I have fallen behind on my blog once again, so it's time for me to catch up and get back into the swing of things. My problem with this Saturday was that I went to see a bunch of rising talent at the Elite Showcase, which I reviewed for CelebMix. I thought one of their songs would stand out and I'd be reviewing the original to one of their covers, but that didn't happen. iTunes practically chose this song for me on this exact day as I listened to my music on shuffle. It's nice when great songs come back into your life, and this was one of them until I saw this weird as, music video; like seriously? It makes sense but I'm not keen on the performance piece at all. Watch Calvin Harris and Tinie Tempah perform in the middle of lots of twerking women, while we watch the devil raise havoc without anyone batting an eye in this music video for "Drinking From The Bottle".
Calvin Harris, real name Adam Wiles, is one of the biggest DJ's in the world. He continues to bring out hits and recently released a new album that featured a lot of collaborations and charted well internationally. This song in itself was a hit but only charted moderately well around the world. It did so much better in the clubs. It features Tinie Tempah, real name Patrick Okogwu, who also is an international star and who also dropped a new album this year. Both stars continue to prove that British artists are just as good as many US artists. This song charted in the UK at number five. The song was written by Calvin Harris, Patrick Okogwu, James F. Reynolds, and Mark Knight.
Directed by Vince Haycock, this music video has both a narrative and a performance piece; although, the latter is over the top for the female dancers who all just twerk. I feel like this doesn't allow Calvin Harris or Tinie Tempah to shine at all, and they kind of get lost.
The narrative is mildly okay as it does relate to the song somewhat. I love the initial story and it's quite weird that the devil is out exploring and no one really realises. I love that both the performance piece and the narrative collide when the devil is Calvin Harris and Tinie Tempah's taxi man.
Yet, it gets worse and the narrative turns into something I'm not into seeing, although many other people might be. I just feel that they tried to make some sort of statement that most people just aren't getting. There are much better ways of making such a statement. Regardless, the visual does relate to the song somewhat, and I do take an interest in what the devil is going to do next, even if it's something I don't approve of and find disgusting or repulsed by. Not interested in seeing this again, but I appreciate what they are trying to do. The devil is played by Brad Dourif and his friend Patrick is played by Pat-Ric Nasty (frontman of Vader Vader).
Breaking away from Crystal Castles is Alice Glass, and her new single is currently the only new release I could find that had a music video; surely there are a lot more, there has to be. Oh well, this is the one I am reviewing today, and it's beyond quirky; that's pretty obvious from the thumbnail, alone. The music video dives deeper in a weird visual that keeps the audience glued to the screen whilst the droning track progresses into something we turn out loving, for some bizarre reason. Watch Alice Glass wrapped up in flowering vines as she sprinkles sweetness with a deadly threat in this music video for the similarly haunting song "Without Love".
Alice Glass is known as the former frontwoman of Crystal Castles. As part of the duo, she had great success when it came to their albums and have charted multiple times. Their biggest hit to date is "Not In Love" which features Robert Smith, the song is a cover of Platinum Blonde's "Not In Love". Since Alice Glass has left, Crystal Castles continues after bringing in a new female vocalist. As for Alice Glass, she is now starting to build a solo career, and with a brilliant debut track such as this one, we know that we'll be hearing a lot more from her. She previously released a charity single in 2015 titled "Stillbirth". Haunting and sweet at the same time, "Without Love" is an unexpected track that wraps itself around your head so that you never forget it.
The music video was directed by Floria Sigismondi; it premiered on The FADER who also co-produced it alongside MAAVVEN. It's a pure performance piece with profile scenes throughout, easily showing off Alice Glass' personality; you definitely wouldn't be disappointed at one of her concerts.
The scenes start from the weird and turn strange and then goes freaky. Alice Glass turns it out in every way for this video as we watch vines and flowers start to grow and trap her. The ending sees her in an empty swimming pool, almost being reincarnated as a flower-person.
Overall, it's a great concept and the song literally grows on you like the flowers do on Alice Glass. Turning something sweet and innocent into something deadly and so defining is incredible. I love how it's relatable to the song in every way and gets her message across even more so. Just wow!
Such a crazy messed-up music video for my Thursday Revisit this week; yet, it's relatable to an extent. This song is Everything Everything's biggest UK Chart hit, and I swear I've heard it before - it must've been played on the radio often back then, surely. The song itself has an indie feel to it and feels like it has been released way too late, so it's lucky it was a chart hit, to an extent. This sort of music just isn't all that popular nowadays, but it's good to see that Everything Everything are changing in line with the times whilst keeping their signature sound. Watch Everything Everything perform their hit song in this black and white visual which has some disturbing themes and scenes as part of this music video for "Cough Cough".
Everything Everything are a four-piece band consisting of Jonathan Higgs, Jeremy Pritchard, Michael Spearman, and Alex Robertshaw. They are from the UK and have been going for many years, hence why I chose them for my Thursday Revisit as I haven't dipped into their music much. They are one of those bands that people know but have no idea why. Their longevity has obviously played a big part in that. This song peaked on the UK Singles Chart at number 37. It was written by Jonathan Higgs, Jeremy Pritchard, Michael Spearman, and Alex Robertshaw.
