Lana Del Rey's debut album proves she was born to be a star

Forget about Lady GaGa for a few minutes. Never has a new artist managed to create such an enigmatic persona, or such a great stir of controversy for it, as New Yorker Elizabeth Grant has. Under the psuedonym Lana Del Rey she rose to Internet fame with her first single “Video Games,” taken from her debut album “Born To Die,” and it’s accompanying video. The video became extremely popular in the blogosphere, garnering over 22 million views.

More recently, though, she’s created quite the buzz over her performance on “Saturday Night Live.” From “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams to “The Firm” actress Juliette Lewis, it seemed that everyone thought that Del Rey’s performance on “SNL” was embarrassingly bad. Because, quite frankly, it wasn’t the best performance ever given.

The thing about Del Rey’s music is that once somebody listens to her songs, the studio versions that is, it doesn’t matter just how amazing or disappointing she is live.

NERVO teams up with Avicii to bring some love back to the dancefloor

Above are NERVO, an Australian pop group consisting of two twins who's surname is Nervo. Creative. These girls have received tons of promo due to touring with Britney Spears on her Femme Fatale Tour as well co-penning some seriously impressive songs (Ke$ha's "F*ck Him (He's a DJ)" and David Guetta's "When Love Takes Over") as well as putting on some seriously amazing shows.

Recently these girls have collaborated with Swedish DJ Avicii on a new track called "You're Gonna Love Again." The song, to speak eloquently, is pure fiya!


The song's production is slow at first, only a steady beat and a few synths here and there. Then when the song's chorus kicks in the production starts to escalate and escalate until it reaches its climactic peak and all hell breaks loose. Avivii's infamous club production is at its best in this breakdown. The icy-cool synthesizers coil round the twins' vocals while they sing "People come home you don't have to be scared, 'cause you're gonna love, you're gonna love again."

This song is extremely club-oriented, but with the right promotion it could definitely be a huge hit on the radio for these girls.

What do you think about NERVO and Avicii's collaboration?

Alexandra Burke releases an "Elephant"-sized hit

For those of you who sadly don't know who Alexandra Burke is: she was on the British X Factor, she won, she has a great voice, the rest is irrelevant. This is the relevant part, she just released her latest single "Elephant" and it is massive.



Alexandra's latest single is far from her previous ones. While on her hits "Broken Heels" and "Start Without You" she strutted around on R&B-based pop beats, on "Elephant" she delves into the dark electronica spectrum. "Oh, there's an elephant standing in the room," she says in metallic, auto-tuned vocals during the song's anti-chorus. Nothing more than a simple beat accompanies her delicate vocals.

Then when all your goosies subside (because that anti-chorus is surrisly chilling) the bridge kicks in: "You wanna talk, you wanna talk about it?" she repeats over and over. The song's explosive bridge is catchier than it's anti-chorus, it's truly the anti-chorus that is the highlight of the song

Personally I can't wait until this song hits the airwaves, it's rumored to be released here in the US (!!!). Quite frankly we need a little stirring and "Elephant" could do just that.

If One Direction are one thing, that thing would have to be British

Above is the newly-released music video for Brit-pop band One Direction's latest single "One Thing."
The band's choice to release "One Thing" as a single is safe and predictable. It's an incredibly catchy tune (maybe even more so than "What Makes You Beautiful") and is right up the alley of what these boys do best: woo girls.
However predictable this release is, it's amaZAYNg!
I' usually not one to freak out over songs like this, but this song is just everything and more. Something about their music always just makes me smile. Their lyrics are great, their production is superb, and the video is better than expected.
1D show their fans how proudly British they are and give them a tour of London in none other than a red double-decker bus. How British is that? Then they show tons of screaming girls ala Jonas Brothers music video. It's all extremely fun and innocent, as are all of these boys' videos.
Clearly I was born in the wrong country.
Something to ponder: How long until these boys' innocent music videos begin to get more and more risque?

