Tuesday, September 29, 2009

This Title Is Just Way To Fitting...

Britney Spears - 3 (2009 - Single)

So here is the newest single from the original "Madonna 2.0" (which I think we can all agree, Lady GaGa is on her way to taking over), and is another catchy/dancey hook-fest.

3 is produced by the same people who brought us "Stronger", "...Baby One More Time", and "If U Seek Amy" and sounds like something that should have been on B's third studio album; Britney, but also sounds A LOT like Fergie's "Fergalicious". This is Britney's third single to come out around early fall, three years in a row, and is her third single of 2009.

I also expect this to be her third #1 lead single off an album in a row ( Following 2007's "Gimme More" and 08's "Womanizer"). The song is like a 3 min hook, but has a lot more listening value than "Radar".

3 is the lead single from The Singles Collection (out November), which is basically a re-issue of 2004's My Prerogative, dropping the lesser singles from her 6 studio albums and including the recent singles (excluding "Break the Ice" for some mind-boggling reason), but i will more than likely review that when it comes out. As for this single, it's nothing too great/original/memorable, but will do well for the time being and is worth a listen.

3.5/5

Tuesday, September 15, 2009


The Bravery - Slow Poison (2009 - Single)

So if you are completely in the dark, The Bravery have been around since '03-'04, or that's when they first broke into the mainstream with their single "An Honest Mistake" from their self-titled album. They got big around the same time The Killers did, and they both had very similar music styles so they were compared early on. The Killers got more mainstream success, but I've always found The Bravery to have more substance to their music, making it worth listening to. Besides...Brandon Flowers (Killers) is alternative music's answer to Kanye West...and nobody wants that...

Slow Poison is the lead single for the band's upcoming third album, and though I wouldn't exactly call the song "single-worthy", it is a solid track that stays loyal to their trademark style. It reflects more on the side of the songs from their second album The Sun And the Moon (and the re-issue The Sun And The Moon: Complete); being more down tempo than their songs from their first album The Bravery, but shows elements that were absent from The Sun And The Moon. While not going backwards, they seem to be headed to a new sound that is a blend of both of their past albums, a lil more alt-rock, but with that electro/punk undertone. Interesting music to say the least.

Slow Poison will take a while to grow on you, but it is definitely worth a listen, and it has gotten me excited for their album (Stir The Blood, due out November 10th). Personally I would hope they take back up the electronic element to their music (or some of the Disco pop element used in Shakira's "She Wolf", which they helped write/produce), but they have yet to seriously disappoint me, so I eagerly await to see what they've been working on.

3.5/5

Monday, September 14, 2009

I think I'd Rather Walk...If That's Okay With You...


Karl Wolf - Carerra (2009 - Single)

long time no post, but I was waiting for something i felt the need to write about, and loooky looky, it has come forth!

Karl Wolf is a Canadian, not that we are especially proud of him, who has been on the music scene for a couple of years. Wolf even won a Juno award..or was nominated for one...I think... but even Canadians knows how much of a joke award the Juno is... not exactly something you ever brag about having...similar to winning Canadian Idol (which got cancelled I might add)

Wolf's music is in the same kind of hip-pop genre as Shawn Desman, and Massari and Danny Fernandes. All of those examples previously mentioned are fellow Canuks, unfortunately Canada breeds this music..it exists else where I'm sure, but I'm just going on what I know. While not especially awful, (like Massari), and not as awkward to listen to (Shawn Desman), it's not overly great or special in it's own right. His career is basically "I can sing half decently, but I have a hot body so you will all love me"... and this is why I hate tweenage girls at times...because they have the mental path of "guy = hot, music =good?, MUST GO BUY!"...and presto, he is relevant.

this loverly number, "Carerra", is about a car...as if Karl Wolf's music wasn't boring enough, he chooses to sing songs about hip-hop stereo types, (which must make shooting the videos super easy). the lyrics are also singing about a woman at the same time..so they don't make a whole bunch of sense, but then again as B44 knows (also Canadian...sensing a pattern yet?) that teenage (usually female) music listeners will sing things and not think about it until someone points this out to them.

I am kind of ragging on the guy, and not all of it is deserved. This song is 10 levels of awful, but his previous single, and other tracks on his album Bite The Bullet are not such travesties, especially his "cover" of Toto's "Africa" (I use the term cover loosely, as the songs really only share a hook, chorus and basic melody).

I would also like to add that there are good Canadian singers, but they do not run on the "Much Music" circut... at least not successfully.

1/5