Hip hop/pop hybrid Nicki Minaj’s much awaited sophomore album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, may have many moments of musical glory, but the songs in between are likely to leave you feeling like you’ve just glimpsed into Judy Garland’s mind after a handful of Seconal. Minaj’s prestige and elevation to fame after the ascendancy of the first Pink Friday may have gone to her head just a bit. Otherwise, I doubt the majority of Roman Reloaded would be characterized by shrieks and unintelligible yelling. But then, I suppose only Roman can be blamed for that.

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With “Roman Holiday,” an opener that will make you feel like you’re in a demented version of the Audrey Hepburn movie of the same name, Minaj reprises her role as Roman’s mother, Martha Zolanski, urging, “Take your medication Roman, take a short vacation Roman. You’ll be okay.” The most horrifying clincher is when Minaj digresses into a sinister version of “Come All Ye Faithful.” Then there is, hands down, the worst track on the album, “Come On A Cone,” in which Minaj tells us all about a “dick in your face.”

Nicki Minaj, you know, levitating at the 2012 Grammy Awards.

Thankfully, the third song, “I Am Your Leader” featuring Cam’ron and Rick Ross, begins to steer the album in a more bearable direction. It may actually be Cam’ron’s best musical effort since “Hey Ma.” As Minaj chants, “I am your leader,” you quickly start to believe it’s true. She then forces you to realize, “I’m a brand bitch, I’m a brand.” At least she owns up to that fact. “Beez in the Trap” featuring 2 Chainz follows, faintly smacking of Fergie as Minaj raps, “Bitches say shit and they ain’t say nothin,” which sounds an awful lot like, “Fergalicious definition: make them boys go loco.”

“HOV Lane” opens with a futuristic beat and segues into one of Minaj as Roman’s more harder-edged raps as she asserts, “I’m in my own lane, you ain’t in my categor. You like a RAV-4, I’m like the Inventador” (yes, that’s a car name she made up). The other noticeable track with “hit appeal” is the title track featuring Lil’ Wayne, “Roman Reloaded.” With an aggravated backbeat and an addictive chorus (“Bang, my shit bang, it bang bang”), this is the most ear-catching song next to “Stupid Hoe.” Minaj even references her controversial Grammy performance, questioning,  ”Is it me or did I put these rap bitches on the map again?/You mad ’cause I’m at the Grammys with the Vatican.”

Nicki Minaj's most memorable collaboration on Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded is with Lil' Wayne.

Another remarkable collaboration comes in the form of “Champion” featuring Nas, Drake (no stranger to the Minaj fold), and Young Jeezy. The emphasis of the track is contingent upon the contention: “Came back to Queens to head up a new state.” As someone who proudly recognizes where she is from (Jamaica! Queens, that is), Minaj also comprehends her responsibility to make it a better place now that she has the means and resources to do so (“This is for the hood, this is for the kids”). Chris Brown makes a cameo on the subsequent upbeat anthem, “Right By My Side.” Ironically, Minaj delivers her most Rihanna-like tone as she sings, “I’m pourin’ my heart out.”

Rick Ross is just one of numerous guest vocalists on Roman Reloaded.

“Sex in the Lounge” featuring (yet again) Lil’ Wayne and Bobby V. is perhaps an homage to Minaj’s occasional boyfriend/promotional guru, Safaree “SB” Samuels, considering her observation,  ”He addicted to hustle, I’m addicted to fame.” The Billboard chart-topping song, “Starships,” in which Minaj will vocally resemble Katy Perry as much as she ever will, is another album highlight, if not slightly on the superficial side. “Pound the Alarm,” one of the rare instances where Minaj sings unaccompanied, is another feel-good track in the vein of “Starships.” Once again, Minaj affirms her superiority over other females in her genre: “What I gotta do to show these girls that I own them?/Some call me Nicki, some call me Roman.”

She won't stand for your bull shit.

In a nod to Devo, “Whip It” bolsters the dance rhythm of  Roman Reloaded, evocative of a party that might take place in Ibiza or India as Minaj shouts, “Hey stranger over there, I really like the way you whip it” (insert whip-cracking sound effect here). “Automatic” mimics the inflection of Rihanna’s “We Found Love,” continuing to propel the more buoyant side of Roman. “Beautiful Sinner” (coincidentally a similar title to Madonna’s “Beautiful Killer” from the recently released MDNA, on which Minaj collaborates with M.I.A. for “Give Me All Your Luvin’”) is Minaj’s love letter to Trinidad, allowing her to tout, “South Africa is where I am from/Get me my banjo, get me my drum” and “Trinidad, Trinidad/My island.”

Relishing her moment in the spotlight.

Yet another connection to her fraternization with Madonna as a dancing Marilyn Monroe in the video for “Give Me All Your Luvin’” is the track named for said blonde bombshell. In it, Minaj laments, “Sometimes I feel like Marilyn Monroe: I’m insecure, I make mistakes.” As the pace of the album continues to slow down, “Young Forever” (in keeping with the Marilyn Monroe theme) signals the third act, so to speak, of Roman Reloaded. Singing some of her more maudlin lyrics, Minaj croons, “Frozen in time, always be mine/Baby boy, you’ll be young forever.”

Performing "Give Me All Your Luvin'" at the Super Bowl with Madonna.

The somewhat obviously titled “Fire Burns” bolsters the vulnerable side of Minaj, allowing her to vent about love lost as she bemoans, “This is a sickening joke that you play with my emotions.” “Gun Shot” featuring Beenie Man is the perfect transition from “Fire Burns,” with its moderate rhythm and the smooth vocals of Beenie Man to complement Minaj’s narrative. “Stupid Hoe” changes up the stride of the slow jam trilogy with the infectious accusation, “You a stupid hoe.”

Owning her Barbie look.

Those with the bonus track edition of Roman Reloaded are also subject to the David Guetta/Nicki Minaj dance-suffused partnership, “Turn Me On,” the ultra-80s sounding “Va Va Voom,” the equal part rap, equal part pop “Masquerade,” and a twenty-one minute interview entitled “Press Conference” with Minaj’s main squeezes Charlemagne and Safaree “SB” Samuels. When asked about if she feels she gets enough love from New York, she vehemently denies being appreciated in spite of how hard she worked to rise to her current stature. She even recalls, “I was sellin’ my fuckin’ mix tape outta my muthafuckin’ BMW on Jamaica fuckin’ Avenue.” Enough said.

It’s been almost exactly four years since Madonna came out with her last album, Hard Candy (released in April of 2008). In that time, she has opened a chain of gyms of the same name, created a clothing line with her daughter, Lourdes Leon, written and directed a film, and negotiated a new recording contract with Interscope Records (incidentally, the same label Lady Gaga is on). Not to mention continue to piss people off over her mere existence. But, if you haven’t guessed by now, Madonna really doesn’t give a fuck. There’s even a song on MDNA called “I Don’t Give A.” So what can you expect from the indestructible tour de force’s twelfth studio album?: Dance music at its purest and finest. Hence the title, MDNA.

Left: Deluxe edition album cover, right: Standard edition album cover

The second single from the album, entitled “Girl Gone Wild,” is also the song that kicks off the record. The track opens with a confessional apology extracted from the Catholic prayer, “Act of Contrition” (the title of a song that also appeared as the closer to Madonna’s seminal 1989 album, Like A Prayer): “Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended thee, and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and the pain of hell. But most of all because I love thee and I want so badly to be good.” It is, in essence, a sentiment that sums up all of Madonna’s actions throughout her career. But you can’t keep a bad girl down as the Queen of Pop dives into an electronically suffused beat that champions the cause of every “good girl gone wild.”

Always playing the fallen angel.

In an ideal world, “Gang Bang” will reverberate throughout every gay club in New York City. Or perhaps someday be featured as a lip synch for your life song on RuPaul’s Drag Race. Madonna oozes vengeance as she sings, “Bang bang, shot you dead/Bitch out of water, bat out of hell/Fish out of water, I’m scared, can’t you tell?” It makes so much sense that Mika is a producer on the song. Continuing with the MDMA motif, the next track is called “I’m Addicted.” Barring the similarity in lyrical rhymes to “Like A Prayer,” this is another standout song on the album in which Madonna reveals, “Something happens to me when I hear your voice/Something happens to me and I have no choice/I need to hear your name/Everything feels so strange/I’m ready to take this chance.” The beat then segues into something that only Benny Benassi could create as Madonna laments, “Fame’s like a drug and I can’t get enough.”

Martin Solveig, who also produced the first single from MDNA, “Give Me All Your Luvin’”, infects “Turn Up The Radio” with his usual brand of European house sensibilities. It is by far one of the most simplistic songs on the album, designed as more of a summer anthem as Madonna chants, “Turn up the radio” repeatedly, the only divergent lyrics being, “Don’t ask me where I wanna go/We gotta turn up the radio.”

“Give Me All Your Luvin’” succeeds “Turn Up The Radio” in a seamless transition of Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. chanting, “L.U.V., Madonna!/Y.O.U., you wanna!?” The video for the song, directed by MegaForce, coincided with Madonna’s performance at the Super Bowl Halftime Show, thus the football player/cheerleader motif throughout (with a Marilyn Monroe homage thrown in for good measure). The beat and rhythm of the following song, “Some Girls,” sets a new tone for the second half of the album, exuding a very reminiscent vibe to Goldfrapp’s 2003 hit, “Strict Machine.” It is also one of the triumphant auditory reunions between Madonna and Ray of Light collaborator, William Orbit.

In the studio with M.I.A.

And, speaking of collaborations, Madonna also enlists the backing vocals of her daughter on “Superstar.” Evocative of “Superpop,” a bonus track from 2005′s Confessions on a Dance Floor, Madonna uses famous names from history to create analogies on “Superstar”: “You’re like Caesar stepping onto the throne/You’re Abe Lincoln, ’cause you fight for what’s right.” Not one to pass up another opportunity to work with Minaj, Madonna appropriately features the Trinidadian goddess on “I Don’t Give A.” Although it is perhaps the most awkward song in terms of what fits in with Madonna’s musical style, it is definitely noteworthy for how personal the lyrics– undeniably directed at Guy Ritchie–are:

“I tried to be a good girl, I tried to be your wife/Diminish myself and I swallowed my light/I tried to become all that you expect of me/And if it was a failure, I don’t give a…”

Single cover for "Girl Gone Wild"

“I’m A Sinner,” yet another one of Madonna’s theme songs in terms of telling her detractors to fuck off, is the most overt sounding Orbit track on MDNA. Moreover, what would a Madonna song about sinning be without name dropping a few of her favorite religious figures, including Jesus and the Virgin Mary? “Love Spent,” the third of four tracks with Orbit’s signature on it, once again mirrors an unofficially released Madonna song: “Liquid Love” from, you guessed it, the Ray of Light era.

Performing with M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj at the 2012 Super Bowl Halftime Show.

As the album draws to a close, Madonna chooses to slow down the tempo with her Golden Globe-winning song, “Masterpiece,” featured on the soundtrack for W.E. “Falling Free” consummates the standard edition of MDNA. The influence of Joe Henry, country guru and Madonna’s brother-in-law, is evident on the laidback, twangy vocals.

Performing "Like A Prayer" with Cee-Lo at the 2012 Super Bowl Halftime Show.

For those with the sense to buy the deluxe edition, your ears will also be bestowed with “Beautiful Killer” (a song about French movie star Alain Delon), “I Fucked Up” (a relaxed mea culpa with a message that is the antithesis of “I Don’t Give A”), “B-Day Song” (another fast-paced collaboration with M.I.A.–because this was before M was upset with her over the middle finger debacle), “Best Friend” (in which M probes the demise of a relationship that reiteratively seems to be about Guy Ritchie: “You said you wanted more than just a pretty girl/Maybe I challenge you a little bit too much”), and, finally, the LMFAO “Party Rock” remix of “Give Me All Your Luvin’”. So, if you aren’t inclined toward dancing, having a good time, or escaping into the aural assuagement that only Madonna can provide, then MDNA may not be for you. And MDMA probably isn’t either.

Nite Jewel’s gradual rise from local Los Angeles band to a grand success beyond California state lines is an indication of Ramona Gonzalez’s talent. As the lead vocalist of Nite Jewel, her lyrical and musical direction continue to represent an homage to the best elements of 80s electropop and that rare genre, Italodisco. With one full-length album under their belt, Good Evening, Nite Jewel has upped the ante on One Second of Love, a sophomore effort that clearly has more production value than the lo-fi nature of Good Evening.

“This Story” is a brief opening track with the levity of Gonzalez’s voice to sustain the apology, “I’m a broken record, you have heard this before.” In a way, it is Gonzalez’s subconscious acknowledgment of her commitment to the style she has perfected over the course of the four years she has been making music under the Nite Jewel moniker. The following track and first single, “One Second of Love,” is electropop at its finest and frothiest. The title alone is indicative of the type of romance that occurs when two people’s eyes meet across the dance floor during a song like this, and for that brief second, you really are in love–until someone else catches your eye.

