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Tag: First Look

  • First Look: Pet Shop Boys “Together”

    Pet Shop Boys ”Together”
    The last couple of years have been great for the veteran synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys – lead singer Neil Tennant and everything-else-guy Chris Lowe. In 2009, 25 years into their career, they released Yes, one of their best (and happiest sounding) albums ever, and they followed it up with a very retro retrospective tour, documented in the live album and DVD Pandemonium released earlier this year. Now they’re getting set to put out a new greatest hits collection.

    The set’s called Ultimate and though the track-list leaves much to be desired, treading ground already well-documented in two previous compilations (1991’s essential Discography, and 2003’s massive PopArt), it does pick up one track each (definitely not enough) from their two most recent studio albums, and adds a new single, called “Together”. It’s a fine song, but hardly enough to justify buying another greatest hits CD. Chris and Neil largely cede the stage in the song’s video to two dueling gangs of dancers in a depressed looking workaday Russian (?) hamlet. It’s street toughs vs. a flock of ballerinas, who after an initial battle, teach each other their moves, hit the discos, and then put on a big show! Huzzah for Kinetic Young People! (The Pet Shop Boys make a couple of cameos, one at the beginning in costumes – Chris in his usual sunglasses, Neil with his usual big dog – and then again at the end looking on from the wings of the stage.)

  • First Look: OneRepublic’s “Good Life”

    OneRepublic ”The Good Life”
    OneRepublic have released a video for the fourth single from their sophomore album Waking Up. The song’s called “Good Life”, and like the band’s previous singles, it’s been slightly remixed from the album version, giving lead singer Ryan Tedder a little more room to ad lib on the chorus, and punching up the great, live-drum rhythm track. As its title would suggest, it’s a strummy celebration of life as a newly minted jet-setter. But as this ingratiatingly wide-eyed song catalogs the band’s more glamorous travels (including a shout-out to their home state of Colorado), the video finds them with all feet on the ground, singing (and whistling) their nice little song in a lovely, simple country setting. Like the band’s previous singles “Secrets” (which turns up in the trailer for the new movie Love & Other Drugs) and “Marchin’ On” (which was used in ads for the Lifetime TV series Army Wives), I expect that “Good Life” will be around for awhile, not so much as a radio staple, but one of those sleeper pop hits that finds its audience through persistent licensing.

    OneRepublic “Good Life”

    OneRepublic – Good Life (Official Music Video)
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  • First Look: Mike Doughty “(You Should Be) Doubly (Gratified)”

    I’ll admit-I sort of have a mancrush on Mike Doughty. The former Soul Coughing frontman-turned singer/songwriter/electronic musician/DJ/author/blogger has a certain relatability that actually seems to be quite prevalent among his generation’s spate of singer/songwriters. Anyway, Mike’s current album “Sad Man Happy Man”, which was released late last year, is quite a treat, as is the first video from the album-“(You Should Be) Doubly (Gratified)” (Mike is apparently a big fan of the parentheses, as am I). He shot the video in Cambodia (not the world’s most common video-shooting spot), and I think I can safely say that this video is the closest I’ll ever get to Southeast Asia. AOL spinner premiered the video yesterday, and we have it here for you today.