#ThrowbackThursday. We go back to 1984 when Van Halen scored their first Nº1 hit in the US with Jump! It was also a top 10 hit around the world and the only Nº1 with David Lee Roth as lead singer. It was released in December 1983 as the lead single from their album 1984. It is the only single the group released in their career to reach Nº1 on the US Hot 100 chart. It broke the mold of their earlier songs – mainly in its rolling synth line.
The song is their most popular and most instantly recognisable composition – perhaps because the sound embodies both of the genres that were most associated with the 1980s in America: synth-driven pop and “arena”-style metal.
The music video was directed by David Lee Roth and won Best Stage Performance at the MTV Video Music Awards that year. Compared to music videos today, it was very straightforward just showing the band performing at a mock concert, but it was the bands personality that brought the whole thing to life.
In an interview with Mix magazine, Daryl Hall said that the Hall & Oates song Kiss On My List was an influence on this one: ”[Eddie] Van Halen told me that he copied the synth part from ‘Kiss on My List’ and used it in ‘Jump.’ I don’t have a problem with that at all.”
Creation 5 users: you will find this video in Playlists > Throwback Sessions
Don’t have Creation 5? Download it from the App Store!
Avril Lavigne is back! After taking an extended break due to a mystery illness Avril has premiered the full music video for Give You What You Like, the 5th single from her 2013 self-titled LP. The song makes up part of the soundtrack from the forthcoming Lifetime movie Babysitter’s Black Book which premieres on February 21.
The video is largely made up of highlights from the movie interspersed with footage of Lavigne. It shows a side of Lavigne that most haven’t seen before – chilled, laid-back, less make up, more introspective – generally more mature.
The track will help to raise money for the Avril Foundation – a charity set up by Lavigne to support young people with disabilities and life-threatening illnesses.
Over the last couple of years Miley Cyrus has been inching closer to pornography with her skimpy outfits, scandalous dance moves and steamy music videos. Now it looks like she will actually be appearing in a pornography festival. According to a report today in the New York Post, the Wrecking Ball singer has submitted her short film, Tongue Tied, to the upcoming NYC Porn Film Festival that begins February 27.
Directed by Quentin Jones, the video is nowhere near as bad as Fifty Shades of Grey, there is no sex and Cyrus does not appear nude, she keeps her nipples and bottom covered. However, it is full of suggestive bondage imagery. Festival founder Simon Leahy said of the film: “It’s a pop take on S&M. She’s starting to become more of a contemporary artist.”
The NYC Porn Film Festival will feature amateur and professional work from international filmmakers. It won’t look like you might expect, a seedy, run down old theatre venue, instead it’s more a spacious-gallery-style where viewers can walk round and discuss the various ‘art’ on view.
Cyrus has recently contributed a cover of Melanie Safka’s Look What They’ve Done to My Song, Ma for Lina Esco’s forthcoming film Free the Nipple, which is about a group of women lobbying for reform of US censorship laws on female nudity.
With Fifty Shades Of Grey just days away from being released the hype is reaching crazy levels – but, fortunately, so are the parodies! 🙂 Check out these hilarious spoofs, before things get too serious this Friday when the film is released in the UK and US. From Barbie, to Lego to Disney’s Frozen – everyone is having a go.
This fan made trailer has brought two worlds together that we never thought would ever collide. Prince Hans is Christian Grey, while princess Anna transforms into Anastasia Steele. It’s quite scary how well it fits – we’ll never be able to look at Frozen in the same way again, that’s for sure!
Recreated entirely from Lego bricks – stop-motion animators Antonio and Andrea Toscano have converted every scene from the steamy trailer into Lego. The duo were also responsible for Lego versions of Star Trek Into Darkness and Man of Steel. We’d honestly prefer to see this than the actual movie…
Saturday Night Live’s Vanessa Bayer is on a mission to re-create the famous elevator scene in this Audi advert and it’s completely delightful! In Bayer’s version Anastasia Steele is a little more proactive…with every new person that gets in the elevator she tries to seduce them with her BDSM gear. 50 Shades won’t be as funny as this…shame.