Keeping it real.

The third track on the album, “She’s Always Watching You,” is an emphatic, subtly funk-like concoction that echoes the intense yearnings of a Shangri-Las song as Gonzalez admits, “Whether I’m calling, I’m always thinking of you.” Next up is “Mind & Eyes,” a song with vague ties to the sound of Phil Collins that explores the topic of an erratic individual who can’t seem to deliver on a promise as she recounts, “You talk the talk and then you just… you walk the walk and then you just stop.” She later discourages, “Don’t try to fan the fire.”

This is what success looks like.

“In The Dark” is slow European electro beats at their finest, with surprisingly pithy lyrics to contradict the light and airy vibe of the music: “I’m a shell of a man, but don’t try to understand.” As a faster continuation of “In the Dark,” “Memory, Man” is an up-tempo track that Washed Out would be proud of. In many ways, “Memory, Man” is like a biography of living in Los Angeles as Gonzalez laments, “Could it be I’m losing touch again? I’m left out” and “It’s been done, we’re all down for the count.”

As the album gets past the halfway mark, we are given the gift of “Unearthly Delights,” a celestial, Enya-esque track that would fit in quite nicely at a trancier version of the Lilith Fair–and yet another title that could easily describe the sinful temptations of living in L.A. “No I Don’t” perpetuates Nite Jewel’s modern take on empowered female artists of the ’90s (Sophie B. Hawkins comes to mind), while the subsequent track, “Autograph,” returns to the more jubilant themes and sounds of the first part of One Second of Love. And, once again, the lyrics recall something out of a Shangri-Las song: “I’m so made up, but I got nowhere to go/I’ve still got your autograph, it is on my heart.”

Natural yo.

The concluding song, “Clive,” is an appropriately ambient cap on an album ideal for taking ecstasy or laying poolside (or both at the same time). It reveals that even though Nite Jewel’s tone has remained largely intact, it is also changing and expanding into avenues that are sure to spell international success for a band that has been bursting at the seams to be heard out of the bounds of L.A. County for some time now.

Two years ago, Sleigh Bells took Brooklyn and the world of noise pop by storm with their debut album, Treats. While touring for the album, Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller began writing material for their sophomore effort, Reign of Terror, set to be released on February 21st. While, in many ways, a continuation of the style that the duo brandished on their first LP, Reign of Terror blends elements of–dare I use the word?–maturity with all of the best aspects of the playful and carefree experimentations that exist on Treats.

Album cover for Reign of Terror

Opening with their typical brand of loud irreverence, “True Shred Guitar” is Krauss at her raucous best as the sound of a live audience is heard in the background and she puts on her best homage to The Runaways with her bleeped expletives during the first minute of the song. The second track, “Born to Lose,” was the first taste that fans of Sleigh Bells got from the album back when it was released in December. Its fanciful backbeat combines with Krauss’ malaise-tinged vocals to give the listener the genuine feeling that he is, in fact, most assuredly born to lose.

Sleek and chic: Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss.

The following song, “Crush,” is, in this listener’s opinion, the standout piece on the album. Krauss’ affinity for the inner workings of pop music are more evident on this auditory assault than on any other track present on Reign of Terror. “End of the Line” exhibits a sort of subtle nod to Enya with the soft chanting and whisper-quiet (by Sleigh Bells standards) vocals.

“Leader of the Pack” (an admitted tribute to The Shangri-Las–in song title and motif) gives us drawn out guitar riffs combined with the soft, yet emotionally charged chorus, “Don’t you know he’s never coming back again?” The first official video from Reign of Terror came in the form of “Comeback Kid,” one of the most upbeat offerings from the album. In its own way, the song seems to be directed at the band itself, with lyrics like, “You’ve gotta try a little harder, you’re the comeback kid…you’ll go away, but you’ll come back someday.” Considering Sleigh Bells’ two year absence, the single is rather apropos.

Go wild.

“Demons” is perhaps the most noticeable example of a veneration for Def Leppard, a band that Sleigh Bells actively wished to emulate in terms of guitar rhythm on Reign of Terror. With a beat that is moody and repetitive, Krauss matches the gutteral screams employed on “True Shred Guitar.”

