Obligatory End of Year list: Top 10 Albums of 2011

As the label suggests.

10. Britney Spears- Femme Fatale This is her comeback record. Let's hope she progresses forward with this change in sound

9. Foster The People- Torches The whole record is brilliant, which doesn't often happen with a debut.

8. Wild Beasts- Smother Beautiful and heartfelt.

7. Metronomy- The English Riviera Soundtrack to my winter break. A cocktail in musical form.

6. Nicola Roberts- Cinderella's Eyes Pop perfection. I had high hopes for Nicola's solo debut considering I find her bandmates' solo outings lacklustre. And let me tell you, she did not disappoint me at all. Pop but from the heart.

5. Will Young- Echoes From the minute I heard the lead single 'Jealousy', I had a feeling that this album would be stunning. Really think he's hit his stride here lyrically and sonically.

4. Coldplay- Mylo Xyloto Bias? Perhaps. But there were a few tracks, namely the acoustic-esque tracks, that are growers.

3. Florence and The Machine- Ceremonials Like Lungs, but bigger, boom-ier and bassier.

2. Clare Maguire- Light After Dark Another fantastic debut. From start to finish, the only word to describe this album is 'epic'.

1. Adele- 21 Review: Need I say more? 2011 is the year of Adele.

 Special Mentions: Yelle- Safari Disco Club, Wolf Gang- Suego Faults 

Albums I had high hopes for but turned out to be a bit ho-hum in the end: Kimbra- Vows. Starts off great, but the second half is very slow. Great tracks, but they don't grab you like the opening tracks.

Lady Gaga- Born This Way. Too much going on in some songs like 'Judas'. But the album also gave us gems like 'Scheisse' and 'Heavy Metal Lover', so it wasn't a total fail.

Breaking Dawn as told by Madonna

The final instalment in the Twilight Saga as retold through the power of song. The power of MADONNA songs that is.

Wedding


Honeymmon/Isle Esme


Pregnant with demon half vampire/human baby


Bella dies during childbirth


OR



Vampire!Bella, Edward and demon child are a family after Bella wakes up from vampcoma.


Jacob imprints on demon spawn


OR



Preparing for non existent fight with ancient Vamps


Fight is one massive anticlimax. Everyone goes home.


Edward and Bella and demon child live happily ever after



Thoughts? Questions? Rashes?

All credit to Madonna. I would thank Stephenie Meyer but she wrote the Twilight Saga, so....

New stuff from old favourites

Coldplay- Every Teardrop is a Waterfall

It is not as good as this:



Or this:



But it is better than this:



And nowhere near as broody as this:



And it also has a sample from 'I Go to Rio' by Peter Allen.

Incredible. I really just want to get up and dance to it. Love the synths, the bit when the beat comes in, Chris's voice. What an uplifting tune and a surefire departure from their earlier work but an evolution of the last album. Begging to be remixed.



Rating: 8/10

Nicola Roberts- Beat of My Drum


It's always the quiet ones. The third Girls Aloud member to go solo, Nicola's debut packs so much more of a punch than Cheryl or Nadine's. She really is the underdog. The drum breakdown at the end is OH so necessary. The bridge almost doesn't fit in with the rest of the song, but after a few listens, you get over it. And that chorus.
Wow. So fierce.
Diplo/Major Lazer worked on this track and were responsible for Beyonce's underwhelming 'Run the World (Girls)' and out of the two, I know which one I'd prefer to listen to.

(Nicola's.)

Rating: 7.5-8/10

Heavy Rotation

Currently being played over and over again are:

Depeche Mode- Enjoy the Silence: How am I only just discovering this now? Amazing and sounds so fresh even after all these years. I'm thinking I need to get my hands on their GH.

Lady Gaga- Judas: It doesn't hold a candle to the perfection that is Bad Romance, but it's still catchy and fun. Video is good too, bar the ending. Something is off with this era though. Can't seem to put my finger on it.

N.E.R.D- Hypnotize U: Sexy and hypnotic. The beat and Pharell's voice just do it for me in this track. I haven't liked a N.E.R.D song in years so this kind of a big deal.

Kanye West et al- All of The Lights: Genius. Pure genius.

Jay-Z ft Chris Martin- Beach Chair: This is quickly becoming one of my favourites from Hov. Am I biased? Maybe. Lyrically it's brilliant. Whenever I'm having a low moment, I find myself turning to this track. The sound of the piano is so strange you can't help but listen. Definitely one of the best collaborations that Chris Martin has done.

Album Review: Britney Spears 'Femme Fatale (Deluxe Edition)'

Oh Britney. What have you done?

For those of you that don't know me, from 1999 to 2005, I was a massive Britney stan. Huge. Until her knee screwed everything up. From that point on, when she decided her career was nothing and that celebrity status was more important, I decided to flip her the bird and move on. Sure, I bought 'Blackout' and 'Circus' but months after their releases and with minimal excitement. 'Blackout' was great leap forward for her, but 'Circus' was full of filler and seems like such a whimper compared to its predecessor (even 'In The Zone' was more of a leap forward than 'Circus').

So, my thoughts then on Femme Fatale, her seventh studio album.

