Calvin Harris & Ayah Marar's "Thinking About You" Is Deservedly Getting A Single Release

It's the last song on his 18 Months album, but it's the best. Calvin Harris and Ayah Marrar's "Thinking Of You" will now be the ninth (!) official single release from the LP, according to PopJustice.

I wrote a review of 18 Months last fall, which you can read here. And if you're wondering why I'm so up on "Thinking About You," just have a listen:

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My Capital Cities Interview

I interviewed electro-pop duo Capital Cities, whose single "Safe And Sound" is currently climbing the Hot 100. You can watch the video from our chat at Idolator.

Their debut album In A Tidal Wave Of Mystery is out next week, on June 4, and you can stream it now at the New York Times.

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US Chart Roundup: Daft Punk 's Big Week

Daft Punk's Random Access Memories sealed the French duo's comeback this week, not to mention their official US breakthrough, by debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200. The album sold 339,000 copies in its first week, enough to nab the second-biggest opening of the year so far, after Justin Timberlake's The 20/20 Experience (968,000).

Another plus for the pair: single "Get Lucky" jumps from #10 to #4 on the Hot 100. Who knows — maybe America will right the wrongs of having "Around The World" and "One More Time" each stall at #61 and send "Get Lucky" to the top?

And to think, it only took 16 years...

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "Can't Hold Us" - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray *4 weeks*
2. "Just Give Me A Reason" - Pink feat. Nate Ruess
3. "Mirrors" - Justin Timberlake 
4. "Get Lucky" - Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams
5. "Cruise" - Florida Georgia Line feat. Nelly
6. "Come & Get It" - Selena Gomez
7. "I Love It" - Icona Pop feat. Charli XCX
8. "Stay" - Rihanna feat. Mikky Ekko 
9. "Radioactive" - Imagine Dragons
10. "When I Was Your Man" - Bruno Mars

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Pet Shop Boys Tease "Fluorescent"

Much like "Axis," "Fluorescent" is neither the best song on upcoming Pet Shop Boys album Electric (save that title for "Inside A Dream" or "Love Is A Bourgeois Construct" or "The Last To Die" or "Thursday"), nor is it one you'll want to skip over. In fact, Electric is an album album — one that you'll want to play the whole way through then lament that it's over so quickly and then start it all over again. "Repeat listens" is what they call it.

Anyway, here's one-minute-and-11-seconds of "Fluorescent."

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It's Kylie Minogue's New Song "Skirt"

Today is Kylie Minogue's 45th birthday — the perfect time for her to drop a new song from her forthcoming album. Below is "Skirt," which was co-written by The-Dream and produced by Nom De Strip.

The first minute or so had me worried. (Warning: there is dubstep.) But the chorus is pretty killer, so it all balances out in my book.

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UK Chart Roundup: La La La

The UK Top 10:

1. "La La La" - Naughty Boy feat. Sam Smith *new* *1 week*
2. "Get Lucky" - Daft Punk
3. "Let Her Go" - Passenger
4. "Can't Hold Us" - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
5. "Waiting All Night" - Rudimental feat. Ella Eyre
6. "We Own It (Fast & Furious)" - 2 Chainz feat. Wiz Khalifa
7. "Play Hard" - David Guetta feat. Ne-Yo & Akon
8. "This Is What It Feels Like" - Armin Van Buuren
9. "Dear Darlin'" - Olly Murs
10. "So Good To Me" - Chris Malinchak

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US Chart Roundup: Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" Becomes Their First Top 10 Hit

Outside of the the sample on Kanye West's "Stronger," this marks the first week where Daft Punk are in the Top 10. "Get Lucky," a song that's already topped several countries' charts, has jumped up to #10 on the Billboard Hot 100. It's a far sexier position than #61, which is where both "Around The World" and "One More Time" (the duo's only other Hot 100 entries to date) peaked.

Yes, it's a week for pop miracles, as even Mariah Carey manages to move into the Top 20 — albeit at #20 — with her Miguel pair-up "#Beautiful." Whistle-shriek that shit to the bank, Mimi.