“Road to Hell” is among one of the most tranquil songs on the album, strongly mirroring the sound and vibe of “Rachel,” a song that appeared on Treats. One of the most lyrically vulnerable tracks, “You Lost Me,” succeeds “Road to Hell.” “You Lost Me” finds Krauss crooning, “I don’t want you to see me this way, what a way to die…I’ll never lie to you, but I’ll never have to tell the truth.”

Synchronized minds.

“Never Say Die” has an ultimate 80s guitar intro that would make any hair band proud. Krauss’ voice is cultishly ethereal as the rhythm of the beat persists fiendishly. It’s kind of the perfect song for that last mile you have to run on the treadmill. The album concludes with “D.O.A.,” a perfect mix of a fast and slow tempo that, as usual, obscures the words that Krauss is singing in favor of emphasizing how she sounds saying them. But the truth is, she could be saying anything and it couldn’t detract from  the perfection of this album.

Looking like some sort of Mormon version of Fiona Apple, the album cover for Lana Del Rey’s much talked about, much anticipated debut album shows a conservatively clad Del Rey in a plain setting. The cover is a mirror of the album itself, never completely going the distance of amazingness we were tacitly promised by all of the pomp and circumstance leading up to this moment. Opening with the title track, “Born to Die,” Del Rey shows her 90s savvy by putting all of the good songs at the beginning of the album.

Album cover for Born to Die

The subsequent track, “Off to the Races,” explains the reasoning behind an early epithet from Del Rey’s embryonic career: “A gangster Nancy Sinatra.” With her mellifluous sounding vocals, Del Rey contrastingly drawls, “He doesn’t mind I have a Las Vegas past/He doesn’t mind I have a L.A. crass way about me/He loves me with every beat of his cocaine heart.” This particular brand of irony continues on “Blue Jeans,” another single we all know (but maybe no longer love thanks to that notorious Saturday Night Live rendition). Referencing James Dean doesn’t exactly help Del Rey in the inspired category either.

My reaction after listening to Del Rey's album.

“Video Games” follows, which reached its overexposed pinnacle after being played during an episode of Gossip Girl, and therefore doesn’t really need to be dwelled upon. “Diet Mountain Dew” is where Del Rey’s tempo finally starts to pick up again as she drives home that whole Nancy Sinatra comparison and recites a chorus that essentially sums up the music industry’s current obsession with her: “You’re no good for me, but baby I want you.”

With Bradley Soileau in the video for "Born to Die"

Del Rey continues with her patriotic motif (what is this hoe’s fixation on the American flag?) on “National Anthem.” Switching the sound of her voice to a replica of Gwen Stefani’s, Del Rey tells us another story about a dude: “He says to be cool, but I don’t know how. Tell me I’m your national anthem.” Don’t worry little Lana, you are our national anthem–until the next internet star is spawned. Del Rey also acknowledges another truth in this song that was probably gleaned from her New York years: “Money is the anthem of success.”

At least she admits it.

The next two tracks, “Dark Paradise” and “Radio,” are very similar sounding and sort of akin to some of the frothy bubblegum pop that appeared on Britney Spears’ (who Del Rey has freely cited as an influence) first two albums. Unlike Spears, however, Del Rey has the skill of making her songs seem more profound than they actually are because her similes make no sense. Therefore, if you admit to not understanding what the fuck she’s talking about, you sound like you’re too dense to comprehend a simple pop song. And even when the similes do make sense, they’re banal beyond belief (e.g. “Sweet like cinnamon” and “Pick me up like a vitamin”–vitamin being pronounced the British way).

“Carmen” is another anecdotal song about a troubled girl named, you guessed it, Carmen. I nodded off at several points during its duration and consequently cannot really tell you what the gist of Carmen’s plight is. Afterward, I felt compelled to get through an album I have officially dubbed “tailor made for Starbucks’ playlist.” So, here’s a succinct summary of the remaining songs, bonus tracks and all: “Million Dollar Man” exhibits Del Rey at the zenith of her lounge singer shtick, “Summertime Sadness” shows the trance music side of Del Rey and may have been written while standing and waiting for a subway to come during the heat of the summer (what other summertime sadness is there?), “This Is What Makes Us Girls” tells me nothing about what makes me a girl, “Without You” proves that Del Rey doesn’t even need to give a fuck about what her detractors say because, as she notes, “Everything I want I have,” “Lolita” is Del Rey at her most processed-sounding (granted she’s supposed to come across as a pedophile’s wet dream), and, finally, “Lucky Ones” is a discrepant close to the strong opening presented with “Born to Die.”

