Three percussionists laid down a beat on one man’s tummy in sqwakdotcom‘s “Tummy Talk,” slamming his stomach, cheeks and shoulders to make one epic tune. All I can think of is OUCH! Was this not painful for the human drum? If you can’t stop drumming your fingers to the tune, it’s available for download on iTunes and you can even make it your ringtone.
If you like that cute, shy girl in your biology class and want to make a move, watch this video in its entirety and do the exact OPPOSITE of everything he recommends. Specifically:
1. Don’t whisper creepily in her ear.
2. Don’t gyrate against classroom desks while your nerdy friend plays the keyboard behind you.
3. Don’t ask to look inside her shirt.
4. Don’t smell her hair.
5. Don’t sneak up behind her.
Worse, don’t choose an apathetic chick who will just sit there chewing her Hubba Bubba while you bust your butt trying to impress her. Flirting goes both ways, you know?
The hilarious music video for “Your Face I Like That Shit” was posted on IFockingHateThat and the song is available on iTunes.
Watch it here
Pink’s new music video for “Try” is a stunningly choreographed and emotional journey into a passionate relationship. The aggressive contemporary dance only highlights the primal basis of the lyrics. She sings in the chorus: “Where there is desire/ There is gonna be a flame/ Where there is a flame/ Someone’s bound to get burned/ But just because it burns/ Doesn’t mean you’re gonna die/ You’ve gotta get up and try try try.”
I never knew pink was such a strong dancer, though she’s always seemed like a very physical, movement-based singer.
Besides the artistic element of this video, I love Pink’s colourful look. Her blonde hair is highlighted with streaks of blue and yellow, and her sheer dress floats when she moves.
The track is from her new album The Truth About Love, which is available on iTunes now.
Watch it here:
Adele’s new track “Skyfall” for the latest 007 installment of the same name was supposed to be released at precisely 7:07 last night (Oct. 4) but apparently the Internet didn’t feel like being poetic and the song ended up leaking early, as anticipated songs are wont to do.
The track, co-written and produced by Adele’s frequent collaborator Paul Epworth, is powered by Adele’s beautiful voice and her incredible vocal range. Adele even overpowers the 77-piece orchestra, which was arranged by Epworth and Emmy-nominated film and TV composer J.A.C. Redford.
The new single is the first since her last album, 21, so we’re pretty stoked. I can confidently say I’m putting this in the 007 Soundtrack Hall of Fame. I think everyone else agrees — it’s already number one on iTunes.
Listen to it here:
Taylor Swift dropped the second single off her upcoming album Red called “Begin Again” and it’s an ode to love — maybe Conor Kennedy? Swift regales us with tales of her brand new beau, who continually surprises her by appreciating her awesome sense of humor (why would he?) and being all gentlemanly.
We also hear even more details about her horrendous ex-boyfriend, who didn’t think she was funny and hated when she wore high heels. (Obligatory speculation: Taylor Lautner??) Whoever it’s about, it’s a damn good track that we should appreciate without putting any faces on.
Anyway, the song is melodic and has that country twang we missed. It’s the perfect balance to the upbeat “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” The track quickly shot to number one on iTunes.
Listen to it here:
By Jack Siebel
Your first year of college is one of the most important years of your life, and yes, there’s an App for that. In fact, there are tons of them!
Below are ten fantastic applications to help you succeed both academically and socially in a world dominated by technology and speed. Almost every student I know has at least one if not more of these ten apps to help them out during their first year of uni. Personally, I use them on a daily/weekly basis and there’s a good chance you’ll start using them too.
1. CampusBooks, FREE
WHAT IT DOES: CampusBooks has one task: to find the cheapest place to buy books. Although that doesn’t seem extremely impressive, CampusBooks is AMAZING. It will locate almost any book and tell you exactly how to get it for the cheapest price possible.
WHY WE LIKE IT: Textbooks might be the most overpriced thing I’ve ever seen. EVER. That being said, CampusBooks is like the black market of educational literature, giving the user hundreds of options across the nation to buy their books at a (usually) much lower cost.
2. Flashcards, FREE-$4
WHAT IT DOES: Flashcards is an app that lets you, well, make flashcards! It provides users with a sleek and easy way to memorize anything that can be defined or matched.
WHY WE LIKE IT: Not only is the app much smaller than carrying around four or five decks of real cards but it’s also sleek in design and easy to use.
3. AudioNote, $3
WHAT IT DOES: For someone who stinks at taking notes (like me!) this can be the most helpful tool you have. AudioNote records lectures, speeches and basically anything else you want it to! Not all of us can be as pro as The Office‘s Ryan (above).
