The UrbanWire      

^{(All pictures courtesy of Ke$ha’s official website)}

Most of you may know Kesha (often stylised as Ke$ha) from her catchy electropop hit single “TiK ToK” which gave her the honour of being the female artiste with the highest number of digital downloads, and second overall, at 610,000. But, did you know that the 22-year-old provided the vocals for Flo-Rida’s “Right Round”, the champion that reigned with 636,000 downloads, as well?

Yes, so watch out world, her debut album, Animal, is definitely going to be a chart topper.

The Hits

A definite hit from the album was “Stephen”, a gospel inspired track that faded out into Kesha’s signature rough street style. The song starts with her complaining about how ugly her object of desire’s girlfriend is, but fades to her whining in the catchy chorus, “Stephen/ I’m feeling pathetic/ I can’t take rejection/ Why won’t you call me?” This track is undeniably a very fun song for any lovelorn girl to listen to.

More rhythmic tracks like “Hungover”, “Animal” and “Dancing With Tears In My Eyes”, show off her vocal prowess that may remind you a lot of the Avril Lavigne of yore. In fact, “Hungover” has a very strong resemblance to “I’m With You” and “Happy Ending” both by punk princess Avril. Ditto to “Blind” and “Party at a Rich Dude’s House”.

If you’re expecting the “TiK ToK” Kesha, her signature style still prevails in tracks like “Blah Blah Blah (feat. 3OH!3)” and “Take It Off”. The latter sampled a rather rude childhood ditty “The Streets of Cairo” that everyone would recognise as the standard snake charmer tune.

Of course, Kesha put her own spin on the lyrics changing it from one of the many (rude) variations, “There’s a place in France, where naked women dance” to “There’s a place down town where the freaks all come around”. Brilliant and original. Kudos to the lyrical genius of the song, but not so much to the overused synthesiser.

The Misses

The award for ‘Most Irritating Song’ on this album definitely goes to “Backstabber”. This track sounds like a bad cheer with repetitive shouting of “You’re such a backstabber/ You’re such a shit-talker”. After a few times of that, you’d really want to stab yourself, one way or another. Take the crazy down a notch here, Kesha.

“Dinosaur” also rings a similar bell to Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend” and Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” with the cheerleader-type tune and playground lyrics, “Hey you old man man/ Why you staring at me/ Mack on me and my friends it’s kinda creepy”. This song also has the potential to be very annoying after a few rounds.

Tracks like “V.I.P”, “Boots & Boys” and “Your Love Is My Drug” were almost tuneless with the last one being saved by a passable chorus.

“Kiss N Tell” had shades of techno inspiration that had a little too much going on, resulting in a very messy arrangement.

The Verdict

Overall, Animal proves to be a good effort from Kesha. She sounds a little confused on what direction to take on this album with a mish-mash of different inspirations. Call it diversity if you want, but what makes the album shout KE$HA is definitely her signature rough vocals that either makes you want to groove to the beat, or stick a piece of duct tape over her mouth. Love her or hate her, she’s definitely one to watch out for.

Title: Animal

Artiste: Ke$ha

Language: English

Record Label: RCA

Release Date: Jan 5

Track list:

1) Your Love Is My Drug

2) TiK ToK

3) Take It Off

4) Kiss N Tell

5) Stephen

6) Blah Blah Blah (feat. 3!OH3)

7) Hungover

8) Party At A Rich Dude’s House

9) Backstabber

10) Blind

11) Dinosaur

12) Dancing With Tears In My Eyes

13) Boot & Boys

14) Animal

15) V.I.P

^{(All pictures courtesy of Filmofilia)}

As much as the incessant blast of the soundtrack from the first Chipmunks movie was annoying, the Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, was an enjoyable film.

Joining Alvin (Justin Long), Simon (Matthew Gray Gubler) and Theodore (Jesse McCartney) are the Chipettes, Brittany (Christina Applegate), Jeanette (Anna Faris) and Eleanor (Amy Poehler) who are the female version of the Chipmunks. Don’t underestimate the power of 6 singing animated rodents; they’re almost too cute for words.

The movie starts off with Dave (Jason Lee), their “father” of sorts, being sent to the hospital, thanks to Alvin. The Chipmunks, who were told that they had to go to school, temporarily fall under the care of their incompetent slob of a cousin, Toby (Zachary Levi). Mad props to Jason and Zachary for acting convincingly across non-existent CGI animated co-stars.

Hijinks, like accidentally hurling the Nintendo Wii remote into the TV, ensue.

Typical high school stuff comes next with Alvin indirectly causing Simon to get “swirlies” and also making Theodore’s worst nightmare come true. Their old nemesis, Ian Hawke (David Cross), also comes back to haunt them. To top it all off, they fall in love with the Chipettes too.

