"Careful" & "Alejandro" Music Videos

Earlier this week, two music videos were released.  Both were by some of my favorite musicians.  The first was "Careful", by Paramore.  The video confirms that "Careful" is indeed the upcoming fourth single from Brand New Eyes.  The video features behind the scenes footage of the band, along with live concert clips.  While it isn't one of their best videos, the sudden release was a pleasant surprise.  Check out the video, here.

The second video was Lady Gaga's "Alejandro".  After weeks of anticipation, she finally revealed the sexual militaristic themed video.  At almost nine minutes long, the video isn't something you see everyday.  Since its release, the video has received criticism, being accused of inappropriate symbolism.  You can watch the video below.

Lady Gaga - New Music - More Music Videos

New Mix: Fever Ray, La Roux, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, & The Like

Every once in a while, I like to post playlists of songs that I'm loving at the moment.  They can vary in length and content, and genres are not limited.  This mix is made up of four songs and is approximately eighteen minutes long.  It contains a wide variety of musical styles from current artists and bands.  Hopefully, after reading the post, you'll be intrigued to check out some of the songs.

"Zero (RAC Remix)" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

"Zero" was the first single from their newest album, It's Blitz!.  Although the album has been out since 2009, I recently discovered this remix.  It clocks in at just under five minutes.  What I like about it is that it varies enough to give the track a new sounds, yet you can still recognize the hit single.

"He's Not A Boy" - The Like

I wrote a review on this band's song, "Fair Game" last month.  "He's Not A Boy" is an even better single.  It has an outstanding retro vibe.  The bridge adds a slightly psychedelic element to the track.  Overall, very upbeat and refreshing.  The Like is a new band that I'm definitely watching.

"Keep The Street Empty For Me" - Fever Ray

Fever Ray is Karin Dreijer Andersson.  This song off of her album, Fever Ray, is ambient and haunting.  I can't think of another vocalist her sounds anything like Karin.  Her voice goes from very harsh to soft instantly.  The pulse-like beat is a great spine to the dark sweeping echoes.

"In For The Kill (Skream's Let's Get Ravey Remix)" - La Roux

"In For The Kill" is the opening track to their self-titled album.  This particular remix gives a new life to the song.  It starts with just a synth behind the vocal track.  The beat then stacks up until the song turns into a dubstep ending.  I prefer it over the original recording.

If you give the playlist a listen, leave a comment and let me know how you feel about the tracks.

MTV Movie Awards: Katy & Christina

Tonight was the evening of the MTV Movie Awards.  While the show focuses on film, Katy Perry and Christina Aguilera also performed.  They each performed new singles from their upcoming albums.  Katy's "Teenage Dream" is out on August 24th, and Christina's "Bionic" is out on June 8th.  Here's a summary of how the performances turned out...

Katy Perry's performance came first with her new single, "California Gurls".  The song started with Katy standing on a flying surf board while wearing a blue wig.  There were giant monitors with rays of sun and backup dancers in roller skates.  The song, which is "TiK ToK" version two, really isn't groundbreaking.  Sure, the stage was sunny and matched the vibe, but her vocals weren't spot on.  Snoop Dogg was there to rap his verse.  He stood up from a golden throne and joined Katy at center stage.  While the pairing of the two artists is odd, his verse sounded just like the recording.  Overall, it just didn't amaze me.  At this point I was hoping Christina's performance would be much more entertaining.

Christina came on after a few more awards were given out.  Her new image is very... "Lady Gaga".  With every album, comes a new look.  Her most recent style is synth covered club pop music.  She performed a medley of songs as opposed to Katy's single tune.  The first song was "Bionic".  It was very dark with plenty of smoke and shadows.  She then moved on to her semi-big single, "Not Myself Tonight".  The vocals were so good that it made me suspect her of using a backing track or lip syncing.  Finally, Xtina performed "Whoohoo".  The song started with several censored lines, that's not a great start or finish to any song.  The medley seemed very strange.  It's like Christina doesn't know what to do with her music.  The biggest surprise was when the camera zoomed in on a flashing light-up heart located on Christina's crotch.  Very strange.

The entire show was poorly done.  The comedy was entirely based around swearing.  The censoring was unbelievably heavy, and off. Several times the swearing was left uncensored.  If you missed the show, don't worry.  It was nothing special.  If you really wanted to see the performances or awards, I'm sure they'll either replay it or you can find it on MTV's website.  I usually really enjoy these award shows, but this year MTV couldn't get anything right.

Song Of The Summer?

Recently, MTV held a poll to decide what the song of this summer is.  Every summer there's that one song that really blows up.  That song is labeled, "Song Of The Summer".  Thinking back, I can't seem to remember many definite choices for this honor.  Rihanna's hit, "Umbrella", is widely considered 2007's summer song.  I can't really argue with that choice.  The winner of this year's MTV poll was none other than Lady Gaga.  Her newest single, "Alejandro", is now given the pressure of becoming the song of the summer.  The single has already gained a massive amount of airplay over the last couple weeks. It's also climbing the Hot 100 and Pop charts.  Given Lady Gaga's track record, I wouldn't be surprised if "Alejandro" shoots to #1.

Here's how the MTV poll looked:

• "California Gurls" - Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg
• "Airplanes" - B.o.B featuring Hayley Williams
• "OMG" - Usher featuring will.i.am
• "Alejandro" - Lady Gaga
• "My First Kiss" - 3OH!3 featuring Ke$ha

I can understand all of those choices except for "My First Kiss".  That song just doesn't have the same power as the others.  I still haven't heard it on the radio even just once.  By just looking at the list, you can see that features are extremely popular.  "Alejandro" is the only song on the list without another featured artist.

I voted for "Alejandro".  If you voted, which song did you choose?  If you missed the poll, which song would you have chosen?  Do you think the voters chose the right song of the summer?  Leave a comment with your choice, maybe the poll forgot the real song of the summer.

Reader Request Playlist: Hot Chelle Rae & The White Tie Affair

"Bleed" from the album "Lovesick Electric" - Hot Chelle Rae
Requested by Andy

Previous to this request, I had heard Hot Chelle Rae's single, "I Like To Dance".  The song, like most of their music, is a synth-filled dance pop party.  The second single from their debut album is completely different from the rest of the record.  It's a ballad that starts off with no more than an acoustic guitar.  It transforms into a full on power ballad towards the end.  "Bleed" reminds me of a Boys Like Girls song, but much better.  I prefer Hot Chelle Rae's vocalist, Ryan Follese, to Boys Like Girls singer, Martin Johnson.  The song's really quite good.  I suggest it if you like young heartfelt ballads that have soaring choruses.  After listening to it, several times mind you, I found the chorus to be stuck in my head.  Any song that has accomplished this achievement has a good melody.  A good melody is what every pop artist strives for, and Hot Chelle Rae has one in "Bleed".
"You Look Better When I'm Drunk" - The White Tie Affair
Requested by Andy

The White Tie Affair is probably known best for their single, "Candle (Sick And Tired)".  The song from their debut album, Walk This Way, received a decent mount of radio play in 2008.  Their new single, which was just released in April, has the perfect beat for radio.  There have been a decent amount of "drunk party" songs lately, with Cobra Starship and Boys Like Girls.  This song is actually very similar to Cobra Starship's style.  If you like The White Tie Affair, then you should check out Cobra.  The hook of the song is a bit repetitive and gets tiring after a while, but in the genre, that's quite common.  While The White Tie Affair have never really been my favorite band, I prefer their previous singles compared to this new release.  Long time fans, however, won't be disappointed.

Thanks to Andy for this weeks requests. Don't forget to submit your choices for a chance in next weeks playlist.