WHY WE LIKE IT: From experience, I know note taking can be hard, especially if your professor speaks with roughly the same pace of a movie on fast forward. With AudioNote, students can record lectures instead of sloppily writing half completed paper notes.
4. Urbanspoon, FREE
WHAT IT DOES: Are you a foodie? Are you a college kid on a budget? Urbanspoon helps users find the best food at the best prices. It uses professional critiques and GPS to find the tastiest food that’s closest to you.
WHY WE LIKE IT: Isn’t it obvious?? We like it because we like delicious food! College kids are often on a budget, so it’s pretty helpful that Urbanspoon narrows the restos down by price (yes please).
5. Flixster, FREE Read more…
I’m happy to see that a good part of Ricky Gervais’ humour still comes from making fun of his friend Karl Pilkington. In his latest web series Learn English with Ricky Gervais he comedically teaches foreigners how to speak “proper English” by having a regular, subtitled conversation with Pilkington.
In episode one, they teach viewers completely useless but hilarious phrases like “he is bald” and “you smell.” They also have hypothetical conversations about drinking tea and waxing balls. Ricky asks Pilkington quite seriously in a scenario-based activity: “my balls are very hairy, can I have them waxed please?”
The first episode is currently available for free on iTunes.
Watch it below:
We do a lot of things we regret when we’re younger; like drinking soda at breakfast, recording a love sonnet for your favourite celebrity and uploading it to YouTube and maybe this. Max Harris recorded his very own song “High” but let’s not be too harsh okay? Comments have been disabled since uploading the video because of all the negativity.
At first, we weren’t sure if this was a parody or not but you can buy his song on iTunes and everything. The video isn’t quite Rebecca Black because it doesn’t have the same production value, but it’s up there.
Watch it here:
Justin Bieber surprised all his fans (though I think JB was equally surprised) when he released the third single from his album Believe today. He promised his fans that if “Die In Your Arms” shot to number one on iTunes (which it did) then he’d release “All Around the World.”
That song was supposed to come out at midnight tonight, but JB seemed a little shocked when it came out earlier today. He tweeted Scooter Braun: “WHAT!?!?! It’s out!?!?!” Don’t worry JB, we don’t mind. Really.
The song features Ludacris. The last time they worked together their brainchild was “Baby.” So you know this track’s gonna be INSANE.
If “All Around the World” shoots to number one on iTunes then JB has promised to release his next single “As Long As You Love Me” next Tuesday. So go buy it already so we can get the next single!
In the meantime, JB is in Madrid, continuing his promo tour for the album.
Listen to it here:
It was only two years ago that Hoodie Allen was working at Google and now he has one of the top selling albums. Earlier this week he had the number one album on iTunes, beating out Nicki Minaj, Adele and One Direction.
Bio on speed: Allen grew up in Long Island, went to UPenn and worked at Google’s California offices. He’s 23 and has no major label behind him.
How’d he do it: Allen connects with his fans through social media, not to mention he has some pretty good tracks and a sense of humour. His album All American, which came out on Tuesday, went number one following the singles for “No Interruption” and “No Faith in Brooklyn.” The rapper also has a song called “James Franco” in which a bunch of mini James Francos are let out across Los Angeles. How can you go wrong?
Listen to now: We love the soft piano riff in “No Faith in Brooklyn.”
“No Faith in Brooklyn”
Hey girl, we know you’re dreaming about all the things Justin Bieber would say to you if he only knew you bought his single “Boyfriend” on iTunes. You don’t have to wonder what it would sound like anymore because Justin put together a few ads video serenades so you would fall madly in love with him.
The serenades are beyond cheesy and have a slightly sexual connotation (does anyone want to taste his fondue?). They’re what I imagine dating ads from the 90s to be like. Luckily Justin’s confident enough to pull it off without it being creepy.
Watch them below:
Things have been happening very fast for Fun. After holding a #1 spot on iTunes and getting their song on Glee, life is good. Even with all the hype, the band is approaching the success with a refreshing amount of modesty. As Nate tells us in this interview, The Baha Men also had a #1 single. In part 1 of this very candid conversation, he talks about his initial reaction to being on Glee and the emotional roller coaster that comes with being on top of the charts.
I can’t remember exactly what I was doing at 17, but it’s very likely I was sweating over a Shakespeare essay and catching up on the latest episode of the OC. On top of everything else he’s done, at 17, Justin Bieber has gotten his 2nd book deal, which is being released in September.
HarperCollins announced today that it will publish an official photographic book called “Justin Bieber: Just Getting Started,” meaning there will thankfully be minimal writing on Justin’s part. His first book, called “First Step 2 Forever: My Story,” was published in October 2010 and has sold more than a million copies in 25 language.
