New Music From Sia

Although Australian musician Sia Furler has shied away from the spotlight since her success with her 2010 album, "We Are Born", it is clear and confirmed that she will be releasing new music soon, in fact, not just soon, but in a few days, her upcoming album "1000 Forms Of Fear" will be fully released to the public. "1000 Forms Of Fear" has slowly been developing since 2011, but in the meantime, Furler has been writing songs for music stars such as Britney Spears, and has released a few singles, including her Hunger Games: Catching Fire song "Elastic Heart" and the lead single from "1000 Forms Of Fear", "Chandelier". "1000 Forms Of Fear" is probable to explore themes of Sia's personal struggles over the past few years, and her experience in making music and writing successful songs again.

Jack White To Release New Album Soon

Fans of rock musician Jack White will soon be satisfied with new music from him as a solo artist. Formerly of successful rock band The White Stripes, which he was in with his ex-wife Meg White, since the band's break-up in 2011, Jack has focused on developing a solo career for himself. "Lazaretto" will be White's second solo album since 2012's "Blunderbuss".

"Lazaretto" is another unusual title for a record from Jack White, establishing his ability and want to remain unique in the music industry, hence the fact that a live version of the lead single of the album, (which has the same title), was recorded, mixed, pressed, and released, all on the same day (April 19), in less than four hours, a successful attempt on breaking a Guiness World Record.

The album's track listing and artwork have been revealed, and a full album review has been put online, but it is yet to be released for a few more days.

(Mid-Year Review) 2014's New Releases

From Mariah Carey to Kylie Minogue, from Coldplay to Tori Amos, although not much music has come out of 2014, most of the music that has is good.

Kylie Minogue: Kiss Me Once 

Fans of Kylie have been waiting for four years since 2010's "Aphrodite", for a hint of a new record or even album single from Kylie. Miss Minogue teased fans with pre-hints to the lead single "Into The Blue", by tweeting the hashtag #intotheblue, and revealing handwritten lyrics to the song. Although Kylie has made a few appearances on singles by other artists since "Aphrodite", and released the single "Timebomb" and the promotional track "Skirt", "Kiss Me Once" came with not a lot of notice. Highlights on this album include "Into The Blue", "Fine", and "I Was Gonna Cancel".

Tori Amos: Unrepentant Geraldines

American singer and music artist's latest release, "Unrepentant Geraldines", has finally hit stores, and obviously iTunes. "Unrepentant Geraldines" has been released in multiple editions, including the digital version of the album, as well as a standard jewel-case release and a gatefold double CD/DVD release.

Coldplay: Ghost Stories

The British indie-rock band Coldplay have also hit the new-release racks, with their 9-track album "Ghost Stories". Preceded by the single "Magic", "Ghost Stories" has a sound not dissimilar to their earlier work, a contrast from their electronic-based album Mylo Xyloto.

Mariah Carey: Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse

Released just this weekend, Mariah Carey's constantly-resechuled album has finally been released. "Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse" has a rather indulgent and unusual title, but the album does have a bit of "Mariah" in it. In the song "The Art Of Letting Go", Mariah revisits the style of music that made her successful in the mid-90's, and the song "#Beautiful" featuring singer Miguel, is nothing short of a cheeky ballad. On the deluxe edition of the album, there are two remixes of songs from her album "Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel", as well as a spoken message by Mariah herself.

Britney Spears: In The Zone (Summary)

Britney Spears' fourth album, "In The Zone", was most definitely a change in style, image, and vocal phrasing for her. Working with producers such as Bloodshy and Avant, Penelope Magnet, and even Moby, and experimenting with elements of Middle-Eastern style Hip-Hop music, Britney had made it clear that she was not the same girl that she used to be, the girl who had spawned out hits such as "...Baby One More Time" and "Stronger".

The material on this album covers more mature themes to her previous albums, with messages about love, dancing, and intimacy as the main plot for the record. Britney's vocals had also become somewhat thinner, softer, but more mature by this time. Britney was no longer the over-excited schoolgirl she had been portrayed as in the late 1990's.

"In The Zone" was a commercial success, creating an output for the hit songs "Toxic", "Everytime", and "Me Against The Music", a collaboration with American singer-songwriter Madonna. The album was promoted by numerous television appearances, and a similarly-titled DVD release. "Outrageous", another track from the album, also had a single release, and an incompleted music video featuring Snoop Dogg (now Snoop Lion) was made for the song. The reason the "Outrageous" music video was left incompleted was because while filming a dance scene for the clip, Britney injured her knee and later had to go through surgery for it.

As well as experimenting with Middle-Eastern style music, a few songs on this album make a clear nod to dance and trip-hop music. A few numbers on this record, including "Don't Hang Up", a bonus track, "Early Mornin'", "Shadow", "Everytime", and "Showdown" make that evident.

Meanwhile, another unique thing about this album in Britney's catalogue is that Britney in fact wrote a lot of the material. Either writing or co-writing 9 of the album's 13 main songs and one of the two bonus tracks, "Don't Hang Up", "In The Zone" was a much more independent project then her earlier work.

