Bentley Jones Has An Even Newer EP For You -- The Prequel

It's official. Bentley Jones never stops. Ever. He has been pumping out new (quality) music for the past two years straight. We've had the album Defying Gravity, Upgrade 1.0, and three different EPs that made up part three of his Trans//Lation series. Now, barely a month after his last release, we have a new EP out for us all to enjoy. If you haven't gotten all the lyrics down from the last album yet, don't worry. Most of these tracks should be familiar.

In case you didn't catch it from the video, most of these songs aren't exactly new. Actually, only one of the songs is something that hasn't been released before. But Bentley isn't your average artist. For example, "So Much More 2015" varies wildly from it's original form ins Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. Instead of it's usual electro-pop vibe, it has been completely redone in a rock setting. The same can't be said for two other songs on the album "Follow Me Down" and "Axiomatis", which may have been re-recorded, but remain in the same style as they had been before hand.

To make this release better, we finally get the studio version of Ben's Eurovision Song Contest entry, "Disco Down". He released a live version of this on YouTube several months ago and I've been dying for it ever since. I am crazy about this track. It's crazy wind-down sounding beat is addicting, and the lyrics are fun and cheeky. I really wish this had been in ESC this year (maybe I would have payed attention), but alas most of the people who are really talented get cut -- and don't get me started on Cristal Snow.

The Prequel is actually just a taste of what's to come in Bentley's first ever UK album. He has released a lot of material for Japan and worldwide, but has never had a specific "UK Debut", and it looks like this is his next big project. The name for the album hasn't popped up on my radar yet, but hopefully it will soon. It's unclear if the UK album will be a sort of Aqua-styled "Best of" (meaning mostly old songs with a few new tracks sprinkled in), or if this was just to get the good people of the UK more acquainted with him before he drops the new album. Either way his fans are going crazy over this release, and why shouldn't they?

If you want to snatch up The Prequel, or even if you just want "So Much More... 2015" and "Disco Down", head over to iTunes and support your indie artists!

Skin Wars: Fresh Paint Series Pilot [Review]

I was so excited for this show to come out. With a concept similar to Chopped or RuPaul's Drag U, we are getting six contestants, with one winner at the end. Unfortunately this is a one shot -- for now, but surely they will pick the show up and do more. So everybody tune in, and watch all the repeats so we can make sure we have even more body painting in our households!

Steampunk'd Season 1 Episode 2 [Review]

It's that time again! I'm super excited to have yet another episode of Steampunk'd ready to review. Last week we got introduced to everyone, and the buzz is that things only get crazier. I have such a great feeling about this show, and it's contestants are all talented and fun. Let's dive right into episode two, shall we?

[Note: I would love to take screen caps of the final rooms, like I did with Skin Wars, but due to the limitations that GSN puts forth (IE no iTunes release), I have to rely on their previews online, which do not feature them.]

Below Deck Season 3 Episode 1 [Review]

Before we get started here let me say that this is my first season of Below Deck. While I have seen the occasional episode on Bravo, I haven't actually sat down and watched it before, so some of my opinions may be skewed from what you have seen in the past. I'm going into this with a fresh take, and I hope that is appreciated by somebody out there. Anyway, without further ado, let's start season three!

Interview: Get To Know Cheryl Ann From Skin Wars

Well the crazy ride that is Skin Wars season two has finally come to an end, but the craziness isn't over just yet. A lot of the contestants were itching for more, especially this season's "villain" Cheryl Ann. Well I was luck enough to get to know her and find out she's not as hard as she came off on screen. She's actually pretty nice. Check out my fun chat with her and get to know exactly who Cheryl Ann is as a person.You'll be glad you did.

Photograph by Kevin Lynch

Album Review - Dean Ford "Get Messy"

It's been such a long time coming for Dean Ford. His last album, CTRL came out five hundred years ago (in the music world), and he's been long overdue for a new album for quite some time. Well this indie artist is not one to disappoint, and any good mother would teach you that good things are worth the wait -- and Get Messy is the prime example of that old saying. It's time to delve into Get Messy, and yes, it's just as sexy as it sounds.

Steampunk'd Episode 1 Season 1 [Review]

It's finally here! I have been so excited for this show for some time now, and given that the roller coaster that is Skin Wars has finally ended, I'm ready for an all new adventure. I know this will be a short season (much like Skin Wars season one) due to the small cast, but I'm in love with the concept, and I am definitely hoping for the best. Let's get this awesome ride known as Steampunk'd started!

Skin Wars Season 2 Episode 10 [Finale Review]

Oh. My. God. I can't contain my excitement. Although I am beyond sad to see that most of my favorites have been sent packing, I still feel that each of our top three deserve to be here. This is it. There's not anything after this. The winner is going to be announced and suddenly I am incredibly happy that this isn't RuPaul's Drag Race so we don't have to wait two more weeks to know the winner.

 

 

Bravolebs Say Work Out New York Has Been Postponed

After over a week of scrambling to find info on Bravo's new show Work Out New York, I came up mostly empty handed. Every website said it was going to premiere on August 18, but both my local cable provider as well as Bravo's official site didn't have the show listed on the schedule at all. So I took matters into my own hands and tracked down answers for myself. Turns out we have a bit of a wait.

I have gone through a lot of trouble to figure out what's going on. I sent out a lot of emails, tweeted half of the Bravoleb family, and even tried to message a few people on Facebook, but I wasn't really getting anywhere. Then, finally, like a ray of light, I got not one but two tweets back from WONY stars.

First was this:
@LazoFitness Aug 16

@Gaosalad Yea, they worked out a way to get us a slot during prime rating season. After New Years, so it airs in January.

Followed by this:
@hollyrilinger Aug 17

@Gaosalad Yep! The show is actually airing later this year. Date TBD! Will let you guys know once I know more.

It seems the shows stars aren't all on the same page, but one thing is clear, the show isn't airing tonight. My best guess, given that they gave the time slot to Below Deck next week, is that the show will premier either during the finale of Below Deck or the week after it finishes. Either way it looks like WONY went from being a late summer show to an early-mid winter show. 

I have contacted Bravo's representatives, but as of this time they have not responded. No press release for the delay has been made official yet despite it being the so-called premiere day.

In slightly related news, given that the show has been pushed back, I am picking up Below Deck season three as my second late summer/fall show along with Steampunk'd. I will still be reviewing Work Out New York when it premiers.

Kieran Strange Has A New Video And It's Epic

Who doesn't love Kieran Strange? If you don't then why are you even reading this. If you haven't heard of her then this is the perfect time to get into her. She's got a new video and single out and it's everything a fan of Ms. Strange could ever want. This British-Canadian is ready to rock out, and if you aren't headbanging you aren't doing it right.

This video is amazing, and is such for many reasons. Let's start out with Kieran's drastic new look. I don't have the pleasure of getting to see her in concert, so seeing her new short blonde hair as opposed to her usual long pink hair (which did make a wig appearance courtesy of Mythril Wigs) was a bit of a shock for me initially. Oddly I think that is one of the factors that make the video so interesting. Although the work as a whole is simplistic, Kieran's very striking looks and high energy keep her solo parts very entertaining and stick with you.

On the opposite side of the singing, we have a story. It follows the lyrics of the song pretty well, telling the tale of a girl who though she'd found the coolest best friend ever, but he was just waiting to make a move on her. We get to see a lot of nerdy geeking out with plushies and video games, keeping with her style of being a touring anime convention artist. But the geekiness doesn't end there. If you pay attention, the two separate love interests are actually anime voice actors. The guy, Erik Kimerer, is probably best known for his work on Toradora! and Accel World, and Lauren Landa who is best known for her work on the video game franchise Blazblue and her upcoming role as Sailor Neptune in the redub of Sailor Moon, one of the most popular Japanese exports of all time.

It's safe to say that Kieran Strange has found her sound and is rocking out. She's breaking out all over the anime convention scene. If you are a con goer and you haven't hear of her yet, you'd better get acquainted, because chances are she's showing up somewhere near you in the near future. She's already scheduled to be at Kumoricon in Portland, OR and Youmacon in Detroit, MI, and her schedule is ever expanding.

The video is streaming exclusively on Exclaim.ca, so head over there and check it out!

Cazwell's Newest Video Is Hot Like Butter On A Biscuit

Cazwell's latest album, Hard 2 B Fresh, was a fantastic breath of fresh air to the LGBT music scene. It was full of clever lyrics, great beats, and some sick features from artists that needed that extra boost. It was basically one of the best albums of 2014. Well Cazwell isn't done yet. He has a new video for a track from said album called "The Biscuit", and you have got to see it.

"The Biscuit" was far from my favorite song on this album. It just seemed a little too out there for me at first, and when I was told this was his new single/video, I was kind of annoyed by it. I figured he could have done "Don't Get It Twisted" or "What's The T", but I guess he wanted to venture off on his own for this one (being that the feature was a Naaldekoker, not a vocalist). So I revisited the song and I started to like it.

