EricMontreal22

Oh cool I had no idea they did an interview for the Archives

I was disappointed that she did seem to be trying in Telephone--one thing I liked about her past videos and especially her tour was she was so over the top, but never seemed to be trying to be SEXY really...

I admit, I think Gaga videos are so over the top anyway that parody is kinda useless, but I found this pretty amusing:

So the Shapiros weren't involved after the pilot?

Pitbull had a second video that got a tiny bit of play here in Canada, but you could tell it wouldn't take off. Yeah I used to be a huge Stock/Aitken/Waterman fan--still have at least 24 albums they've produced (they did do one for my fave Donna Summer of course) even if after a while I realized that there's only so much SAW you can listen to without your ears bleeding I still pull them out sometimes though (and some of their later moments for Kylie--Better the Devil You Know, What Do I Have to Do, etc, are still brilliant as well as their early Dead or Alive stuff, etc). The problem is--I've heard contrary things--some say Mike Stock WILL be working with Waterman on the Eurovision entry, others say it's just Waterman. If it's just Waterman, we're in trouble. He's an arrogant ass who doesn't have a musical bone in his body (which is why his company PWL had zero hits when Stock and Aitken left to form their own company in the 90s--until he found a new songwriting team, Topham/Twigg who gave him Steps). He would come up with catchy song titles, gimmicky band concepts, etc, but that's pretty much it--he was the showman. Anyway I know him and Mike Stock (who was the main songwriter of the team) are friends again now, so maybe they'll come up with a retro piece of camp fun. But if it's just Waterman, don't expect much (Topham/Twigg were tired of his showboating as well and no longer will work with him). The way he has the press still wrapped around his little finger though is amusing--when they mentioned that about eurovision and him they did make it sound like all these classic UK hit songs were his doing LOL. I agree about Eurovision--which is one reason I'm always surprised Alcazar never make it past the Swedish finals (their entry last year, Stay the Night was frankly even more camptastic, and probably would have done very well). The problem is Sweden usually has a bunch of decent (or better than most) entries at their preliminary "Melodifestivalen" contest (last year Alcazar, BWo, AND Agnes Carlsson with Love Love Love all had entries that probably woulda have been at the top of the Eurovision finals) that the stuff that's more cheezetastic, and would make it far at Eurovision, gets ironically weeded out... But yeah, largely the so bad it's good/fun stuff is sadly lacking from the contest...

And just to blow any last shred of credibility I may have on here music wise (ha!), Sylph knows my love for the current Swedish writer/producer Anders Hansson who is just now having sudden international success with the classic pop/dance tracks he's done for Agnes Carlsson (like the Leona Lewis-meets-disco brilliant track Release Me she did). Far more campy (if possible) and shameless are his two recent disco/pop groups for two of the other Swedish acts he does. BWO (Bodies Withour Organs): And absolutely dreadful/great was the latest song he did for Alcazar for the Swedish Eurovision entry--and once again it came in second in their Melodifestivalen elimination round LOL I think this is like the 5th time they've come in second as Sweden's entry to Eurovision. Shocking as it's trash camptastic! (I'm learning the dance routine as we speak) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmaP4G_rze8 And let's not forget that within a month we're meant to get the lead single to what will surely be my album of the Summer--Kylie Minogue's

Besides producing and writing for Kylie, Lily Allen, Little Boots, etc, etc, Greg Kurstin has the odd, kinda 60s cocktail music group Bird and the Bee (he's the Bee, the Bird is his vocalist, Inara George). Their new album is the first in a series dedicated to covering "Guiltless pleasures"--groups and songs that don't get much respect. This album is all dedicated to Hall and Oates (!) and I admit I love it, even if at some points it gets maybe a BIT too precious--I almost wish he'd thrown in a few dancier tracks--this cover of Maneater comes close. Still, great stuff (I never thought they had much mainstream success, but they were just on Ellen this week and apparently have been before). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzmM85wnM8k (Shirley Manson does backing vocals... lol) Another band that works with Kurstin (he does final mix--doesn't help write) is my fave Canadian group, Dragonette who I got to see for the second time this year, just last week (I've seen them so much actually that the lead songwriter/guitarist recognized me before when he was hanging out at the bar lol). Here's their great new single--as usual for flop Canadian acts, ultra low budget video.:

