Welcome back, Muusers. I’ve returned with a slew of nothing, wrapped up and presented as something wonderful!
+ For starters, I present an official remix of Goldfrapp‘s trip-tastic “Happiness”, created by Metronomy and featuring The Teenagers! It’s all shades of disjointed, and inspires some general confusion…I don’t like it. Anyway, you can download it below.
+ According to compiled reports, Majustimbalake‘s “4 Minutes” will be treated to a buttload of remixed formats, including mixes by Tracey Young and, my personal favorite, Junkie XL. Additionally, the song is now impacting all radio stations around the world, so do yourselves a favor and request it. Yeah, it’s not that great, but…you know. It’s Madonna, etc. etc. And you know the public will eat up the Timbaland production.
+ Félicitations to my favorite fivesome of skinny-britch-wearing bitches this side of the 1990′s, Girls Aloud, for securing yet another top ten charter with “Can’t Speak French”! This makes their eighteenth consecutive top ten hit since their debut! Est un jour fier.
+ I got a big package in the mail today–Utada‘s new album, spiffied up with a giant glossy poster of her face!! It was a wonderful surprise that I completely expected to arrive today. Expect an official album review tonight for the already deemed perfect new album, Heart Station.
+ And don’t forget to watch Britney on How I Met Your Mother on CBS at 8:30 in the P.M. tonight. Your body will thank you for it.
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DL: Goldfrapp – Happiness (Metronomy Remix ft. The Teenagers)
This may be old hat for most of you, but for some, a joyous occasion. When D. Minogue released her super perfect release last year, Unleashed, she included a bonus track in the iTunes edition of the album called “Viva L’Amour”. It’s super slick and hardcore rock & roll, because we all know how the Minogues like to keep it–all metal, no mercy. If you haven’t had a chance to grab it at some point, you’re a poor excuse for a homosexual–and to a greater extent, a human being.
Included in this post, my favorite Dannii picture of all time. Glammy bitch.
Exactly how I’m feeling–The song, at least. The video’s a bit tragic, and not in the literal sense. It’s just…a very ’90′s-esque, light flashing bore-fest. But the song is all shades of wonderful for encapsulating the tear-filled dancefloor. It’s very “With Every Heartbeat”, and rightfully so, as its from the same makers. Titiyo (whose name is disappointingly neither “Titty” nor “Video”) has got a voice that borders on airy and miserable, though it’s truly nothing too special for me. Not that dance singers always have the most impressionable voices, anyway. Now is it earth shatteringly amazing? No. But, and don’t kill me for this one, I didn’t think “With Every Heartbeat” was either. Good? Oh, quite really. But as deserved of praise as it was made out to be? Not quite. That being said, the song is lush and well worth playing, so click on for “Longing For Lullabies” by Kleerup ft. Titiyo! Act quickly as the video went offline pretty soon after it was uploaded last time.
Or if you’d like, I ripped the audio from this. I’d say it’s pretty HQ.
Today has been a very bad day. But it will get better, because it has to. In lieu of this, I’m uploading one of the most important albums to me, The Tension and The Spark, by Darren Hayes. Though his newest album is pretty good, it’s his release from 2004 that I stumbled upon three years ago that thoroughly inspired me. The songs are so carefully constructed and so wonderfully textured, I often feel as though it’s an album created to prove why pop matters.
The album was Darren’s second after splitting up with Savage Garden. He’s another male voice that I actually enjoy. It was his last with a major label, undoubtedly due to its experimental nature. The Tension and the Spark is so chock full of breathless beauty that I’m always finding new moments within the songs to fall in love with. 
The album is dark in its entirety, evidenced by the gutting opening track “Darkness”, and never really letting go from thereon in, with the exception of “Pop!ular”, the faux-autobiographical journey into a wannabe pop star’s mindset. But even here, the song itself is sinfully bleak as Darren sings “I’m willing to sleep my way to the top / I wanna be popular” with no emotion, on top of the skittish electro vibes below.
