“Black Skinhead” – Kanye West
Kanye West’s upcoming album Yeezus is getting quite a bit of buzz, and the rapper just premiered another track on Saturday Night Live to amp up the publicity. The track deals with some pretty heavy topics including consumerism and racism, but Kanye’s lyricism is smart and on point. The track is pretty dark with tribal grunting, a screaming Kanye, and a heavy beat layered over opera music, but as usual, Kanye manages to pull it off.
“Don’t Wait Up” – Tweens
Sometimes it can be hard for bands to get that perfect marriage between clean and crisp, and a low-fi, garage sound, but Ohio indie rockers Tweens manage to create it quite well in their latest track “Don’t Wait Up.” The Tweens may not be as established as other rock bands yet, but with in your face lyrics and a fresh attitude, I can see good things happening for them.
The title track for Toronto R&B artist the Weeknd’s upcoming album Kiss Land is out! The almost eight-minute track is spacey, twisted and dark which surprisingly compliments the Weeknd’s silky smooth vocals. As for what the Japanese text in the video says our guess is as good as yours, but this has to be our favourite suggestion:
If “Kiss Land” the song isn’t enough for you, check out this 21-second preview of “John Carpenter,” another song set to appear on Kiss Land the album, HERE.
Abel Tesfaye, otherwise known as the The Weeknd, released a preview to a new song titled “John Carpenter” on his official YouTube page Monday.
The quick 21-second video clip shows a fuzzy image of the musician swaying to his music in what looks to be his music studio. The audio itself sounds a little darker, or as one YouTube commenter put it:
Which, for the record, we totally love by the way. We can’t wait to hear the full track which, we assume, will be on his new LP Kiss Land. So far, there is no release date for either the full version of “John Carpenter” or Kiss Land but we hope it’s soon.
Prom is a time that most kids either look back on with fondness or despair (when you play the game of prom, you either win or you die!). Some people look great and find the perfect person/people to share it with and others…don’t. Some even elect not to go at all. If you do plan on going, here are 8 songs for the perfect promposal that will help woo your guy/girl/hobo off the street into going with you, and hopefully, bring you one step closer to the night of your dreams and/or nightmares.
1) Let’s Go – Matt and Kim
Not everyone wants to go to prom. Some kids legitimately don’t feel like going, while others think they’re being cool non-conformists by staying at home, all while their friends are having the time of their lives. Basically, those who opt to stay home are the people who’ll regret their decisions later. Convince your girl or guy to go with you by playing this upbeat tune that chants “let’s go” over and over again. Eventually you’ll get them with the not-so-subliminal messaging alone.
2) Marry You –Bruno Mars
Prom is an excellent time for people who are in a relationship. In fact, in my final year of high school, prom was the primary motivation for even acquiring a boo. Even though your partner is a tailor-made prom date, you should still put in the effort when asking officially them to be your prom date. For the sake of cuteness, use this frankly adorable Bruno Mars song (note: just DON’T get married. Other than that, the rest of the song is pretty cute).
3) One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks) – One Direction
Maybe you have the perfect person in mind to take to prom; they’re cute, funny, nice, and you want to put your face on their face. But— plot twist—they have no idea that you exist. Use this song to tell them that you WILL get them to go to prom with you, one way or another.
Note: author not responsible for anyone being creeped out and/or terrified by this prom-posal tactic.
4) Umbrella ft. Jay-Z feat. Rihanna
You might think depressing songs are reserved for the iPods of angsty teens, but they play among us everyday, even if you don’t realize it. They’re lurking on the TV and radio, waiting for you to stop and go “hold up? What did they just say?” Here are some of the worst offenders that trick us into dancing until we have that “what the what?” moment.
(Note: If I was a complete sadist, this would just be a list of ten songs by The Smiths and by the end you would be a weeping mass laying on the floor but I think andPOP enjoys having readers so…)
1. Pumped Up Kicks – Foster The People
This was the chillest song from last summer, and definitely has to be the most popular song to ever feature whistling. I mean what’s not to like? It’s clearly about cool kids who have fun wearing nice sneakers, right? Lol jk it’s about a school shooting. The lyrics are as follows: “all the other kids with the pumped up kicks / better run, better run / faster than my bullets” and the song is from the perspective of a kid named Robert who finds his dad’s gun. I think we may have been better off just whistling along idly.
2. Small Bump – Ed Sheeran
Aww how cute, Ed Sheeran is singing a song to his future child. Plot twist: the child is dead. This songs starts off as a really cute message from a young, would-be dad to their unborn baby. He goes through all the lessons that the baby will learn during its life, and how it will look as it grows. Once we get to the end of the song however, we realise that Ed/the dad is singing about the child he would have had, had it made it to term. Ouch. Right in “the feels” with this one, Ed.
3. Girls Just Want To Have Fun – Glee Cast
This one is a bit of a reversal: It uses the very upbeat original lyrics by Cyndi Lauper and makes them depressing as hell. Finn sings this song to Santana because she’s being bullied after he forcibly outs her (or something along those lines… I watch Glee, but just barely). Glee’s cover puts a more melancholy spin on the 80s classic, and makes me feel that sometimes girls yearn for fun because it’s something that they just can’t have right now.
4. Valerie (ft. Amy Winehouse) – Mark Ronson
This song has an amazing jazzy and upbeat tempo that will have you looking for the nearest person that you can learn to Charleston with. But the narrator is actually pining for the troubled Valerie who has outstanding fines and a recent stint in prison. He’s actually physically pining for her (“since I’ve come on home, well my body’s been a mess”) and it’s a bit sad because you get the sense that Valerie kind of messed him up. The fact that it’s sung so amazingly by Amy Winehouse makes it even sadder because parts of it seem like it could be about her life.