Another one I wouldn't have predicted: now that The Great Gatsby is a box office hit, Lana Del Rey's "Young And Beautiful" flies up from #59 to #22. Like Daft Punk, Lana is now experiencing her first Top 40 hit, stateside.

On a final note, Capital Cities' "Safe And Sound," a single I've been championing forever, inches up to #90. Below is their latest video for the song. (This one has a nice budget.)



The U.S. Top 10:

1. "Can't Hold Us" - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray *3 weeks*
2. "Just Give Me A Reason" - Pink feat. Nate Ruess
3. "Mirrors" - Justin Timberlake 
4. "When I Was Your Man" - Bruno Mars
5. "Stay" - Rihanna feat. Mikky Ekko 
6. "Cruise" - Florida Georgia Line feat. Nelly
7. "Come & Get It" - Selena Gomez
8. "Radioactive" - Imagine Dragons
9. "I Love It" - Icona Pop feat. Charli XCX
10. "Get Lucky" - Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams

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Daft Punk's "Contact" Samples The Sherbs' "We Ride Tonight": Watch The Video For The Latter

"Contact," the closing track on Daft Punk's Random Access Memories, is quite the epic space odyssey, thanks in part to a sample of astronaut Eugene Cernan describing what appears to be a UFO. The other sample the song contains is from "We Ride Tonight," a 1982 synth-rock single by Australian band The Sherbs (aka Sherbet aka some other name I can't be fucked to take the three seconds to look up right now.)

I stumbled upon the video for "We Ride Tonight" the other night and can't get over how cheeseball-fantastic it is. The first 40 seconds are basically Daft Punk in a nutshell.

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UK Chart Roundup: Stooshe Are Doing Just Okay

I like Stooshe enough, but I'm not sure if they're a great girl group just yet. Sure, "Black Heart" wound up on Chart Rigger's 10 Best Pop Singles Of 2012 list. And "Waterfalls" was an okay, if entirely unnecessary, cover. So now we're on to "Slip," the latest single to promote the band's London With The Lights On album. It's a fairly nice spoonful of retro Motown, the likes of which we've heard a multitude of times before. The song makes a so-so leap into the Top 40, up to #12 this week.



So, "okay," "nice," "so-so"...all of this is to to say that maybe Stooshe will truly break out with an original, trademark sound and a spectacular string of singles with album #2? Something tells me, this far into things their first go around, it's just not going to happen yet.

The UK Top 10:

1. "Get Lucky" - Daft Punk *4 weeks*
2. "Let Her Go" - Passenger
3. "Heart Attack" - Demi Lovato *new*
4. "Can't Hold Us" - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
5. "Waiting All Night" - Rudimental feat. Ella Eyre
6. "Blackout" - Wretch 32 feat. Shakka *new*
7. "So Good To Me" - Chris Malinchak
8. "This Is What It Feels Like" - Armin Van Buuren
9. "Play Hard" - David Guetta feat. Ne-Yo & Akon
10. "Endorphins" - Sub Focus feat. Alex Clare *new*

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I Interviewed Giorgio Moroder

I interviewed pop/dance god Giorgio Moroder, along with Debbie Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie, and Terri Nunn of Berlin, for an Idolator piece on Giorgio's 10 biggest music moments.

Go and check it out. But first, here's a leftover bit from Terri Nunn, about Giorgio being quite the ladies' man in his day:

"The guy was a full-on playboy. Man, he was a player. And the girls were lining up for this guy. Before he met [his wife] Francisca, he was like, how many girls can I date in a week? And that guy had them lined up. I can’t even tell you how many girls I saw that guy with. We stayed friends all this time, and I’d see him on and off throughout the years, and his life really changed, especially when he had his son, for the better. It’s fun to have the playboy years, but when you have the kind of love affair that happens when you have a kid, it’s a whole different world again. And he shifted 180 degrees when his son Alex was born. Then he was a family man and he was grounded.

