Since our inaugural Songs of the Summer Battle Royal column, we’ve heard that damn Usher song approximately one hundred times. Why must will.i.am be so successful and furthermore, why must he have those stupid periods in his name? To his (and Usher’s) credit, even if you hate the song you find your self singing, “Oh oh oh oh oh oh MY GOD.” But the title is a freakin’ Internet chat acronym. It does seem like the apocalypse is coming. The June 7 New York Magazine gave us a charticle putting Usher at the top of their race, with “California Gurls,” “Alejandro” and Ke$ha finishing after the newly divorced, fit attention whore. We’ll see about that one.
The MTV Video Music Awards gave us a glimpse of some of our summer superstars pandering to the young and with-it crowd. While most recaps of the night are highlighting the J Lo and Tom Cruise (he’s so straight!) performance, we got a look at a blue-haired Katy Perry and the always-fierce Ms. Aguilera in action. I must admit, the blue hair is a bit mystifying. So is the Russell Brand romance but I guess he’s got a decent body. Anyway, the story may have also been the Miike Snow performances at the “After-Party.” I’d heard of the Swedish band before but had never actually listened to their music or seen how beautiful they are. So let’s introduce “Animal” or “Burial” into the mix. Check out the performances on MTV.com and see his handsome bandmates in all their tattooed glory.
You know what also happened? Kylie happened. She debuted “All the Lovers,” and it is definitely summery and sexy. There’s so much skin, so much stripping, so much making out. But...it seems to be almost entirely straight making out minus one lez and one gay couple. No worries, though, Aphrodite comes out in a matter of weeks and if “Lovers” is an indication of what we have to look forward to, then it’s a celebration. The first single is a fairly simple, Euro-flavored dance track with a catchy synth beat that will no doubt be remixed to high hell. It feels a little reminiscent of the “Slow” video, doesn’t it? Minus the white horse, balloon elephant and dove. Nevertheless, in the chorus Kylie asks us to dance and we will no doubt say “Yes, ma’am.”
In the indie world, people seem to keep talking about Sleigh Bells, but there are a few other loose cannons kicking about. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti has a summer hit with “Round and Round,” Details mentions a Broken Social Scene song we should be listening to, “Sentimental X’s” but that’s not their only summery song worth cranking up the volume on this summer. Try “Art House Director” and “All to All,” too. Of course, LCD Soundsystem’s newest LP is full of gems with “Drunk Girls” being low on the list of listenable jams. “Dance Yrself Clean,” the slow-building nine-minute gem of an opener is a definite contender for Song of the Summer. Furthermore, Jamie Lidell, Holy Fuck and Crystal Castles all have records out in the past month or so worth consideration.
Christina’s Bionic is fresh out of the gates and we’ll see what she has to offer with it other than “Not Myself Tonight,” a pretty stellar single in my humble opinion. In the next couple weeks a few releases may make a blip on our radar: Uffie’s Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans may have some keepers, Drake’s new record and We Are Scientists’ newest could make noise, too. But what we can be really excited about is Kele Okereke’s new solo LP, The Boxer, which drops June 22. The sexy Londoner and out front man formerly of Bloc Party fame is going dancier and more electro on his own. The first single is awesome and features him shirtless. WIN!
Last but not least, Big Boi’s “Shutterbugg” finally has a badass video to support the badass single from his upcoming solo record. Do yourself a favor and watch it pronto.
NEXUS LINK.
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