NEW MUSIC: P!NK - "BLOW ME (ONE LAST KISS)"

Official Artwork for Blow Me (One Last Kiss)

At long last P!nk is gearing-up for the release of her first Single since her Baby Willow Sage was born last June. Produced by Greg Kurstin (Lily Allen, Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson), the Track borrows a Concept from Modest Mouse's Float On and everything about it feels 1983-ish. 

The Title, Blow Me (One Last Kiss), gets a bit of a playful boost with its v. suggestive '70s Porn-esque Cover Art.  The expletive-filled Song really though is about her being ready to let-go finally of an ailing relationship and although it isn't quite as catchy as some of her earlier work, there is every indication that we'll all be humming its Chorus by Summer's end.  "I've had a sh*t day/You had a sh*t day/We've had a sh*t day/I think that life's too short for this/Won't back my ignorance with bliss/I think I've had enough of this/Blow me one last kiss", she sings.

The Track will appear on P!nk's upcoming sixth Studio Disc, which tentatively is due September 2012.

Check out Blow Me (One Last Kiss) below:

FIRST PHOTO: P!NK, CAREY & WILLOW HART

P!nk, Carey & Willow Hart

People Magazine got the exclusive first Photo of P!nk and Carey Hart's Baby Daughter Willow and they genuinely look so happy!  The Portrait, taken by Baby as Art, was taken one week after Willow was born earlier this month.  The Grammy Winner tells the Magazine, "You hear people say it all the time, how life changes so drastically. But you can't possibly grasp how beautiful that is until you have your Child,".

Click here to read the Exclusive.

(Photo credit: People Magazine/Baby as Art)

ANTONIO "L.A." REID POSSIBLY BRINGING MARIAH CAREY BACK TO SONY MUSIC?

Mariah Carey in Toronto - March 2010

Antonio "L.A." Reid, who has been responsible for shaping the careers of many a great Pop Star including P!nk, Usher, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Bon Jovi, TLC and Avril Lavigne, announced today that he will be leaving Island Def Jam effective immediately as its Chairman. He will be working again with Sony Music, having prior overseen the careers of Artists under that label.  There are speculations that he will be a Judge on Simon Cowell's U.S. version of The X Factor.

According to Roger Friedman at Showbiz411, Mariah Carey whom Reid aided in scoring one of the biggest comebacks ever seen in Pop Music in 2005 with The Emancipation of Mimi, will be headed back to her original label Sony Music.  She must however first complete her contractual obligations to Island Def Jam (Univeral Music) with just one more album left, due some time later this year.

Although Island Def Jam did an amazing job with Carey, perhaps indeed it is time for a change with the lackluster performance of her last few releases under the imprint, including E=MC² and Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel.  Could be great!

(Photo credit: Mr. Will-W.)

P!NK CONFIRMS PREGNANCY RUMOURS ON "ELLEN"

P!nk announces pregnancy to Ellen DeGeneres

Congratulations, P!nk! In true Mariah Carey style she has timed the announcement of her Preganancy around the promotion of her album. The Pop Rocker's Greatest Hits..... So Far!!!! just hit stores yesterday and she appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show today to raise a glass (well, a mug actually!) to toast the great news.

 

Getting pregnant hasn't been easy for P!nk though as she previously had a Miscarriage, as revealed to DeGeneres and she implied she may have had had to undergo some type of Fertility treatment clarifying, "I worked for it. ... It was not an 'oops.'". Her Doctor expects that the Baby likely is a Girl. Amazing on all counts! 

Watch the episode here.

Read my review of P!nk's Greatest Hits here.

(Photo credit: Warner Bros.)

P!NK - GREATEST HITS.... SO FAR!!! REVIEW

Nobody can deny that P!nk is one of the most important Artists of the past decade. A critical and commercial darling, the tough-exteriored Singer/Songwriter has sold over 34 million albums worldwide since debuting as a pseudo-R&B/Pop Artist in 2000 with Can't Take Me Home. It wasn't until she found her own voice of 2001's Missundaztood that things sky-rocketed for her with smash hit Get This Party Started, followed by decidedly more Pop Rock singles Don't Let Me Get Me and Just Like a Pill. She sprung a surprise and people responded. And people just haven't stopped responding, thus the decision to release Greatest Hits.... So Far!!!

The 19-track Collection, a comprehensive review of P!nk's phenomenal career, is offered to Fans with the inclusion of two new recordings, Raise Your Glass and Fuckin' Perfect. Neither particularly remarkable, although the former did land on-top of the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. Overseas Editions of the album include even more tracks, like her original version of Whataya Want From Me, eventually recorded by Adam Lambert (his version wins) and Heartbreak Down.

NEW MUSIC - P!NK - RAISE YOUR GLASS

Hmmm.  It seems as though P!nk has hit a bit of a roadblock in terms of inspiration as she seems to be struggling to strike that fine balance between maturity in her songwriting, yet still being that fun girl we've all grown to love.  I didn't love her last effort Funhouse really.  In fact I found it a tad on the boring side to be honest, but I did adore her  smash first single So What?  I mean if I wanted to listen to a Melissa Etheridge or Indigo Girls album, I'd do exactly that.  I love P!nk for the fun, fearless individual she is and some of her recent material just seemed out of character for me.

Here on this new track produced by longtime collaborator Max Martin and Shellbackfrom her upcoming release Greatest Hits.... So Far!, we see P!nk toasting all us "dirty little freaks" who have celebrated her illustrious career all the way.  And let's not lose sight of what a fantastic decade of music P!nk has brought us as one of the most important female artists of the 2000s.  I for one will be getting a copy of her compilation.  

Give Raise Your Glass a listen (courtesy of Sony Music):

NELLY FURTADO AND P!NK TO RELEASE GREATEST HITS

Mark your Calendars, Mavenati! November 16th, traditionally a big day for Album releases, will be an exciting day for Music Lovers. Both P!nk and Nelly Furtado have announced that they are releasing Greatest Hits collections on this date.

Furtado who first surfaced November 2000 with debut album Whoa, Nelly!, will be releasing The Best of Nelly Furtado from Geffen Records/Universal Music, which will feature new tracks Night is Young and Girlfriend, both produced by Salaam Remi (Amy Winehouse). It's been a while since we've heard new English material from Furtado, so expectations are high.  Night is Young premiered on BBC Radio this past weekend; you can preview a live version of it here.

P!nk - Raise Your Glass Single Artwork

Another Pop Legend P!nk continues professing her love for exclamation marks with her Greatest Hits package, Greatest Hits.... So Far! from Sony Music. The collection will feature two new tracks including new single Raise Your Glass, which will be sent to radio later today. I'll feature the track as soon as it becomes available.  In the video for the track, it is said that she will be marrying a Gay couple.  Always stirring the pot, that P!nk!

Oh yes, and Rihanna's new studio effort LOUD! will be out that same day, as will the Soundtrack to Burlesque (aka Glitter 2010)! Although not my thing, Rascal Flatts, Bruce Springsteen and Norah Jones are also heavy hitters with releases that day. Start putting aside some of that pocket change!

(Photo credit: Sony Music/NellyFurtado.com)

AMY ADAMS TO PLAY JANIS JOPLIN

Yes!  At long last the much-talked about Janis Joplin Biopic tentatively-titled Piece of My Heart, has founded Janis!  Prior to her death, Brittany Murphy was rumoured to be attached to the project, as was Oscar winner Renée Zellwegger.  Separately, Zooey Deschanel and P!nk were also said to be considered at one point too for other Joplin-related films, but all have failed to surface.  Alas, it will be Oscar nominee Amy Adams in the coveted role of the ill-fated singer according to Access Hollywood. 

Although I am a huge fan of Adams, I'm not quite sure how she will be in this role, but The Academy loves to see actors transform come Oscars time and I'm sure the actress will be up to the unflattering challenge.

(Photo credit: Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott/Vanity Fair)

REVIEW: ALLISON IRAHETA - JUST LIKE YOU

American Idol's Allison Iraheta surely got the last laugh on the boys this time around. She avenges her third runner-up placing with a debut album superior to those of the male opponents who outshone her all through season eight of the reality show. Just Like You is a female pop-rock lover's dream, containing the calibre of material that heavy hitters in the genre like Kelly Clarkson, P!nk and Katy Perry should be recording but aren't. What makes Iraheta stand out from other more successful female artists in her age group (she's only 17) is that she has the technique and emotional depth to give the material the type of true substance that would appeal to grown-ups like me. Did I mention also that she plays the guitar? Those pictures you see of her in the booklet aren't just playtime.

First single Friday I'll Be Over U (featured here previously) has failed to make a dent in terms of airplay or digital sales, but the Max Martin-produced track stands on its own as a gem. But the goodness doesn't end there. Wait 'til you hear arena-rocking Robot Love, which interpolates Gary Glitter's classic Rock & Roll parts 1 & 2; this is sampling done right. The album's title track, another Martin contribution, pulls things back a notch and has a place on Hot Adult Contemporary radio. Don't Waste The Pretty would have you convinced that you were listening to B-Side off of P!nk's career-changing Missundaztood album, with its message of self-love. She advises young women not to invest their emotional resources on unappreciative guys. Scars is heartfelt and single-worthy, but again Iraheta is bound to be confused for P!nk with the unfamiliar listener. And later in the album, she actually fully becomes P!nk in taking over a track co-written by that one and American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi, titled No One Else.