"But when I first knew him, dude, that guy was like the quintessential Italian playboy, with the gold chains around his neck and the down-to-here unbuttoned shirt, and the girls. 'Oh, this is Wendy. This is Tifffany. This is Bridget. This is Wanda!'  It was just like parade! A bevy of beauties in and out of the guy’s house. I mean, good for him! He was a rock star and he played it. He enjoyed it to the hilt."

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Giorgio Moroder Premieres New Song "Racer"

Yesterday Google announced it's Chrome game Racer, which comes accompanied by a brand new Giorgio Moroder composition of the same name. Personally, I'm less interested in watching computer graphics straight out of 1981 race across my phone than I am in hearing a new Moroder track.

Here's the demo for the Racer game:



Giorgio Moroder's full song "Racer":

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US Chart Roundup: Avril Lavigne, Mariah Carey & Lana Del Rey Actually Have Hits!

Selena Gomez lands her first Top 10 hit on the Hot 100 with "Come & Get It," which climbs eight positions to #6 this week. That's a legitimate scandal in my book, since "Come & Get It" is vastly inferior to Gomez's superb 2010 single "Naturally," which peaked at #29 but really should have at least made it into the Top 10. I feel like Miley must have spiked the chart that month. The bitch.

Elsewhere, Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" jumps back up to #15, and Mariah Carey and Miguel's "#Beautiful" debuts at #24, giving Mimi her first Top 40 single in four years — the last being "Obsessed," which reached #7 in summer 2009. This comes on the heels of "Triumflop (Get 'Em)" and "Almost Home," both of which flopped harder than a pair of tits at a Pride parade and failed to chart.

Below that, Emeli Sande's "Next To Me" is up to #26 while Avril Lavigne's "Here's To Never Growing Up" catapult's up 30 positions to #30. Meanwhile, "Young And Beautiful" from The Great Gatsby is shaping up to be Lana Del Rey's first legitimate hit in the US. The Rick Nowels-produced track is up to #59, but should find its way into the Top 40 on next week's chart, as the song has been  Top 10 on iTunes since the movie opened last weekend.

Finally, America is drinking her Pepsi Cola pussy.

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "Can't Hold Us" - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray *2 weeks*
2. "Just Give Me A Reason" - Pink feat. Nate Ruess
3. "Mirrors" - Justin Timberlake 
4. "When I Was Your Man" - Bruno Mars
5. "Stay" - Rihanna feat. Mikky Ekko 
6. "Come & Get It" - Selena Gomez
7. "Thrift Shop" - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Wanz
8. "Radioactive" - Imagine Dragons
9. "I Love It" - Icona Pop feat. Charli XCX
10. "Cruise" - Florida Georgia Line feat. Nelly

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Daft Punk x Giorgio Moroder In The June Issue Of 'Dazed & Confused'

Pics by Hedi Slimane. Good shit.

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My Little Boots Interview: Watch

Last week I interviewed Little Boots at the Music Hall Of Williamsburg in New York for Idolator, and you can watch the bulk of our chat about her new album Nocturnes below.

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It's Mariah Carey & Miguel's "#Beautiful" Video

Mariah Carey arches her back, straddles a hog, rubs her ass, sticks her tits out and flashes her panties in the video for her Miguel duet "#Beautiful." Not much else you need to know here.

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The Saturdays' "Gentleman" Vs. The Wanted's "Walks Like Rihanna"

After Chasing The Saturdays aired on the E! channel here in the States and failed to help the British hooker troupe crack the US market, the network will once again trying its pop luck with The Wanted Life in the fall. Yay for sausage?

At any rate, both The Saturdays and The Wanted have new singles out, which I've managed to somehow avoid until now. It's not surprising — I've been busier than Farrah Abraham in a Van Nuys Motel 6 (though, not in that way — if only). So I finally decided to have a listen.

First up is "Gentleman."



It's not quite the PSY cover I was clamoring for, and I'm not sure how to feel about these hoes rapping about Ryan Gosling, Weezy and George Clooney. Still, musically, the whole Janelle Monae/almost-neo-soul thing is a nice break from the generi-dance that's become The Saturdays' forte.

Next: "Walks Like Rihanna."