5) Little Lion Man – Mumford & Sons Read more…
Not surprisingly, The Weeknd‘s new music video for “The Zone” ft. Drake includes tons of dark, artsy shots of Abel Tesfaye singing in creepy abandoned rooms and hallways. It’s all very sombre.
These moody shots are contrasted with clips of a bright, cheery woman wearing white lingerie in a room with colourful balloons.
He sings: “Why you rushing me baby/ It’s only us alone/ I don’t wanna die tonight baby/ So let me sip this slow/ I’ll give you what you called for/ Just let me get in my zone.”
The Weeknd’s new album Trilogy drops Nov. 13.
Watch the video here
The countdown for The Weeknd’s next album Trilogy is still going strong, with only five days left until it’s released. Although the album will feature mostly old stuff (and by stuff I mean beautiful, lyrical genius type of deals), the singer is also adding three new tracks to the mix. The Weeknd (born Abel Tesfaye) made an appearance on BBC Radio 1 to debut one of these news songs, “Twenty Eight.” It literally sounds like heartbreak and magic all wrapped into one mp3 file. But what else can we expect from the master of heart wrenching lyrics?
In “Twenty Eight,” the singer’s soothing voice is accompanied by the constant beat of a piano. Usually a heart breaker himself, The Weeknd seems to reverse roles in this song. The singer opens the song with the words, “this is house is not a home to you/but you decide to go ahead and lay down, lay down.” Hmm, to me that sounds like a lover taking some serious advantage of The Weeknd and all that he has to offer. Poor guy. At least his heartbreak results in some awesome music. (Sad but true).
Listen to a snippet of “Twenty Eight” here:
I’m obsessing over Ellie Goulding’s cover of “High For This.” Her soft, British songbird voice puts an entirely new spin on the song, making it a bit lighter and less sombre than the original tune. Produced by Xaphoon Jones and uploaded to Soundcloud, the track is a cover of Canadian electronic/industrial/R&B artist The Weeknd. IN LOVE.
Listen to it here:
Former collaborator Jeremy Rose has blasted Canadian producer The Weeknd.
The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, is known to be reclusive, refusing to give interviews or chat to the public.
So it’s down to former collaborator Rose to speak out and reveal the true nature of Tesfaye.
In an interview with VICE, the producer said he had been deeply unhappy after contributing to The Weeknd’s name and sound.
“I had this idea for a dark R&B project… When I met (Tesfaye) I heard some of the stuff that he was doing. It was called the Noise. Remember that? It came out after he broke. It was this group, with him and another producer and it was called the Noise,” he said.
“They were a straight kind of R&B, just really light and kind of candlelight… (sings) “I wanna see you in your birthday suit”… And I was just like, “Aw, f**k that sh*t. No man, let’s talk about, f**kin’ and getting too high and trying to f**k bitches and it not working out. Let’s get really grimy about it.”
Contributing to a number of early tracks, the relationship between Jeremy Rose and Abel Tesfaye soon soured.
According to Rose, Tesfaye began pushing for some things he didn’t want to do where it got to the point where Tesfaye wouldn’t respect his opinions.
“He wanted me to produce for him without any of my input. And I was like, “Well then, what’s the point of being a group?” and he was like, “You can just be my producer,” and I said, “Are you going to pay me?” Then (I realized he was) not going to pay me. That’s why I backed out,” he continued.
“I was like, “You can have those three or four tracks, I’ll give you the stems, just take ’em, but I don’t want to work with you anymore.” I was really congenial about it, but I told him, “Just make sure that you give me credit,” and that’s where things went sour.”
You know, if someone worked on a track, they should at least be awarded some credit even if it’s for no money. That’s pretty low and unfair of The Weeknd to do that.
What do you think?
Every once and a while, two things come together to create something beautiful.
The list is endless: peanut butter with jam, Tim Burton with Johnny Depp, milk and cookies, John Lennon with Paul McCartney, bacon with eggs, salt and pepper, Batman with Robin, a wop ba-ba lu-mop and wop bam boom, Spongebob and Patrick, Jay-Z with Beyonce (educated guess) – and now, the Weeknd with cats.
Incidentally, all of those combinations make for great hangover cures.
Created by Anastasia Marchal, it’s a minute-and-a-half of pure feline ecstasy with the perfect dose of Abel Tesfaye’s R&B-revivalism to jump start your Saturday morning.
Abel Tesfaye, a.k.a. The Weeknd, has at long last revealed the third and final instalment to his 2011 trilogy.
The 21-year-old Toronto soul-revivalist has gone from a nobody to a household name, with thanks to his two releases and his collaborations with Aubrey Graham – a.k.a. Drake. His first two albums, House of Balloons and Thursday have received a variety of critical acclaim from a Polaris Prize nomination to a variety of best of 2011 lists, including our own. His site crashed for a few minutes due to high-traffic – so good ol’ Abel tweeted out a HulkShare link. You find the track listing and listen to the entire mixtape below.
This is pure baby-making music right here.
There’s a ton of hype surrounding Toronto R&B sensation The Weeknd. He put out his highly acclaimed mixtape “House of Balloons” back in March, and only now does he have an official music video to show for it.
“The Knowing” is like a short sci-fi film but with a killer soundtrack. It takes you on a visual journey onto Planet Ethio X, set way, way, way into the future (16311 A.D. to be exact).
The 8 minute long video is pretty intense on the eyes. The Weeknd a.k.a. Abel Tesfaye plays a pretty big role in the video. The brains behind the video is notable French filmmaker Mikael Columbu, who has also worked with Cee Lo Green and Bilal.
Go make some popcorn and prepare to have all your senses stimulates as you watch the epic odyssey that is “The Knowing”.
