SHOWTIME! We continue our series of ‘In Performance at the White House’ – a series of concerts created to showcase the rich fabric of American culture in the exclusive setting of the nation’s most famous home. To see last weeks post, Country Music, click here.
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Fiesta Latina
“In Performance at the White House: Fiesta Latina” is a concert hosted by the President and Mrs. Obama on the South Lawn of the White House. The concert includes performances from Marc Anthony, Jimmy Smits, Pete Escovedo, Gloria Estefan, José Feliciano, George Lopez, Thalía, Tito “El Bambino”, the Bachata music group Aventura, and the Chicano rock band Los Lobos, with Sheila E. leading the house band.
In his opening address President Obama talked about the music that helped define a nation: “During Hispanic Heritage Month we are honored to be joined by this country’s most successful and innovative performers of Latin music. Like our own latino community, Latin music is not easy to define. Although it takes many forms its spirit of diversity also unifies us. At its heart are the West African rhythms brought by slaves in the Caribbean, the guitars first carried to the new world by the Spanish conquistadors, it incorporates the accordians played by German immigrants, the flutes and drums used by indigenous peoples and the beats born in cities like New York and Miami. And even though it’s constantly evolving and changing, Latin music speaks to us in a language we can all understand – about hope and joy, sorrow and pain, friendship and love. It moves us and tends to make us move a little bit ourselves. In the end, what makes Latin music great is the same thing that makes America great – the unique ability to celebrate our differences while creating something new.”
“In the words of Gloria Estefan “the most beautiful things in this country have the flavour of other places.” So to all of you who are watching please enjoy some truly global music from some of the most talented artists in the world. I can tell you that the West wing, the East wing and whatever other wings we have here at The White House, have been looking forward to this evening for quite sometime. Enjoy! Thank you!”
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This is part of a 10-week series that we will be running on our blog, with the music videos conveniently separated into individual performances so that you can save and download your favourite artists, or the whole show if your prefer. Creation 5’s YouTube feature lets you download videos so you can watch offline when you’re travelling and enjoy great music on-the-go. Don’t forget that you can download Creation 5’s YouTube In-app purchase absolutely FREE, which normally costs €4.49 ($4.99), as we currently have a promotion running in celebration of hitting 450,000 downloads on the App Store!
In Performance at the White House: Fiesta Latina (October 2009)
01. Gloria Estefan – No Llores 02. Marc Anthony – Valio La Pena 03. Thailía – Amor a la Mexicana 04. Los Lobos – Medley 05. Shiela E and Pete Escovedo – Oye Como Va 06. Tito el Bambino – El Amor 07. José Feliciano – En Aranjuez con tu Amor 08. Marc Anthony – I Need to Know 09. Gloria Estefan and All Performers – Mi Tierra
Belgian producer The Magician, previously one half of revered Balearic disco duo Aeroplane, is this week’s highest new entry in the British charts at Nº 5 with the wonderful, upbeat, groovy dance track Sunlight. Close your eyes…and it’s still summer. If you’re looking for a a mood-shifting auditory pick me up today – this is it!
Sunlight is a wonderful nu-disco, pop/club-house, indie-dance track that will have you up on the dance floor in minutes. It’s unashamedly summery and the music video is quite hilarious. The vocals, by Years & Years singer Olly Alexander, are floating and energetic, they take you away on a summer wave of sunshine.
The Magician is the alias of talented DJ/Producer, Stephen Fasano, and even his bio makes you smile, here’s the introduction: One night not so long ago, he appeared from a place between space and time. Apparently he stepped into this world, materializing in a cloud of crystal stars and soft pink smoke. Some claim he’s a former airline pilot who crashed an afterparty – some say it’s all just an illusion, a well performed hoax.