I’m not saying I dislike Lana Del Rey, though it may seem that way. I’m just saying that since my initial hopes for her began, I now found myself feeling like a parent who has just been informed that her daughter is switching from the surefire success of a business major to the uncertain future of a ceramics major (yes, you can major in ceramics).

Back in November, Behind the Hype prepared you for Amy Winehouse’s impending posthumous album. Today, Lioness: Hidden Treasures is finally here–and it’s a magical, yet morose-tinged collection. With tracks you’ve heard before and some you haven’t, Lioness has something for every variation of the Amy Winehouse fan, including the devout fan (“Best Friends, Right?”), the middle-aged fan (“Body and Soul” featuring Tony Bennett), and the hipster fan (“Like Smoke” featuring Nas).

In memoriam

With new versions of some of Winehouse’s most lauded songs from Back to Black, particularly “Tears Dry” (which later became “Tears Dry on Their Own”) and “Wake Up Alone.” The 60s-centric princess of modern soul also covers her fair share of ground when it comes to paying homage to her favorite decade. “The Girl From Ipanema” is a sultry remake of the classic bossanova song from 1962, while “Our Day Will Come,” the first single from the album, is Winehouse’s rendition of the 1963 Ruby & the Romantics song.

Rocking her signature Motown look.

“Between The Cheats” is another song that could easily be present on a compilation of 1960s hits. With its whistling and strong backing vocals, Winehouse flaunts her knowledge of a genre that she usurped some of the most renowned Motown stars in. Her remake of the seminal Shirelles song “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?” is also a highlight of the album.

An anachronism, to be sure.

Winehouse’s undeniable knack for emulating the style of classic girl groups like The Ronettes and The Supremes while still infusing everything with her own brand of originality is present throughout all of Lioness. One of music’s saddest missed collaborations, in fact, is Phil Spector and Amy Winehouse. Is it unheard of to hold out hope that he might remix one of her songs from prison? Behind the Hype thinks not.

Is it weird to talk about an album’s anniversary a mere three years later? Maybe. But Britney Spears’ Circus was an anomaly in and of itself, so it seems fitting to mark its birthday with this commemorative little homage to the pop star/professional abyssal spiral’s sixth studio album.

"All eyes on me in the center of the ring, just like a circus."

Released on December 2, 2008, Circus accomplished something that no one thought possible: A full-fledged resuscitation of Spears’ career. Her previous album, Blackout, led us all to believe that she had just done that–blacked the fuck out. Compounded by a catastrophic performance of “Gimme More” at the 2007 VMAs, it was around this time that the seeds of her imminent mental breakdown were planted, a rumor that seemed more than likely considering that Blackout generated just one truly memorable/hit-worthy song.

Album cover for Circus

Still, Spears managed to keep her crazy to a minimum, suppressing it in time to put the material together for Circus just one year after Blackout. How she found the extra hours to be hospitalized and raise two children is beyond me. Forcibly admitted to Cedars-Sinai in January of 2008, Spears “recovered” (though I have my suspicions that she might be a pod person now) in time to complete Circus for the holiday season. The collection of songs amounted to a return to her dance pop ways, but also established an uncharacteristically reflective tone that comes across as more genuine than on prior tracks like “Sometimes” or “E-Mail My Heart” (which appeared on Baby One More Time and Oops…I Did It Again, respectively).

Performing during Good Morning America on December 2, 2008.

Perhaps what sent the singer into her frenzied state of emotional upheaval was a lack of intensive touring for Blackout, as she only performed briefly under the name M+Ms in House of Blues venues throughout the country. The setlist for the tour was just five songs long. After recording Circus, Spears noted,

“Dancing is very important to me. Dancing is my life. As far as dancing goes, I’m dead if I don’t dance. I seriously, um, I can get really depressed and the only thing that can, you know, get me out of depression or get me out of my head or anything like that is when I get with people and I dance.”

Hence her devolution toward dementia? In any event, the musical vibe of Circus is nothing if not a dance extravaganza. Part of what motivated Spears to include only two ballads (“Out From Under” and “My Baby”) was the idea of touring the album with a circus-inspired concept that would showcase some of her best choreography.

