Kylie Minogue has teamed up with producer Fernando Garibay before. The pair released an EP in 2014 titled Sleepwalker that had some enchanting songs. Today the duo has surprised fans with a new EP simply called Kylie + Garibay and dropped a video for the single Black and White featuring Shaggy. Yes, THAT Shaggy. The song is a lovely, languid dance track that keeps the Shaggy to a minimum, so don't worry. Ha. The full EP (available now on iTunes) is three songs and includes a duet with Sam Sparro and a track featuring Giorgio Moroder. The black and white (appropriate) video was shot by Kylie's friend Katerina Jebb and Kylie has this to say about it:
"There are certain things you will only do with or for your friends. When Katerina Jebb said she wanted to make a film of me like an old fashioned home movie in a tassel bikini, I knew we would produce something which speaks volumes of our friendship. As best friends for over twenty five years, we have seen a lots of ups and downs. This, however, was a moment to celebrate life and freedom and just let go. No pressure, just love. I admire her not only as an amazing individual, but her art and aesthetic is singular and beautiful."
Taylor Swift is unstoppable with her excellent 1989 album and Wildest Dreams, the album's fifth single, is sure to continue its chart domination. I always thought this song sounded like a Lorde song, which makes sense because Lorde and Taylor are besties, so influence is bound to happen. The video finds TayTay serving Meryl Streep realness from La Streep's movie Out of Africa and even has a little tribute to Cecil the lion. Sweet! Wildest Dreams appeared briefly before its official release on the Hot 100 when 1989 first came out, hitting #76. Expect a MUCH higher position next week. Watch below. By the way, as it states at the end of the video, "All of Taylor's proceeds form this video will be donated to wild animal conservation efforts through the African Parks Foundation of America."
Miley is bringing it back to the masses (but probably NOT Nicki Minaj) with a very gooey new video for her latest single Dooo It! AND a free album, Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz. The song is a deep bass, hip-hop infused ode to smoking pot and wanting peace, among other things. It's a dark departure sonically and is a little whacky (thank to Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips), quite frankly. I kinda love it, but I don't know how much of a party jam it is. Ha. The NY Times ran an article all about the making of Miley's album, so read it here. In the meantime, watch Dooo It! below and stream Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz for absolutely FREE right HERE!
Duran Duran continue to fucking KILL IT with their new output. First came the banger Pressure Off, then a couple of days ago the title track to their upcoming album Paper Gods (click links to listen), and today we get You Kill Me With Silence, a nod to the early mid-tempo New Wave sound of their early years. An eerie quality with bubbling syths laid over a pulsing bass line sets the mood for the new track and it's a good one. Listen and get ready for Paper Gods in September.
Duran Duran are not fucking around, y'all! The boys MEN are bringing to funk so far with their upcoming album Paper Gods. The first single, the absolutely amazing Pressure Off (ft. Janelle Monae) is one of the freshest sounding singles of the year and the newly released title track featuring British recording artist and producer Mr. Hudson is a seven-minute funkified opus. Lead singer Simon Le Bon describes the song like this:
"I think paper gods can be all kinds of things. That’s why it’s the title track of the album. Money could be paper gods or photographs or memories. Paper gods could be people who stand up on top of the hill, telling everyone what to do, or the people who own the newspapers and tell them what to think, or people who stand on soapboxes telling people what to say. I like the ambiguity of it and the different way it can be interpreted....It’s obviously about modern life and attitudes. What I would say is that it’s not a criticism. I think a lot of people think it’s a rant. It’s not. It’s just an observation really." Don't worry, it takes about a minute for the groove to kick in, then you get the full Duran Duran funk experience. YES!! Can't wait for the album in September.
Lana Del Rey is amping up the release of her next album Honeymoon and here is the second, very different single from the album, High By The Beach. The first and title track from the album was more of an orchestral situation, High By The Beach calls back to her first album Born To Die with it's hip hop beats and subtle synth backing track. I like! This is not a big surprise as Lana has stated that her new album will have a sound similar to Born To Die and it's extension Paradise. I'm excited for the new music!!!
