Rated Capitals.

The first time I heard Capitals I instantly thought of The XX, Beirut and some other, folksier sounding bands/artists. They are, however, not in the slightest bit folksy. Capitals are an electronic-pop outfit that veers just far enough away from mainstream to beam with originality. With Angus Carbarns on vocals and Keir MacCulloch twiddling the knobs, this two-piece is as fitted as a fine Armani suit.  

The tracks that are available on their official Myspace page are quite startling. “Hello World” is a fitting introduction, with its up-tempo, pulsing beat and electronic-dance vibe. It’s on ‘A Specter is Haunting Europe’ that we’re really indulged. Sounding like a new-age Soft Cell production, this is where the duo really glistens. “Where are we? We’re lost at sea, we’ve lost our war, we’ve lost our life...” sings Carbarns, his vocals intensely ‘haunting’. The build up to the first chorus is spine tingling and quite unexpected, as the track bursts into a luminescent electro euphoria (due to MacCulloch’s expertise, no doubt). Other highlights from the band’s catalogue are ‘The Grace’, ‘Walking Life’ and ‘Hands Divided’. ‘Walking Life’ is a dream of a song, with violins playing softly in the background, amidst an array of synths. It has a playful chorus, and at times Carbarns sounds like a less shaky Marcus Mumford. ‘Hands Divided’ begins sounding like an XX album cut, but swiftly maneuvers to being (by this point) an identifiable Capitals record.

With the combined effort of these two, clearly, gifted and aspiring men, there’s no doubt in my mind that they will go far. There’s plenty space for them in the industry right now, what with the orgasm of female vocals that is dominating air time. Maybe Capitals can be the ones to break through this and subsequently take some truly brilliant music across the country.

Rated Recommended - You Lost Me.

After a racy performance on the Xfactor final, Christina Aguilera saw a huge boost in sales, especially for her soundtrack to debut feature film/musical Burlesque. With any luck these sales will transfer to her latest studio effort, Bionic, which proved impotent in the race for platinum. However, the second single from said album, 'You Lost Me' should have made some chart impact, with its stripped back production and lyrical beauty.

It may not have the 'oomph' that made 'Beautiful' and 'The Voice Within' huge hits and huge vocal showcases, but 'You Lost Me' is a lovely little song. "It feels like our world's been infected and somehow you left me neglected", whispers a restrained Christina. I say restrained because there are few growls from the diva on this ballad, her vocals seeming a bit 'held back'. It sounds great, but I can't help but feel that she wasn't really there when recording this potential belter. Things pick up toward the end (as they always do) and it's nice not to have to keep up with her vocal gymnastics, but it would have been good to take a bullet when listening to this one.

3.5/5

Rated Flashback - A Strange Education.

The Cinematics debut album A Strange Education is a glorious venture into contemporary rock music. With brilliantly written and produced tracks like ‘Break’, ‘Keep Forgetting’ and ‘Human’, the band should have been propelled into the higher echelons with the likes of Kings of Leon. Though they aren’t stadium rockers, the band has achieved much. A key example being their performance on American talk show ‘Jimmy Kimmel’, a show that has hosted performances from superstars like Eminem and Lady GaGa. 

The highlight from their debut outing is the exhilarating ‘A Strange Education’, a song that takes epic moments from other bands and stomps all over them like CoCo Chanel stabbing her 6” heel into a Primark Ugg. Sounding a bit like a less gritty Paul Banks (Interpol), lead singer Scott Rinning’s stunning voice glides through with ease. With its immense vocals, huge chorus, and intense build up, this is a song that needs to be heard by everyone. 

5/5

Rated Solveig et Dragonette.

Having worked together before on the catchy as hell ‘Boys and Girls’ in 2009, French DJ/Producer Martin Solveig and Synth-pop fox Dragonette are reunited on new single ‘Hello’. It sounds like a summer dance anthem, with Solveig’s fresh production and Dragonette’s unique and intriguing vocals going together like me and a Burberry trench coat. I hope this collaboration gets some strong airplay, even if just to gain Dragonette some of the media attention she sorely deserves.

Rated Nyah.

With Ms. Dynamite absent, Alesha Dixon’s music career flopping about like a harpooned halibut, and N-Dubz being decidedly attitude-free, there’s space in the British r’n’b scene for a new (female) face; Princess Nyah might just be that. New single ‘Take Control’ may not be the most vocally illustrative piece, nor the most original song around, but love it or hate it, its aggressive rap segue and synthy hip hop beat are guaranteed to make your bones rattle in a club. 

Rated 'Shoulda Been Singles'.

Everyone knows the fury that comes with an inferior album track being released as a chart single, when there’s far better material available. If only we could be ‘their’ manager! Anyhoo, here are the top 10 album tracks that I feel should/could have been singles and torn up club dance floors and/or radio playlists, the world over. 

1: ‘Freakum Dress’.

    B’Day.

    Beyonce.

This is potentially the best track from her sophomore album (bar ‘Get Me Bodied’ and ‘Upgrade You’). Performed live it’s got some hot electric guitar riffs ploughing through it and is a key example of the feminist attitude that continually rears its head in Beyonce’s own brand of pop music.

2: ‘Howl’.

     Lungs.

     Florence and the Machine.

My favourite track she’s made so far, this is an absolute beast. It shows off her unique vocals at their best and is one of the most uptempo songs on the record.

3: ‘Could Have Been You’.

     Colour Me Free.

     Joss Stone.

Yeah yeah, so everyone hates Joss Stone and her shoddy album artwork. She’s annoying, yes, but her voice is stunning on this should have been single. It has potential to be her best song to date and has a nice, crisp, live jazz-bar quality to it. Me likey.

4: ‘Mannequin’.

    One of the Boys.

    Katy Perry.

She’s got some belting material on her second album Teenage Dream, true. However, her debut still has a potent charm that it’s hard to forget a track like ‘Mannequin’. A shiner on her first outing, the song is totally unforgettable.

5: ‘Monster’.

    The Fame Monster.

     Lady GaGa.

All the songs on her ‘sort of’ second album were/are brilliant. ‘Alejandro’ is sumptuous pop inspired by ‘La Isla Bonita’ and, ‘Bad Romance’ is aneurism inducing Euro-pop at its best. However, ‘Monster’ is a sadly overlooked single choice. With its brilliantly catchy bridge it should have been out there with a filthy music video to boot.

6: ‘Exo-Politics’.

     Black Holes and Revelations.

     Muse.

I love Muse, but I’m not a huge lover of their attempts at down tempo tracks. Thus why I adore this percussion heavy, rock monster. Love Love Love. ‘Uprising’ is good, but it’s got nothing on this behemoth.

7: ‘Unusual You’.

    Circus.

    Britney Spears.

Instead of releasing the OMGSOPOINTLESS ‘Radar’ a year after it was created, ol’ Spearsy should have launched this stunning, haunting track into the airwaves. Produced by Bloodyshy & Avant, the masters behind ‘Toxic’, it’s a total glory of a song. 

8: ‘Fire Bomb’.

    Rated R.

    Rihanna.

One of the highlights of her brilliant Rated R album, ‘Fire Bomb’ is a superior track to the fun but melody-less single ‘Rockstar 101’. Why Rihanna? WHY?

9: ‘Time Machine’.

     Body Talk.

     Robyn.

It’s early days, but I can’t see Robyn releasing anymore Body Talk era single anytime soon since each segment only got one song as promotion. ‘Dancing On My Own’, ‘Hang With Me’ and ‘Indestructible’ are epic electro pop tracks, but one more tasty morsel wouldn’t go a miss. ‘Time Machine’ is just that. So ridiculously fun, melodious and just damn awesome, this HAS to make an appearance on radio soon.

10: ‘Kiss and Resolve’.

      Wall Of Arms.

      Maccabees.

The single releases from this massive leap forward for the British band were pretty damn good. My favourite however, ‘Kiss and Resolve’ got overlooked and I wasn’t pleased. Definitely a highlight of an album that stomps over their debut by having far more direction.

