American Idol alumni Jordin Sparks looked for all the world like she would be going the way of most other reality 'stars', i.e. nowhere fast. Miraculously, she managed to carve out the start of a career by making some pretty good pop songs, like the one she did with Chris Brown before that alleged incident involving Rihanna, a car journey and an ego load of self-denial.
Anyways, Sparks has a new single out called 'Battlefield' and it's a ridiculously over the top almost-ballad written and produced by Ryan Tedder from One Republic (it's actually pretty pointless calling him 'Ryan Tedder from One Republic' seeing as he is fast becoming more famous as a songwriter than a singer). For those not in the know, Tedder is the man behind this, this and this. 'Battlefield' continues the theme of sounding a whisker away from an '80s power ballad, featuring ludicrously metaphorical lyrics and being undeniably catchy (although the Kelly Clarkson one is a poor example of the latter. It's just there because three examples are better than two).
We particularly enjoyed a comment left on youtube by a certain daxiel2, who decided the video wasn't literal enough. He/she would have liked to have seen Jordin walking through an actual battlefield or perhaps putting on some actual armour whilst singing "you'd better go and get your armour". We dread to think what 'Bleeding Love' would have looked like had daxiel2 been behind the camera.
CALL THE DAILY MAIL! This video for 'Kids' by MGMT (the single was released here in January and they've only just made an official video) is properly terrifying. Well, the monsters look ridiculous of course, but there's a little baby involved and he looks genuinely upset! Surely there are laws against this kind of thing? Poor little bastard, he's going to grow up thinking all Police men have skin falling off their faces or that all car journeys involve being harassed by the junkie Muppets. The bit in the cot at the beginning is particularly upsetting and we hereby condemn MGMT and boo them for putting all our kids lives in danger with this FILTH.
Anyway, we're probably being over-sensitive, watch it for yourselves:
The other big news is that this video stars none other than Joanna Newsom. That Paris Hilton-aping mum from Hell is actually the genuine JOANNA NEWSOM, the harp-wielding goddess whose last album, Ys, was named after a mythical city that was swallowed by the ocean. That's some transformation.
thecocknbullkid, aka Anita Blay, has had a few cracking singles out in the UK, usually only available for a limited time or as download only. She's yet to have a 'big' release (that sounds weird) or a 'big' single, but has now turned her attentions for the first time to the US, who can get their hands on Querelle in August. The EP features four songs, including recent single 'I'm Not Sorry', as well as three new songs with production from Radioclit (Santigold) and Dave McCracken who has only bleeding worked with Beyoncé! 
This squelchy, disco pop nugget is called 'Clean Apart' and finds Anita dissecting another broken relationship. According to her myspace page, she's currently working on her debut album with Gonzales (Feist, Jamie Lidell) and we can expect a slightly different sound. Bulgarian folk is our guess.
We like to think we've constantly got our fingers on the musical pulse, but sometimes we need a helping hand. On this particular occasion our guiding light was none other than Bjork. Always one to pick the best collaborators, Bjork announced a few months back that she would perform at a charity gig with New York's Dirty Projectors. 
Who are this motley crew we asked ourselves? Well, they're fronted by a man called Dave Longstreth and there are five other people in the band (although not in the photo), some of whom are women and some of whom are men. Fascinating so far. They also make music that is difficult to categorise, relies heavily on vocals and can sometimes sound on the brink of collapse but beautiful at the same time. Sound familiar?
They have a new album coming out next week entitled Bitte Orca and from said album, this is 'Stillness Is The Move':
Below is some slightly dodgy footage of Bjork performing with Dirty Projectors on a song Longstreth composed especially for the one-off gig. Fast forward through all the talking and tuning up and get to the part with those amazing backing vocals and Bjork's passionate rasp, blurting out lyrics about whales and love.
So, how did we do this week? Well, following the triumph that was 'Bonkers' by Dizzee Rascal reaching number 1 off the back of being on this here blog, we're pleased to announce that the much-hyped, poll-topping, column-inch snaffling Little Boots and her A-listed single, 'New In Town', roared into the chart at number 13...oh. It doesn't matter of course, it's all relative, but missing out on the top 10 after all that talk is a little disappointing. Still, the album has about 5 other singles on it so it's fine.
BUY THIS
The Bachelor by Patrick Wolf
To some he's the elfin love child of Tilda Swinton and David Bowie, all artful posturing, lashings of make-up and a brilliant way with melody. To others he's no more than a brattish drama school student who professes to make high art when in fact his best musical moment was dancing around to a Status Quo track. Either way, the guy's an interesting character and The Bachelor is a vast improvement on the patchy, The Magic Position.
BUY THIS IF YOU LIKED ALL HIS OTHERS
Hombre Lobo by Eels 
Just under the title on the cover reads "12 songs of desire". That basically sums up an album that's not a million miles away from any of the other Eels albums you'd care to mention, with primal blues rubbing up alongside the usual desolate hymns to loneliness, death and lost love. It's the musical version of putting on some worn slippers, only to find they're a bit hairier than they were before. Or something.
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'We Are The People' by Empire of the Sun
Missing MGMT? Need to hear a slightly strained falsetto, some lazily strummed guitar and the patter of processed drums? Let Empire of the Sun be your musical balm. This has been all over Radio 2 and it's easy to hear why. It's about as inoffensive as a sleeping Leona Lewis dreaming about puppies, but it's perfect for a long summers evening doing nothing.
The Wavves album (entitled Wavvves, with three 'v's) is a chaotic, noisy blast of surf-pop as played in a cave. This, however, taken from Spain's Primavera Sound festival, is what happens when you mix "ecstasy, valium and xanax and alcohol". Whatever happened to warming up before a gig with some Horlicks, some light stretching and perhaps a nap? Tsk, rock 'n roll has come along way my friends.
This is the brand new video from Natasha Khan, aka Bat For Lashes, and it seamlessly continues the trend for all things animal related. Yeah Yeah Yeahs featured a cat (of sorts), Patrick Wolf has an animal for a surname and now there's an actual wolf in this video for the brilliant 'Pearl's Dream'.
For those not au fait with Khan's alter-ego shtick, it's best to think of Pearl as Natasha's Sasha Fierce, which only makes sense if you know your Beyoncé trivia, which I like to think you do. So Pearl wears a blonde wig, sits at the back of theatres in a black polo-neck and is a little bit of a rebel whilst Natasha borrows Brandon Flowers' epaulets, wears an all-in-one and flies around a make-shift stage. The wolf? He just growls and bares his fangs on cue. But does he save the day at the end?
We can't help but think that Bat For Lashes' 'kookiness' is all a bit of an act, so having her on a stage acting out some rather kooky ideas for an audience of one is perhaps not the best way to go. But the song's a corker and surely, dear reader, that's the point is it not?
