Today's Pick

Nickelodeon star Ariana Grande puts her own heart up in her new music video for her debut single "Put Your Hearts Up," the official first single from her upcoming debut album. Grande is best known as the emotionally scattered Cat Valentine on Nickelodeon's "Victorious," but like her co-star Victoria Justice, she's also got a blossoming singing career.
The uplifting pop tune was co-written by celebrated songwriter Linda Perry, and samples a melody from 1993 smash hit "What's Up?" by her band 4 Non Blondes. The pop tune is full of energy, and encourages listeners to band together, because "if we give a little love, we can change the world," sings the 18-year-old actress and singer who has previously starred on Broadway in the musical "13." Grande shot the video for "Put Your Hearts Up" recently and has been tweeting about how she's lending a hand in the editing process.
"Put Your Hearts Up," was so much more than just a catchy pop single. It was a pop single with soul, heartbeat, substance. "It's a song that I hope inspires people to put their hearts up and that even the smallest acts of kindness can make the word a better place. And seeing everyone make little hearts with their hands when I sing "Put Your Hearts Up" almost makes me cry every time. Every. Single. Time," she shared. Grande's vocals have this ability to carry you from the darkest of places into a euphoric trance, it proving she's a force to be reckoned with.
Co-directed by Meiert Avis and Jeremy Alter, the video for "Put Your Hearts Up" features the red haired cutie in a signature Grande magenta gown that definitely lifts up your mood, as she strolls down the street that looks quite similar to Universal Orlando theme park, spreading the power of love to the people she passes, and even features a crazy dance number where Grande leads hundreds of people. We love the homage to Singing in the Rain!

Cassie unveiled the steamy video on Valentine's Day for her new single "King of Hearts," the lead single from the R&B singer's long-delayed sophomore studio album, "Electro Love," drops later this year. We say allegedly, because she's spent close to six years on Bad Boy & Interscope's shelf since her debut, and every few months, her or Diddy say she's coming back. Well, apparently she might be close to a comeback.
"King of Hearts" is an uptempo electro dance and dance-pop number that features jungle beats and escalating synths. It features the use of echoing vocal effects and a fast backbeat while running through a four-on-the-floor rhythm and playing over a bouncy beat. Lyrically, it is centered around the theme of seduction. Cassie's song really does keep building from beginning to end, starting with staccato pinpricks of synth and handclaps soon joined by thudding, slightly syncopated drum programming.
Cassie's voice is still cool and restrained, rather than Robyn's open-hearted emoting, and the Diddy-affiliated singer's approach perfectly suits this return to the 25-year-old's best theme so far: seduction. It's that kind of fresh, it's that kind of innovative: The lyrics, the melodies, the song structure, the delivery, the beats–there's not one part of this song that contains even a single molecular flaw.
There's no easily discernable narrative here - just Cassie frolicking through a dark house in haute loungewear while an ominous, hoodie-wearing dude lurks into her room in the Chris Sims-directed clip, which shows the model-turned-singer strutting her smokin' HAWT body across a majestic mansion. The enigmatic video begins with a camera on a tripod. We see Cassie with a lighter, head-shaven look and writhes in a bathtub, in front of a fire, rocking a heavy gold chain and silk top, dancing on a dining table and strutting down a hallway, and all the while, the King Of Hearts remains fairly absent.

The Shins is back with a brand new video for "Simple Song," the first single to be released from the indie rock band's upcoming fourth studio album, "Port of Morrow," The Shins' first album since "Wincing the Night Away" was released in 2007. Plenty has changed with The Shins in the five years, the Portland-via-New Mexico-based act, has essentially become the sole property of frontman James Mercer, who replaced the rest of the band with all new members, but it still sounds like the good old Shins.
Mercer explained the song's meaning to Q magazine: "I wrote it on the living room floor of my apartment when my wife and I were newlyweds. This was when we were just starting our little domestic life together, about to have our first daughter. So it was kind of this song about my wife, our relationship and this whole new life we have ahead of us." The song is also about the journey that The Shins have taken since they started out in the mid-'90s in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
With that in mind, it's funny in a non-haha way that their video for "Simple Song," which announces their resurrection, begins with a fictional message about Mercer's death. The Daniels-directed video is a glossy, Wes Anderson-inspired journey into the fictional future of Mercer in old age as a not-so-beloved family man. Beginning with Mercer's death, the clip uncovers his tumultuous relationship with his three children (played by the other members of the band) as they tear through their house in search of the deed.
The video has a very 'Royal Tenenbaums' feel to it, right down to the down to the heavily wallpapered house and dysfunctional family. Familial battles and sibling strife is often the subject of hilarity, a subject The Shins capitalize on in this slightly disturbing, though oddly touching video. Shot in a home-video style, it touches on the hatred fueling the Mercer family, as they run-amuck in the house up for grabs, pulling dirty tricks as they fight for ownership. Father Mercer has the last laugh, though.

Named one of Billboard's 2011 Artists to Watch, and amid the strong start to the year, Andy Grammer, the 27-year-old pop-rock artist has released the video for his newest track "Fine By Me," the second single from his 2011 self-titled debut album. The track is the follow up to his debut hit single, "Keep Your Head Up," which was released as an interactive video and featured Rainn Wilson of the Office.
The upbeat country jam "Fine By Me," has cruised into the Top 20 at Adult Pop Radio. With its intimate lyrics, sparkling pop melody and funky undertow, "Fine By Me" is on target to surpass the success of Grammer's debut single. Known for his vibrant pop/rock/soul mix and free-flowing vocal delivery, With his continued rise up the charts, Grammer still remembers where he came from and has remained grateful and humble. Grammer is thankful for his street(of Santa Monica, CA) performing journey as it's mentally prepared him for anything. "You gain a level of fearlessness, performing when no one's there to see you," Grammer said.
His debut album sounded like a mash-up of Jason Mraz, Michael Bublé, and John Legend. It's all easily listenable, if scarcely original. When asked about the album, Grammer had this to say: "My ultimate goal is to try to be real. It just so happens that I'm usually more happy than sad when I'm writing. And in general I think that life is pretty great, and it's cool to be here, so that comes through in my music. I don't have a dismal outlook, but I don't aim to make positive music. It's just what I am."The music lightly borrows from hip-hop music and has a rap music influence. Grammer's music leans toward a female audience, usually directing himself to a significant other and singing words of encouragement and affection. Filmed in Los Angeles with director Mark Staubach, the new video features Grammer just trying to have fun with the swimsuit model Dominique Piek as his love interest, and playfully looks at the ups-and-downs of relationships.

