"Untouchable", the third and final single from Girls Aloud's album Out of Control, is in stores now.
It's available on two physical formats (CD and 7'' vinyl) and as a digital download. The CD includes the new b-side "It's Your Dynamite", while the limited edition 7" picture disc features the radio mix and the Thriller Jill Mix of "Love Is the Key".
"Untouchable" is a song written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Tim Powell and Matt Gray, and it was produced by Brian Higgins and Xenomania.
Tracklists and formats: CD-S: 01. Untouchable (Radio Edit) 02. It’s Your Dynamite
7'' Vinyl: 01. Untouchable (Radio Edit) 03. Love Is The Key (Thriller Jill Mix – from the Girls Aloud Party)
iTunes EP: 01. Untouchable (Album version) 02. Untouchable (Radio edit) 04. Untouchable (Bimbo Jones Club Mix) 05. Untouchable (Album Version Edit)
Reviews:
Untouchable is an epic seven-minute electro-thumper which builds slowly, explodes into life, drops out brilliantly, then bursts back into life with a lovely and poignant lyric about "beautiful robots dancing alone". The teeny-boppers may well scratch their heads, but it's one of the classiest and most ambitious pop songs of the year. MusicOMH
It’s the sky-scraping invisibility of ‘Untouchable’’s post-Ibiza power-balladeering, though, that really flexes their superhuman pop muscles. NME
If anything, though it seems a little short it makes the album version seem just a shade too long in retrospect. But those flaws are minor, and the climax of Nadine's "beautiful robots" outro remains astonishingly bizarre and the tune is their best in ages. 7/10 The Singles Jukebox
The original version of 'Untouchable' serves as the centrepiece on Girls Aloud's Out of Control album: it's a declaration of mutual solidarity, a raved up torch song and a pop tour de force all rolled into one. (...) It now comes in a shade under four minutes and the girls' vocals, for no apparent reason, have acquired a bit of vocoder in the edit. Some of the epic quality of the original has been lost, but 'Untouchable' remains surprising, thrilling and strangely moving - in short, classic Girls Aloud. 4/5 Digital Spy
Girls Aloud will release a singles collection on a mini flight case, which will include all of their singles, plus 16 videos, 8 games and an exclusive rarities bonus disc.
The box set contains 22 discs (one for each Girls Aloud single, plus a rarities disc) - each single contains the tracks from each format bundled together (CD1, CD2, 7'', 12'', promo and rare mixes). There is also a 64 page booklet with "the story behind the music".
This is priced at £45 (plus shipping expenses) and is limited to 5000 copies. It is now available to pre-order in Girls Aloud's official store and will be delivered in July.
The rarities disc includes the following songs:
No Good Advice (Original Demo)
Long Hot Summer (Alternate Version 1)
Long Hot Summer (Alternate Version 2)
Sexy! No No No… (Development Track)
On My Way To Satisfaction
Love Machine (Original Demo)
Some Kind Of Miracle (Illicit Mix)
Something Kinda Ooooh (Original Demo)
Click here to view the complete track list of the box set.
Pet Shop Boys release their new single "Did you see me coming?" on Parlophone Records on June 1st.
This is the second single from the album Yes, despite the fact that song has already been made available for free on the Mail On Sunday greatest hits CD and on one of the digital bundles of the single "Love etc.".
"Did you see me coming?" will be released as a 2-track CD, maxi CD, 12'' vinyl and with three digital bundles. The single features new songs "After the event", "The former enfant terrible" and "Up and down", as well as remixes by Richard X ("The way it used to be") and Unicorn Kid ("Did you see me coming?") .
The Brits medley, produced by Stuart Price, is also released in one of the digital bundles. It was originally performed in February, when the Pet Shop Boys received the award for Outstanding Contribution to Music.
Click here to pre-order the single in three formats (2 CD-S + exclusive 12'') for just £6.
Tracklistings:
2-track CD 1. Did you see me coming? 2. After the event
Maxi CD 1. Did you see me coming? (PSB 12" mix) 2. The former enfant terrible 3. Up and down
12'' Vinyl 1A Did you see me coming? (PSB 12'' mix) 1B Did you see me coming? (Unicorn Kid mix) 2 The way it used to be (Richard X mix)
Digital Bundle 1 1. Did you see me coming? 2. Pet Shop Boys Brits medley
Digital Bundle 2 1. Did you see me coming? (Unicorn Kid mix) 2. The way it used to be (Richard X mix)
Digital Bundle 3 1. Did you see me coming? (PSB 12'' mix) 2. The former enfant terrible (Bring it on mix)
The new Pet Shop Boys album gets its American release today, via Astralwerks. Both single and double-CD versions are available. The album is currently number one in Amazon's Dance & Electronic chart.
