PJ Harvey- The Words That Maketh Murder

**Dance Magic Dance**

**MIXTAPE ALERT** Ladies of Motown

Mixtape Alert is back. It's been awhile due to 8tracks deciding to completely change their site and partly due to those frantic curve balls life likes to throw at you sometimes.

The intense, high energy pop songs of the sixties girls groups have rarely been repeated in pop history mainly because it's so hard to top them. From The Supremes breathy, girlish vocals to The Velvelettes fun-filled, schoolgirl lyrics these girls made singing songs about boys, love and heartbreak a fine art.

I mainly just wanted to post about the amazing girls and the beautiful songs they made.


Ladies of Motown:
1. Stoned Love- The Supremes
2. Needle in a Haystack- The Velvelettes
3. My Guy- Mary Wells
4. Jimmy Mack- Martha & the Vandellas
5. Come See About Me- The Supremes
6. Please Mr Postman-The Marvelettes
7. Nowhere To Run- Martha & the Vandellas
8. He Was Really Saying Somethin'- The Velvelettes
9. Heaven Must Have Sent You- The Elgins
10. When I'm Gone- Brenda Holloway
11. I Can't Give Back The Love I Feel For You- Rita Wright
12. Upside Down- Diana Ross

ALBUM REVIEW: Rihanna- Loud

When Rihanna started out way back in 2005 the fresh faced Bajan teenager could have easily suffered the same fate of 99% of young female singers. After the one hit and ok tour they hit the ripe old age of 24 and are resigned to a life working in the local Tesco’s. Scanning through a packet of custard creams whilst reminding the kids “You know I used to be somebody once”. It wasn't just luck that saved our Ri-Ri from that terrible fate and her newest release Loud proves why she’s a survivor.

Loud, Rihanna’s fifth studio album, is a fiercely intense album that could make the most pop-phobic individual break free of their sour indie rock grey cloud and throw shapes around their Morrissey plastered room. There are a few of the staple RnB love songs on here, ‘skin’ and ‘complicated’ are worth the 3 or 4 plays it takes for them to click, but ultimately this is a dance album. ‘Cheers (Drink to That)’ and the electro infused hit single ‘Only Girl (In The World)’ are both leave your bag with your man, grab your girlfriends and lose your mind on the dancefloor tracks.

Rihanna has decided to continue her leather-clad sex vixen shtick which can be seen on the imaginatively named opening track ‘S&M’. Over the best club beats of the year our girl steps up like a mini, if a little tamer, version of shock rock diva Peaches and declares “sticks and stones may break my bones but chains and whips excite me.” The song is certainly a winner but something tells us that Rihanna didn’t have the final say on whether she wanted to spend another couple of years bound up in PVC pretending that’s what she likes.

Loud is packed with big named collaborations including rapper of the moment Nicki Minaj on ‘Raining Men’, her 112th collaboration of the year, allowing both women to show what they do best. While Minaj flows and spits Rihanna sings about sitting outside with a bucket to catch all those men falling her way. There are certainly a lot of Barbadian influences on Loud and tracks like the doomed love song ‘Man Down’ only benefit from them, who doesn’t love that Caribbean purr.

Despite the slightly tired sex doll antics that feature on the album Loud displays Rihanna at her best. Vocally she could diva off with the best of them, Whitney watch out. Loud is engaging, fun and easily her best release to date. At only 22 Rihanna has enough standout tracks to make sure she never fades into obscurity. Let’s just hope for the next album Rihanna puts away the whip and realises she’s interesting enough without it.

*Recommended* 'S&M' and 'Raining Men'

Everyday Is Summer For You Man...

**SONG OF THE MONTH**

So I'm late on the bandwagon with this one but cut me some slack, I'm juggling a lot of balls at the moment. To be honest I'm battling with a whole basket full of balls all ready to drop at any second but enough about my life let's get back to blogging.

Warpaint, Warpaint, Warpaint. Those are the only words that have been able to slip through music journalists lips these days after being knocked senseless by the quartet's stunning debut The Fool. Even the NME, who are not known for focusing on female artists, put them on their cover in December.

'Undertow' is a an epic song that doesn't trapse down the usual paths most songs do. Instead of blunt, in your face riffs Warpaint opt for lulling melodies that gently dance around your head and whisper the song into your ear.

Warpaint are a band that do not rely on gimmicks, trends or name dropping to get them anywhere instead they simply let the music speak for itself.