OnTheGOinTO

Mashup artist Norwegian Recycling is back with a year-ending mashup that uses some of the biggest hits of the year like Cee Lo Green’s “F*** You”, Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream”, Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance”, Kelly Rowland’s “Commander”, and Flo Rida’s “Club Can’t Handle Me”, while using some older tracks as well like Gwen Stefani’s “The Sweet Escape”, Britney Spears’ “Piece Of Me”, and David Guetta feat. Akon’s “Sexy Bitch” (that’s a lot of Guetta in one mashup).

The result is completely infectious and reminds me of DJ Earworm’s “Blame It On The Pop” mashup which featured the biggest pop tracks of 2009. (continue reading…)

June 22, 2010

After his comeback last year, Eminem is back with a new album, Recovery, where he apologizes for the less-than-stellar quality of last year’s Relapse on several tracks. This is a much stronger album from Slim Shady. While Relapse was unrelentingly harsh, Eminem is a little more playful on this album and has underscored his raps with much stronger melodies. He even delves into the pop world by having Rihanna and Pink sing the hook on songs. Listen to “Love The Way You Lie” feat. Rihanna here:

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Fresh off her MMVAs appearance (check out your press room coverage here), Miley Cyrus releases her “transitional” album, Can’t Be Tamed. Some people are going to be turned off by her non-Hannah Montana new image, and it is a little uncomfortable to see a 17 year old in this skimpy outfits, but Cyrus said she’s just “having fun and being girly” when we asked her about at the MMVAs. Oh, and who knows if any of the music is any good. Listen to the title track here:

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When I first saw the Green Zone trailer, I thought it was basically Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass doing a non-Bourne Bourne movie.  But then I saw the movie, and you realize the studio just cut the trailer to make it look like the return of Jason Bourne, not called Jason Bourne. Being released on Blu-Ray/DVD today, the film really is more of a political thriler, and Damon doesn’t get to kick much ass.  The movie is weird, as it takes place in Iraq in 2003, slightly after the take down of Saddam Hussein, and it basically fictionalizes how the US didn’t have any proof of WMD. It all feels a little dated, and don’t we know this already? I got really bored after a while, which is a shame because I love the Bourne movies.

Remember Me was supposed to tap in the huge fanbase that Robert Pattinson has built up in the Twilight films.  It did not. It made as much in its entire theatrical run and one screening of Twilight does on opening day.  The film has a great cast including Emilie De Ravin (crazy Claire on Lost, who was normal at some point), Lena Olin (forever Irina Derevko), Chris Cooper, and Pierce Brosnan. The film that has a twist ending that I know about, even though I haven’t seen the film, but it just didn’t connect with audiences who apparently just want to see Pattinson as Edward, but maybe it’ll find more of a life on Blu-Ray/DVD.

While both Destiny’s Child members who are not Beyonce have found success, neither has reached the level that Sasha Fierce had.  After a try at a solo career in R&B (including collaborating with Nelly on the hit “Dilemma”), Kelly Rowland went international and started finding success in dance music. Last summer’s “When Love Takes Over” produced by David Guetta for his awesome album One Love was one of the biggest international hits of the year. It hardly made a dent in mainstream North American music because women of colour are only allowed to sing R&B/Pop music.  Rowland is back this summer with another song produced by Guetta for her own album, and Entertainment Weekly has already called it their #1 Summer Jam. Her label is releasing this as the single internationally, but will release a more R&B-flavoured song for North America. Stupid. Check out the perfect summer party jam here:

May 25, 2010

2 days in advance of the film opening in theatres, Sex And The City 2 releases its soundtrack, and it’s a bit of a trainwreck. The tracklist includes Alicia Keys’ awesome “Empire State Of Mind Part II (Broken Down)” but we already heard that track on Keys’ own album several months ago. Jennifer Hudson, Leona Lewis, Dido, Erykah Badu, and even co-star Cynthia Nixon contribute, but the worst track is surely Liza Minnelli’s cover of “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”. Listen here and have a laugh:

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Stone Temple Pilots return with a new album after a decade. Yup, we’re really that old. Rock really has been struggling the past couple years when you compare it to the mid-1990s, the Pilots’ heyday. Their new album is a nice callback to that rock sound that dominated the airwaves in 1994. Listen to the first single ” Between The Lines” here:

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Jamie Lidell is a hard guy to nail down to one genre. I’d best describe his music as a Motown R&B sound mixed with electronic and funk influences. Hailing from The UK, Lidell has slowly been carving out a name for himself which has included having his music featured on Grey’s Anatomy.  His new album, Compass, continues to demonstrate his new sound, and he’ll bring that sound back to Toronto on June 12 at Mod Club. Listen to “Completely Exposed” here:

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Dear John was the movie that knocked Avatar out of the top spot at the box office. I guess North Americans really did wanted to see the answer to the question on the front of the Blu-Ray/DVD cover: “What Would You Do With A Letter That Changed Everything?” Now viewers at home find out about this life-changing, or maybe world-changing, letter too!

Have you heard David Guetta’s One Love album yet? It’s been out for about a year now, but it’s still pumping out hits. I’m not a big fan of house music, but Guetta smartly combined his beats with pop vocals to make it much more accessible. The album has been a massive hit around the world with several hit songs…but North American mainstream audiences aren’t big fans of house/electronic music so the album has hardly made an impact at all here, outside of “Sexy Bitch”.  That might change with his new single, “Gettin Over You”. For the single release, Guetta added Fergie to the track, and she sounds hella good on it. She might just help make this song a hit in North America. It’s a perfect summer track. Check out the video here: