2012 is nearly over! With such a massive yaer and so many great songs and albums to look at it was quite tough to come up with this list and restrict it to just 10. So without further ado here are the Novastreamusic Top 10 songs for 2012!
DJ Earworm has released his latest mix for 2012, once again mixing up some of 2012's greatest hits. Some have criticized 2012 as being a bad year for pop music, but thankfully Earworm knows his way around the hits this year. Steering clear of Madonna, Xtina and Nelly Furtardo flops and sticking to Rihanna, Kesha and Gotye.
Check out the hotness below
One of our favourites Tamar Braxton hit up Showcase to perform some new tracks for her hotly anticipates album. Check out Miss Tamar below
Jennifer Lopez is still hot on the heels of her "Dance Again" world tour. She was spotted in Greece recently performing the Gangam Style dance! Check out the awkward video below.
Hope you all had a safe and merry christmas! There is some news for you all
Cheryl Cole will stop at nothing to be a successful solo singer and has released a new song/video titled Ghetto Baby. The UK songstress is trying too hard we think personally. Check out the video below
Earlier this month Miley Cyrus invited a camera crew and some lucky fans into her backyard for the appropriately titled "Backyard Sessions" Check out the version of Jolene below.
Kelly Rowland is still begging for a hit, releasing the ironically titled "Number One" the song has been produced by Mike Weiss, the same producer responsible for making Brandy's latest album so snooze worthy. Check out the track below
In honour of the world not ending we thought for our last post before the christmas break we would post all the apocalyptic pop songs! Check out some hot clips below and let us know how you celebrated the world not ending!
Queen of the pop flops Cassie keeps trying for a comeback single and proving she is not willing to give up has released yet another single from her upcoming second album that still has no release date or schedule at this time. Check out End Of The Line below
Look out Psy! Another Gangham Style hit could be headed our way through the One Pound Fish Man. Check out the song below and let us know if you think this is headed to be the next big thing?
Remember boy band Blue? They have re-formed and have a new single and video titled Hurt Lovers. Check it out below
Far East Movement (remember them? Like A G6) have released a new christmas single titled Christmas In Downtown LA
Check out the cheeky clip below
The incredibly beautiful and talented Tamar Braxton is enjoying the success of her number 1 hit single "Love And War" and hit up The Couch to talk about her hit tv show's Braxton Family Values and Tamar & Vince and also perform her number 1 single live. Check out the amazing interview/performance below
The Killers have released a brand new song and video "Here With Me" the band have been relatively quiet lately and are looking forward to the release of their next album. Check out the video below
Avril Lavigne is hard at work on her next album. She has released a cover of "How You Remind Me"" is just audio at the moment, not sure if this will be a single or just album track. Either way it is great to see Lavigne back in the studio. Check it out below.
Rapper T.I has released his latest video in support of his latest single Track Back Jumpin. The mexican, hood style video is a homage to independent music videos. Check it out below
Winter Gordon keeps searching for another hit and has released an EP "TKO Part 2" and has chosen the title track featuring The Oxymorrons as her official first single. Check it out below
Kelly Clarkson hit up X Factor UK to show the contestants what being a real artist is about. As always Clarkson delivers an amazingly flawless performance. Check it out below
What do washed up stars do when they want to try and get somewhere again? Hit up chat show Wendy Williams and that is exactly what Carmen Electra has done with her new single I Like It Loud.
Keeping up with the live performances Ciara hit up Jimmy Kimmel to try and get someone talking about her new single Got Me Good. After shifting record labels Ciara was mean to be slaying the charts, but this has yet to happen. Check out the performance below
What a year! It has had many ups and downs for music, more downs than up IMO, but still we have argued, debated and screamed at each other over finalising a top 10 albums of 2012 list.
First of all I would like to say thank you for sticking with us this year, again we have grown in readership this year and I really appreciate everyone consistently coming back to check out NovastreaMusic. We will continue to have posts right up until Christmas so keep checking back for all the latest in music news and performances.
Without further ado here is our top 10 albums of 2012!
In what can only be described as the most disappointing christmas album of ALL TIME, Cascada have released a christmas album, instead of being filled with trashy dub step, dance christmas songs it is some-what umm...traditional? Check out the low budget video for Let It Snow below.