Pop Is A Bloodsport Introduces: Gin Wigmore

Meet Gin Wigmore. I won't give you the how-do-you-not-know-her schpiel I did yesterday with The Charlies, because I just discovered Gin Wigmore about thirty minutes ago thanks to my friend Hannah ( imnosoldier.tumblr.com ) who opened me up to her magnificent music.
Wigmore is from New Zealand and was formerly a soap opera star...but no one really cares about the background, do we? We wanna hear the music! Here it goes.
It's like Amy Winehouse's instrumentation with Duffy's voice and Hailey Reinhart's growls.
"Too Late For Lovers" is from her first album "Holy Smoke." The track starts out with some soft guitar riffs and sounds kind of like a soft ballad until Wigmore's vocals invade the track. Her Duffy-esque singing sings "Oh it's too late for lovers. Save me, why won't you save me?" in the song's amazing chorus. Her voice gets a certain rasp at certain points during the song that add so much depth to the track it's amazing.


"Hey Ho" is also from "Holy Smoke." No she's say saying "hey" to a whore, it's more along the lines of "hey, ho, nobody knows you're not coming home" as she sings in the chorus. The track deals with the desire Gin has to cause some serious harm to her ex-boyfriend. Don't mess with this girl! "Believe me baby, you won't come back again" she says oh so nonchalantly. The song's music video is great too, forget Lady GaGa.

The Latino pop scene is alive and well (Part 3): Introducing Fanny Lú

I promised that this third (and last for a while) post of The Latino pop scene would be about one very special person. Meet Fanny Lú.





Check out her beautiful Colombian features, her amazingly curled blonde hair, and great smile.
The Colombian singer first came on the scene back in 2006 with the tropical pop hit "No Te Pido Flores" (English: I'm Not Requesting Flowers) and became an overnight superstar in Colombia. The track starts out like a ballad at first, slow and with Fanny's soft vocals. Then when the chorus comes around, the party starts. The then-sad song turns into a cute little ethnic ditty with all the sabor a Colombian artist could ever muster (watch out Shakira). The track speaks of a girl who doesn't want flowers or chocolates, she just wants her man to make a dedication to her. The track was even chosen as the theme song for numerous soap operas in Latin America!
"No Te Pido Flores" along with the following single "Y Si Te Digo" (English: And If I Tell You) also marked the first time in a while since a female had become a prominent figure in tropical pop. The track became extremely successful in Asia, Europe, Latin America, even reaching No. 1 in Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela, and US Billboard Tropical Songs charts.
The music video for the song encompasses this perfectly. At first a gloomy, rainy set, then when the chorus begins everything turns colorful and happy. Check it out below.




Fun huh? The track was off of her debut album "Lagrimas Calidas" (English: Warm Tears) which reached spot No. 13 on the US Billboard Tropical Albums chart. But in Colombia and Mexico it went straight to No. 1 and stayed there for a whopping nine weeks.



With all the success the singer received, there was great anticipation for her next album. She didn't disappoint.
On October of 2008 she released "Tu No Eres Para Mi" (English: You Are Not For Me). The track takes a step away from the ethnically strong sound of her part album, and more into a mainstream pop direction with streaks of accordions and instruments of the such. The track is 100% fun. In the song Fanny relays everything her ex-boyfriend told her (he can't live without her, he hates every second he is away from her, etc. [oh bollock]). Then in the song'c catchy chorus she sings "I want you to know that you're not for me. i always knew but I never listened. Don't even think about coming around here with your entanglements and cheap stories" (English Translation)
The nestled into a comfy position at No. 1 in Argentina, Peru, Chile, Columbia, and Mexico.  The Wilmer Valderrama-featuring video features Fanny and her friend performing voodoo on her ex-boyfriend, and watching it all through a crystal ball. There's a reason to this, though. Check it out below!



