Britney Through The Ages

Someone sent me this bizarro Pepsi commercial Britney did for a Superbowl advert spot many years ago.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiuNWGLRp5s[/youtube]

Totally random and I love how 2001 Britney actually seems the most dated.

New Teddybears!

A few years ago a Swedish band called Teddybears released an album called 'Soft Machine' which absolutely won my heart. I think I first came across them Annie did guest vocals on their song 'Yours To Keep.' There was some very complex online discussion about this particular song over whose version was the best at Paolo & Neneh Cherry both had their own. Then along came Robyn's album and 'Cobrastyle' - a song which turned out to be theirs from several years ago. Klas Åhlund might be a name you're familiar with because he produced Robyn's album, wrote 'Piece of Me' for Britney, 'Speakerphone' for Kylie and was in The Caesars. In Sweden, he's best known for being a Teddybear.

Anyway all this led me to finally pick up a copy of Teddybears' first international album when I was in Montreal in 2007. It's their 5th album overall and pulls together lots of songs from the past onto one big American edition. Punk Rocker with Iggy Pop on vocals and the original 'Cobrastyle' fast became part of my DJ sets and the whole album soundtracked a hell of a lot of journeys. In fact it's only fault is that Elephant Man is the vocalist on the awesomely fun 'Are You Feeling It'.

Anyway this whole babble is to introduce the fact that Teddybears are back! Hooray! They've just released a free download of 'Get Mama A House', a song that started life as a advertising jingle. Hopefully this means a new album soon. Grab it here.

Review: Britney Spears - Circus

Every generation has its fallen hero and Britney Spears is ours. Yet despite being released at the height of her madness, 2007's Blackout proved that Britney could still create brilliant pop moments. Now, just over a year later, Circus arrives with an overwhelming swell of public support behind it.

While Blackout was 45 minutes of eye-rolling, crotch-crunching, but utterly brilliant insanity, Circus is, like Britney herself in recent months, a touch calmer. Sometimes it works, like on the disconcerting 'Unusual You', an electro ballad of Robyn-sized proportions, or the serene 'Blur', documenting Britney's last two years through lyrics like "I can't remember what I did last night". Other times, like on the sickly 'My Baby' - an ode to her children including a mawkish reference to their "tiny hands" - it goes horribly wrong.

To be honest, though, all we really want from Britney is floor-filling pop to live up to 'Womanizer''s manic sirens. 'If You Seek Amy' is a secretly filthy playful romp, while 'Kill The Lights' is a scathing attack on "Mr Photographer" who stalks her every move. Our favourite moment lies in the slow-motion middle eight of 'Shattered Glass': we can just imagine Britney, in full diva mode, strutting through a icy forest, completely back in control.

Circus is an album of highs and lows, but there's a danger we're just so excited about Britney surviving that we're happy to accept mediocrity. 'Womanizer' is probably the album's only iconic moment, but it certainly proves there's fight yet in the girl we'd almost written off for good.

Originally published by Orange Music

Britney's Back

Looking like this was recorded about 4 years ago. Amazing.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj8gQhLPRG4[/youtube]