The ringleader.

The sultry, “come one, come all” nature of tracks like “Kill the Lights,” “Shattered Glass,” “Lace and Leather,” “Mannequin,” and, of course, “Circus” were ideal for the tour that Spears had in mind. Her vision proved very profitable indeed as The Circus Starring Britney Spears was her highest grossing tour to date. So successful was her Circus album and tour, it makes sense that Spears would wait three years (see? So this three year anniversary is significant) to release her seventh album, Femme Fatale.

Single cover for "Circus"

While Femme Fatale is a decent, equally as dance-packed follow-up, it does not quite possess the magic and pageantry of Circus. The Femme Fatale Tour also seems to be a reflection of that when comparing its ticket sales to those of The Circus Starring Britney Spears. But it’s okay, because we can go into the tent and inhabit Spears’ world of fantasy and yes, insanity, anytime we want just by listening to Circus–unequivocally, to quote the singer herself, her “best work ever.”

Maybe it has to do with being from Barbados or using Madonna as a source of inspiration, but Rihanna is definitely a pop star who falls into the category of “can’t stop, won’t stop.” On the heels of her previous two albums, Rated R (2009) and Loud (2010), Rihanna has just released the dance-tinged Talk That Talk. Already, the album has spawned a number one, “We Found Love” featuring Calvin Harris, and, based on the other songs on the siren’s sixth LP, this is only the beginning of her record-breaking success.

Fierce.

Produced largely by Dr. Luke and StarGate, much of Talk That Talk is suffused with the raw sexual energy that Rihanna has become known for. Songs like “Cockiness (Love It)” showcase the artist’s lack of inhibitions with lyrics like, “Suck my cockiness, lick my puh-suasion/Eat my words, and then swallow your pride down, down.” The lasciviousness continues on “Birthday Cake” as she croons, “Come and put your name on it/It’s not even my birthday, but you wanna lick my icing off/I know you want it in the worst way.” So yeah, Rihanna’s pretty comfortable with innuendos.

Talk That Talk album cover

But that doesn’t mean the Barbadian sex goddess isn’t fond of singing about a holding hands type of love. Tracks like “You Da One,” “Where Have You Been,” “We All Want Love,” and “Farewell” are all a bit less sexually explicit, focusing on either the euphoria of finding love or the sadness of losing it.

Deluxe edition of Talk That Talk

Another highlight on Talk That Talk is the song of the same name featuring Jay-Z. Although they’re never going to recapture the perfection of “Umbrella” together, it still works as a great track to bump in your car or on the dance floor. As far as Behind the Hype is concerned, this album is among her best, proving that quality is actually possible with quantity. Because no one in the music industry has been this prolific since Missy Elliott (where is that ho anyway?).

There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that the death of Amy Winehouse would yield a posthumous recording. The first track to be released from the album Amy Winehouse Lioness: Hidden Treasures (a bit long-winded if you ask me, and the term “Hidden Treasures” has a decidedly perverse connotation ever since I saw the episode of Bored to Death where Ray gets a colonic) is entitled “Our Day Will Come.”

Producer Salaam Remi assures that the new album is not a "Tupac situation."

Although a remake of the 1963 Ruby & the Romantics version, the song, which can best be described as a mash-up of “Addicted” and “Just Friends” (both from the Back to Black album), is an exact replica of the 60s soul/Motown vibe Winehouse had cultivated to a tee. Produced by Salaam Remi (who has created other such masterpieces as The Fugees’ “Fu-gee-la” and most of Winehouse’s debut album, Frank), the track is telling of what the rest of the album will sound like. That is to say, a carbon copy of Back to Black.

Gracing the cover of Rolling Stone in 2007 at the height of her popularity.

Whether it was Winehouse’s intention to deliver what her fans presumably wanted cannot be stated for sure considering that there are a number of tracks she insisted remain in the Island Records vaults. Eerily enough, she made this demand known not long before she died. One of those tracks, “Procrastinate,” has been declared by label boss Darcus Beese to be “among the best she ever recorded.”

Winehouse also recorded a track with Nas, "Like Smoke," that will be released on the same album.