Ellen was asked to record the novel Fifty Shades of Grey for the audio book. Things didn’t go according to plan. One comment on YouTube said it all really – “Am so against 50 shades but oh my god this is HILARIOUS!!!”
Ellen, as usual, takes things to a whole new level in her role as Anastasia Steele. She wears a brunette wig and plain Jane clothes and completely nails the wide-eyed-sexually-excited look. “I know my way around a whip,” the daytime host quips. There is a lot less S&M and a lot more rambling about random stuff like midnight karaoke sessions and fruit.
“If Barbie starred in Fifty Shades of Grey, she would be the one in charge.” Barbie takes control over Ken as they switch roles in this detailed spoof. Ken experiences Barbies “singular” tastes. Quite scary really.
The Grammys 2015 – Music’s biggest night of the year took place last night (February 8) in The Staples Centre, Los Angeles. The 57th Grammy Awards ceremony was hosted, for the fourth time, by L.L. Cool J and what a night it was. All the stars flocked to L.A. to celebrate a lot of musical awesomeness and rock out to the biggest names in the business. Some of the highlights were Sam Smith dominated by taking home four awards and Kanye West, Rihanna and Paul McCartney’s stunning performance of “FourFiveSeconds.” Rihanna also stole the show with her enormous pink dress by Giambattista Valli. Read on for more of the juicy gossip, full winners list and dresses that did and didn’t impress.
BIGGEST MOMENTS…
The first moment is always an important one and this year’s opening performance did not disappoint. The ceremony kicked off with a huge bang bringing on veteran rockers ACDC to the stage. They were electric and full of energy getting the crowd roaring and raring to go.
Sam Smith took home four Grammys for Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year (the latter with co-writers James Napier and William Phillips) for Stay With Me (Darkchild Version) as well as Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album for In The Lonely Hour. “I want to thank the man who this record is about, who I fell in love with last year. Thank you so much for breaking my heart because you got me four Grammys,” Smith said on accepting his fourth award. (Tap here to play this video in Creation 5)
Some interesting and really impressive collaborations took place on stage with Tom Jones and Jesse J taking on You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling, The Voice definitely picked these two for a reason, they had a great rapport and did the song justice. Another blissful team-up came in the form of Ed Sheeran and John Mayer, massive amounts of talent managed to fit on one stage with their performance of Thinking Out Loud; now dubbed every girl’s future wedding song. Mayer even managed to pull off a hot pink guitar! Hozier and Annie Lenox delivered a killer rendition of his Take Me To Church which all the viewers will now be hoping to find on iTunes no doubt.
Speaking of No Doubt; America’s ‘The Voice’ coaches Gwen Stefani and Adam Levine joined forces to perform a duet of the Maroon 5 hit My Heart Is Open, and although these two go head-to-head on the TV show, they’re absolutely perfect together on stage.
As previously mentioned Rihanna, Kanye and Paul took to the stage and blew us away with their performance of FourFiveSeconds, all dressed in black with a white backdrop it wasn’t just the vocals that were a power statement, the crowd got on their feet and rocked out to this one. Jazzing it up were the solid duo of Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett swooning and crooning old school style to Cheek To Cheek.
More big names graced the stage throughout the star-studded evening such as Katy Perry signing By The Grace of God, Usher giving a tribute to Stevie Wonder singing If It’s Magic, Pharrell made us very Happy and even Prince made an appearance. (We’ve put some of the best video performances together towards the end of this post.)
Madonna’s performance was show stopping – any song that finishes with Madonna ascending to the heavens gets our vote. Her performance of the 90’s house-style single Living for Love sounded fantastic and was definitely a major highlight of the evening. She looked absolutely killer in her Wild West burlesque get up and brought her Givenchy-masked minotaurs along as well.
A great big OMG moment was when Saturday Night Live’s Kristen Wiig wore a blonde wig and nude leotard and danced to Sia’s performance of Chandelier creatively depicting the original video of the song. Three words for you In. Cred. Ible. She danced alongside Maddie Ziegler (star of the video) and pulled off some totally mental moves which actually worked somehow! It was gloriously strange and amusing.