Avant-garde folk goddess Joanna Newsom is set to return with a new album, Divers, in October and has released its first single and video Sapokanikan. Her distinctive voice in tact, Joanna's new album was announced by her label Drag City today and the release date is set for October 23rd. I can't wait!! Her last album, Have One On Me, was truly spectacular and Joanna is one of the most unique voices in music today. Check out Sapokanikan below.
Relatively new. Don't know how I missed this coming out a couple of months ago, but it's too good to go unposted!!! Here is a new song from Katharine McPhee called Lick My Lips. Written by Florence + the Machine's Isa Machine and Sam Sparro, the song is giving me early 80s, pre-fame Janet Jackson, y'all!! Listen below and pass it on. She is looking HOT!!! Hysteria, McPhee's next album, is due in September.
Demi Lovato may just pull off song of the summer with Cool For The Summer, and this hot-ass video is going to help. Looking good and feeling her oats (Thanks, Gia Gunn), Demi dances, writhes and kisses a girl (and she likes it) in the sultry, sexy video. Check it out below and try to stay cool yourself.
Australian DJs and sisters NERVO, made up of Miriam and Olivia Nervo, have brought together a tour de force of disco on their new track The Other Boys. Trading off some powerhouse vocals are Aussie dynamo Kylie Minogue and Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears, joined by producer and musician extraordinaire Nile Rodgers giving the track some very welcome groove. The result is magic. Take a listen below.
YAAAAS!!! Love this chick and this song. The video for Tove Lo's new single, Timebomb, is beautiful. The girl is all about the love.....ALL LOVE. The third single from her excellent Queen of the Clouds album comes out just in time for Pride Week here in NYC and it shows that no matter who you are, where you are form or what you are going through there is someone out there who loves you. Here is Timebomb. Watch and love.
"Pay no attention to the lace on my forehead". Alaska Thunderfuck officially released her debut album, Anus, today along with her latest video creation, This Is My Hair. Part Donatella, part some-French-bitch, all drag diva, Alaska brings us her ode to her absolutely real hair that is on her head all day and all night, y'all!!! Looking amazing and being hilarious is Alaska's MO, and This Is My Hair brings both of those things like a motherfu**er. Here is This Is My Hair. Get Anus on iTunes NOW!!
JANET IS BACK!!! Janet Jackson posted a hot slow jam titled No Sleep on youtube today and it is classic, sexy Janet. No Sleeep (yes, 3 "e"s) is reminiscent of Janet's Velvet Rope album with it's quiet, intimate sexiness and sweet harmonies. It also marks a comeback not just for Janet but also for longtime producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis who produced all of Jackson's biggest hits. Janet's album is due this fall. Listen and enjoy.
Wait no longer!! Here is Duran Duran's new song ft. Janelle Monae Pressure Off! This song is GOOOOOOOOOOD!!!! From what I'm seeing the single should be available later today in the US and UK on Amazon Digital Download.
A sweet sounding snippet of what we can only presume is a song that will appear on Janet Jackson's upcoming album was posted by Janet herself on her various social media accounts today. Without giving the title, the song's lyrics are included in the short, 42 second video. There's no telling if this is a part of a ballad or if this is an intro to a dance-pop song. We'll have to wait and see!!! Janet's album, her first to be released on her very own Rhythm Nation record label, is due in the fall. Can't wait!! Listen below.