Rascal Flatts has just released the brand new music video for their newest single, "Banjo," the first single from country music group's upcoming eighth studio album, "Changed" which is due in stores April 3rd. The band sounded refreshed and that the song itself was well-produced. The new video was obviously shot in Nashville, and the lead singer Gary LeVox actually sounds like he's enjoying the ride here.
"Banjo" is an up-tempo pop-rock country song in which the narrator invites his lover to escape with him to a faraway place that "ain't on the map." He tells her to "go-go-go / 'Til you hear a banjo." The new track should fit nicely into the trio's live set when they hit the road for the Thaw Out Tour. It's loud and rowdy and it makes you want to hop from your office chair, dial up the Zippo lighter app on your iPhone, and hold it in the air. Like many things in life, this song should be enjoyed for what's on the surface. Don't go digging too deep, or you'll ruin the experience.
The banjo is a four or five stringed plucked instrument with a long neck and circular drum-type sound box, which is usually associated with country, folk, Irish traditional and bluegrass music. It originated in Africa as a nine-stringed instrument with a gourd body and a wooden stick neck, before making its way to America, where it has long been associated with the culture of Southern African-Americans. According to Rascal Flatts bass guitarist Jay DeMarcus, the banjo has become an elusive, endangered species.
DeMarcus explains the song as, "a sentiment about getting away from it all, getting away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and sort of breaking out and finding a spot way out in the country and drivin' and drivin' and drivin' until you go so far you start to hear a banjo." The lead guitar Joe Don Rooney feels like the song taps into a bit of a different sound for the band but he loves it and he thinks the fans will too because "it's got that raw countriness to it that's just so fun." And he also thinks once Rascal Flatts starts playing it live the fans will latch onto it. "I think everybody by the first chorus will get it, they'll be singing along to it and it's just fun stuff."

Katie Melua has debuted a music video in support of her latest offering "The Bit That I Don't Get," from British singer's upcoming fifth studio album "Secret Symphony," will be released in the U.K. on March 5. The Georgian-born singer/songwriter's new album is an exquisite collection of songs that perfectly showcases the unique, instantly recognizable voice. The record allows Melua's distinctive voice and the songs to truly shine.
The "Spider's Web" singer was Britain's best-selling female musician just four years ago. But the public hasn't seen much of sultry singer Melua of late. Husky-voiced Melua, 27, takes fans to enjoy her performance at Ronnie Scott's before giving them a quick look at her when she's not on stage. It's fair to suggest that she's ever-so-slightly moved back into her comfort zone with "The Bit That I Don't Get."
"There is a simplicity to the album that I love," Melua told about "Secret Symphony" in an interview recently. "The last album was quite a challenge and there was a lot of soul-searching. This time, I just wanted to sing. On this record I simply wanted to find beautiful songs and to really sing my heart out. This album was going to be my 'singer's album.' I had always wanted to do this one day; singing other people's songs brings something out of you and your voice that isn't perhaps where you would have gone vocally with your own material."
Prior to the release of "Secret Symphony," Melua has performed two nights at Ronnie Scott's in London on February 6th & 7th. These shows given fans a rare opportunity to see her beautiful songs and unique voice which have touched millions and she is one of Britain's most successful artists of the last decade, in such an intimate setting. The clip combines footage from her performance at Ronnie Scott's with montage which shows a closer look at her from behind the scene.

The lush Pop-folk trio Sucré are sharing their new live video for their beautifully orchestrated "When We Were Young," first track from her new upcoming debut record which drops April 10th. The video was created by Invisible Children, an organization that aims to stop the longest-running war in Africa, to end the abduction of innocent children forced into fighting and to rebuild schools and provide education and jobs in northern Uganda.
Sucré is three piece musical act lead by Stacy Dupree-King from Eisley, her drummer husband Darren King from MUTEMATH and composer Jeremy Larson. Sucré write the kind of pop songs that get lodged into your head even before the very first chorus even kicks in. Stacy's ethereal vocals are quick to catch your attention as they drift atop a swirling mellifluous backdrop. The way Stacy's crystalline vocals float through the lush arrangements is almost dreamlike. She has such a lush-tastic, pretty and poignant voice backed by rich, layers of ethereal instrumentation that you will find yourself wanting to sift through.
From that point on the song opens up, growing in it's own warm surroundings as strings continue to dash across Stacy's melody and make their way in between the perfectly scattered percussion. The feelings of euphoria after an inundation of sugar are quick, fleeting, and often leaving you feeling much worse than prior to consumption. The feelings of euphoria after a listen to Sucré's debut single "When We Were Young" are those of the heart, of purity, innocence and the haphazard joys of youth.
Filmed in the abandoned zoo in Los Angeles' Griffith Park, the video for "When We Were Young" is simple, clean and crisp. As she stands amongst the trees, Stacy is surrounded by a full string section that accompanies her live. While the video provides stunning visuals and Stacy's honeyed vocals are tough to ignore, it's the underlying message that the band is truly aiming to illuminate. This is pop music of the highest order.

Jason Mraz is back and attempts at a hit around the acoustic guitar again with a new music video for latest single "I Won’t Give Up," the first official single from the acoustic pop singer's upcoming fourth studio album, "Love is a Four Letter Word," out April 17. The video appears to pay homage to people from all walks of life that have someone overcome adversity.
This largely acoustic emotional ballad is a poignant ode to a long-lasting relationship, which the 34-year-old troubadour says he won't give up on her whatever happens. It is likely that the song was inspired by Mraz's relationship with singer-songwriter Tristan Prettyman. The "I'm Yours" hitmaker got engaged with Prettyman in December 2010 after they'd dated for four years, before breaking up with her several months later.
The track is guitar led with some additional vocal landscapes towards the end of the song, which is not for weddings but rather for those moments when partners realize the effort is all worth it and are looking forward to a future together that stretches to the horizon. Being lyrically beautiful and inspiring, it's the kind of song that would make you open up about your feelings or comfort you when you're in a pretty bad phase in a relationship and it will probably be used a lot in weddings and romance flicks.
"The story of the video is that we all have our own stories," Mraz said. "We all have our own version of suffering and everybody has many things to NOT give up on." The Mark Pellington-directed inspiring clip showcases a faceless man and woman taking a trip down memory lane by separately sorting through a collection of envelopes, postcards and scraps of notebook paper; in the end, they find their way back to each other, stationery safely nestled in their hearts.

Nashville resident rocker Jack White released a self-directed cloudy, vintage-looking performance video for his acoustic guitar and keyboard-led track "Love Interruption," the first single from the uuber-cool rocker's upcoming solo debut effort "Blunderbuss," will drop in full on April 23. The former White Stripes man has a pretty large profile in the music world. But, he'll launch his solo career on March 3, when he performs on Saturday Night Live – an episode to be hosted by Lindsay Lohan.
"Love Interruption," is a sparse and breezy episode of empty air acoustics, where a few simple strums of the guitar are given dimension by subtle swirls of clarinet and electric piano. White's distinctly familiar voice is the undeniable center of the arrangement, but his simple man delivery is blanketed by the full-bodied brood of backup vocalist Ruby Amanfu, whose mere presence rightfully keeps the tune from turning too much into one man's desperate plea for absolution. The sound may be mellow but the lyrics sure ain't as we hear White and Amanfu singing intensely of love in a bitter way.
The lyrics are exactly what you would expect from White at this stage; a concise and clever meditation on the longing that comes with loneliness, albeit with a darkened twist that is as cynical as it is romantic. Not just anyone could have you feeling a sense of empowerment while singing along to lines about killing your own mother and turning all of your friends into enemies, but White pulls it off here, particularly when the been-burned-before defiance of the chorus becomes more and more redemptive with each repetition.
White's "Love Interruption," as its discourse is all love. White its understated melody hints at something simpler, White's love is not for the faint of heart, speaking to murder plots and doors slamming on fingers, to lost friends and fresh enemies. It's not a song that needs a catchy video, and with its ashy tones and simple backdrop, the vision is not particularly compelling. "Love Interruption" isn’t a track for everyone, and it is certainly not a track for Valentine's Day, but in the midst of winter skies and winter sickness and winter stay-abed love affairs, it will suit many of us just fine.

Brandon & Leah are ready to storm your beaches, biatches. The Malibu-based acoustic pop-folk duo (and couple) have released the music video for their album's first track and debut single, the upbeat "Life Happens." Brandon & Leah try to capture in their music the balmy summertime spirit of their hometown. Judging by their debut album and single, "Life Happens," they pull it off with ease.
"Brandon" is actually Brandon Jenner, son of Bruce Jenner and stepbrother to the entire Kardashian clan. And "Leah" is Leah Felder, daughter of guitarist Don Felder of Eagles fame. Brandon & Leah have been making music together since their high school days. Passing on the Sunset Boulevard nightlife in Malibu, the super-attractive power couple chose instead to spend their time surfing and singing on bonfire-lit beaches. "Everything is groove based," says Brandon. "We like things with a positive, beach vibe. If our songs don’t make you want bob your head, then we haven't done our job."
"Life Happens" is a cheeky, laid-back and sweet pop song with a vibe reminiscent of Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz. Vocally, Leah's sunny sound reminds us a bit of Colbie Caillat mixed with the sass of Karmin's Amy Heidemann. The new album showcases the duo's high, bright sound: plenty of ukulele and upfret acoustic guitar, Caribbean-flavored beats and Leah's honeyed lead vocals. They tend to write about the myriad connections and disconnections between people, but the mood is always light and fun.
In the video, Brandon & Leah do supercute coupley things: riding bikes together, frolicking on the beach, surfing and baking a homemade cake. They even pick fresh fruit from an orchard. Romance! As the video goes on, you quickly realize that you're in the presence of what is quite possibly the happiest couple on Earth and then you dump your mediocre boyfriend immediately. With the new album, single and "Life Happens" video, Brandon & Leah are set to take on the world. And with so much momentum going for the duo, the world had better get ready for a captivating new musical vision. "We can't wait on anyone to say yes," says Leah, who is fired up and ready to go. "We're responsible for our own future."

What with all the glowing publicity Chris Brown's been receiving these past few days, his management has decided to take advantage of all that momentum by releasing a eye-popping video for "Turn Up The Music," the lead single from his upcoming new fifth album "Fortune," which is due out March 16. "Turn Up The Music" is about as club-ready as a song can get, and the video is prime for repeat viewings, too.
Produced by the Underdogs and Fuego, the new track is a dance-pop banger, features synth-heavy production and a party beat, in which he urges on a night of drinking and loud music. It features squelchy synthesizers blasting off over canned percussion, and the R&B singer leading a handful of simple chants. Brown performed the song last Sunday at the Grammy Awards, where he has been nominated for Grammy awards for Best R&B Album for 2010's "F.A.M.E.," Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song for "Look At Me Now" (with Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes).
The 22-year-old singer makes his directorial debut in the electrifying video which was co-directed with Godfrey Tabarez. The high-energy video follows a well-dressed Brown from drinking in the street, to hailing a futuristic hover-craft cab filled with masked creatures, to hitting a warehouse rave filled with even more masked people, all watched over by some woman who appears to be the queen of the party, gazing at everyone from her own perch. From there, the clip is an eye-catching spectacle of various dance routines with Brown displaying his signature smooth moves.
The R&B star busts out his trademark choreographed routines, reminiscent of his idol Michael Jackson. Brown's dance moves are aggressive and in your face, but he is still light on his feet. The camera lights, animal costumes give the appearance of some type of huge masked rave in the future, where he parties so hard he loses his shirt before finally resorting to his infamous distraction tactic of back flips. If Brown keeps this up, then he just might go down as one of the best to do it. At the end of the video, Brown breaks the lens of the camera and the video closes there.

