¡viva la graham!

i finally have the new kylie album, and it is pretty much amazing. for all the super fans out there who have yet to hear x (it’s out next week in europe but not till february in the u.s.), here’s a detailed synopsis. (you can stream it in full at mtv.uk.)

• 2 hearts - it’s not “can’t get you out of my head,” but i think it is one of her best singles to date. i love the burlesque-glam vibe, and i love that it’s winning over new fans.
• like a drug - this electro-pop gem could have been on britney’s blackout, only this is much better. it definitely has radio potential.
• in my arms - the first of 3 tracks leaked from the studio sessions. this club banger has been condensed (i miss some of the spoken bits), but it is still unbelievably fab.
• speakerphone - how’s that vocoder? there’s too much talk of bones, but still it sounds like fever. i’m ready to dance!

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here’s the new gwen stefani video for “early winter,” as promised. the song has been edited slightly to make it a bit shorter, but it doesn’t really effect the beautifully-broken vibe of the track. she looks fantastic, of course, and i especially love the contrast of her virginal white dress and the blood red rose petals. the video is definitely as haunting and ethereal as the song.

what do you think? will this be a hit or miss for gwen?

i’m very jealous of the brits at the moment. not only do they get a proper release of her new album, x, way before we do in the u.s., but they also get a prime time television special starring the pint-sized pop star.

thank god for youtube, where one sparkling diamond decided to post the whole of the program for fans outside the u.k. to enjoy. the kylie show features several new songs from her highly-anticipated new disc, including performances of lead single “2 hearts” and the disco-tastic “wow,” plus a handful of comedy sketches.

my favorite skit has to be the one in which kylie and sister dannii have a dynasty-style catfight. kylie taunts dannii for being on a talent show (she’s a judge on x-factor) and after they are interrupted by simon cowell, well, i won’t ruin the punchline. in the following montage of clips, skip to about 5:50 for the minogue tete-a-tete… and if you’re so inclined, you can find the entire show after the jump.

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this photo is 2 weeks old, i know, but i had to post this halloween party pic of maroon 5’s adam levine. he decided to dress up like brad pitt’s character from fight club, tyler durden.

his abs aren’t as tight as brad’s were at that point, but he doesn’t care. this is the perfect costume for a shameless show-off.

speaking of fight club, that brings to mind my favorite line from the film, when helena bonham carter says, “i haven’t been fucked like that since grade school.”

i hate to say it, but gwen stefani seems to have entered madonna territory.

her latest album, the sweet escape, sold over 2 million copies, which is great if you’re a new artist but not so hot for an established act. also, most of her singles failed to ignite at radio. only the title track, which peaked at no. 2 on billboard’s hot 100, could be called a bonafide hit.

on the other side, gwen seems to be thriving on tour. she sells out performances everywhere, and with such high ticket prices, she’s likely making bank. so even if her tunes aren’t tearing up the charts, she’s still a very smart businesswoman.

despite the overall tepid response (and the complete failure of “now that you got it”), stefani is releasing what will likely be the final single from the sweet escape. “early winter” is, in my opinion, a gorgeous ballad that should have been released three singles ago (though i did love “4 in the morning”). hopefully radio will give her another chance, because “winter” could and should be a massive success.

i’ll be posting the video after it premieres on thursday. in the meantime, if you haven’t heard the track, check it out in the media player in the sidebar.

i do enjoy natasha bedingfield, despite the fact that i am still bombarded with “unwritten” several times a day in makeup advertisements and chick flick film trailers.

lucrative licensing aside, i am intrigued by the u.s. launch of her second album. originally titled n.b. for obvious reasons (think about it!), the powers that be demanded a change and so it has now been re-christened pocket full of sunshine. now then, doesn’t that make you want to buy it more??

lead single “love like this,” featuring labelmate sean kingston, was not on the original version of n.b. the aforementioned decision-makers didn’t think european lead single “(i wanna have your) babies” would fly on this side of the pond, and for that i applaud them. on the downside, i get the feeling that there’s little of bedingfield in this recipe.

i suppose it doesn’t matter, as the slow pop jam has grown on me with repeated listens. despite the vocoder! hence my list of “love like this” fun facts:

• in the first verse, natasha sings, “we were cool back in high school / ooh i really liked you,” while nat is british and they do not have “high school” in england.
• as proven in the photo above, bedingfield and kingston are a natural pairing. he obviously isn’t doing this for the money. haha!
• whomever is in charge of finding the “love interest” in her videos should be commended. first the cutie from “unwritten” and now this hot piece! well done.

i heard ben’s brother before i actually knew who they were. that’s them in that bubblegum commercial, the one that goes: “so kiss me again / so i can stop this st-st-st-st-stuttering” you can’t blame them for wanting to get their music heard, whatever it takes, right?

anyway, after a bit of research i connected the dots and found their myspace. i do like that the british band’s name has to do with the lead singer’s feeling of inferiority, like he was living in his brother ben’s shadow all his life. clever.

as for the song, in its entirety, “stuttering” doesn’t pack as much punch as its catchy chorus, but i still enjoy it. the rest of their tunes are alright, but for the most part they’re too m.o.r. for my tastes. ’tis a shame.

last season on american idol, i was totally rooting for blake over jordin. it’s no surprise that his new track, “break anotha,” is better than her shite single “tattoo.”

you can hear the brand new blake lewis song at his myspace. it’s basically what i expected from the funky beat-boxer — and that’s not a bad thing — a little rock, a little r&b, and completely accessible. i love it and can’t wait to hear the rest of his debut.

he ain’t lookin’ too shabby these days, either.

the new spice girls single, “headlines (friendship never ends),” isn’t that great. it’s like “2 become 1″ only half as good.

but here’s the video anyway. everyone looks great, especially geri. i hope things go well for them so they can release something a bit more upbeat to make up for this by-the-numbers ballad.