Rated - Indestructible.

Body Talk parts 1 and 2 were brilliant mini albums, bursting with electro pop dance beats and some stunning productions. The upcoming Body Talk is part 3 of the trilogy. It reigns in the finest moments from its children and forms a full length album with 5 new tracks. The lead single from this ultimate album is the gorgeous love anthem 'Indestructible'. With one of the catchiest choruses in Robyn's repetoire, this song is deserving of much chart success. It probably won't get it, due to zero promotion, but will be a fan favourite along with the epic singles 'Dancing On My Own' and 'Hang With Me'. It's just as lovely as the acoustic version featured at the end of Body Talk Part 2 but this remix gives the song the edge it needs to gel with the themes of this album series. Pretty damn nice.

5/5

Rated - Your Song.

Ellie Goulding seems to have launched into the O-zone of success overnight. Her debut album sold over 40,000 copies in its opening week and spawned a top five single, 'Starry Eyed' which has since become her statement piece. Now a credible live act with a sell out tour, Ellie is jumping on the 're-release' bandwagon and giving us her album Lights with six additional tracks. The lead single from this updated album is a cover of Elton John's  classic ballad 'Your Song'. 

It's completely inoffensive and utterly divine. Her soft, dry vocals sound fuller here, and the record has such an authentic live quality that it deserves chart domination. Almost haunting and at the same time soothing, Ellie has nailed a cover of one of British music's most iconic leaders. There are artists who have 'that' voice, the one that can contort any song to sound like their own. Ellie's folky voice is powerful and beautiful enough to do just that. It's nice to hear something as acoustic as this in the charts and I applaud her for being brave enough to throw it into the pit of electro pop synths that are flooding the airwaves right now. Kudos.

5/5.

Rated - LOUD.

Once upon a time, I dismissed Rihanna’s musical merit, that was until last year’s stunning Rated R, which features some of the best songs of 2009/2010, ‘Russian Roulette’ and ‘Fire Bomb’ to name two. The album was dark, brooding and contained material covering suicide, sex and swagger. Now, just one year on, Rihanna’s back with Loud, a step back to her days as a pure pop artist. Ditching the sharp edge of its predecessor, Loud is a delicious collection of uptempo dance numbers and great vocal moments for a singer whose talent has frequently been questioned.

Opener, ‘S&M’, is guilt free electro-dance pop about dirty sex. Rihanna sings, ‘I may be bad but I’m perfectly good at it, sex in the air I don’t care, I love the smell of it...’ in a sexually predatory purr. New single ‘What’s My Name?’ is sumptuous, West Indian flavoured, r’n’b and with its “oh na na” hook it is a well deserved hit. Lead single ‘Only Girl (In the World)’, is a colossal orgasm of a dance track and the album’s highlight. It features some of Rihanna’s most convincing vocals and the Stargate production would make David Guetta brown his Calvin Kleins. Avril Lavigne sampling ‘Cheers (I’ll Drink to That)’ is destined to become a party anthem and is one of the Bajan beauty’s most original moments. ‘Man Down’, a Bob Marley inspired reggae infusion burgeoning with gun metaphors, is another superb, reggae style, song. It’s clear that Rihanna is pulling her roots back into her musical folds.

‘Complicated’ and ‘Fading’ are strong songs about mixed messages and failing relationships, and the hip-hop beats of Nicki Minaj duet ‘Raining Men’ are annoying at first, but become irresistible. The vibe of Loud slips slightly with ‘Skin’, a grower that would have sat more comfortably with the rocky concept of Rated R.

Loud isn’t just about big beats, no sir. There are two lovely ballads in the form of ‘California King Bed’ and the stunning ‘Love the Way You Lie (part 2)’. The former has Rihanna blasting out some notes unheard of in her past register and the latter is more stripped down than the rest of the album. It’s a step forward from the rap heavy ‘part 1’, with Rihanna taking the helm. These are two pretty significant moments on the album, standing out amongst all the club ready dance tracks and showing off Rihanna’s vocal development.

