Joan As Police Woman - The Deep Field Album Review

The Deep Field represents only the third full length album from Joan As Police Woman. (You can get a forth but only at the live shows). Ostensibly the vehicle and work of Joan Wasser, Joan As Police Woman started releasing music back in 2004 with the debut album 'Real Life'. You, as I, may be forgiven for thinking her output had been more substantial. She, or they, if you include other band members, seem to have been an ever present. Always consistently reliable in terms of quality and character, Joan As Police Woman really only tells half the story as her other work shows why she's never far off the musical radar.

Joan's work with many esteemed artists, since the tragic death of her then partner Jeff Buckley, has been not only extensive, eclectic and often emotional it has also been highly productive, usually reaping some fantastic results. Working with Anthony & The Johnson's on their best album to date, 'I Am A Bird Now' may 'Have saved her life' but subsequent work with the likes of David Sylvian, LLoyd Cole, Rufus Wainwright and The Guillemots, amongst others, has only served to develop what was already an awesomely talented singer, musician, writer and performer.


'The Deep Field' is Joan As Police Woman's follow up to 2008's 'To Survive'. In 2011 Joan is seemingly a lot more self assured, a lot more content and at ease with the World. Being in touch with herself to such a degree has meant she has been able to confront her demons and lay her feelings bare but not as a melancholic, naval gazing troubled and tortured soul, rather in a positive celebration of life. OMG, I hear you cry, that'll never work. Fear not for whilst the message may be delivered from a slightly different perspective, the music never fails to impress............this is good stuff, get me to therapy now.

Joan recorded her 'Most open and joyous record' back in Brooklyn with Bryce Goggin. It opens as though listening to Under Water Love on the radio, by the sea, as a calypso band tunes up in the background! 'Nervous' breaks in with some deep velvety bass and characteristically colourful organ set to Joan's lightly soulful vocal. The jagged and psychotic guitar riffs pile in to build the depth of the song as Joan declares...'I'm not opposed to it, I quite enjoy it' and so will you.

The first single taken from the album, 'The Magic', follows majestically on. The opening chords may have you recalling JT's 'Cry Me A River' but don't let that put you off, this is a fabulous tune in all respects. The looping organ, tight percussion, over layered and harmonised vocals and catchy hooks will have you playing it on repeat. The demonic guitar riffs dip in again whilst Joan searches for the magic....

'The shadow inside of me is begging for direction to illicit city,
but I want to do better than to fight this life,
'cos it is a dream.
I wonder if the wild animals livin' in me will ever find freedom?
And all I fear is what I fear,
My leviathan.'

The use of the word leviathan here should be given extra credence as it is one of those words, such as Wisteria or Tortoise Shell, that will only ever crop up once, maybe twice, in any of the vast array of songs that you hear during your life. (No, I've not looked it up so if you know of ten songs with the word in feel free to let me know!).

'The Action Man' takes the soul soaked atmosphere and fuses in a little funk as Joan 'Feels her heart race as she hits the floor' with some fabulously sleazy Sax solos complimenting her sultry voice. 'Flash' is the first of the albums duets and combines a more moody piece of recollection with a revolving organ piece paired against a trancey/halucinatory Doors like rain of cymbal crashes. Sharing vocals again on 'Human Condition' sees Joan in a more sensual situation, 'My body is waiting at all times to be thrilled', delivering, here and later on with 'Forever And A Year', a light and feminine sensitivity to her Leonard Cohen like partner.

Joan's credibility as an extremely accomplished song writer are further justified with almost every song on The Deep Field. The delicacy of expression and touch in the breezy and in love 'Kiss The Specifics' show you don't have to wallow to make a wonderful record. 'Chemmie' brilliantly captures the life affirming narrative that runs almost entirely through the album whilst Soul manifests itself all over the place, giving the Deep Field a feeling of coherence without losing the individuality of each song. The organ and keyboard pieces are at times sublime, working perfectly with the interjections of horns and guitars to compliment and contrast to Joan's ripened vocals.

The Deep Field is a fabulous record, one that come December 2011 will most likely make the 'Best Ofs' that we've just got shot of for 2010. 'She's only just started to enjoy it' she sings out in one of the albums tunes. Let's hope she continues to do so for a long time to come as this is her best, most consistent, work to date.

