Owl City is one of those singers that you hear again and again, and you just know that he will be getting hits here there and everywhere, he's just that sort of guy. His real name is Adam Young, and Owl City is his electrical project. He does various other projects, some I have heard of, others may not be so well known, and it'll be interesting to see if any will come to light any time soon. Owl City stormed the charts a few years back with "Fireflies", since then he has released a few of his singles in the UK, but has had limited success, however I can totally see this song being the thing that turns his luck around, it has already got quite a few high chart numbers from other countries, and with the addition of Carly Rae Jepsen, how can anyone not like this song? She auditioned for Canadian Idol, which is where she got her big break. She came third overall in the 5th series and also got a chart hit in the UK with "Call Me Maybe" which also has one of the best music videos I have ever seen. I'm interested where her new found fame will take her, let's hope she never fades away. This song was written by Adam Young, Matthew Thiessen and Brian Lee, it's all about having a good time obviously.
The music video definitely captures the essence of what the song is all about. Both artists are quite young and therefore it wouldn't be too difficult to aim this video at a young audience, which is exactly what they do. Believe me I have had fun camping with just friends and doing what I want. It was the best weekend of my life, and that is exactly why I did it again this year.
There is not much of a narrative, but there doesn't need to be. There isn't a lot going on either, there is much more fun things they could do, and maybe they were filmed doing those things, but they decided to cut it out.
Overall a catchy summer song that is definitely going to chart well, it's accompanying music video is exactly what you would expect and more, it relates to the song perfectly. I just feel that some scenes are a little on the long side, and there's just something missing, but what that is I'm not too sure. But taking everything into account, this is clearly the rating the video deserves.
Alyssa Reid stormed the charts not long ago with "Alone Again" just missing out on the number one spot. It has two versions out, one featuring P. Reign and another featuring Jump Smokers. However they have totally gone overboard with this one. There are currently 3 different versions out, there is the original which is just Alyssa Reid on her own; then there is one that features JDiggz and then the UK version which features Snoop Dogg. Guess they can't decide which one they like best, or maybe they are too lazy to make a whole new song and just decide to add new things to already made songs.
"The Game" is a song I'm not too keen on the be honest, it's different from her previous single, and it takes a while to get used to it. It's becoming catchy to me now, but it did take some time. However the original song also features lyrics that can be found in her previous single. This is what surprised me the most, clearly they are struggling with this girl. There are a few obvious differences, like this one is confident Alyssa where as the one before showed her vulnerable side. I haven't got a clue where they're going with her, and the album.... Well I'm dreading what it's going to be like as there is clearly no theme, maybe it will be a bunch of random tracks.
This music video is performance based, they could've easily added a bit of a storyline but, there's no sign of one, which makes the video similar to the first one, which is slightly on the annoying side as I want to see something new.
I like how she's singing in a club, it suggests this song is more of a dance tune, which it actually is. It shows her being very confident but not arrogant. However there's nothing of significance going on in this video. I've already watched it 3 times now, and I still can't see anything to comment on.
The best bit about this video is they way they have added Snoop Dogg, which is through her phone, but then again it doesn't make him shine out, and it's clearly lacking something. You kind of expect Snoop Dogg to rap perfectly because he tends to make us feel every word as if he truly means it, like he does in Katy Perry's "California Girls" but here, he sounds bored, as if he's been told to rap these words and he can't be bothered to do it.
Overall, a song that takes some listening to finally like it, and an accompanying music video that fits with the song to an extent but is clearly lacking a lot. I hope for narrative music videos in the future from this girl, we want it to be spiced up a bit. Hoping for a better video soon, I have to give it this rating.
