I have fallen behind on my blog once again, so it's time for me to catch up and get back into the swing of things. My problem with this Saturday was that I went to see a bunch of rising talent at the Elite Showcase, which I reviewed for CelebMix. I thought one of their songs would stand out and I'd be reviewing the original to one of their covers, but that didn't happen. iTunes practically chose this song for me on this exact day as I listened to my music on shuffle. It's nice when great songs come back into your life, and this was one of them until I saw this weird as, music video; like seriously? It makes sense but I'm not keen on the performance piece at all. Watch Calvin Harris and Tinie Tempah perform in the middle of lots of twerking women, while we watch the devil raise havoc without anyone batting an eye in this music video for "Drinking From The Bottle".
Calvin Harris, real name Adam Wiles, is one of the biggest DJ's in the world. He continues to bring out hits and recently released a new album that featured a lot of collaborations and charted well internationally. This song in itself was a hit but only charted moderately well around the world. It did so much better in the clubs. It features Tinie Tempah, real name Patrick Okogwu, who also is an international star and who also dropped a new album this year. Both stars continue to prove that British artists are just as good as many US artists. This song charted in the UK at number five. The song was written by Calvin Harris, Patrick Okogwu, James F. Reynolds, and Mark Knight.
Directed by Vince Haycock, this music video has both a narrative and a performance piece; although, the latter is over the top for the female dancers who all just twerk. I feel like this doesn't allow Calvin Harris or Tinie Tempah to shine at all, and they kind of get lost.
The narrative is mildly okay as it does relate to the song somewhat. I love the initial story and it's quite weird that the devil is out exploring and no one really realises. I love that both the performance piece and the narrative collide when the devil is Calvin Harris and Tinie Tempah's taxi man.
Yet, it gets worse and the narrative turns into something I'm not into seeing, although many other people might be. I just feel that they tried to make some sort of statement that most people just aren't getting. There are much better ways of making such a statement. Regardless, the visual does relate to the song somewhat, and I do take an interest in what the devil is going to do next, even if it's something I don't approve of and find disgusting or repulsed by. Not interested in seeing this again, but I appreciate what they are trying to do. The devil is played by Brad Dourif and his friend Patrick is played by Pat-Ric Nasty (frontman of Vader Vader).
This is one of those sorts of songs that grow on you. I've heard this song so many times now that I've started to like it; yet, at the same time, I'm still not going to be a fan of this track. I wish it wasn't in the Top Ten of the UK Singles Chart, just so I don't have to review it (yeah, I had two other options, but this one is more likely to drop out sooner than the other options I had today); since Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber is still on top with "Despacito", I kind of had no option. This video has all the coloured filters you can imagine and want, distorting reality yet keeping it real. Watch Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams, and Big Sean perform "Feels" on what looks like a tropical island, as Calvin Harris rocks up in the background with a guitar as colour distortion switches up this music video!
Calvin Harris, real name Adam Wiles, has really come a long way since his debut and is absolutely bringing it when it comes to music; his latest album is all collaborations, showing off his producing side, which we've seen before; however, I truly believe we prefer his own vocal music, as that is what soars him up the chart, in some cases. Regardless, he continues to be a top DJ that we continue to love. Featured on this track is Pharrell Williams, who has also been bringing it over the past few years; he's definitely a solid performer and vocalist, one everyone wishes to collaborate with one day. Katy Perry also appears on this track; real name Katy Hudson, she's quickly pushed herself up there with the top female singers of the world. And then there's Big Sean, real name Sean Anderson, the rapper who comes in and out of mainstream music and also manages to stay on top form. This is one heck of a collaboration, it's just a shame that this song is a grower and not an instant catchy hit, but it's one that stays in our head annoyingly. It was written by Adam Wiles, Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry, Brittany Hazzard, and Sean Anderson.
Directed by Emil Nava - here's his name again, definitely an in-demand music video director - this visual is taking colour distortion to the next level; pretty much using every colour filter imaginable to not only infuse summer but to show that colour doesn't matter.
All three vocal artists nail this performance piece, but I feel that there isn't a lot for them to do, and there's more focus on the colour, making us blink so much that we practically miss what they're doing; not that they're able to do much since Pharrell Williams is trapped in a boat in the middle of a lake surrounded by sand; Katy Perry is lying down in the grass with a bright yellowy/orange dress that is unflattering on her, hiding away; and, as for Big Sean, he's sitting down on a chair as if he's the King of this tropical island, but he can't embody his lyrics because of his two parrot side-kicks, that totally steal the show.