This is quite a big moment in Rihanna’s career. Rated R was stamped as a flop (even though it sold millions) in comparison to her enormous hit Good Girl, Gone Bad. Loud succeeds by landing in two different places. Firstly, it stands between the two aforementioned albums, featuring lots of dance-pop a la ‘Please Don’t Stop the Music’ laced with the dark tones that made Rated R such an interesting album. It also leaps over its predecessor and re-establishes Rihanna as a true commercial pop artist.

It will please those put off by her last endeavor, and will probably win her some new fans (thanks to ‘Only Girl’). With a ‘loud’ new look and a new tour, this release is sure to enhance her status as a live act and make the production value of her shows erupt. Containing some quite brilliant pop music, Loud is the ‘success’ Rihanna’s been waiting for after the polarizing effect of Rated R. So pop it in and do as the album title suggests; turn your volume up, because you’re in for a treat.

4.5/5

Rated - 'The Flood'

Take That have been knocking around for a while now. Cranking out an Everest of hits, the group seemed an unstoppable force as a foursome when they launched their comeback. Now, with Robbie back on side, it looks like they are about take over the United Kingdom. Move over Queeny, the new Royal Family of pop music is waiting for its place on the throne.

'The Flood', lifted from the next generation album Progress is, at first, punchless. However, with two or three listens the hook catches and it justifies a spot in the Take That hall of fame. With a booming chorus and some stunning vocals from Gary and Robs, this is an absolute bitch of a ballad.

4.5/5

Rated Raise Your Glass.

P!nk is, probably, the most consistent pop artist the world has. She doesn't tamper with her look too much and doesn't fiddle with her sound too much either. This is testament to her squillions of records sold and the tours that sell out faster than free bottled water in the third world. So it seems befitting that she's now about to release her first greatest hits collection. 

The lead single of this well deserved milestone, 'Raise Your Glass', is typical P!nk. It's an uptempo party smash, bursting with wit, charm and silly, yet brilliant lines like, "Don't be fancy, just get dancy". This is a definite hit and definitive P!nk and is sure to land on her next greatest hits outing in ten years to come.

Rated Scherzy.

The Pussycat Dolls are no more. That singing, dancing, money making monster that titillated our guilty pleasures collection with hits like 'Buttons' and 'When I grow Up', have disbanded and the girls have gone onto better things. Who am I kidding? None of them have done anything remotely noteworthy, other than lead singer Nicole Scherzinger who was an instant BABE on Xfactor and had a huge flop of a solo career some years back. Now she's back (conveniently timed) with a new single, the Red One produced 'Poison', which isn't half bad.

Red One is everywhere, producing for GaGa, Britney, the lot. Only here he's mixed things up a little and altered his standard "Red One" quotation to sound like the opening to a Mortal Kombat movie, followed by an intriguing electro riff opening. Then Scherzy belts out, in true gay anthem style, some big "Oohhh Ooooohhh" notes.  It's a massive step forward from her lacklustre and unoriginal first solo attempt 'Baby Love'. It's still not original (it could have been written for Gaga) but her strong vocals put her Pussycat paw stamp all over it. With a growing following (thanks Xfactor) and the potential for a successful outing this time round, this song looks like it'll be at least top 10. Now she can't complain about that, can she?

3.5/5

Rated - Come Around Sundown.

I’m going to state a glaringly obvious fact, Kings of Leon are a contemporary rock force to be reckoned with. With their last album Only By The Night selling over six million copies and their tour selling out in hours, the band has gone stratospheric. Their brand of authentic stadium rock, Caleb’s intense, dry, vocals, and the clear ‘tightness’ of the band make them an interesting and dependable name in rock music. 

Their latest offering, Come Around Sundown doesn’t offer the bite of its predecessor but it has enough epic moments to make it an instant chart topper and potential six million seller. Only By the Night is one of the sexiest sounding albums of the 00s. ‘Sex On Fire’, an instant anthem isn’t replicated, but that’s probably a good thing. With this album the band avoids being stamped as ‘sell outs’ and, thank God, they have stayed off the synth bandwagon that’s overloading the airwaves right now (please make it stop!). What we have here is an authentic sounding record, with a number of tracks that sound specifically designed to sound good at ‘T in the Park’.

