Graded Song: Avicii "X You"

He is one of the many EDM artists that I am waiting for a full-length album from, yet he wants to keep releasing singles. But I digress already. Swedish DJ Avicii held a contest in which fans could upload samples, which he cut down to a select few (4000) and created a brand new song from. I have yet to be disappointed by any of Avicii's past commercial work ("Silhouettes">>>anything your fave EDM artist could produce), so how does he do with other people's beats?

To be honest, I was a bit underwhelmed by the shorter edit, but thankfully someone provided a link to the full original mix, so I will base my review on that. The beginning already grabs the listener, giving some serious "Silhouettes" vibes. Then we get a nice blend of video game like synths and piano. And then of course the massive soaring build-up before a semi-decent drop. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. I still have to admit that after hearing the original mix in full, I feel like its a bit on the light side, but it's still an amazing song nonetheless.
Final Grade:B+

AlunaGeorge "Attracting Flies"

New single alert! Electronic music duo AlunaGeorge have just released a new single from their upcoming debut, "Body Music", due in July. The song, "Attracting Flies" will be released in the UK on March 10 with a slew of remixes, including one from trendsetter Baauer (of "Harlem Shake" fame).

Graded Song: Demi Lovato "Heart Attack"

After the longevity she had last year with "Give Your Heart a Break" which she started promotions from the end of 2011 and only started getting steam during the spring, Demi Lovato is showing that she is a more seasoned and mature artist than her ex-Disney counterparts. So when an image of Demi rocking a shorter do and talking about her 4th studio album popped up unexpectedly, I was more than elated. Then the 1st single, "Heart Attack" leaked in low quality last night, so what did they do? Rush released it to iTunes to quell the masses (and potentially stop a HQ leak).

"Heart Attack" isn't the dance smash that I was expecting from the 6 second teaser. It is more guitar driven with pop sensibilities. Demi sounds amazing on it, but there are some parts where I feel like she's trying to hard to hit notes. The weakest part of the song is the pre-chorus "You make me wanna act like a girl, paint my nails and wear high heels/perfume..." and the line "Play him like a Ken doll and won't wash my hair" just sound awkward. Other than this, I can see this doing well, if not better than "Give Your Heart a Break" if she is on the same tenacious path of promo.
Final Grade:B-

Kim Tae Woo "Cosmic Girl" Music Video

Popular South Korean singer Kim Tae Woo has released a music video for his song "Cosmic Girl". Tae Woo, who has been away from the K-Pop scene for two years, brings his best George Michael to the table and delivers this somewhat dated, but effective tune. It's like they took elements of Pink's "Try" and some Broadway tune that I can't name at the moment and rocked it up. We see in the video a boy and the titular Cosmic Girl as younger, then a time lapse happens where the boy is a man working at a bar and has a chance to meet the girl again. Other than some of the effects looking cheap, I really liked the idea they were going with. Enjoy!

Kate Nash "3AM" Music Video

Kate Nash has unveiled the visuals for her new single, "3AM" The song, released this week to iTunes, is the first from her "Girl Talk" album, which is coming in two short weeks. In the video, Kate continues the 60s/70s motif portrayed in the teaser with her and her boyfriend shown in a very loving relationship that goes sour pretty fast. I mean I guess I would be too if I got left for a black girl. The video gives me "Foundations" vibes, but I actually think I like this video better.

Phoenix "Entertainment"

Phoenix is releasing an album and they released the first song from the album "Bankrupt!". The song begins with some oriental sounding instrumentation then progresses into typical Phoenix territory, which I'm loving at the moment. "Bankrupt!" will be released April 22nd and will be the band's first studio effort since 2009's Grammy-nominated "Wolfgang Amadeus Phonenix". What do you think of the bands new music?

Graded Song: Rilo Kiley "Let Me Back In"

I was introduced to Rilo Kiley by my best friend during my freshman year of college and fell in love with their. Their last studio album, 2007's "Under The Blacklight" is a modern hipster classic and I'm still searching for a physical copy of the thing as we speak. Since I got into them extremely late (three years after the release of "Under The Blacklight") I have been waiting for them to release another full length project. Now, it's 2013 and they are back...kinda. Instead of the LP I have been dreaming of for three years, the "Silver Lining" band are releasing a collection of B-sides, rarities and unreleased material: "RKives."
I guess I have to take what I can get. Today, they released their comeback track, "Let Me Back In" via Spin.com. Was it worth the wait?

This is different... Very mellow compared to their previous material (the stuff I heard.) I feel like it should be on a Best Coast record. I can imagine myself, Jenny Lewis, or both of us I really have no preference, straggling back into Los Angeles with no shoes, dirty and bruised from some biker gang fight. The instrumental part towards the end seems reminicisent to either clogging or tinkiling, a Filipino cultural dance. The song is an ode to the band's hometown. Not too shabby RK, not too shabby
Final Grade:B

Rilo Kiley - Let Me Back In
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listen at spin.com