Katy Perry’s “E.T.” New Music Video

I’ve already commented on how Katy Perry’s latest single, “E.T.” sounds like t.A.T.u.’s “All the Things She Said”. You can check out that blog here.

Now, moving on, I wanted to comment on this beautiful music video. The video starts in a junkyard and a faint old-fashioned song is heard in an echo. Can’t help but think of Disney’s Wall-E, where a robot is alone in a junkyard, looking for love. Katy Perry plays different aliens, floating in the air, and also on Earth. The make-up and colors are amazing. Music videos are blowing up lately. Lady Gaga, Britney Spears and Katy Perry have all recently released music videos with amazing colors, visuals, out-of-this-world effects and strong club anthems.

I’m loving it, I love pop, I love music videos, and the “music video” is back in style now. Now there is a ton of money poured into these music videos. I hope this lasts, because this is the ultimate art-form; to pair music to moving images.

I really don’t like Kanye West rapping graphically about sex in the music video. The lyrics that Perry sings isn’t so graphic, and West just seems like he doesn’t know what to say. And I’m sorry, but that sunglasses plug is just as subtle as the sun itself. @_@

Anyways, love the music video, I like the song, but as I mentioned in my other blog, I wish it didn’t sound so much like t.A.T.u. But I do see a trend in music videos and I really hope it lasts and continues to push boundaries in the arts.

New Music But Kind of Old Music?

I’m having a blast this week listening to the new leaks of the remixed Tron Legacy R3CONFIGUR3D album. Oh, it’s sounding brilliant. I don’t have the full album in my hands, but when I do get it, I’ll be giving a full, detailed album review. I can’t wait!

I wanted to point out some music that I have noted in my blog a while ago that I now hear on the radio and in TV commercials. I’ve been raving about Medina’s “You & I” song, I wrote a blog about her here back in January. Well, on Los Angeles’ hit radio station KIIS FM, guess what I hear playing? A remix of Medina’s “You & I”. This song has also been remixed by Deadmau5, and has been around for quite some time, but this is the first time I heard it on the radio. Perhaps it has been played on the radio before, please correct me if I’m wrong, but I was glad to hear it on the radio. So, kids, you’re gonna hear some music here first. Just saying…

And another song I pointed out that was a lot of fun, was Paloma Faith with her cute song, “Upside Down”. I recently heard this song in a TV commercial, I was surprised to hear this song, because it’s so distinctive, and it’s a UK artist as well. Check out the blog here.

Another song that I have on mad repeat is Patrick Wolf. I can’t take full credit of finding this artist, because I found this artist on another blog, I Made You A Mixtape and I absolutely LOVED the remix version! I can’t get enough of the video and the song. I’ve been in an 80s mood for quite some time now, watching Pretty in Pink and other John Hughes films. This song has the 80s vibe down to the core, and it’s uplifting too! I love it. The lyrics are great, and my favorite part is:

“Not about the debts you make, the car we’d never have, the house we never owned, darling, don’t look so sad, it’s about the day we kissed…”

I’m so glad to have this song on repeat, just in time for the LA weather to pick up and get sunny again. I love how the video is shot at Santa Monica.

Also, I got a “Versatile Blogger Award” from The Hook, I will be writing a blog about that soon… 🙂

Keep checking back, thanks for the comments and subscriptions! And sorry I can’t post as much, I’m packing up for a move this weekend and starting at a new job.

Crystal Method Remixes Daft Punk’s Tron: Legacy

Did  I mention how stoked I am for the Tron Legacy R3CONFIGUR3D remix album? If you’re been following my blog lately, I’ve been eagerly anticipated its April 5th release.

The first look of a full remix is by Crystal Method. It’s a remix of the main motif, “The Grid”. The song is remixed indeed, with Jeff Bridge’s vocals repeating, ‘The Grid”. The song gets really interesting in the last minute of the song, when then violins play the main melody and all the synths build up towards the end. Very nice. Good job. I can’t wait to hear the rest of the album and give you all a full review.

You can hear the song here on Spin: premiere-crystal-method-remix-daft-punks-tron

Also, another remix, not part of the album, but a remix of Daft Punk’s Tron Legacy  by Goose. There’s a backlash online with the upcoming R3CONFIGUR3D album, basically saying the artists picked to do the remixes have no business remixing Daft Punk’s work. I think we should wait to hear the finished product first. I think Moby’s remix is sounding amazing from the clip that I’ve heard.

