Critic of Music

Two up and coming 16 year olds in the music industry: which one comes out on top?

These two teens have broken out of the standard pop-girl mold, with Lorde adapting an Alternative sound while Birdy takes on an acoustic Folk one. Lorde has been the most successful of the two by far, sending Royals into the Top 10 of major music markets across the globe, while Birdy has been fairly modest with her success. But even though Lorde is the more successful, which one is better?






Birdy - Without A Word
Birdy is the most impassioned teenager ever to grace airwaves since LeAnn Rimes in 1997. How she musters so much gut-wrenching heartbreak with such ease is awe-inspiring. Her lyrics, though simple, are beautifully translated with her gorgeous delivery, making them even more powerful. The piano line,   again very simple (Very reminiscent of Rihanna's We Found Love in fact) works as a wonderful accompaniment to her vocal. Stunning.

Vocals: A+
Lyrics: B+
Instrumentation: A-
Overall: A+

These two girls have their strengths: Lorde's is that she thinks light years ahead of her peers, while Birdy's is that she can emote like a veteran. Even though I slightly prefer Birdy to Lorde, I have to say they are equals in terms of quality, though Lorde is far superior with success.

What do you think about these two songstresses? Comment and let me know what you think!

Lady Gaga opened up the month long iTunes festival just hours ago, bringing with her 7 new songs, including Applause and the title track.

With her voice showing an incredible amount of improvement, she hit the stage with black suit to sing Aura. Throughout the show, she brought rock music, electronic, rave, and rap together, commanding the smaller stage setting with ease. I'll withhold most judgement for the studio versions, but I will say the show had its good, and its awful (*cough* Jewels & Drugs *cough*). I'll also say that Applause was definitely the strongest single choice here, as it is easily the most radio friendly track we have seen thus far.

Being issued as a re-release to her 2012 LP Halcyon, Ellie returns with new music in Halcyon Days. The album includes her first UK #1 and highest US debuting track with Burn.

Burn: Previously reviewed, and my opinion hasn't changed much since I reviewed it in July. It doesn't feel like Ellie, it's far too manufactured, and sucks out what makes Ellie's music so charming: her own lyrics and own sound. That being said, it's still a pretty good dance track, but Ellie can do better. B

Goodness Gracious: Ellie has successfully fused bubblegum pop with her own electronic sound. The Nate Reuss penned track blasts major chords on the same frequency as Anything Could Happen. It's good, but not quite great. The chorus is strangely irritating with its chipmunk vocals. B+

You My Everything: No typo, the title is indeed, You My Everything. "Everything" verges along being utterly charming, and also manufactured. Her lyrics are the original component here, but the production feels suffocated: it feels like Ellie's own ideas and lyrics are drowned out by her label's desires to make her a Pop Princess rather than Electro-Queen. C

Hearts Without Chains: Such a beautiful piano line, combined with Ellie's most passionate vocal ever, and laying-heart-on-the-line lyrics make "Hearts" pack a powerful punch (even if the subject matter seems to be a one-night stand). It's so raw, she sounds on the verge of tears in the 2nd verse, which is nothing we've seen from Goulding. Finally, some genuine artistry from Goulding has returned! A+

Stay Awake (Feat. Madeon): Originally a bonus track for Halcyon, "Awake" gets the Va Va Voom treatment and is now a standard album track. The excellent production from Madeon is the true star here, starting off with a guitar riff before swinging into a heavy electronic pulse. A huge standout on Halcyon is once more a standout on Halcyon Days. Single please? A++

Under Control: If someone ever made a playlist for songs to listen to while floating on a pink cloud in outer space, Under Control would be the very first selection. Lyrically, its very similar to her own Joy, "stood in the rain and watched you go / I feel a lump in my throat," is now "I'll never forget that feeling / When I watched you disappear." There is a little be desired in the chorus as well, it's fairly hookless, which makes it a bit dry. C+

Flashlight (Feat. DJ Fresh): Similar to Stay Awake, however the production here could be classified as dubstep with its gritty synths and absence of spanish guitar like its counterpart. It's pretty good, but the songs tempo makes it feel like it's running away, so instead of being able to enjoy the track, it feels as if you're being rushed through it. A-

How Long Will I Love You: Originally a The Waterboys track, Ellie pulls it off like it's her own. That being said, I Know You Care did a better job as a restrained piano ballad. C+

Halcyon Days seems to have drowned out Ellie's once budding originality as an artist. The lyrics are no longer complimented with fresh, new productions. Instead, we get the recycled pop-electronic productions that have seemed to have plagued the industry. Halcyon Days does have its standouts, but every song is either a standout or album filler, no in between. Combined with Halcyon's ideas, Halcyon Days does not compliment its predecessor by adding more incredible music; rather it compliments it by being an inferior album.

Vocals: B
Instrumentation/Production: C+
Lyrics: B+
Overall: C+

After weeks on heavy anticipation and chart dominance, Katy gave a surprisingly polished and dare I say, non-pitchy, performance of her smash hit Roar.

Confirming rumours of a Brooklyn Bridge performance, Katy made her way to the bridge via the Prism semi, and gave an MMA inspired performance of Roar. Quickly stripping the coat and boxing gloves, Katy gave what was probably her best televised performance ever. Her vocals were pretty spot on and she gave some fairly rigorous dance moves (not Beyonce rigorous, but for Katy they were pretty evolved).

It wasn't an epic performance, nothing really stood out besides the setting, but of course Katy cats are going to act like she blew up the moon into an actual Prism. It was good, but nobody should lose their hats or anything.

Gaga had a lot to live up to this VMA. Her iconic Paparazzi performance, her astonishing meat dress and polarizing 2011 Jo Calderon performance have made her the VMA queen. But did she live up to the hype tonight?

The short answer: kind of. The hype for Gaga is always detectable on other planets, and its almost impossible to live up to it. It wasn't Paparazzi, but it would put a lot of other pop girls to shame. Starting off with a fairly creepy staring contest with the camera, a recording of booing with snippets of Applause cut her intro apart.

Thankfully, she dropped the creepy cube and gave newbies a history lesson in Gaga. She busted out the Monster Ball Just Dance outfit, then the Bad Romance wig, before sealing it all with her Applause mermaid outfit, which she wore for the rest of the night. The dancing? Spot on. The vocals? Pretty on point. She had about 2 moments of slight pitch issues (the very beginning and end where she kind of hit the Eb5). All in all, she gave a pretty great performace. Best of the night? No. JT easily swept her with his 13 minute hits medley, but don't let that fool you: Gaga is back.