Every month he releases his DJ mix tracks, Magic Tapes, on Soundcloud – he’s up to 45 so far and has been gaining a cult following of disco, pop and house fans. He had an incredibly busy touring schedule throughout this year – it seems that everywhere The Magician DJs people come under his spell. Most people will probably know of him for his killer remixes, particularly his re-work of Lykke Li’s I Follow Rivers in 2011 (36 Million views on Youtube) and Clean Bandit’s Rather Be earlier this year.
The Magician was recently signed to Parlophone / Warner Records and made his label debut with the single When The Night is Over. This second single Sunlight – already storming up the charts – looks to be an even bigger hit. We look forward to much more ‘Sunlight’ from this great producer. 🙂
UK soul singer Sam Smith has just released a video for his personal favourite track on his album. Restart goes backstage and behind-the-scenes in Sam’s whirlwind year-long rise to fame.
2014 has been quite a year for Smith. He told the Guardian in an interview that he wanted to be the “biggest-selling male pop star in the entire world,”, well he’s not far from that. This year alone the 22-year-old star has won the BBC’s Sound of 2014 poll and the Crtics Choice Award. His debut solo single went straight to Nº1 in the UK and Nº2 in the US – the highest ever debut entry for a British singer. And last week he was nominated for four Mobo awards – Best Song (Stay With Me), Best R&B/Soul Act, Best Album (In the Lonely Hour) and Best Male Act.
This video seems like the perfect way to end a perfect year – a look back at all the tours and the action behind the scenes. “Restart is one of my favourite tracks on the album and I really felt like I wanted to visualise it,” says Smith. “I had such an amazing time putting this video together, remembering some incredible moments from this year and also a recent trip with my team to Brighton this summer.”
Smith’s debut studio album, In the Lonely Hour, was released in the UK on 26 May 2014 via Capitol Records. It went straight to Nº1 in the UK, outselling Coldplay’s album Ghost Stories by nearly 20,000 copies. In the US, it debuted at Nº2 with first-week sales of 166,000 copies.
Pharrell Williams has snagged the world-famous Japanese artist Takashi Murakami to create his new music video for It Girl. It’s a hyper-colourful tribute to video games and anime.
This new video is the latest collaboration between Pharrell and Murakami – Pharrell remixed Last Night, Good Night, the theme song to Murakami’s film Jellyfish Eyes. Directed by Mr. Fantasista Utamaro this visual is a refreshingly different approach compared to Pharrell’s other videos – although nothing can compete with the creativity and genius of the 24 hour Happy video.
The song is a relaxed and groovy track – one of the stand-out tracks from his solo album G I R L. Throughout the crazy, kaleidoscopic 5-minute clip there are plenty of nods to 80s video games and even a reimagined Mount Rushmore complete with a Pharrell head.
The video premiered on Tuesday 30 September on the The Today Show as well as on the Times Square billboard. It’s the 4th single to be taken from G I R L following Happy, Marilyn Monroe, and Come Get It Bae.
Pharrell has experienced so much success in the last few years – especially with his chart-busting track Happy, which has now become the UK’s most downloaded song of all time: “Most of this whole entire experience of Happy, I attribute to everyone else. When you talk about the success of the song in the UK and it being the most downloaded song, I’m totally honoured to be a part of it but I am very clear as to where the emphasis and the appreciation and the accolade should go – and that’s to the people.”
Lorde has finally unleashed Yellow Flicker Beat the lead single from the Hunger Games: Mockingjay Soundtrack. This juicy dark jam is Lorde’s attempt at getting inside Katniss’ head.
“It’s my first offering from what I hope will be a soundtrack you love,” Lorde wrote in a Tumblr post on Monday (Sept. 29). “It’s my attempt at getting inside her head, katniss’. I hope you like it.”
Lorde sings: “I’m a princess cut from marble, smoother than a storm/ And the scars that mark my body, they’re silver and gold.” These amazing lyrics, coupled with the dusky tone of the song, reveal Lorde’s talent at crafting a character that mixes Katniss Everdeen’s toughness with her own gothic vibes. She sings about heading home, fires, courage and “yellow flicker beats” sparking up her heart. This is empowerment – Hunger-Games-style – with minimal synths and rattling drums. We’re hooked!