In addition to “Our Day Will Come,” another, infinitely more impressive song, “Like Smoke” (featuring Nas), has the tongue in cheek persona of “Rehab” and harkens back to the brazen and rebellious British bird we had all come to know and love. What is more, there is something that is just too tinged with sadness about “Our Day Will Come,” as Winehouse sings lyrics like, ”Our day will come/And we’ll have everything/We’ll share the joy falling in love can bring.” It’s difficult to hear knowing that, in fact, her day will not come.

Winehouse’s album, Amy Winehouse Lioness: Hidden Treasures, is slated to come out on December 5th, 2011. 

CSS has never been a band to be trifled with. Their recently released third album, La Liberaciòn, is a testament to the Brazilian quintet’s unwavering devotion to creating music that defies expectations and ordinary dance floor beats. Comprised of lead singer Lovefoxxx, producer/founder/drummer Adriano Ferreira Cintra, guitarist/drummer Luiza Sá, guitarist Ana Rezende, and guitarist/drummer Carolina Parra—all hailing from São Paolo—CSS is by far one of the most refreshingly zany bands to materialize in a long time.

Back of album cover

La Liberaciòn opens with the earnest and succinct “I Love You.” Lovefoxxx urges you to “feel the beat of my heart” for most of the song. It is, in many ways, similar to the sort of simplistic introduction (“CSS Suxxx”) that appeared on their 2006 debut, Cansei de ser Sexy. Naturally, with five years having passed, the band—fun-loving though they may be—has noticeably matured. A fact that is evident on “City Grrl” (that’s just the norm for spelling “girl” now) featuring the always over the top SSION, wherein Lovefoxxx notes, “In the big city, nothing hurts”—presumably because everyone is numb to the incongruous stimuli around them.

In a tree

The first single from La Liberaciòn, “Hits Me Like A Rock” featuring Primal Scream/The Jesus and Mary Chain frontman Bobby Gillespie, is even more addictive than their legendary first single “Music Is My Hot Hot Sex,” which is a fairly incredible feat.

By some trees

“Echo of Love” has this strangely folk sounding beat, or as folk sounding as people from Brazil can get. “Just let it go, enjoy it while it lasts” is the message CSS wishes to convey on this track, an aphorism that goes hand in hand with the album’s title. “You Could Have It All” slows the pace of the album down a bit, while still maintaining one of CSS’ archetypal electro beats. It is also one of the more narratively structured songs, with Lovefoxxx painting the following picture: “We met in the music shop, they were playing our favorite band. After years of walking hand in hand, we were too busy to hang with our friends.”

Performing with that distinct logo of theirs

“La Liberaciòn” is a rock song with Lovefoxxx’s typical brand of enthusiasm as she sings in her mother tongue, “I’m tired of hoping/Ran out there today/Screaming a crazy, crazy poem/Naked down the street smiling.” My Portuguese may be a bit off, but I think that’s how Lovefoxxx generally sounds when she speaks English. “Ruby Eyes” vaguely compares to an Elvis Costello song if Elvis Costello wasn’t so whiny and sang songs about smoking joints. “Rhythm to the Rebels” asks, “Wanna break some rules? I’d love to.” It’s one of the more abrasive tracks on the album.

Album cover

“Red Alert” featuring Ratatat tells the tale of a girl who is “all dressed up with nowhere to go, feeling the rhythm of casual love.” The song has a somewhat melancholic backbeat that presents an interesting dichotomy to obsequious lyrics like, “Tell me what you want and I’m ready to go.” Perhaps the contrast is meant to show how empty the concept of love is in the modern age.

Oh Lovefoxxx

The second to last song, “Fuck Everything,” showcases CSS’ particular flavor of humor. Lovefoxxx complains, “Nothing ever happens in this neighborhood. I wanna rip my eyes out.” The song is barely two and a half minutes and features a brief pause of silence in between the album’s closer, “Yolanda,” before which Lovefoxxx is compelled to tell you, “Hi, my name is Lovefoxxx and I’m 12 years old. I like going to the pub with the gays, I like buying pencils and pens, I like cooking, and I like…cookies.”

Performing in the most amazing garb/against the most amazing tableau I have ever seen.

So, basically, La Liberaciòn, completely outshines CSS’ sophomore album, Donkey, and nearly eclipses the group’s irreverent and unprecedented first album, Cansei de ser Sexy. Here’s hoping the fourth album gives us a collaboration with Lovefoxxx’s former fiancé, Simon Taylor of The Klaxons.