Heroes & Thieves

this post is late i know, but i keep putting it at the back of my head.

Vanessa Carlton is back after losing her record deal, with a new album called, Heroes and Thieves. oh she is signed to Irv Gotti’s label now. so she has ja rule and ashanti as label mates. interesting huh.

first single Nolita Fairytale, she sings about how she has got some kind of fairytale going on. from going to lose her record to getting a new one and artistic freedom. the video is pretty funny with her re-acting her first video, a thousand miles, only to get the piano smashed by a yellow taxi cab. a pretty strong showing of affirmation.

http://www.vanessacarlton.com/

go to her official site to check out her new video.

the album, does not really disappoint too. it is definitely a far cry from her second album, harmonium. with heroes and thieves, she’s sounding better than ever with really strong tracks and a very mature sound. she’s even got Stevie Nicks on one of them songs. though she has stuck with stephen jenkins ( her boyfriend from third eye blind) on this one, it sounds so different. other producers include Linda Perry and Irv Gotti.

she has a knack for putting together strong chords and very emotional tinkling of the piano. her lyrics are often very poetic and deep. with heroes and thief, you see her sticking once again to her piano. but with better arrangement and more coherence. on songs such as spring street, you see her get a little more experimental. in a sense, she has opened up to more drum beats on this one.

i feel she has come full circle with this one.

its good that irv gotti allowed her to do her thing even though she is on a predominantly rap/r&b label.

old formula new cast

now that the oc buzz has fizzled into TV oblivion, lets find ourselves a new TV show to fawn and laud over. and this comes in the form of TV adapted novel series Gossip Girl. i have not read any of the Gossip Girl series, but the title suggests quite a huge plethora of misconceptions i’m sure. so who would’ve thought i would actually like the TV series.

its old formula but new cast and environment. its like all the other teen shows that have graced our screens for many years. namely, the OC, Popular and older shows such as the classic Beverly Hills 902010.

with Gossip Girl, you see the story being told in a relevant format, through the eyes of a blogger aptly calling herself, Gossip Girl. through her given moniker she introduces us to the characters in play, never once divulging her true identity. but we all who is the voice behind Gossip Girl, the ex-Veronica Mars, Kristen Bell.

now, Gossip Girl’s first post to TV viewers, would be the controversial return of Serena Van der Woodsen. why did she leave in the first place? and what would her return spell for her best friend, Blair Waldorf? well we are all watching to find out.

and of course our girl in the down low will give us daily scoops as to what goes on in the world of the rich. but not all stories or TV show is complete without the inclusion of characters that either tries or stumbles into the the world of the rich. and here we have, the Humphrey family. think ryan in the OC but less screwed up. father, owns a art gallery and has band, and has dated Serena’s mother before. sister, jenny wants to fit into Blair’s world and thus mixes with the wrong people. and brother dan, likes serena, think ryan and mischa barton in the OC.

so how does their lives play out in this tv show, you gotta watch to find out. i do not know what draws me to this show but its quite a good show. i’m not sure whether it will take off as high as the OC or the like did, but i’m sure it’ll hold. maybe cos it has Blake Lively.

okay, this review has gone on long enough.

and i’m peeved that they canned Gilmore Girls.

silent

then they all went silent.

except maybe Robyn who, is the reigning queen of Swedish pop as we speak. thanks to her great new sound courtesy of brother sister duo, The Knife et al.

i seriously underestimated her cos of her previous single, Show Me Love. But her self titled comeback on her new label Konichiwa Bitches, is a great comeback. what took her so long to go into this direction. she sounds like Annie. and i love it.

released in 2005 to rave swedish reviews, it has since been released worldwide and well received.

here is the driving single, Every Heartbeat.

and something old, Show Me Love.

mainstream indulgence

a little mainstream indulgence is good for the soul actually, just like chicken soup stories is supposedly good for the soul. so i believe that a good mix of great mainstream artists in the music stream is good and breeds variety.

now, today’s mainstream indulgence comes in the name of Natalie Imbruglia, who has just released a 10 year compilation of her single titled, Glorious: The Singles 97-07. Now i have always maintained that Natalie Imbruglia was one of the better music exports from Down Under.

It is not really known as to why she went ahead with the release of a singles collection. But one reason would have to be that she is known, to take a long time to make another album. Case in point would be, there was a four years gap between her debut (Left of the Middle) and her second album (White Lilies Island). Both of which were really good albums.

With Glorious, it could be her giving the fans an album of sorts to tide over the period when she makes her other album. For on this one, she has included five new tracks which was completely unheard of. Glorious being the lead single off the singles collection, Be With You, Amelia, Stuck On the Moon and Against the Wall. All these songs don’t completely standout and i hope are not of what are things to come on the next record. The songs sounds likely to be B-sides for Counting Down the Days, her third album.

bring on beauty on the fire-esque tracks for the next one please.

Let Me Know – Roisin Murphy

the fantastic upcoming single from Roisin Murphy (ex-Moloko).

the follow-up to overpowered.

a great thumper of a track with disco beats and come hither lyrics, if this does not spell mainstream club banger i don’t know what will.

i shall give you the myspace link:

http://www.myspace.com/roisinmurphy

the video:

city escape

do you guys remember taking this?

anyway i do and this is the shit edited version done by yours truly.