You Know That They Could "Use Somebody"

Nashville-based Kings Of Leon have been toiling away for ten years, with little success in the US. The UK started embracing them last year and at last they have a few US hits, including the rock ballad "Use Somebody" which has been growing on me for the last few months of it's chartlife.

"Use Somebody" will probably be the band's signature song, but that hasn't stop three artists from place their own stamp on the hit. Below:
The always brilliant Kelly Clarkson has been performing a mash-up of the single with Alanis Morrissette's "That I Would Be Good" on tour.
Emo/punk-poppers Paramore stopped by BBC Radio One's Live Lounge in September and did a fairly faithful acoustic version.
Bat For Lashes also dropped by the Lounge in the beginning of the year and added a spooky organ and tamborine to the haunting melody.
American Idol's Brooke White covered the track for her recent release, High Hopes & Heartbreaks, and did it a sunny, 1970s FM Radio way.
One Tree Hill star and singer Tyler Hilton uses a piano to give the song a little gravitas.
Kings On Leon perform live.

Paramore Gets Moody With Twilight Single

Confession: I have never read the Twilight books. I keep forgetting to check them out at the library, and now I feel all left out 'cause everybody loves them. I came late to the Harry Potter party, was born too late to be an original Narnia and Lord Of The Rings fan, and apparently my love for Artemis Fowl is not enough to force a movie to be made. But enough tales from the Young Adult section! Let's talk music...

Paramore's Hayley Williams loves the Twilight books, like every emo girl should. So it makes sense that the band perform the lead single for the upcoming movie. "Decode" is a moody, almost gothic pop-punk track with Hayley's vocals doing what they do best: bouncing between walls of electric guitars and drums and emoting like no other power-pop princess. Listen to the song at Stephanie Meyer's official site.

Five Songs On Shuffle, Vol. 18

This is the eighteenth installments of my weekly blog entry series "5 Songs On Shuffle." I’ll put my iTunes on shuffle and blog about the first five songs that play.

"No One" - Alicia Keys No One - Single
I love this song so much, it was on my top songs list for last year. The strange synths, the piano line, the impassioned vocals all combined to create an intense pop record that sounds like nothing else on the radio.

"Super Trouper" - ABBA ABBA Gold
As you may recall, I saw Mamma Mia the other week, and was very pleased. Donna, the mother character sings this song with her two best friends and former band mates as a "reunion" of Donna & The Dynamos for the daughter bachelorette party. The song is just a fun pop song, and the super trouper referred to in the lyrics a type of lighting, not a law officer.

"We Are Broken" - Paramore Riot!
This power ballad from pop-punk grrl band Paramore is a very nice song, but almost forgettable. I enjoyed hearing it pop up on random, but don't really remember hearing it. It happens, they can't all be "Misery Business"

"Hurt" - Johnny Cash The Legend Of Johnny Cash
This is one of my favorite songs of all time, which I blogged about last December. It's so moving, almost painfully so, a man coming to terms with his mortality; and the loss of a loved one, of himself. The piano rises as the end, and it kills me. Hard to believe The Man In Black didn't even write it.

"Ur So Gay (Remix)" - Katy Perry Ur So Gay EP
In this hard techno remix of the sassy single from of-the-moment popster Katy Perry, the first three minutes consists of just the line "Ur so gay... boy" repeated over and over an obnoxious beat. You don't even get to the snark-tastic lines that make the original so fun, just the chorus. And the beat isn't the best to dance to! SKIP!

New Paramore Video: "That's What You Get"

Pop-punk goddess Hayley Williams and the gang have a new video for their third single from Riot! "That's What You Get" is a med-tempo rocker, slower than breakout hit "Misery Business" but definitely not a ballad. But who cares about the song! Hayley's hair is always the real story. The solid Cayenne Red color is plenty fierce, and much more natural than the two tone look from the "Misery" and "Crushcrushcrush" clips. Even though I do miss the yellowy blond around her face, this color is super cool and a much more classy way to do punk. As if that was even possible! Anyway, I think Hayley is gorgeous as usual and I am loving this one: