Pixie Lott // Lay Me Down

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It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything from Miss Lott but now she’s back with her latest offering Lay Me Down

You might recognise part of it given that it’s currently being used in the advertising campaign for Ballista hair sprays & dry shampoos (which, coincidently, features Pixie promoting their products. 10 points to the marketing/promotional team.) The song itself reminds us a little of her first album and in fact her debut single Mama Do but with a mix of her last album.

It’s good enough to make you forget about that monstrosity that was Nasty…

Rating: 4/5

Pixie Lott // Nasty

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Buy bundle @ Official store

It’s been 3 years since we last heard anything from Miss Lott, and now she’s back with the first song from her third self titled album, with Nasty.

The first time we heard this we thought that it sounded like a Christina Aguilera track….that would be because it IS a Christina Aguilera track! Apparently this was originally a duet with CeeLo Green for the film Burlesque but never made the final cut. Sadly this just doesn’t seem to fit Pixie’s voice. She doesn’t have that slight rough, aggressive tone to carry the track off. No she’s more; light & bubbly, not what the song really calls for.

Not quite the comeback that we were expecting. Could we hope that things are only get better?

Rating: 2/5

Pixie Lott // Kiss The Stars

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Kiss The Stars is the third single to be taken from Pixie Lott’s latest album, Young Happy Foolish.

If you know Pixie, then you can probably guess what the song sounds like. Yes like most of her tracks it’s a pop, dancey round the handbag tune. Except we’re sure we’ve heard this song before…like a song called All About Tonight. Or if we increased tempo and changed key slightly…Gabriella Cilmi’s On A Mission (actually the video does remind us of Ms Cilmi video)

Sadly we’re not impressed by this latest offering. It’s too samey and came too quickly and hence, it loses it’s sparkle very quickly.

Rating: 2/5

Clyde 1 Live @ SECC Glasgow 30th September 2011

On the 30th September 2011, Glasgow based radio station Clyde 1 took over Hall 4 of the SECC in Glasgow to bring a myriad of the UK’s hottest stars to stage together for one night only. So who was on the bill?

Olly Murs
First to take to the stage was Olly Murs, who despite coming second in the X-factor a few years ago, has been quite successful. He performed a few songs including Thinking Of You, Busy and current single Heart Skips A Beat inbetween talking X-Factor (seeing as he host The Xtra Factor), his new album and of course, his forthcoming tour. Overall he was good but not an act that I would rush off and see.

Sugababes
As many will probably know by now, none of the original line up remains. But Heidi, Amelle and Jade came out and performed a few past songs (About You Know, About A Girl, Push The Button) as well as new single Freedom. Sadly though, it sounded as if they were out of tune with the older songs, only being able to properly sing material since they’ve been together.

Cover Drive
This is a new group hailing from Barbados who only performed two tracks for their slot, forthcoming single Twilight and their debut Lick Ya Down. Not sure what to make of them but expect to hear more from them in the future!

Giving the stage crew time to set the stage up, presenter and DJ George Bowie took up the decks and brought the George Bowie Experience to hall 4 and got the crowd jumping and singing along.

Matt Cardle
Following George it was last years X-Factor winner Matt Cardle. Apparently he’s only been playing his new material up North. He played a solid set including his new single Run For Your Life and also constantly on guitar, which he looked more than comfortable playing.Of course there was the obligatory mention about his debut album coming out. It was good to see and hear him live and not just on the TV and it has shown he is able to play in the flesh but not someone I’d rush to see.

Nina Nesbitt
Jim Gellatlyintroduced this singer who hails from Edinburgh but has major labels chasing her. Discovered on YouTube (where she posted covers of artists including Ed Sheeran, Example and Mumford & Sons). She performed a cover of Little Lion Man before performing her own song Glue. The crowd seemed to get behind her too. Look forward to seeing/hearing more from her in the near future.

Pixie Lott
Victoria Louise Lott aka Pixie Lott came to the stage performing hit track Boys & Girls, following it closely with ballad Cry Me Out. Forthcoming single What Do You Take Me For came next (with her admitting before starting that tonight would be the first time that she had performed the track live). Debut Mama Do followed with much participation from the crowd. She ended the set with current single All About Tonight that once again got the crowd involved. Another solid set from a great young artist.

