There Are No Thanksgiving Songs

Except this one.

Ahead of Their Time or Too Soon?

Recently I was listening to this year's Melodi Grand Prix second runner-up, "I Love You Te Quiero" by Sirkus Eliassen and noticed some similarities to one of this summer's biggest hits.

Norwegian (check) duo (check) consisting of two brothers (check) with a performance from a TV show (check) with animal costumes (check). Hmmmmmm.

According to Wikipedia, this duo appeared on that duo's television show last October.

Coincidentally, the other duo performed their hit song on BCC's Save the Children telethon last Friday, appearing alongside such Eurovision celebrities as Bucks Fizz and Jedward.

Artpop Review

Lady Gaga's fourth album, Artpop, is a cosmically fabulous pop album.

The first three songs, "Aura," "Venus," and "G.U.Y" are a constant stream of hooks one after the other. Songs like "MANiCURE," "Mary Jane Holland" and "Donatella" have funny and clever lyrics. "Do What U Want" calls back to her first album and has a good contribution from R. Kelly. "Sexxx Dreams" and "Fashion!" channel popular 90s-influenced house music.





The lead single, "Applause," is a typical Gaga single with a bouncy pop hook.


"Jewels N' Drugs" suffers from its rap part and is very out of place within this album. "Swine" has some weird nasal drawling and a weird ending.


"Dope" is the big piano ballad of the album. Gaga sounds wonderfully dramatic and seems to be doing her best Springsteen in the chorus on the heels of songs like "Hair" and "Edge of Glory." "Gypsy" is the other ballad of the album, except it's the ballad-to-uptempo of the album, an ode to travelling the world.

My favorite track is "ARTPOP," which is very Born this Way, a little like "Bloody Mary," with a great ending. It's fitting that my favorite reminds me of that album, as I much prefer it to this one. However, a less-than-perfect Gaga album is still better than all its competition this autumn.

Closer to the Truth Review

Cher's new album Closer to the Truth was released a few weeks ago.
The highlight is the lead single, "Woman's World." It's exactly the kind of dance song that the public expects, wants, and needs from Cher.
A close second is "Take It Like A Man," a sparkling dance song that is only hampered by its reliance on lyrical cliches.
Songs like "My Love," "Lovers Forever," and "Dressed to Kill" are fabulous disco songs with lots of autotune. "Red" is a strong schlager pop song.
Most of these songs wouldn't be remarkable if Cher wasn't singing them, as at their core they're really just above average. I'm not wild about the ballads towards the end of the album, except for "I Hope You Find It." Closer to the Truth shows that Cher is still a fantastic performer even after so many years in music.