCHES WITH AN ALL-STAR CAST TO SERENADE THEM. SERIOUSLY, HUGE!

BBC Music, a new British music channel, is launching and to kick things off right they gathered an unprecenedented array of talent to help start it off with a bang. Not since We Are The World or Do They Know It's Christmas has a group of artists of this caliber been gathered together. Singing the classic Beach Boys tune Gold Only Knows, we have -- here we go --  Pharrell Williams, Emeli Sande, Elton John, Lorde, Chris Martin, Brian Wilson, Florence Welch, Kylie Minogue, Stevie Wonder, Eliza Carthy, One Direction, Paloma Faith, Chrissie Hynde, Jamie Cullum, Dave Grohl, Sam Smith and several musicians and Brit singers. (Full list HERE with details) Wow! And it's a lovely production. Watch and love.

LORDE RELEASES SONG FROM THE UPCOMING HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 - YELLOW FLICKER BEAT

Lorde is three-years-old and she is in charge of curating the next soundtrack to the top movie franchise in the world. What a bitch, right? Ha. JK!! She is going to nail it, I'm sure, and here is the first song released from the soon-to-be number one soundtrack (yes, I'm calling it), Lords own Yellow Flicker Beat. Her first release outside of her huge debut album, Pure Heroine, it has a similar dark sound but definitely a little more electronic and a step away sonically from prior singles. Seems to be a good fit for the film and I'm sure we will be hearing a lot of it in the next few months. Daddy like! The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 is out November 21st, the soundtrack will be released November 18th.

REVIEW: LILY ALLEN - SHEEZUS

Lily Allen has two full length albums under her belt; 2006's Alright Still and 2009's It's No Me, It's You. Though the sound changes, one thing remains: Lily's biting wit and clever lyrics. Allen's newest effort, Sheezus, does not disappoint on that front. Instead of the retro-kitsch of her debut or the electronic-influenced follow up, this time Lily delivers a (mostly) hip-hop inspired album (thus the name riffing on Kanye's Yeezus) full of shimmering gems just in time for summer. Of course, we have had plenty of build up with the release of the hard-hitting satire on Hard Out Here last November and the airy charm of Air Balloon in January, both of which hit the top 10 in her native UK. As bright and fun as those two singles are, they are just the tip of the iceberg on Sheezus. Insincerely Yours in particular is a standout track with it's sort-of-sampling of Michael McDonald's I Keep Forgetting (it doesn't, but does it?) the biting lyrics are all sass and stank. "Let's be clear, I'm here to make money, money, money" Lily croons over the smooth beat. L8 CMMR, which was featured on the Girls soundtrack this season, is probably the most romantic, happy song to ever contain the words "motherfucker" and is my favorite track on the album. Sheezus is not ALL hip hop though, much like the country-tinged It's Not Fair on It's Not Me, It's You, As Long as I Got You swerves off the theme of the music and delivers a zydeco number with aplomb. Lily's softer side comes out as well on tracks like the pensive Take My Place, the sexy Close Your Eyes and Life For Me. But of course, it being Lily, the album still has the brutal Hard Out Here and the fuck you of Wind Your Neck In to remind us of the amazingly sarcastic social commentary that Lils does so well. Sheezus delivers on everything you expect from a Lily Allen album and then some. The maturity of a mother is new on this album and Lily has grown lyrically and musically from her 2009 self. Enjoy the vids below! Sheezus is available on iTunes today.

5th ANNUAL AMAZY MUSIC AWARDS: SINGLES 10-6

TOP 10, BITCHES!!! Can you believe I was able to narrow down these billions of songs this year to just 20? I mean, I am pretty much the bomb, right? (Patting self on back) The ladies continue KILLING IT in the first installment of our Top 10 of 2013. Lorde repeats, Beyonce's sisters croons her way on and Gaga does a duet. Miley's first of two songs peek into the countdown and Lana Del Rey oozes sex with her entry. 2013 is truly the year of the ladies it seems.
10. Tennis Court - Lorde
09. Looks Good With Trouble - Solange ft. Kendrick Lamar
08. Do What U Want - Lady Gaga ft. R. Kelly
07. We Can't Stop - Miley Cyrus
06. Burning Desire - Lana Del Rey

5th ANNUAL AMAZING MUSIC AWARDS: SINGLES 15-11

The ladies are nailing it in this round. Only one newcomer and then some, by comparison, musical veterans with pretty varied styles. A 16-year-old Kiwi, a country music superstar gone solo, the Princess of Pop, a crossover queen and a comeback from a British Broad. The videos are exciting too! Sisters are doing it for themselves today, y'all!! Dive into my top 20 countdown and take in numbers 15 through 11. Enjoy!