Woeful, desperate title for a song that's actually "okay." It's not awful. This is Dr. Luke, isn't it? At this point, he should really be dragged to a dark room and beaten until he comes up with a new sound.

Hate the game, playa. Hate the game.

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UK Chart Roundup: The Music-Buying People Of England Have Been So Good To Chris Malinchak

Chris Malinchak's chill slow burner "So Good To Me" debuts at #2 on the UK chart this week, proving to not quite be a match for Daft Punk's unstoppable "Get Lucky," now in its third week at #1. Still, the New York DJ/producer can be happy about the fact that, if he had to be held off the top position on the chart, at least it was by Daft Punk.



Elsewhere, Gabriella Aplin's third single "Panic Cord," from debut album English Rain, goes in at #19. It's a bit singer-songwritery/jangly/girl-with-a-guitar-y for my taste (and apparently the British public's tastes, as well), but, hey — knock yourself out, baby.



The UK Top 10:

1. "Get Lucky" - Daft Punk *3 weeks*
2. "So Good To Me" - Chris Malinchak *new*
3. "Let Her Go" - Passenger
4. "Waiting All Night" - Rudimental feat. Ella Eyre
5. "Can't Hold Us" - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
6. "This Is What It Feels Like" - Armin Van Buuren *new*
7. "Play Hard" - David Guetta feat. Ne-Yo & Akon
8. "I Need Your Love" - Calvin Harris feat. Ellie Goulding
9. "#thatPower" - will.i.am feat. Justin Bieber
10. "Just Give Me A Reason" - Pink feat. Nate Ruess

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US Chart Roundup: I Love My (Next) White Trash Husband Macklemore

Somehow, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis have become the first duo in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 to chart at #1 with their first two singles. You'd think this feat would have happened before with someone far classier, but I'm still glad that My (Next) White Trash Husband Macklemore is able to pop a box of Frangia and celebrate.

And so the pair's "Can't Hold Us" knocks Pink and Nate Ruess' "Just Give Me A Reason" off the top of the chart after the latter's three-week reign. Meanwhile, one of the year's best singles so far, Justin Timberlake's "Mirrors," slides up to #3, while Icona Pop and Charli XCX's "I Love It," Chart Rigger's top pick on our Best Singles list last year, climbs to #7.

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "Can't Hold Us" - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray *1 week*
2. "Just Give Me A Reason" - Pink feat. Nate Ruess
3. "Mirrors" - Justin Timberlake 
4. "Stay" - Rihanna feat. Mikky Ekko
5. "When I Was Your Man" - Bruno Mars 
6. "Thrift Shop" - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Wanz
7. "I Love It" - Icona Pop feat. Charli XCX
8. "Radioactive" - Imagine Dragons
9. "Cruise" - Florida Georgia Line feat. Nelly
10. "Feel This Moment" - Pitbull feat. Christina Aguilera

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Rihanna's 777 Tour Documentary: Oh, Look — It's Three Seconds Of Me

Well, well, well. Somehow they caught a rare moment where everyone on this trip was actually smiling?

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Here's What A Justin Timberalke Concert Ticket For Roseland Ballroom Looks Like

I was invited to see Justin Timberlake's MasterCard Priceless Premieres show at Roseland Ballroom (read: not a full-blown tour show, but pretty good nonetheless) on Sunday.

If you care to my writeup on the concert, you can check it out here.

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Betty Who, That's Who

Betty Who came by and hung out in the Idolator office on Friday, ahead of her show at Pianos. If you don't yet know of this 21-year-old Boston-based Australian pop starlet, then check out her amazingly fantastic EP The Movement, which is chock full of pop gems...and it's free, you cheap whores. FREE.

My faves: "You're In Love" and "High Society." 



And here's the video for "Somebody Loves You."

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It's Mariah Carey & Miguel's "#Beautiful"

Mariah Carey has been working the phrase "hashtag pow" into her critiques all season long on American Idol, and now we see why: early promo for her new single, a pair-up with Miguel called "#Beautiful." I can't be mad about this song, as it's actually in a different league than Mimi's previous outing, that Oz The Great And Powerful soundtrack single "Almost Home." And don't get me started on "Triumphant (Flop 'Em)."