Apart from the predictable storyline and slapstick humour, the movie was thoroughly entertaining with a very upbeat soundtrack, especially from the Chipettes.

The Chipettes, comprised lead singer Brittany, bespectacled Jeanette and chubby Eleanor, sang covers of popular songs like Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold”. Their rendition of Beyoncé Knowles’ “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” is a crowd puller and a personal favourite, complete with dance moves.

Filipino singing sensation Charice Pempengco, who recently performed at the Singapore Idol finale, makes a surprise appearance as herself belting out Alicia Keys’ “No One”.

The movie followed the tried and tested storyline of imparting the wisdom and importance of teamwork without being too cheesy, which makes for good fun for the whole family. However, a little more exploration of Toby’s backstory instead of showing the odd snippet of his geek days in high school, would have had an added compelling factor for the movie.

Official Trailer:

Release Details:
Opens : Dec 24
Duration: 89 min
Language: English
Rating: PG
Genre: Animation/Comedy
Director: Betty Thomas
Cast: Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, Jesse McCartney, Anna Faris, Amy Poehler and Christina Applegate
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox

All images courtesy of TATY Press Portal and t.A.T.u’s official Pinger.

Bad vocals and uninspired beats make up most of  Waste Management, the long awaited third English album from Russian faux-lesbian duo t.A.T.u .

When Lena Katina and Yulia Volkova burst into the electropop scene in 2002, they caused much controversy with their hit single “All The Things She Said”, showing both girls kissing in their music video.

Lena Katina (sporting red hair) came to Singapore during the MTV Asia Awards 2004. The feisty girl even told the cheering crowd “Silence, please!” when she was giving her speech on stage. Unfortunately, Yulia was “sick” (but later confirmed to be pregnant) at that point of time and couldn’t be there.

Oops, lesbian-cover blown.

Remember that edgy pair in their other hit single “All About Us” that showed tough fighting, a shoot out and both of them singing forcefully? Forget those girls now. They’ve gone soft with weak vocals in most of their tracks.

Okay, English may not be their first language but the least they could do was to put more strength into their vocals instead of concentrating on the pronunciation. Their 14-track album was nothing but one long bad dance party with brief glimmers of hope.

The Hits

Their second track, “You and I”, had slightly stronger vocals and a catchier hook than the rest of the songs. “You and I” (also known as Finding t.A.T.u) was also part of the soundtrack for the movie of the same title, starring the girls themselves as well as Mischa Barton.

The saving grace of the album was definitely the Russian song “Marsianskie Glaza (Martian Eyes)”. Maybe, because it was sung in their native tongue, the girls seemed much more at ease with this number and they could focus on their vocal quality instead of the language. It was definitely a nice break from the terrible beats of the previous songs with soothing guitar riffs. It reminded me a little of Nelly Furtado’s “All Good Things (Come To An End)”.

“Fly on the Wall” was also another great track, with a good hook minus the boring rhythm overpowering the girls voices. Without a doubt, this number proved itself to be a danceable song.

There are also 3 bonus tracks: the remixed versions of “White Robe”, “Don’t Regret” and “Running Blind”. The first 2 sounded infinitely better in Russian and the remaining track had a foot-tapping beat that would be suitable for the dance floor.

The Misses

The album got off to a bad start with “White Robe” as their first track with their monotonous vocals and boring bass beats. The lyrics make no logical sense but they make a load of lyrical sense. It would’ve made a better poem than a song.

Subsequent tracks “Sparks”, “Snowfalls“ and “Little People” headed down a slippery slope to the trance/techno genre that will remind you of being in a club playing bad music. Ditto to “Running Blind”.

“Don’t Regret” was mostly forgettable and tired and almost devoid of a note-worthy chorus.

And then, out of nowhere comes “Waste Management”, which was a tad strange as most people would expect an instrumental piece to kick start the album. The record suddenly takes a tribal turn with the track “Time of the Moon”, but the instrumental was let down by the girls’ vocals and blasé tone.

The Verdict

Even if you’re t.A.T.u’s number 1 fan, I would strongly suggest you get the original Russian version of this album Vesyolye Ulybiki (translated as Happy Smiles). The girls don’t seem to be able to catch the beat of their own songs singing in English.

Title: Waste Management

Artiste: t.A.T.u

Language: Russian and English

Record Label: Coqueiro Verde Records

Release Date: Dec 15

Track list:

1. ”White Robe”  – 3:14

2. “You and I”  – 3:14

3. “Sparks”  – 3:09

4. “Snowfalls” – 3:16

5.”Marsianskie Glaza”  – 3:09

6. “Little People” – 3:28

7, “Waste Management” – 2:05

8. “Running Blind” – 3:40

9.”Fly on the Wall”  – 3:57

10.”Time of the Moon” – 3:24

11.”Don’t Regret”  – 3:09

Bonus Tracks:

12. “Beliy Plaschik” (Fly Dream Remix)” – 5:32

13. “Running Blind (Transformer Remix)” – 3:53

14. “Ne Zhaley (Sniper Remix)” – 4:58

Image courtesy of Shaw Organisation

“That is a weird place for an antenna” – Planet 51

Despite being rated safe for the kiddies, Pixar Animation’s newest creation has humour that alternates between slapstick and crude with pockets of minor sexual innuendos.

