In “Part of Me”, Katy Perry tries to be a little bit more serious than usual and creates a video that involves joining and training for the Marines.

The video, released today to promote Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection, sees Katy chopping off her hair, getting yelled at by a badass female officer, and learning to use guns for combat. All that to run away from a guy who may or may not be cheating on her!

Overall, the concept is odd and doesn’t work to showcase the song, which already happens to be weak to begin with.

Katy Perry usually shines when she’s having fun AND not taking herself too seriously. “Part of Me” misses the mark because it fails on both points.

When a country version of “Mr. Know It All” started circulating a few weeks ago, no one really knew what was going on. The sleeper hit, which eventually managed to reach top 10 in the Billboard charts, was already on its way down the charts when the countrified version appeared. Fans, myself included, really liked the new version though and wondered if it will ever be released on iTunes.

Well, to everyone’s surprise, Kelly Clarkson announced that the country version of  “Mr. Know It All” is getting the official release treatment. The pop star took some time from her busy touring schedule to update fans. She wrote:

Hey everybody, I got to work with Dann Huff and recut ‘Mr. Know It All’ for country radio! I hope y’all like it!! I had a lot of fun recutting the song and getting the opportunity to work with Dann! It will be available on iTunes April 3rd.

This is a fantastic move for the original Idol. While “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” is still doing well in the charts, the anthemic song is unlikely to appeal to country listeners. By releasing a country version of “Know”, she’s appealing to a different audience without sabotaging her current single or the “Dark Side”, the official third single.

Plus, Kelly sounds fantastic in the country cut.

Kelly Clarkson is on a roll this era, and it’s great to see a talented pop star succeed for once.

Madonna‘s new video reminds us all why she’s such a huge gay icon.

In “Girl Gone Wild”, the 50-something pop diva is seen strutting her stuff with super fit dudes who couldn’t possibly be straight.

The video is reminiscent of some of Madonna’s past work. The black and white cinematography, the fierce outfits, and the excessive skin are all elements of Madonna’s iconic body of work. But something about this video manages to feel fresh. The pacing is also spot on, and Madonna looks gorgeous.

My favourite part is the guys dancing with heels on. They all look fierce. There’s a lot of humping going on. (I wouldn’t expect anything less from this queen.) Madonna clearly knows her audience well!

Finally, the religious reference in the beginning is a nice touch — this is Madonna telling today’s pop stars that she was the original rebel. Any claims otherwise is just reductive.

Truth be told, I’m still not a fan of “Girl Gone Wild”. The song sounds like a leftover from Confessions on a Dance Floor. But the song is consistent with Madonna’s sound post-Ray of Light. I guess she’s being true to her brand here. The song is more age-appropriate (and much better) than “Give Me All Your Luvin’” though.

If you thought that poor reviews of her SNL performance will slow Lana Del Rey down, then you are wrong. With “Blue Jeans”, the rising pop star further solidifies her status as the blogosphere’s fave new pop star. I think that the video will also help Del Rey’s ascent to superstardom.

The Yoann Lemoine-directed clip features black and white cinematography, with Lana appearing stoic but also very alluring. Del Rey is seen watching (stalking?) a skinny dude who happens to be swimming at night. The video takes its time in telling the story, usually slowing down the pace to show Del Rey canoodling with her boy toy in the swimming pool.

The best part of the video is the beginning. I love how Lana’s face slowly appears as the music starts to play. This additional instrumentals in the first few seconds make the song even more mysterious and cinematic, a perfect way to set the mood.

The video features the heavily-tattooed Bradley Soileau, who also stars in Del Rey’s “Born To Die” video.

The video for “Blue Jeans” manages to be symbolic, dark, and sexy all at the same time.The simple concept behind it works and is executed well. “Blue Jeans” is the best video released so far this year.

Cruel Young Heart is a dirty synth pop band from Vancouver.  Formed in February 2010, the band includes James Blackmon (vocals), Andrew Blackmon (drums) and Mark Armstrong (guitar).