It's been eight long years since Hilary Duff released an album of original music. 2007's Dignity was cutting edge dance pop that made me think that Hilary was locked and loaded to become America's Kylie. All the signs were there: Adorable hotness, girlish vocals and attitude for days. The album garnered praise and attention. Then.........nothing. Hilary disappeared from the music scene. She was still popping up on TV and made occasional appearances, but mainly she married, had a kid and settled down. Well things have changed. Hilary still has her kid of course (she's not an animal) but she is divorced and famously on Tinder and back in the music biz with her catchy A.F. new album Breathe In. Breathe Out. This album is absolute pop perfection, y'all!!! From the infectious lead track, first single Sparks, co-written by Tove Lo, we are off and running. Tove Lo actually co-wrote several tracks on BIBO and Hilary perfectly brings out the edgy, female power pop attitude that Tove brings to her own music. My Kind, One In A Million and Confetti give a powerful 1, 2, 3 punch of dance floor adrenaline and electro-ballads like the title track, the Rihanna-influenced Lies and Arms Around a Memory show the vulnerability that comes from the now-adult Hilary Duff can bring to her vocals. Unceremoniously cut from the final album are the tracks previewed back in summer of last year, Chasing the Sun and All About You, which both had more of a Sheryl Crow/Colbie Callait kind of feel to them. I say good riddance. I was not excited about that trajectory AT ALL. This album is a tour de force of beautiful, breezy summer pop that will have you shaking it by the pool for months. Hilary is back and may be back on the Kylie track. Watch the video for Sparks below and audio from a couple of the tracks below then go BUY THIS ALBUM.
Ru girls are bringing it, y'all!! Willam has released a new video featuring Latrice Royale for Thick Thighs, Alaska Thunderfuck brings us Hieeee and Courtney Act drops her new video for Ecstacy. Of these ladies' latest efforts, I am going to have to give top prize to Willam ft. Latrice. It's funny, good and pretty damn catchy. Oh, AND THE BOYS!! Enjoy the videos below and tell me what you think.
SPOILER ALERT: And we have a winner!!! RuPaul crowned the winner of Season 7 of RuPaul's Drag Race last night and it was exactly who I thought it should be!!! Violet Chachki took the crown over fellow competitors Ginger Minj and Pearl. As the evening unfolded it was pretty obvious to me who the crowd was behind and who was standing out in the crowd. The lip sync numbers with songs written specifically for the girls showed exactly why Violet was the one to beat. Ginger's number should have been a barn burner, but it fell as flat as a pancake and Pearl, while more entertaining altogether, was -- you guessed it -- flazéda. Violet not only nailed her lip sync but performed the shit out of the number, looked AMAZING and exuded complete confidence. While I will say this season was not as thrilling as past seasons, Violet is a solid queen who earned her crown. NOW, to the surprise of no one, all top three queens released new videos last night. Ginger has gone with a poppy (supposedly) funny song Ooh Lala Lala that fits her feisty personality. I'm not sure where Pearl's voice is in her song Love Slave (I'm guessing it's the muttering in the background) but she looks amazing and makes out with Detox. And is that her own boy-butt she is spanking in the video? I think it is. Violet, on the other hand, makes quite a statement with her naughty video and song Bettie, a tribute of sorts to pinup legend Bettie Page. She wins this competition too. Violet's EP Gagged comes out June 30th and is available for pre-order on iTunes now! So what do you think? Did the right queen win? Watch the top 3 in their videos below.
As per yoosh, RuPaul and the top three queens of the season have made a video for their final challenge. The results are often mixed. Last year featured, IMO, the best video ever produced form the RuPaul and the queens, Sissy That Walk. It's hard to top that, girl. This year Ru picked a remix of the title track to last year's album Born Naked (but the remix from this year's album Realness) and let finalists Pearl, Ginger Minj and Violet Chachki lip sync for their lives all over that shit. While not a one of them have the presence of Bianca Del Rio or Adore Delano from Season 6 (even Darian for that matter), the placement of the queens in the video leads me to believe that Pearl will take the crown for Season 7. Much like the clip for Sissy ThatWalk in which Bianca seems to appear more and usually last when they show all three queens, I'm feeling that Pearl is our girl. HEY, THAT RHYMES! More proof? Probably not. The video is not nearly as slick or alluring as Sissy, but I see what Ru was going for with the cable access realness effects and low budget extravaganza. I could be wrong about Pearl, but I have a feeling in most of my original bones. Tune in to the finale of RuPaul's Drag Race June 1st to find out who takes the crown...OFFICIALLY!
Beautiful. Sia has done it again. For the new disaster flick San Andreas, Sia has done a gorgeous cover of the 1965 folk classic California Dreamin' by The Mamas and the Papas. Keeping the moody feel of the original but adding lush orchestrations and her unique vocal quality to make it her own, this rendition quite moving. Take a listen below.
