Keep Cool, Boy

Lean Back

On Guard

"Fuckin' Perfect" - Pink

Read the whole post at Vertigo Shtick!

On November 16 Pink is set to release her first hits collection, Greatest Hits... So Far!!! The set will contain sixteen of the pop rocker's best-charting singles from "There You Go" to "Stupid Girls" to "Glitter in the Air," along with (as is the fashion) three entirely new tracks, including current top ten hit "Raise Your Glass" and a new ditty just leaked/released to the blogosphere, "Fuckin' Perfect." The track list promises GH...SF!!! to be a rollicking and bumpy ride through Pink's uneven discography, but a full-length listen-through is sure to prove not just how broad and varying her output has been over the last decade, but how incredibly skilled and convincing she is throughout the myriad styles and genres in which she has dabbled.

With a title like "Fuckin' Perfect" one would be forgiven for expecting another raucus, up-tempo romp before pressing "play," perhaps thematically in line with great kiss-off tracks from the singer's library like "U + UR Hand" or "So What." Pink seems to be riding the recent trend of motivational underdog anthems (see Ke$ha's "We R Who We R," Katy Perry's "Firework," Pink's own "Raise Your Glass") a little harder than some, and her second new track delivers essentially the same message as her previous single, but "Fuckin' Perfect" is musically a cousin of "Who Knew" or "Glitter In the Air," softer, down-tempo ballads whose hefty subject matter outweigh any perceived surface-level softness. Like those tracks, it's nice and all, and for those who love Pink for her similarly styled singles, "Fuckin' Perfect" is sure to fill in any cracks "Raise Your Glass" might have left unfilled with motivational goodness.

So even though the new song's not really my style, I'd have trouble coming out right off the bat and criticizing it (at least before further listening on my end): even the titular expletive, which for almost any other artist would come off as desperately pandering, is fitting in this case. It's eye-catching, irreverent, confrontational, crude, and menacing to some while comforting to others. In other words, it fits Pink to a tee.

Greatest Hits... So Far!!! drops November 16.

Who, Me?

Cut to the Chez

"I Put a Spell On You" Bette Midler

Ah, Halloween. To some, the final day of October is a day of costumes and confections, while for others it means a lot of small callers at the front door that won't leave unless bribed with sweets; for still others, it's but a low key night for horror films or other such appropriate entertainment.

For me, All Hallow's Eve is when I invariably look out the window and declare, "Look! Another glorious morning. Makes me SICK!" and proceed to emulate Bette Midler at numerous points throughout the day (in other words, a normal day). The Divine Miss M has bestowed a number of fantastic gems upon the world of fabulosity over the years - "I'm Beautiful," the Rose, Beaches - but none of them brings me (and, I suspect, a good number of my contemporaries in age) nearly the amount of sheer cult classic glee as Hocus Pocus. Yes, in 1993 (!), the fire-haired diva teamed up with Disney, comedian Kathy Najimy, hot off Sister Act, and Sarah Jessica Parker, who in those pre-Sex and the City times was mainly known for turns in L.A. Story, the short-lived sitcom Square Pegs, and a handful of stints on the Great White Way to make a Halloween comedy for kids.

The fabulously silly tale of three youth-obsessed 17th century witches brought back to life by a misfit teenager was directed by Kenny Ortega, now known for directing the High School Musical series and Michael Jackson - This Is It, the film Ortega scrapped together when the singer died of an overdose weeks before his Ortega-directed farewell concert series. But back then, Kenny Ortega had but one credit under his belt, and while Newsies is probably nearly as beloved among many of my fellow Hocus Pocus devotees, it was definitely not so at the time (the Alan Menken movie musical about a newsboy strike that starred a young Christian Bale, featured Razzie-nominated turns from Robert Duvall and Ann-Margret, and was one of the greatest box office debacles of the early 1990s).

Sadly, Ortega, who is adept at least at staging musical numbers for film if nothing else, gets only one brief chance in Hocus Pocus, and it's less a production number than an obvious concession made on Midler's contract (Miss Midler must have a song, and it shall be fabulous or no deal). But Midler's diva-tastic cover of "I Put a Spell On You" is the rare shining beacon of win in an otherwise uneven film: it's a terrific comedic sequence, but it also completely fits into the plot, certainly far more than one might expect from a one-off song-and-dance number in a kid's movie. It's so utterly Bette Midler, right down to the "Hello, Salem! My name's Winifred! What's yours?" and seeing Najimy and Parker effortlessly slide into their impromptu backup singer roles always got a nice guffaw from us clueless children who were entirely unaware of anything about Bette Midler's public image or career.