The Pretty Reckless just unveiled a music video in support of their latest slow-paced moody ballad "You," the closing track from the post-grunge band's studio debut "Light Me Up." It follows its lead singer Taylor Momsen as she sits alone in an empty room while crooning the love lullaby and watching footage of her passionate makeout session with her lover during their happier day. She's quite impressive!
The 18-year-old, who's known for portraying Jenny Humphrey on the CW television series 'Gossip Girl,' is usually seen tearing up the stage in revealing outfits, belting out songs with the casual irreverence which has become her trademark. But the new video for "You" feature a rather softer Momsen. It's a departure from her usual hard-edged rock, where she's banging out tunes on stage, and Momsen is working so hard at being a “rock star,” she kind of grows on you. Anybody who wants it that bad deserves some sympathy.
Led by a simple acoustic guitar melody and string section, Momsen sends a soothing message and sweetly croons about love and proves she's got a serious set of pipes. The track is a sweet, beautiful and whimsical love lullaby - a complete departure from the band's hard-core rock music. A ballad about heart-break, the track has a country edge, which you'd be forgiven for thinking is a bit more Taylor Swift than the average dose of Momsen. The Meiert Avis-directed video finds Momsen packing her things after a break-up and stumbling upon happier memories of her relationship.
Momsen is uncharacteristically calm in new video, but retains her famous panda black eyeliner and scant attire. Perhaps this calmer image is something we can expect more of in the future. The clip is interspersed with back and white video flashbacks of Momsen with her lost love, and sees the former 'Gossip Girl' starlet walk into a bleak room wearing only a white vest and black knickers. She then strums away on her guitar, the more low-key feel of the video in keeping with the gentle tempo of the lullaby-like ballad.

Renowned DJ and record Producer Kaskade teams up with the alt pop-rocker Skylar Grey in his new video for his latest electro banger “Room For Happiness," the closing track appears on Kaskade's newest double CD, "Fire & Ice," which is an insightful prelude into what promises to be an even bigger 2012 for Kaskade. The synth-heavy, bass pumping complements the smooth vocals by Grey, sure to be a big hit for them in the dance world.
Penned by Grey with Kaskade supplies the frosty synths, the chill-out tune "Room For Happiness" was a gorgeous, progressive house track turned ballad. The original track was a little mellow for my taste, but the remix is big room house, containing a beautiful vocal breakdown prior to the build up. The song drops in to some powerful, bouncy, dutchy, electro house that is oh so satisfying. The remix serves to buff up the original, while still maintaining melodious piano chords, and an anthemic house drop.
Will turn 26 next week, Grey's voice makes it so damn angelic. The whole song is about depression, and lyrically oi takes on a gloomy subject, but the strength of “Room For Happiness” really lies within the lyrics, which Grey, handles the don't-despair vocals, is really able to make them shine in this euphoric dance beats over the top of the sleek, throbbing electronica of America's Best DJ. The angsty doom & gloom of Grey's usual lyricism sounds positively divine up against Kaskade's club beats, and the hopeful hook brings out that euphoric feeling that dance music usually delivers.
In clip, She does all this from behind bars in prison. The public service announcement's delivered from a bleak bed in a prison cell, and you thought you had a terrible Valentine's Day. Grey doesn't stay there for long, imagining herself in a winter wonderland, encircled by a ring of fire, and under a blazing sun. Kaskade spends the video leading a rave and watching Grey from a security camera, one of which is kinda creepy. Less creepy: He's totally using Beats by Dre! We'd buy a pair, but we're still holding out for Wubs by Skrillex.

Served as a sweet Valentine's Day message to her fans, Jessie And The Toy Boys has released apositive, powerful new music video for "Runaway". It shows another side of the 22-year-old pop songstress, illuminating her gorgeous delivery and touching songwriting chops. However, there's a twist to the entire video. I don't want to ruin the surprise for you, but let's just say Jessie puts her money where her mouth is when it comes to her support of gay rights.
Jessie And The Toy Boys is the solo project of Jessie Malakouti, who is a big talent with enough proper actual popstarry xfactular 'star quality' to be a brilliant ambassador for her own tunes. “When I wrote 'Runaway' with DJ Skeet Skeet, we wrote it from the perspective of our 13-year-old selves, who felt pressure from our parents and society to be something that we were not," Jessie said. "The song is ultimately about breaking free and following your heart."
Jessie And The Toy Boys took a unique, politically minded twist to their new "Runaway" clip, which contrasts the parallels between wanting a relationship you know you're not supposed to, with the overturning of Proposition 8 (an attempt ban on gay marriage) in California. Jessie and her boyfriend are on a double date with pals in clip. It becomes clear that Jessie and her bestie's lover have the hots for one another, and their current significant others can see it. It begins with lingering stares over dinner and wine, and it continues with dreams and a run for it on the street. The scenes are cut with images of Proposition 8 protests and LGBT imagery.
The video also stars Mollie Thomas, the first openly gay Miss California USA contestant. “I was overjoyed to learn that Proposition 8 was recently over turned in my home state of California,” Jessie said of the video. "It's a step in the right direction, however for a country that teaches it's children to place their right hand over their hearts and pledge 'liberty and justice for all,' we still have a long way to go towards actually making that a reality." “All that matters is love,” she sings sings in front of an American flag, and ending with a simple but powerful message: "Everyone deserves love."

Gave it to fans as a gift for Valentine's Day, San Francisco band Train have unveiled the lovey-dovey music video for "Drive By," the first single from their upcoming LP, "California 37,” the pop/rock band's follow up to “Save Me, San Francisco,” which featured the outrageously successful “Hey Soul Sister.” The new sixth studio album is due out April 17.
This upbeat Pop-Rock tune is driven by an acoustic guitar and a diluted pop beat. It was penned by the Frontman Pat Monahan, and the band had been performing the tune during their 2011 Summer Tour. Train's singles tend to gradually build momentum as pop radio all embraced the song with enthusiasm. Speaking with Billboard magazine, Monahan said: "We're not used to that kind of thing. Usually Train is a very slow build. 'Hey Soul Sister' and 'Drops Of Jupiter,' 'Calling All Angels,' everything took a long time to manifest into hit songs."
Some people reading that headline will probably think they've stumbled upon the ultimate pop song. (Especially Grammy voters.) Yes, Train is back with a brand-new invention, "Drive By," a spare, mostly acoustic, arrangement on the verse leads into an upbeat singalong chorus, and it should be nearly as beguiling as their comeback single "Hey Soul Sister" was a couple years ago. Probably the most truthful representation of depth of the Train aesthetic is captured in this still from the "Drive By" promo clip.
Monahan won't let the 'love' of his life get away in the jaunty “Drive By” clip, features a sweet love story. Monahan flashes back to a romance that played out in California's wine country before things somehow went wrong. Not one to let a good thing slip away, the lead singer has to figure out a way to get back into her good graces. He and his band hop into a fleet of 1967 Pontiac Firebird classic cars and 'drive by' from San Francisco to Sonoma winery to serenade her and make things right.

