GRAMMYS 2014 -Daft Punk sweep board as Macklemore and Madonna's matrimonial moment steals show

Daft Punk cleaned up at last nights 56th Grammy Awards in front of a star studded crowd in LA's Staple Center. The French dance duo picked up the prestigous Album of the Year for Random Access Memories , beating out Taylor Swift , Sara Bareilles , Kedrick Lamar and Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.
Get Lucky was crowned Record of the Year whilst also scooping Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Dance/Electronica album.
It caps off a remarkable year for the dance pioneers. They performed alongside Stevie Wonder , Pharrell Williams and Niles Rodgers.

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis were the other big winners of the night , clinching Best New Artist as well as gongs for Best Rap Performance , Best Rap Song for Thrift Shop and Best Rap Album for The Heist. The duo stole the show alongside Madonna and Queen Latifah as surrounded by 34 married couples , they performed an emotional rendition of gay marriage anthem Same Love.
It was a moving moment that brought the house down. Madonna emerged halfway through the performance and sang the chorus of her classic Open Your Heart , before joining Mary Lambert for the rest of the song. Audience members were visibly moved by the statement performance.

New Zealand wunderkind Lorde won her first Grammy. The 17 year old who also performed on the night won Best Pop Solo Performance for Royals. She beat out Katy Perry who once again went way empty handed from a Grammys ceremony. Bruno Mars was the other big winner in the pop categories as Unorthodox Jukebox won Best Pop Vocal Album.

The other winners on the night included Imagine Dragons , Jay-Z , Adele , Zedd , Vampire Weekend , Alicia Keys , Rihanna and Pharrell Williams.
Beyonce opened the show with hubby Jay -Z , Pink also wowed with a typically acrobatic perfomance. Katy Perry , Robin Thicke , Taylor Swift, Foo Fighters , Paul McCartney all took to the stage.


Watch Macklemore and Ryan Lewis team up with Madonna for a stunning performance of Same Love at the 2014 Grammys

Kiss Kylie

Kylie Minogue has revealed the cover and title of her forthcoming slbum.
Kiss Me Once marks the Aussie pop queen's 12th studio album. The gorgeous cover shows Minogue behind a water drop covered pane of glass with striking lipstick.

Minogue revealed the image and title on her Instagram account. The album our later this year is preceded by the glistening Into The Blue.
The lead single leaked earlier this week ahead of Monday's official premiere.
The track is a joyously , uplifting slice of sparkling pop euphoria.  Vintage Kylie. A song to raise smiles and spirits on dancefloors worldwide. It's a smash and a fantastic starting point for this new era of La Minogue.

Disclosure team up with Mary J.Blige

Disclosure have premiered the video for the reworking of F For You , featuring the Queen of Hip Hop/Soul , the incomparable Mary J Blige.
The soul legend joined the platinum selling Lawrence siblings Howard and Guy onstage at Terminal 5 in Manhattan on Sunday night for an impromptu performance.
The reworking of their UK Top 20 hit from last summer is enhanced by Blige's unmistakeable vocals  is a pulsating , more ferocious take on the original.

Disclosure have been busy in the studio of late working on another new track entitled You Stressin , with up and coming rapper Bishop Nehru. The track is available to hear on Disclosure's official Soundcloud account.
The lads have also been in the studio with the legendary Q-Tip.
No confirmation as yet as whether the new tracks are for a new Disclosure album.

ThisSunday , the UK dance duo from Surrey , vie for their first Grammy as Settle battles it out for Best Dance/Electronica album alongside Daft Punk and Calvin Harris.
Disclosure lead the pack at next months Brit Awards on February 19th , with a huge 4 nominations for Best British Group , Album , Breakthrough and Single for White Noise.

Disclosure kick off their triumphant UK tour on March 4th in Birmingham and finishing with their biggest show at London;s Alexandra Palace on March 8th.

Watch the video for Disclosure featuring Mary J, Blige "F For You " below

Paloma Faith unveils A Perfect Contradiction artwork

Paloma Faith has debuted the striking album sleeve for imminent new album A Perfect Contradiction. The stunning artwork sees Faith play five different characters in the typically cinematic looking sleeve.
The album itself is set for release on March 3rd , preceded by the Pharell penned Cant Rely On You , which premiered last week.