Today I was struggling for a music video to review, so once again I went on the music channels, and guess what I saw, this exact video was being shown on a "best of the boys" show. I was so surprised I couldn't resist but tweet about it. Tyler James, most recently, appeared on The Voice UK, he didn't win, but he came very close, and he was technically brilliant. However, his life has been really difficult, not only did he release an album which spawned 3 singles and then was subsequently dropped from the label, he also lost one of his best friends; who was, in fact, Amy Winehouse. I would bet that she was looking down on Tyler during The Voice UK and she was helping him along the way. I know he is going to have an amazing career very soon, and I cannot wait for his new material. I also could see him being a werewolf in Twilight or some other vampire film/TV show, he would definitely look the part.
"Foolish" was the second single released from Tyler's debut album The Unlikely Lad. It was definitely his best selling single and he even performed it on Top Of The Pops, do you remember that programme? I kind of really want it to return, been missing it for ages now! It got to number 16 on the UK chart, which is currently his highest chart position to date, but he's going to knock that position out of the park soon with his upcoming songs, they're bound to be chart hits!
Now this music video actually links in with the style of this song. If I heard this song without seeing the video, I would really think of this sort of performance. But does Tyler James pull it off? Or does it not work out exactly the way it should do?
This is totally a performance piece, no sign of any narrative sections, which is quite interesting since I'm used to a performance piece being in front of a crowd while the artist is on tour. However this is totally set produced. To be honest, in an overall sense, it seems like a good top-notch music video, however it doesn't turn out that great.
We see all 4 girls, a few more here and there, and they really aren't that great at dancing are they? Those flirtatious poses, if you can call them that, was disastrous. I can't help but laugh every time I see it. As for Tyler, he does a great job at keeping in one place, and he looks smart and in-style at the same time. However we are still greeted with those awkward dance moves, or should I say aeroplane wings? I think in his future music videos that there should be an on-screen choreographer, just to instruct him how to move, because nothing has changed. This was released in 2005 and it's now 2012 and during The Voice UK he did the exact same thing.
Overall a great song that is incredibly catchy, and an accompanying music video that fits in well with what you would've expected from this song (which makes a change), however there is many small problems that can been a bit on the obvious side. On the other hand, this may have been low-budget, and I commemorate them for making a music video that we sort of expect, without being typical.
These girls were a phenomenon in the late 90s I was a huge fan when I was younger, and could you blame me? I was only 5-7 years old. After watching them on the closing ceremony of the Olympics I knew one of their videos would be popping up on this blog. I chose this one because the song has been stuck in my head all day, and it has in fact managed to calm down my nerves about my results, which I get on Thursday. Spice Girls consisted of Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell, Mel B (Melanie Brown), Mel C (Melanie Chrisholm) and Victoria Beckham. They all had "spice" names within the group, they were called Baby Spice, Ginger Spice, Scary Spice, Sporty Spice and Posh Spice respectively. Geri left the band to do her own thing leaving the 4 remaining girls to release one last album together in 2000, they soon disbanded and it looked like there will be no reunion. Then after a lot of speculation in 2007/2008 they did a comeback reunion tour with a greatest hits album and a new single called "Headlines (Friendship Never Dies)" the album and single didn't perform as well as expected, the girls also found it difficult as they are all mothers and so being away from their children was difficult too, so it was never a full-on reunion. Now rumours have came up again, some of them are so strong that there are quotes from the band members. But Victoria has her own life in the states, according to rumours she will not be re-joining the band, meaning if the Spice Girls come back for good, it might be a four-piece again.
"Spice Up Your Life" was written by Matte Rowe, Richard Stannard and Spice Girls. It was inspired by Bollywood films and the colour they show, they found it difficult to get it into a song, but they sure did it. The girls had very little inspiration by this point as they were also filming "Spice World" which was a Spice Girls film. They were so busy that they had little time to do anything, the worst part was that the girls wanted a circus-themed music video, but the director had this idea instead, the girls were so drained by then that they couldn't be bothered to argue and they just went along with it. Was it the right choice? I'll never know as they never actually filmed this so-called circus-themed video, but no matter what they did it probably would've turned out great anyway.
This music video is definitely different. It was also considered as way before its time. If it were released today, it would fit perfectly, there would obviously be the few changes that is needed such as the graphics and the storyline, they would definitely make it much more clearer.