Remedy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McdqerXrwXE Slightly similar, but much more of a 80s Italo throwback, is the new album from Swedish "disco co-operative", Sally Shapiro, which I love... Miracle is the leady single:

The guy I'm seeing recently got into Frankmusik which made me pull back out my cd that I guess I got last year when it came out in the UK--it's really one of the best synth pop debuts in ages... 3 Little Words had lotsa club play (and was a major UK hit) but I'm getting more into some of the album tracks (the version I have has a fun acoustic remix CD as well) Little Boots FINALLY got her album released (to way better reviews than I expected--though it deserves them) in the US--over a year after I got the Uk edition. Fantastic, well crafted collection of perfect electro dance/pop tunes, that I prefered over LaRoux who she's often compared to (simply cuz they're femlae based, synth pop acts from last Summer?) Most of her album was done with my fave younger, current producer, Greg Kurstin who has done everything from jazz, to Sia, to everything with Lily Allen, to great disco Kylie Minogue songs. First two Little Boots singles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUs9YzY7t-8 Oh I guess I have to wait before posting the last two videos

I admit, I was one of those "bad fans" Alison Goldfrapp complained about who found their last album, the tinkly synth/folk (!) album largely a yawn fest. And I'm sure tons of critics AND hardcore fans are already all eagerly shouting sell outs about the pure 80s cheesefactor of their new album--by far their most instant and poppy yet, but I admit I kinda love it, especially the first half in which they hired a fave dance/pop producer of mine, Pascal Gabriel to add polish to their production (the second half, which they produced themselves is a bit more typical Goldfrapp mood music). And as mentioned elsewhere, how could I not love a Moroder homage: Much more of a guilty pleasure is Sophie Ellis Bexter's new one with Freemasons and Biffco (who collaborated together on a fave Kylie track of mine, The One, and Biffco of course have been her best recent production house). I hope this gets Sophie back in the UK charts, after her massive early '00s hits like Murder on the Dancefloor with their great videos, this one looks as cheap as the latest Dannii Minogue cheapie vid--but the powder effect is neat, and the song is a lot of dance/pop cheeze, fun. (Oddly, the New York Post gave it a good online review--I have no idea why they're reviewing UK dance records, but...) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAK0U1RJZdU

Ever since Mylene Farmer and Laurent Boutonnant stopped writing/producing for her, she's been pretty boring--her last album (first without them) was lyrically flat and sounded dated, and not in the way I like. Not sure I'll even bother with this one, which makes me a little sad. Still, I know she's going for a more British audience, with more English lyric songs (which is worisome to anyone who's heard how piss poor her English pronounciation is when singing...) This was their last massive hit, but I admit it took me nearly a year after getting their last CD to like this single--I prefered much of the rest of the album (which was more typical Xenomania production) to the 60ness and start/stop rhythm I guess--but it has finally really grown on me. I still wish Miss You Bow Wow Wow, one of those songs only Xenomania could do, was the lead single as planned.

This is shameful even by my standards, but I got an Italo (ie that slower, camptastic form of Italian based synth dance from the 80s) compilation for my birthday and have been hooke don this 1986 gem. The only video online shows just one minute, so I'll also link a fan vid. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miL848jX28I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYEHUdyeVVQ

S Club 8 LOL Producer files US$35M lawsuit against Grammy Award-winning singer Lady Gaga Lady Gaga with her Brit Awards for Best International Female, Best Breakthrough Act and Best International Album at the Brit Awards 2010 in London, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Alastair Grant NEW YORK - A songwriter and music producer credited with helping launch pop star Lady Gaga says in a New York City lawsuit she squeezed him out of her lucrative career after he co-wrote some of her songs, came up with her stage name and helped get her record deal. Rob Fusari filed a US$35 million lawsuit Wednesday against the Grammy Award-winning singer. He says his protege and former girlfriend ditched him as her career soared. Fusari's lawsuit says he has credits on such hits as Will Smith's "Wild, Wild West" and Destiny's Child's "Bootylicious." It says a friend steered the piano-playing singer to him in March 2006, when she was known by her real name, Stefani Germanotta. Lady Gaga spokesman Dave Tomberlin hasn't responded to an email sent Thursday seeking comment. The lawsuit was filed in a Manhattan state court. Fusari did do some of my fave Gaga tracks, like Paparazzi and I wondered why she quit working with him, but come on. He got full credit and payment for those tracks--people often don't continue to work with their ex's, plus she's been more successful with RedOne anyway. It seems pathetic to me to file such a lawsuit (and surely the man behind Bootylicious, etc, can't be hurting for dough...)

The thing where I do give Gaga credit (and I already mentioned I hate her interviews) is that she was clever enough to do mainstream appealing music that is aware and self knowing of its camp. There was an allmusic.com review by that Madonna fanboy Stephen Thomas Erlywine that summed up what I mean (though I think he gives her a bit too much credit, this is true on a level): "The times were crying out for a pop star like Lady GaGa — a self-styled, self-made shooting star, one who mocked the tabloid digital age while still wanting to wallow in it — and one who's smart enough to pull it all off, too. That self-awareness and satire were absent in the pop of the new millennium, where even the best of the lot operated only on one level, which may be why Lady GaGa turned into such a sensation in 2009: everybody was thirsty for music like this, music for and about their lives, both real and virtual. To a certain extent, the reaction to The Fame may have been a little too enthusiastic [...]Like the marvelous Madge, Lady GaGa ushers the underground into the mainstream — chiefly, a dose of diluted Peaches delivered via a burbling cauldron of electro-disco — by taming it just enough so it’s given the form of pop yet remains titillating. Sure, GaGa sings of disco sticks, bluffin’ with her muffin, and rough sex, but her provocation doesn’t derive solely from her words: this is music that sounds thickly sexy with its stainless steel synths and dark disco rhythms (something sorely lacking from American radio)[...]but none of this meta text would work if the songs didn’t click, functioning simultaneously as glorious pop trash and a wicked parody of it. " Again I think that gives her a bit too much credit, but there's a lot of truth there (of course, already she's unleashed a sea of sub Gagas)

I loved loved Love Profusion and some of the mellower tracks on there--Easy Ride with its gorgeous strings, etc. Ilike American Life even if it has even more than the usual amountof cringe inducing lyrics for me--alot of it is very very good, I tend to prefer the quieter moments on it. Her work with Mirwais though (who seemed so fresh on Music) was prob past its peak already. My only comments about it was that it was prob her least successful or remembered recent album--and I was really disappointed that she actually backed down from controversy and allowed the lead single to be banned (and then filmed that el cheapo "drag queen" one--I honestly think this was the moment she lost interest in trying to do interesting videos) HAHA Actually I think the best dance music (prob cuz I love that Euro Disco sound) uses a mix of synths and beats with real instruments--particularly strings. It just adds such a great layer to things--in the 80s ALL live instruments fell out of favour in dance music--(compare Moroder's major work in the 70s like Last Dance and Mac Arthur Park to Flashdance in the 80s for an obvious example) and I think that sound got boring fast, as much as I love a lot of 80s synth pop. SO I'm with you there... Ugh when she pulls out that guitar on tour The thing is she'llnever be a great guitarist, and she STILL seems aawkward with it--she moves so much in her concerts, then she gets the guitar and is static. But yeah she does seem to be more over it. Wasn't he involved in the movie musical she was writing? The one that somehow Devil Wouldn't Recognize You came from apparently? Leonard is a good example of someone who is ace with Madonna and very meh with everyone else (which does show she has some creative pull, something people often doubt)-- Yeah, I love that aspect even if I can't quite mix the high glam Gaga we got in Paparazzi (which I prefered) with this "American Prison Chic" one Well apparently her next big single is the ABBA/Ace of Bass hommage Alejandro (I guess Speechless isn't getting a video?) so... I expect maybe it'll show her having fled to some latin country Shame, I wanted Dance in the Dark.