Lead single, ‘Radioactive’, echoes the brilliance of OBTN, forcing you into a festival trance with its roaring riff and brilliant lyrics. Track one, ‘The End’ is equally as great, showing off Caleb’s stunning voice and sounding like it would perfectly fit onto their last album. Rumored next single, ‘Pyro’ and the memorable ‘Mary’ are also album highlights. Similarly successful tracks include ‘The Immortals’, an epic moment on this record, and the fantastic ‘No Money’ which sounds like a revisit to a younger KOL. 

Unfortunately there are issues here. Although the record presents some classic KOL moments, it doesn’t have the excitement that laced almost every track of OBTN and the sharp edge of older songs like ‘Molly Chambers’ and ‘Four Kicks’. ‘Mi Amigo’ is about as interesting and exciting as a trip to Lidl and ‘Birthday’ got skipped after 47 seconds for being as bland as a sheet of Xerox. 

Never being as “wow” as their other records, Come Around Sundown falls short of spectacular. It has some brilliant moments and some, really, bloody boring ones. Regardless of the bad 20% of the album, its good tracks make it worth listening to. Don’t expect a replication or step forward from past successes, nor anything as stunning and chart obliterating as ‘Sex on Fire’ or ‘Use Somebody’, nor as dark and sexy as ‘Closer’ or ‘Crawl’. What we have here is solid stadium rock, that will no doubt contribute to an epic live experience.


3.5/5

Rated 'What's My Name?'

Rihanna, no?

Rated R was an expression of the turmoil of a rough year in the world of Rihanna. Its highlight however, the fantastically filthy ‘Rude Boy’, was a refreshing morsel of dance-hall pop. The latest taster from the impending 5th album, Loud, and follow up to the immense dance smash ‘Only Girl (In the World)’, ‘What’s My Name?’ is an instant pleaser, sounding a bit like ‘Rude Boy’ on valium, reaching orgasm.

“Hey boy, I really wanna see if you can go downtown with a girl like me...”, Rihanna sings on the chorus, letting her Bajan accent lace the lines more comfortably than ever before. With the delicious hook “Oh na na” constantly infiltrating your consciousness, you’ll be singing this to yourself uncontrollably for some time to come. It’s not as huge as ‘Only Girl’ but here we find Rihanna somewhere between Good Girl, Gone Bad and Rated R, a pretty funky place to be.

4/5

Rated Firework.

I reviewed Katy Perry's brilliant new album, Teenage Dream, back in August. It's been over two months since its release and somehow it's transitioning across the seasons, from summer chart topper to winter warmer. Lead single 'California Gurls' was a silly summer anthem and 'Teenage Dream' was a bloody corker. Now she releases her third album sample, 'Firework', which is a euphoric head rusher.

Brimming with more meaning than any other Perry release, 'Firework' is a far more credible example of her artistry than any other song. "Baby you're a firework, come on show them what you're worth...", she belts out on the massive chorus as the Stargate production launches her vocal into another spectrum. This is a damn good single, with more clout than a demolition ball. It's hard to see how she'll outdo this, but I'm sure she'll crack out a surprise soon.

Also, see the video, because it's beautiful. 


5/5

Rated Flashback - I Am... Sasha Fierce.

Two years ago, the mega-pop-force that is Beyonce Knowles, released her third studio album in the hopes of trumping the success of her previous efforts, Dangerously In Love and B’Day. The former a strong collection of songs, presenting the solo quality of this young woman’s talent, featuring massive hits such as the almost iconic ‘Crazy In Love’ and the beautiful ‘Me, Myself and I’. The latter stepped forward from her debut, filled with more hip-hop aggression and big stage numbers. ‘Deja Vu’, ‘Upgrade U’ and ‘Freakum Dress’ are packed with the sass and vocal potency that makes Beyonce the superstar she has now become. Now, years on from these collections, Beyonce has a point to prove and she does it well.

