¡viva la graham!

There is something almost annoyingly cheerful about Alphabeat. Maybe it’s the cheeky grins, perhaps it’s the boundless enthusiasm. Whatever it is, I find myself drawn to them — while many might be repulsed. I liken it to my bizarre S Club 7 fixation several years back.

Anyway, here are those adorable Danes with the video for their new U.K. single, “10,000 Nights.” Lord knows this will never see the light of day in the U.S., so if you’re stateside and you like what you hear, you may have to resort to nasty measures (unless you’d like to buy an overpriced import single). Although I don’t endorse illegal downloading, surely you can find it out there somewhere! Good luck.

Former Destiny’s Child singer Kelly Rowland has a U.K. hit on her hands with a very funky Freemasons remix of “Work,” an otherwise good-but-not-great track from her latest album Ms. Kelly. Her producers must have taken a cue from Beyonce, whose “Green Light” was also improved upon by the English mixmasters.

As you might have guessed from the title of this post, the lyrics of the single are blatantly on the saucy side: “You gotta get it all the way in / I wanna see you work.”

In a recent interview with Popjustice, Kelly claimed that in reality the song does not concern any type of intercourse, so get your filthy minds out of the gutter. Here’s an excerpt:

Popjustice: Is it about sex?
Kelly Rowland: “Oh no, it’s actually very innocent. All I’m saying is don’t come around if you’re not going to live up to all your talk and as you know, some guys are just full of talk.”

PJ: So all those lyrics about ‘putting it in’…
KR: “Okay, it’s a little aggressive maybe. It’s just a woman saying you can’t catch me easy and you have to put in the work. It’s about putting in work – that’s it, of course.”

That settles that, then! Hopefully the inadvertent double entendre doesn’t hurt Kelly’s chances on the charts. *haha!*

popjustice called them “the best band in the world ever,” nme likened them to the love child of the b52’s and wham, and i say they are my new favorite group.

here is alphabeat’s brand new video for “fascination,” one of the most cheerful, upbeat tracks i’ve heard in ages. it makes me want to dance! if you’re a fan of european indie-pop, you’ve got to check out this danish sextet.

that’s not all! frankmusik cooked up a fab remix of the track which you can download here (via i heart comix!).

so sorry the posts have been few and far between, but with the thanksgiving holiday and then my birthday i haven’t had much spare time for extracurricular activities! the entries may not be daily in december, as it can be a very crazy month, but i’ll try to entertain my few readers more often than i have been…

that said, here’s a new video from one of my favorites, the pipettes:

they could have chosen almost any of the fantastic songs from the indie girl group’s outstanding debut disc, but i’m especially pleased with the decision to release “because it’s not love (but it’s still a feeling).” the colorful video compliments the lush track, and i’m also enjoying lead vocalist gwenno’s bright red ‘do.

if you dig this track and you haven’t yet picked up/downloaded a copy of we are the pipettes, you need to! it is sublime.

and here it is! the wait is over for the new kylie single, “2 hearts.” i was expecting the track to drop first with the video debuting a week or two from now, but i was mistaken.

glam rock kylie commands the stage in the stunning performance clip. i love the visuals (the costumes, the set, all of it) and as for absolutely amazing song — it will be on repeat indefinitely.

kudos to kylie’s team for keeping this under wraps until oct 10. i was sure it was going to leak beforehand, but that was not the case. the only teaser we got was the cover of kylie x (pictured).

any thoughts, readers??

the lads from travis have done it again. here’s the new video for “my eyes,” the third single from their latest album the boy with no name. i’m not going to spoil the ending for you, but the waterslide bits actually have to do with the comical plot.

i’m so pleased that travis are back in top form! after starting off on the wrong foot with this record (”closer” was an odd choice for first single), they really have proven that they can still write a top pop song — and of course provide an amusing, clever clip to go along with it. also, i must add that with repeated listens i’ve come to enjoy travis’ latest effort nearly as much as their most popular LP, the man who.

related: art, music, jaffa cakes

rilo kiley is all grown up. today the veteran indie act celebrate the warner bros. release of under the blacklight, their fourth studio album and their first foray into the big leagues.

lead single “the moneymaker” is more mainstream and also more grown-up than the band’s previous efforts. in honor of the song’s more mature subject matter (i’m sure you can put two and two together), the video features actual porn stars who apparently showed up to audition for a soft-core film. of course, even donning trashy make-up front woman jenny lewis was the most beautiful of the bunch.

there’s something new on the blog today as well. courtesy of imeem, ¡viva la graham! is happy to premiere its new pop playlist (in the left sidebar underneath the blogads). i’ll be rotating the tracks on a semi-regular basis — often with music i’ve written about here — so you can enjoy some of my favorites while you peruse my ramblings.

also, due to the sidebar’s width constraints i realize you might not be able to read the names of the tracks. feel free to launch the standalone player for details on any song on the playlist.

somebody’s on a roll! rihanna’s latest album good girl gone bad has already produced two big hits with “umbrella” and “shut up and drive.” the latest track to heat up is “don’t stop the music,” a dance number with an undeniable techno beat. it was actually released simultaneously with “shut up and drive,” but due to its’ pulsating rhythm it dominated the clubs instead of pop radio. the video, which i’ve posted for you here, plays up that dancefloor appeal.

it’s not clear what’s next for rihanna, as there are several potential singles from the album including “breakin’ dishes.” i heard her collaboration with ne-yo, “hate that i love you,” is on the horizon.

i admit i was way harsh when i first mentioned katharine mcphee’s debut album back in february. since then i have been singing a different tune…

first i fell in love with “over it,” which i initially panned. now i’m getting into her new single “love story,” which sounds like an outtake from christina aguilera’s back to basics sessions, and i mean that as a major compliment. i must have been in a bad mood when i listened to it the first time around, because i totally didn’t give it the time of day. and now i realize that the whole thing is actually much better than i originally thought, which means basically that you shouldn’t pay attention if i immediately hate on something.

oh yeah, and did i mention the video is totally hot? she looks amazing. check it out after the jump. Continue Reading »

newcomer ali love comes off like a smarmy devil in the video for his major-label debut single, “secret sunday lover,” but like maroon 5’s adam levine, it somehow still comes across as majorly sexy.

it doesn’t hurt that the song– with its funky, disco beats and a simple, memorable chorus — is absolutely irresistible. the star wars vibe in the clip is a little random, but i thoroughly enjoyed seeing ali restrained. see for yourself…