The album spawned another hit single, "Celos" (English: "Jealousy"). The track was released in early 2009, and then again as the "urban remix" featuring regueton artists JKing and Maximan. The track immediately went to No. 1 in Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador, and the US Latin charts. The urban remix is the best version of the song as it features an interesting electro-pop production and a catchy chorus.



"Tu No Eres Para Mi" was the first single off of "Dos" (shall I really translate?). Fanny revealed that with this album she wanted to explore many different soundscapes and not limit herself to her tropi-pop success. The album was a huge hit throughout Latin America and also Spain, where Fanny toured for the first time with this album, establishing her as a prominent popstar in Spain.
Fanny received co-writer and co-producer credits on 8 of the 11 tracks of the album, much like her previous one.



Fanny Lú had become a global popstar that everyone loved. She was nice, cute, had catchy music and funny music videos. But until now there was nothing to separate her from all the other good-good popstars, or separated her into the artist category. That is until now.

"Fanfarron" (English: "Phoney" more or less) is the first single from Fanny's third album. The track is a delicious mariachi-pop ditty that shows big changed from Fanny's previous material. While in her past singles she always played the sweet little girl who had an innocent smile on her face even when she was dumping someone, in "Fanfarron" she plays the ex-girlfriend with some serious 'tude. "Yo me convenci que mejor sola que engañada por ti. Llorare, yo se que es asi. Pero ten por seguro que soy mas fuerte sin ti" (English: "I convinced myself that I'm better off alone than being cheated by you. I'll cry, I know I will. But be sure that now I'm stronger without you" she sings in the song's explosive chorus. The song has the perfect blend of pop elements and hip-hop beats mixed in with mariachi sounds that make this song extremely appropriate for a Mexican-themed dance party. The song's distinct sound shows that Fanny is taking better grip of her guns and experimenting with a music genre that Paulina Rubio first made famous.
The music video perhaps shows just how much of an artist Fanny really is. A joint collaboration between her and the video's director Simon Brand, the video for "Fanfarron" is a fun guy-judging, choreography-killing, flawless-looking piece of work. Not to mention that she looks absolutely beautiful in each take.



The video begins with Fanny dressed in a tight-looking lawyer outfit while her and her jury step all over (literally) the accused man (the fanfarron, if you will). Then there is the scene with Fanny in the bank vault and the dancers climbing out of steamy boxes and looking all flawless and whatnot. Then, like a real diva, she performs a sick dance to an added drum breakdown before the bridge. Flawlessness still exists! The video was choreographed by Mihran Kirakosian who also choreographed other flawless works with pop royalty including Madonna, Britney Spears, Kylie Minogue, Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, and P!nk. Not to mention he was also a dancer on Madonna's Confessions tour. Is there any greater badge of approval really?



"Felicidad y Perpetua" (English: Happiness and Perpetual) became Fanny's third album, and I have yet to listen to it, but when I do, expect a full review up on here.
Reblog and Like if you liked any of Fanny Lu's material!

Why Enrique Iglesias should duet with women more often

Enrique Iglesias has got pretty popular in the States and Europe due to his catchy club tunes that are usually served with a cold verse by some popular rapper at the time. But if you change that formula a little. Let's say change the male rapper to a woman, and make the feature song into a duet, and you've got FIRE! Below are two recent collabs of Iglesias with Dev and Jennifer Lopez. Enjoy!
"Naked" - Dev & Enrique Iglesias