There's just not an awful lot going on in this music video. The colour transforming filters can either capture the audience or turn them away, and since they stick with this idea, everything else loses focus and gets sent into the background.
Overall, this music video deserved to be better, it embraces summer and goes over the top with colour filters - it's literally the only thing I can comment on. It's interesting to an extent and we all want to visit that place, but it's not awesome at all.
Going down a more country house music route, Calvin Harris' "My Way" is being reviewed as this week's Chart Mondays. He is throwing quite the spanner in my Halloween Special unless you supposed the love interest in this music video is a ghost, a pixelated one at best... Let's run with that, although, she is a robot. The song has been in the UK top 10 for a while, but the video has only just been released. With Little Mix's "Shout Out To My Ex" happily sitting on top, I'm reviewing this music video instead. Calvin Harris has stated that this song isn't about Taylor Swift, the song is about an ex-girlfriend being in his way. The accompanying music video for "My Way" shows her appearing and disappearing in a set of pixels, is she even real?
Calvin Harris, real name Adam Wiles, is the Scottish DJ who has won numerous awards and has worked with some of the biggest stars. He has a string of hits that just don't stop coming. He's definitely the one to watch around the world, because he is one of the hottest DJ's going at the moment, and I don't just mean his looks, even though he is pretty damn fine (especially considering what he used to look like when he released his debut single "Acceptable In The 80s"). This song was written by Calvin Harris.
The music video was directed by Emil Nava, who has directed a lot of Calvin Harris' music videos. The love interest is played by actress Emanuela Postacchini.
There is a kind of massive narrative behind this which is hard to follow. At first, I didn't get this video one bit, but I'm slowly understanding it, from my own perspective. This concept of the video may not be the intentional theory behind the narrative from the director or Calvin Harris.
We start off in a futuristic world, where there is a tall building standing in a desolate destroyed Earth. The camera pans into a window where we see a person with a Virtual Reality helmet on.
In an extremely clever cut, we see Calvin Harris on the steps of a country home. Into the past we go. We watch as Calvin Harris sings about the one thing being in his way, it's clearly his robotic love interest, but is she even there? The one complete stable throughout is Calvin Harris himself, everything else becomes a pixelated mess.
As the story continues, we watch her appear everywhere, taking control, destroying things. Almost as if it's a virus amongst his computer system; definitely an atrocity for any producer in the world.
The video ends with no one in the futuristic building; instead, there's a stand-alone computer from the 90s, maybe earlier, and there's one in each window-room of the building. Has this futuristic person become a pixelated specimen to run away with this person who isn't even real? Or does this video just not make sense?
What I do know, is that there is an awesome dance break during the barn house scene, where the choreography is nailed completely. With laser lights and an upbeat melody, you really can't go wrong.
This video is confusing, it gets even weirder the more you watch it. The pixels mess with your brain, disengaging the audience, which is the point of the video. Amazingly futuristically brilliant. Yet, I still can't quite make sense of this.
The amazing dance duo is back, this is exactly the sort of songs that I love to hear from Rihanna as dance music suits her voice perfectly and it's clear she loves singing these sort of songs. With Drake still at number one with "One Dance" which marks it's twelfth consecutive week at number one, my Chart Mondays review is open for the top ten again, although a music video for "One Dance" is on it's way, it has yet to be released. This one is currently sitting at number four on the UK chart. Rihanna performs perfectly in rag-like clothes that she easily pulls off, loving her life in a visual cube box as well as out of it. Calvin Harris' This Is What You Came For shows the Rihanna we all know and love.
Calvin Harris, real name Adam Wiles, is an inspiration to us all. He's one of those rare acts that have built his name from scratch. This Scottish DJ has worked and worked and worked to become this international star, and it has definitely paid off. Calvin Harris will always be setting the charts alight. He collaborates, once again, with Rihanna, real name Robyn Fenty, who has also worked hard to get to where she is now, yeah she may have had a few hit singles when she started, but she made a name for herself by working hard, she wouldn't be here if she didn't. This song was written by Calvin Harris and Nils Sjöberg.
Directed by Emil Nava, the music video is exciting after seeing the cube box and hoping for an extremely visual music video much like Sergey Lazarev's "You Are The Only One"; yet it doesn't work as perfectly and what could have been amazing, falls flat.
Some perfect projected images and video used works really well, and at times it is visually amazing, but the cube fails to work the way we all had hoped, so they switch it up, focusing on Rihanna alone.
Rihanna shines throughout, she clearly loves EDM, house and dance music. She's having so much fun recording the music video, this is the sort of music she enjoys. It's enlightening to see her so happy performing.