And on this Halloween, the first since I began this lovely blog, I'm passing on the joy to you all! Pick up a copy of Hocus Pocus tonight, or just take a listen to a couple minutes of nostalgic camp madness. Either way, Happy Halloween!

To the Left

Smirk

All Wet

Pecs

Shady

Ke$ha - "We R Who We R"

Since Cannibal is but a Fame Monster style add-on to the upcoming re-release of Ke$ha's surprise smash debut album Animal, it makes sense that (as with Gaga and Fame Monster) the singer's meticulously scripted plotline - you know, the trashy girl who parties a lot, uses whiskey as oral hygeine tool and doesn't wash her hair - isn't exactly going to be tossed out the window just yet. But, at least on lead single "We R Who We R," neither is it dominant, or even particularly evident at all (although final judgment shall be reserved for the music video), and that suits Ke$ha just fine. She's not working with filet mignon material with the musically and lyrically facile Dr. Luke-produced track, which is likely destined to be the most forgettable of her five singles thus far, although like any Dr. Luke production the mediocrity is impeccably done, and I've learned from experience that the producer has created as many slow-burning hits as he has instant and unforgettable smashes, so I may well end up eating my words down the line.

If anything, "We R Who We R" should serve as a nice placeholder on the Billboard Hot 100 while we impatiently wait to hear what glorious head-exploding madness the Nashville-raised pop ingenue makes with hardcore hip-hop producer Bangladesh in their reported collaboration(s?) on Cannibal. And, anyway, it's a nice track to play behind those "It Gets Better" videos, and goodness knows that's a far more important issue than RCA's last wringing of dollar signs from its surprise breakout star before she takes over her career and unleashes her genius on the world in a manner not seen since a certain Swedish teenage tool of Max Martin who went on to become Robyn, the killingest pop star on the planet.

Far-fetched? The Ke$ha Project is here to find out.

Lift Me Up

Lay Me Down

Canvas

Pink - "Raise Your Glass"

There are few artists currently working in the music industry that I admire more than Pink, as I've mentioned before along with the curious fact that despite my high opinion of her as a musician I don't especially care for a good percentage of the actual songs she's done, even while appreciating and enjoying the way she's done them. And since Pink is one of the few veteran acts whose healthy career has been marked or even defined by continuous adaptation and exploration of musical style, I am particularly looking forward to her first hits collection, Greatest Hits...So Far!!!, which she announced yesterday (the set lands November 16).

Of course, even a compilation album requires a lead single or two to promote the release, and the 31 year old unleashed the first of two new tracks to be included on the hefty track list, the giddily enjoyable girl-party anthem "Raise Your Glass." As may be obviously early on to those familiar with production at all, Pink's producer and co-writer on the track is Swedish pop legend Max Martin, who last year helped get Britney Spears' own hits collection lead single "3" to the top of the Hot 100 in its first week on the chart and who worked with Pink on her latest two albums, I'm Not Dead and Funhouse. Martin and erstwhile protegee/collaborator Dr. Luke (the latter more so) have lately been walking a thin line between success and overexposure, and, perhaps accordingly, churning out a high volume of work that on too many occasions has been too reminiscent of previous work done for other artists too recently to go by unnoticed. It's a shame, really, as Martin truly is one of the greatest producers of all time, and Dr. Luke one of the great hit-making engineers working right now, even if he lacks the musical sensibilities that set Martin apart; in any event, getting recycled tunes from those two is like Julia Child making you peanut butter and jelly.

But what typically makes Pink's collaborations with Martin work so well is, broadly speaking, their actually "collaborative" feel. Pink is an older, more experienced, and with a more fully developed persona as an artist than Martin's usual clients, who tend to be younger girl-pop-rock stars (he's produced for Katy Perry, Avril Lavigne, Kelly Clarkson, and the first three of Britney Spears' albums) whose contributions to the track, while always a good deal beyond the anonymous vocal trend of dance and electronic music in terms of personality, were still only half of the magic (if that), sharing or overshadowed in glory by the greatness of the entire sound. Pink is not the kind of artist who takes a back seat when she's in the studio - she's demonstrated a unique and enjoyable expertise in the incidentals that often spice up her backing vocals with typically playful banter and musical asides, and "Raise Your Glass" is no exception. There's even a riotous moment just before the final chorus in which the singer channels the Mamas and the Papas by launching into the chorus a few bars early. "Ah, fuck," she says, before launching into the high-octane chorus for nearly a full minute of climactic, girl-rock bliss.