This track was download hastily by me. Iglesias' douche-popclub tunes on the radio were great and all, but combined with Dev's staright-forward electro ditties didn't sound like an enticing combination.
And I was wrong.
Once I gave this song one listen I immediately changed my mind. The song is produced by The Cataracs, Dev's producers, (leading me to believe this is for inclusion in Dev's US release of "The Night the Sun Came Up" this January?) and is full of electronic influences and a great little ghoul-like shriek in the breakdown similar to that at the beginning of Iglesias' "Tonight (I'm F*cking You)." Dev's low-toned vocals open the track, speaking of how inappropriate she is for Enrique, but Enrique counters with the fact that she's the only one that keeps him up at night. Then comes the delicious pre-chorus. "I don't care what they say it's our life life life. We can dance if we want, make it feel alright" they both sing over escalating beats before all this pulls away in the chorus.
"So tell me baby will you be there when I wake up? Even with no make-up?" Dev asks Enrique over a punching beat to which he replies "And you ain't gotta doubt a second if I miss you. Every time I'm with you."
Then they both, in a truly climactic point in the song, "I feel naked."
It's pure magic. The techno elements have always suited Dev's voice, but Enrique seems right at home in them too, and for good reason. If he would back away from the eurotrash production he so often frequents and delve into the electronica scene with The Cataracs some really good music could be made!





"Mouth 2 Mouth" - Enrique Iglesias feat. Jennifer Lopez

(not official cover art, that picture is way too inappropriate to show on here)
In a song that I dare say is even better than the one above, Enrique and Jennifer (the hottest Latinos ever) collaborate. The song begins with them both saying "We live, we love, we touch." Great start, huh? Then starts the slithering synthesizers that back Enrique as he sings about a late night booty call ("innocent crime") he can't seem to focus on because all he can think about is Miss Lopez.
Then the then-dormant slithering synths become extremely prevalent behind Iglesias' vocals in the chorus. "I can't catch a single breath baby, help me now. Hurry up it's killing me the way I need your mouth to mouth" he sings. Later J.Lo joins, "I say you make me feel alive. I say you bring me back to life." So steamy!!
The comes Lopez's verse which is almost a mirror of Iglesias', but in female perspective. "But in the back of my mind you're all I'm thinking of" she sings before the explosive chorus.
DJ Frank E, who is also responsible for the touching ballad "Tonight (I'm F*cking You") (so touching, that one), produced this gem and it is glorious. The combination of J.Lo and E.Ig (that doesn't work so well) is sensual without being sexual, per se. That's what makes this song so great. It's like they're both holding a thin sheet over what they're doing an it's the listener's imagination that fills in what's happening in between the sheets.
Proof enough? Let's start a protest. We need more Enrique duets! Reblog if you agree!

Kerli prepares to release new album, reveals new view of love

Meet Kerli.
In case you've been living under an Estonian pop-depriving rock, Kerli Koiv is an Estonian pop singer (duh). Her first album was a collection of depressed anthems (Aptly titled "Love Is Dead") and dealt with song talking about Kerli coming out of depression. The album's biggest single "Walking On Air" was its most mainstream, while most the rest were angry rock songs.
This time around Kerli is switching things up a bit. Her perspective of love has changed. with the single "Army of Love." The song is an upbeat rave-pop track that explores the idea that Kerli cares about nothing more than love, and her desire to create an "army of love" is to spread love to the world. Whatever, the message is there, but the production...
IS AMAZING!!
"Army of Love" is the catchiest thing that Kerli has ever released. It shows her venturing into a more mainstream side of music, while still staying true to herself. Through the rave-happy beats, there are dark undertones.
The music video is as visually enticing a Lady GaGa video and as simple-minded as Ke$ha video, in other words it's perfect for the average human!



After the release of this video, the next glimpse into Kerli's second album was revealed in the form of a demo. A glorious demo. A glorious demo that puts all your favorites to shame. "Zero Gravity" is the epitome of "next level ish." Not only does it start out slow and builds into a maniac techno-pop instrumentation, but after the anti-chorus a sick electronic breakdown follows and it is breathtaking. I have never heard anything like it. It's so fresh, yet so simple.



Then there are the assorted live rips, song snippets, and leaks from the new album. All of them Are spectacular. They all point to a more electronic vibe that still stays true to what Kerli is best known for, as shown in "Speed Limit."


Kerli's second album is undoubtedly one of the albums I'm most expecting this year.
Moonchildren, reblog away.