An appearance from the President is always one to be remembered; Barak Obama delivered a powerful video message against domestic violence followed by a live speech from a survivor. (Tap here to watch this video in Creation 5)
Another heart stopping moment was when Beck went up to accept his award for Album of the Year and Kanye went up too (Taylor Swift barely had a chance to accept her award for Best Female Video at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 13 before Kanye West rushed the stage, grabbed the microphone out of the startled teen’s hands and aired his objections. “I’m sorry, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!”) leaving Beyonce and Jay-Z cringing in their seats for fear of what he might do this time, but it turns out it was just a joke from the acceptance speech tamperer! (To watch this video in Creation 5, just tap here.)
Another trickster in the form of Shia LaBeouf came on stage to announce that Sia was about to perform and decided to read out a love letter. Standard strangeness by our Shia then.
Beyonce eventually got her moment as Queen of the Grammys and took to the stage in a very snug white dress and belted out Take My Hand, Precious Lord. This was a show-stopper if ever there was one.
And finally…John Legend and Common got together to sing Glory which features in the award-winning movie Selma closing out the show in style.
THE DRESSES…
The crowd-wowers; the best and worst-dressed awards at this year’s Grammys go to…
Nikki Minaj was smoking hot in Tom Ford, if not a little edgy and fierce. Ariana Grandepretty princess looked great in this Versace number and high ponytail. Looking good. Rihanna (?) Can we say much more than that?
And the cleavage awards go to…Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Kim Kardashian.
Charlie XCX, sorry but what were you thinking? Moschino can SO get it wrong. Madonnalooking very scary in Givenchy took to the red carpet and shook her cleavage. Ouch. Taylor Swifttotally nailed elegance, cute, cool, on the money and beauty all in one outfit by Elie Saab. She wins.
Jhene Aikolooked simply stunning in this Alberta Ferretti number, not bad for your first Grammy attendance. Annie Lennoxpulls off a graceful, elegant and sleek look showing her class and maturity in one simple black dress. Ciaralooked pretty ridiculous in her Alexandre Vauthier number. It looks like a bird just flew into a passing train.
Chrissy Teigen looked beautiful as ever in this long white Gucci dress. Impressed. Nick Jonasreally really shouldn’t have worn this Versace suit. OR the shoes. Really. But don’t worry John Legendcan show you how its done in his smoking hot Dolce & Gabbana style.
Ralph & Russo gave Jesse Ja super-sleek and elegant look for the night. We like! Pharrellcan pull off any look and make it awesome. He totally rocked it again in Adidas 3M although we are not quite sure his wifeHelenhas the same skills, not loving the all-in-one jumpsuit sadly. Katy Perry just really isn’t very good at this. Unfortunately even the likes of Zuhair Murad couldn’t manage to make Perry appear glamorous this time. Frumpy and spangly, sorry Katy.
Anna Kendrick, you look amazing in this black tux by Band Of Outsiders. Wow. Gwen Stefanireally got it right this year in this Custom Versace jumpsuit. Aloe Blacclooked super-sharp in Sand Copenhagen.
SOME OF THE TOP PERFORMANCES
AND THE WINNERS ARE…
Full list of this year’s Grammy Award winners.
Record of the Year Sam Smith – Stay With Me (Darkchild Version)
Song of the Year Sam Smith – Stay With Me (Darkchild Version), James Napier, William Phillips & Sam Smith, songwriters.
