Spotysharing Part Four

Warning - this playlist is electro-tastic! Featuring Helen Of Troy... favourite Florence and the Machine with latest single Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up), Dismissed by the effing brilliant and ruddy rude Uffie, plus the sublime Lettin' Go courtesy of Ms Janelle Monae. Check it out here.

New Music: Daisy Dares You

There are many things that make Helen Of Troy... feel positively prehistoric, but perhaps none more so than hotly-tipped trendy teen, Daisy Dares You. At the ridiculous age of 15, Essex-born Daisy Coburn (aka Daisy Dares You) has already garnered a huge amount of interest from journos and bloggers alike. So much so, Jive Records - home to Britney Spears and P!nk - signed the peppy poplet up sharpish, and we can see why. Imagine Avril Lavigne, Lily Allen, and Alex Roots all rolled up into one and you'll start to get an idea of what DDY is about.

Songs featured on her MySpace page include the epic Number One Enemy, which has smash hit written all over it thanks to it's super slick production and catchy-as-fuck chorus. Self-titled track Daisy Dares You, is another big-hitter and easily our favourite of the lot, whilst Talk About The Weather and Next Few Minutes showcase a more soulful side to the youngster.

If this is what she's capable at 15, we can't wait for what's in store.

http://www.myspace.com/daisydaresyoumusic

He Was A Thriller

We've decided to make an exception to our 'female musicians only policy' for a truly exceptional man. Michael Jackson was one of history's greatest musical pioneers, he was an innovator and a visionary, and he will be greatly missed.

Hole-y Moly!

Late last night Helen Of Troy... stumbled upon this rather confusing article on the Guardian website. It seems chain-smoking chantress Courtney Love has decided to release her not-so-forthcoming album Nobody's Daughter under her old Hole moniker, despite being the only member of the seminal grunge outfit to be associated with it - Melissa auf der Maur's backing vocals don't really count as far as we're concerned.

So has the decision to revive the aforementioned moniker been made in a bid to help shift more units, or is it merely a statement that the raucous rocker feels Nobody's Daughter is a return to past form and merely wants to brand it as such? Either way, we're chomping at the bit for news on a final release date. C'mon Courtney, show us what you've got!

Just a Quickie

Helen Of Troy... would like to apologise dear readers, for the horrendous lack of updates you've been subjected to these past few weeks. Whilst we aren't completely blameless (designated blog writing days turning into all-day drinking sessions for example), there have been many changes and developments afoot within the Helen Of Troy... camp, that have left us with little time or energy to do anything else. With any luck, things will start to calm down a bit, and we'll be banging out more posts than your already overly-stimulated brains can deal with!

To tide you over until our next proper post, here's possibly one of the best music videos of all time...

X-Tina Fabulera!

Back in February, Helen Of Troy was astounded to hear that dirrrty girl Christina Aguilera had secured the services of 'lectro-poppers Ladytron and the gorgeous Goldfrapp. Imagine our surprise, then, when we discovered that the former Mouseketeer has also enlisted the help of the legendary Le Tigre to work on her forthcoming, as yet untitled, album.

While Helen Of Troy... is all about cultural cross-overs, we can't quite decide whether Ms Aguilera is working with these fantastic less-than-mainstream artists because she's a fan, or whether she's just buying cool by association. Either way, it's going to make for interesting listening. We've posted Le Tigre's finest moment Deceptacon below to remind y'all just how awesome they were. Let's see if they can top this with XTina.

New Music: Mpho

Helen Of Troy... has long loved Echo Beach by Martha And The Muffins, so imagine our joy when we heard that one of our favourite artists of the year, Mpho (pronounced mmmpoh), had sampled the mighty Martha... and turned one of our favourite tracks into a proper anthem for 2009. Box N Lox, Mpho's début single is a catchy, lyrically savvy joy announcing the Brixton-based artist's arrival on the urban electro-pop scene.

This superstar-in-the-making's album, Pop Art, is out now. Filled with a panoply of highly-styled pop gems (have a listen to the album mini-mix on her MySpace page), Pop Art is a rare mix of exciting and accessible 21st-century classics. Check out the video for Box N Lox below, and let us know what you think.



www/myspace.com/mphosounds

Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) - New Florence And The Machine Single/Video

Don't forget the album drops July 6th. Whoop whoop!

Album Review: Tori Amos - Abnormally Attracted To Sin

Let me begin by saying that I’m a big Tori Amos fan. I journeyed through adolescence to a soundtrack of Little Earthquakes, Under the Pink, and the absolute glory of To Venus and Back. However, the release of Tori’s tenth studio album Abnormally Attracted to Sin, has left me feeling somewhat disillusioned.

Have you ever listened to a song that puts you in a bad mood? A song that grates on you so much it makes you want to drag your fingernails down a chalkboard just for something else to listen to? Fancy a whole album of songs like that? Me neither, but unfortunately that’s what we have in the case this new offering.

The official Tori Amos website adopts the annoyingly nonsensical acronym ‘AATS’, and claims this album ‘could have come out at any point between her 1992 solo debut, Little Earthquakes, and 2009.’ I can believe this. The album seems to incorporate all the songs you would happily tolerate between adored classics such as Cornflake Girl, Winter, or Space Dog, but who wants an album of filler songs? And an incredibly long one at that!

Once again, Tori has tried to combat the download demons by creating a ‘must-have’ double album, including extravagant art-work and photography, and the obligatory DVD. Unfortunately, all these extra features don’t make up for the fact that this album (and I don’t mind being blunt) isn’t very good! Even the title - a line from Guys and Dolls, and a reflection of Tori’s religion-infused childhood - annoys the shit out of me.

As for standout tracks, there simply aren’t any. The haunting melodies and howling brilliance of her earlier work are nowhere to be heard. Each song is so similar and dreary it makes listening to the album feel like a chore. Ultimately, this album just doesn’t deliver. Let’s pray then that her next offering isn’t as sinful!

3/10

Laura Adlington