It is much, much better than 'Circus'. My biggest problem with Britney was that she still had the lyrics and music of a teeny bopper. Not so much on here even though she is still working with Max Martin (who, if you didn't know by now, wrote 'Baby One More Time'). There's a nice duality in the opening tracks 'Til the World Ends' and 'Hold it Against Me'- both of them have the 'faux-dubstep' sound but are very much what Britney should sound like in 2011.
The fan favourite 'Inside Out' is next and while it's a good track, I don't get the hype over it. That's not to say I don't like it though. But it's no where near her top 10 best tracks. That honour should go to the next track, 'I Wanna Go'. The hook, the whistle effects, the beat- it sounds so fresh and different from anything else she's done. I keep going back to this track the most.
'How I Roll' is a cute sounding song with amateurish lyrics, but that's okay. Is it weird that my favourite bit about the song is just opening effects? SMS or e-mail me the answer plz.

The next three tracks that follow have this dance/techno (I use that term incredibly lightly) concept. I really would love to hear a mashup of 'Trouble For Me' with 'Take Me to The Love Parade' *coughmakeithappenpleasecough* There's a real 90s dance vibe on these tracks, in my opinion. 'Trip To Your Heart' another fan favourite off the cut, is good, but it doesn't live up to the hype. It does sound like the older, wiser sister of 'Heaven on Earth' though.'Gasoline' is a catchy albeit filler-ish track using the extended metaphor of petrol for adrenaline/lust. #shrugs
The standard album ends with 'Criminal'. Yes it's a good song, downtempo and harks back to Madonna circa American Life BUT ever since I read the observation that the chorus sounds like 'The Logical Song', it's been tainted. Just a bit.

Now, the real goodies are on the deluxe edition. 'Up N Down' has a great bridge and catchy chorus, as does 'Selfish'. The real highlight on the album is 'He About To Lose Me'. All I can say is: That. Beat. Totally hypnotic. Wonderfully understated. Just a shame that it doesn't sound like Britney sings the chorus at all.

It's a good album. Not the 'Ray of Light' esqueness that we had been told to expect. But then again, I don't think Britney could carry that sound or thematic concerns off very well. Indeed, the album is based on sex and dancing. Or dancing as a metaphor for sex. So it's a safe album in terms of lyrics, but thank god the sound has progressed. Her fanbase isn't 12 years old anymore and neither is she. The big question from here is whether she wants to continue to be a popstar or not, because it looks and sounds like it's just not her thing anymore.

Verdict: 7 Mickey's out of 10 Mouse Clubs
Standout Tracks: I Wanna Go, He About To Lose Me, Till The World Ends

NB: Big Fat Bass and (Drop Dead) Beautiful are both shit. Except for the piano bit on the former.

Album Review: Adele '21'

For many weeks after it's release, I avoided this album like the plague. Adele's debut album, '19', whilst having some great singles, did not live up to my expectations at all and so I was wary of falling into a similar trap.

And then I heard 'Rolling in the Deep'. The first single is an ear assault. It's punchy, with big vocals and full of vitriol. Actually, the whole album is peppered by hate, or perhaps regret. Either way it's one of the best breakup albums I've heard.
So after this, I watched her performances of 'Someone Like You' at the Brit Awards.

Sold.

This is kind of performance that's destined to leave you in tears, clutching a pillow and rocking back and forth in the foetal position. Not that I did or anything....

post performance, I headed to my local CD store and had to have the album. And this time I was not disappointed. Tracks like 'Rumour Has It' and 'I'll Be Waiting' keep the spirit of the album alive in between heartbreaking songs like 'Set Fire to the Rain' and 'Turning Tables'. I've yet to warm up to 'One and Only' and 'Lovesong', but an average of 9 out of 11 brilliant tracks makes up for that. Her voice is so soulful and full of emotion, that you can hear the pain when she sings. Lyrically, it's very good. I particularly enjoy this one from 'Turning Tables': 'Next time I'll be braver/ I'll be my own saviour/when the thunder calls for me'. Achingly beautiful.

Adele was lumped in with Winehouse and Duffy as her contemporaries. Out of those three, it seems like she's the one that's made progress musically and may have long term success.

A stunning gem of an album.

Verdict: 9 angry texts out of 10 screened phone calls
Standout Tracks: Rolling in the Deep, Rumour Has It, Set Fire To The Rain, Someone Like You

Album Review: Aston 'Aston'

Here's something different. Aston are a classical music group.
WAIT! DON'T LEAVE!
They do covers of pop songs.
Still here? Good. Because these guys are brilliant. I took one look at the track listing and went 'yes, yes, YES!', as if they had stumbled upon my music collection purposely. They arrange the tracks themselves and in some cases, they have one upped the originals. Muse, Coldplay, Florence + The Machine; hell even Rihanna and Lady Gaga get treatments here. It's all instrumental but it just sounds amazing. Each track sweeps and soars- you can feel the emotionality of these songs that you may not have noticed before. Perfect for a mainstream music lover who wants something a bit different.

Verdict:9 woods out of 10 winds
Stand out tracks: ET, You've Got The Love, Rude Boy

How to Cover.... True Faith

This is a good cover:



This is a not so good cover:



Just an opinion

Track of the Day: Bat For Lashes 'Strangelove'

This track surfaced sometime last week and is the official track for the new Gucci 'Guilty' campaign. I'm not familiar with the original by Depeche Mode, but having had Bat for Lashes stunning version on repeat since it was made available, I will make a note to hunt down DM's. Musically, it doesn't sound like anything off the last album, nor does it sound like their contribution to the Twilight: Eclipse soundtrack, the fantastic 'Let's Get Lost' featuring Beck. Natasha Kahn (pictured) provides stunning vocals and the strumming riff that occurs throughout the track give it this mysterious edge.'Strangelove' indeed.

Verdict: Without comparing to the original, 8 Bats out of 10 Lashes
NB: not sure whether I'm allowed to post the track or not but Google is your friend *coughcough*