Category: Pop

  • The French band Indochine have now been at it for 32 years and are usually regarded in the way people regard musical gods like U2, The Beatles and Johnny Cash. In other words, people consider their music a form of high art and deem them music royalty. Well, their fans do anyway. And they have…

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  • Shadows is the third album by Australian singer/songwriter Lenka. Her name might not sound familiar, but you’ve surely heard her music as it’s been featured on Grey’s Anatomy and in the movie Moneyball, as well as appearing in advertisements for Apple, Coke and Old Navy. Billy Crystal even sang part of “The Show” — a…

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  • Boards Of Canada have always put out fascinating music.  While much of it has been relatively mellow, many of their songs being downright ambient, there’s also been a sense of foreboding about many of their compositions.  Their long-awaited new album Tomorrow’s Harvest has all of these elements.  There are some fairly calm songs, but most…

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  • The last album by CSS, otherwise known as Cansei de Ser Sexy, was 2011’s La Liberacion. While “I Love You” and “Hits Me Like A Rock” were uber-catchy pop gems, the rest of the Brazilian band’s third album felt somehow misguided. And their second album, Donkey, was only slightly better. Their first album, however, was…

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  • Ben Lee’s new album, Ayahuasca: Welcome To The Work, was inspired by an experience he had while tripping on the extremely strong hallucinogenic plant ayahuasca.  He’s described the experience as life-changing and he wanted to pay tribute to the plant as a result.  If it sounds silly, well, yes I suppose it is a bit…

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  • Lou Doillon might be unknown to most people here in the United States, but in her native France she’s practically royalty, being the daughter of the famous French singer/actress Jane Birkin and the acclaimed film director Jacques Doillon. She’s also the half-sister of actress/singer Charlotte Gainsbourg and step-daughter of the late French singer/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg.…

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  • If you’ve ever wished that Camera Obscura would do away with their catchy hooks and up-tempo tunes then your prayers have been answered. Sort of. Here’s what singer Tracyanne Campbell told The Scotsman about the making of their new album, Desire Lines: “There are a couple of pop songs on the record but I was…

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  • I tried but I just couldn’t get into Demi’s last album, Unbroken. With a slew of guests, including Missy Elliott, Timbaland, Dev, Iyaz and Jason Derulo, I felt like the album was trying too hard to do too many different things. She’d already had a massive hit with the song “Skyscraper,” which was a gorgeous…

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  • Alyssa is a Canadian singer/songwriter who was born in Edmonton, Alberta and grew up in Brampton, Ontario. She’s been rising to fame in several countries ever since she first released her song “Alone Again” in 2011. The song immediately caught people’s attention because it samples parts of “Alone” by Heart. As for how she got…

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  • Spacehog’s last album was 2001’s Hogyssey, a criminally under-rated album. But, then, if you ask me, all of Spacehog’s albums have been criminally under-rated. Their 1995 debut, Resident Alien, sold very well, but it really only spawned one hit, “In The Meantime,” which also happens to be their only U.S. hit ever, so, sadly, they…

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  • Many of the people who’ll be reading this review know almost nothing about Vanessa Paradis. To most people here in the United States, she’s simply known as Johnny Depp’s longtime girlfriend, as they were together from 1998 until 2012 and had two children. Some people might have read that Vanessa is a popular singer or…

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  • no·blesse o·blige [noh-bles oh-bleezh; French naw-bles aw-bleezh the moral obligation of those of high birth, powerful social position, etc., to act with honor, kindliness, generosity, etc. Origin:1830–40; < French: literally, nobility obliges   Noblesse Oblige is a duo consisting of French-Caribbean performer Valerie Renay and German producer Sebastian Lee Philipp. While they’re new to many…

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  • “We’re up all night to get lucky,” Pharrell Williams sings as the now famous Daft Punk single “Get Lucky” comes to an end, but chances are you will be up all night to listen to this record. The thing about Random Access Memories is, it’s such a seductive and enchanting album that once you start…

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  • Music always plays a major role in Baz Luhrmann’s films. The soundtracks for Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge are two of the biggest-selling soundtracks of all time and they are masterpieces. For the soundtrack for his adaptation of The Great Gatsby, he sought out Jay Z and entrusted him to find songs that would…

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  • It’s hard to get inside my ears; it’s even harder to get inside my brain. If anything I have ever written for Love is Pop consists in pure, unaltered fangasm or clearly a cry for help, sometimes, it feels good to focus on someone with talent, who sends you music just because they can, that…

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