Album of the Year Beck – Morning Phase
Best New Artist Sam Smith
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance A Great Big World With Christina Aguilera – Say Something
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga – Cheek To Cheek
Best Pop Solo Performance Pharrell Williams – Happy
Best Pop Vocal Album Sam Smith – In The Lonely Hour
Best Rock Performance Jack White – Lazaretto
Best Rock Album Beck – Morning Phase
Best Rock Song Paramore – Ain’t It Fun Hayley Williams & Taylor York, songwriters
Best Alternative Rock Album St. Vincent – St. Vincent
Best Metal Performance Tenacious D – The Last In Line
Best Rap Performance Kendrick Lamar – I
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration Eminem Featuring Rihanna – The Monster
Best Rap Song Kendrick Lamar – I K. Duckworth & C. Smith, songwriters
Best Rap Album Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP2
Best R&B Performance Beyoncé Featuring Jay Z – Drunk In Love
Best Traditional R&B Performance Jesus Children Robert Glasper Experiment Featuring Lalah Hathaway & Malcolm-Jamal Warner
Best R&B Song Beyoncé Featuring Jay Z – Drunk In Love
Best Urban Contemporary Album Pharrell Williams – Girl
Best R&B Album Toni Braxton & Babyface – Love, Marriage & Divorce
Best Contemporary Instrumental Album Chris Thile & Edgar Meyer – Bass & Mandolin
Best Dance/Electronic Album Aphex Twin – Syro
Best Dance Recording Clean Bandit Featuring Jess Glynne – Rather Be
Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media Frozen Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, Tom MacDougall & Chris Montan, compilation producers
Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media The Grand Budapest Hotel Alexandre Desplat, composer
Best Song Written for Visual Media Let It Go from Frozen Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez, songwriters (Idina Menzel)
Best Country Album Miranda Lambert – Platinum
Best Country Solo Performance Carrie Underwood – Something In The Water
Best Country Duo/Group Performance The Band Perry – Gentle On My Mind
Best Country Song I’m Not Gonna Miss You Glen Campbell & Julian Raymond, songwriters (Glen Campbell)
Best Bluegrass Album The Earls Of Leicester – The Earls Of Leicester
Best American Roots Performance Rosanne Cash – A Feather’s Not A Bird
Best American Roots Song Rosanne Cash – A Feather’s Not A Bird
Best Americana Album Rosanne Cash – The River & The Thread
Best Folk Album Old Crow Medicine Show – Remedy
Best Music Video Pharrell Williams – Happy
Best Music Film 20 Feet From Stardom Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer & Judith Hill Morgan Neville, video director; Gil Friesen & Caitrin Rogers, video producers We Are From LA, video director; Kathleen Heffernan, Solal Micenmacher, Jett Steiger, video producers
Producer of the Year, Non-Classical Max Martin Bang Bang (Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj) Break Free (Ariana Grande Featuring Zedd) Dark Horse (Katy Perry Featuring Juicy J) Problem (Ariana Grande Featuring Iggy Azalea) Shake It Off (Taylor Swift) Unconditionally (Katy Perry)
Best Instrumental Composition John Williams – The Book Thief
Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella Pentatonix – Daft Punk
Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals Billy Childs – New York Tendaberry
Best Recording Package Jeff Ament, Don Pendleton, Joe Spix & Jerome Turner, art directors Pearl Jam – Lightning Bolt
Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package Susan Archie, Dean Blackwood & Jack White, art directors The Rise & Fall Of Paramount Records, Volume One (1917-27)
Best Album Notes Ashley Kahn John Coltrane – Offering: Live At Temple University
Best Historical Album Colin Escott & Cheryl Pawelski, compilation producers; Michael Graves, mastering engineer Hank Williams – The Garden Spot Programs, 1950
Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical Beck – Morning Phase
Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical Tijs Michiel Verwest, remixer John Legend – All Of Me (Tiesto’s Birthday Treatment Remix)
Best Surround Sound Album Beyoncé – Beyoncé
Best Regional Roots Music Album Jo-El Sonnier – The Legacy
Best Reggae Album Ziggy Marley – Fly Rasta
Best World Music Album Angelique Kidjo – Eve
Best Children’s Album Neela Vaswani – I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up For Education And Changed The World (Malala Yousafzai)
Best Musical Theatre Album Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
Best Blues Album Johnny Winter – Step Back
Best Spoken Word Album Joan Rivers – Diary Of A Mad Diva
Best Comedy Album “Weird Al” Yankovic – Mandatory Fun
Best New Age Album Ricky Kej & Wouter Kellerman – Winds Of Samsara
Best Improved Jazz Solo Chick Corea – Fingerprints
Best Jazz Vocal Album Dianne Reeves – Beautiful Life
Best Jazz Instrumental Album Chick Corea Trio – Trilogy
Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band – Life In The Bubble
Best Latin Jazz Album Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra – The Offense Of The Drum
Don’t have Creation 5? Download it from the App Store!
