Friday, September 30, 2011

Natalia Kills - Kill my Boyfriend

As I'm sure I've made clear in my last two Natalia Kills posts, I think that she is just the most amazing singer out there today. "Kill my Boyfriend" does not disappoint and may been her most interesting song yet.

The song starts out light and fluffy and lulls you into a sense of ease until you hear the line, "I'm gonna kill my boyfriend." At that moment you'll probably pause and think, "Wait a minute, what?!" After that we get into the usual dark and sexy sound that Natalia is notorious for. She's got a very catchy sound going, as usual, something kind of like Rihanna meets Sky Ferreira. Only 10 times better than both of them. The chorus will return to the bouncy light feeling, reminding us that this is supposed to be more of a humorous song. And there is something incredibly amusing about hearing a girl announce, "I'm going to kill my boyfriend," the way she might say, "I'm going to win the lottery."

Natalia Kills has shown that she can shine with both dark ("Mirrors" and
Wonderland") and light ("Free") sounds; and now she can put it all together into an awesome mix. Both sides are incredibly catchy and infectious and altogether this is song is just an amazingly enjoyable track.

Although Natalia hasn't really seen that much international success with her last three singles, so I don't see why this should be any different. But if anybody is actually reading this I would highly recommend you check the song out.

Also, another X Factor update. The auditions are wrapping up this week and there's definitely a lot of potential in some of the artists. I think I've found my favorite, Tora Woloshin, she's really powerful and I think she could win this thing. The highlight of this week I'd have to say was Tiah Tolliver's audition. In a rare occurrence, Paula was the villain and Simon defending the singer. Nicole finally cracked and let her pass, but not after much debate from the judges. I'm looking forward to Boot Camp!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Rihanna - We Found Love

So I've managed to keep up this blog for at least a year now. It was around a year ago when I posted my first song, "Only Girl" by Rihanna. Overall the time of a year I've come close to 2,000 views, which isn't great but I predicted it would be somewhere closer to 0. Anyways, coincidentally enough I've got another Rihanna song this week, and it's the 5th time Rihanna has been featured on my blog, much more than any other artist.

Like I've been saying before, Rihanna has an addiction to releasing as much music in as little time as possible. "Cheers" is still climbing the charts, and her album, Loud, has just wrapped up. But she's ready to release a new single and has a new album coming out later this year. And like I've been saying this leads to Rihanna music being a bit repetitive.

"We Found Love" is a pretty good dance track, but it's still quite obvious that it's just another typical Rihanna song. Her vocals are the same as always and she just repeats the same lyrics over and over and over. They sound pretty deep when you first hear them, but by the third time around: We get it, you found love. Calvin Harris assists Rihanna this time around and adds an interesting electronic sound. Except they use that to death too, so by the end the song is incredibly boring.

Like I said it is a good dance track and the lyrics do seem to have meaning, but after the creativity that was shown in "California King Bed" and "Cheers" and even a bit of "S&M" I'm wanting something more from her next lead single. If she can't do something different then she should just give us a break for a while.

The main reason why "We Found Love" isn't a good idea is because after listening to Rihanna straight for a year, a repetitive boring song isn't going to be turning any heads. As usual Rihanna will probably have success with this song and then we'll have another year to endure her nonstop music. After that can we please have a break?!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Carly Rae Jepsen - Call me maybe

There have been a lot of great songs in 2011, but there are those that just stand out whenever you hear them and you know that these are perfect hits. "Call me maybe" is looking like one of these. Simple lyrics, but still coherent and gets the cute message across. A catchy chorus with unique rhythm that is sure to get stuck into your head. And a bouncing bridge which will get your head bobbing. There's nothing too deep about the song, but it's sure to put a smile on your face and that's all I need.

Carly Rae has done a lot of a more depressing songs so it's nice to see her switch it up and give us something uplifting. The cheerful lyrics and just the overall bouncy feeling of the song gives off an aura of joy. It's easy to imagine a girl laughing as she falls in love.

The rhythms are uneven throughout the chorus, but this only adds to the hook of the song and makes the song more interesting. Overall it's incredibly infectious and with lyrics that match this song is the type of the song that will stick with you for a while.

A lot of great songs like this go by unnoticed sadly, though. Carly Rae already has a bit of a reputation behind her, so I'm hoping that that'll boost "Call me maybe" as a major comeback. It's not the kind of song that will get old soon, so I have nothing against hearing it a bunch.

In other music related news, X Factor premiered in the US recently. I've glanced at Idol and The Voice, but since X Factor has both Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul I've decided to dedicate some time to it. I've seen a few potential superstars, and some more annoying types. The most memorable part was definitely Nicole Collins who stopped her song and demanded a chance to try again. Once the judges told her that she sucked she chased them down and continued to beg for another shot. I'm hoping the rest of the series has more surprises.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Jason Derulo - It Girl

As usual Jason Derulo is jumping between styles. After the party track "Don't Wanna Go Home" he's now going to a catchy love song, similar to "What If". "What If" was a sweet song, but the problem was that a lot of people didn't really care for the slow style. Luckily "It Girl" manages to combine the tender feeling with a much more catchy and danceable sound. The sound starts out simple and builds into something that's not quite explosive, but very powerful. The song combines whistles, snaps, rhythms and genius lyrics that flow together perfectly and make a great song.

