We’re loving the new Pharrell & Daft Punk collaboration – Gust of Wind. The video dropped yesterday and it’s absolutely beautiful! It sees Pharrell wandering through autumn-tinged woods and discovering the Daft Punk helmets in a clearing. Directed by British filmmaker and director Edgar Wright (Shaun Of The Dead, Spaced), the video is stunning – the autumn colours and the swirls and twirls of the dancers and their costumes create the perfect visual for the song.
Pharrell announced the release of the video on Twitter last night (October 7) using the lyrics to announce the song’s arrival: Cause when I’m feeling real low, I remember I love you, I put my hands in the air and you are there…
The vibe and energy of this collaboration reminds us so much of Get Lucky– Pharrell and the electronic masterminds just go so well together.
Pharrell is riding on such a high at the moment – which all began with Get Lucky and was followed by the even bigger hit Happy. He is also the judge of the US top TV show – The Voice – and is working on a project with fellow judge Gwen Stefani. If that isn’t enough to keep anyone busy he is about to launch (late October) a collection of train-themed bags and accessories alongside French luxury leather goods brand Moynat.
BBC Music launched last night and 27 global stars came together to cover ‘God Only Knows’.
The ensemble – named ‘The Impossible Orchestra’ – were revealed last night (October 7) at 8pm when all of the BBC – television, radio and online sites – premiered the track.
Pharrell Williams, Sir Elton John, Stevie Wonder, One Direction and Sam Smith were among the iconic artists that came together to perform a a cover of the Beach Boys’ classic 1966 hit ‘God Only Knows’.
Brian Wilson – Beach Boys star and writer of the song said: “I just feel so incredibly humbled that the BBC would choose ‘God Only Knows’ to promote their new music initiative. All of the artists did such a beautiful job I can’t thank them enough. I’m just honoured that ‘God Only Knows’ was chosen. ‘God Only Knows’ is a very special song. An extremely spiritual song and one of the best I’ve ever written.”
The launch of ‘God Only Knows’ is a very significant moment for the BBC, and BBC Music is their strongest commitment to music in 30 years. Bob Shennan, Director of BBC Music said of the song: “God Only Knows showcases the power and potential of music – a modern masterpiece which inspired musicians and music fans nearly 50 years ago, but which continues to inspire today with its timeless beauty and quality…What’s more, the recording will be sold to raise funds for Children in Need, which makes this project even more worthwhile.”
The performance was brilliantly led by my music producer Ethan Johns and performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra. All the artists involved performed free of charge. Bob Shennan commented, “This ‘impossible’ orchestra is a celebration of all the talent, diversity and musical passion found every single day throughout the BBC. Our audiences are very clear in their passion for music and that’s why BBC Music exists: to create, curate and celebrate music – for the love of it.”
We can look forward to the BBC Music Awards on December 11 which is a return of landmark music content on BBC One. The BBC already churns out over 41,000 hours of music a year across TV, Radio and Online, spanning all genres, but this moment is still a very special one and confirms the BBC’s supportive role in the UK music industry.
Who stars in the video? Brian Wilson, Beach Boys star, composer and producer of original song, is joined by: Sir Elton John, One Direction, Pharrell Williams, Stevie Wonder, Jake Bugg, Lorde, Emeli Sandé, Chris Martin, Kylie Minogue, Paloma Faith, Sam Smith, Florence Welch, Chrissie Hynde, Brian May, Dave Grohl; classical musicians Alison Balsom, Martin James Bartlett, Danielle de Niese and Nicola Benedetti; folk performer Eliza Carthy; Senegalese singer Baaba Maal; jazz performer Jamie Cullum; British Asian Music star Jaz Dhami; the BBC’s Zane Lowe, Lauren Laverne, Katie Derham, Gareth Malone and Jools Holland; and the wonderful vocals of the Tees Valley Youth Choir and of course, the BBC Concert Orchestra.
Ed Sheeran, singer, songwriter, musician and now….dancer! Watch Ed’s stunning new video for his gorgeous love song Thinking Out Loud. Dancing With the Stars eat your heart out!
Unlike the music videos for other songs on Ed’s chart topping album X which paint quite colourful stories, this video is incredibly simple and very sweet. Sheeran just dances with an unnamed incredibly skilled dancer for the whole 4 minute track. They zoom back and forth in a perfectly choreographed dance routine in a stunning, old-school-romantic setting, complete with chandelier’s, high ceilings and opulent furniture.