Taylor Swift has unveiled a melancholy new video on MTV last night for her melancholy acoustic ballad new song "Safe & Sound," featuring country/folk duo The Civil Wars, and the lead promotional single, from the soundtrack of the upcoming movie adaptation of "The Hunger Games." The film is set in a post-apocalyptic world where teenage boys and girls fight to the death in an annual televised event and is based on Suzanne Collins' young-adult novel of the same title, arrives in theaters on March 23.
The 22-year-old not only won two Grammy awards, both for "Mean," Sunday night, but she also performed her single "Mean" flawlessly. "Safe & Sound" certainly captures the tone of The Hunger Games, which will be filled with the sort of dread that only an uninviting stretch of woods can provide. It's a relief that Swift didn't take the "Mean" route and equate being hunted for the bloodlust of a ruling class to being picked on by internet trolls. Their spare, haunting tune is the kind of song that demands a video full of fireside glow and American Gothic overtones.
Luckily, that's exactly what the clip is - with glum vibes, and seems to have a stark, gloomy, and pensive feel, is an obvious reflection of the 'Hunger Games' setting and plot, which finds adolescents being used as pawns in a sick and twisted battle to the death. It features the country-singing cutie walking through a deserted desolate forest and singing the track, while the clip also shows a split second of The Civil Wars' John Paul White and Joy Williams strumming instruments with the duo being illuminated in a fiery red light from a fire playing on their faces.
The video shows Swift looking very natural with her hair down and not overly styled, looks a bit lost as she wanders a gorgeously-rendered wasteland full of spooky abandoned wells and ungulates who turn to ash through the barren winter woods, Swift looks almost hesitant, walking among leafless brown trees and crunched leaves. She's wearing a cream-colored lace dress without makeup and donning a flowy white gown that makes her look like she's from another time, and it's beautiful yet strikingly simple. She almost looks like a deserted angel in search of a loved one or some sign of life.

LIGHTS rolls out her brand new music video for the song "Banner," serves as the second official single from Canadian singer's latest sophomore effort, "Siberia," which has a strong dubstep influence, while also wandering into genres of dream pop, minimal, dance and even noise, is nominated for "Pop Album of the Year" at this year's JUNO Awards. The event airs April 1st on CTV.
"Siberia" sees synth pop superstar venture into new directions as being slightly grittier in a musical sense than the previous, The Listening, but retaining the charm and innocence of the previous album and EP. The girl who I saw bring her synth-pop from the bedroom to the stage with music to light up faces and hearts. For an artist that can be considered a poster-girl for being 'self-made,' it's hard to argue against the artistic progression and her own right for creative exploration and development.
Directed and conceptualized by Sean Michael Turrell, the clip was shot from dawn till dusk over the course of one day in the desert about an hour outside of Los Angeles. The video's mood places LIGHTS in a Road Warrior-inspired post-apocalyptic world, and features the 24-year-old Canadian pop princess walking down alone the long empty road in a deserted dessert, was based on the film "The Book of Eli," until she runs into a group of other young brave hitchhikers.
As she travels through a vast desert and encounters a pick-up truck of dirty-faced young vagabonds who invite her to join them. They continue down a lonely highway, and everything almost goes smoothly until hitting a roadblock where a bunch of pirate-wannabes stop them and start attacking. All LIGHTS had to do though is to raise a white flag - a banner, if you will - and everything's good. The setting is pretty interesting and beautiful and if you haven't already be sure to give her album a listen.

Whitney Houston, who reigned as pop music's queen and the golden girl of the music industry in the '80s and '90s who wowed audiences with effortless, powerful, and peerless vocals that made palatable to the masses with a pop sheen, but suffered from recurring bouts with drugs and alcohol, was found dead early Saturday evening in a Beverly Hills hotel room, as the industry gathered in Los Angeles for the official Pre-Grammy Gala hosted by her mentor Clive Davis, chief creative officer of Sony Music Worldwide.
Began her career just as the video age was just starting to blossom, and she scored some of her greatest success in that medium. With her incredible vocal range and purity, runway good looks and girl-next-door charm, Whitney was an unstoppable force in pop music, and an out-of-the-box superstar when she arrived on the music scene in 1985. Her meteoric rise included record-setting hits, groundbreaking videos and a promising film career.
Whitney's downfall was so long and sad that, in an impatient public's mind, it overshadowed her many accomplishments. Those achievements can be checked off easily in numbers - Grammy Awards, records sold, the string of seven consecutive No.1 singles. Yet if there's any solace to her passing, it is that people will revisit recordings, videos and films to rediscover the majesty of her work. Tonight, the 54th Annual Grammy Awards will sure sending off tributes to Whitney, the winner for the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.
I just wanted to pick one of her successful hits to pay my tribute to Whitney. "My Love Is Your Love," is her gorgeous reggae-tinged title track from her 1998 favorite Soul/R&B album, a schizophrenic album with a primer on today's hip-hop/R&B scene: the good, the bad, and the Fugee. The mid-tempo tune draws strong influence from reggae genres, and was lauded by critics. It showcase Whitney in all her creative, soulful maturity. The track was a massive hit worldwide, becoming Whitney's third most successful single, after "I Will Always Love You," and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)." You will always be missed, Whitney!

