Top Five: TOTU's Biggest Controversies

 It's the last day for 2012, and I plan on going out the only way I know how -- by highlighting all the crazy madness that goes on around this joint. Over the past twelve months tons of whacky shenanigans have gone down, ranging from stories involving some ultimate shade to haters doing what they do best. Now let's start off with the best, the better, and the worst of the year.

5. Blood On The Dancefloor Battles Rumors

For starters, this October goth-glam group Blood on the Dance Floor experienced a bit of prejudice when it came to some items from their past. In a removed post from Buzznet whom were given the exclusive premier of their new video to, they bashed the band and lead singer Dahvie's past.

Universal Conquest Awards: The 2012 Winners

The time has finally come! The polls have been down for a couple of days, but getting anything done over the Christmas holidays is nearly impossible. Finally, after a bit of help from a friend and resourcefulness on my own end,  the UCAs have come to a close. The winners are below, but first, I would like to take the time to be a little sentimental and sappy.

This year, I exceeded my goals not only once, but twice. Last year, I only received around 150 votes. This goes to show you how far things have come over the past year. This time around, my goal was to have at least two hundred votes for Song of the Year -- and I doubled it. Thanks to you, the readers and the artists who Facebook, tweeted, and called up their relatives (yes, it happened), the song of the year category alone got over 400 votes, and if you were to tally up all the votes from all the categories, TOTU scored over 1,000 votes. I cannot express how grateful I am for  your continued support and love.

Now for the winners -- some of them may surprise you.

Ke$ha Goes Under Fire For Song Lyrics

I'm not usually one for drama (stop laughing, I'm not joking here!), but when it involves my bitch Ke$ha, you know I gotta put my two cents in. It seems there has been a bit of controversy surrounding her lately, and this time it isn't exactly in her favor. As an "Animal" -- both in the sense that I am a human being and a Ke-dollarsign-ha fan -- I feel my opinion is valid. Also did I mention I love talking about her?

Despite the song coming out long before the recent tragic events of the recent school shooting in Connecticut, the media is still blasting Ke$ha's lyrics in her hit single "Die Young." Things are getting so out of control to the point to where radio stations are pulling the song from rotation, as well as denying any requests for it. But why? The answer lies in some of the lyrics being misinterpreted.

The lyrics "Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young" actually contribute to the theme of the song, which is living life to the fullest and not having any regrets. It is a bit of an unfortunate series of events that this tragedy happened so close to the release (other bands have songs with similar lyrics, such as Aqua, but are not being harped due to the age of the material).

To add to the mayhem, Kesha apparently tweeted on the subject, which has since been deleted, and said that she was forced to sing the lyrics. Although she didn't specify who forced her, it was clear that she did have a heavy influence in writing the words to this track, as she had boasted in many interviews beforehand about how proud she was of the outcome of the track. To clear things up, she has released an official statement on her Facebook Fanpage.

"After such a tragic event I was feeling a lot of emotion and sadness when I said I was forced to sing some of the lyrics to Die Young. Forced is not the right word. I did have some concerns about the phrase "die young" in the chorus when we were writing the lyrics especially because so many of my fans are young and that's one reason why I wrote so many versions of this song. But the point of the song is the importance of living every day to the fullest and staying young at heart, and these are things I truly believe."

It's obvious to anyone that actually takes the time to read anything anywhere that this was not intentional. The real question is if she should have her song pulled from the stations. There are issues with sensitivity to the families of the victims, and she doesn't seem to want to step on anybody's toes, but if the fans want to hear the song, where should the line be drawn? 

I personally am divided on the situation. On one side, I think the song is an extremely positive message that was simply misunderstood due to it's bold use of the almost taboo word "die". On the other hand, I can see how it could be offensive, especially since the children who were victimized certainly were not able to live life to the fullest due to being taken at such a young age. I guess it is best to put this behind us all, let the families mourn in private, and move on to the next Ke$ha song. 

What do you guys think?

April Kae Releases Debut Video

Remember how I couldn't get over how talented Ms. April Kae was? Well she's not stopping any time soon. With her second single fresh out of the gate, she's decided to go ahead and drop the video for her first one, "The Writings On The Wall", and it definitely proves something -- she's just as gorgeous as she is talented. Check it.




The fact that this video hasn't blown up astounds me. This video may not be groundbreaking, but it is a solid track, and it is on par with similar artists such as Colbie Caillet. The video is incredibly well produced for an indie artist, and further prove that she is not fooling around with a career in music.

