Album Assessment: Album Smackdown #2 ~ UltraVioletSound vs Valeriya

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Ladies and gentlemen, it's all rather exciting that the funktastic UltraVioletSound have taken a leaf out of modern music marketing and released their album for free, gratis, no money on the internet. Which is nice in anyone's book, but would have been a bit pointless if the album were rubbish. Luckily it's not. In fact it's rather good, quite addictive and bound to get your feet shuffling to a disco beat. Case in point - the album is called OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Dancing) and is packed - PACKED - with quirky lyrics, innovative sounds and most importantly, catchy hooks embedded into each and every chorus. Babyz kicks off with some fuzzy guitars, a smidgeon of harajukuness and a cacophony of all too delicious sound effects that create this swirling mess that is actually quite coherent in a slightly drunken way. It's hard to describe but it totally works. As does Brainwashed - a scathing attack on the cult of talentless celebrity that rips into the egomania of (i presume) people like Paris Hilton, anyone from The Hills and er, Kerry Katona. It's got an updated edginess about it that the Scissor Sisters debut had when that launched about four years ago and would be a great single with i'm hoping an even more outstanding video. The goodies continue with two other outstanding potential singles tracks - first up is Gimme My Electro. An electro anthem about electro that harkens back to the good old days of Shampoo and Puretone - lines like "Give it to me/I want to feel it in my tummy" are quite dirty out of context and frankly I like it that way. The second of these future should be singles is the album title track -a virtual blender full of sounds and beats that celebrates dance in all it's forms "when i'm in the bedroom taking care of business i'm a freak for the beat and i just can't stop"! Bloody amazing. It's a non stop riot of party goodness on this album, but there is the occasional chill out moment for you to catch your breath. The Boy Who Would Become A King is hardly a ballad but it's a shift down in tempo for the band as they create an intruiging song that has an elegant vocal and a simply gorgeous middle eight that ends with a breathy but swoony "I Love You" - and trust me. After one listen - that's how you will feel about this band. Aces.
LINK: UltraViolet Sound's Myspace

Valeriya ~ Out of Control:
Russia's most successful female artist (recommended to me by Sergey no less!) (name dropping is so crass. I apologise. Yet not enough to delete it!!) finally releases her first English language album (also available in Russian) and it's a bit of a doozy. Because let's face it if you are going to draw inspiration from pop's finest, you could do a lot worse than borrowing elements of Madonna, Kylie, Anastacia and even Tina Turner. Opening track The Party's Over is a horn filled piano stomping delight, where Valeriya (and her powerhouse set of lungs) kick that philandering, controlling boyfriend to the kerb. Empowerment through the power of funky dance positively drip from this track like honey from a spoon and it's an impressive opener that sets high standards for the rest of this set (the video - above -is full of Material Girl-esque images that are fun to watch. Pity the poor tied up guy who receives a nasty slap though. Ouch!) Luckily the high standards continue in more rocking tracks like Wild, where a shuffling beat transforms into electro-rock anthem that is vaguely reminiscent of David Jordan's Moving On. Yes, Troy, it's that good. Plus it is the first real hint you get of her classical training (at 2m05s) that led her to sell 100million albums.

Elements of Heart and Roxette creep in on the haunting ballad Break It All. Power ballad is a phrase bandied about that often gets derisory comments, but the shuffling cymbals, merging of Russian instruments and that ethereal piano melody running through it make this quite powerful. Wisely, Valeriya restrains her vocal and matches it to the song and instrumentation perfectly without one overpowering the other. Quite, quite lovely. Valeriya lays her heart on the line in this song - as she does in what is actually quite a personal album. Out of Control may well be about her domineering first husband, and is aggressive as anything on Kelly Clarkson's latest album in terms of chanelling hurt and redemption into melodic sounds. And No One - by far her most Madonna song in terms of marrying Frozen and Live To Tell - is a mid tempo percussive slow groove that highlights the lonliness and isolation that can often be felt in a loveless relationship. Particularly interesting is the addition of guitar after the middle 8 which adds a warmth and level of hope to the song.

Don't think Valeriya is all doom and gloom. Spanish flamenco shines in There I'll Be, a perky duet with Dylan Burns (from Bodyrockers) amps up the rock quota and Romantic does just what it says on the tin. A rather lovely way to finish off the album methinks. But wait! There's more! A rather modern groovy take on Staying Alive (with Barry Gibb! The KGBGees!) gets you shuffling out the door and back to the glorious Party's Over. Cue tons of reviews saying "oh i suspect for Valeriya the party's just beginning' and 'ooo it's the Moscow Madonna!' Marvelous!
LINK: Valeriya's myspace