Beyonce Is A '60s Pin Up, So "Why Don't You Love Me?"

Beyonce keeps trucking out videos from her 2008 double disc I Am... Sasha Fierce. Her latest, a send up of 1960s pin ups with her character B. B. Homemaker fixing a car in Daisy Dukes, swigging a martini in her bed and rocking a sexy librarian look while dusting her Grammys. It's campy fun, which matches the retro funk vibe of "Why Don't You Love Me?" The whole thing is worth checking out:

Kelly Clarkson Is "Already Gone" But She Can Also See Your "Halo"

It's been brewing for a while now, and I guess as the most Kelly obsessed music blog I know it's time for me to discuss it. "Halo" vs "Already Gone"

It's the epic pop debate of 2009, is Kelly Clarkson's "Already Gone" a rip off of Beyonce's "Halo"? Kelly thinks so, and she is pissed. She told Canadian radio "No one’s gonna be sittin’ at home, thinking, ‘Man, Ryan Tedder gave Beyoncé and Kelly the same track to write to.’ No, they’re just gonna be saying I ripped someone off."

Here's the thing, both songs were written and produced by producer of the moment Ryan Tedder. So some similarities can be excused. I can usually smell a Max Martin/Dr Luke collaborative prod/writ credit a mile away, the tend to have a rah-rah pop-rock sound. In fact, Kelly's own "Since U Been Gone" and "My Life Would Suck Without You" have a very similar flow and instrumentation, both produced by that team. Max by himself is a little harder to pin down. Lady Gaga producer Red One has a distinctive electronic sound, and his work with Enrique Iglesias sounds very much like Gaga's, while the song he produced for Sean Kingston bears only a slight resemblance.

But while a producer may pull the same trick out out of his bag twice, is that all the similarities between "Halo" and "Already Gone" are? I've been listening to both a lot, and I find more than just a passing resemblance. The verses have very similar melodies, the beat is identical. The same strings show up at different volume levels. There are some differences, "Halo" doesn't have a bridge like "Already Gone" but it's a lot closer than Tedder's previous productions like Jordin Sparks' "Battlefield" or his own band One Republic's "Stop And Stare." In fact, until I heard "Halo" and "Already Gone" I didn't think Ryan Tedder had a specific production style. Which is why the similarities strike me as lazy production, a chance to do about half the work for the same pay.

However, Kelly's emotional connection to her own lyrics (she co-wrote the lyrics with Tedder) makes "Already Gone" vastly superior to "Halo" so she should have had the upper hand in this battle. But since "Halo" has played for a long time before Kelly's single was released, it will sound like a copycat. And with Kelly distancing herself from the song, it will be hard to promote. I think Tedder really screwed up here, but in the end savvy listeners will love whichever song they connect with. Radio may be less accepting.

Beyonce Mashups!

2007 was the year of the "Umbrella" mashups, 2008 was the year of the "I Kissed A Girl" mashups. Will 2009 be the year of Beyonce mashups? Perhaps, two new mash-ups of the lead singles from B's I Am... Sasha Feirce have surfaced in the last few weeks, with different results.

"If I Were A Free Fallin' Boy" is DJ Earworm joint, a mashup with Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'" and it works very well. The guitars are spicier than the original mix, and the vocals are not obscured or screwed with. It's worth a listen, or download it at Stereogum.


The Hood Internet's "Single Foxes (Put A Wood On It)" is less succesful, mashing a Fleet Foxes track with the current number one single. It works in parts, the frenetic guitar work matches the pace of Beyonce's lyrics but sometimes the sync isn't quite perfect. Still, worth a listen, or download at The Hood Internet.

Single Foxes (Put A Wood On It) (Beyonce vs Fleet Foxes) - The Hood Internet

Let's Talk About Chicks, Man...

OK, I'm no David Cook, but I do wanna talk about chicks, man. Specifically new music from the ladies...