One of the songs that Britney wrote almost entirely herself was "Everytime", which I believe is an excellent song and one of the best Britney has written. The music video for "Everytime" portrayed
Spears as a famous singer, which is what she already was at the time, but fictionally portrays her being overwhelmed by large crowds of paparazzi and arguing with her on-screen boyfriend.

I believe that this record is one of Britney's best, and includes the substance that some of her later work lacked. The album cover, shot with a blue tint, also encouraged me to buy the album myself, and that was definitely not a mistake...

Summary taken from my blog http://lukeandthemusic.blogspot.com.au.

Mariah Carey's new album

After multiple delays of album release dates since 2012, and swirling rumours about a Beyoncé-style album drop, Mariah Carey has finally announced some new music. "Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse" is the title of her soon-to-be-released 14th studio album.

The album (and its deluxe edition) are now available for pre-order on iTunes and the official track listing and album artwork has been revealed. Fans of Mariah have expressed their excitement for the release of this record, and there has been a party in Times Square to promote the project.

"Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse" is going to be released internationally later this month.

Classical Music's Influence on Tori Amos

A definite change of style musically and in influences for Tori Amos was her twelfth studio album, "Night Of Hunters". The album consisted of rearranged classical orchestral pieces with Amos' written words and vocals added to the arrangements. Amos stated that this was creative freedom after losing new ideas for her usual electronic and rock-styled earlier music, and the album has clearly freshened her mind for new material, which is evident in her upcoming album "Unrepentant Geraldines".

"Night Of Hunters" was promoted by the singles "Carry", the main single, which was based on a rearrangement of "The Girl With The Flaxen Hair" from Claude Debussy's Préludes I, "Nautical Twilight", which was based on a re-arrangement of "Venetian Boat Song" from Felix Mendelssohn's "Songs Without Words (Op 30)", and the third single "Star Whisperer" which was based on a rearrangement of Franz Schubert's "Andantino", from "Piano Sonata in A major, D 959".

For the making of the album, Tori worked with the famed Apollon Musagète string quartet, along with other artists, including the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra's principal clarinetist, Andreas Ottensamer; and her daughter Natashya Hawley and niece Kelsey Dobyns as guest vocalists on the record.

Surprisingly, Amos did not work with her usual touring and studio band for this record, after 15 consecutive years of doing so, and the album was released internationally on a classical music label, Deutsche Grammaphon. 

This was not, however, Amos' first experimentation with genres or styles unusual to her in this period of time. Her last album before the release of 2011's "Night Of Hunters" was in fact a Christmas-themed album, 2009's "Midwinter Graces".

The record was not identified as a pop or rock record, because of the album being released under a classical record label and in a classical style, almost untouched by Amos.

References:

Wikipedia contributors, "Night of Hunters," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Night_of_Hunters&oldid=601430328 (accessed April 19, 2014).

Wikipedia contributors, "Midwinter Graces," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Midwinter_Graces&oldid=592262563 (accessed April 19, 2014).

Keefe, J, "Tori Amos: Night Of Hunters | Music Review", Slant Magazine, http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/tori-amos-night-of-hunters (accessed April 19, 2014).

Taken from http://lukeandhisopinionsoneverything.blogspot.com.au

Album Review- Kylie Minogue (1994) by Kylie Minogue

1. Confide In Me

Written by Steve Anderson, Dave Seaman and Owain Barton

Produced by Brothers In Rhythm

2. Surrender

Written by Gerry DeVeaux and Charlie Mole

Produced by Gerry Devaux, John Waddle, and Tim Bran

3. If I Was Your Lover

Written by Jimmy Harry

Produced by Jimmy Harry

4. Where Is The Feeling?

Written by Wilf Smarties and Jayn Hanna

Produced by Brothers In Rhythm

5. Put Yourself In My Place

Written by Jimmy Harry

Produced by Jimmy Harry

6. Dangerous Game

Written by Steve Anderson and Dave Seaman

Produced by Brothers In Rhythm

7. Automatic Love

Written by Kylie Minogue, Inga Humpe, and The Rapino Brothers

Produced by Brothers In Rhythm

8. Where Has The Love Gone?

Written by Alex Palmer and Julie Stapleton

Produced by Pete Heller and Terry Farley

9. Falling

Written by Neil Tenant and Chris Lowe

Produced by Pete Heller and Terry Farley

10. Time Will Pass You By

Written by Dino Fekaris, Nick Zesses, and John Rhys

Produced by M People

From the opening track "Confide In Me", to the closing number "Time Will Pass You By", This album proves to you that Kylie Minogue has grown up and would like to talk about more  mature subjects. With this record, Kylie was trying to establish herself as more accomplished and not the overly-provocative personality she developed during the early 90's. With Let's Get To It and Rhythm Of Love being almost 5 years old by that time, Kylie knew she wanted to do something different. Having broken off from her old producers, the SAW group, who had produced her early hits including "I Should Be So Lucky" and "Got To Be Certain" as well as countless others; and signed to a new record label, the not well-known dance label Deconstruction Records. Minogue stated that it was because her PWL record label was up for renewal and she wanted to experiment and do something else for a change.

