RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, collectively known as Pet Shop Boys, have been creating music together since 1981. Throughout this time, the British music duo have never strayed too far from their original sound: electronic dance music. Pet Shop Boys have just announced their upcoming fifteenth studio album, "Nonetheless", due out in April. With producer, James Ford, the Boys continue to explore the diverse emotions that makes us human through dance-oriented beats and their sound has expanded to include orchestral string arrangements. The first single, "Loneliness" from the album takes me back to the time of their breakout song, "West End Girls" which will be celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the original dance club version with the song re-recorded two years later and becoming a worldwide pop music smash.



Here is a collection of recent dance songs which includes the latest from Charli XCX (with a wild, crazy music video that I love); the inspired pairing of Sia and Kylie Minogue; another sexual, dance-floor ditty by Kim Petras from her recent EP, "Slut Pop Miami", a sequel to her 2022 release; Olly Alexander of Years & Years just dropped a romantic, beat heavy track and the latest dance anthem from the queer performer, Vincint.

Miley Cyrus has dropped a new song yet it's not actually new. Back in 2013, Cyrus teamed up musician, Pharrell Williams during the recording of her "Bangerz" album where the pop star played with a more musically funky style. An outtake from those sessions, "Doctor (Work It Out)" has just been released. Why is this song seeing the light of day at this particular moment in time? Who knows and who really cares because "Doctor" sounds just as fresh as if it were recorded yesterday. For the music video, Cyrus seems to be channeling  Las Vegas showgirls who stomped on the casino stages like Ann-Margaret and Lola Falana (look 'em up) back in the '70's, right down to the choreography. 

Frankie Goes to Hollywood burst on to the music scene back in 1983 with the song, "Relax" which not only topped the charts in their native Britain but became an international sensation. But what made this band really stand out beyond their popular music was that they were unapologetically queer, which was not at all common by pop artists to reveal at this time. Two following singles, "Two Tribes" and "The Power of Love" impressively also reached number one on the UK pop chart . Not long after this incredible success, Frankie Goes to Hollywood imploded and went their separate ways in 1987. In the recent film, "All of Us Strangers", filmmaker, Andrew Haigh effectively uses Frankie's ballad, "The Power of Love" to close out his deeply moving dramatic fantasy about loss and acceptance. Haigh has stated that this song was an important part of his music playlist from his youth in the '80's during a time when he was trying  to come to terms with love and his identity as a gay teenager.

CALVIN HARRIS IS BRINGING THE "FUNK"

After teasing us throughout the year with several tasty jams featuring an eclectic roster of artists, Calvin Harris has just released his fifth studio album, "Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1". This ten track collection has the thirty-three year old Scottish DJ/producer moving away from the dance floor and more towards a hip-hop/soul/ska vibe. And he has enlisted the help from some of the biggest names in music right now; Frank Ocean, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams, Ariana Grande, John Legend and Snoop Dogg to name just a few. One of my favorite songs so far this year is "Slide" which features Ocean and Migos and the album is filled will plenty of other solid grooves that will perfectly add some additional heat to the summer.

"Feels" is the latest single which features Perry, Williams and Big Sean riding on a Caribbean-flavored beat. Enjoy the official video for that tune and here are two other tracks to check out: Nicki Minaj also grooves to a tropical beat on "Skrt On Me' while two rising artists, Kehalni and Lil Yachty deliver a mid-tempo jam with "Faking It".

MEET DALEY

While possessing a butter smooth, soulful voice like his fellow Brits, Sam Smith and Adele, Daley has not made nearly as large of an impact here in the States, at least not yet. I recently discovered the talented twenty-six year old vocalist through his Pharrell produced song, "Look Up" which had reached the top-ten on the U.S. Adult R&B Chart back in 2013.

Born Gareth Daley in Manchester, England, he first got noticed through performing at open-mic nights and posting himself singing on his Myspace page. Daley's first major breakthrough came when he got involved with Gorillaz co-creator Damon Albarn . He co-wrote and sang on the track, "Doncamatic" for the "Plastic Beach" album in 2011. He later released that year a free download mix-tape titled "Those Who Wait" which became a viral sensation throughout Europe.

After releasing another mix-tape and opening for such artists like Emeli Sande, Jessie J and Miguel, this finally lead to Daley's debut studio album, "Days + Nights" in 2014. This impressive collection blends together old-school soul and modern beats along with Daley's solid song-writing skills and soaring, passionate vocals. Put it all together and this is a record you must hear.

There's word that he's got some new music on the way but in the meantime check out the video for the sensual song, "Look Up" and discover for yourself the magical, musical gift named "Daley":

MISSY ELLIOTT - "WTF"

It's been a shocking TEN YEARS since Missy Elliott released her own new music to the world. The hip-hop star had been busy producing and was featured on several recordings for other artists. First, Elliott teased us with an electric appearance with Katy Perry at this year's Super Bowl and most recently on Janet Jackson's new track, "Burn It Up" but she has now finally dropped a new single, "WTF (Where They From"). The track is classic Missy with it's funky beat and offbeat lyrics. Pharrell Williams produced and adds his vocals to this amazing song. The music video (Elliott co-directed with her frequent collaborator, Dave Meyers) perfectly enhances the track with it's quirky imagery, over-the-top costumes and slick choreography. Enjoy this wild, whimsical and wacky clip from the one and only Missy Elliott:

2014 GRAMMY AWARD NOMINATIONS

December 5th was Grammy Friday as all throughout the day, the nominations for the 57th Grammy Awards were announced. It all culminated with a holiday-themed televised concert, "A Very Grammy Christmas" which presented the Album of The Year nominees. I'm thrilled that the amazing Sam Smith tied with Beyoncé and Pharrell Williams with the most nominations with six. The British singer received a nod in all of the four major categories as well as Best New Artist.