James Blake - James Blake Album Review

More than a decade after the slow, dark and deep electronic sound now called dubstep began to develop in the dirty bedsits of penniless but forward-looking electronic artists, it finally has something close to a break-out star. James Blake is tall, handsome, young, talented, and unafraid to acknowledge Stevie Wonder and Joni Mitchell as musical influences. In short, he is glamorous, a quality which dubstep's biggest names have tended to lack, and a quality which saw him finish second in the BBC's recent Sound of 2011 poll. At the same time, he's wilfully and admirably committed to a distinctive artistic vision, andanybody who half-expected this album to be a slick, unambitious attempt to cash in on his growing popularity will come away pleasantly surprised: it's nothing of the kind. Blake is the first British pop star in a long time to marryeasy glamour with a commitment to making innovative, interesting music.

This self-titled album almost completely reverses some dance music's tendency towards slick, full-throttle cartoonishness. It's a record which is as slow, meticulous, and emotionally engaged as its first single, the Feist cover 'Limit To Your Love', suggested it would be. Blake employs the musical building blocks from which he created that track throughout the album. Stately piano chords ring out and then abruptly stop. Syncopated beats wink into existence, tiptoe about nervously for a while, then disappear. The vocals, which Blake relies on far more than he did in his previous work, are heavily processed and frequently multi-tracked, but despite this sound plaintive and soulful; a single lyric will typically be repeated again and again, gaining emotional force with each repetition. Particularly powerful examples of this technique include 'I Never Learnt To Share' ('My brother and my sister don't speak to me/but I don't blame them') and the forthcoming single 'Wilhelm's Scream' ('I don't know about my love/I don't know about my loving anymore/All that I know is that I'm falling'). Tracks like these have as much in common with soul music as they do with dubstep, but despite the protestations of some genre nerds, the tempo and atmosphere of his music mark him out as someone rooted in the dubstep aesthetic.

Blake's music can be divisive, and one criticism has a grain of truth in it: the carefully composed and arranged nature of his music sometimes detracts from its emotional pull. There's something to be said for this; all the finest romantic gestures are spontaneous, but Blake's musical gestures are anything but, and the studied nature of songs like 'Limit To Your Love' - the pauses, the use of silence, the precise playing - does detract a little from their emotional pull. The flip-side of this is how spectacularly odd this tension can make his music sound; James Blake contains some songs of love and loss which seem to have been composed by an alien who has never experienced love or loss, but is fascinated by the idea. The unsettling strangeness of these tracks is one of many reasons why the record succeeds.

Lil Wayne - Lil Wayne Releases Super Bowl Track Green And Yellow

LIL WAYNE has released a Super Bowl inspired remix of WIZ KHALIFA's track 'Black and Yellow'.

LIL WAYNE has revealed his allegiances for this year's Super Bowl by recording a track entitled 'Green and Yellow', a remix of WIZ KHALIFA's Pittsburgh Steelers anthem 'Black and Yellow', reports Billboard.com. Khalifa released his track back in September 2010, the lead single from his forthcoming studio album 'Rolling Papers'. The song's title references the official colours of the rapper's hometown Pittsburgh, and its professional football team. The 'Steelers' will compete for the Super Bowl in Dallas this Sunday (6th February 2011), however, the Young Money CEO has recorded a rival track, championing their opponents the 'Green Bay Packers'. In the playful remix, LIL WAYNE raps, "Got a call from my homey, this just in, The Packers in the Super Bowl and they better win. They call him Big Ben, but he weak, though, We in Dallas, but we Lambeau Leap, ho". Despite hailing from New Orleans, LIL WAYNE is said to be a long-time fan of the Packers.

The remix comes after the Wayne released his most recent album 'I Am Not a Human Being' in September 2010, whilst still serving a prison sentence for criminal possession of a weapon. The record, which featured vocals from DRAKE, NICKI MINAJ and LIL TWIST, topped the US Billboard 200.

Even the Black Eyed Peas are protecting their Super Bowl playbook.

"We're not allowed to give away the set list, but it will be packed with energy - what the Black Eyed Peas bring," said band member Fergie at a news conference Thursday.

The band said they are excited and honored to give the halftime performance during Sunday's game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers.

"We want everybody to have a good time and just dance, party," will.i.amsaid about the performance that's expected to include R&B star Usherand former Guns 'N Roses guitarist Slash.

Usher, Slash Slated for Surprise Super Bowl Halftime Show Appearance

A person familiar with the plans for Sunday's halftime show told The Associated Press that both musicians were slated to make surprise appearances. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Wednesday, because the musicians' performances were not going to be announced.

"Hopefully we will bring the heat because it's cold as hell here in Dallas," said Black Eyed Peas band member Taboo. The band spoke at a news conference in downtown Dallas on the third consecutive day of subfreezing temperatures during a rare cold spell that greeted the first Super Bowl week in North Texas.

Taboo said the opportunity to provide entertainment for the NFL's ultimate game is "a dream come true for us as football lovers." Fellow band member, Fergie, said it was a "huge honor" to be picked as halftime performer.