I Am... Sasha Fierce is a two part album. The first, I Am, serves like an expose of Beyonce’s internal emotional world. Lead belter, ‘If I Were a Boy’, is perhaps the best song of 2008. With vocals unmatched by anyone, and a brilliant music video, the song cemented itself as an essential Beyonce treat (as well as being her biggest UK seller to date). I Am is a ballad saturated segment. ‘Halo’, the most stunning song Beyonce’s ever performed, is a euphoric experience. The epic production value and introductory playful piano build up, make this track special. Apparently, it was written for Leona Lewis, but thank Britney it went to Beyonce, because this is probably the best produced track of the 00s. Written and produced by contemporary power ballad hit maker Ryan Tedder, ‘Halo’ was an unstoppable force when released. Other sumptuous morsels are ‘Disappear’, ‘Broken Hearted Girl’ and ‘Smash Into You’, which sounds tremendous live. The stripped down ‘Satellites’ is hypnotizing and the closer ‘That’s Why You’re Beautiful’ sounds completely untampered with. The main mission of this segment of the album is to show off Beyonce’s vocal talent. Her voice roars through every song here without faltering and she always seems in control of the song rather than being drowned out by over-production. Production is kept minimal, with a somewhat live quality to the sound of Beyonce’s voice throughout. There are weaker moments, in the form of ‘Ave Maria’ and ‘Satellites’, which aren’t bad but just seem dwarfed by huge moments like ‘Halo’.

So, Beyonce is too famous to have everything mixed onto one album? If Sasha Fierce is anything to go by, then she definitely is. Opening with one of the most infectious songs of all time, ‘Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)’, the second half of this momentous career milestone, immediately sets the tone for this epic record. ‘Radio’ and ‘Diva’ follow, the former an electro-pop infused anthem about, well, listening to the radio, love and what not. The latter is the most aggressive we find Beyonce on this album. “A diva is a female version of a hustler”, she snarls at the beginning of the song, followed by wickedly sassy lines like, “When he pull up, wanna pop my hood up, he better have a six pack in the cooler...”. Perhaps the coolest song Beyonce’s ever written/performed, ‘Sweet Dreams’ revs straight into fifth gear with a growling riff that lingers throughout the song. It was produced by the lady herself along with Rico Love (producer for Alexandra Burke, Michelle Williams and Ciara), and if this is how Beyonce produces, she has no worries about the safety of her musical future. ‘Video Phone’ (later remixed with Lady Gaga) is one of the album's weakest moments. Although burgeoning with sex and sass, it feels a bit empty and a little underproduced for such an aggressively sexual song. It’s better without Gaga, but still doesn’t match the quality of ‘Diva’ or ‘Sweet Dreams’. Thankfully, the album doesn’t end here and Beyonce injects some more I Am style tracks to pull it back. ‘Hello’ is a stunning, mid-tempo ballad, probably about her superstar hubby. ‘Ego’ is original, quirky, cheeky and ridiculously catchy. It’s not perfect, but it’s a clever little song, bursting with innuendo. Closing the entire collection is ‘Scared of Lonely’, a surprise ending with its thin production and acoustic feel. It’s a well written and catchy, and once it gets going the production kicks in with some violins, a piano, and a basic but suitable beat to keep the tempo up.

I Am...Sasha Fierce is a pretty epic double album. It’s rather self indulgent at first, but when you’re as mega-famous as Beyonce it doesn’t really seem arrogant. Her voice soars throughout, seeming more powerful than ever before. There are no silly moments or fillers, like ‘Kitty Kat’ from B’Day, and there’s little to no vocal manipulation. Once the hugely satisfying ballad section is over and it gets ‘Fierce’, we’re shown just how damn foxy this woman can be. ‘Sweet Dreams’ has the sexiest production since Britney’s ‘Toxic’, and ‘Single Ladies’ is an undeniable classic of the 00s. It seems that Beyonce has evolved as a creative force, but can she go any further? We’ll just have to wait for the next feast to find out if she has any more levels to crank up to.