The song's beat has a nifty little bounce to it that is helped by clever rhymes and well placed snaps. So overall if it doesn't get you dancing it'll at least get your knees bobbing. Like always I am put off by using whistles as if it's a really lyric; but I can let it pass for this song. One reason is that it does overall at to the catchy feeling of the song;n and another is that the rest of the lyrics are very well written.

The lyrics range from sweet loving messages like "You're my greatest hit, girl" to clever rhymes. While a lot of love songs fill the words with emotion, this song instead keeps up the upbeat dance feel, yet still keeps the feeling alive. It's clear that thought really did go into the writing as they're not the usual cliches.

Overall this song makes a nice blend of affection and dance, it's just what Jason needs to make another hit. He's branching into something a little different, yet still keeping it catchy so he can always fallback on that. Of course nowadays sweet emotional songs are all the rage so he probably doesn't have to worry about that either. This is a super song and I'm looking forward to getting massive playtime.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

David Guetta - Without U

If you combine David Guetta with Usher, what do you expect to get? A massive dance hit maybe? Nope, sorry but this song is quite far away from dance. The song is a slower lamenting post break up song. The problem is, this isn't exactly the best move for either David Guetta or Usher.

David Guetta's last hit "Where them Girls at" opened the way for his next big hit, if he followed up with another dance song he probably would have another success, but with this new style he's taking a risk. As for Usher, we just got used to his club dance style, and now he's doing something completely different. In "Without U" Usher lacks a lot of the power that was featured in some of his previous hits. It's definitely a step down for him.

Of course, I can't blame them for trying this out, 2011 has been full of slower ballads and such. But this song lacks any build it's just the same gentle lyrics again and again. This would be a good way to start, but it needs to go somewhere. Furthermore is the fact that Adele's "Someone Like You" has just topped the billboard 100 and that song is a really powerful lament, there is no way that "Without U" can compete with that. Perhaps if it had been released a little earlier than it would have been unique and been a better idea, but now it's just asking to be crushed.

And then there's the lyrics, an important part for this type of song since if you're not getting people dancing then you have to make them think about the message. Some of the lyrics are pretty but really it's just the same things again and again. Eventually it stops making sense and they're just trying to repeat 'Without you' as much as possible.

I respect the attempt to branch out in this, and I think this could have been a hit with a few changes. But from Usher I really expect something more powerful, even if it is a ballad and not dance. And David Guetta has held a strong hold in the dance world, I don't see why he needs to leave. Overall this song was just a bad idea in the wrong time.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Kelly Clarkson - Mr. Know it all

Kelly Clarkson has been holding out this year while most of the major divas have been clashing. Now that the main competition is settling down she's set to dominate again; and she's going to start with "Mr. Know it all." I wasn't too keen on her last album, but she's changed up her style a little bit and it's an improvement.

"Mr. Know it all" doesn't take the powerful angry approach like some of her past hits, this one is mellowed up a bit. Though the lyrics are just as harsh as she's ever been. The song starts out smooth and transitions into a bouncy catchy chorus while staying out of dance territory. So Kelly has combined a catchy sound with her own style so she can still sound original and have a hit. This is a good message towards people getting worried about all music becoming too dancy.

Lyrically the song also displays a unique message. Kelly's often sung about breaking up and she does it again, but it's presented in a different way then before. The lyrics clearly have thought put into them and Kelly sings them with meaning and that's all it takes to give the song a real feeling.

So people have compared this song to Bruno Mars' "Just the Way You Are." There is a similarity, but I don't think it's worth getting worked up about. The songs each have their own unique styles and it's not so noticeable that it will ruin the song, like "Already Gone." Songs can sound similar and not be direct copies of each other, if people like it then you're probably going to be hearing similar tunes a lot.

Katy Perry and Rihanna are the major pop stars of the last couple of years, but they're wrapping out now. So all that really leaves is Lady Gaga, and if "Mr. Know it all" can make it to the top or at least come close then that should open the way for the rest of Kelly's album.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Selena Gomez and The Scene - Love You Like a Love Song

Selena Gomez has got to be one of the few artists that I can never decide if I love her or hate her. Her songs are each very different, so one could be awesome, the next might be painful. No doubt her most annoying was her last single, "Who Says," but fear not, because she's left that behind for the dancy, "Love You Like a Love Song."

The song combines dance style, with clever lyrics, with a unique sound, so altogether it makes quite a nice song. Although it is the dance-pop style the song isn't super fast, it goes at its own pace which is a defining point for the song. The lyrics offer something a little new; it's not revolutionary but it clearly has more effort than some of the current major songs. The song also combines the mellow sound of the verse with the catchy chorus ("I keep hitting repeat peat peat.")

The song may seem like its lacking because it doesn't build up to anything particularly strong, but I think that it still sounds good and it shows unique style from Selena Gomez and The Scene. The song has had a lot of effort put into it and I would say that it is a major highlight for Selena. Knowing how her songs are so unpredictable I can't say if her next single will be this nice, so I'm going to enjoy it while I can.