Anyway, Mariah and Miguel make a nice duo on this bombastic, old-timey mid-tempo number. And even though Miguel gets the first verse, Carey still feels like less of an afterthought than she did on "Triumflop."



What do you think?

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UK Chart Roundup: I Heard The Daft Punk Album (And "Get Lucky" Is Still #1)

Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" is #1 in the UK for a second week. Even more thrilling, for me, at least, is the fact that I went to a listening event for the duo's upcoming album Random Access Memories last week. (Don't I look stunning up above?) I'm not permitted to say anything in a review-like manner about it just yet, but I will note that "Giorgio By Moroder" and "Contact" are two songs on the album that ones you should pay close attention to...much like you should take the time to listen to all 13 song on Random Access Memories.

Wink.

The UK Top 10:

1. "Get Lucky" - Daft Punk *2 weeks*
2. "Waiting All Night" - Rudimental feat. Ella Eyre
3. "Can't Hold Us" - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
4. "Let Her Go" - Passenger
5. "I Need Your Love" - Calvin Harris feat. Ellie Goulding
6. "Play Hard" - David Guetta feat. Ne-Yo & Akon
7. "#thatPower" - will.i.am feat. Justin Bieber
8. "Just Give Me A Reason" - Pink feat. Nate Ruess
9. "Need U (100%)" - Duke Dumont feat. A*M*E
10. "Me & You" - Disclosure feat. Eliza Doolittle *new*

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It's Janelle Monae & Erykah Badu's "Q.U.E.E.N." Video

After helping to make fun. a name in pop-loving households the world over, Janelle Monae is back with new single "Q.U.E.E.N.", the first taste of her upcoming album The Electric Lady.

I'll admit, The ArchAndroid...I just didn't get into it three years ago as much as I probably should have. But I can totally co-sign on "Q.U.E.E.N.", a funky collab with Erykah Badu that employs Marvin Gaye What's Going On-era strings during the rap bit.

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US Chart Roundup: Icona Pop Crack The Top 10, Daft Punk Climb With "Get Lucky"

Some of the good stuff on the Billboard Hot 100 this week consists of Pink and Nate Ruess' "Just Give Me A Reason" maintaining its stance at #1 for a third week (I had to think about it, but, yes — this is good), while Justin Timberlake's "Mirrors" moves up to a new peak of #5. Swedish duo Icona Pop and British singer Charli XCX's "I Love It," the top song on Chart Rigger's 10 Best Pop Singles Of 2012 list, finally makes the Top 10 by moving up to #9.

Elsewhere, Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" climbs to #14 after debuting at #19 last week. Good for those fuckers. The fact that they're actually having a hit in America is kind of blowing my mind. Who'd have thought they'd recover so spectacularly after 2005's abysmal Human After All?

Another US breakthrough: Emeli Sande's "Next To Me" cracks the Top 40 by sliding up to #36. (And let's all take a moment to remember that we first saw this music video back in January 2012.)

That brings us to PSY and the yo-yo-ing "Gentleman." Without enough people with bad enough taste to actual download the song, it plummets from #5 to #26 now that the initial surge in YouTube plays has tapered off.



On a finale note, Lana Del Rey's Great Gatsby soundtrack dirge "Young & Beautiful" debuts at #82. I tend to like her trash at first, and then go off it real quick — something that might be chalked up to the fact that she basically keeps making the same song over and over.

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "Just Give Me A Reason" - Pink feat. Nate Ruess *3 weeks*
2. "Can't Hold Us" - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray
3. "Stay" - Rihanna feat. Mikky Ekko
4. "Thrift Shop" - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Wanz
5. "Mirrors" - Justin Timberlake 
6. "When I Was Your Man" - Bruno Mars
7. "Suit & Tie" - Justin Timberlake feat. Jay-Z
8. "Feel This Moment" - Pitbull feat. Christina Aguilera
9. "I Love It" - Icona Pop feat. Charli XCX
10. "Radioactive" - Imagine Dragons

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