Depends what you mean by success--X was seen as a slow seller, but it ended upbeing in the top 10 UK albums that year (and top 5 in Australia). But she's getting to be a bit like Madonna--her tours sell out instantly (of course I'm not discussing N America where she's still a cult oddity really), and she ended up touring the X show endlessly it sold so well. Still I'm excited to hear her album with Stuart Price, out pretty soon (it was a smart decision to go with just one producer as her albums as of late have all suffered from too many producers). And I do agree with her--and Madonna about sticking now more or less at what they're good at.

I think I like Gaga, her image, her live performance and presence, much more than you, but I will agree there. Actually, I wish she'd just stop giving interviews I find them so embarassing to watch--that's where you do start to wonder if the emperor has no clothes, because what she says sounds so phony and rehearsed. I don't find that even with her most stupidor ridiculous outfits in her tour, etc--but when she speaks to an interviewer

Sleaze? It's one of the Madonna videos with the least skin Yeah the shot of the shores andher walking is a literal reshoot of the beach scenes in Humoresque (I think there's a youtube that shows them back to back). When Frozen came out a lot of people compared it to some similar Bjork videos of the time... (Funny what you learn from threads--I never knew Y&RWorltTurner's name was Alvin )

Ha fair enough--I dunno, it made me picture Enya or something kinda dull like Dido by your description Glad it's not. You love Ke$ha but not Gaga? Still, I'm glad you're not a secret metal head

Well the fact is, she's too old to do most of the ones that are out there (there surely are new underground trends she hasn't explored, but yeah, little would fit now). I dunno, I almost think she should start just making an album for herself--at this point in her career, when frankly she's not gaining a ton of new fans anyway with her new stuff, that would be the mostinteresting. But that would come hard fro Madonna I think--to do an album and not care about its chart success, etc... (Kylie Minogue is ten years Madonna's junior--and a very different performer of course, I'm not comparing them even if the European media constantly does and has all through their careers--but she's been having some similar problems as she gets older, finding an image that still fits her campier, pop princess icon yet is a bit more mature and, frankly classier).

Great! most of my Madonan friends seem to find the Drowned World video boring--but yeah I really love it. I guess there's some truth to Madonna's comment about Power of Goodbye's video, yet... I dunno, I think that's kinda the vibe--that it is utterly gorgeous in a sorta meancholy way (if that makes any sense). And as you say--don'thire a fashion photographer then

Sheesh you Nowhere, but you didn't offer suggestions so I was drawing straws. Most critics would call the songs on Something to Remember among her most melodic stuff

I wish she'd do one final video with him. LOL. He really really wanted to do Evita but wasn't a big enough name to get the rights--I think Parker's Evita is a decent film, but Fincher's would have been more interesting anyway. (The man has said repeatedly how much he likes musicals but wants to do a dark one--and he's amazing at filming dance--even in non Madonna videos like Abdul's Cold Hearted Snake video with its Fosse's All That Jazz hommage).

Although by the 90s Madonna's interviews became a real chore to sit through--I think I have a bunch on tape (yes I was obsessed) from Ray of Light where she tries to be deep and they're just ENDLESS--this was before the British accent but they do remind me of Gaga interviews where she says pseudo "deep" things in a quiet monotone voice with little excitement.

My fave from ROL was actually Power of Goodbye, video wise even if it's a complete hommage/rip off to the Joan Crawford movie, Humoresque--it's just shot SOOO beautifully. But actually I prefered all the ROL videos (even the UK only Substitue for Love) over Ray of Light's--but I know that video still made more of an impact.