15. Royals - Lorde
14. Without You - Natalie Maines

13. Work Bitch - Britney Spears

12. Red - Taylor Swift

11. Hard Out Here - Lily Allen

THE FIFTH ANNUAL AMAZY MUSIC AWARDS: TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2013

I can't believe this is the fifth year end countdown I have done on this blog! Here we are again, the end of another year of music. What a year it's been. We learned a lot about hype, humility and coming in just under the wire to blow 'em all away, didn't we? I wouldn't say that this year was a particularly strong one for albums. There were plenty of singles that hit, but not all of those artists were able to deliver on the one-hit hype. These albums, in my estimation, were the most enjoyable front to back. I could sit and listen to them and they evoked a mood or a curiosity with each track. These artists were able to transcend in some ways the "just get a hit on the radio" vibe that artists are mostly after these days. They have that something extra special. Without further ado, here are my picks for the top 10 albums of 2013.

10. Electric - Pet Shop Boys - Seminal electronic group Pet Shop Boys came back this year with a brand new album, Electric and it's a damn shame that everyone was going gaga over Daft Punk (even though I really like their album too) because Electric is a much more diverse, fun set. Plenty of club tracks, like the opener Axis, along with some classic Pet Shop Boys melodies, like the delicious Thursday. The Boys were back with a vengeance and the whole album pulses with the perfect blend of what we've always loved of PSB and what is yet to come.

09. Britney Jean - Britney Spears - Hyped as Britney Spears' most personal album to date, on THAT it did not deliver.  Alien and Perfume are two of her loveliest songs she's ever recorded and Work Bitch and Tik Tik Boom are sassy Brit-Brit at it's most catchy. How much of Britney is actually invested in her music is not clear anymore, but the old girl (and her production team) can still push out an album full of pop gems. Keep 'em coming, Britney. Unless you're done. Then stop. What Britney Jean does deliver on is pop hit after pop hit and a little more personality.

08. Closer to the Truth - Cher - I mean, C'MON!! It's fucking Cher, people! Cher came back after about a 12 year absence. Her last album of original music was 2001's Living Proof. Closer to Truth finds Cher in full voice and as Cher as ever. Woman's World was just the tip of the anthem-berg. Take It Like a Man and My Love are glorious in their clubbiness and should be playing everywhere anyone is doing anything. This bitch is even going on tour again. AND I'M SEEING HER!! Closer to the Truth is a real return to pop form and as welcome a return as there has ever been.

07. Overgrown - James Blake - James Blake's second full solo album is smooth, sexy, experimental, electronic, sensuous and thoughtful. That voice, those loops and beats. James takes it a step further with Overgrown after his auspicious debut two years ago with self-titled debut. Retrograde is perhaps the most mesmerizing song of the year and the whole album will hypnotize you with its quasi-futuristic sense of musicality. This 25 year old musician has many years in the spotlight ahead of him and he is pioneering something very special.

06. Prism - Katy Perry - Prism is a hodgepodge of musical tastes. It wants to draw in the biggest possible audience and I think it succeeds in its quest. There are dance anthems aplenty, sweet ballads, introspective, if not cliched, heartfelt songs. Katy is coming off of one of the most successful albums of the past decade in terms of singles, and I don't think this is going to surpass Teenage Dream, to be honest. I do think that there are many, many songs to be pulled off this album as singles and eventually they will get to them. Legendary Lovers, International Smile and Spiritual have radio hit written all over them. Roar was an undeniable success, so Katy still has it in her.

05. Pure Heroine - Lorde - The 16 year old from New Zealand hit the scene with weird dancing and deep lyrics that go beyond her years and won over the world. You can't swing a dick without hitting someone listening toRoyals. Trust me. I've tried. Ouch. The album as a whole is quite impressive in its diversity and ability to keep the listener surprised and intrigued. Tennis Court is one of the catchiest songs I heard all year and Buzzcut Season is sweet, simple and soft. Pretty much every song leaves its mark right from the first listen. It'll have you going back for repeat listening for sure. Not just a singles artist, that Lorde. I'd say it's a pretty good start.

