Ones to Watch: Bebe Black

London-based singer/songwriter (and all around bad ass bitch), Bebe Black is most certainly deserving of the "ONE TO WATCH" title.  Black has one of those voices that you just can't get enough of.  Blessed with versatile voice and impressive vocal range, Bebe Black could easily have had her pick of musical genres. Lucky for us, she opted for an edgy pop sound, mixing in elements of jazz, soul and rock, underscored with driving electro beats.  Vocally and production-wise, Black's latest single, "I'll Wait," recalls Sia and Florence Welch (Florence + The Machine), doing away with the heavy EDM influence heard on previous releases like the dubstep-drizzled (amped-up) Lana Del Rey-esque "Never Forget" and the PHENOMENAL "Deathwish." Taken from her forthcoming Columbia Records debut album, "I'll Wait" will be released in the UK October 27th. 

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Kylie Minogue Drops 'Skirt'; Celebrates Her 45th With New Nom De Strip-produced Banger

PHOTO CREDIT: Roc Nation

Earlier today, everybody's favorite Aussie electro-pop queen Kylie Minogue left us, her loyal fans with a very special treat AND ON HER OWN BIRTHDAY no less.  Shortly after sharing a photo of herself with the caption, "Might be my birthday but I'm still working #studio," Queen Kylie Retweeted a Soundcloud link from DJ/Remixer/Producer Chris Lake.  Where did said link take us, you might ask? Oh just to an AMAZING new song called "Skirt." That's all!  The song, which Chris Lake debuted at opening weekend of Pacha Ibiza this past weekend was produced by Nom De Strip (AKA Chris Elliot) and co-written by The-Dream.  Listen to it BELOW THE CUT:

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[Hot Video Alert] Rita Ora - Shina Ya Light

Released November 5th on Roc Nation/Columbia Records, "Shine Ya Light" is the third single released by English pop/R&B star Rita Ora.  The Emil Nava-directed video sees Rita proudly taking to the streets of her native Kosovo, serving up all sorts of attitude.  While I still don't consider myself a FAN, Rita Ora is definitely growing on me.  For me, her sound lacks originality at the moment.  "Shine Ya Light" in particular sounds a bit too similar to something Barbadian dance/pop queen Rihanna might have put out a couple of years ago but she's definitely got the chops to carve out her own niche.  We'll have to see what happens, I guess.

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Hot Video Alert: Oh Land - White Nights

My favorite Danish-born/Brooklyn-based electropop star Oh Land has just unveiled the video for her new single, "White Nights" and in it's another stunner. Directed by CANADA (Scissor Sisters - "Invisible Light") the video is pure joy in visual form. The video features an absolutely gorgeous Oh Land (Nanna Øland Fabricius) waking up in a number of fanciful dream sequences involving some kind of lush scenery, state of the art visual effects, bold costumes, fantastic choreography (allowing Oh Land to show off her dance background), glitter or some combination of everything. The video, just like the song, is an epic, glorious masterpiece,making me even more sad to have missed her Boston performance with Sia last month.

One of my favorites and an obvious standout from her self-titled sophomore album, "White Nights" is the perfect follow up single to "Sun Of A Gun." While she did release a video for "Rainbow," it appears that "White Nights" is the new official single, although I'm not sure in which region it's being released. In an interview over on Culture Bully (thanks PROPHET for the heads up), Oh Land describes the origin of the song's title,

"In Scandinavia we call it ‘white nights’ at summer when it never really gets dark at night and you just never wanna fall asleep. In my music I often get inspiration from both the nature world and civilization. Two contradicting elements that pull equally in me." {SOURCE}

Oh Land's U.S. debut album on Epic Records peaked at #184 on the Billboard 200 and features production from Dan Carey, Dave McCracken, Lester Mendez and Alexis Smith.  Catch Oh Land on tour with Katy Perry this summer/fall.  Watch the amazing video for "White Nights" below and download the album on iTunes HERE.  You can also listen to hot remixes of the track by K. Flay, Twin Shadow and Max Tundra by clicking HERE!