It’s the perfect visual for such a romantic song. And boy is it romantic! With lyrics like: “Take me into your loving arms / Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars / Place your head on my beating heart” surely it will be played at every wedding from now on. Sheeran says he thinks the romantic ballad has what it takes to become a fan-favorite love song. “I think this is gonna be one of those songs that gets played to death,” he joked. “Then no one wants it at their wedding because they’re just like, ‘Oh yeah, that song’s not special anymore.””
“Thinking Out Loud is one of my favorite tracks on the album, if not my favorite,” Ed commented in a press release for the video. “It’s a great one to perform live and means a lot to me. I wanted the video to be a little different, so I opted for ballroom dancing. I had lessons for 5 hours a day when I was on my US tour last month.”
We all knew he was talented but this takes things to another level. He trained very hard to get this right and even went on a special diet (no beer!). “I can see why dancers are in such good shape. I’ve dropped 35 pounds in like, three months just from not drinking beer.”
Ed is currently on a huge 67 date tour across 3 continents that started on August 6, 2014 in Japan and won’t end until April 11, 2015.
Beyoncé has finally released a music video of her surprise Flawless performance with Nicki Minaj in Paris! The power-house pair recreate the vibe and energy of Beyoncé’s jaw-dropping feminist moment at the VMAs this summer.
Beyoncé and Jay Z might have been the headliners on their On The Run tour but anyone who watched the Paris show will know that the real show-stopping moment occurred when Beyoncé invited Nicki Minaj to perform Flawless with her. The concert special recently aired on HBO – but fortunately Queen Bey decided to upload the HD quality Flawless moment to YouTube so now everyone can see it.
In this 5 minute clip we see Beyoncé rap about the much talked about and hyped “billion dollars on the elevator” line and she then summons Minaj to the stage, calling her by her real name Onika.
We’re loving Avicii’s new single The Days featuring UK superstar Robbie Williams. The lyric video is now out and is a testament to the creative power of words.
The Days refuses to stick to one particular sound – it opens with acoustic guitar strums before the synths start kicking in, it then moves into a piano-led pre chorus before turning into a poppy, dancy breakdown. Just like his past single Wake Me Up!, the lyrics are inspirational – encouraging you to focus on the present moment and to squeeze all the juice out of life. The chorus: “These are the days we’ve been waiting for / And days like these you couldn’t ask for more / Keep them coming ’cause we’re not done yet / These are the days we won’t regret.”
The Days is the first single from Avicii’s new album, due out in Spring 2015. He told Billboard in a recent interview that the new album is more rock driven and will not follow on the folky influences of some of his past work. “I wanted to take a step away from ‘Wake Me Up!’ and the folky stuff to explore my influences growing up,” he said, citing Toto and Queen. “There’s no limitations.” The 25-year-old the Swedish DJ/producer is teaming up with other stars like Chris Martin from Coldplay, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong and many more.
It will be interesting to see if this collaboration gives Williams the boost he needs to move into the spotlight stateside. Williams is a superstar throughout Europe and holds the records for the most tour tickets sold in a day. Avicii holds the records for the most streamed song ever on Spotify, so this seems to be a perfect combination.
A new entry in the top 20 of the UK charts this week is Gorgon City with their smooth, impossible-not-to-love jam Unmissable, featuring upcoming soul singer Zak Abel. Both of their previous singles Ready for Your Love and Here for You made it into the UK top 5 and this dance anthem will surely follow suit.
The production duo’s debut album Sirens is officially released today (October 6) and it features vocals from Katy B, Jennifer Hudson amongst others, and writing credits from Kiesza and Emeli Sandé. For any fan of dance music this is a must-have album.
It seems that Gorgon City is a DJ and production team that cannot be stopped. Kye ‘Foamo’ Gibbon and Matt ‘RackNRuin’ Robson-Scott produce soulful house music that actually defies genre qualification. They have collaborated with some of the best singers in the world and continue to churn out powerful music that touches the heart. This year alone they have played everywhere from Glastonbury to Ibiza, basically every hip scene the world over, and their year is not over yet. They have just completed their first ever BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix, and their album released today will surely set things on fire.
In a recent interview with Magnetic they talked about the origins of their rather unusual name Gorgon City: “It is linked to Medusa, sort of gorgon vibes, greek mythology and stuff, but it was kind of quite random when we first came up with it. We thought it sounded a bit different, but now we are exploring it more and we’ve got a cool creative team on our label who are helping us develop the idea of what Gorgon City is, and creating really cool shit for our live shows and for the album. It’s turning into something more than what it was when we first started it, you know? It was random when we started, but now it has its own identity. It feels like it is building something.” Read the full interview here.