Sure, the song sounds a bit like Taio Cruz's "Dynamite" with a splash of "Since U Been Gone," (both written and the latter produced by...you guessed it! Max Martin) but at no point is "Raise Your Glass" not clearly Pink's song. Where younger and less established singers can come off as either one-note party obsessives (Ke$ha) or posers (Avril Lavigne) when singing of boozing and merrymaking, Pink's relationship with the world of recreation has been a consistent theme in her music throughout her genre-jumping career, from Linda Perry's "Get the Party Started" to the rock-infused barfight style "U + Ur Hand" and "So What," to the disarmingly contrite "Sober" and the just as disarmingly hedonistic "Bad Influence," so when Pink sings about a party, you know she knows of what she speaks. (The only insincere moment on "Raise Your Glass," actually, is at the beginning of the bridge, where after a beat or two she muses, "Oh shit, my glass is empty. That SUCKS!" As if Pink would find such a situation the slightest bit concerning.)

 Seriously, is this not the cutest woman ever?

It's the first time Pink's party has been an actual celebration, too, which makes it all the more fun to come along: here there are no pervy drunk men, no exes starting fights, no kissing Benz drivers' asses, no football captains' angry mothers. Pink's not fighting anymore, she's inviting: she reaches out to "all my underdogs" and encourages them to be "dirty little freaks," a technique that's proven pretty effective for Lady Gaga, although they're not singing to entirely the same audience, I believe. Pink, like Robyn, has blossomed from an exciting and volatile 20-something into a strong, reliable 31-year-old who is still a ton of fun - like a big sister, perhaps, who seems to have everything under control and figured out with herself, which allows us to revert to carefree teenagers for a few minutes. We don't have to worry about Pink, be it in with her historically solid personal life, or her live performances (also like Robyn, Pink is a uniquely gifted live performer), or her next album(s) or singles - we know she'll come through. On "Raise Your Glass" Pink's fun-filled vocals and Max Martin's stellar if manipulative production team up like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: here are a pair of artists at the top of their field who have worked together to deliver a charming and enjoyable fall anthem, a worthy addition to Pink's already formidable list of great singles.

"Raise Your Glass"

Pink

Greatest Hits...So Far!!!

(LaFace, 2010)

Under Armor

Céline Dion and Peabo Bryson "Beauty and the Beast"

Want to know why the crop of American young adults now between the ages of about 23 and 29 (i.e. those of us born when Reagan was President) are going to rule the world, especially in entertainment? For one, we come from tail-end Baby Boomer/early Gen X parents - the ones after the hippies and racists of the '60s but before the uptight post-Vietnam Gen X-ers of the '80s - who generally struck just the right balance between apathy and helicopter parenting, plus they had fantastic taste in music. We also were the main beneficiaries of the Disney Renaissance, the period between 1989 and 1997-ish when entertainment for children was perhaps the best and most influential it has ever been, led of course by the revitalized Disney animation studios and the string of masterpieces from The Little Mermaid ('89) to (depending who you ask) The Lion King ('95) or Hercules ('97). If you need to ask how that has anything to do with global domination potential, then obviously you weren't there for it (as a kid or a parent) and probably wouldn't get or accept an explanation; if you were, you know what I'm talking about (*high five!*).

The greatest of those films, and in my opinion the greatest of all Disney films, is Beauty and the Beast ('91) which long had the distinction of being the only animated film ever to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture (Pixar's Up made the newly expanded list of ten nominees last year). The second release in Disney's new golden era was exquisitely drawn, elegantly scripted and performed, and features one of the best scores in film history, composed by Alan Menken with songs by Menken and Howard Ashman, the great lyricist who died of AIDS not long before the film premiered. The score and three of the songs were nominated for Oscars, and while glorious opening number "Belle" and showstopper "Be Our Guest" were both fully deserving, no jaws dropped when statues went to the score and the elegant title ballad.

"Beauty and the Beast" was sung by Angela Lansbury in the film, but a re-imagined pop version ran over the credits and was released as a single, starting what would become a lengthy tradition. The adult contemporary cover featured a duet by established R&B star Peabo Bryson and then-little known French Canadian singer Céline Dion. It reached the top ten in the U.S. and many other countries, becoming Dion's international breakthrough and winning a Grammy for the two singers.

Coming from a family of music snobs, I rarely got to hear the duet version before someone got to the VCR eject or the car stereo track skip button, and even as an adult I've had to be rather surreptitious about my occasional re-visitations with the syrupy, overproduced ballad. But since today Disney is bringing Beauty and the Beast out of the so-called "vault," I can't think of a more defensible and appropriate time to indulge my little guilty pleasure. (A new cover by American Idol champ Jordin Sparks has been prepared to support the DVD re-release.)

