creepy pumpkin

Mr Pumpkin (made by Pete and me)

So today is Halloween and posting creepy videos would be a good idea, wouldn’t it?

How do you like my Mr Pumpkin?

There are two clips that come to my mind. No, there is no Jackson’s ‘Thriller’.

I remember watching ‘Thrill me (such a thrill)’ every time it was aired on MTV in 2002. Not only because Junior Jack’s single is one of my favourite club hits ever, but the video has weird sexy/eerie vibe, a mystery and some cinematic elements. Great clip.

The second video is Sugababes’s ‘Freak like me’, one of my personal ‘Babes’ favourites. Very successful leading single from girls’ second album ‘Angels with dirty faces’. The first one with a new member Heidi Range who replaced Siobhan Donaghy. Use of vampire theme was an amazing way to show Heidi becoming one of the Sugababes – bear it in mind and watch the video (click here) to see what I am talking about.

Sugababes – Catfights and Spotlights

Sugababes

Catfights and Spotlights

4-/6

Sugababes’ previous album’s title, ‘Change’, was very adequate to what was happening to the band. ‘Babes were musically heading in new direction – less smart and sassy, more light and easy. But still, the album was quite decent. Just different than what they had done before. Personally, I like it the least from all their albums.

Since Mutya left the band, Sugababes has lost their unique spiciness. However, Amelle, the new Sugababe, is not the one to blame – she has amazing voice and fits into the group. Actually, there is no one to blame. The thing is that Sugababes are not nasty girls anymore – they have become classy young woman, or at least they want to be seen this way.

When I heard ‘Girls’, leading single from the sixth album, I was taken by surprise. Brassy, Ronsonesque style made the ‘Babes sound fresh again.

timeless Shirley

Going along with 007’s themes mood, that I’ve got into few days ago, I decided to get more familiar with dame Shirley Bassey’s work as her ‘Goldfinger’ and ‘Diamonds are forever’ are classics.

When I discovered her cover of Pink’s ‘Get the party started’ I couldn’t imagine such a lady performing this rather sassy song (just to make things clear – I really like the original).

I clicked on play triangle and waited impatiently. When I heard dame Shirley singing first verses I thought “Hm, so she decided to turn the song into a classy ballad. Pretty decent idea.” and there came the chorus and I was simply blown away.

This track has all it takes to be a perfect James Bond theme: strings, brass, lots of action and Shirley’s vocals. Magnificent and elegant. I am more than impressed.

one odd cube of sugar

Some of you may remember red-haired girl from Sugababes’ first album ‘Overload’ or at least from the single of the same title. Few months ago I was going from one youtube video to another and I ended up watching Siobhán Donaghy. I can say one thing for sure – she’s got really good voice. However, her songs vary in quality…

I’m going to show you the one that is quite strange, but in a positive way. ‘Ghosts’ has a truly hypnotic vibe with lots of tiny sounds, drifting synths and vocals played backwards. Unique, unless you are familiar with Cocteau Twins.

I am pretty sure, that many of you will find yourselves listening to the song several times. Unwinding, isn’t it?

Here’s the clip – an amateur one, but whoever made the video could definitely feel the track’s climate.

Blendie

Allright, that’s not exactly related to music BUT it’s connected with Pop!Tech where Imogen Heap performed last week and she mentions the Blendie on her myspace. It’s absolutely hilarious!

First, make yourself familiar with Pop!Tech, Kelly Dobson and Blendie by reading the quotes below:

Pop!Tech is a nonprofit organization mostly known for its annual mass media and technology conference that takes place in Camden, Maine. It defines itself as “a network of remarkable people, extraor dinary conferences, powerful ideas and innovative projects that are changing the world.

Kelly Dobson: A self-proclaimed junkyard kid, Kelly Dobson has marveled at the underlying connection between people and machines since the age of four. She is a researcher and doctoral candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she developed “machine therapy,” a personal, societal and psychoanalytical study of machine design and its pervasive effects on everyday life.

007 is on his way!

New adventures of James Bond are coming soon to the cinemas. I have to say that I’m really sentimental about the series – it reminds me of my childhood (how sentimental is this?). The first movie with ‘new Bond’ surprised me a lot – it was a piece of a decent action. However, I can hardly remember its promo song. No, to be honest, I can’t remember it at all.

James Bond series provided us with many amazing songs performed by top artists like Shirley Bassey, Nancy Sinatra, Tom Jones, Louis Armstrong, Gladys Knight, Duran Duran, A-ha, Tina Turner, Garbage, Sheryl Crow and Madonna.

This time, theme song is performed by Alicia Keys and Jack White. ‘Another way to die’ has characteristic elegant vibe (brass, strings and bass guitar, that’s the key!), Jack fits perfectly, but Alicia’s hycterical moans are so annoying! It could’ve been a great theme.

Talking about great 007 themes – here are my favourites:

Immi’s vblog #31

Don’t miss Immi’s latest vblog!

Náttúra

What would you expect if I told you that Björk teams up with Thom Yorke, Matthew Herbert and Mark Bell to record a single? Well, I expected much more than that.

‘Náttúra’ is just as raw and aloof as the landscapes of Iceland that the single tries to protect by promoting Náttúra Campaign (it’s mainly about stopping the construction of foreign-backed aluminum factories in Iceland and promoting the local economy).

It’s a laudable thing to do, but I don’t find anything special about the song itself. I had to listen to the track a couple of times to get behind Brian Chippendaleon’s drums and I haven’t found a lot there after all.

What is the vibe of Róisín’s forthcoming album?

“It’s really kind of sleepy, synthesised vibe and it’s cool. The tracks that I did with Seiji are the spine of Overpowered, and I think if what I do is expand on what I did with Overpowered, or get deeper into it – then I think those are the kinds of sounds that I’ll be making.” that’s how Róisín Murphy describes the tone of her forthcoming album.

Seiji, the producer mentioned it Róisín’s quote, is a member of Bugz in the Attic and created ‘Overpowered’, ‘Movie star’ and most recently – ‘Slave to love’. I can still remember the thrill I felt while watching the stunning ‘Overpowered’ video for the very first time – I have instantly fallen in love with both the song and the video. If she only teams up with Andy Cato, a member of Groove Armada and producer of tracks such as ‘Let me know’, ‘You know me better’ and ‘Body language’, as well, then we may expect the best.

Let’s watch ‘Overpowered’ video now! It reminds me all the excitement about going at her first (!) gig from Overpowered tournee in Sopot…

Sweet workaholics

Sugababes haven’t released their brand new album ‘Catfights and Spotlights’ yet (it’s going to happen tomorrow), but they have already started to work on the next one! Keisha, Heidi and Amelle are going to team up with Gnarls Barkley, Andre 3000 and… Timbaland. The first two producers are a great choice, but Timbo… I’m so sick and tired of him. Nevertheless, I trust Sugababes – I’ve grown up with them (I can still remember watching ‘Overload’ on MTV).

So far, I can’t wait for ‘Catfights and Spotlights’ as the first single from the album rocks! If you haven’t seen the video for ‘Girls’, here it is (unfortunately, the clip is rather poor):