Yes was released in Argentina last week and is soon to be released in Chile, Colombia, Russia and China. In China, the song "Legacy" will appear only as an instrumental on the album. According to EMI, the lyrics "failed the censorship of the General Admission of Press and Publication department".
The offending lyrics are: "Governments fall/Glaciers melt/Hurricanes bawl"; "Resentment remain/both east and west/Police expect/an arrest"; "They're raising an army/in the North/from York Minster/to the Firth of Forth/A pilgrimage of grace/you won't believe it/Such a human face..."
Some recent American reviews of the album:
U.K. girly-pop production team Xenomania bring mirrorball sparkle to alternately anxious and elated ballads. 4/5 Spin
You could be forgiven for fearing Higgins would kill off the last bit of Pet Shop Boys’ regality, smothering it with dance beats and bubbly production. But, in a somewhat shocking turn of events, the paring has actually achieved its goal…and then some. Transcending rote “return to form” clichés, Yes is one of Pet Shop Boys’ best albums ever. 7/10 PopMatters
On their excellent 10th album, the music leans toward the ornate, with snatches of Tchaikovsky and spaghetti-Western atmospherics enveloping the synths and house beats. 3/5 Rolling Stone
When the economy finally kicks the last velvet-rope VIP down to the breadline, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe will remain in their hot tubs, counting their gold. Because no one writes better dance-pop odes to the Fallen Empire of the Feel-Good Class. B+ Entertainment Weekly
Yes is the sound of the Pet Shop Boys unwinding and returning to their usual fascinations; isolation, fashion, grand arrangements, and witty synth pop anthems. 3.5/5 All Music Guide
The Treasure Fingers and Acid Girls remixes of Mini Viva's "I Left My Heart In Tokyo" are now available to download. They're exclusively on sale through Beatport for a short while - click here to buy.
Frankee Connolly and Britt Love, who make up Mini Viva, formed last year and are being looked after by Xenomania. Last October, new label World’s Finest Records put out a limited 10'' single of "I Left My Heart In Tokyo", with a Fred Falke dub mix on the a-side and an instrumental mix on the b-side. Fred Falke's dub mix recently appeared in the Hed Kandi compilation Nu Disco: The Future Sound Of Disco (CD2).
Catch Mini Viva live on these dates:
9 April, 19:00 - Water Rats, London 24 April, 20:00 - Camden Crawl
"Untouchable" will be available on two physical formats (CD and 7'' vinyl) and two different download options.
You'll be able to download the song from iTunes and all other digital stores as of one minute past midnight on Sunday 26th April.
The iTunes download comes with two different mixes: Original Album Edit, Radio Mix and Bimbo Jones Club Mix. All other digital outlets ill have the Radio Mix and, as an exclusive, they'll have the Bimbo Jones Radio Edit.
The CD will be released Monday 27th, with the new b-side "It's Your Dynamite". There's also a very limited edition 7" picture disc that features the radio mix and the Thriller Jill Mix of "Love Is the Key" (from the tv show "Girls Aloud Party"). This will be available exclusively through the new Girls Aloud shop (more details soon).
The new Pet Shop Boys album, Yes, is officially released in the UK today. Yes was produced by Brian Higgins/Xenomania and contains 11 new songs, including three songs co-written with Xenomania.
The double-CD version, Yes etc., is only available on CD. Pet Shop Boys' official web site says that stocks are limited, although more copies are already being pressed due to demand from retailers. Yes etc. (the one with the black cover) features a new song, "This used to be the future", produced by Xenomania and featuring guest vocals from Philip Oakey of The Human League, as well as six instrumental dub mixes of songs from Yes. Definitely worth buying, as "This Used To Be The Future" is completely album-worthy and the dubs are inventive recreations of the original songs.
