New M.I.A. single – Boyz

M.I.A. is an odd fish. According to wikipedia, her music combines elements of grime, hip-hop, ragga, dancehall, R&B, electro, and baile funk. I don’t even know what half of those are, to tell you the truth, but they sound quite good when you throw them all together and get a young lady to shout over the top.

She released an album, Arular, two years ago which lots of bloggers raved about but no-one bought. For once, that was entirely justified. M.I.A.’s not one of those underground artists who’s suddenly going to appear at number one. Her music is a bit too noisy and angular to embed itself in the national pop conciousness. Nontheless, she’s insanely talented, and if you like something a bit different she will be right up your street. Not literally, of course. She thinks your street is rubbish.

Zane Lowe played the first official single from her second album, Boyz, last night. It’s a right old racket, but you’ll like it. Promise.

M.I.A. – Boyz (radio rip)

We’re off to the new house tomorrow morning. Normal service will be resumed… erm, soon. I hope. Byeee!

More links for your clicking pleasure

I’m still in the hideous process of packing up everything I own just to move it three miles down the road to a nastier bit of London… The CDs alone now take up three storage boxes, two suitcases and a shoebox. Isn’t homeowning great?

Anyway, I’ve still managed to find a few things worth looking at, even if I can’t sit down and write my usual flawless prose (you at the back, stop laughing).

:: The 10 strangest (non-porn) sex scenes, as compiled by movie website Sand and Cotton.

:: Here is an MP3 of a remix of Timbaland’s Give It To Me which eschews Nelly Furtado for Jay-Z. Westwood likes it. I reckon it’s a beat searching for a song. (cripes, I hope I haven’t just started the UK equivalent of rap’s calamitous East coast / West coast feud. I don’t even own a glock, or nothing.)

:: According to a “rumour” Nadine Coyle dumped Jesse Metcalfe because of his insane jealousy. The article doesn’t say whether this was jealousy over other men or her ability to obtain gainful employment. (NB: I totally have an alibi for my whereabouts every time Jesse has been out of the country for the last 18 months).

:: Angelina Jolie says she was “very sexual” at Kindergarten and “created a game where I would kiss the boys”. I bet she didn’t mention that on the adoption papers.

:: Rap impresario Russell Simmons wants hip-hop artists to stop using the words Nigga, Ho and Bitches, it says here. Snoop Dogg has yet to comment, because his entire vocabulary has been taken away from him.

:: Vanessa Williams out of Ugly Betty (and singer of “Save The Best To Last”), Kristin Chenoweth out of The West Wing and Cassie out of, erm, Cassie have all gone naked and taken their clothes off and been starkers for a magazine. The scandal!

Actually, that reminds me – I’ve been meaning to write about Cassie for a while. I bought her self-titled debut album in the January sales and it has barely been off my iPod since. However, it appears I am not the only one who missed out on her melodious R&B stylings, as my favourite song on her album – Long Way 2 Go – only got to number 97(!!!) in the US charts.

Mind you, it could have been something to do with the terrible video, which tries so hard to “capture” the “myspace” “market” that it ends up looking like a leering uncle who’s suddenly taken an interest in your Star Wars stickers.

:: PS – on the subject of Myspace, I noticed that the fifth most googled phrase that made people come to this site last month was “Myspace – twat directory”. Whoever you are, I salute you.

Click on this

We’re currently in the process of ripping up Discopop Towers and moving it somewhere else. As a result, the blog might suffer a little. Especially as it looks like we’ll lose our internet connection for three weeks (makes sad face).

Anyway, here’s a quick rundown of some things on the fabulous magical interweb that have made me chirtle and, indeed, chortle.

:: Apologies to anyone who read my review of Spider-Man 3 and felt it was missing phrases like: “You bet your ass!“, “Dude nails it,” and “Spider-Man 3 is off the chain!“. This is the review for you. Moron.

:: Just Jared has the first shots of Heath Ledger as The Crow The Joker in the new Batman film. And yes, he is holding an humungous Rubik’s Cube.

:: Gwen Stefani’s tour rider includes the following non-calorific treats. Water, some more water, plums, bananas, a little bit more water, parsley, 2 AC power outlets (?) and some more water. Note to Gwen: A chicken sandwich won’t kill you.

:: Here is Bjork doing her mad-as-a-box-of-hats thing on Saturday Night Live. Except it’s recorded, and it’s now Monday evening. Freaky.

:: While I’m talking about Bjork, here’s her Rolling Stone Cover. Brilliant, no?

:: The ever-amazing Zeon’s Music Blog has MP3s of Arctic Monkeys covering Amy Winehouse and The Strokes on Radio One. I am so over the Arctic Monkeys, by the way.