The storyline is predictable much like a reverse E.T. only with the human taking on the role of the alien invader. It also gives many iconic scenes from other alien themed shows, for example, CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) references to the flying bicycle scene in E.T.

That is, if you’re old enough to spot them.

The movie’s opening scene shows 2 alien teenagers from the ‘50s “parking”. For you young’uns out there, “parking” means making, *ahem* whoopee in a parked car. Masquerading as a cartoon for children, Planet 51 is a chock full of running “anal probe” jokes with the protagonist, Lem (Justin Long) accidentally touching his friend Skiff’s (Seann William Scott) used… anal plug.

However, it’s nice to hear Justin Long’s natural voice coming out of an animated character again. I had nearly forgotten how he sounded like after hearing his helium voice as Alvin, from Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Image courtesy of filmofilia.com

The “alien” in this case is astronaut, Captain Charles “Chuck” Baker (Dwayne Johnson). A handsome meathead who wants to just get back in time for the Nicklelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards to be slimed. Mad props to Dwayne for marvellous voice acting on his first try, definitely nothing like a rock. Sorry, bad pun.

Image courtesy of filmofilia.com

He eventually becomes a mentor to Lem and befriends the comic book geeks of Planet 51, who help him find his spaceship that’s held in Base 9 by General Grawl (Gary Oldman), a not-so-subtle spoof of the show District 9. General Grawl also freaks out at an iPod spewing the Macarena, but, then again even I would think my ears were bleeding and clutch my head in agony from listening to the Macarena.

Chuck’s shining moment comes when he puts on tango music and tries to teach Lem cheesy pick-up lines (guys, please don’t ever use such lines) like, “Are sparks flying or is this place on fire?” to use on his poor crush Neera (Jessica Biel). That move, of course, fails badly.

I must admit, I… laughed at the next joke and yes, I feel so ashamed that I did.

After Chuck accidentally dropped his towel, (after being saved from getting his brains cut out) and was standing there in his birthday suit, the alien kids looked at him with curiosity and Skiff spouted this gem of a line, “That is a weird place for an antenna.”

Kid friendly? Only because they’re too young to know what it really means.

Image courtesy of filmofilia.com

But like all animated films, cartoon always aim to impart a value to the kiddies. In this case, the moral would be keeping an open mind as not everything strange or unknown is necessarily a bad thing.

The animation was no great shakes with certain portions still looking cartoonish, but the movie had a great soundtrack filled with remastered 50s music.

With such a tired storyline, save your money and just rent the DVD.

Release Details:
Opens: Dec 10
Duration: 90 mins
Language: English with Mandarin subtitles
Rating: G
Genre: Animation
Director: Jorge Blanco and Javier Abad
Cast: Justin Long, Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel, Gary Oldman

^{(All pictures from Lady Gaga’s official website)}

After Lady Gaga’s massive success with her debut album, The Fame, I was wondering if she could replicate that effect with her 8 new singles off her bumper album.

UrbanWire reviews the hits and misses of The Fame Monster.

The Hits

I must say, when I first heard the leaked demo version of her first single “Bad Romance”, I was rather disappointed. It sounded great of course, however, I wasn’t impressed by the lack of innovation with the repetitive hooks. Even the Lady herself, tweeted: “Leaked next single is makin my ears bleed. Wait till you hear the real version ;)”

I’m happy to report that the official “Bad Romance” single is going to be the next “Pokerface”. The Fame Monster shows off Lady Gaga’s strong vocals, proving that she isn’t a synthesised-to-death artiste. Especially with her fourth track, “Speechless”, which takes on tones of “Brown Eyes”  from her previous album but with more range and depth to her voice.

The Lady also seems to be experimenting with linguistics in this album with a French lyric,“Je veux ton amour, et je veux ta revanche” [which means "I want your love, and I want your revenge"] thrown into “Bad Romance” and a weird Spanish accent kicking off seemingly telenovela inspired the second track “Alejandro”.

However, the crown for “Song That Can Potentially Grow On You” is swept away by the sixth track, “Telephone”, where the risk taken paid off handsomely. In this standout track, there’s the odd combination of R&B princess Beyoncé Knowles‘ vocals and Lady Gaga’s electropop beats meshed beautifully together creating a perfectly danceable song. Trust me, this one will be playing in clubs in times to come.