Nudity seems to be the flavour of the month. Jennifer Lawrence appears stark naked in Vanity Fair this month and so does Kim Kardashian in Love magazine. Lawrence’s images ooze style, sophistication and elegance, whereas the Kardashian images seem a little seedy. There’s provocative naked and then there’s butt naked. Check out the images below – although not whilst at work!
Jennifer Lawrence
Pick up the March 2015 issue of Vanity Fair and you will be treated to seeing the Oscar-winning actress lying stark naked except for a giant Colombian red-tailed boa constrictor. Shot by famous French photographer Patrick Demarchelier, the images were taken in a private Hollywood residence last year and pay homage to the 1981 Richard Avedon Vogue portrait of Nastassja Kinski.
Acccording to Vanity Fair it was only a long metal rod with a hook at the end that came between the serpent and the 24-year old star. Lawrence only became uncomfortable when the snake took an interest in her neck, which is when the shoot quickly ended and the boa was put back in its box!
Jessica Diehl, Vanity Fair’s fashion and style director said of Lawrence: “Jennifer has the perfect combination of strength, sexuality, humour and, above all, tomboy to pull this off.”
Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian’s shoot for Love magazine can be seen in Issue 13 which hits the streets in a couple of days (February 9). The editor-in-chief, Katie Grand, styled the whole controversial photo shoot. Although she promised she’d never go nude again, back in 2010 (!) Kardashian admits that she likes showing off her assets: “I like nudity, Kanye always says, ‘Dress sexier’—he’s always most encouraging.” Despite the rumours Kardashian’s prominent bottom is all natural: “No I did not,” she says about whether or not she has butt implants. “I never did. And actually my butt is not that big.”
Don’t have Creation 5? Download it from the App Store!
Madonna is the Queen of the Big Top in her lush, arresting video for Living for Love. It has a great throwback vibe as well, reminding us of her iconic Take a Bow video. It’s her best work in 10 years! We’ve lost count of how many times we’ve replayed this!
The stunning clip was directed by the French duo known as J.A.C.K. (Julien Choquart and Camille Hirigoyen) and edited by Danny B. Tull, who worked on 4 Minutes and many other Madonna videos.
For those who don’t like bullfighting there is a Nietzsche quote that ends the video: “Man is the cruelest animal. At tragedies, bullfights and crucifixions, he has felt best on earth and when he invented hell for himself that was his very heaven.” Funnily though, the German philosopher’s name is spelt wrong – someone on Madonna’s team should have caught this by now?
The video debuted exclusively on Snapchat – the first video ever to do so – but is now available on Madonna’s Youtube and Vevo accounts. Living for Love is the first single from Madonna’s highly anticipated Rebel Heart album, due out March 10. Several tracks from the album have been made available though after it fell victim to an early leak from a hacker who was eventually tracked down and arrested in Israel.
Bob Marley Day 2015: Happy Birthday to the reggae superstar, Bob Marley, who would have been 70 years old today. One Love. One Heart. Let’s get together and feel alright!
Countries all around the world are hosting events to celebrate the life and work of Robert Nesta Marley. (Well, he was actually called Nesta Robert Marley but a Jamacain passport official swapped the names around when he was very young!)
Starting out in 1963 with the group The Wailers, Marley established a distinctive vocal style that would resonate throughout history. He embarked on his solo career in 1974 after he split from the Wailers and his 1977 album Exodus established his reputation as a global icon. He was to become the world’s best-selling artist of all time.
In July 1977 he was found to have a malignant melanoma under the nail of his toe, originating from an accident when playing football. His last words to his son Ziggy were: “Money can’t buy life.”