Review: Spider-Man 3

It’s a brave film-maker that takes a $250m superhero movie and starts playing with the conventions of the summer blockbuster – but that’s exactly what Sam Raimi, director and scriptwriter of Spider-Man 3 has done.

Of course, he’s got reason to feel cocky. The last two instalments in the franchise have made more than $1.6bn at the box office, and won critical plaudits for their emotional and dramatic depth. I always found those elements a bit cheesy, myself. Simply saying “with great power comes great responsibility” over and over again doesn’t make you Aristotle. You’d have to be Greek for that. And dead.

Nonetheless, Spider-Man 3 is probably the best outing yet. It juggles a bewildering number of story-lines, three villains, the aforementioned cod-psychology and a couple of comic set pieces with real confidence. It literally swaggers with bravado.

The basic idea is this: Peter Parker is finally comfortable with being Spider-Man. He’s got his girl, he’s being praised by the media and – frankly – he gets a bit too big for his webby boots (as an aside: look at Tobey Maguire’s feet when you get a chance – they’re huge, man). Predictably, he gets his comeuppance, learns some valuable lessons and saves the day. So far, so summer blockbuster.

It’s really the comic asides that set the movie apart. In particular, JK Simmons turns in a note-perfect performance as Peter Parker’s boss at the Daily Bugle, Jonah Jameson. You’ll laugh so hard the person in front of you will be washing popcorn out of their hair for weeks.

Obviously, the special effects are great (Sandman in particular). The balletic flights through New York City are still as breath-taking now as they were five years ago in the first movie. They’re still really obviously computer animated, too, but you won’t care a jot. Oh, and James Franco is gorgeous as Harry Osborn. Or so mrsdiscopop says…

And that is all I have to say about that.

Sarah Harding is a brunette

…and yet, this is clearly a wig:

The shot, according to someone on the popjustice forums is from a film she’s just completed called Bad Day. I’ve never heard of it. I don’t know anything about it. I strongly recommend you don’t watch it.

Sarah Harding is a brunette

…and yet, this is clearly a wig:

The shot, according to someone on the popjustice forums is from a film she’s just completed called Bad Day. I’ve never heard of it. I don’t know anything about it. I strongly recommend you don’t watch it.

Will Ferrell upstaged by a toddler

I don’t know where this clip is from, or what it is for. All I do know is that I have to clean a great big pile of snot off my keyboard. From the laughing, you understand. I’m not some kind of mucus fetishising pervert. Except on bank holidays and religious festivals.

Mutya Buena: Real Girl video

Mutya Buena was in the Sugababes. Then she sensationally quit to have a baby. But she got bored of sitting around watching Ballamory and mixing batches of Milupa, so she called up her mates and made some new records.

To start with, she released a drippy duet with George Michael. Then a toe-tapping dance thing with Groove Armada spurted onto the internet and people said it was, literally, “quite good”. Now she has finally got together a proper solo record which expresses her true artistic vision and… erm, it’s a rip-off of Lenny Kravitz’s’s’sss”” It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over. Dear God, why?

I’ve listened to it a couple of times now and I still can’t decide whether it’s (a) very good or (b) complete lunacy. But here’s the video so you can make up your own mind:

Bzzzz! Robyn live on Radio One – MP3s!!

So, Robyn’s album didn’t even make the top 75 last week. Honestly, what is the world coming to when a website with a weekly readership of 500 can’t hype a record into the charts? I read somewhere that Liberty X got a number one by selling their nan a teapot that played Just A Little when you poured a cuppa, so what’s going on here? It’s a right ruddy palaver, I tells ya.

Anyway, I’m not going to stop banging on about Robyn’s (excellent) self-titled CD just because no-one is prepared to buy it. I am like a tiny insect with impeccable taste flying at great speed towards a juggernaut of indifference in the full belief I can stop it dead in its tracks. I am also inept at metaphor.

To get to the point:
1) Robyn did a live session for Radio One on Sunday night.
2) It was on at 1:30am.
3) You probably missed it.
4) Here are the MP3s.

Cobrastyle

Konichiwa Bitches

With Every Heartbeat

Jack U Off

Be Mine

Some housekeeping

1) The Discopop Deities list on the right hand side of the page has been updated. Some people have gone missing (poor Rachel Stevens). Others make a debut appearance (coo-ee, The Arcade Fire).

2) My Myspace page has been given a facelift. Will you be my friend? Indeed, in the immortal and slightly tarnished words of Gareth Glitter: “Do you want to be in my gang?” (Answer: No, fuck off you old perv).