But I didn't fall in love with it until I saw this video. If you like men with muscles, you'll enjoy the hell out of this. It's not just white guys this time around, we have all the flavors packed into this video, and none of them are really wearing much. I don't know how he does it, but Cazwell always finds the hottest guys to be in his videos, topping pretty much any other over-the-top LGBT artist out there. This is the first time I've seen a Middle Eastern buff man dancing around in a speedo in a gay video. I guess there's a first time for everything.

If you are looking for a story with your music videos you might as well not even try. This is simply a bunch of gorgeous, buff, bearded men shaking their butts and showing off their abs. The back drop is completely green screen (albeit very well done green screen), and there's not a lot of substance. That being said, I don't think he was going for something ground breaking, and he does an incredibly good job of doing what he set out to do, which is have softcore porn on Youtube. Good job, Cazwell.

If you enjoy his fun and funny rap stylings, be sure and pick up the whole album. There's tons more hilarity, and lot of smooth flows. Get it on iTunes.

Skin Wars Season 2 Episode 9 [Review]

It's getting so close! We've already said goodbye to a ton of great talent here on the show so far, and we are about to have to say goodbye again. We only have four contestants left, and each of them is hungrier than ever for that one hundred thousand dollars (and I think there are other prizes, too, or something). A week from today we will know our Skin Wars champion, but for now, let's find out who is going to fall short of the final three.

Fans Of Jem And The Holograms May Feel More Positive About The Movie With New BTS Video

It's no secret that pretty much everyone everywhere is pissed as hell about the new Jem and the Holograms movie. I mean the trailer they released was abysmal, the concept album was rancid, and the casting is very white-washed. But there is hope! Well, maybe a little hope. The newest behind the scenes trailer from E! Online is making this blogger feel a little less queasy about the whole situation.

Well first of all, in case you couldn't tell by the picture above, the original voices of Jem are attached to this project in some fashion. Although it looks like they are there for support for the actors than actually in the movie, Samantha Newark and Britta Phillips are in this trailer! Knowing that Samantha and Britta are on board makes me feel much more at ease. They both hold the Jem legacy close to their hearts (I mean Samantha is Jem crazy and still touring conventions to this day!). Also appearing is Christy Marx, the creator of Jem, and she seems to be very confident in this production.

Secondly I am relieved to see that the actresses capturing both the character Jem, as well as Kimber, Aja, and Shana understand what Jem was all about. They may be young, but they get the vibe, and with veteran actresses like Molly Ringwald on set, I'm sure they're in good hands. Even the once seemly heinous act of gender swapping Eric Raymond now seems to really fit the vibe of the movie (not to mention she's hilarious!). Also I just realized that Hayley Kiyoko is in this. Man I love me some CSI: Cyber.

Still not satisfied? Still pissed that there are no Misfits? Well first off they are claiming this to be a prequel -- even though the Misfits were present in the "prequel" for the cartoon that was the first season -- so that's how they inadvertently answered that.  Some people are saying that feature length movies need to introduce characters more slowly, as in we only got like five characters in the first G.I. Joe movie, but those people obviously didn't watch til the end of the trailer. At the end, we got this:

Yeah. That's most likely Pizzazz. And yeah, the rumor is it's Kesha.

GSN Is Bringing Even More Skin Wars With New Spinoff

Skin Wars season two is almost over. With only two episodes (well, maybe three if they do another reunion special -- no word on that yet), we are certainly coming to the end of this year's colorful reality TV favorite. Thankfully the good folks at GSN have realized they're sitting on a gold mine, and are giving us even more, and sooner than you think.

Coming at you August 26 (the Wednesday following the finale, possibly airing after the reunion), is the first ever Skin Wars spinoff. We are getting a show called Skin Wars: Fresh Paint wherein our favorites from season one mentor new artists and teach them the various skills that they will need for skin painting boot camp. The returning champs are the ever memorable Dutch, my boy Gear, and season one winner Natalie. They are going to make sure that contestants Adelaide, Bridget, Ryno, Nora, Steven, and Max know the ins and outs of body painting.

Also returning to this spinoff is the lovable RuPaul, who is dedicated to being on your TV screens as much as humanly possible. Get him back his old talk show and we'll see him more that Steve Harvey. Unfortunately the rest of the judges are mysteriously missing, leaving us with two fresh faces to the show Emma Cammack and Matt Gleason.