Check out Oh Land on the web:

Official Site//MySpace//Facebook//Twitter//VEVO

Oh Land Releases 'Rainbow' Video, Tours with Sia and Katy Perry

Danish-born, New York-based singer/songwriter/producer Oh Land just released the simple, yet stunning video for her song "Rainbow," easily one of my favorite tracks off of the album. One of my 'Ones To Watch in 2011,' Oh Land is a former dancer turned singer/songwriter who released her self titled debut U.S. album last March. The album peaked at #184 here in America, which is pretty freakin' awesome, considering that she's virtually unknown here. A follow up to her debut album, Fauna, sophomore release Oh Land features production from Dan Carey (La Roux, Christina Aguilera), Dave McCracken (Shakira, Beyonce), Lester Mendez (Enrique Iglesias, Jessica Simpson) and Alexis Smith. Oh Land made her U.S. television debut on March 2nd, performing on The Late Show with David Letterman, singing her first international single, the eerily-catchy "Sun Of A Gun."

The video for "Rainbow" features a glitter-faced Claudia Schiffer Oh Land (AKA Nanna Øland Fabricius) singing around a glittery frame of some sort against a black background. The video, while mostly in color, does fade into sepia/black & white from time to time creating a cool visual.

Oh Land is currently on tour in Europe, where she'll play Glastonbury in the UK before heading off to Switzerland. She'll be back in America next month, opening for Aussie singer/songwriter Sia, on tour promoting her latest album, We Are Born. Oh Land has also been invited to join Katy Perry on select U.S. dates of her California Dreams Tour in August, following Perry overseas to perform during the UK and Ireland leg of our tour. Download the album on U.S. iTunes HERE You can also pick up Fauna if you're so inclined.

Tour Dates:

June 24//Glastonbury Festival//Somerset, UK
July 15th//Montreaux Jazz Festival//Montreaux, Switzerland
July 17th//Latitude Festival//Suffolk, UK
July 21st//First Avenue//Minneapolis, MN**
July 22nd//Metro//Chicago, IL**
July 23rd//St. Andrews Hall//Detroit, MI**
July 24th//Phoenix Concert Theatre//Toronto, ONT**
July 26th//Webster Hall//New York, NY**
July 27th//Webster Hall//New York, NY**
July 28th//9:30 Club//Washington, DC**
July 30th//Osheaga Festival Musique et Arts//Montreal, QC**
July 31st//House of Blues//Boston, MA**
August 1st//The Trocadero//Philadelphia, PA**
August 3rd//Variety Playhouse//Atlanta, GA**
August 5th//House of Blues//New Orleans, LA**
August 6th//Warehouse Live Studio//Houston, TX**
August 7th//Granada Theater//Dallas, TX**
August 9th//Valley View Casino//San Diego, CA (WITH KATY PERRY)
August 10th//The Wiltern//Los Angeles, CA**
August 11th//House of Blues//San Diego, CA**
August 12th//HP Pavilion//San Jose, CA (WITH KATY PERRY)
August 13th//Country Bowl//Santa Barbara, CA (WITH KATY PERRY)
August 14th//Country Bowl//Santa Barbara, CA (WITH KATY PERRY)
August 16th//Wonder Ballroom//Portland, OR**
August 17th//The Showbox SODO//Seattle, WA**
August 19th//Commodore Ballroom//Vancouver, B.C.**
September 1st//Store Vega//Copenhagen, Denmark
October 12th//Motorpoint Arena//Sheffield, UK (WITH KATY PERRY)
October 14th//O2 Arena//London, UK (WITH KATY PERRY)
October 15th//O2 Arena//London, UK (WITH KATY PERRY)
October 18th//Echo Arena//Liverpool, UK (WITH KATY PERRY)
October 19th//International Arena//Cardiff, UK (WITH KATY PERRY)
October 24th//Odyssey Arena//Belfast, Ireland (WITH KATY PERRY)
October 26th//NIA Arena//Birmingham, UK (WITH KATY PERRY)
October 27th//Metro Arena//Newcastle, UK (WITH KATY PERRY)
October 29th//AECC//Aberdeen, UK (WITH KATY PERRY)
October 31st//MEN Arena//Manchester, UK (WITH KATY PERRY)
November 1st//SECC Hall 3//Glasgow, UK (WITH KATY PERRY)
November 3rd//SECC Hall 3//Glasgow, UK (WITH KATY PERRY)
November 4th//SECC Hall 3//Glasgow, UK (WITH KATY PERRY)
November 5th//Trent FM Arena//Nottingham, UK (WITH KATY PERRY)
November 7th//O2//Dublin, Ireland (WITH KATY PERRY)
November 8th//O2//Dublin, Ireland (WITH KATY PERRY)