Morning Parade released a new video for their first proper single "Us & Ourselves," from the UK indie rock outfit's upcoming début LP is due out June 19. What do you get when you meld together the ebb and flow of 90's dance anthems with the crunch and tingle of indie rock? You get the soaring and catchy sounds from this five piece band and it is another fine example of Britain's love for indie rock.
"Us & Ourselves," is a song filled with great drumming accompanied with the riffs and synths that have gotten them the fan-base. With added backing vocals the song gets more depth. The lyrics are sung with such heart and soul, and the song proves the hype right down to the final beat. It's one of those songs that dominates with its ability to gradually build in sound and persistence, creating some killer musical progressions along the way.
"Try your best to feel something," the lead vocals Steve Sparrow sings on "Us And Ourselves," which shouldn't be too hard while you're listening to his band's epic new anthem. Sparrow sings with a raw edge that separates him from both bands, while the group's diverse sound and it should win them plenty of international ears. Don't be surprised if you feel like you're soaring by the 3 minute mark, but no need to worry - they'll bring you back to solid ground by song's end, leaving you with a soft landing and warm memories.
The dark new video is an expressive pairing of a song about loss with dark footage of wandering people with psychic power and pyrotechnics that makes you wonder if you've ever felt this way "running around the streets where you grew up." The clip is as intense as the music, full of sci-fi special effects as the band plays in another shot, a motley crew of villagers wanders down a country road to follow a mysterious light, which sucks up a car, sets a cabin on fire and blasts our newfound friends into space. They wind up chilling with the constellations, which is probably better than spontaneously combusting.

Jay-Z and Kanye West performing together again for their mind-blowing show in a newly-released video for their hit “Niggas In Paris,” the third track from their collaboration album "Watch The Throne," in which everything the superstar duo rap about is what they actually go through. Followed the release of "Otis" last year, this part live clip, part kaleidoscopic freakout, the "Paris" video more than matches the song's massive impact.
West steals the show on the Hit-Boy produced club anthem, which incorporates staccato orchestration, fizzing industrial noise, a sampling of dialogue from the Will Ferrell/Jon Heder ice-skating comedy film "Blades of Glory." The dynamic rap duo breathed new life into their inescapable hit, and their lyrics frame their rags to riches story on the song. In an interview, West revealed that the song was inspired by his travels in Paris. Both rappers come in hard over a slow, menacing beat and icy synthesizer notes.
The dark, apocalyptic clip, directed by West himself, is taken from a run of live shows at Los Angeles' Staples Center with shots of the pair performing mixed with crowd footage, giving fans who couldn't score tickets to the sold-out 'Watch the Throne Tour' the chance to experience what it was like - if they had been on psychedelic drugs at the time. Appropriately, the video opens with a warning that its special effects could lead to epileptic seizures. The two rap icons merge and are pulled apart in a kaleidoscope of quick cuts.
Given the size and scope of both the song and the artists performing it, the "Paris" video, spliced with some dynamic imagery and even a slightly reworked beat, is also largely compromised and loaded with lasers, prowling panthers, pop-up-book cityscapes and the aforementioned models. Shoot, even producer Hit-Boy makes a one-second cameo. It's a head-spinning, pulse-quickening mixture of imagery and movement, of sight and sound - an experience unlike any other live clip. If you caught the Throne tour, the "Paris" video is sure to inspire heady flashbacks.

While many of us were playing catchup on our Monday post-Super Bowl sleep, The Black Keys have unveiled a new heavily-filtered video for “Gold on the Ceiling,” the second single taken from their most recent outstanding record, "El Camino," released in last December. The Black Keys ditched their usual humorous in favor of more conventional rock-star fare.
The blues-rock duo follow their buzz-worthy video for the first single "Lonely Boy" with a characteristically no-frills depiction of their new single "Gold on the Ceiling." The Singer and guitarist Dan Auerbach told American Songwriter magazine that he roped in three "local girls" to sing the gospel harmonies on this track about the illusionary nature of material success. Again bucking the norm of production grandiosity, the video takes a fittingly low-budge angle: intertwining studio footage with clips of the band behind-the-scenes and performing on stage.
Directed by Reid Long, the clip has no shortage of head-bopping footage which documents the Akron rockers performing at their album release party at Webster Hall in Manhattan, and then rocking out in a Los Angeles studio space. The clip includes plenty of mundane behind-the-scenes moments, and their hundreds of fans at the venue, courtesy of the squelchy, fuzzy garage rock the band excels at. There's even a cameo from the now-infamous wood-panelled van!
The new Video shows duo in their natural element, and details your standard road video rockisms. The two-man band has been rolling out the tunes and rolling in the accreditation. Whereas their other videos succeeded by contrasting The Black Keys' straight-ahead blues-rock with quirky viral fodder, this video fits them like a glove. It looks like it was more a product of necessity, given the whirlwind schedule that comes along with being one of rock's biggest bands, a status the duo are still getting used to. "It's been absolutely insane and everyday something weirder happens," Auerbach told MTV.

With one pop album under her belt, Jessie James is hoping to break through in the genre where her heart always was, country music. The 23-year-old has just dropped a new video on CMT for her current single, "When You Say My Name," the lead single from the former pop starlet's upcoming sophomore album due out late summer. The new track is also the first official single to be sent to country channels since her transition to country music was completed. It looks like the country-pop hybrid isn't wasting any time making a splash in the country world.
James is a talented flok singer who continues to straddle the country and pop genres. "When You Say My Name" is her most country effort to date, yet it still makes hits from crossover artists like Lady Antebellum and Taylor Swift feel steeped in Nashville traditionalism. James clearly wants to be a country artist, and she has a voice strong enough to stand up on its own. The ultra cute & catchy, country/pop-ish tune is progress, but it ultimately ends up short of what even the most open-minded country music fans will be likely to embrace.
James, a larger-than-life talent, has that throaty, country roughness thing going on in her vocals, but really, it sounds a little too forced to be genuine. James still has some pop connections, however. The move to country seems like destiny. Most likely everyone was expecting James to come out with a "Wanted" 2.0 (her biggest hit yet) but she made it clear that she's a "country girl at heart," putting her foot down country music is in fact her thing, and that she wouldn't be comfortable just recording pure pop songs.
The newly-premiered Kristin Barlowe-directed music video perfectly captures the essence of the song. It shows James just hanging in her house, in a sexy pajama, feeling really happy about the beginning of a new relationship. She's so crazy in love, and just can't help but jumping on the sofa, dancing with a broom, or just doing silly stuff with her boyfriend. The clip ends with the boyfriend surprising her with a romantic dinner outside the house, but all they wanna do is dance closely, and hold each other.

