Turn It Up!: Lady Gaga - Applause (Music Video)

  "Pop Culture Was An Art, Now Art's In Pop Culture In Me!"

 Well, it's almost time my lovelies! In a weeks time the new Lady Gaga album ARTPOP officially gets released, and you all are either very excited, or mortified beyond belief and wish she would just go away lol. I happen to fit into the group of you who are forever on the fence about her. I love her to a point, I think she's really creative and fun to watch, but there's a certain pretentiousness about her that often rubs me the wrong way (We Get It Gaga, You're An ARTIST!), but the thing is, I think she's fully aware of this side of her and is often annoyed by it also, so that's what keeps me coming back. My only other issue is (and this is kind of indirectly about her) when people (namely fans) take a singers stance out of context. Gaga is obviously of the motto of let your freak flag fly, which I fully support, but when fans take that to mean that they can present themselves or carry themselves in a manner that is right for them, but makes them non-inclusive to other people, that is just fucked up in my opinion. There has got to be a way in which you can be the most fully realised version of yourself without being a selfish prick to others, because then, you are no better than the people that oppressed you. I'm not really articulating it right, but if you know what I mean, then you know what I mean.

 So, let's get back to the music, that's why you're here. This is (if you've been living under a rock) the first single from ARTPOP. I originally didn't think much of the song until I saw the video, which, according to quotes from Gaga, is exactly the point of this album. The visual side of her craft is just as big a part of this project as the auditory side. The video, directed by Inez & Vinoodh who have worked numerous times with artists like Bjork and Antony Hegarty of Antony and The Johnsons, features Gaga in various circus performer outfits and many different shape shifting persona's (as well as her homage to Botticelli's "Birth Of Venus"). The lyrics are not just about her need for adulation but also an artists need for an audience. Does art exist if there's no one there to see, hear, smell, touch or taste it?

 'Applause' is a very meaningful song to me, because it addresses what many think of 'celebrities' today, that we 'do it' for the attention. But some of us are 'artists' in this group called 'celebrity,' & what we create doesn't live on unless there's an audience to remember it. So I may need your attention at first, so I can sing you my song. But its the 'Applause' after that let me know if I've entertained you. Entertainment makes people happy, I live for the 'Applause,' to know I've spread that. I live to hear you cheer, to just be a part of that.I believe in show business. The 'Applause' is what breeds that thing that I love. When I know I've made you happy. When I know it was good.'

 As well as this song, Gaga has premiered probably half the album by now, by releasing them in video form (a lyric video for the song Aura, and audio videos for the songs Venus, and Do What You Want feat. R Kelly) or performing them live (see the iTunes Festival performance). I personally have been intrigued by all of these songs and am looking forward to finally hearing the finished product from start to finish, so I guess whatever she's doing, it's working.

 Game well played Gaga!

Turn It Up!: Mariah Carey - #Beautiful Feat. Miguel (Music Video)

  "Don’t Stop ’Til You Thrill Me, Oh How You Thrill Me!"

 I thought I already added this, but I guess I was wrong. I think this is the best single Mimi has come out with in quite a while. It almost has a 60's pop sound, and let me tell you, having just gotten back from a vacation to Myrtle Beach, SC, it is the perfect song to listen to while sunbathing by a pool surrounded by palm trees. 

I've said this before, but I love Mariah for 2 reasons, I genuinely think she is incredibly talented (although a bit conceited at times) and also, because she is bat shit crazy. Just take a look at this video, dancing around and flashing her coochie to Miguel in a barn full of chandelier's. I gotta say though, she works every inch of that body of hers. Looking majorly fierce!!!!!!

 The song is expected to be a part of Mariah's yet to be released, 14th studio album "The Art Of Letting Go", which has had many release dates thus far, but is currently set for release in early 2014, but the title track and second helping from the album will be making it's world debut on November 11th.

 I was toying with which version of the song to add to the blog, the regular of the explicit, but I decided to go with the regular one, because the video for the explicit version of the song doesn't have the scenes with Mariah on the motorcycle in the black leather short shorts, and let's face it, we all need black leather short shorts in our lives. Here's a link to the explicit version though.