And there’s more to look forward to. Today he tweeted: “so next week is my birthday and maybe a week from today i might be on a song called #LiveMyLife on ITUNES. maybe. 
(sic)” So yes, if you’ve had minimal accomplishments in your life, I suppose this would be even more reason to feel bad.
Greyson Chance has released his first album, “Hold on ‘Til the Night” today and debuted at #2 on iTunes.
Chance, the 14-year-old YouTube protegé follows suit with the generation of Beliebers and has conquered the essential teen girl demographic. Its only been two years since he performed a soulful piano cover of Lady Gaga’s ‘Paparazzi’ at his elementary school’s talent show and caught the eye of Geffen Records and inspired Ellen DeGeneres to sign him as the first artist on her label: eleveneleven.
She tweeted about her protegé this evening: “I’m so proud of @GreysonChance. His first album debuted at #2 on iTunes today!”
I had a chance to talk with Greyson Chance during the recording process about the album, life and his first tour, check out that interview here.
17 year old ‘American Idol’ winner Scotty McCreery has released his single on iTunes.
The Season 10 winner of the hit singing show has released his single “I Love You This Big” along with his Season 10 compilation album, which features full-length versions of 13 tracks that he performed while competing on the show.
Runner-up Lauren Alaina’s new single “Like My Mother Does” is also available for download, on its own or part of her compilation album as well.
That was quick – but I guess people want them while they’re hot! Download the singles and let us know what you think of them. Will they be hits, or duds?
Lady Gaga has become the first person to pass 10 million followers on Twitter.
Gaga’s held the #1 spot since August 2010, and has been escalating to this record-breaking number ever since. She is the queen of the Internet – Lady Twitter perhaps?
Leading up to the May 23 release of her second album ‘Born This Way,’ Gaga’s latest track ‘Hair’ will also be released today at 1pm PT / 4pm ET as part of iTunes’ “Countdown to Born This Way” promotion.
In an early review of ‘Hair’ by Rolling Stone, the track is described as an “inspirational song in the mold of ‘Born This Way,’ but it’s a bit weirder, mixing the yearning romantic melodrama of Pat Benetar’s “We Belong” with the hard industrial metal edge of Broken-era Nine Inch Nails.”
The track features E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons, whose sax appeared on last week’s new single ‘The Edge of Glory.’
I love that Gaga is releasing a new single every week. It gives fans a lot of anticipation and excitement without giving everything away. We’ll post the new single later on today, I’m sure it’ll be great!
At first, Sky Ferreira seems like your typical pop star on the rise. The big, curly, blonde hair. The rock n’ roll sense of style. The I-don’t-care attitude. But her music and background are definitely no ordinary story.
“My dad is Brazilian and Portuguese and my mom is Native American. It’s funny because I came out looking like, pretty white,” says Ferreira over a phone interview. “I’m Caucasian-looking and none of my family is; everyone in my family is at least two shades darker than me.”
Ferreira, who recently released her EP “As If!” on iTunes on March 22, is definitely a star on the rise. Her and her song “Sex Rules” have appeared in national CK One ads, she has modeled for Nylon, Vogue Italia, Vs. Magazine, and on top of it all, is releasing a full-length album sometime next year.
It’s no surprise her modeling career has taken off, though – the LA native is a real head-turner. Her big brown eyes command attention, her style makes you want to rethink your entire closet, and her hair is just downright cool. But at the end of the day, what comes first – singing or modeling?
“I mean, singing will always be my first passion. But they’re all very important. Modeling is important to me and it’s definitely helped me get out there, so I don’t think it’s a disadvantage,” says Ferreira.
The singer got her start on MySpace, the online music social-networking scene that has launched the careers of Lily Allen and Sean Kingston alike. She attributes her big break to constant hard work and pestering record labels. “I wasn’t going out and doing really bad things, obviously,” says Ferreira. “I was going out and kind of getting myself out there.”
This pestering eventually lead to capturing the attention of Bloodshy & Avant, two of the hottest music producers today responsible for many Britney Spears hits such as Toxic, My Prerogative, and Me Against the Music. The Swedish duo worked on two songs off Sky’s EP – “Haters Anonymous” and “108″ – as well as her single “One.” The result? A unique sound that battles mainstream pop with French and Dutch quality.
Songs For Japan has been released on Friday, March 25 - a compilation album to benefit the ongoing disaster relief efforts in Japan. The album is available for purchase worldwide on iTunes for $9.99, and 100 per cent of the proceeds go to benefiting the Japanese Red Cross Society.
Lady Gaga, Eminem, Pink, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry are among the many artists that appear on the album. In total, 38 artists lent songs to the album, including every and all types of music from country to rock to pop and jazz.