**Denotes A Performance Opening for SIA

Check out Oh Land on the web:

Official Site//MySpace//Facebook//Twitter//VEVO

A NOT-SO-QUICK QUICKY Album Art Update

It's super late so I have time for one more QUICKY. With so much STUNNING album artwork out there, I just had to post some of my favorites. Oh and speaking of beautiful album artwork, DEFINITELY check out my last post on Ms. Katie Melua as well as my posts on Sarah McLachlan, Jewel and Cyndi Lauper - all of whom have new albums/singles coming out with some beautiful artwork. The artwork for this new album/single are beyond gorgeous. Thanks to Coverlandia and MuuMuse for the artwork. Oh - I should also mention that release dates listed below are mostly for UK.

Sia - "Clap Your Hands" (Single/Out Now on iTunes)

Check out the video for Sia's new single, "Clap Your Hands." How fun is this? Such a creative, cooky artist. I absolutely ADORE her. Check out fun remixes by Fred Falke and Diplo.

Robyn - Body Talk Part I (Album/June 7th)

Thanks to Bradley over on MuuMuse for posting this. I love this artwork. I love Robyn even more. Body Talk Part I is one of my most hotly anticipated summer records. Robyn's released three songs on iTunes to tie us over. Check out "Fembot," "Dancehall Queen" and "None of Dem" on iTunes (in the U.S.).

Robin Thicke w/ Estelle - "Rollacoasta" (Single/Out Now)

While the artwork might not be anything special, there's a big honkin' photo of Robin Thicke. Enough said? Oh...and R&B superstar Estelle makes an appearance. Check out the video. I am loving this song more and more.

Macy Gray - The Sellout (Album/June 28th)

Macy Gray is back and better than ever! In looking through my CD collection, I have more Macy Gray CDs then I remember purchasing. As quirky as she is, she's talented. I am very excited about the new record and while "Beauty In The World", the first single off of The Sellout is still growing on me, the Cutmore remix of the track already has me sold.

Kylie Minogue - Aphrodite (Album/July 5th)

*DIES* After having seen Kylie Minogue on her first ever North American tour, I am STILL riding that high and don't plan on stopping any time soon. Lucky for me (and Kylie fans everywhere) the wait for new material won't be much longer. New Kish Mauve-produced single "All The Lovers" will be released on June 28th, followed by the album Aphrodite on July 5th. *DIES*

Kelis - Flesh Tone (Album/May 17th)

I already blogged about the stunning music video for the new Kelis single, "Acapella" and now we have the official album artwork. It's a little bit gaudy for my tastes but I still kind of love it. I cannot WAIT for this album. I haven't been this excited about a Kelis album since Tasty. Lookout for the Kelis-assisted Benny Benassi collaboration, "Spaceship," the video for which has already been shot.

Kate Nash - My Best Friend Is You (Album/Out Now)

While this artwork is CUTE, it's not really blog-worthy by itself. I just wanted to include it b/c I'm going to see Kate Nash live next week at Great Scott in Allston, MA (outside of Boston). Small, intimate gig - the same place I saw V.V. Brown actually (WHICH I still need to post about - oops!). I'm beyond excited. The new album came out this week and I am still warming up to it. There's so much to love about her first album, but I'm sure that in time I'll love the new one as well. If the streaming concert I listened to today (live from Cologne) is any indication, her live set is going to be AWESOME! Check out the video for her new single "Do-Wah-Doo."

Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid (Album/May 17th)

Janelle Monáe is a talented young lady. I remember when her first EP came out a while back with the song "Many Moons" - I loved her look and voice and now...FINALLY she's back with a full length album (due out May 17th in the UK and the following day in the U.S.). This is going to be a hot album...which by the way is sort of reminiscent of Kelis' new artwork. It's also channeling the movie poster for 20s silent film Metropolis. Very cool. Watch the video for new single feat. Big Boi (of OutKast fame) called "Tightrope."

Diana Vickers - Songs From The Tainted Cherry Tree (Album/May 3rd)

Former X-Factor contestant Diana Vickers' debut album drops on May 3rd and features lead single "Once" (which has glorious remixes from Manhattan Clique). Having heard part of a leaked album sampler, I'm very excited for Songs From The Tainted Cherry Tree. Vickers is a talent, and while her sound is similar to that of Little Boots and Ellie Goulding, I think her talent stands on it's own. I'm interested to see what the finished product sounds like. Check out the video to her single "Once."