Life is a technicolor fantasy, at least it is in Coldplay's "Mylo Xyloto" world. The platinum-selling band continues their latest CD's neon-hued theme in the newest video from the album, "Charlie Brown." In the just-released visuals, the lead singer Chris Martin and his British alternative rock band find themselves in the middle of a pulsating, colorful whirl of a club scene, performing for the masses as the gyrate along with the music.
According to Martin, this latest track holds a special place in his heart, "which was the centrepiece of this other record we started first." The song takes its name from the fact that it originally included lyrics inspired by the comic strip "Peanuts," whose protagonist was a young boy named Charlie Brown. It was the first song recorded during sessions for the band's then-upcoming fifth studio album, with the intention of being included on what later became "Mylo Xyloto."
The standout from their headline summer slots sounds even more monumental on record, "Charlie Brown" is one of the best things Coldplay have done. Jonny Buckland's hypnotic guitar lines lead the way, the band channeling The Joshua Tree-era, the heady holler-alongs of Arcade Fire and a teeny bit of Sigur Rós stargazing as the song launches into its adrenaline-veined climax. Whilst the music is wonderfully overblown, Martin keeps the vocals cool and calculated, singing of "taking the car downtown to where the lost boys meet," which might be about nipping to Spar on Hampstead High St, but probably isn't.
"Mylo Xyloto" is a concept album about two characters: Mylo and Xylotomy in a scary, oppressive world. The two protagonists fall in love and this song finds them running away together. Directed by Mat Whitecross and Mark Rowbotham. the newly debuted visual sensation from the album features a young man sauntering through London before meeting up with his girlfriend, and utilized footage from a collection of concerts they had performed the song amongst the crowd at throughout the band's 2011 Summer Festival Tour, after stealing a car and driving downtown to a black-light party.

Featured alongside Nicki Minaj on Madonna's "Give Me All Your Luvin'," which you may watched the trio Sunday at the Super Bowl halftime show, M.I.A., aka Maya Arulpragasam, has also premiered the new music video via Noisey for her next single "Bad Girls," a remix of the "Vicki Leekx" track, and will be the first single from the Sri Lankan-British artist's upcoming fourth studio album, expected to be released this summer.
The midtempo worldbeat rap ballad, "Bad Girls" incorporates Middle Eastern and Western musical influences and instrumentation. M.I.A. stepped up to the role of hustleress in the song. The 36-year-old rapper brings fast cars and "bad girls" to the Moroccan dessert for the accompanying new video, which features Arabic street racers, ghost riders, desert bonfires, and women in blinged-out burkas touting semi-automatics. The flashy video lives up to song's provocative lyrics, which include the classic, "Live fast, die young, bad girls do it well."
Shot in Ouarzazate, Morocco, home to one of the world's largest film studios over four days and behind by director Romain Gavras. Set to M.I.A.'s Punjabi-laced chill-banger, "Bad Girls" is a lady gangsta fantasy but one that plays off very real ingredients from life in the Middle East. There's crumbled architecture, sustained over years of attack; smouldering oil tankards; young men in kaffiyeh, standing around dangerously bored; mysterious women covered from head to toe, with only their kohl-lined eyes flashing out.
"It was dope to have so many people from so many different backgrounds speaking so many different languages come together to create something that we believed in," says M.I.A. about the video. The video is meant to evoke a Persian Gulf landscape – dusty, baked, semi-apocalpytic and in the hands of M.I.A. and Gavras, utterly hard-core. It's an interesting take on culture, blending lyrics about having sex in cars with Americanized imagery of Moroccan culture, but it's definitely not for the easily offended. The action-packed video is without a doubt a visual stampede of insane stunts and strange dance moves.

Are you ready for Super Bowl, the most-watched TV event of the year today? Madonna isn't going to let her halftime show be the only moment for her to get some Super Bowl-related attention with a new music video for her new single "Give Me All Your Luvin'," the lead singer appears on the Queen of pop's upcoming album, "MDNA," the title being the consonants in Madonna's name. The song features guest vocals from Madonna's fellow New Yorker, the rapper Nicki Minaj, and English singer M.I.A.
The effervescent, dance-and-clap-inducing track is an '80s-inspired electro-thumper complete with a cheerleader chant of 'L-U-V Madonna!' It's peppy, catchy, somewhat infectious and utterly boring to the point of tears. Lyrically the song finds Madonna warning a potential lover that he needs to be straight with her as she's "a different kind of girl" who won't be mucked around. In keeping with the current Marilyn Monroe vogue, the three pop stars also don blonde wigs during the electro dance-pop song's hip-hop breakdown section, all three singers fit the bill as strong women who know what they want.
Minaj certainly does her best, her typically frantic rap an exercise in squeezing as many words into a 10-second space as possible, while M.I.A.'s more laconic drawl loses momentum. Madonna has stated she wanted to work with M.I.A. and Minaj on the track as they were both strong, independent girls with a unique voice, and that she liked their music and what they represented. The "Material Girl" songstress paid tribute to the stars, saying "They're not conventional pop stars and I really admire them both. I love both of them actually."
Directed by MegaForce, the video has football and cheerleader theme, inspired by her upcoming halftime performance at Super Bowl XLVI. In this goofy and fun clip, the 53-year-old pop legend tosses aside the accouterments of motherhood and morphs into the late-1980s/early-1990s version of herself, with white lingerie and short blonde hair. The rest of the video is lighter in tone and slightly more whimsical than is usual for Madonna, with Minaj and M.I.A. cheering her on with cheerleader pompoms.