Or there’s “Hero”, his withdrawal from the world: “Ladies and gentlemen, listen up please / I don’t want to be your hero / Do yourself a favor, save yourself / Don’t pick me, find someone else”. A great anthem-like track that goes on into its climax: “There’s too much pressure / Don’t want to let you / Down again.”
And then there’s “Unlovable”, which is an epic track in itself. His voice is nearly on the brink of breaking in the verses…the emotion is overflowing. And the accusations? “Do I remind you of a part of you that you despise?”Heavy stuff. And don’t even get me started on the soul chilling “Ego”, the coldest of tracks on the album. When he gets to the purely vibrato riffing section meshed with the overdriven synthesizers, it’s eerily haunting.
Honestly, there’s so much to be said about this one album, I’d rather upload it and let you all see for yourselves. Whether the conflict going on inside the album tracks centered around his struggle with coming out in today’s sex-fueled music industry or a yearning to break the pop mold, Darren succeeded. And I’m so thankful that he made this record, because it’s inspiring to its core.
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DL: Darren Hayes – Darkness
DL: Darren Hayes – Pop!ular
DL: Darren Hayes – Hero
DL: Darren Hayes – Ego
DL: Darren Hayes – Unlovable
DL: Darren Hayes – The Tension and the Spark (Album)
You can choose to download some particular album highlights to make sure you’re sold first, or the album in its entirety. But if you like what you hear, please support Darren and buy the album here at Amazon.
It’s finally time for the second album release for my Australian indie-dance group, Cut Copy, whom I often muse about. I had been long awaiting its release for a while, and now I can say that I am absolutely delighted.
Mesmerizing without ever seeming to try, the new sound relies upon a steady percussion and echoed vocals, though a string of repetitive synthesizer and vocoder. The whole sound together blends the nostalgic with the modern in such a fashion that the whole experience seems rather emotional.
I’ve spoken of Cut Copy with high regard in the past, and I’m so proud to see that they’ve kept the momentum with
this sophomore record. It’s far from the first record, yet it provides the same rush that I experienced. Nice and throbbing (hey now, don’t get ahead of me), I’m getting the Bright Like Neon Love feeling again. Composure wise, its a bit more ’80′s inspired new-wave here with the introduction of some newer instruments. Nevertheless, those shining, car horn-like electro riffs are firmly maintained through this album as well. I’m really into the lead’s voice yet again, and I can’t stress the importance of this nearly impossible compliment. I hardly ever listen to male singers–I can’t explain it, but I just don’t connect to a song as well with male lead vocals. Now I’m going to pretend that statement doesn’t imply that I’m a woman inside–but the fact remains the same, so kudos to Dan Whitford, the lead singer.
I think a popular phrase I’ve seen on the pop boards lately to describe the hottest tunes of 2008 is “sad disco,” and that’s what I’m finding here. The tracks will have you both crooning and crying at the discotheque–and no, I’m not referring to the genius Alcazar smash there…though it does apply. The songs are a perfect blend of grit and melancholy; eternal longing and cold computer noises. The album as a compilation works quite well with itself…I’d say the tracks bleed into each other quite nicely.
“Lights & Music” is a true ’80′s dance hall haunter, though it eventually blares into a noisy stomper by the chorus, while”So Haunted” is a departure from the general swing of the album, though it quickly picks back up in the prickly electro chorus along with some refreshing overdriven guitars. The album’s just a lot of dark neon fun…I really love it. Lots of ethereal moments, a make sure to elect the wind tunnel effect in nearly all of the tunes. There’s just something quintessentially cool about Cut Copy. It’s the lyrics, the moodiness, the album art. I’m just a fan, plain and simple, and there’s really no higher praise than that.
Try out the sample tracks below, and if you enjoy, pre-order the album from Amazon today!
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DL: Cut Copy – Hearts On Fire
DL: Cut Copy – Out There On The Ice
DL: Cut Copy – So Haunted
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