Yellow Flicker Beat is her first song since the release of the Grammy-Award winning debut album Pure Heroine. Lorde has curated “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay” soundtrack, due out this autumn before the movie release on November 21. The track is available at all digital retailers as of today (September 29). The full track list for the soundtrack is yet to be revealed.
Amazing to think that it was only a year ago when Lorde leapt to Nº1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with her debut single Royals. She’s come a long way since then! She is the singer-songwriter of the moment – and took first place in Billboard’s annual 21 Under 21 list this year – check it out here.
Adam Levine turns American Psycho in Maroon 5‘s new music video for Animals. Extremely confrontational and purposefully provocative. Halloween has arrived a month early….
WARNING: Watch at your own risk, and definitely don’t watch if blood makes you squeamish.
We’re not sure about this video – it does fit the lyrics well: “Baby, I’m preying on you tonight/Hunt you down, eat you alive/Just like animals” – but it has some absurd, horrible elements. It made us feel sick the fist time we watched it.
“All in the name of Art” you might say – yes, fair enough, but it makes Levine look so bad. It certainly makes a statement and will get people talking – but will they be talking about it in the right way? All publicity is good publicity? It’s grotesque and gory with an excessive and unnecessary amount of blood. Anyway – enough said, make your own mind up and check out the video.
Levine’s real wife, supermodel Behati Prinsloo, stars in the music video as the victim of Levine’s obsession. Directed by Samuel Bayer the clip does call to mind Christian Bale in American Psycho – Levine might not be wielding an axe but he’s certainly nailed that happy-scary-physco facial expression down to a tee.
Animals is the 2nd single to be taken from Maroon 5’s fifth studio album V, following the hugely successful Maps.
Levine and guitarist James Valentine recently told Digital Spy that V might just be their last album…
“To me, movies and music go hand in hand. When I’m writing a script, one of the first things I do is find the music I’m going to play for the opening sequence.” – Quentin Tarantino.
Indeed, music and film are very close art forms that naturally fit together to produce great emotional effect in the movie theatre room. Music adds to the overall atmosphere and tone of a sequence, gives it its special touch and renders a scene unforgettable; music can transport a film’s audience to whole other dimensions. That’s something that’s quite amazing. Here we honor these unique moments and have compiled some all-time classic tunes that have and will always be associated to a particular scene in a particular film.
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“Music is a big factor in helping the illusion of the film come to life. The same way music brings back different periods to our lives.” – Francis Ford Coppola.
The “Sound of Silence” is, hands down, “one of folk pop’s most beautiful moments” – nobody in their right mind could contest that. Simon & Garfunkel made “The Graduate” the iconic film that it is today, but in 1967, it was director Mike Nichols that made Simon & Garfunkel the timeless duo that will always be remembered. Nichols brilliantly used several of their songs as the soundtrack to his chronicle of post-collegiate alienation. Mrs Robinson and Sound of Silence are two serious all-time hits placed in unprecedented manner in one serious Hollywood blockbuster – the hits come hand-in-hand. Curiously enough, Nichols originally used their most exceptional songs, including “Sound of Silence”, as placeholders to get the pacing right in certain parts of the film. I think we’re all indebted to Nichols for having finally come to his senses by realising that the songs were perfect where they were. “The Graduate” owns Simon & Garfunkel and Simon & Garfunkel own “The Graduate”.
2. Purple Rain – When Doves Cry & Purple Rain (Prince and the Revolutions)
The film “Purple Rain” is “an epic celebration of everything Rock & Roll.” Picture Prince in a film, surrounded by sex, religion, motorcycles, guitars, Lake Minnetonka and, oh yes, he’s wearing eyeliner. Set when Prince is on his historic creative streak while his heart aches with girl troubles, he’s bound to write a couple of hits like “Purple Rain” and “When Doves Cry” because, you know, that’s just another day in the life of the Prince of pop. The two silver screen anthems frame the film in all their glory and, today, are recognised as all-time greats. The film’s grand finale blasts “Purple Rain” through the speakers as Prince rides off into the purple sunset – It’s a historic moment accompanied by one of the moodiest and most beautiful songs ever made. “When Doves Cry”, on the other hand, was the album’s first No1 single and is what propelled the album to sell 20 million copies.
