Archive for March 11th, 2010
A great idea some distance short of being properly realised.
March 11th, 2010 | Author: admin
Disney’s Tim Burton-directed Alice in Wonderland is certain to dominate the box office when it opens. This compilation features a similar level of marquee names – Avril Lavinge, The Cure’s Robert Smith, chart successes 3OH!3 and Owl City; the film stars Johnny Depp, Christopher Lee and Helena Bonham Carter – but lacks imagination enough to make it memorable on its own merits.
Like many various-artists soundtrack sets, this features songs inspired by the motion picture – or, rather, the stories upon which Burton’s movie is based. As such one doesn’t need to hear them beside on-screen imagery for any critical context; they can be treated as separate entities, with no narrative to bind them. So it’s disappointing that so many songs bleed into those either side of them, artists unable to leave a significant, singular mark.
All Time Low, Metro Station and Tokio Hotel are entirely interchangeable, their offerings blandly boisterous, hideously hackneyed rock presumably written with the youngest of ears in mind. The Disney association isn’t lost on those behind this release, as the assembled assortment of bands caters almost exclusively for kids with only the top 40 as a pop barometer. Follow Me Down, which finds 3OH!3 again joined by a female vocalist, Neon Hitch stepping into Katy Perry’s shoes, features a chorus so mindless – “Follow me, follow me, fa-la-la-la-la…” – that it’s practically a playground chant, designed to fit some variation on hopscotch or a hand-clap game practised by pigtailed pupils.
Very Good Advice featured in the 1951 animated Alice movie – also a Disney production – and here its theatricality is heightened by the inane pop fodder preceding it. The song finds Smith on good form, sounding every inch the spooky old uncle to Lavigne’s spirited, if a mite screechy, lead character. Indeed, if the line-up here was presented as a film cast, the Canadian would have top billing: her Alice (Underground) plays as the credits roll, and is this album’s lead single.
Mark Hoppus and Pete Wentz – of Blink-182 and Fall Out Boy respectively – contribute a surprisingly understated number, In Transit, which benefits from sensible restraint of bluster and bombast. It sounds like half a song one of the two already had, finished when the Alice team called, but it’s still a highlight here.
Expectedly inconsistent, Almost Alice is a great idea some distance short of being properly realised. Look to the latest Twilight disc as a recommended alternative.
Scottish songbird follows up stratospherically successful debut.
March 11th, 2010 | Author: admin
This is the year that a lot of female artists, from Laura Marling to Duffy and Adele, will be facing the eternal pop dilemma of what to do on that difficult second album. Few will have it as hard as Scottish singer-songwriter Amy Macdonald, whose 2007 debut This Is the Life sold over three million copies and went to number one in five countries. A Curious Thing, recorded at Paul Weller’s home studio in Surrey and featuring guest spots from the Modfather, doesn’t sound as though Macdonald is feeling the pressure. It is a bold, grand statement of intent, full of songs of epic sweep that build to undeniable choruses, to be enjoyed by the largest possible audiences. It sounds bigger and more ‘produced’ than This Is the Life – there is no sense of the girl from Bishopbriggs recoiling from the spotlight. That said, there are a number of tracks here about the perils of fame. Of the dozen songs on A Curious Thing, half concern our celebrity-obsessed culture and the cult of personality that Macdonald has witnessed first-hand since her arrival on the world’s stage. On No Roots she is positive about the rock star milieu: “This life I lead, it’s a curious thing, but I can’t deny the happiness it brings”; but on This Pretty Face she is less charitable: “I don’t care who does her hair / Or what clothes she wears.” Next Big Thing takes a dim though sympathetic view of reality TV wannabes and An Ordinary Life is a dig at the Z-list celebs she saw flocking round actor Gerard Butler at a party last year. On My Only One she sings, with a weary sigh, “There was time when the whole world was looking at you… They changed their minds from day to night.” Finally, there’s first single Don’t Tell Me That It’s Over –about a pop star she recently saw in full pompous effect. And yet for all that A Curious Thing doesn’t feel bitter or downbeat. If anything, MacDonald appears to have been energised by her colossal success. The music here is richer and fuller, the hooks more emphatic, and her voice meets it head-on, with a stridency and vigour reminiscent of Dolores O’Riordan, even Sinead O’Connor. Even a title such as Give It All Up, which could have been drenched in defeat, is resilient, even defiant. A triumphant return.
Tim’s 52 Jamz for 52 Weeks
March 11th, 2010 | Author: admin
he year-end season of lists is mercifully nearing a close, but before it slips away, I wanted to make sure my fave raves were shoved down your collective throats one more time! This time it’s my favorite songs of 2009. I was trying to get the list down to a reasonable number and having a cuss of a time doing it when suddenly I had one of those rare flashes of inspiration (possibly misguided inspiration, but still…) and decided I had enough really, really good songs to build the thing into 52-song list. A song a week! Exciting, right? Looks as if I liked lots of noisy pop, pretty pop, dancefloor groovers, slick new wave, hip hop jamz and borderline novelty songs…pretty predictable, true, but it kept me happy all year long. What more can you want from music? Anyway, click through to see what my “year in songs” sounded like.
News Roundup:3/10/2010
March 11th, 2010 | Author: admin
British R&B vocalist Taio Cruz has set the record for the largest jump to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 by an act with its first charting single. Cruz’ song, “Break Your Heart” featuring rapper Ludacris jumped from 53 to 1. The record previously belonged to Kelly Clarkson’s American Idol song “A Moment Like This,” which leaped from 52 to 1 on Oct. 5, 2002. [Billboard.com]
Madonna has paired with fashion brand Iconix to launch an affordable clothing line for juniors called Material Girl. Reportedly inspired by the iconic vocalist’s 13-year-old daughter Lourdes, the line will feature shirts, skirts, shoes, jewelry, and handbags that range from $12 to $40. The Material Girl line will be available exclusively at Macy’s department stores beginning in August. [Eonline.com]
Atari Teenage Riot are set to reunite for a one-off show in London. The German techno band, who called it quits in 2000, will play at London’s Camden Ballroom on May 12. The band are also releasing the single “Activate” on May 17. [NME.com]
LCD Soundsystem performed at a recent Yves Saint Laurent fashion show in Paris on March 8. During the concert, the band debuted what their label DFA are calling an interpretation of composer Peter Gordon and Love of Life Orchestra’s 1979 songs “Beginning of the Heartbreak” and “Don’t Don’t.” DFA is also releasing a 12″ single featuring remixes of both tracks by Gordon himself on April 27. [Pitchfork.com]
In other fashion-related news, French actress/singer Marion Cotillard has collaborated with Scottish rock band Franz Ferdinand for the song “The Eyes of Mars.” A music video featuring Cotillard performing with a stand-in band has been released for the single, in conjunction with Cotillard’s campaign for Christian Dior’s Lady Dior perfume.