All acts appearing on Songs for Japan – and their labels and music publishers – have waived their royalties and proceeds from the worldwide sales to the Japanese Red Cross Society. The Japanese Red Cross Society will use funds from the album to support its ongoing relief efforts and recovery assistance to Japan’s most affected areas by the earthquake and tsunamis.
Here’s the track list for Songs for Japan, according to Apple:
1. John Lennon, “Imagine”
2. U2, “Walk On”
3. Bob Dylan, “Shelter From the Storm”
4. Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Around the World”
5. Lady Gaga, “Born This Way”
6. Beyoncé, “Irreplaceable”
7. Bruno Mars, “Talking to the Moon”
8. Katy Perry, “Firework”
9. Rihanna, “Only Girl (In the World)”
10. Justin Timberlake, “Like I Love You”
11. Madonna, “Miles Away”
12. David Guetta, “When Love Takes Over”
13. Eminem (featuring Rihanna), “Love the Way You Lie”
14. Bruce Springsteen, “Human Touch”
15. Josh Groban, “Awake”
16. Keith Urban, “Better Life”
17. Black Eyed Peas, “One Tribe”
18. Pink, “Sober”
19. Cee Lo Green, “It’s OK”
20. Lady Antebellum, “I Run to You”
21. Bon Jovi, “What Do You Got?”
22. Foo Fighters, “My Hero”
23. R.E.M., “Man on the Moon”
24. Nicki Minaj, “Save Me”
25. Sade, “By Your Side”
26. Michael Bublé, “Hold On”
27. Justin Bieber, “Pray”
28. Adele, “Make You Feel My Love”
29. Enya, “If I Could Be Where You Are”
30. Elton John, “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”
31. John Mayer, “Waiting on the World to Change”
32. Queen, “Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)”
33. Kings of Leon, “Use Somebody”
34. Sting, “Fragile”
35. Leona Lewis, “Better in Time”
36. Ne-Yo, “One in a Million”
37. Shakira, “Whenever, Wherever”
38. Norah Jones, “Sunrise”
The great thing about today’s technology is that it can be combined with charity efforts on a global scale. I think this is a great cause and great concept – iTunes is one of the hottest markets right now, so why not use it for good? I know many young people who don’t exactly have the money to donate, but I’m pretty sure we all have money on our iTunes account, so this little bit can help in a major way.
Lady GaGa stopped by The Gayle King Show and announced that she will be releasing not one, but two music videos for her new single ‘Born This Way’.
The first video will be out on Monday, February 28, and the second will be released later as a more stripped-down performance of the single. She will sell the video on iTunes and gear the profits towards an anti-bullying charity, which is fitting since the song is about accepting who you are and living without prejudice.
GaGa has given no hints about what the video will look like or include, but one can only imagine after her egg spectacle at the Grammys. The video is directed by Nick Knight, a British fashion photographer, who coincidentally shot GaGa for her Vanity Fair cover in September.
I’m excited for this video premiere. I can always count on GaGa to deliver something creative and exciting, a great change from predictable artists dominating the charts. Even if I hate it or don’t understand it, at least this video will leave me with some sort of emotion or opinion. As long as she’s got me talking, I’m happy.
I think that’s what a lot of pop stars today lack: creativity. When we watch a Britney Spears video or listen to a Rihanna song, do we really find ourselves that amazed or induced in thought? Of course not. It’s just another young, hot thing dancing around in her underwear. Which, at times is nice, but for the most part, not very stimulating. GaGa, on the other hand, has meaning behind her songs. She has depth, she has a voice. Whether people like her or hate her, at least she has a stance on something. And now, with two videos on the way, we’re promised double the freaky-deaky and double the opinion. Bring it.
The video is sure to be a success, though. The song went straight to #1 literally everywhere, and sold 1,000,000 copies in one week – the fastest song to do that, ever. I don’t know what it is about GaGa, but people love to scrutinize her, love to discuss her, and love to watch her. To me, that’s a modern pop star done right. Take notes, Britney.
While Stefani Germanotta, aka Lady Gaga, has been holding headlines hostage lately with her flaunted Grammy entrance and performance, her older songs are evidently still doing the trick; particularly her first single with Akon and Colby O’Donis, Just Dance.
Just Dance has officially been downloaded over 6 MILLION TIMES on iTunes, making Lady Gaga the first solo female performer to have a song go 6 TIMES PLATINUM! It is just the second song to ever be downloaded that many times, the first being I Gotta Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas. Those damn Peas.
The real scary part of this? There’s no sign of Gaga slowing down no. Miss Alejandro’s empire has reached an astounding net worth of $100 million (according to celebritynetworth.com), and the support, and dollars, keep pouring in for the eccentric blonde.
Just Dance? More like Just Download.