Dappy
It didn’t take much to get the crowd excited when it became obvious who the next act was going to be. Dappy (probably better known as being part of N-Dubz) came on stage. Performing only two tracks including number 1 track No Regrets, the crowd was wild including a surge forward at one point when he came down to the barrier. Not much to write home about.

Jessie J
After another short set from George Bowie, the main event of the night began with the one and only Jessie J. Starting off with a slow version of Do It Like A Dude, she suddenly burst into a full familiar version of the song, sending the crowd wild. She explain that tonight was the first time that she had performed with two shoes on after she broke her ankle a few months ago, using the excuse that Nobody’s Perfect. Dedicating the ballad Who You Are as a thank you to everyone who had voted for her for the various awards throughout the year, showed another string to her bow. Finishing the set with Domino, she invited anyone who was backstage to come join her on stage (though no one did!). But the track seemed appropriate to finish with. Even in that short space of time showed why her shows have sold out!

Looking at the event as a whole, it was interesting to see these artist together even though in general I wouldn’t go see these artist normally. Some acts could have done better and might have been better if some of the newer acts had a little more performance time. It probably didn’t help with the heat in the hall and that as as a space appeared there was a push forward as people tried to get closer to the stage. Maybe I’ve been to too many civilised standing concerts…

Photos © Vhari Lannigan

Olly Murs: Official Site | Amazon.co.uk | iTunes
Sugababes: Official Site | Amazon.co.uk | iTunes
Cover Drive: Official Site | iTunes
Matt Cardle: Official Site | Amazon.co.uk | iTunes
Nina Nesbitt: Official Facebook
Pixie Lott: Official Site | Amazon.co.uk | iTunes
Dappy: Official Site | iTunes
Jessie J: Official Site | Amazon.co.uk | iTunes

Pixie Lott// All About Tonight

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Pixie Lott makes a welcome return to the music scene with her new single, All About Tonight.

First thing first. It's an upbeat, dance around the handbag number, which suits Pixie's voice and perfect for her returning as it has that sound that is still her, but has an older edge to it. Fortunately, it's not too far off previous releases which have had a poppy/slight dance edge.

All About Tonight is the perfect club track and no doubt it remixes will be or have been getting spun. It's not too pop yet not too dance. It's just about right and is about what we'd expect for Pixie. Fingers crossed for at least a top 10 placing!

Rating: 5/5

Pixie Lott // Turn It Up

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Pixie Lott first came to our attention with her song Mama Do in June and three months later we get the 12 track debut album, titled Turn It Up.

There’s a couple of tracks that stick out from the album and it’s these that will probably be focused on. Opening track is the debut single Mama Do (which is basically about doing things that parents don’t know about) and a song we’re probably very familiar with.

Cry Me Out requires someone to translate the first verse before we get anywhere. It feels as if there are too many lyrics for the tempo resulting in what can only be a mumble jumble of words. Memorable chorus and an alright melody. Then seems to sort itself out. Band Aid is one of those nice little laid back summery pop tunes and that you can just relax and float away to.  Boys & Girls (track 5) is the current single and here comes in original album format. However can’t help feeling that there’s a bit of an Rhianna influence to it (try playing Shut Up & Drive and this side by side and you’ll see what I mean). Jack (track 8) feels like listening to a bad mash up of nursery rhymes.

Nothing Compares (track 9) is a beautiful slow ballad much better than the ballad attempt at track 2. Here We Go Again has feelings of another group that have come to light this year, The Noisettes. Reminders of their songs Never Forget You and Young Wild Hearts. The final track on the album, Hold Me In Your Arms, has a feeling of incompleteness, like they forget one of the tracks when they were putting the final version together and kind of just leaves the album hanging.

On looking at the whole album, there’s too much going on. It’s mixed box of styles which hasn’t particularly worked. There’s no doubting her voice but there’s a feeling of trying to showcase too much in such a small selection of tracks. It would probably have been best to showcase a couple of styles this album, a few the next etc etc etc.

Rating: 3.5/5