Her style is somewhat disappointing, yet she seems relaxed in this rag-like costume, like it's something she wears around her house and pulls out of her wardrobe often. She pulls it off as if it was meant for her, it probably was to be honest.
Overall, the cube fails to work out the way we had hoped, and Sergey Lazarev's "You Are The Only One" really puts this music video to shame in comparison. However, Rihanna's performance is infectious and some visual scenes are on point. They made it work, but it is somewhat lacking.
This song has been stuck in my head all day, well until I went on my break at work and watched a video that had Jennifer Paige's "Crush" in the background, and that was it, that was stuck in my head for the rest of the day, I wish I still wasn't crushing on this one guy, and when I think I've finally stopped, I realise it hasn't. But I've come to terms with it, and that is all it's going to be, a crush and nothing more. This song will take it's place again, unbelievably catchy, it's unsurprising that it reached the top spot on the UK chart. Rita Ora is so much more relaxed when she is putting on a show, exuding perfect performance vibes, she sings, dances and proves how amazing she really is.
Rita Ora is a worldwide star and she has definitely made it here in the UK. She is currently locked in a legal battle with her record company so that she can get out of her contract. Something to do with a seven year rule. Considering that she's been a part of Roc Nation for seven years now, and she has only released one album shows it all doesn't it? She should've had a few out by now, enough to guarantee more number ones in the future, which she needs if she's going to compete against Cheryl and Jess Glynne for most number ones by a British female artist. She even once held the record with Geri Halliwell, but was succeed by the former two singers. I hope that once her lawsuit is cleared up she has more number ones around the corner. This song was written by Calvin Harris, who was her boyfriend at the time.
Directed by Francesco Carrozzini, it's a pure performance piece as she tells the camera that she will never let you down.
As per usual, Rita Ora proves to us that she can dance, hitting off that choreography like it is nothing. She easily works the camera and does a great job.
Again black and white tones are used which normally frustrates me, instead this works as when it is switched to colour, it is way too much in your face, bubblegum explosion. Rita Ora has a unique style and it works well for her, but it can sometimes be too much, not that that's a bad thing, but she looks a lot more respectable in the black and white visual scenes, that it's a complete shock to find out she's wearing something much more quirky.
Overall, Rita Ora nails the performance piece. Would've liked a slight bit of narrative here and there, maybe an inclusion of a guy in the music video, just to add that slight thing that we are missing. But I'd definitely go and see her live, and this music video proves how amazing she would be up on stage.
Just when I think I'll get a relatable narrative, I'm disheartened. Like what is this? Surely it's an advertisement for Herbal Essences shampoo, yet I'm dumbstruck that this is a music video, like seriously?
Calvin Harris, real name Adam Wiles, is one guy that will always be in the UK charts, he has made a name for himself and with a few number ones behind him, he isn't going anywhere. This is his most recent single and collaboration. Disciples are a trio consisting of Nathan Duvall, Gavin Koolmon and Luke McDermott. They have had a previous hit the uk chart called "They Don't Know", but this is the song that has pushed them into international fame. Where they will go next is what we're all wondering. How Deep Is Your Love was written by Calvin Harris, Gavin Koolmon, Duville Lane, Luke Mac, Johannes J. and Ina Wroldsen. The latter is the vocalist on the track, a much improvement from her song "Aliens", not going to lie. Yet uncredited, unfortunately, however she has made a name for herself in the songwriting world, could she be a best selling artist? If she goes for it, with songs like this, she definitely can. Catchy and personal, this song is deeply emotional, yet it is perfect for parties and clubbing.
I am so disappointed in this video, the song is amazing, yet it only reached number 2 on the UK chart, would a better music video have pushed it that little bit more? I agree with the YouTube comments about it being a hair commercial rather than a music video.
Directed by Emil Nava, the video stars model Gigi Hadid. Gigi wakes up on an operation table, she reminds me of the robots from the TV series Humans. Yet instead of continuing this possible idea, the video pushes aside any narration.
Gigi Hadid ends up flicking, tossing and touching her hair, whilst her surroundings change. Not only is this not a representation of life, if only we could all be whisked away on a yacht in the middle of the sea just by touching our hair, but it fails to connect at all with the song. This is not what I was expecting when I came to watch this, and although this will interest some people, they could've done a lot more, and it's not something people would go out of their way to watch repeatedly.