With Goose’s mix of “The Son of Flynn”, to be honest, it didn’t blow me away. It’s good, I thought it was a little too repetitive and was hoping for something else. It’s not a bad remix, but just not what I was thinking about. For the new album, I’m just going to say, let’s wait for the new album to release before bashing it.

Indie Artist Mondays: Gaby Moreno

I’ve been on hiatis from this blog this past week because I’ve been busy looking for a new place to move into and a new job, plus mixing a new song and other things. I got a new job and a new place to move into today, it’s funny how things happen all at once. I’m still reeling because in a week everything is going to change, so it’s a lot. But, let’s go forward here.

Here’s my second installment of Indie Artist Mondays, like I said, it’s quite difficult to keep finding indie artists every week to talk about, but for now, so far so good.

For this week’s Indie Artist Mondays, I’m introducing you to the Guatemalan singer, Gaby Moreno. I was first acquainted with Moreno at a performance for Los Angeles Women in Music (LAWiM) Singer/Songwriter night. Moreno’s voice was unique; she has a disarming personality in person. Calm, positive and soulful, Gaby Moreno commands a stage presence, and her voice sucks you right in. You can tell she’s a sweet heart too. Her music is indie-soul.

Gaby has been getting a lot of buzz here in LA as well. I hear a lot of music professionals talking about her talent. She’s touring the U.S. right now and has an album releasing April 5th called Illustrated Songs.

Check out her out!

Gaby’s website: http://www.gaby-moreno.com/

A Special Blast from the Past Friday: Ace of Base Meets Lady Gaga

All right, readers, I have a special Blast from the Past Friday for you today!

I’ve been wanting to write a post about how Lady Gaga uses references from Ace of Base, so for today’s Blast from the Past Fridays, I’m going to show you some of my favorite Ace of Base songs and show the correlation with Lady Gaga’s music.

I remember falling in love with the Swedish band, Ace of Base back in the 90s on an airplane. I was listening to the airplane radio and I heard “It’s A Beautiful Life” for the first time. I loved the pop, the dance and the synths. I later bought my first Ace of Base album, The Bridge back in 1995. I still whip out that album from time to time. There are a ton of good songs on that album. There’s great song writing. The lyrics are great, very poetic, “your tears are like pearls (Experience Pearls)/you’re as reliable as wave-wet sand (Wave Wet Sand)/when I was your age I was working my ass off, your generation’s soft (Blooming 18)“.

And no, I was never a fan of “The Sign”.

I heard from the grapevine that Lady Gaga was influenced by Ace of Base. It is extremely evident. When I heard “Alejandro” I heard the same exact rhythm/beat from “Blooming 18”. You can also say, “Alejandro” sounds just like, “Don’t Turn Around”.

I love that Lady Gaga is influenced by Ace of Base. In my opinion, Ace of Base was one of the most original pop acts in the 1990s. Their lyrics and song writing still hold up to today. Unfortunately, the synths now sound outdated, but I think a remake of the songs would be brilliant, and in essence, what Lady Gaga has done. She’s taken the upbeat, dance rhythms from Ace of Base and has made it modern. Ace of Base also had very original lyrics, ranging from religion, utopias, coming of age, dating guys that disappear, it goes on.

Ace of Base later came out with Cruel Summer in 1998. That album was good as well, they had an improved pop sound, with some throwbacks to the 50s. Although, The Bridge will be one of the best albums in my pop musical library, and it still inspires me to this day. Not bad for an album 16 years old.

Ace of Base “It’s a Beautiful Life”

Now check out Lady Gaga’s “Alejandro” then listen to “Blooming 18” and “Don’t Turn Around”

 

 

Dance Remixes

In honor of the new remix album for Tron Legacy Reconfigured, I wanted to list some of my favorite remixes. Hope you enjoy!

 

 

 

Madonna – “Frozen” (Franck Martinez remix 2009)

An amazing remix of “Frozen”

 

La Roux – “I’m Not Your Toy” (Jackbeats Remix)

The instruments on this remix is totally different. Ethereal and funky at the same time.

 

Miike Snow – “Silvia” (Sebastian Ingrosso & Dirty South Remix)

A hauntingly beautiful remix.

 

30 Seconds to Mars “Kings and Queens” (LA Riots Vocal Mix)

Very upbeat, dancey version of “Kings and Queens”

 

Cher “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” (Dave Aude Radio Edit)

It’s Cher! There’s no other voice like that.