To honor Bob Marley’s vision of peace, love and unity visit 1Love – a global non-profit started by the Marley family. They have completed 27 fundraising and awareness projects that have resulted in over $1.3 million in donations to causes that have changed more than 255,250 lives – and they’ve only just begun. Get involved here.
“They’re heeeeere.” Poltergeist is back! Just like the original 1982 horror film, by Tobe Hooper and Steven Spielberg, television is a conduit from the spirit world, but in 2015 screens are bigger, and there are screens throughout the house, plus we have smartphones. “The original film commented on how we’ve let television get out of control, babysitting our kids,” says producer Sam Raimi (Evil Dead). “It’s only gotten worse with the handheld portable devices. Screens are everywhere.”
Director Gil Kenan (Monster House) vowed to get the contemporary reboot absolutely right, “Whenever someone approaches material that’s so beloved, there’s a reflexive reaction to be worried,” Kenan said. “It’s a responsibility we take very seriously. We’re working to make a Poltergeist film that lives up to the original’s legacy.”
Screenplay is by Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist David Lindsay-Abaire with Sam Rockwell and Rosemarie DeWitt playing the unsuspecting parents of a family that have just settled into a haunted house when the pesky ghosts steal their daughter. They ask for help from a famous supernatural researcher and clairvoyant, played by Jared Harris (Mad Men). But can they rescue her before she disappears for ever?
“The thing that keeps them a family is what they have to draw on, to stay sane, and also to win their daughter back,” says Kenan. “The film is super-scary. And it’s scary on its own terms. I am excited to finally be able to share that with the world.”
The film hits cinemas on July 24.
(To watch the Poltergeist trailer in Creation 5, just tap here.)
Don’t have Creation 5? Download it from the App Store!
Some of the biggest names in the business are set to release new albums this year; and we are all crossing our fingers to see Fleetwood Mac, Rihanna, Björk, Bob Dylan and Kanye West back on the “shelves” to make 2015 an epic year for new music. 2014 wasn’t too impressive with only the likes of Taylor Swift managing to sell millions; this year is set to knock the last out of the park. Many acts have announced potential album releases but as yet have not provided a title, we are calling them the TBA’s (to be announced); such as all of the above plus Rita Ora, Demi Lovato, and Britney Spears. So while they keep us teetering on the edges of or seats we have a huge headline of albums that are eagerly awaited or in fact already released, for 2015…so here’s the top pickings of the variety artists who have confirmed releases this year; titles and all! There’s something for everyone.
Tap any video title to open it in Creation 5
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds new album Chasing Yesterday is due to be released on the 2nd March 2015 on Gallagher’s label Sour Mash Records. This is the second album by the band formed in 2011, written and produced by Noel. The style of the album has been compared to his previous work on Definitely Maybe with Oasis. Two singles have already been released, the first being In the Heat of the Moment apparently inspired by an astronauts experiences from going into space. The second features Johnny Marr, the ex Smiths guitarist, on Ballad of the Mighty I which Gallagher claims is one of the best songs he has ever written. They previewed the album by performing four of the tracks at an initimate show in London on February 2nd. One To Another, In The Heat Of The Moment, Lock all The Doors and The Dying of The Light giving the impression that the album was going to include some classic Noel with a new Southern Blues twist. Gallagher claims to have included a mix of psychedelic, jazz, blues and rock and roll on the album, and that one track The Right Stuff is “like a mix of T Rex, The Rolling Stones and Queens of the Stone Age”.
Bob Dylan. The lyrical king strikes again with his thirty-sixth album Shadows In The Night. However this time they are not his words, Dylan has taken ten romantic tunes by some of the greats, including Frank Sinatra, and literally transformed them into his own inventions. He did this twice before in 1992 and ’93 but this time he has reverted back to his voice from the sixties giving these songs the Blues treatment turning them into a “quietly provocative and compelling” album.