Dizzee Rascal, real name Dylan Mills, has had a few number ones and I'm sure he'll be getting a few more. However I never find his songs not that memorable, I'll remember it when I hear it but I couldn't work out the song off the top of my head. In this one he has collaborated with Calvin Harris (which links us back to the start of my Collaboration Special), his real name is Adam Wiles, and is probably the main reason why this song got to number one as he is a DJ so he came up with the music which makes this song very catchy, his vocals is great to listen to and I can't help but sing-a-long to them. As for Chrome, there isn't a lot about him, I've heard that he has featured on quite a few songs, but there's no profile to be found...
"Dace Wiv Me" was written by Calvin Harris, Dizzee Rascal, Nick Detnon and Tyrone Paul. Again another possible reason why this song did good was because it was written by the artists who sings the song. It's catchy because of the music, in my opinion, if it wasn't a collaboration with Calvin Harris and it was left to someone else, I doubt this song would have charted as well as it did.
The music video is a typical rap/R&B music video, there's nothing special about it in my opinion, just a couple of guys singing in this place with a lot of girls. It links in well with the song, however it is more of a performance video over a narrative video.
I think a lot is missing to make this video better, they could've been singing to a couple of girls, but instead they were more focused on the camera, which could link in a way if you considered the camera to be a girl in who they are singing to, however Dizzee Rascal spoils all ideas of that as he walks away with a girl leaving the camera all alone.
Overall, you can tell I haven't got anything more to say about this video, I'm seriously grasping at straws here. I'm glad that it's typical of this genre of music, it could've been a lot worse, the song is catchy especially after a few listens but I would put it down to Calvin Harris' music. So I haven't got a clue what to rate this, so I'm going with my gut, and I'm sorry if people think the video is better than this.
Calvin Harris is a rare sight on my blog, but so is Example to be honest. However this song has gripped me, and after hearing it a couple of times, I just had to use it for New Release, which has sparked off an idea for a whole new special. Calvin Harris, real name Adam Wiles, has been creating demos since 1999, but came into fame in 2007 with his first album. He came to my attention when "Acceptable In The 80s" started climbing the charts. I have only mentioned him once on this blog, where he collaborated with Rihanna for "We Found Love", I hope there will be more music videos from Calvin Harris hitting my blog soon. Example features on this song, his real name is Elliot Gleave, this is his second time on my blog, but has also been mentioned as co-writer of The Wanted's "Chasing The Sun". I like how most artists are connected one way or another and they tend to go around in circles.
"We'll Be Coming Back" was written by Calvin Harris and Example, which is to be expected since they know what they're doing, and you can kind of tell that they've wrote it themselves. It is currently number 2 on the iTunes chart, and it will definitely chart high this Sunday, but could it inched in front of Wiley featuring Ms D's "Heatwave"? We'll have to wait and see.
This music video is interesting, I don't quite know how else to describe it, I had to watch it twice and then read about the video to finally understand what is going on. This is clearly narrative based which is surprisingly unexpected from these two artists. They are both robbers and they hide their treasure, but a cop has been on their trail since and have found what they've buried, leaving her badge behind.
I feel that there is more emphasis on what cars their driving and their speed racing rather than the story overall, therefore people don't quite see that there is a narrative. This would be usually not so good, but they have used great footage such as showing another car coming up to them in their sunglasses (right at the start), and seeing the cop behind perfectly. A lot of different camera shots are used to display the races and the chasing, which makes this video a little more interesting.
Overall the song is definitely one that grows on people, and before you know it, it's stuck in your head, but the accompanying music video is lacking to some respect. However the main focus of the video is to make Calvin Harris and Example look "cool" (their words not mine), and that is exactly what they manage to do, but there is various ways they could have made this better, especially by showing the story a little bit more.
Rihanna is definitely a global superstar, nearly everyone has heard of her (well except for that Irish guy that stopped her filming on his farm). Her real name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty. She has had a number of hits, and she will keep on going. She recently starred in "Battleship" which was amazing, and clearly showed how good of an actress she is. She will definitely get more film roles, which I look forward to watching. She also is planning on doing a TV show and teaming up with Nicola Roberts to find a UK fashion designer.
"Where Have You Been" was written by Ester Dean, Lukasz Gottwald (Dr. Luke), Calvin Harris, Henry Walter (Cirkut) and Geoff Mack. This is definitely a great writing team. Most of them have appeared on my blog in one shape or form, the others are fairly new, but with some big hits behind them. It's extremely catchy and reminds me a lot of "Only Girl (In The World)" and Flo Rida Featuring Sia's "Wild Ones". But I'm sure this wasn't the exact music video I saw this morning.... Could it be possible that they edited it for the UK? I'm not sure as I can't find the one I saw on YouTube, so I guess I'll have to roll with this one.