Indie Artist Mondays: Almost Gold “Better Than This”

I’ve really been wanting to dedicate a day of the week to writing about indie artists. I write about a lot of popular music, but I also wanted to promote good indie musicians/bands. Being an indie musician myself, I feel it’s important to help out my fellow artists.

This is a tough one to keep up, because I only want to talk about indie artists “I” like. I don’t want to promote just anyone. This blog is about music I believe is good, whether it’s mainstream or not.

All right, so that being said, hopefully I can keep finding new indie artists to keep reporting on every Monday, and if I skip a week or so, please forgive me in advance, as I only strive to bring you quality music to this blog and will not report on music that I personally can’t endorse.

Now, for our first Indie Artist Monday… Almost Gold “Better Than This”. A Boston pop punk, powerpop band that engaged my interests with the name. How did I find this band? Well, back in 2009 I did A&R talent scouting for an indie record label, and Almost Gold was one of the artists that I was going to put on a compilation album I put together. I was just about to get them to sign onto the project… but at the last minute they decided to re-record their songs, some stuff happened, I don’t know, and it never happened.

And now, I see not really much has happened. Unfortunately. But, this song, “Better Than This” is radio-ready. Indie rock, upbeat and very catchy. I love the intro to the song. They kind of remind me 3OH!3. There are a ton of bands with this kind of sound, but Almost Gold has a great song with “Better Than This”. I’m not sure if they’re moving on with their music, I haven’t seen anything change. I know these things take a while. You can go to their Purevolume site to download a free copy of “Better Than This” here: http://www.purevolume.com/AlmostGold

Hopefully, they move forward with their music. If not, at least you can hear some good music right now.

Katy Perry’s “E.T.”, a lot like t.A.T.u’s “All the Things She Said”

Upon hearing  Katy Perry’s latest single “E.T.” I couldn’t help but be reminded of t.A.T.u’s “All the Things She Said”. Right at “0:46” when the chorus starts up, is basically the same lead into “All the Things She Said” at “0:23”.

I think there are a lot of similar chords, the basic rhythm of the song is similar and the instrumentation as well.

And just looking up these songs, apparently I’m not the only one who thought this (and here I am thinking I’m original, hah!).

The song “E.T.” is fine on its own, but I just want to go back to “All The Things She Said” because that’s still a better song. Way more catchier and apparently the inspiration for “E.T.”.

What do you think of Perry’s latest single? Let’s hope for something a little more original next time.

 

Here’s an acoustic mash-up I did of both of the songs. Please check it out!

Katy Perry/t.A.T.u. Cover “E.T.” and “All the Things She Said”

I am Now a Los Angeles Music Examiner!

Just a little bit of personal news. I wrote my first local music review for Examiner.com. Exciting! Click on the “examiner.com” icon on the right side of the page to view my first article.

When I was a little girl, I thought I’d become a journalist or novelist, because I have always had a love of writing. That love of writing has segued into song writing and writing lyrics. Since starting this music blog, I have fell in love with writing again. It’s pretty evident that I love music, and as I’ve said before, this blog is about music I like, and I don’t want this blog to be another Perez-Hilton-bashing-celebrities site. The music I put on here is music I personally listen to and I believe should be noticed.

This blog has turned into something bigger than I thought it would be, and I think it will continue to grow.

So, I thank you loyal readers for reading, subscribing, commenting and also encouraging me to continue writing about music and also push further with my own music.

🙂

Now, back to your regular scheduled programming…

(Coming up in future blogs: Katy Perry, Remixes and the Tron Legacy Reconfigured album review)

 

Blast from the Past Fridays: En Vogue – “Free Your Mind”

“Free your mind! And the rest will follow, Be colorblind! Don’t be so shallow!”

En Vogue’s “Free Your Mind” was released in September 1992 from the Funky Divas album. I can’t really think of any diva/progressive/rock-inspired anthems that compare to “Free Your Mind” that also combine amazing vocals. En Vogue was from Oakland, CA. (Yay, Bay Area!)

This song is about prejudice, how women can dress how they want, how one shouldn’t be judged on what they like, what they look like and proclaiming their independence. The music video is fabulous, starting off with a runway show, and all the colors are black and white, signifying the the blend between “black” and “white”.

I think of this song from time to time, and I would love to hear a new female R&B group be this gutsy and in-your-face. Since there is a void, isn’t it the law of physics to fill a void whenever it presents itself? Let’s see when the next female R&B group materializes.