"Sunday football is a serious day in our homes," said Fergie, who is a minority owner of the Miami Dolphins. "Super Bowl Sunday is the day that I can go all out - cheat - eat the seven-layer dip, all the Italian food and scream at everybody."

Christina Aguilera to Sing National Anthem at Super Bowl

The six-time Grammy award-winning Black Eyed Peas have sold more than 28 million albums worldwide and are known for songs such as "Boom Boom Pow," ''I Gotta Feeling" and "Imma Be." "Some people write songs for radio. Some people write songs for clubs. We like to write songs for life," will.i.am said, adding that he is proud that many of their energetic songs are featured at sporting events.

'Glee' Star Lea Michele to Sing at Super Bowl

At the news conference, band member apl.de.ap showed off his nod to his band playing at the Super Bowl: He had the band's initials - BEP - and XLV - for the 45th Super Bowl - shaved into the back of his head. The band also will bring some technology to the show as will.i.am will be tweeting during the performance.

Keith Urban and Maroon 5 will be performing during the pre-game festivities on Sunday. Christina Aguilera is set to sing the national anthem and Lea Michele of "Glee" will sing "America the Beautiful."

Nielsen SoundScan has awarded Taylor Swift for having the best selling debut week for a female country artist.

First week sales for her 'Speak Now' album were 1,047,000 making it the biggest selling debut for a female country artist ever.

Taylor Swift album sales in 2010 added up to around 4.4 million. She has sold over 4 million albums a year for the past three years and had it not been for Michael Jackson's death in 2009, she would have been the biggest selling artist of that year as well.

Taylor is also the top selling digital artist of all-time. 34,269,000 Taylor tracks have been downloaded, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Taylor Swift was also the most played artist on US radio with 1,128,100 spins registered last year, according to Nielsen BDS.

BRITNEY SPEARS - Hold It Against Me (OFFICIAL NEW SINGLE)

BRITNEY SPEARS
Hold It Against Me (3:23)
Producers: Dr. Luke, Max Martin
Writers: Max Martin, Lukasz Gottwald, Bonnie McKee, Mathieu Jomphe
Publishers: Various
Jive/JLG

"Hold It Against Me," the hotly anticipated new Britney Spears single, inevitably arrived on the Web a day ahead of its scheduled release, with Spears writing on Twitter, "Don't #HOLDITAGAINSTME for coming out early." It's easy to see why the pop star didn't want to wait: with its throbbing bassline and pulsating kick drum, this Max Martin/Dr. Luke mind-meld is in a hurry to get where it's going. The track's balance between club-ready verses and a soaring pop chorus (which melodically recalls the verse from Dido's "Thank You" sampled in Eminem's "Stan") is more reminiscent of the Black Eyed Peas' recent hits than anything in Brit's formidable singles catalog. While lyrics like, "If I want your body now/Would you hold it against me?" don't earn points for originality, "Hold It Against Me" is a winner and a tantalizing teaser of Spears' forthcoming, still-untitled album, due in March.

Trey Songz Planning New Album for 2011

Even as his latest album, "Passion, Pain & Pleasure," continues to churn out singles -- including the latest, "Love Faces" -- Trey Songz is hatching plans for its successor. 

"I want to release an album this year," the Atlanta-based R&B singer tells Billboard.com. "We're starting in the studio now. I'm always thinking about music. I'm in the studio whenever I can be. I'm not pressed or in a rush to make an album right now, but I always have a need to make music."

Sisters Shelby Lynne, Allison Moorer to Release Collaborative Album

After a prolific 2010, sisters Shelby Lynne and Allison Moorerplan to record their first collaborative album this year.

"We're starting to write in March and hopefully we'll put out a record next year," Lynne tells. "We're going into uncharted territory here. We'll see what happens. I expect it to be really good and really soulful. We're just a couple of singers who happen to be sisters...getting together to write songs and see what we can do together."

The album is an outgrowth of a tour the two did late last year, which Lynne says was an "excellent" experience for all concerned. "We loved it, people loved it," she reports. "It was just the two of us on two guitars. Having not written anything yet we did each other's songs and reached back into our childhood and grabbed a couple of things that we grew up singing. It worked brilliantly. We both like to tell stories and cut up and have fun and go with the flow...We don't fight. I know everybody would love that to be the case, but that's not the way it is, and I don't see anything like that happening."

Lynne is coming off a 2010 in which she released her 11th studio album, "Tears, Lies and Alibis," as well as her "Merry Christmas" collection, both on her own Everso Records imprint. Moorer, meanwhile, released her own album, "Crows."