The music video is interesting, once again it's different to what is about, and there is a lot of choreography to handle in it. Sometimes this is good and sometimes it isn't, depending on who the artist is. We haven't seen Rihanna dance for a while, but here she is, and she does it perfectly. So there's nothing to worry about. The first time I saw it, I thought of "Disturbia", I don't know why, but some of the dancing made me think of that song and it's music video.
There are many different scenes and it's more of a dance music video rather than anything else. And it leaves you wanting more, and there's no narrative either. It's just lacking something, and it's not something I'd go out of my way to watch. If there's something better on another music channel I'd happily swap over.
Overall this song is catchy and it will definitely get a high charting position. But the music video is missing some sort of spark. I think we were all just expecting a little more from Rihanna, and it never came about. A lot of people have compared it to Beyoncé... But I don't see why, they are two very different artists, and although they are both great dancers I don't understand where the comparisons are coming from.
I bet you all have been waiting for me to review this music video. I have to admit, it's been worrying me as this is such a big music video it is going to be difficult to review. But I will do my best and be as fair as I can be as I always am.
Rihanna, real name Robyn Rihanna Fenty, has recently became a very well known international star. She has worked very hard to get this far, and it looks like she will be keeping that crown for a little bit longer. She will be performing a song on the X Factor this Sunday, and we all know it is going to be amazing.
"We Found Love" is the first single taken from her new album Talk That Talk. It was written by Calvin Harris, who collaborated with Rihanna on this song, and further proves why this song features him even though there is no vocal performance from him. Rihanna has this strong, clear and powerful voice that makes any song she sings sound amazing. I like how she manages to connect to the song easily and that is shown throughout the music video.
I like how the video starts off with an introduction, it kind of sets the scene and makes it more understandable to people who are watching it. Agyness Deyn is the person who talks at the beginning and this is what she says: "It's like you're screaming but no one can hear. You almost feel ashamed that someone could be that important, that without them, you feel like nothing. No one will ever understand how much it hurts. You feel hopeless, like nothing can save you. And when it's over and it's gone, you almost wish that you could have all that bad stuff back so you can have the good."
There is a lot to like about this music video, and I have to admit, I am surprised that it was all filmed in Ireland. Initially it was all going to be filmed in a field, but when Rihanna started taking her clothes off the farmer who owned the field asked for the filming to be stopped, at which point it did and filming then took place in Belfast. The farmer turned around to news reporters that he had never heard of Rihanna and had no idea who she was. Personally I think the farmer did us a favour as the music video could have turned out similar to "Only Girl (In The World)" and although the music video for that song is powerful, it is a bit boring after watching it more than 5 times, and I stopped watching it on the music channels. However for "We Found Love" the narrative is amazing and I think that is why this music video makes it one of Rihanna's best music videos to date.
Some bits are a little annoying and makes you wonder why they did that. The main one is when Rihanna is sick on the side walk, but instead of bringing up disgusting stuff, out comes pink and white streamers. At first I thought they had run out of budget and couldn't afford to buy some soup or whatever actors are using nowadays. But after a closer inspection, it could suggest a distorted reality, therefore some bits aren't real and suggests that Rihanna is imagining them, which kind of makes sense since at the start you see the amount of drugs, and the amount of smoking, and how sometimes Rihanna and her boyfriend (played by Dudley O'Shaughnessy) look totally out of it.
There's so much going on in this music video it is difficult to comment on it all. However there is a lot of comparisons between Dudley O'Shaughnessy and Rihanna's ex-boyfriend Chris Brown. There are some scenes that even suggest that the video was based on the ex-couple because on the evening of the Grammy Awards Rihanna was subjected to physical violence in a car by Chris Brown. One of the scenes in the video link exactly to that where Dudley O'Shaughnessy is driving recklessly and Rihanna is begging him to stop. She then gets struck around the face. There's definitely a link from Rihanna's past and this video.
There is also a link with Britney Spears' "Criminal" music video, because both contain bad guys, they were both filmed in the UK and they both contain scenes of sex, violence and crime. But also both videos have had a lot of controversial in the UK, with "Criminal" being banned from being shown in the UK based on the fact that the "Criminal" is holding a gun.
Overall I really like this music video and it links in with this song brilliantly. Some bits I don't like such as the distort reality, but that is not too bad. I like the narration, both the words that are spoken at the start and the storyline as a whole. I have no choice but to give this music video the rating it deserves. And this song is definitely worth the number on it managed to get here in the UK!
