HOT AND FRESH OUT THE KITCHEN

"OH LAND" - OH LAND

I first became aware of Nanna Oland Fabricius or as she is known professionally, Oh Land by seeing the music video of her single, "Sun Of A Gun" on the NewNowNext Music channel and I loved her sunny pop sound.

This Danish musician began as a ballet dancer but an injury put an end to her career and she turned to music. Oh Land has just released her second recording, the self titled, "Oh Land" and her first here in the U.S.

Here is my favorite song from the CD:

"We Turn It Up" -  Oh Land

Enjoy the quirky video for "Sun Of A Gun" where Oh Land got to utilize her dancing abilities:



"ALL YOU NEED IS NOW" - DURAN DURAN

Duran Duran has returned to the music scene with four out of the five original members along with their thirteenth album, "All You Need Is Now".

The record was produced by Grammy Award-winner, Mark Ronson and he has stated that he wanted to bring the band back to their more avant-garde style of their first couple of albums. He has done that but also brought Duran Duran right in to the present.

This is a great track from the new release:

"Girl Panic!" - Duran Duran

"LATE NIGHTS & EARLY MORNINGS" - MARSHA AMBROSIUS

Marsha Ambrosius began her music career as one half of the British r&b/hip-hop duo, Floetry along with Natalie Stewart. After releasing two successful albums, "Floetic" (2002) and "Flo'Ology" (2005), the group separated. Ms Ambrosius was briefly signed to Dr. Dre's label, Aftermath Entertainment but left in 2009.  She worked as a singer and songwriter with a variety of r&b and hip-hop artists, including Alicia Keys, The Game and Jamie Foxx  before signing with Clive Davis and his, J Records.

Her first solo project, "Late Nights & Early Mornings" has just been released and it has not only topped the R&B charts but it debuted at number two on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart. I really enjoyed her work with Floetry but I'm not at all impressed with her new album. It's too ballad-heavy with a collection of fairly standard r&b songs that I had difficulty telling apart.

This is the first single from the album:

"Hope She Cheats On You (With A Basketball Player)" - Marsha Ambrosius

"WOUNDED RHYMES" - LYKKE LI

"Wounded Rhymes"  marks the second  collection of music by the Swedish songstress, Lykke Li. The album was written and recorded while she lived in Echo Park (my neighborhood), outside of Los Angeles.

Although, Lykke Li was surrounded by California sunshine, the record still maintains a dark and moody feel that is occasionally colored by classic pop styling. She continues to expand her musical sound while sticking to the themes of the sadness, pain and anger that can come from sex and love. While not everything worked for me on the album but, I find Lykke Li to be one of the most compelling and fascinating artists making music today.

This is one of the tracks that I liked from the new album:

"Love Out Of Lust" - Lykke Li

I love this video for the first single, "Get Some":



"LIGHTS" - ELLIE GOULDING

This twenty-four year old British singer/songwriter released her first album, "Lights" in 2010 in her home country where it debuted at number one and sold almost over 40,000 copies in it's first week. The record had four hit singles and by the end of the year, the album was re-released as "Bright Lights" with six new tracks including her version of the Elton John classic, "Your Song" which went to number two on the UK pop charts.

Finally, the U.S. edition of "Lights" has just came out that includes songs from both of the previous albums. This version is full of some great pop songs but she might get lost in the shuffle with this recent wave of British female vocalists invading these shores.

"Starry Eyed" is a fun track from the album::

"Starry Eyed" - Ellie Goulding