Directed by Jon Everything (AKA Jonathan Higgs), this music video is intricate in its concept. It's a pure performance piece but there's this whole idea behind it that is intense, along with some defining profile scenes. It sure is unforgettable.
There's lyrics shown throughout this music video so the audience can sing along at some points - no, these words have an impact on the audience and attempt to allow us to really get Everything Everything's song. The drums throughout is amazing to watch, all the band members are in-sync and it has this old-style feel to it; they are inspired by the Japanese Kodo Drummers.
Other scenes include a fuel pump, a gun, and oil. The song is about not having enough money to do what you want to the extent where you're doing a job you don't want to do just to make a living. It is a vicious cycle and poor jobless me can totally identify with this; according to the behind-the-scenes video, they chose oil as a replacement for money, which brings along this dark and depressing theme as a whole.
Overall, it's a great concept that not everyone will get let alone understand. Totally relatable, and the drumming scene is iconic. Congrats to these guys for pulling off this music video in every way. If there was a slight bit more of a connection I wouldn't be dropping a star, but apart from that, this is well-thought-out.
What have I just watched? How does this video relate to this song? It doesn't! It's just a bunch of random clips put together to show diversity and real life. Although they're not bad, they don't really represent the song. I chose to review this music video due to it appearing on my YouTube Recommendations - since I'm a fan of Anne-Marie; unfortunately, she isn't in this music video but the featured star, Joey Bada$$, is. Watch a bunch of video clips that show different groups of people hanging out and having fun in this music video for Snakehips & Anne-Marie's "Either Way" featuring Joey Bada$$.
Snakehips are a DJ duo consisting of Oliver Lee and James Carter. They went viral with their collaboration with Tinashe and Chance The Rapper on "All My Friends" which charted internationally. They've had quite a successful career to date with many of their follow-ups charting around the world moderately well, and it seems this song follows suit. Anne-Marie, full name Anne-Marie Nicholson, is an inspiration to us all. She's one of those acts who has fought for her music career and fought and fought and fought. After a collaboration with Clean Bandit and Sean Paul on "Rockabye", she's finally made it! She continues to inspire all the fighters out there who are reaching for a career - such as myself - because we can all get there in the end; hard work and determination always pays off. This song features Joey Bada$$, real name Jo-Vaughn Scott, who is an American rapper and actor. He came to my attention when Kiesza featured on one of his album tracks, and he's one that will steadily grow and grow, one that will no doubt have a hit song go viral in the coming years. This song peaked on the UK chart at number 47, and I doubt it'll do better than that. It was written by James David, Julia Michaels, Warren Felder, Oliver Dickinson, and Jo-Vaughn Scott.
Directed by Hector Dockrill, this music video shows a bunch of clips of various friendship groups hanging out and chilling. Billboard asked "How do you spend your Saturdays?" and that is certainly what this music video showcases.
There are various scenes from drag queens getting ready to young adults pulling wheelies on bicycles in the streets. There's a lot of smoking and clubbing going on - the latter of which I would totally spend every one of my Saturdays doing if I had the money to do so.
Is there anything else I can comment on? Not really. There's just no substance or relatability to this music video. Nothing here that makes me want to repeat this visual, and although it shows off real life it just doesn't give me anything that I want to see.
Another new song from Alexandra Stan and I can't get enough of it. I have written this up for CelebMix, so I had to write it up for my own blog too! Unfortunately, I don't have the money to buy this single from iTunes, just yet, but I'm ready to do so as soon as I have money. This is one killer song and her first that is completely sung in Romanian. Watch Alexandra Stan be flirty, sultry, and teasing in this music video for her new song "Noi 2" - pronounced "Noi Doi".
Alexandra Stan is the superstar female Romanian singer who had international fame with her hit song "Mr Saxobeat". Since then she has continued with her music career, building upon her success whilst dealing with issues amongst other things. This is her follow-up to "Boy Oh Boy"; it hasn't been released officially yet, but I expect it to be out in the next few days. It makes a change to hear her sing a solo song completely in her home language of Romanian - which certainly is a beautiful language, especially in music. This song was written by Alexandra Stan & Chriss JustUs.
Directed by Bogdan Paun, this music video is cheeky from start to finish. The main scene is Alexandra Stan spending time with her girls on a yacht in the middle of the sea.
She's being flirtatious throughout this music video, especially with her big blow up banana and where they take the towel from that guy. This guy definitely looks like Alexandra Stan's lover Staruiala Bogdan - who has a photo on his Instagram of him on the yacht in Constanta, Romania; so we can presume this is where the music video was filmed.
The most stylish scene is the circus themed clips where Alexandra Stan is wearing a fun playsuit that looks amazing on her. Stylish and sexy, Alexandra Stan nails this video and it's something that we can all keep watching again and again and again. Finally, we have a Romanian solo single from her and it's one we can't help but love!