The opening track, "Confide In Me" is a fast orchestral ballad with Minogue begging her lover to trust and confide in her. A string section over a fast drum beat and a Sitar make up the majority of the instrumental track for the song.

"Surrender" Is a very seductive number, with Minogue declaring that she will "Surrender" her love to somebody. The number starts with Kylie seductively singing over a slow R&B beat, but continues into a beautiful chorus and verses.

"If I Was Your Lover" continues on with the R&B feel, with Minogue fantasising on what she would do if she was another person's lover. She claims that she would hold her lover from "Dusk till dawn" and that everything would be alright if she was the unnamed character's lover.

"Where Is The Feeling" is a dance/house composition produced by Brothers In Rhythm. Minogue expresses her feelings of wanting to make her lover happy, but not feeling very secure and worried that she is making the wrong decision.

It's the sweeping guitars and slow beat of "Put Yourself In My Place" that let you know that it is the star ballad of the record. The song is very heartbreaking, it is about a lover that is leaving Minogue for a different person. This song was the 2nd single to be released from the album, and proved a moderate success, later being included on Kylie's retrospective greatest hits album, Ultimate Kylie, along with "Confide In Me".

"Dangerous Game" is another key ballad in the Kylie Minogue album, continuing in theme and style from the previous track. "Dangerous Game" begins with a natural drum beat, and leads into the main song with bass synths in a minor key. An unusual structure is applied to this song, with an ending refrain that is repeated thrice, before the song ends unexpectedly. Accompanied by strings and bass, this is another key track on the album.

"Automatic Love" on the Kylie Minogue album is the third consecutive ballad in the track list for the CD. "Automatic Love" was produced by the Rapino Brothers, another team of dance produces for Kylie, however this song was more of a lounge-y, chill-out track, with heavy backing vocals.

"Where Has The Love Gone?" Is a fairly unique song for a pop singer like Kylie Minogue to vocalise. Ticking in at almost 8 minutes in length, this is a dance ballad, with excessive backing vocals by an uncredited male singer, and a dance piano arrangement over a house beat. 

"Falling" is another unique song for a singer such as Kylie Minogue to sing, alongside "Where Has The Love Gone?". Although the song has dance-pop production efforts and lyrics about love themes; which are both not uncommon for Kylie, the song's lyrics were written by the Pet Shop Boys, and it is indeed another song that has an unbelievable length; the song was 6 minutes and 44 seconds.

The closing track "Time Will Pass You By" is a classic old joyful dance track that was produced by M People. "Time Will Pass You By" was actually supposed to be released as a single, and a Paul Masterson remix was commissioned, but the single was canceled, however the remix was released on the 2003 limited edition of the album. Backing vocals are again no stranger to "Time Will Pass You By" but Kylie's main vocals are still sufficiently emphasised. The song was produced by the accomplished dance/jazz group M People, but written by Dino Fekaris, Nick Zesses, and John Rhys.

I believe that this album is an enjoyable dance record, and I believe that it's maturity and high quality music have been underrated by critics and public alike.

I find it impossible to judge the best songs on this record, because the quality and power of each song is continued throughout the 57 minutes of the album.

Minogue certainly pushed the boundaries for song length on this album, with the average track being 5.7 minutes, but I find this fascinating and innovative for a pop singer to do. 

It is upsetting that the in fact decent song "Where Is The Feeling?" Has been underrated by critics and public alike. The song was sadly one of Minogue's least successful singles, but is still a great composition. Despite being a cover of a lesser-known club song, it still gives the Kylie vibe.

I am true to saying that I think this album is one of Kylie's most accomplished, mature, and entertaining records, but listeners need to have a long attention span for "Falling", "Where Has The Love Gone?", "Where Is The Feeling" and possibly "Confide In Me".

Overall rating: 9.5/10

Sources:

Wikipedia contributors, "Kylie Minogue (album)," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kylie_Minogue_(album)&oldid=601452493 (accessed April 6, 2014).

Wikipedia contributors, "I Should Be So Lucky," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=I_Should_Be_So_Lucky&oldid=601965922 (accessed April 6, 2014).

Wikipedia contributors, "Got to Be Certain," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Got_to_Be_Certain&oldid=601480357 (accessed April 6, 2014).

Wikipedia contributors, "Ultimate Kylie," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ultimate_Kylie&oldid=605556250 (accessed April 24, 2014).

Wikipedia contributors, "Where Is the Feeling?," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia,http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Where_Is_the_Feeling%3F&oldid=601452306 (accessed April 24, 2014).

Photo:

Kylie Minogue black and white, JPEG File, Accessed 6 April 2014, <http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=277216>.