Awesome Collaborations (3)

I COULD BE THE ONE – Avicii ft. Nicky Romero

I saw the video for this before anything else and all I could think was ‘Why would she knock over a sandcastle AND swear at a little girl?!’ I just can’t understand how anyone would find that fun (especially the swearing part.) The song is brilliant though; I love the vocals and the music; they fit together perfectly. The lyrics are great too and I like the way the tune starts. I think this was number one last week (in the official charts) but in the Vodafone Big Top 40, One Direction and their Comic Relief single (One Way Or Another) took the top spot. Still, it’s the official chart which counts, right?!

JUST GIVE ME A REASON - Pink ft. Nate Ruess  (from Fun)

I have to confess that I didn’t really like this song when I first heard it. Shocking, I know! The thing was, it just reminded me of Lawson’s Learn to Love Again (because that’s what Pink says half the time!) But once I got over that minor issue, the song really grew on me. It’s kind of simple and that’s what makes it so good. I love the sort of ‘raw’ way in which Pink sings and Nate’s voice just clicks, almost like he was meant to be there all along. It’s basically fantastic.

THRIFT SHOP – Macklemore ft. Ryan Lewis

OK, so slightly behind with this one! It is brilliant though isn’t it? I love that the rap part is something that the average person can understand and relate to (and laugh about.) Usually with raps (even with Eminem) I get lost somewhere along the way but Thrift Shop was excellent in the sense that I could actually figure out what he was talking about and could understand what he meant. I love Ryan Lewis’ part too and the little girl’s voice halfway through… I literally cannot stop myself from smiling whenever I hear her! Oh, and the video is AWESOME too!

EMPIRE STATE OF MIND - Jay Z ft. Alicia Keys

I know this one is REALLY old (compared to the others) but it’s one of those songs that you never get tired of listening to. I love the video and I just love the song. At first I only really liked the chorus, but then Jay Z’s parts grew on me and I just think it’s a brilliant song. Funnily enough, I really like the spoof version too (the Newport one)… it’s hilarious and really quite impressive. Empire State of Mind II was surprisingly good too – kind of like Rihanna’s Love The Way You Lie II. Anyway, this song is definitely one of my all time favourite collaborations.

FADE – Jakwob ft. Maiday

I’ve actually only heard this once on BBC Radio One but I immediately liked it. Radio One is always doing new music and artists no-one’s ever heard of and most of it is pretty crap but I really enjoyed this song. Maybe it was because I expected to be disappointed but I couldn’t help being surprised that this was actually really good! They were interviewing the Jaykwob guy beforehand (I think it was on Valentine’s Day actually!) and he sounded SO boring and I was going to turn it off but the song was unexpectedly good so that was a nice surprise! LOL. It’s worth a listen at any rate!

I know these posts are meant to be about collaborations but I can’t resist including the odd solo single too, so, here is my new favourite!

READY OR NOT - Bridgit Mendler

I don’t usually like these sort of pointless pop songs but this one just has that feel-good factor. For some reason it just takes me right into summer, and it’s so catchy it makes me want to dance every time I hear it. It’s a simple song with that girly attitude that usually annoys the hell out of me, but with this one I can make an exception. As soon as it plays, all I can think of is blue skies, beaches, barbecues and freshly mown lawn.

Outnumbered = OVERRATED

Outnumbered is the absolute worst attempt at a comedy show that I have EVER had the misfortune to watch. I think it’s meant to be a funny take on family life but it is downright rubbish. And when I say rubbish, I MEAN rubbish; as in worse than Citizen Khan rubbish.

Why do I hate it so much?

Well, there are a number of reasons;

1)      The little girl who’s meant to be inquisitive and cute, quite simply cannot act. She’s making all these remarks that would be adorable and funny if they came out of a REAL little girl’s mouth but from her, they just sound so impossibly fake and rehearsed. And she puts on a squeaky voice which just adds to the whole crap-ness. And she doesn’t even look that small. She’s too old for the role!

2)      And then we come to the girl’s brother, the boy who I’ve only ever seen before in Just William. Now, when I saw him in Just William, he was OK. He was bearable because that was made a couple of years before and he could pass for a messy, annoying little kid. But now he’s big and totally OTT and no boy in the history of the world can possibly be as annoying as him. And I know that annoying is probably meant to convert into amusing when it gets out of hand but… it sort of doesn’t. It just stays annoying until you realise there’s no good reason why you should waste your time with BBC1 anymore.

3)      The teenage kid is way too OTT. When he isn’t calling his father an idiot, or a prat, he’s complaining about his phone battery and it’s just like… STEREOTYPE. I don’t know who made this show, but they need to get out of their boxy studio office, away from the news headlines, and learn what a real family is actually like because I have never seen anything so far off the mark.

4)      It’s described as ‘Award Winning’. I would never (not in a million gazillion years) give this pile of steaming horse poop an award. Like an award would EVER justify the amount of money wasted on this charade.

5)      The mother is also really REALLY annoying. She’s just too dumb. No real mother is like that. I know it’s supposed to be comedy and everything but it helps when there’s at least some element of reality included.

So, to conclude:

The Big Bang Theory, Friends, 2 Broke Girls, How I Met Your Mother and Miranda (and many more) are FUNNY.

Outnumbered is NOT FUNNY.

Awesome Collaborations (2)

STAY – Rihanna ft. Mikky Ekko

So, I’m not a HUGE Rihanna fan. In fact, most of the time she annoys me with her predictable lyrics and rather revealing outfits but this single was a pleasant surprise. I was… sort of blown away by Stay. I never expected such a ‘big’ song from Rihanna and less music and more emphasis on her vocals really made this special.

DON’T YOU WORRY CHILD – Swedish House Mafia ft. John Martin

I didn’t really care much for the news that Swedish House Mafia were splitting up because I’d never really followed their music or bought their albums. I’d only ever heard their other single with Tinie Tempah (Miami 2 Ibiza) which I guess was a good club track. But this one with John Martin is brilliant! I love the lyrics and the music and I love John Martin’s voice!

TROUBLEMAKER – Olly Murs ft. Flo Rida

This song is really light-hearted, kind of upbeat and it cheers you up without really having any deep meaning. It’s fun, I guess, and the video’s pretty good too. In fact, most of Olly Murs’ videos are… well, sort of PG, if you get what I mean. They’re fun and not completely swamped by female dancers. Anyway, the Flo Rida part just adds another element to the whole song and I guess I mainly like the tune. It’s catchy and, without meaning to, you somehow remember all the lyrics.

MY LIFE – 50 Cent ft. Eminem & Adam Levine

Well, I was incredibly excited about this single. I used to be a pretty big Eminem fan and I still like hearing his songs when they come up on the radio every so often. I liked My Life because somehow all three voices and styles just fit together. I was never a big 50 Cent fan but I couldn’t help enjoying this. To be honest my favourite part is the chorus but I still enjoy the rest of it too. The most annoying part is when you watch it on the TV and they bleep out all the swearing… it just ruins the song!

So, I know this last one isn’t collaboration but I love it anyway!

CLOWN – Emeli Sande

Emeli Sande is definitely the biggest breakthrough act of the last year. She has an amazing voice; you hardly even need the music to carry it. I loved Heaven, Next to Me and Read All About It but Beneath Your Beautiful didn’t do much for me. Clown, however, is AMAZING. It’s so pure and raw and it seems so heartfelt… every time I hear it, it makes me go all goose-bump-y!