Usher - OMG

Song: OMG 

Artist: Usher feat. Will.i.am

Release Date: March 22, 2010

Lyrics: William Adams

Produced: American recording 

"OMG" is a mid tempo pop song that was influenced by RnB, hip hop, dance-pop and synthpop. It a fun dance song with an amazing beat, making it very popular in clubs and house parties. The lyrics for the single weren't as amazing as people had expected, but the music video did justice to that, by emphasising Usher's character and his stardom. The song is a typical Usher song in terms of the choreography which can be compared to that of "Yeah." Some lines have been auto tuned, which many people have criticised but I believe it perfectly accompanies the dance beat. In term of chart performance, this song did extremely well. It was Usher's ninth number one single, and as of March 2011, it had sold over 4 million digital copies. His series of successful OMG tours emphasise the popularity of this song. The single is known as 2010's summer anthem, and after listening to this song, its easy to understand why ! Sunayana Kataria 

Warpaint 'The Fool'

American experimental rock recently reached Australian shores with all girl band 'Warpaint' touring as part of the popular St Jerome's Laneway Festival. Playing songs from their debut full length album 'The Fool' and tracks from their popular 2009 EP 'Exquisite Corpse' Warpaint 'wowed' audiences Australia wide, with their mix of rock, folk and indie-pop in a fantastically psychedelic experience. The combined vocals of Emily Kokal (vocals, guitar), Theresa Wayman (guitar, vocals) and Jenny Lee Lindberg (bass, vocals) are hauntingly beautiful and reminiscent of 60’s artists such as Vashti Bunyan and modern artists like Cat Power. Saying this Warpaint are refreshingly unique. With the inclusion of the newest member of the band – Australian born drummer/keyboardist Stella Mozgawa – ‘The fool’ is less of a catchy indie-pop experience as in ‘Exquisite Corpse’ and more of a drawn out folky emotional journey.

Warpaint are a band you can truly say are talented in their own right – regardless of the fact that their album was mixed by former Red Hot Chilli Peppers guitarist John Frusciante, and their legacy of drummers includes current RHCP guitarist Josh Klinghoffer and actress Shannyn Sossamon (Lindberg's older sister). While tunes such as 'Warpaint' and 'Undertow' come across as drawn out psychedelic beauty the shared lead vocals and guitar of  Emily Kokal and Theresa Wayman ensure each track has a new fresh feel – with tracks such as ‘Bees’ having a more pop or folky sound. ‘The Fool’ is an Album you can listen to again and again and still find it pleasing.

Alesandra Hernandez

Warpaint
The Fool
(Rough Trade/Remote Control)

Tinie Tempah - Disc-Overy

Genre: Rap

Reviewed by: Manav

Tinie Tempah is a British rapper from Plumstead, South London. His debut album "Disc-Overy" featured at number one spot in the top 10 current albums according to Billboard.com on 10th October 2010. This album features some great music and fusion tracks. By fusion I am referring to the smash hit single "Written in the stars" featuring Eric Turner. This track features the smooth rock style voice of Eric turner fused with the british rapping style of Tinie tempah in order to create an amazing fusion track. This track is still in the top 10 rap songs according to billboard.com even though it was released almost 7 months ago. Furthermore, apart from this smash hit single, this album features other successfull singles such as "Pass out", "Frisky" and "Miami to Ibiza"

Overall, I personally like the rapping style of Tinie Tempah and would recommed rap listners to purchase this album.

Overall Rating: 3/5

Rebecca Black- Friday

Song: Friday

Artist: Rebecca Black

Release Date: March 14, 2011

Lyrics: Clarence Jey and Patrice Wilson

Produced: ARK Music Factory

The music video for the "Friday" has become an instant hit on youtube, mostly due to negative reaction towards the lyrics, visuals and certain voice controls. The video’s view count on YouTube jumped from around 3,000 views to over 57 million with over 850,000 comments in two weeks. Rebecca Black’s single “Friday” consists of meaningless lyrics such as “gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal” and “we, we, we so excited; we, we, we going to have a ball today.” This makes the song childish, irritating and grammatically incorrect. One of the worst aspects of the song is Black’s awful singing voice which seems to be auto tuned to the chipmunk version.

Since the growth in popularity of the song and video, there have been numerous parody videos and remixes. Rebecca has expressed her gratitude on Twitter, ignoring the haters and thanking her supporters. "Slowly working it's way to the top!! Thank you all so much! "So honored. So many amazing and talented people actually KNOW of my song. It's been an incredible last few days. Thanks you all!" Sunayana Kataria

Wiz Khalifa - Rolling Papers

Genre: Rap / Hip-Hop

Reviewed by: Manav

Wiz Khalifa is a Pittsburgh resident who recently released his debut mainstream album titled "Rolling Papers". This album is a mixture of Rap and Hip-Hop music, although it also features a couple of party based pop tracks. This album features smash hit singles released prior to the release of this album by Wiz Khalifa such as "Black & Yellow" and "Roll Up". Both these tunes have sold over million coppies alone in united states while they've been viewed over 50 million times on youtube combined. A lot of contrast can be seen in this album in regards to the type of rap, as Wiz shows his versatility and uses hood rapping style in "Black and Yellow", while he uses soft and smooth flow style of rap in his single "Roll Up".

Furthermore, to back up its smash hits, Wiz khalifa's new album also features some other decent tracks such as "No sleep" and "On my level". Overall, this album is a must get for the hardcore Rap fans, and for others, they should definitely purchase atleast the two smash hits featured on this album.

Rating: 3.5/5

Motion City Soundtrack- My Dinosaur Life

Motion City Soundtrack are back in business recently hitting Aussie stages at Soundwave 2010 sharing with us the delights of their fourth album ‘My Dinosaur life’. The album follows the same styling as the albums that came before, widely recognizable by their unique blend of pop rok, indie rock and punk revival. The lyrics are quirky, snarky but soul searching and sprinkled with cultural references. The lyrics are largely based on the personal experiences of the lead vocalist Justin Pierre. Pierre says he draws inspiration for lyrics from artists like "Ben Folds and Tom Waits and people who I believe tell stories" it is true that the album almost sounds like a personal diary of experienes or photo album of memories. With Blink 182’s Mark Hoppus as producer, My Dinosaur Life still provides excitement and energy, thrashing guitars and hyperkinetic drums, with moog synthesizers. Unfortunately the album does not live up to the originality and success of previous albums such as ‘I am The Movie’. “My dinosaur life’ fails to capture the band’s growing maturity. The chord progressions and riffs are recycled from tracks that have come before and show no development in the sound. ‘The History Lesson’ is perhaps the most disappointing track on the CD with the lead vocal giving off an almost winging effect. The last chorus the key change is almost unbearable and a terrible musical decision. Tracks such as “Her words destroyed my planet” are unoriginal but positively addictive; it is always entertaining when a band member admits to watching ‘Veronica Mars’ in the lyrics of a track. A band pop rock band that is fabulous with the pop but does not quite conquer the rock. Breana Garratt

Produced by Columbia Records

Motioncitysountrack.com

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