Beyoncé set a Grammy record by becoming the female artist with the most nominations. At fifty-two, she moved past Dolly Parton, who she was tied with at forty-six before the announcement and now is tied with Kanye West as the sixth artist with the most overall nominations.

The awards will be handed out once again at the Staples Center in L.A. on February 8th. Here is a partial list of this year's Grammy nominations. For the complete list in all categories, please click below:

Grammy.com

Album of The Year:

"Morning Phase" - Beck
"Beyoncé" - Beyoncé
"X"- Ed Sheeran
"In The Lonely Hour" - Sam Smith
"Girl" - Pharrell Williams

Record of the Year

"All About That Bass" - Meghan Trainor
"Fancy" - Iggy Azalea Featuring Charli XCX
"Chandelier" - Sia
"Stay With Me (Darkchild Version)" - Sam Smith
"Shake It Off" - Taylor Swift

Song of the Year

"All About That Bass" - Meghan Trainor
"Chandelier" - Sia
"Shake It Off" - Taylor Swift
"Stay With Me (Darkchild Version)" - Sam Smith
"Take Me to Church" - Hozier

Best New Artist

Iggy Azalea
Bastille
Brandy Clarke
Haim
Sam Smith

Best Pop Solo Performance

"All of Me" - John Legend
"Chandelier" - Sia
"Stay With Me" - Sam Smith
"Shake It Off" - Taylor Swift
"Happy" - Pharrell Williams

Best Pop Duo/Performance

"Fancy" - Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX
"A Sky Full of Stars" - Coldplay
"Say Something" - A Great Big World with Christina Aguilera
"Bang Bang" - Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj
"Dark Horse" - Katy Perry featuring Juicy J

Best Pop Vocal Album

"Ghost Stories" - Coldplay
"Bangerz" - Miley Cyrus
"My Everything" - Ariana Grande
'Prism" - Katy Perry
"X" - Ed Sheeran
"In the Lonely Hour" - Sam Smith

Best Urban Contemporary Album

"Sail Out" - Jhene Aiko
"Beyoncé" - Beyoncé
"X" - Chris Brown
"Mali Is ..." - Mali Music
"Girl" - Pharrell Williams

Best Rap Album

"Because the Internet" - Childish Gambino
"The New Classic" - Iggy Azalea
"Nobody's Smiling" - Common
"Marshall Mathers LP 2" - Eminem
"Oxymoron" - ScHoolboy Q
"Blacc Hollywood" - Wiz Khalifa

Best Country Album

"Riser" - Dierks Bentley
"The Outsiders" - Eric Church
"12 Stories" - Brandy Clark
"Platinum" - Miranda Lambert
"The Way I'm Livin'" - Lee Ann Womack

Best Alternative Music Album

"This Is All Yours" - Alt J
"Reflector" - Arcade Fire
"Melophobia" - Cage the Elephant
"St. Vincent" - St. Vincent
"Lazaretto" - Jack White

Best Dance Recording

"Never Say Never" - Basement Jaxx
"Rather Be" - Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne
"F for You" - Disclosure featuring Mary J. Blige
"I Got U" - Duke Dumont featuring Jax Jones
"Faded" - Zhu

2013 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Most of the conversation about this year's Oscar nominations for Best Original Song has been about the disqualification of the tune, "Alone Not Alone". I had found it a little suspect that a song from a film that nobody never heard of (let alone ever seen) managed to earn a nomination but the real news is that the rest of the selections are actually a solid collection of songs. It's been quite a while since music from a motion picture has received serious radio play but two of our nominees have been climbing up the Billboard charts. One of this year's big Grammy winners, Pharrell Williams has a top-ten hit with "Happy" from the animation sequel, "Despicable Me 2" while "Let It Go", the breakout song from another smash animated film, "Frozen" is also moving up the top-forty.

The other two notable songs include rock legends, U2 who received their second Oscar nomination for the moving ballad, "Ordinary Love" which closes out "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom". Karen O from the art-punk band Yeah Yeah Yeah co-wrote "The Moon Song" with the director of the film, "Her", Spike Jones. A version of the song is performed in the film by actors, Scarlett Johansson and Joaquin Phoenix and by the artist during the end-credits.

The best news is that all of these great artists will be on the Oscar telecast, March 2nd to perform their songs. And the nominees for Best Original Song are:

"Let It Go" from "Frozen" -  Performed by Idina Menzel - (Music and lyric by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez)

"The Moon Song" from "Her" -  Performed by Karen O - (Music by Karen O, Lyric by Karen O and Spike Jonze)

"Ordinary Love" from "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom" -  Performed  by U2 -(Music and Lyric by U2)

"Happy" from "Despicable Me 2" -  Performed by Pharrell Williams - (Music and lyric by Pharrell Williams)

MY FAVORITE MOMENTS IN MUSIC OF 2013

I know this is very late and 2013 is just a distant memory for most people but I have to point out my favorite tunes from last year. I had already displayed some of my favs throughout, so here is the rest of my best:

"Safe and Sound" - Capital Cities

"This Life" - Josef Salvat

"The Way" - Ariana Grande featuring Mac Miller



"Love More" - Chris Brown featuring Nicki Minaj

"Hold On We're Going Home" - Drake



"Latch" - Disclosure featuring Sam Smith

"Happy" - Pharrell Williams

"Summertime Saddness (Cedric Gervais Remix)" - Lana Del Rey

"Unbelievers" - Vampire Weekend

"Walking On Air" - Katy Perry