Although a huge chunk of the music to the soundtrack to “Saturday Night Fever” came from Frank Stallone, it’s The Bee Gees that killed it! Oh, The Bee Gees – From “Staying Alive” to “Night Fever” to “More Than A Woman”, “Boogie Shoes” and to “How Deep Is Your Love”, the tunes on the “Saturday Night Fever” album can still turn a room upside down with disco fever. “Staying Alive” was a smash hit, mainly due to its “driving beat, funky guitar riff and falsetto” and, of course, its awesomness. When the Bee Gees were engaged to write some songs for the film’s soundtrack, they refused to call their song “Saturday Fever” to match the title of the movie because too many song titles contained the word “Saturday”. Producer Robert Stigwood eventually gave in and decided to rename the film “Saturday Night Fever” – I think the Bee Gee’s stubbornness did Stigwood a huge favour (it rings better!).
The double LP was the best-selling soundtrack in music history, selling over 15 million copies, before “The Bodyguard” stole the title. These songs defined an era, turned disco fever into an all-night occurrence, and left a legacy in the late 70’s disco ball culture. What’s more, the soundtrack to this film turned our beloved John Travolta into a hearthrobbing mega film star. Who can shake the image of the young and gorgeous Travolta suited-and-booted all in white whilst boogying the legendary dance move with one hand on one hip and the other pointing to the sky.
Did you know that Dolly Parton originally wrote Whitney Houston’s outstanding song “I Will Always Love You”, released in 1992 on the soundtrack of “The Bodyguard”, in 1973? Houston’s smash hit cover reigned on Billboard Hot 100 for fourteen weeks and became her signature song – the vocal queen owned it!
“Who you gonna call?… “GHOSTBUTERS!” – It’s almost impossible to find someone who doesn’t know who they’re gonna call when strange things are happening in their neighbourhood. Although Ray Parker Jr.’s Academy-nominated them songs “Ghostbusters” isn’t the best song out there, it continues to haunt us and will always remain a classic, if not for its cultural relevance with film-nerds than for it’s ceaseless appearance at Halloween parties year after year. Its repetitive and really, really, really hard to forget.
“No one reframes oldies so indelibly” like Quentin Tarantino. Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell” has become a cult-like ritual. Nobody can think of “Pulp Fiction” without Chuck Berry luring in the background.
Eminem’s signature track “8 Mile” is a great song that almost everyone under the age of 25 knows 70% of the lyrics to (or at least they pretend they do). It’s one of those songs we kids used to rap to in the school playground, pretending we were hip (which we were, ehemm). Inspired by true events in Eminem’s (Marshal Mathers) personal life and written on the “8 Mile” movie set about his fictional character B-Rabbit, the song ended up winning the Best Original Song Oscar and two Grammy Awards. Indeed, everyone loved the track – it’s powerful and hard-hitting lyrics, energised and aggressive instrumentation and Eminem’s anger fully encased the emotion of the movie. Perhaps the lyrics “mom’s spaghetti” also had something to do with the song’s great success. “8 Mile” is raw and carries a huge emotional load – it’s refreshing, I think that’s why we love it.
The “Batman Forever” soundtrack is filled with great songs. However, Seal’s “Kiss From A Rose” is on a whole other level. The “haunting ballad” is soft, beautiful and touching – it’s by far Seal’s greatest.