The best part of the video, in my humble opinion, are those of her driving around in her Jeep. They show off a bit of her fun side, while the rest of the video is pretty serious. It could have probably done without the green screen bits that stick out pretty bad due to their extreme difference from the rest of the light and beautiful video.

As I said before, this video needs a few more (thousand) views to it, so I decided to do my part. Check it out. Let me know what you think. I'll definitely be keeping up with April! You can buy the song on iTunes, too.

Giulietta Releases Video For "Z.O.M.B.I.E."

It's here, guys. It's finally here. Do you know how long I've been waiting for this? I've been bugging Ms. Giulietta for months that she should do a video for my favorite track from her "911: Code Pink" album, "Z.O.M.B.I.E." and she has finally delivered. Are you ready for this?



The video is pretty basic, actually. The past few videos she has put out have been much more low key than the over the top looks and actions from the earlier videos off this album. Instead, much like "@2AM", this video is much less extravagant and much more "current Giulietta" -- a hard ass chick who isn't one to be messed with.

Although I do really like the fancy-smancey look of the older videos, there is one thing that this piece has over the others, as well as a lot of videos I've noticed lately, is that the guest rapper is actually present in the video. As a matter of fact, Mick Stillz was the director of the video. It's nice to see an artist follow through with their collaboration for once.

The video features several different versions of Giulietta at various stages of "zombification" singing along to the song. Eventually, Mick shows up, only to be drug away and infected with the same disease. His rap part, in the context of the video, felt a bit awkward and out of place, but it was a bit too late to change things by the time they started planning and filming. 

The song is up for free download on her official SoundCloud page.

Top Ten: GaoSalad's Favorite Albums Ever (Part Two)

So last Sunday I dropped the bomb on you (baby) by telling you some of my rather shocking favorite albums of all time. Some of them I know aren't the greatest, but I just can't help myself. Pop music is an addiction -- but not all of these bad boys are of the pop variety. Prepare for the shock and awe of my Top Five(ish) albums EVER! Well for now. It will probably change next week. Or maybe I had a brain fart. Anyway, commence the listing!

05. The Sounds - Dying To Say This To You

See! I told you that it wouldn't be all pop! The Sounds are basically my generation's Blondie, only without the massive fame and street cred. Their lead singer, Maja, was featured in that Snakes On A Plane Song that Cobra Starship did before they turned to crap, and from there I stumbled upon this album. As a matter of fact, all of their albums are really well done. The first two, this being one of them, were more rock focused, while the last two have really mellowed out. The only reason I chose this album, as well as placed it so high on the list, is due to me knowing every word to every song on this CD. Yes, people, I have my nostalgia goggles on right now. Bite me.

Adam Barta Releases New Song With Jersey Shore's Angelina

Yup. You heard right. Remember that so-called feud a while back? Well that is a thing of the past. In actuality, while they may have disagreed on the topic of gay marriage, Adam is more than just a "gay guy" and Angelina is more that just a "bitch." They are indeed friends and had been planning on a project together for quite some time now. And finally, it has come to fruition. Get into "Serendipity."

Yup. Adam is at it again. Fresh off the heels of an Octomom frenzy -- doing both a song with her ("Sexy Party") and a tribute song to her ("I Need A Doctor") -- Adam has once again called upon one of his celebrity friends to release a song with. This time it is the most notorious bitch to reality television since Omarosa, that girl from The Apprentice that everyone hated. "What is the result with a reality star singing?" you may ask me. The answer is not a complete disaster.

I'm not saying that I expected the song to be a train wreck. I don't think either of them would have let something slip out, let alone be up for purchase, that was too rancid to hear. What I meant was that when people think of reality TV stars releasing music, they often think of certain Real Housewives or Farrah from Teen Mom. The leap from being on TV to having talent is a bit too far for many. Even Angelina fell short with her first attempt "I'm Hot", but this time her voice sounds better and her ego is much more deflated.

For this attempt Angelina sounds far more confident in her voice, and over all the track sounds far more polished. As for Adam, this is another step in the right direction as far as becoming more polished. As much as I love "I Need A Doctor," I fully admit that it wasn't the most perfect thing to come out of pop music in the past. Majik Boys did a great job of providing a sugary beat to match the sweet lyrics that both singers serve up.

Is "Serendipity" going to change the face of pop music? Probably not. Will it change your opinion of Angelina? Maybe. Will it spice up your music library? Hell yes it will! As a matter of fact, the track is up for purchase on iTunes. Getchu some.