Earlier we'd just finished a nice plate of pasta, complete with bacon lardons, some rocket salad and a couple of slices of bread. The tennis was on, a cup of tea on the go and who should breeze up to our door, only Missy bloomin' Elliott. Now, as avid readers will know, Musick and Missy have got a history. Basically, we were good friends, we would hang out a lot and she would get our advice on new songs ('Best, Best' was anything but) and give us advice on fixed-rate mortgages. Then, nothing.
So, after enduring her musings on the the Murray backhand (too much slice, apparently), Missy got round to telling us that there'd been a new track of hers 'doing the rounds' since February and that Pharrell was on it and that it was totally up in everyones grill except ours because we don't have an oven. Furious, we stood up and promptly asked Missy Elliott to leave our flat and never darken our door again, to which she said, "can I finish my tea first" to which we replied, "yes of course Missy, please have a biscuit".
This is 'Put It On You'. If you don't tap along to this you're probably dead or a racist:
It continues the trend of amazing Neptunes-produced Missy tracks and kind of undermines our argument as outlined here. Yeah, cheers Missy you bummer.
Missy also appears on Ciara's 'new joint', entitled 'Work'. There's so much going on it's frankly terrifying.
After a week of chart hiatus, we're back with a bang this week. OK, picking La Roux and Florence & The Machine was never what you'd descirbe as a risk, but still, you've got to be in it to win it. La Roux's 'Bulletproof' soared in at no.1 whilst her raven-haired counterpart just missed the top ten, at no.12. Even the Gossip album made the top twenty, more evidence if any were needed of Musick's almost Shamanistic promotional qualities.
BUY THIS
La Roux by La Roux
In a way, despite it's title, pop music is meant to be divisive. Lots of people hate Madonna or Kylie or the Sugababes and will write numerous vitriolic forum posts to prove it. That's good, no-one wants to please everyone all the time, surely? La Roux front woman Elly Jackson seems to have got up plenty of noses on her way to being a bona fide pop star, and this debut album is packed full of potential singles, meaning she's not going away any time soon. 'In For The Kill', Bulletproof' and 'Quicksand' are all deft eighties-saturated gems, whilst 'I'm Not Your Toy', 'Fascination' and 'Colourless Colour' show there's more to the duo then just a falsetto and some cheap synths.
BORROW THIS FROM JAKE
Wilco (The Album) by Wilco
Wilco are often called the "American Radiohead". Well, they were probably called it once and then that was referred to by another journalist, which was then picked up by another and so the lie is perpetuated. Wilco aren't Radiohead, they're Wilco, do you see? Anyway, this is their new album and it features a camel on the cover, wearing a party hat. This alone is reason enough to be interested, but luckily it also contains some pretty amazing music. All in all, it's better then their last one which was pretty dull, but not as good as their best one which is A Ghost Is Born.
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'Man In The Mirror' by Michael Jackson
For reasons unknown to us at least, this has become the front runner to reach number 1 following Michael Jackson's untimely death. Given the ubiquity of 'Billie Jean', 'Thriller' et al, perhaps a song that didn't reach the top twenty on its initial release but somehow seems to sum Jackson up - the allusions to changing the world and your appearance - has made it stand out. Whatever the reason, 'Man In The Mirror' is an epic song, all slow-burn build-up, finger clicks, choirs and that pained, soulful voice. In general, we've been surprised at how well the Bad album stands the test of time. Well done Michael.
The best way to remember Michael Jackson is of course through the music he left behind. In fact, we spent most of this afternoon watching his videos on TMF, the channel dedicating most of their output to his music. We didn't remember 'Dirty Diana' being so amazing, but there you are.
Some people, however, prefer to create new music as a way of remembering, and P Diddy is no stranger to this concept of course. He's joined together with Chris Brown, The Game and Boyz II Men to create 'Better On The Other Side':
It manages to avoid being too mawkish, which is something given Diddy's involvement. The chorus is nice. Listen to 'Dirty Diana' instead though.
There will be masses of tributes and editorials about the death of Michael Jackson of course, and rightly so. This is a music blog so we won't give credence to the freakshow his life had become more recently - the tabloid life eventually suffocating the musical one - but instead focus on what will go down in history as a backcatalogue of work to rival anyone. From the unbridled disco joy of Off The Wall to the worldwide phenomenon that is Thriller to the solipsistic, sprawling HIStory album, each release renewed your faith in the genius of Michael Jackson (Invincible, not so much, but even that had 'You Rock My World'). The majority of my childhood was spent watching copious amounts of video footage of him performing, or his amazing music videos, just absorbing the spectacle and feeding off the excitement he was able to generate. It seemed like he'd live forever despite his frailty. He was music, he was the pop star of a generation and it's weird that he's gone.
There are too many moments to reflect on, but here are some songs, performances and enduring memories of a man who was a childhood hero.
Just a quickie to flag up this new video for Marina & The Diamonds excellent new single 'I Am Not A Robot'. We've mentioned it before somewhere (not to mention interviewed the lady in question - EXCLUSIVE), but this Rankin-directed video gives us a reason to mention it again, which is lucky because the song is a corker.
Simple yet effective. The slow-mo, wind-swept bits remind us of Bjork's 'Hidden Place' video and the black glitter reminds us of an unfortunate accident at Playschool that we'd rather not talk about.
Hands up if you can remember the last time the Neptunes produced a track that made you say "what the hell was that?!" It was 'Drop It Like It's Hot' by Snoop Dogg, obviously, and it was back in 2004. Luckily, before their success rate dipped dramatically, they managed to influence a new generation of young rappers and producers, showing that it's OK to utilise a weird clicking sound you make with your mouth if the mood so takes you. Basically, it's OK to experiment with rap, no-one will mind (Eminem, you listening buddy?).
The brilliantly named Theophilus London is the latest young rapper to emerge having taken this ethos to heart. This year's really rather good This Charming Mixtape utilizes popping beats, juddering synths and on 'TNT' a weird, undulating keyboard line ('TNT' is on the iTunes version only for some reason). He's pretty good at the rapping lark too, coming across as a slightly less earnest Lupe Fiasco.
INTERESTING FACT: He's not from London, he's from Brooklyn! Madness!
'Departure' isn't on the new mixtape, but is pretty special. Featuring the backing from Air's 'Le soleil est pres de moi', it's got a lovely feel to it:
EDIT: This Charming Mixtape can be downloaded FOR FREE from here. The mixtape features some brilliant re-workings of tracks by Kraftwerk, Whitney Houston, Amadou & Mariam and Lauryn Hill.
The ever shy and retiring Lady GaGa performed at the Canadian Much Music Awards the other night and in typically reserved fashion was dressed head to toe in a brown smock, choosing to eschew the normal knicker-flashing get-up of her peers...oh no, sorry, she actually looked like this...
Yes, they really are fireworks coming out of her breasts. Madonna may have worn a conned bra, but GaGa always has to go that one step further. We like the fact she's kept her head tilted away from the offending area. It's always difficult at work the next day to explain to your mates why you've got singe marks on your cheeks. "Yeah, it's my exploding boobs, they just seem to go off every now and then".
You can watch the full performance here.