 I'm too good to you! ;~)

Turn It Up!: Cher - Woman's World (Music Video)

  "Tell The Truth, This Is A Woman's World!"

 I've been on such a Cher high for the past month, you wouldn't believe how much I've been listening to her. And why not? She recently released her 25th studio album "Closer To The Truth", which is an absolutely incredible piece of work (you're really doing yourself a disservice if you don't have it yet), and the legendary Diva has also announced her latest tour venture (despite her previous 2 year long Farewell Tour back in 2002) which is set to start in 2014, entitled The Dressed To Kill Tour. This boy has his ticket, do you? 

Woman's World was the first single from the album, and though it leaked online in September of 2012, the single didn't officially get released until June of this year. It was worth the wait for this amazing song of female empowerment. The video (directed by Ray Kay) was released on August 20th and features Cher in many a fantastic wig (one made of shredded newspaper clippings, one made of wheat, and one particular wig that Cher has admitted she doesn't care for) while her body is mixed and matched with various other women's. 

Just a word about my love and respect for this woman. I first fell in love with her when I saw the movie Mermaids when I was about 14. I loved that movie so much, her relationship with Winona Ryder in that film was just so funny and (although heightened) very relatable. The teenage angst you feel towards your parents as a teen were perfectly highlighted in that film. Then, my best friend Dean showed me the movie "Mask" and that was it, I was transfixed forever. So, it's safe to say that I fell in love with Cher as an actress first and then the music came after. The first song I heard by her was probably The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss) but I remember vividly, hearing the song "After All", her duet with Peter Cetera on the radio quite often when I was a kid, and loving it to pieces, but I just didn't know at the time who sang it. So, my first Cher album was a Greatest Hits album (1965 - 1992) that I bought while on vacation in Scotland. It had 15 hits on it and I became obsessed. She didn't sound like anyone else, her musical style was always changing, her looks (for the most part) were always amazing and flawless (there are obviously a few exceptions lol) and of course, once you watch her in interviews and/or read about her life and career (Read her book "The First Time")and realize, that's she's just about the funniest and most down to earth and straight forward human beings there is, it's hard to not get caught up in the dark ladies spell.

 So, thank you Cher, for touching my heart and soul with your many amazing performances throughout the years (both in film and in music) and here's to an amazing tour ahead! Can't wait til April!!!!!!!!

Turn It Up!: Melanie B - For Once In My Life (Music Video)

  "Wanna Rise, Feel The Rush, Wanna Free Fall Through The Night, Cuz Tonight I'm Unstoppable!"

 Sorry I've been away for so long everyone, I've just been finding it hard to find the time to post things. I've got a lot of catching up to do. I have many posts to come, I just hope I get to them all!

 I figured this is the best song to return to the blog with, not only because it's Mel's first single in 8 years, but also because the first line is "I've been gone, in the dark, in the shadows", and I have! As I said, this is Melanie B's hot new single "For Once In My Life", it's a one off single that Melanie wrote during the course of judging America's Got Talent. She admitted that watching the various contestants on the show lit a fire in her to return to her passion for writing and performing her own music. Hopefully she's been bitten by the bug enough to give us more ear candy like this. The former Spice Girl is currently without a record label or music management, but she has confessed that she may release more music independently the way this one came about.

 The video for the song was shot in one day on the former Desperate Housewives set of Wisteria Lane, and depicts the message of letting loose and being free as Mel strips off her work clothes and works her way through the neighbourhood playing double dutch, sneaking into a house party (where she ends up kissing herself, Yes Diva!) and ends up having a party in the street with her posse. Mel stopped by the Ellen Degeneres Show, during her day of shooting and received a few wardrobe choices for the video. See the interview below. (You can actually see a few people wearing the orange Ellen Degeneres hats in the music video).

Welcome back Scary Spice! Can't wait to hear what's next. I hope you'll eventually release the song "Lip Locked" from your reality show!