To be honest I never knew what this video was about when I first saw it, I must have been only 4/5, but even now I'm not sure what it is about, except that I might understand it a little bit better, so here goes: The girls have taken over the world, but it isn't the way it's supposed to be, it's dreary, it's horrible and definitely dark. The only exciting thing is the posters and advertisement, which are all about the Spice Girls, there is even Spice Girls Coffee! That look a lot like Starbucks. They are ruling the world and all we can watch on TV is the Spice Girls.
It definitely resembles their promotional side, you couldn't go through a whole week back then without seeing them pop up on one TV show or another. They promoted, promoted, promoted, and that is essentially what got them their number ones. Nowadays it's not like that, fair enough you can still go on TV shows and promote, I know quite a few artists who have done it, but the problem is the spots are usually on daytime TV and we already have so many channels, you might not be watching, at the end of the day it might help the sales, but not by much.
Overall, a great pop group that we all totally miss. Fine I agree they are my guilty pleasure, HEY everyone's got one right? And I was super-excited when they appeared on the Olympics Closing Ceremony. This video on the other hand is missing the Spice Girls enthusiasm, where is all the colour and the fun? I imagine a spice world to be the total opposite of what is shown in this video, I feel like I want to paint that world, maybe the girls should have been doing that in the video! I have my fingers crossed that a proper comeback will happen in the future, but to be honest I don't really want to get my hopes up.
Today I was not sure at all what music video to review next, so to look for inspiration I decided to flip through the music channels. After hearing Amelia Lily's "You Bring Me Joy" about 3 times, this song appeared on three of the channels at the same time. And for the next hour this music video popped up over and over again, I presume Nicki Minaj was trying to tell me to review her, so here I am.
Nicki Minaj, real name Onika Maraj, was born in Saint James, a "suburb" of Port of Spain which is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago. When she was five she moved to New York and that was where she was brought up. For this video, she has gone back to her roots and it is filmed in Trinidad & Tobago with loads of references to her home country.
"Pound The Alarm" was written by Onika Maraj, Nadir Khayat (RedOne), Carl Falk, Rami Yacoub, Bilal Hajji and Achraf Jannusi. Quite a team don't you think? However it's got "Starships" written all over it, I can hear the musical difference, it's there but it's not quite so clear, therefore I could imagine this song to be the same with just the lyrics being different. I also find "Starships" much more catchy whereas this song isn't so sing-a-long-able, if that makes sense.
At first I was not impressed at all, to be honest I was quite disgusted, I thought once again she has created another rubbish music video one that may be slightly better than "Stupid Hoe" but still really bad. However now I've looked into it and found out the meanings and the reasons as to why she's dressed like that and the reasons why she does the things that she does, I find it more of an inspirational music video because she's gone back to her roots and where she began, literally. It doesn't make it the best music video, clearly but it has made me see it in a different light.
The video was set in Trinidad & Tobago as I have previously said, Nicki Minaj is parading around in quite a revealing costume, which is more of a traditional costume that is to be worn at the Trinidad & Tobago Carnival. It made me laugh the way everything moved as she walked. There is a lot of Trinidad & Tobago flags and the fact that Nicki Minaj has focused on her home town and their traditions makes me inspired by her, and I hope many people feel the same.
There are a few known people appearing here and there, these people are: Machel Montano (a soca singer), Bunji Garlin (a reggae/soca singer) and Fay-Ann Lyons (a soca singer). Nicki Minaj also starts a conga line, dances sensually and also does a lot of choreography, this is traditional of Trinidad & Tobago Carnivals, and it's nice that they have kept with the free spirit of the traditions.
Overall a song that sounds very much like a previous single, and an accompanying music video that looks not so good at first, but when you find out more about it, you realise that it is not so bad, on the other hand, the song and the music video has next to nothing in common. So weighing up everything I've decided to give it this rating, I hope I come across much better music videos from Nicki Minaj in the future.