Christina Aguilera is still hot on the promo trail for her latest album Lotus, hitting up chat show Ellen to perform her duet with Blake Shelton "Just A Fool" Check out the performance below
Kylie Minogue hit up X Factor Italy to perform an orchestral version of her hit song "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" from her Abbey Road sessions album released last month.
Leona Lewis premiered the video to her holiday single "Lovebird" this is one of the standout tracks on her current album "Glassheart" and the video is just as beautiful as the song. Check it out below
Olivia Newton John and John Travolta have reunited to record a charity Christmas album. The first single is called "I Think You Might Like It" this may or may not be your thing, check it out below.
The amazingly talented and outspoken Tamar Braxton has FINALLY released a new single after a long absence from the industry. For those who do not know Tamar is Toni Braxton's younger sister and has held her own during the Braxton Family Values show and has her own spin-off Tamar & Vince on the WE network in the USA.
Tamar is EXTREMELY outspoken, hilarious and full of life, she is one sparkling character who talks the talk, and now is here to prove that she has the goods to back it up. Her latest single is "Love & War" and while it may not be an electro-pop, dubstep dance smash, it is a captivating, soul-shaking ballad that showcases an amazing voice and range. Check out the song below, welcome back Ms. Braxton! We missed you
Cee Lo Green is still promoting his new christmas album Cee Lo's Magic Moment. For his next single he joins fellow voice judge Christina Aguilera for "Baby It's Cold Outside" Check out the song below
Maroon 5 headed down to the Grammy nominations to provide a live show. Check out the mash up of One More Night and Moves Like Jagger below
It has finally been revealed, the grammy award nominees for this year. Not a lot of surprises here, Kelly Clarkson, Gotye and Taylor Swift all lead the nominees. Check out the highlights below, for a full list check out the Grammys website here
Best New Artist
Alabama Shakes
fun. Hunter Hayes The Lumineers Frank Ocean
Record of the Year
Lonely Boy by The Black Keys Stronger by Kelly Clarkson We Are Young by fun. feat Janelle Monae Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye Think About You by Frank Ocean We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together Again by Taylor Swift
Pop Vocal Album
Kelly Clarkson – Stronger Florence + The Machine – Deremonials fun. – Some Nights Maroon 5 – Overexposed Pink – The Truth About Love
Country Solo Performance:
“Home” by Dierks Bently “Springsteen” by Eric Church Cost of Living by Ronnie Dunn “Wanted” by Hunter Hayes “Over” by Blake Shelton “Blown Away” by Carrie Underwood
Album of the Year
El Camino – Black Keyes Some Nights – fun. Babel – Mumford and Sons Channel Orange – Frank Ocean Blunderbuss by Jack White
Best Pop Solo Perforamnce
Set Fire to the Rain – Live – Adele Stronger – Kelly Clarkson Call Me Maybe – Carly Rae Jepsen Wide Awake – Katy Perry Where Have You Been – Rihanna
Best Country Song
Blown Away – Josh Kear & Chris Tompkins, songwriters (Carrie Underwood) Cost of Livin’ – Phillip Coleman & Ronnie Dunn, songwriters (Ronnie Dunn) Even If It Breaks Your Heart – Will Hoge & Eric Paslay, songwriters (Eli Young Band) So You Don’t Love Me Anymore – Jay Knowles & Adam Wright, songwriters (Alan Jackson) Eric Church, Jeff Hyde & Ryan Tyndell, songwriters (Eric Church)
Best Country Album
Uncaged – Zac Brown Band Hunter Hayes – Hunter Hayes Living For a Song – Jamey Johnson For the Record – Miranda Lambert The Time Jumpers – The Time Jumpers
This morning we have new videos and some old/new ones! All is explained below
Katy Perry has released a new video for "The One That Got Away" and claimed it as a director's cut, The clip is a little different from the original, if you are a fan check it out below
Golden hipster boy Gotye has released a new video for his new single "What Do You Want" Personally I am not a fan of artists who bag out others (Pink) but I do really like his music. Check it out below.
Pink has recorded a cover of Alicia Keys hit song "Girl On Fire" for BBC Live Lounge. It is just audio but is well worth a listen.
Morning! Welcome to Hump Day! To get you through we have some great new videos from Ke$ha, David Guetta and to get you into the christmas spirit Scotty McCreery!