First, we have producer-to-the-stars Darkchild trying to out-dream The-Dream with an "Umbrella"-esque feel-good jam. Brandy is back with a new album December, and the lead single is war-time lullaby with a beat called "Right Here (Departed)" The video is ham-handed in it's message, (ala "Pocketful Of Sunshine") but the song is pure joy. The singer/actress releases Human on December 9th.

Speaking of singer/actresses, Beyonce's double disc I Am... Sasha Fierce releases tomorrow. I'm not crazy about the Chris Gaines style marketing ploy, but "If I Were A Boy" is an acoustic soul/pop hybrid. Addressing the double standard between the sexes is not a new pop idea, but Beyonce brings an emotional edge lacking from a track like Christina Aguilera's "Can't Hold Us Down" Others may be all about "Single Ladies" (which is a fantastic track in it's own right, plus gave us a brilliant SNL sketch with my other future boyfriend, Justin Timberlake) but I'm really in love with Beyonce as a boy. Of course, if she was a boy I'm doubting she would "drink beer with the guys" more I do believe she's a better man than I. (Oh, and I'm loving that she used her all-female band for the EMA performance of the song! It's more gender-queer than Katy Perry ever dreamed of being.)

"Can't Hold Us Down" is one of the few singles missing from Christina's Keeps Getting Better... A Decade Of Hits. But the album gives us two new songs, plus two new versions of prior hits. "Genie 2.0" was given a preview at the VMAs this year, and the full version is amazing. I just bought this military-style jacket from DC and when I'm driving down the highway in it and this uber-modern electronic song comes on I fell like a post-apocalyptic general weaving in between mobile storage units. I have to save my boyfriend (played by LL Cool J) and our puppy from a cyborg mad scientist on the way, too. I have a vivid imagination sometimes.


One other album track you should be checking out is from Taylor Swift's new album, Fearless. "White Horse" is the emotional opposite of my previous favorite off the new CD, "Love Story" In that song, Romeo sweeps in to save the day and whisks Juliet off in a storybook ending. "White Horse" is grounded in a more realistic emotional space. Against a light jazz piano, acoustic guitar and a country fiddle a story unfolds of childhood romantic fantasies crushed. But even though "I'm not your princess, this ain't a fairytale. I'm gonna find somebody someday who might actually treat me well... it's too late for you and your white horse to come around." Taylor Swift is growing into one of the most interesting songwriters in the business. "White Horse" actually made it's premiere on Grey's Anatomy, the launching pad for indie singer/songwriters like Ingrid Michealsen. She fully deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as country music's finest female writers like Dolly Parton and Shania Twain.

Everybody Sing! Pop Divas Join Forces For "Just Stand Up"

All-star charity singles were huge in the 80s, remember "We Are The World?" But with exception of some failed attempts post-9/11, nobody has been stepping up to the plate. Well, no more! The all-female chorus on "Just Stand Up (To Cancer)" includes cancer-survivors Melissa Etheridge and Sheryl Crow; hip-hop chicas Beyonce, Rihanna, Keyshia Cole, Fergie, Ciara and Ashanti; multi-octave range rovers Mary J. Blige, Leona Lewis and Mariah Carey; country stars Carrie Underwood and LeAnne Rimes and pop-tarts Miley Cyrus and Natasha Bedingfeild. And, it's surprisingly listenable. Like most charity singles, the lyrics are trite, but hearing some of the best songbirds on the planet give it their all, although Leona could out-sing her duet partner Fergie, obvs! Listen below, and read the lyrics and a break-down of who-sang-what here.

Cazwell Has Seen Beyonce At Burger King! AND she was eatin'

I'm not one to go crazy over electro-novelty songs, but this new thing from New York's Cazwell (feat. Johnny Makeup) is off the friggin' chain! "I Seen Beyonce At Burger King" is a trashy & drag-queen-friendly & bootylicous & AWESOME! The song's plot is about meeting Beyonce at Burger King and lending her ten bucks. But the chorus is as catchy as anything Max Martin could write, and so delightfully obnoxious. Plus video is insane! Watch (via Electroqueer):