Mark Ronson has just released his fourth studio album Uptown Special, and it is pretty special – not only for the reason that he dedicated it to the late Amy Winehouse with whom he collaborated on her most successful album – just take a look at the line up of featured artists (Andrew Wyatt, Mystikal, Bruno Mars, Jeff Bhasker, Keyone Starr, Kevin Parker, Boys Noize and Stevie Wonder). Adding to this part of the tune Uptown’s First Finale was recorded by the marvel that is Stevie Wonder. Robson sent a melody to his agents hoping that on a wing and a prayer he might give him some input – the next thing he knows Wonder has taken it upon himself to just go ahead and record it! “Stevie Wonder actually recorded a piece of music that I wrote. I’ve listened to it a hundred times and it still messes me up when I play it”, Ronson is overwhelmed. The eleven track album has already received much critical acclaim “pop-friendly, and undeniably sexy collection of funk and R&B”, “contagious cool” and “somewhere between a chin-stroking jazz poetry recital and a riotous teenage disco” are just a few of the comments made so far.
Madonna’sRebel Heart album is due to be released in full on March 6th 2015. Online leaks of some demos of the songs were counterattacked by the Madonna team by pre-releasing six of the completed tracks thus diverting the traffic back to her own publicity. Shrewd! So, the teasers are out there to entice us into what we can expect from the raunchy queen of pop this year. Living For Love is a stripped back ballad type effigy with piano (and writing skills) from the talented Miss Alicia Keys. Avicci, Blood Diamonds, DJ Dahi and Carl Falk collaborated on Devil Prey to create a more up-tempo folk-dance track which channels the idea that drug taking doesn’t get you as deep as natural personal experience. The potential radio hit Ghost Town is a power track. Nikki Minaj worked on Unapologetic Bitch and Bitch I’m Madonna however only features on the latter, that’s a lot of bitching! Kanye West wrote Illuminati with our songstress and has come up with something rather different and worth a listen.
Avicci’s much anticipated album Stories was due for release in the first quarter of 2015, due to illness he is reportedly setting the date back but it is now said to be out in the first half of this year. He released the first track The Days starring the voice of Robbie Williams in October 2014 from the album, and we have all heard Eliminate feat. Calvin Harris, so it seems he has managed to maintain his penchant for the folk, rock, country, pop, electro-dance style which he has made us grow to love.
50 Cent’sStreet King Immortal. If ever an album were intensely anticipated it has to be this one. His last album release was Before I Self Destruct way back in 2009, since then the fans have been hankering for some more ‘fiddy’ but to no avail. He started working on a rock, dance inspired album in 2010 but as it progressed his influences trailed back to his Hip-Hop roots which led him up the path of Street King Immortal and working with the likes of Alex da Kid, Bangladesh, Cardiak, Dr. Dre, Hit-Boy, Jake One, Jim Jonsin, and Just Blaze among others. Since then it has been due to be released on four different dates spanning four years with some tracks having been drip fed to us over this time frame! This is the year though that we have confirmation from 50 and G-Unit Records, Caroline Records and Capitol Records, 2015 IS the year.
Jose Gonzalez; Vestiges and Claws is his first record since 2007! It is due for release on the 17th February and the fans are literally screaming for it. Gonzalez has not used a producer for the album claiming that he prefers the sound of his homemade music (he literally recorded this in his home in Sweden) to the crisp modern sounds of an over-produced track. The result is an inspired, eccentric, eclectic mix of modern, folk and groovy rhythm that is both confident and yet hints at trepidation. He talks about how he’s found inspiration in sprawling 70’s Brazilian productions, American folk rock and West African desert blues this time. Gonzalez, and this album, have been described as “A deep, artful thinker whose singular approach to song writing and sonics sets him worlds apart, José González is in a class by himself. He has a voice. He has a sound. He has a point of view. Vestiges & Claws — musically gorgeous, strikingly profound in lyric — has a unique and quietly visceral power that is as an outstanding addition to what is now an impressive body of work. The album is, without question, the most highly anticipated of his career”.
More albums to look out for this year; Kid Kudi – Man on The Moon III Limp Bizkit – Stampede of the Disco Elephants Ludacris – Ludaversal Muse – Drones Coldplay – A Head Full Of Dreams Emeli Sandé – Who Needs the World
Don’t have Creation 5? Download it from the App Store!