“What A Feeling” by Irene Cara became a classic after it featured in the timeless film “Flashdance”. The title track plays as Alex (Jennifer Beal) auditions for a dance conservatory board and dumbfounds them when the song switches from ballad into speedy pop. The song went on to win an Oscar and a Golden Globe. Even those who haven’t seen the film know the very moment in the film that is bound to Irene Cara’s hit, co-written by Giorgio Moroder.
R Kelly’s hit song “I Believe I Can Fly” is a classic (that is not to be argued). No matter what your opinion is on R Kelly, the Looney Tunes soundtrack belongs to a whole generation of kids-now-turned-adults – that cannot be taken away from them. Warner Brothers + Michael Jordan + green screen + cartoons = genius. The film scored a home run at the box office and the soundtrack came in on par, including beats from Jay-Z, Coolio and Busta Rhymes. R Kelly, however, is our leading man.
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Shift K3Y’s song ”I Know” has rocketed to Nº6 on the Dance Singles Chart. The music video released at the end of summer, follows a slender brunette through her tropical travels in paradise.
Shift K3Y, (real name Lewis Shay Jankel) is a DJ, producer and singer-songwriter from London. Best known for his 2014 single ”Touch,” which peaked at Nº3 on the UK Singles Chart earlier this year. Dabbling in the intertwining music genres of UK Garage, House and Trap, his music style is that of a chilled contemporary one. He first popped up on the radar back in 2011 at just 18 years old. Now 21, he is getting big as he steadily climbs the music scene, and the charts.
After a long time away from the music scene, American singer and actress Hilary Duff is back, announcing a new album for next Autumn. Although there is no official date for the release we do know that it will be called “All or Nothing”. This will be Duff’s 5th studio album and it will contain original material from 2007.
For this long awaited return to the music scene the ex Disney star has chosen to record with RCA Records: “I took a break from music which has given me the strength I needed to carefully choose my next steps. I’m very proud to have recorded this album.” After releasing the first single from the album this summer, ‘Chasing the Sun’, Hilary returns with this second pop-folk number. The video is fresh and spontaneous and a confident Hilary shows off her impressive dancing skills.
The story shows a young girl who suffers a full-blown crush on a handsome hunk that she sees in a restaurant. From there, the carousel of love begins. ‘All About You’ is racing up the Australian charts and is already in the Top 20. This might not seem that significant, but you have to remember that Hilary hasn’t made it into the Top 20 for seven long years – the last time was in 2007 with her hit ‘With Love’.
This new music video and the upcoming album are not the only projects that the former Lizzie McGuire star is working on. Soon to debut on American TV is the ‘Younger’ series in which Duff plays a girl named Kelsey – the leading star in the production. Directed and produced by Darren Star (Sex and the City), the new show will also star the winner of a Tony Award, Sutton Foster.
‘I Lived’ is the fifth single taken from ‘Native’ (2013), the latest album from the American pop rock band One Republic. The single follows the success of their previous track, ‘Something I Need’, which could be heard on all the main American radio stations during the first few months of 2014.
‘Native’ is the bands third studio album and marks a change of direction in their style. This change hasn’t been a huge success, from a commercial point of view – with the exception being the huge hit ‘Counting Stars’ which is still at Nº3 on the iTunes charts in America. ‘I Lived’ is an emotional homage to Bryan Warnecke, a young fan who has battled for 15 years with cystic fibrosis, a terrible hereditary condition that primarily affects the lungs and has a life expectancy of not much more than 36 years.
The video shows footage of a young Bryan talking about his treatment and shows images of his childhood – playing sports and overcoming the hurdles of daily life. “It feels like you are breathing through a straw. When I try to breathe hard, it really hurts. But I want to make the most of the life I have and enjoy myself as much as possible. My biggest fear is not being able to do that”, says Bryan during the video. The video was produced by Taylor Vandegrift and has its high point when Bryan goes to a OneRepublic concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado, after being sent a special invitation by frontman Ryan Tender.
The video concludes with a message that says how Bryan and his friends have traveled more than 1200 miles and raised $300,000 for cystic fibrosis research.