Adam Lambert is the only person in the new video for his sweeping new single "Better Than I Know Myself," but the striking clip adds a level of context to the song, shifting its focus from an external relationship to an internal one. The new track is the first cut off American Idol runner-up's upcoming sophomore album, "Trespassing," which he said takes his fans on, "an exciting journey through the past two years" of his life.
The moody midtempo and electro-pop piano ballad finds Lambert belting vocals about a lover who knows him better than he knows himself. Lyrically, the song revolves around romantic regret, and the 30-year-old explained the song's meaning is, "about the relationship you have with yourself, between your dark and light side. It's about duality; it's about that balance and finding it and struggling to maintain it and what it means. No matter what kind of relationship, everybody can relate to that moment."
Lambert is seen in two completely different sides to the performer's personality in the Ray Kay-directed new clip. one warm and homey, the other cold and sinister as he battles his inner-demons and wins. Evil Lambert, the glammed-up, liquor-chugging, dark version is on one side, while tea-drinking, meditating Adam is on the other. While Lambert's blue-eyed good side has 100 percent oxygen pumped into the room, the bad side douses the floor in alcohol and lights a match. And in the final shot, it appears that his dual personae have merged.
Lambert's soaring and impeccable vocals on this melodically challenging song, and his more stripped down and sophisticated look. MTV called the song "one of Adam's biggest, boldest and most beautiful tracks to date." The clip is highly stylized and gothy noir; The cinematography is lush and vibrant, nicely capturing the juxtaposition between the light and dark sides of his personality and that's exactly what Lambert's said "Trespassing" is all about, so the video serves as an ideal introduction for what fans should expect on the album.

Canadian pop-punkers Marianas Trench debuted the explosive video via MTV for their second single "Fallout," which is also the first since the release of their third studio album "Ever After" in last November. The foursome's latest video, "Fallout," explores the treacherous minefield that is a crumbling relationship.
Written by lead singer Josh Ramsay himself and then finessed into an accompanying booklet, "Ever After" are going to tell fans one long, continuous story of a man who finds himself trapped in a fairytale feud with an evil heart-stealing queen in a continuous flow of music that has every song cycling into the next without a break. It's an actual physical experience; a warm throwback to the album era when your music was more than a bunch of orphaned songs sitting on an endless iPod playlist.
"All the songs live on their own as songs, but they also serve the purpose of telling the story throughout the record," Ramsay explains. Much like the album, the band plans to make all the videos line up to make sense continuously, Ramsay said in an interview for MTV's Push. "This one's a little more abstract. It's not quite as literally right out of the story as the first one is, but there's definitely still elements of it for sure. I think later when people see all the videos from the
record, it's going to be cool and all line up."
The video follows Ramsay as he dodges explosions and memories set off by a recent breakup. He was on-and-off with his girlfriend in their last video "Haven't Had Enough," and "Fallout" picks up where they left off - permanently off. It opens with Ramsay and his girlfriend under a cloudy sky in a vacant field as he begs her to try to make their relationship work - cut to flashback sequences of the better times and the not-so-better times. The Vancouver emo punks plays through the wreckage as they narrate the breakup. At the end of the video, she hands Ramsay a bogus key necklace. Might that be a key element in the band's next video?

The Script have released a music video for "If You Ever Come Back." This heart-rending tale of a love that once was, is the third single from Irish alternative rock band's recent No.1 sophomore album, "Science & Faith," which has an addictive blend of hip-hop rhythms, flowing melodies, sparkling hooks and poignant, story-spinning lyrics, with the lead singer Danny's mellifluous soulful vocals riding high over huge, anthemic choruses.
Suffering the aftermath of a bad breakup, your lover just break it off with you, and you can't seem to let go? This song is for you! "If You Ever Come Back," hints always leaving the door open for the possible return of a loved one. It's all about asking forgiveness and wanting another chance and just simply starting over. Once again beautiful lyrics, and great Song. This follow-up to the successful leading track "Nothing," will surely be another chart-stormer.
The pop rock song finds its protagonist retaining a secret hope that his lost love will return. In an interview with iVillage UK, Script member Glen Power was asked if they are a band of romantics. He replied: "The song's also reflective of us on the road, away from home and our families. But I do think creative people, in general, are romantic by nature." The Dublin trio impress once again with this heart-rending tale of love and loss, all the while showing that their hearts are as big as their choruses. Subtle hip hop inflections lend the lovelorn track a contemporary edge.
In the video, we watch the Irish outfit perform inside a circle of folding chairs representative of an alcoholics anonymous meeting or the like. This is intercut with the story of a woman being trapped in a world she can’t leave, but a loving stranger on the subway decides to step in and take her to a meeting to get help. The song is so touching on its own, and the accompanying video definitely does the lyrics justice.

Taking a pile of machinery and building the rap superstar, David Guetta flips Nicki Minaj's switch and literally turns her on in the pair's new video for a steampunk-inspired affair "Turn Me On," the fifth single from French disc jockey's fifth studio album "Nothing but the Beat." and the song will be also featured on Trinidadian raptress's upcoming sophomore CD, "Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded."
The uptempo club song, with heavy beats features Minaj singing the chorus with her own (maybe slightly auto-tuned) pipes. Guetta told UK newspaper The Sun: "People don't really know her as a singer and she's killing it on that track. People know her for her crazy rapping but that shows what she can do as a singer. Sometimes I meet people by accident or they call me up but with Minaj it was me chasing her. For a year I wanted to work with her and she was hard to reach. But the moment we got into the studio and had the music it was great."
It's cool that Guetta is going for a little bit of a different sound, but different for him sounds like what everybody else is doing in the dance music world. Still, having Minaj sing makes the tune worthwhile, even if “sing” must be used in quotes because of all the voice-processing. The best results come when Guetta mercilessly rips artists from their comfort zone - take Minaj in songbird mode on "Turn Me On," which showcases a suspiciously melodic performance by the calmer side of Harajuku Barbie, with massive hooks that somehow let her make the transition from freak to diva.
Guetta plays a mad scientist creating his very own Minaj from scrap parts in the Sanji-directed ‘Frankenstein’ feel promo, which opens on Guetta trying out some early cosmetic-surgery tacticsin an old-school lab, putting the final touches on his Minaj doll plans, and unleashes it onto the world as she slowly transforms into the very human-looking Minaj. The clip ends with Minaj continuing her journey through town, as other female dolls make their escape chasing after Minaj.