Ke$ha has released her new album Warrior and is pushing ahead with a full blown promo tour. This time she has recorded an interesting little chat video, there are no words for how hilarious this is.
David Guetta has released yet another single off his upcoming re-released version of One Love (seriously man MOVE ON!) This time teaming up with Taped Rai. Check out the video below
Finally to get you in the christmas spirit Scotty McCreery has recorded a christmas song, and it's not a carol! Check out "Christmas Comin' Round Again"
Hope you all had a great day or sleep. Here is the latest news in the music world
Alicia Keys performs her brand new single "Brand New Me" the song is one of our favourites on the album. This time performing for the Queen at the 2012 Royal Variety Performance. Check it out below
Bruno Mars has released a new song When I Was Your Man. The beautiful piano driven song showcases what an amazing artist Mars is.Check out the song below.
New videos galore this morning! Long time UK band The Pet Shop Boys have released a new lyric video, apparently this is the in thing to do when you are still waiting on a video to be completed. Check it out below
Band Train are still together and putting out new music, this time through a live video for "This'll Be My Year" Check it out below
Another lyric now, this time from Calvin Harris taken from his #1 album 18 Months. This is his latest single Drinking From The Bottle
The endless array of stars willing to go on Simon Cowell's hit show X Factor seems to be never-ending. This time global superstar Pink hit up X Factor UK to perform a beautiful orchestral version of "Try"
Marie Digby has released a new video for "First Picture Of Earth" the soulful and inspiring clip is a great addition to the holiday spirit. Check it out below
Ex Pussycat Doll Nicole Sherzinger is not giving up on becoming a popstar, she has recorded and currently making a video for her new song titled Boomerang. She has released a teaser on YouTube Check it out below
“Let’s keep dancing like we’re twenty two,”
sings Taylor Swift.
If there is one artist who always knows what
to say it’s Country/Pop star Taylor Swift. The singer’s new album ‘Red’ is easily something that you can
play on repeat and sing along to her catchy lyrics.
The first hit single ‘We are never getting back together’ like many of the singer’s songs
about past heartbreak is truthful. If none of Taylor’s ex-lovers got the point
yet, they sure do now. The simple hook works and easily could be played over
the radio a hundred times. Taylor’s single ‘Red’
that uses colourful imagery, she sings “loving him was red”. Although “Red’ is
not the best track on the album, it stays true to the singer’s style and
recreates the breath taking feelings you feel when you first fall for a person.
The use of dubstep and Taylor Swift in the
same sentence does not sound particularly right but for her latest single ‘I knew you were trouble,’ has a dubstep
drop in the chorus and it works successfully. As for the song ‘Starlight’ it’s a dance anthem (like ‘Fearless’ and ‘Mine’) about being 17 and crazy once again.
Returning to a classic ‘Taylor Swift’ tune is
the song ‘Begin Again’ as she sings “I’ve
been spending the last 8 months thinking all love ever does, is break and burn
and end.” Similar to song like ‘Back to
December’ the singer paints a clear picture of hope that quickly turned
sour with loves end. ‘All too well’ reminds us that Taylor can still rock out a
country song, as she remembers romance with a certain ex. While she sings “I
would like to be my old self again but I’m still trying to find it.” The song
‘The Lucky One’ was inspired by Joni Mitchell (whom Taylor is in line to
portray in a biopic ‘Girls Like Us’)
and tells of the perils of fame.
The best track on the album is ‘22,’ and is the feel good song that
makes you want to dance around, not caring about life’s problems. It’s all
about positivity and embracing the fact that “We’re happy, free, confused and
lonely in the best way.” She is basically saying that it’s okay to forget
deadlines and let’s just dance, maybe dress up like hipsters and make fun of
our exes (sounds like fun).
As if this album wasn’t great enough and
exploding with talent, Taylor sings ‘Everything
has changed’ as a duet with Ed Shearman. Continuing with beautifully sung
ballads, ‘Red’ also includes a duet with Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol called ‘The Last Time’. As an artist Taylor
swift consistently steps up to the plate and it may just better than a thousand
indie records (or not). Check out Taylor Swift’s new album ‘Red’ now and you decide!