The full track-listing of Yes etc. is as follows:
1. This used to be the future 2. More than a dream (Magical dub) [remixed by Xenomania/Pet Shop Boys] 3. Pandemonium (The stars and the sun dub) [remixed by Xenomania/Pet Shop Boys] 4. The way it used to be (Left of love dub) [remixed by Xenomania/Pet Shop Boys] 5. All over the world (This is a dub) [remixed by Xenomania/Pet Shop Boys] 6. Vulnerable (Public eye dub) [remixed by Xenomania] 7. Love etc. (Beautiful dub) [remixed by Xenomania]
Pet Shop Boys' new single, "Love etc.", is now on sale. The "Love etc." two-track CD single (including a new song, "Gin and Jag") and a five-track CD of mixes are on sale in shops and from online retailers. "Love etc." is now priced at £0.50 on 7Digital.
The song was written with, and produced by, Xenomania, and was planned as the first single from early on in the sessions for the new Pet Shop Boys album. «We worked on that song from May last year until just before Christmas,» Neil Tennant told Music Week. «Brian [Higgins] kept endlessly tweaking it, but I’ve never got sick of it. It sounds like us, without really being like anything else we have ever done.”
The single has been very well received and is being acclaimed as the duo's best single in many years. Read a few bits from reviews:
musicOMH: «their catchiest single in years, cocks an elegant snook at the high life.»
Music Week: «a promising first card to play – a hook-stuffed but understated Xenomania co-creation with a fascinatingly peculiar, call-and-response chorus.»
The Sunday Mail: «a lovely bit of electro pop. It's uplifting, catchy and dancey.»
Virgin Music: «the middle aged men of pop have, along with Xenomania, created a right old proper pop sensation.»
Prefix Mag: «it finds the duo staying a lot truer to the quality and form of their earlier work than a lot groups working on their third decade together.»
"Love Etc." is a song written by Neil Tennant, Chris Lowe, Brian Higgins, Miranda Cooper, Tim Powell & Owen Parker and produced by Xenomania. Credited on programming & keyboards are Chris Lowe, Fred Falke, Sacha Collisson, Brian Higgins, Matt Gray, Tim Powell and Owen Parker (who also plays guitar).
Two EPs are available on iTunes and other digital stores. The tracklistings are:
1. Love etc. 2. We're all criminals now 3. Vulnerable 4. Did you see me coming?
1. Love etc. (Pet Shop Boys mix) 2. Love etc. (Gui Boratto mix) 3. Love etc. (Kurd Maverick mix) 4. Love etc. (Frankmusik Star & Garter dub)
"Vulnerable" and "Did you see me coming?" are from the new album Yes, which is released next week.
London Conversations: The Best Of Saint Etienne hits stores in the UK today. It's the band's fifth anthology, marking the start of a campaign to remaster and reissue their entire back catalogue.
The Quietus reviewed the compilation today, saying that it is «a comprehensive history of a band that believes in the art of pop»:
«From the baggy-meets-Balearic sound of 1991's debut 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart' through incursions into Northern Soul and Techno, via proto-Britpop, to recent collaborations with the Xenomania hit factory, Saint Etienne have always produced a carefully crafted dialogue between a nostalgic delight in (and archivist's knowledge of) pop culture's golden age(s), and thoroughly modern production.»
London Conversations comes in three different formats:
1) 2xCD + DVD housed in a Booklet format 2) 2XCD 3) 2XLP
The expanded edition includes an extra disc with all the band's videos. The DVD is housed in an exclusive book-shaped package with exclusive artwork and sleeve notes by music journalist Jon Savage.
Find out more about the formats and tracklists here.
Gabriella Cilmi's new single in the UK, "Save The Lies (Good To Me)", gets its official release as a maxi-CD today. Also available to buy are two digital EP bundles, one with remixes and the other with cover versions of Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me A River" and of the old standard "Fly Me To The Moon" (which has been recorded by Frank Sinatra, Connie Francis, Tony Bennett, among others).
The new radio version of "Save The Lies (Good To Me)" includes extra layers of vocals and synths. The song was written by Gabriella Cilmi, Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Tim Powell, Bob Bradley (who was previously responsible for the opening bass riff on Sugababes' "Red Dress") and Saint Etienne's Bob Stanley & Pete Wiggs.
The single has been receiving mixed reviews. While some praise her attitude, enthusiasm and varied sonic styles, others have criticized the song's "cheap faux-feminist ‘empowering’ lyric" and Gabriella's similarities to the singer Anastacia, "notably in her contralto voice and noisy growl":
-- Teletext Planet Sound: «The Aussie sounds lean, mean and keen to show you a good time. Combining Sugababes production values with a tune that echoes Kylie & Robbie's Kids, it's pop with attitude.» 8/10 -- Manchester Evening News: «It's got hit running through it like a stick of rock. Shameless hussy.» 3/5 -- Digital Spy: «She may only be a whippersnapper, but Cilmi is already displaying the chameleon-like quality that every popstar needs.»