"Beauty and the Beast"

Céline Dion and Peabo Bryson

Beauty and the Beast

(Walt Disney, 1991)

Wet Jeans

Wanna Touch Me In My...

Aside from the fact that Animal is actually, despite what tag-along critics would have you believe, a pretty good pop album, and a great debut album, there exists, out in the world, a veritable horde of unreleased Ke$ha tracks. I don't mean like that leaked "demo" of Britney's "Telephone," I mean, for the most part, full-on, mostly- to fully-produced tracks (Ke$ha is not primarily a singer, of course, but is equally into songwriting - she wrote The Veronicas' "This Love," among others - and production, with iconic producer Dr. Luke as a mentor). There are different genres represented, too: some are the electro-pop of Animal, while others are more formulaic pop songs one might write as a label's in-house songwriter; others still have a more rock edge, varying from teeny-bop Hoku-style rock to more along the lines of the Donnas; then, finally, there are the ever-so-thrilling experimental pieces, which I particularly love and am especially excited to discuss and share.

But I actually started writing this in the first place because a friend of mine said she needed a reason to wear red lipstick tonight, and the idea finally took root. So here, without further ado, is your first bit of unreleased Ke$ha goodness, appropriately titled "Red Lipstick." This one is from her rocker-chick side, certainly, but what I love most about it is how fun, amusing, and typically Ke$ha (dear God, that dollar sign is going to be the death of me...more on that later) her asides are. This is an artist who truly has a great time in the studio, and it comes across on the best of her records with a glee that has captivated millions (and millions of those dollar signs, too) and made her an inescapable star who may just have gotten too big too quickly for a musician who is not, I strongly believe, destined to be a flash in the unforgiving pop music pan. More on that later, though. Now, to my friend and to all of you, I'm gonna put on ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-my "Red Lipstick!" Enjoy. (Just try it.)

Buffness

I'm a Graffiti Girl

Over the Shoulder

Dry Off

Guess the Change In My Pocket Wasn't Enough

Recently I came across a tweet from a friend of mine, emerging young R&B/soul singer Elle B. Elle has spent much of the last several months gallivanting across the globe backing up Katy Perry on the pop goldmine's promotional tour for the new album Teenage Dream (which as you might have heard dropped a week ago; look for Vertigo Shtick's review later this week). Nation-specific music releasing/availability being what it is, it's a bit of a challenge for our dear Elle to keep up with new releases when the California Gurls are abroad, hence her tweeting search for a killer new track that debuted on YouTube ten days ago and, according to releasing label, has since been featured on over 4500 music blogs. Since I'll do anything for a good friend or a good artist (especially if she's both) and because it's one of the most joyous, deliriously enjoyable new soul tracks in recent history and therefore grade-A evidence disproving the supposed decease of the genre.

You've heard of Cee Lo Green - or at least you've heard him, even if you don't know it. Green is best known as half of the critically worshipped duo Gnarls Barkley (with Danger Mouse), although he had a pair of modest hits in 2002-03 and even sang background vocals on TLC's 1995 megahit "Waterfalls." (He also co-wrote the Pussycat Dolls' debut single "Don't Cha," but bear with me.) Now Green, in advance of his upcoming solo album The LadyKiller, has unleashed upon the world a single with a title almost as surprising as how the song more than lives up to the hype such a title invariably (and shrewdly) creates. "Fuck You" is a kiss-off to a gold-digging ex-girlfriend and the fool whose arm on which she now hangs. Not exactly groundbreaking lyrical subject matter, perhaps, but the packaging is a disarming and rare delight: instead of angry guitars and caterwauling, "Fuck You" is a raucus, up-tempo and upbeat 60s-throwback number that could easily be performed by a church gospel choir without anyone raising an eyebrow, so pleasant and joyful is the presentation.

"Guess he's an X-Box and I'm more an Atari," Green sings (not dating himself at all or anything), but after one spin of this I'm guessing you'll be ready to go back and play some Pong.