Pop diva Rihanna is enjoying a number 1 and single album at the moment and has been touring in the UK to some sold out success. The show is going on dvd and blu-ray soon, but our good friends at Vevo have posted the full concert live on YouTube for your viewing pleasure. Check it out below!
Looks like Madonna is not set to let her last album M.D.N.A die just yet! The superstar diva has confirmed that the third single will be called Superstar, one of the weaker tracks on the album. Check out the artwork and song below
"Diamonds" the #1 single by Rihanna was actually penned by the immensely talented Sia. Taking the chance to perform the song live, Sia brings a brand new wow element to this song. Check out the live performance below
A HUGE congratulations to Ms. Britney Spears on her 9th #1 single with "Scream & Shout" shooting to #1 in over 16 different countries after the video debuted on hit show X Factor in the USA. The single may not be the best, but is sure making waves across the globe. In case you missed it, you can check out the video below.
Speaking of Ms. Spears, she introduced the world to our next artist on her last album Femme Fatale, rapper Sabi has released a new single and video to go along with it. Check out the video below
The Jonas Brothers are currently touring in the USA and have a few tricks up their sleeve, this time around covering "Diamonds" by Rihanna. Check out the leaked fan footage below
A BIG congratulations to Britney Spears for receiving over 100 million views on Vevo and becoming officially certified for "Till The World Ends" and "I Wanna Go" Novastreamusic congratulates Ms.Spears on this iconic achievemen!
Duo Tegan and Sara have released a new video to support their latest single "Closer" Check out the video below
It is finally here, the video to the most disappointing duet of 2012! Will I Am rides on Britney Spears coat tails in this dance track. The video is nothing to write home about, Will walks around with Spears, mouthing lack-lustre lyrics and barely dancing. Check out this uninspired video below
Good Morning! Time to rise and shine and read the latest in music news!
50 Cent has finally released the video of his much anticipated song with Eminem and Adam Levine. The song is called "My Life" and in true fiddy cent style involves police chases, guns and general hoodery that we have all seen before. Get some new ideas Fiddy! Check out the video below
Nicki Minaj is currently touring Australia with her Pink Friday Roman Reloaded tour. She hit up nightly chat show The Project to talk about her career.
Although her latest album has caused a lot of controversy amongst our reviewers, Rihanna has scored her first #1 album in both the US and UK! This is the first time she has done this, and while most of our reviewers can't stand the new album, looks like the rest of the world can! Congratulations to Rihanna!
Goodnight Australia, Good Morning America! Thanks for reading our second daily update, check back in before you go to bed in Australia, and when you wake up in America! Check out the latest music news
B.O.B has released a video featuring Tre. The song is titled Just A Sign and is a bit of a fizzer of a follow up, especially after teaming up with rap superstar Nicki Minaj. Check out the video below
Wiz Khalifa has teamed up with fellow rapper Cam'ron to bring us "The Bluff" The dark and dreary video is set in the hood and features some amazing rap and vocals. The song is really catchy and should hopefully tear up the charts.
Flo Rida has released the video for his new song Let It Roll, the American rapper has quite a bad name in Australia after cancelling on a festival in 2011 due to "sleeping in" so it may not make waves over here, but here is the video
It's that time again! For your morning cup! Brewing up a storm this morning Amelia Lilly teases a new video, The Muppets join Cee Lo for a video, Eminem teams up with 50 Cent and Adam Levine and Rihanna performs Diamonds live on X Factor.
Amelia Lilly has released a trailer for her upcoming video/single titled Shut Up (And Give Me Whatever You Got) channeling Britney and Ke$ha, the trashy star looks set to dominate in 2012.
Cee Lo Green has released his first Christmas album, for his first single he has teamed up with The Muppets, delivering what should hopefully become a christmas classic. Check out the Muppet-tastic video below
50 Cent is still claiming to be relevant in the music industry, and has
teamed up with Eminem and Adam Levine to try and prove this. From the
trailer it looks ok, well Eminem and Levine do anyway. Will leave the
jury out until we see the full thing.
Rihanna took a break from her 777 tour in the UK and hit up UK X Factor to perform Diamonds live. Rihanna has always copped a lot of flack for her live performaces, but personally after seeing her concerts the girl can sing and definitely puts on a good show! Check out the performance below.