It's hard to see many album covers topping this one but lets hope the album itself delivers.

Glad You Came -The Wanted announce break

 Following dismal sales of their latest album , Word Of Mouth , British boyband The Wanted look set to go their separate ways following the conclusion of their latest tour in May.
Max George , Siva Kaneswaren , Tom Parker , Nathan Sykes and Jay McGuinness made the announcement via a statement on their official website. Whilst the statement stressed the band would continue on , it looks like The Wanted's days are numbered.

The writing has seemingly been on the wall now for some time. Word of Mouth , was finally released in October after long delays. It saw diminishing returns despite spawning 5 UK Top 10 hits.
However , the group has long failed to replicate the success of their most famous track , 2011's Number 1 Glad You Came. Their most well known track broke them in America , giving them a Bilboard Hot 100 Top 5 smash. It also saw them nominated for MTV Video Music Awards and the American Music Awards. It sold 3 million copies alone. But numerous singles have failed to recreate the instant success that Glad You Came brought. Their E! documentary series The Wanted Life which aired last year , followed the guys in America. Guided by Justin Bieber's manager Scooter Braun , we saw the five piece meet Michelle Obama and party in the States. It failed to capture significant viewing figures.

What was clear from the show was that Siva was more interested in spending time with his demanding girlfriend and that without lead vocalist Nathan Sykes , The Wanted struggled.

The boyband burst onto the scene in 2010 with All Time Low, which debuted at Number 1 from their eponymous debut album. Two more Top 10 hits followed , including Comic Relief single Gold Forever.

Glad You Came , was released in July 2011 and spent a forthnight at Number 1 , taking the bands to new levels of success. Second album Battleground followed as did Lightning , cementing The Wanted as one of the UK's biggest boybands.
An on/off feud with One Direction followed , with barbs and asides swapped via Twitter. Tom Parker proved the most outspoken , lambasting One Direction's Louis Tomlinson.

The Wanted's third album was a long time coming with five singles released before its eventual release in October 2013.
Neither Chasing The Sun , I Found You , Walks Like Rihanna , We Own The Night or Show Me Love ( America ) , stuck around that long.  The latter two singles , one of which sounding like a Glad You Came rehash were rush released and subsequently dropped like stones from the charts.

Despite emphasising that this is more a hiatus than a split , its hard to see anyway back for The Wanted. Expect Nathan Sykes to be the true solo star of the group and the rest to be reality tv fodder. Although Ma x George may eke out a solo career , its hard to see how well he'll fare.

Love or hate them , The Wanted were my boyband of choice for the past few years. Edgier than One Direction , they were a male Saturdays of sorts. After 4 years and 10 UK Top 10 singles , when it comes to The Wanted , we are glad they came.

Watch the video for Glad You Came below

Shakira and Rihanna unveil duet

Shakira and Rihanna have unveiled their heavyhiiting duet Cant Remember To Forget You which is now available for download.
The video which was shot in a Los Angeles mansion and directed by Joseph Kahn is due to premiere soon.


The reggae and Latin fuelled jam echoes The Police and Bruno Mars locked Out Of Heaven , sounding fresh and with its ska-tinged guitar and rock. It's certainly not what I expected but in the best possible way. What could have been a generic , Eurodance banger is more refined and carnival-esque. The fusion of Shakira's Colombian accent and RiRi's Bajan lilt blends perfectly. Cant Remember To Forget You is bound to be nothing less than a hit.

/Listen to Shakira and Rihanna's Cant Remember To Forget You

Lily Allen premieres Air Balloon

Lily Allen's forthcoming third album is shaping up nicely if  brand new single Air Balloon , is anything to go by. Released on March 3rd , and produced by Shellback , the infuriatingly catchy , playground pop earworm harks back to Alright , Still.

The track follows Novembers Hard Out Here , and is unsahamedly pure pop at its finest. Repliating the success of Christmas smash Somewhere Only We Know , certainly isnt out of the question. 

According to Lily , Air Balloon is about daydreaming and escapism. 

Allen's third studio album , the follow up to 2009's It's Not Me , It's You , is set for release later this year/

Listen to Lily Allen's Air Balloon