These are the formats and track lists of the single:
CD-Single 1. Save The Lies (Good To Me) – radio edit 2. Sweet About Me – Live Version 3. Cry Me A River – Live Version 4. Fly Me To the Moon
Digital downloads - EP1 (buy on iTunes) 1 Save The Lies (Good To Me) - radio edit 2 Save The Lies (Good To Me) - Kinky Roland mix 3 Save The Lies (Good To Me) - Mason vocal mix 4 Save The Lies (Good To Me) - Mason Dub mix 5 Save The Lies (Good To Me) - Out Of Office club mix 6 Save The Lies (Good To Me) - Out Of Office dub mix
Digital downloads - EP2 (buy on iTunes) 1. Save The Lies (Good To Me) – radio edit 2. Sweet About Me – Live Version 3. Cry Me A River – Live Version 4. Fly Me To the Moon
Annie has released a five-track live EP of her performance at the iTunes Festival in London. It is available to download from the UK iTunes store. The EP features five songs from her upcoming album Don't Stop. The tracklist is as follows:
1. Loco 2. Take You Home 3. Songs Remind Me Of You 4. I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me 5. What Do You Want (The Breakfast Song)
Gabriella Cilmi will be releasing two different singles in Europe and Australia within the next weeks.
The first will be "Don't Wanna Go To Bed Now", in her native Australia. Next Saturday, July 19th, the single will be out with a cover version of Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me A River" as a b-side (which Gabriella has been performing on her live shows -- watch a video here). This is the tracklist:
1. Don't Wanna Go To Bed Now 2. Sweet About Me 3. Cry Me A River
"Save The Lies (Good To Me)" will be released in the UK on Monday 18th August. The CD-single will feature a live version of "Sweet About Me" plus "Cry Me A River" and "Fly Me To The Moon" (which, judging by the title, is likely to be another cover). A bundle of remixes of the single will also be available to buy digitally. These are the formats and tracklists:
CD-S 1. Save The Lies (Good To Me) – radio edit 2. Sweet About Me – Live Version 3. Cry Me A River 4. Fly Me To the Moon
Digital downloads - EP1 1. Save The Lies (Good To Me) – radio edit 2. Kinky Roland mix 3. Mason vocal mix 4. Mason Dub mix 5. Out Of Office club mix 6. Out Of Office dub mix
Digital downloads - EP2 1. Save The Lies (Good To Me) – radio edit 2. Sweet About Me – Live Version 3. Cry Me A River 4. Fly Me To the Moon
"I Know Ur Girlfriend Hates Me", the lead single from Don't Stop, will be released next Monday, July 14th. The single is available as a Digi-CD with 6 remixes and the video and as a white 7'' wrapped in foldout poster with the b-side "Danny, Danny".
"Danny, Danny" was co-written and produced by Xenomania. Listen to a clip of the song here.
You can pre-order the 7'' in the following stores: HMV, Juno, Rough Trade."Danny Danny" will be available as a digital download next Sunday on 7digital.
When "Sweet About Me" went to No. 1 in its second week of release, Gabriella Cilmi became the youngest ever solo artist to achieve the top spot in the Australian ARIA charts history. This week the single is still number 1 in Australia. In The UK "Sweet About Me" reached a new peak of #14 this week, after more than three months on the countdown.
According to Gabriella's official site, a second CD format of "Sweet About Me" will be released next Monday (9th June). It will feature the tracks "Sweet About Me (radio edit)" and "Sweet About Me (Sunship Remix – Radio edit)".
Because of this, Gabriella's follow-up single "Save The Lies" will now be released on August 11th.
Xenomania is a songwriting and production house based in Kent, England. It was founded by songwriter and producer Brian Higgins.
Since 1996, Xenomania have written, produced and remixed tracks for a string of successful artists including Girls Aloud, Pet Shop Boys, Sugababes, Dannii and Kylie Minogue, Saint Etienne, Cher, Gabriella Cilmi and many others.
"Untouchable", the third and final single from Girls Aloud's album Out of Control, is in stores now.