The band has been busy the past few months playing in Vancouver, the lower mainland, Vancouver Island and the interior of BC/Alberta in support of their debut self-titled EP. So far, Cruel Young Heart has received some airplay with two of their songs.

From their EP, I quite dig “Nighttime Glow”, a song that band’s website describes as an “anthem for a willingness to try anything once in the name of living life without regrets”.  The dance influence here is current but manages to sound fresh. I think it’s because of the guitars. Catchy hooks seem to be the band’s strength. This is how The Killers might sound like if they were still making albums today.

As evident in their song “The Hardest Way”, James’ vocals is deep but cool. He sounds like a pretty versatile vocalist, and I’m intrigued to find out where they might take their music next.

If you visit their website or YouTube one of their performances (see clip from Urban Rush below), one thing that you’ll also notice is that they have a flashy style — at least when compared to many all-male bands.  I like that!

In preparation for the release of their new single “Love and War”, Cruel Young Heart is playing at The Cellar this Friday, March 23^rd.  James, the band’s front man, took some time from his busy schedule to answer some of my questions about their sound, their influences, and what we can expect from this promising group.

As far as I can tell, your sound is heavily influenced by past decades. Can you name some of your influences?

Our sound is more influenced by the pop music right now, rather than past decades. Our playing style and live performance are quite influenced by past decades, but our sound is more in tune with where pop music is right now, and the direction pop is going.

Most all-male bands do not care too much about their outfits. But that doesn’t seem to be case with Cruel Young Heart. Where do you get your style inspiration?

When it comes to our live show, and our image we get a lot of inspiration from past artists like David Bowie, Prince, ‘early 90′s-Zoo TV’ era U2. We like our live show to be flashy, entertaining, and full of surprises.

Any bands or musical acts that you admire and follow?

Our sound is infielder by bands like The Killers, Dragonette, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Star Pilots, Coldplay.

You’re releasing a new single later this month. Anything you can tell us about this new single?

Our new single “Love & War” is an anthemic song written about that “breaking” point everyone comes to after refusing to deal with their past, or decisions they are not particularly proud of. And the freedom you have once you battle with your “demons” and come out on top, walking away a more complete person.

You describe your music as “Dirty Synth Pop”. Can you elaborate on this some more?

The drums and bass are a very important part of our music. When we write our songs we start with a solid dance rhythm, a dirty bass/synth hook and a great vocal melody that makes a song stand up on it’s own and gives it it’s character.

Our songs are dirty, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say they are abrasive. They are upbeat but not cheesy. Cheeky but not offensive. Melodic but not sad.

We also like to call it dirty synth pop because when you are a pop band at our level the world is a very dirty place.

We are fighting it out at the bottom of the food chain trying to get noticed. And although we can be very wild and reckless as a band, we also know how to stay grounded.

For the latest news about Cruel Young Heart, be sure to follow them on Twitter and Facebook! I’ll try to post again when “Love and War” is released later this month.

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After depressing us all with the amazing “I Won’t Give Up”, Jason Mraz is releasing a much happier song.

“The Freedom Song” is not new by any means — it was written shortly after the Hurricane Katrina disaster, and Jason has performed it live numerous times already —  but the studio version sounds so darn fresh.

Radio is currently littered with sexed up Lady Gaga wannabes singing unmemorable tracks (case in point: Marina and The Diamond’s “Primadonna”), so “The Freedom Song” is a welcome change. The melody in the chorus and the use of horns are my favourite things about this tune. The bridge also soars — the gospel-inspired harmonies work to elevate this effort.

Overall, the production here works because it matches the song’s optimistic lyrics. “The Freedom Song” is a celebration of life, and I absolutely love everything about it.

Watch the official lyric video of the song below, and buy Jason Mraz’s “The Freedom Song” on iTunes. Love is a Four Letter Word will be released April 2012.

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