04. Bangerz - Miley Cyrus - GIRL!! This album is good, y'all! It's a little bit country, it's a little bit hip hop, it's all Miley. We Can't Stop and Wrecking Ball are crazy good and absolute chart gold and third single, Adore, is going to take us to a new place with it's soft balladry. There is literally no limit to the amount of singles they might pull off of this mo'fo'. #GETITRIGHT, FU, My Darlin', Rooting for My Baby are all single worthy. So forget the twerking and the tongue wagging and listen tot he music. The girl can deliver a song. Bangerz places Miley in the big leagues of pop music and she almost took it over this year. Now can she keep it going?

03. Tales of Us - Goldfrapp - Ethereal, mystical, soft, breathy, sexy and smooth are all words to describe Goldfrapp and their album Tales of Us. A concept album of sorts, each song weaves a tale of a person going through various things in their life from being born in the wrong body, having an elicit affair or simply wandering through life. Goldfrapp take this sound from the 80s glam of Head First (my #1 album three years ago) and back to their amazing 2008 album Seventh Tree but this time a little darker and little less folksy. The opening of Jo with its flourish of strings, the guitar galloping through Drew, the tribal stomps of Thea and the march of the album closer Clay take you on an unforgettable journey through time and space. Goldfrapp can paint a picture with their music like no one else.

02. ARTPOP - Lady Gaga - Lady Gaga was hyped and hyped and hyped until she oversaturated the market before the release of ARTPOP and it may have turned some away from her newest offering. That is a shame because ARTPOP actually takes Gaga back to the simpler times when she was writing for the sake of the beat and the fun than for a cause. Not to say I didn't love Born This Way (my #1 pick two years ago), but ARTPOP is a lot more fun in many ways with is tongue-in-cheek subjects and fun lyrics. The title track is one of the most stunning and simple pieces I think Gaga has ever done and Applause is pure anthemic fun. Venus, Do What U Want, G.U.Y. all deserve their time in the spotlight. If she can get people to start paying attention to the music again, Gaga has still got a lot to show us.

01. Beyoncé - Beyoncé - Well, she did it. Beyoncé released a surprise album and absolutely crushed every bitch on the block. This album is everything Beyoncé is; sassy, smart, classy, sexy, and fresh. It's also things Bey usually isn't: open, real, warm and experimental. There are things we've never heard her do like the crunchingly swaggy Partition and gangster of ***Flawless. There is also pure pop candy in the form of the ode to cunnilingus Blow and the best love anthem I've heard in years XO. We have our usual, stunning Beyoncé ballads here as well with Pretty Hurts and the haunting Heaven, but we also have her very own Thriller in the heavenly Haunted. (See what I did there?) The sky is the limit and Beyoncé is reaching for it. The whole disc is packed full of perfection, including the accompanying videos, and we have a big couple of year ahead of us with this album. It's definitely earned it's position atop this years album picks. Destined to be a classic.

NEW VIDEO: LORDE - TEAM

Lorde's album Pure Heroine is full of possible singles, and Team is the chosen one for now. The video is visually stunning and I'll let Lorde explain the concept to you: "this video was borne from a dream i had a few months ago about teenagers in their own world, a world with hierarchies and initiations, where the boy who was second in command had acne on his face, and so did the girl who was queen. i dreamt about this world being so different to anything anyone had ever seen, a dark world full of tropical plants and ruins and sweat. and of this world, i dreamt about tests that didn't need to be passed in order to be allowed in: sometimes the person who loses is stronger." Got it? Good. Watch Team.

MINIMALISM IN MUSIC VIDEOS

Sinead O'Connor recently ripped Miley Cyrus a new a-hole with a series of open letters for Miley comparing her Wrecking Ball video to Sinead's Nothing Compares 2 U vid. I see where Miley is coming from with the longing close ups and whatnot, so Sinead should probably just calm the F down. Right? It did, however, get me thinking about other videos that feature just someone's mug looking into the camera. Seems like a pretty cheap way to make a video, but I guess it can be pretty effective too. The Lorde video for Tennis Court and Bjork's Hunter are especially good, IMO. Here are some that popped into my mind right away, along with Sinead and Miley. If you can think of anymore, by all mean list them below for others to look up.