Goggly Eyes

Too Cool for School

Fedora

Make Love In a Train, Cross Country

Well look at that, folks: it's Hump Day once again, and the associated mood is once again upon me. Today looks to be an especially steep hump for me today at the workplace, too, so it appears necessary not only to choose a great Song for the Hump Day, but to pull out the big guns as well today. Fortunately, a certain special pop legend celebrated her 52nd birthday earlier this week, and the icon in question happens to be one of the great sexual pioneers/"pop perverts" of pop music history. Yes, our lady Madonna is over the half-century mark and still sailing on, boinking 20-somethings with similarly religious names, attempting to adopt much of the non Jolie-Pitt sub-Saharan youth, and bathing daily in hundred dollar bills and caviar.
Those of us who fall firmly within the bounds of the Millenial generation no longer have the same appreciation of Madonna that our very near elders do; children of the late '90s like myself typically see her Madgesty through the post-William Orbit/Ray of Light lens, and are more likely to recall her Hard Candy album cover crotch shot than blonde ambition or conical brassieres. Luckily, somewhere along the way one of my dear friends had enough sense to browbeat me into purchasing The Immaculate Collection and actually listening the whole way through (despite my well documented dislike of most '80s pop), which is how I happened upon a pair of songs that maybe didn't change my life but definitely supplied legitimacy (and more than a few helpful pointers). Eventually I sought out the video for one of them, "Erotica," and found it to be quite what I was expecting, if I was expecting anything in particular. As edgy as it was in 1990 upon its release, the video for "Erotica" isn't quite yet totally tame by 2010 standards, but neither is it anything I hadn't seen before or felt I shouldn't be seeing. Graphic treatment of sexual themes was, after all, my forte.

It was when I encountered the video for the second number of the dirty duo that, for the first and probably only time in my life, I fully appreciated the true power and impact of Madonna's sexuality, in a visceral way I imagine was standard at the start of the 1990s: something from the pop music past that was all but impossible to relive. It wasn't because "Justify My Love" was graphic, though, just as the song itself isn't: in fact, it was quite the opposite quality that affected me so strongly, the subtlety and requirement of imagination finally proving what my dad had told me at the outset of my pubescent years: "Seeing everything is rarely half as exciting as when something is left to the imagination." To this day, the song is one of the few songs that has the capability of turning me on at least a few degrees when it plays, regardless of situation or mood or anything else.

So for this particularly hefty Hump Day, get open and ready, and enjoy Madonna's sexiest track ever, "Justify My Love."

Studs

With the Down Guillotine

When Swedish pop icon Robyn revealed her unique plans regarding a long-awaited followup to her smash 2005 self-titled album - namely, plans to release no fewer than three albums by the end of 2010 - even the most loyal Robyn fans (myself included) met the news with a mixture of giddy excitement and, frankly, varying degrees of incredulity. Body Talk Pt. 1 dropped in June following by as much as three months the individual releases of no fewer than four of the eight tracks on the album, and though appetites were whetted, timing still caused even major Robyn proponents like Pitchfork to refer to the three-album project with tentative vocabulary. Then came the word, as the diminutive Swede was rounding up a successful U.S. mini-tour with newly dance-oriented American singer Kelis, that Body Talk Pt. 2 was ready for a September 6 UK release (a US release date of September 7 followed, albeit not quite swiftly enough to calm some nervous hearts stateside), and a track listing coinciding with the release of the second album's lead single "Hang With Me" (accompanied by a charming if not exactly wave-making video) confirmed that the penultimate offering of the proposed trilogy would contain the much buzzed-about collaboration with rapper Snoop Dogg, best known recently as the other culprit behind Katy Perry's inescapable summer number one "California Gurls."

Fortunately for this impatient Robyn fan, a certain resourceful significant other of mine has managed to acquire a rather advanced copy of the second of what now looks like it may actually be three albums Robyn drops in 2010. And it's GOOD. (More on that later, but trust me.) And for you, my loyal readers, I hereby offer you a first listen to the fabled collaboration with the D. O. double-G, a raucous, boastful display of entirely deserved superiority sprinkled with plenty of expletives, obligatory and fabulously cringe-inducing rhymes, and carried along by a high-tempo, speaker-bursting bass line. This is not the first time the two pop music giants have shared the same track, although Robyn's participation in the Fyre Department remix to Snoop Dogg's 2008 single "Sexual Eruption" was subsequent to the original track's release and not a "collaboration" in the same sense.

The plot of the new track, you ask? Well, it's essentially four minutes of Robyn and "Big Snoopy Dogg" alternating verses (with the occasional chorus thrown in) delineating all of the supposed tough guys of the world who "know better than to fuck with" them. Among them: the French, the Russians, the LAPD, the CIA, the FBI, the Vatican ("I sat down with the Romans," Robyn says, "And said we need a black pope, but she better be a woman"), the music industry, and the Devil himself.

Sounds pretty badass, but what else would you expect when two of the most consistently enjoyable artists working today team up to throw it down? Check out the new track and let me know what you think!

Dolce

Pink

Red It

Yellow

Mellow Yellow