Lady Gaga’s lyrics seem to take a darker turn in The Fame Monster where she sings about heartbreak and rejection in other tracks (“Eat my heart”, she intones in the song “Monster”) but demands that you take “a bite of (her) bad girl meat” in the final track “Teeth”.

The Misses

“So Happy I Could Die”, feels uninspired although she sings the provocative line “I touch myself can’t get enough” while fantasising about a “lavender-blonde” girl, presumably herself as Lady Gaga had purple and blonde hair for a while. It lacks the powerhouse vocals and strong beats to do the lyrics justice. The chorus sounds like a cross between Natasha Bedingfield’s “Pocket Full Of Sunshine” and the beats from “Lovegame”.

“Dance In The Dark” had promising lyrics as well with her singing about a girl getting breast implants – “Silicone/Saline/Poison/Inject me/Baby, I’m a free/ B***h”, for her boyfriend who still left her but it frittered off into boring-land with the repetitive 80s disco-esque hook.

The Verdict

Overall, an excellent effort by the Lady to reinvent herself by showing off her vocal prowess instead of hiding behind a barrage of bass beats. Awesome music to club to and you’ll definitely see me on the dance floor if any of her songs are playing.

This is where it shows that the Lady really cares for her fans. There will be 3 different versions of The Fame Monster to cater to every fan out there.

The Fan

For those who crave the new tracks only, a regular version of The Fame Monster with the new 8 singles is just the album for you.

1. Bad Romance
2. Alejandro
3. Monster
4. So Happy I Could Die
5. Speechless
6. Dance In The Dark
7. Telephone
8. Teeth

The Double-Duty Fan

If you missed Lady Gaga’s debut album, the deluxe version includes all the tracks from The Fame as well as the 8 new tracks.

The Uber Fan

For Lady Gaga’s monsters, there’s a collector’s edition super-deluxe art book version, which includes both albums, fanzines, 3-D glasses, paper dolls, a puzzle, pictorials, a lock of Lady Gaga’s hair and other surprises.

Excited yet?

“Be passionate, be obsessive, be humble and work damn hard.”

That is home-grown creative agency Asylum’s, founder and creative director, Mr Chris Lee’s advice to all budding designers out there.

With this mantra, he has become 1 of 4 recipients of the Designer of the Year award at the President’s Design Award 2009.

He’s the brain behind the iconic Frolick buttons with cheeky slogans such as “We stay hard longer…than ice-cream”. He also gave life to gourmet chocolate boutique Chocolate Research Facility by dressing up the chocolate bars in psychedelic colours and making chocolate ooze down their walls.

Mr Lee says of the popular Frolick buttons: “We wanted to create a brand with an edgy attitude to resonate with our young consumers. We designed 40 buttons with naughty and funny messages that became a hit with consumers. The brand has since grown from a hole in the wall at Holland Village to five shops around the island.”

Although his job keeps him busy, he’s loving every second of it: “It’s a great career. I get to travel regularly and see the most amazing things in life… It’s a dream job.”

He told UrbanWire in an email interview that he was “very honoured” to be bestowed with this highly coveted design accolade.

Mr Lee added modestly: “It’s a pat on the shoulder and an encouragement for my team and I [making us feel] that we’re doing something right. [But] we’re still striving to be better.”

He also gives some exciting news for 2010: “We’re launching our monograph in March and having our 10th anniversary party as well!”

Mr Lee will also be off to Berlin in 2010 for 6 months to explore an off-site workshop.

Other winners of the Designer of The Year award include Mr Koichiro Ikebuchi, director of Atelier Ikebuchi, Mr Look Boon Gee, managing director of LOOK Architects and Mr Tham Kai Meng, the worldwide creative director of Ogilvy and Mather.

The President’s Design Award that began in 2006, is a yearly affair that honours the crème de la crème of the design world. It’s conferred by The President of the Republic of Singapore, and is jointly administered by the DesignSingapore Council and the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

Full List of Award Recipients For 2009

Designer of the Year

1)    Koichiro Ikebuchi

Director

Atelier Ikebuchi Pte Ltd

2)    Chris Lee

Founder and Creative Director

Asylum Creative Pte Ltd

3)    Look Boon Gee

Managing Director

LOOK Architects Pte Ltd

4)    Tham Kai Meng

Worldwide Creative Director

Ogilvy and Mather

Design of the Year

1)    Genexis Theatre, Fusionopolis

Arup and WOHA

2)    Henderson Waves

RSP Architects Planners and Engineers (Pte) Ltd

3)    Paper Fold

Exit Design

4)    Republic Polytechnic

DP Architects in association with Maki & Associates

5)    The Met (Bangkok)

WOHA

6)    Urband Origami

Nanyang Optical Co Pte Ltd

7)    X-halo Breath Thermometer

Philips Design