The show will be a one shot (for now, I'm assuming. It looks like this is a pilot), and at the end, the three mentors will pick their favorites from the remaining three and help them towards the finish line of 10 thousand dollars. This show really feels like it's in the vein of RuPaul's Drag U, and I really feel like if the special does as well as I think it will, we will certainly will be getting a full season of this. And hopefully like on Drag U, they will rotate out mentors so we can see others like Nicole, Shannon, Avi, Cheryl, and Aryn. The smaller cash prize means that they can do a full season for well under the budget for the full show, and I'm sure the ratings would be great given that each episode is self contained.

Bottom line: I love this idea.

Be sure to tune in Wednesday, August 26 to check out this show and Steampunk'd so that both shows get renewed and we have a friggen awesome 2016!

Cherie Lily Has A New Single Coming And I Like It

If you don't know who Cherie Lily is we can't be friends. There. I said it. Cherie Lily, who has blossomed and made a name for herself far beyond the title of "Andrew W.K.'s Wife", is a beautiful pop star who knows how to make some serious music. Well she didn't take much of a break from dominating features on Cazwell's last album before announcing her newest single "I Like It".

I don't know if there's any better way to go about this than to say the cheesy line "I Like It". It sums up my feeling towards the small snippet we have available of it right now. The song is very much what you would expect from someone who is very fitness oriented, and if you hit the gym, this is the song you need on your playlist to get you through that last home stretch. This track is a collaboration with a DJ named Vjuan Allure, and I have to say I've never heard of this one, but I certainly want to hear more.

But Wait! There's more! Apparently she's taken the time to prepare a music video too. While we only have a 30 second clip of it for the time being (via iTunes, link below), it's clear we are in for a treat. Produced by Jeanne Jo, this video looks like it might be more of a workout video than a music video, and as far as we are concerned, that's just fine. I, for one, can't wait to see it in it's entirety.

Unfortunately for those of us who are impatient, we have a bit of a wait ahead of us. The single and video are released together on Friday, August 21. That's a grueling two weeks. But you can help her out now by preordering it on iTunes and get her on the charts. She'll appreciate it, I'm sure, and you'll most certainly like it.

Skin Wars Season 2 Episode 8 [Review]

It's that time of the week again! And to think I'd almost forgotten. Well I'm glad I didn't because this episode is probably one of the best of the whole season -- and not just because of the drama. It's time to get all pumped up with some sexy dudes, some paint, and some robot themes. Don't ask me how that works. Let's just get started.

Jem and the Holograms Is Getting A Tribute Album

Billboard broke the news earlier this week that everyone's favorite 80's cartoon that's about to be destroyed by Hollywood, Jem and the Holograms, is getting a tribute album. Now the only question is will this be as bad as that trailer they dropped a while back that I conveniently ignored?

It looks like this one may be a bit more in tune with the source material. The evidence is that it actually has The Misfits listed on the cover (along with the often forgotten Stingers that came in the final season). This gives me a small ray of hope, as I've been longing for more Jem. We do have a lot of question marks when it comes to this release though. Ones that I'm not happy to be waiting two more days for.

First of all here is the track list:
BEAN ("Truly Outrageous")
Chrissie Poland ("LoveSick")
LACES ("Running Like the Wind" and "Gimme Gimme")
Barnaby Bright ("Destiny")
Madi Diaz ("Like a Dream")
Ben Thornewill ("All in the Style")
Meiko ("Abracadabra")
Suzanna Choffel ("Glitter & Gold")
SKYES ("I'm Okay")
Amanda Brown ("The Real Me")
Alice Lee ("Beat This")

So am I the only person who hasn't heard of any of these people ever? I was hoping they could grab someone semi-famous or noteable, but sadly I have no clue who these singers are. I'm not knocking them at all, but for something that is huge, especially given that the movie is coming out soon, I figured we would have bigger names attached to this project.


Secondly, the only track we can listen to so far is "Truly Outrageous" by Bean. It left a bit of an odd taste in my mouth. The song is far extended beyond the minute long track that appeared in Jem. As a matter of fact, all of the songs have been extended, and this worries me a bit. I really hope these iconic songs don't get murdered, especially "Destiny", being that it's my favorite song from the show ever.

This whole project seems risky. It can either be a huge hit with fans, or it can crash and burn and be another reason why we should never do anything but rewatch our old cartoons and never make them into a movie. With G.I. Joe being loathed by fans, things aren't exactly looking up.

For now you can preview the odd version of "Truly Outrageous", as well as preorder the album here.