Still unwilling to let her career die Kat De Luna has released a new single called "Shake It" the song features rapper Fatman Scoop and will have a limited release. Poo Kat just can't catch a break! RedOne gave all his good beats to JLO and gave her the scraps, now comments on her video saying "You are copying Lady GaGa" and "Copying Rihanna" sorry stans but DeLuna was around before your fave's (Just sayin!)
Check out the video below
Lexi St George is taking no prisoners this christmas with her rendition of Last Christmas. The song features St George barely wearing any pants, dancing seductively with a toy soldier and cooking? The song is weird but somehow it works. Check it out below
Pink Friday has been a defining era in music history for
Nicki Minaj and for mainstream hip hop music. While she has her haters like
Lil’Kim, there are more supporters that are happy to herald in a new era of
female rap, and Minaj has the goods to spearhead this new wave of female rap
artists in.
The Re-Up is the third album in the Pink Friday series and
seems to find the balance between the hardcore rap of Pink Friday and the
mainstream dubstep of Roman Reloaded.
The first two albums have been both
critical and commercial successes, and Re-Up has entered into that territory
again.
Teaming up with Ciara, Cassie and Lil Wayne, Minaj has once
again secured the best of and obscure artists to appear on her album instead of
the other way around.
This is the third and final album in the Pink Friday series
and with a total of 8 tracks, it is the perfect closure for the album series.
Pink Friday was drenched in traditional hip-hop/rap tracks, then Roman
Re-Loaded was mainly dubstep mainstream with a streak of Minaj all through it,
and Re-Up tends to blend the first two together and strike that balance between
mainstream and hip-hop.
Up In Flames is the perfect introduction to this album, a
gospel choir backed theme song, has addictive urban grooves infused with Minaj’s
rap style with some great choir vocals. It is the type of song that no-one has
done before and shows why Minaj belongs at the forefront of the industry.
Nicki wowed audiences at the AMA’s with the hip-hop ballad
Freedom, and the album version is just as inspiring.
The standout track for this album lies in “I’m Legit”
featuring the extremely under-rated Ciara, the blend of both callout and rap
are an excellent combination and should hopefully see the two working together
in the future.
Another obscure pop artist Cassie guests on “The Boys” the
track that took a while to grow but now I am addicted. The oddest track is titled "I Endorse These Strippers" and once you get past the odd lyrics the song surprisingly works, as does the album as a whole.
The mix of mainstream
and traditional tracks on this make a great farewell to Pink Friday and I would
suggest making a playlist with all 3 Pink Friday albums in it, pressing shuffle
and listening to some of the greatest urban music in recent days.
The Re-Up is available both digitally and in stores now.
Ke$ha is nearing the release of her new album Warrior. Songs have been leaking over the last few hours all over YouTube and we have compiled them here together for you.
I have tried to write this review 3 times now and I keep
coming up with the same thing, a simple few words and nothing more PITBULL
SHOULDN’T DO VOCALS and that is all said done over and out, all that needs to
be said.
If I really must take this further and give some detail to
what I mean (which I do) , I guess that I feel so strongly about this point
because every song on this album could have been really really good if it
wasn’t ruined every single time by that sad attempt of rapping that Pitbull
insists on pushing down our throats and making our ears bleed.
The music on this album is actually amazing, song structures
are perfect, production is flawless and all the beats and melodies are so
catchy you would hum along to the whole album, that is if you can stomach the
vocals.
And its not just how he sounds either, if Pitbull isn’t
spitting out catch phrase after catch phrase (this is world wide and woo whooo
and called out so much you would end up in hospital if you made a drinking
game) he is, for lack of a better word vomiting out lyrics about how he wants
to have sex with every girl he lays his eyes on and how it is “so clear” that
every girl wants to sleep with him. If anyone thinks higher of their own sex
appeal than this guy then I would hate to meet them.
What makes this even sadder is the work of the guest
vocalists that are on every single song (Pitbull cannot do anything on his
own). In contrast to Pitbulls horrible attempts at rapping, every guest on this
album pulls no stops and does amazing work on the songs, making every chorus
the catchiesta pop song could have.
I think that the message this album was trying for was that
Pitbull does have some talent, just not when he opens his mouth and even if
that’s not what he was going for it is still the message we all got. Maybe,
just maybe Pitbull should stick to writing music and maybe production work and
leave rapping and singing to those with the talent to do so.