Urban shocked everyone last week when he realised this seductive music video for his new single. The 46-year-old justified it by saying that he “likes sex and sexy things” so these visuals did the song justice. However, Urban doesn’t appear in the raunchy scenes as he says that it’s important that fans focus on the song, not who is making out on the screen.
He also cited a really busy touring schedule as another reason for not appearing. “Ha! Well, certainly I was touring … but it’s not really about “who” is doing all the making out so much as the act of it,” Urban said.
At the moment, Urban is right in the middle of filming the auditions for American Idol but he plans to continue releasing songs from his chart topping album Fuse. “This album (Fuse) is firing on all cylinders with more to come from it. And yet I’m as creatively hungry and curious as I’ve ever been. It’s truly been a phenomenal year and it ain’t even over yet.”
Even after eight years of marriage he is still as besotted with his wife Nicole Kidman, as the day when he married her. And even sweeter – he writes her love letters each night they are apart! Too cute.
Cheryl Cole (Fernandez-Versini) has premiered a music video for her new single I Don’t Care. Shot in beautiful Marbella, Cheryl dances on the beach, lives it up on yacht, plays around by the pool and basically doesn’t give a f**k about anything.
This single follows on from the X Factor judge’s recent Nº1 single Crazy Stupid Love and was written by John Newman, Bonnie McKee and Jocke Ahlund. It’s the latest cut from her upcoming 4th album Only Human and has quite an 80’s vibe to it with breezy synths and pumping bass.
It’s quite unusual to hear Cheryl swear so much, the lyrics include the emphatic line:“”I don’t care, and it feels so f**king good to say, I swear that I don’t care.”
Talking about the upbeat, pop track Cheryl said, “I’m a woman now; I’m at that age that things don’t bother me like they used to. I still care about things, but I’ve discovered what’s important to care about, and what’s most definitely not.”
I Don’t Care will be released on November 9 through Polydor Records.
Los Angeles beat maker Steve Ellison aka Flying Lotus has just dropped a spiritual music video for his single Never Catch Me ft Kendrick Lamar. It might be about death but it’s still pretty inspirational. Directed by Hiro Murai the video is set at a funeral for two children, and what starts as a sad, mournful affair ends with a joyous celebration as the two ‘dead’ children jump out of their caskets and dance gleefully down the aisles.
Flying Lotus’s new album You’re Dead! is being released by Warp Records on October 7 – and the theme of the whole album is ‘death’. To mark the launch of the album Ellison will kick off a 24-hour live broadcast of the album today (October 3) starting at 5 p.m. EST on his official web site. The stream will also include the feature-length film Psychadelic Death Trip by Xavier Magot.
Independent record stores throughout the US are hosting listening events for Your Dead! and all stores will have limited edition art cards from artist Shintaro Kago. 12 of these stores (randomly chosen) will also be giving away vinyl test pressings. Ellison himself will appear at Amoeba Hollywood on October 6 to sign copies of the new album.
Ellison starts a huge north American tour in Orlando, Florida on October 9, visiting 19 arenas during 3 months. He comes to the UK on April 17, 2015 and will perform at the O2 in London.
Emotions, as we all know, are bonkers, and this film aims to convey just that. In what seems to be a terrific idea for a film, Inside Out mostly takes place in the mind of an 11 year old girl called Riley. Inside her mind her emotions are personified as cute, real characters. Anger is played by The Daily Show’s Lewis Black, Disgust by Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project), Fear by Bill Hader (Knocked Up), Joy by Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation) and Sadness by Phyllis Smith (The Office).
Directed by Peter Docter (Up, Monsters Inc) and inspired by his own daughter, this is Pixar’s first film since Monsters University, almost two years ago. This is an important release for Pixar, firstly because it focuses on a female protagonist who isn’t a princess, and secondly because it reminds us all just how much joy and sadness Pixar’s 19-year legacy has brought us. There is not much actual footage of the film in the trailer as the first minute is given over to sharing a mass of emotional moments from other Pixar releases.
Anyway, Pixar might be selling their emotional legacy in this trailer – but it works for us, we can’t wait to see it! Inside Out will open in US theatres on June 19, 2015 and in UK theatres on July 24.
