Steampunk'd Season 1 Episode 7 [Review]

Oh, GSN. My love-hate relationship with you continues on and on. Due to technical difficulties on my part, I didn't have my copy of the episode to review earlier this week. That didn't matter, though, because the second the episode finished airing, GSN's official Facebook posted a photo of the final three. Thanks, I guess, for ruining who went home for me. I'll try not to be a Bitter Betty the whole review, though.

Kim Smith Wows With Video For "Shooting Star"

It feels good having Kim Smith back at music. Don't get me wrong, he's been doing a ton of stuff locally in NYC, but for those of us who live in the middle of the country, that might as well mean he hasn't done anything in a while. Then, like a gift from the homo-gods, he dropped this gem of a music video out of nowhere, and I'm in love all over again. Check out the very sexual yet endearing video for "Shooting Star".

The video over all is pretty simplistic. It mainly features two different parts, one of Kim singing into the camera close up, and another of him and a mystery man getting physical. In both takes he is shirtless (praise be yet again to the homo-gods), and looking stunning as usual. I love how bold the video is, showing two men embracing each other not as a gimmick or in a cliche way, but in a scene that feels very real. Of course the choreography can shatter that perfect image a bit, but for the most part of the video, it feels like two real men really feeling up on one another and exploring the other's body.

"Shooting Star" as a song is one of my all time favorites from Kim Smith. He his album Nova back in 2013, so seeing this in it's original form (as opposed to the remixed version on June 2015's Supernova) was a bit of a surprise. I had given up hope on this track seeing a video treatment, but luckily for me, he wasn't done with the album quite yet. Due to production costs, it's not unusual for an indie artist to draw an album out over several years, but I have to say this is the most pleasant surprise I've gotten from the LGBT music scene in a long while.

If you dig the track, you can get the original album Nova on iTunes here, or if remixes are more you're thing, you can check out his fully remixed followup Supernova here.

Below Deck Season 3 Episode 7 [Review]

It's official. I have developed the weirdest Love-Hate relationship with this show. I really love it because of all the insanity that happens and all he great reality tv personalities it has spawned, but I also really hate it because they focus the most on the more boring of the drama. I wanna see more of certain things, but instead what I get is a whole episode of Kate and Leon hating each other. I'll try to make it more interesting than that, but that's pretty much the whole episode. 

Please keep reading anyway.

La Toya Jackson Returns With Previously Unreleased Single

Watch out world. Janet isn't the only Jackson making a comeback in 2015. Much like her sister, La Toya is bringing back the Jackson name into present day, but she's going about it in a totally different way. Instead of releasing a brand new track, she's digging into her recording library and bringing forth a track that may be old, but is still something you've yet to hear. Check out "Trouble".

It can definitely be said that this track sounds like it is from the 80s. This song is a track that didn't quite make it onto La Toya's '88 smash hit La Toya (or You're Gonna Get Rocked! depending on which version or when you picked it up). It's not unusual for artists to record tons of songs for an album and narrow it down, but what is unusual is to release a track more than twenty years later. But it's not an ordinary release. This is a remix package -- an awesome one.

This release features a lot of talented artist, brought together by JRED Music. The remix masters include Jared Jones, Matt Pop, Ranny, Sweet Team, Dr. Brooks, and Argonaut. Each artist brings their own unique sounds to the project, turning this one single into ten distinctly separate works. Some even manage to make the song hardly recognizable (in a good way), making the entire album worth your money.

I know I'm a little bit late on this one, but given that the original version of the track was released back in 2013, I'd say that I'm a bit closer to the single's release than the album's. And hey, La Toya is from an incredibly talented family and one of the least talked about Jacksons, so why not give her a quick shoutout.

"Trouble" is available from JRED Music now on iTunes. Grab it now!

Dragonette Returns With Brand New Single + Video

Dragonette, in case you didn't know, is one of the best things that has come out of Canada since pretty much ever. They had been steadily pumping out music until early 2013 when things went a big quiet -- but no more! Dragonette is back, and you can have even more synth-rock in your life, because in the end, isn't that what we could all use more of?

As per usual, this song is super catchy. Much to my relief, "Let The Night Fall" goes back to the sound the band's sophomore album Fixin' To Thrill, which was my favorite. The song's heavy synths fuzed with traditional guitars makes it something you don't hear very often and solidifies them as one of the defining New Wave bands of this generation. The chorus has that ear worm quality to it, staying stuck in your head long after you're done listening to it.

The video is also a bit of a throwback for me. While it does have some Marina And The Diamonds qualities to it by being a bit quirky (see the top photo for evidence there), it really stands well on it's own. The plot has some very distinct lesbian overtones from what I gathered, which should remind many long-time fans of the video for "Pick Up The Phone" (also from the Fixin' To Thrill era). The video follows a fun day out with two close girlfriends, as they go about the randomness of daily life.

I am so excited to see this come out. The band has already confirmed this is the first single off of a new album, which will hopefully be a marriage of the two amazing sounds they've developed over the course of their last two albums. While we don't have a name or even an estimated date, given the band's history, I'm sure we won't have to wait too long to find out. These guys love their fans, and they won't keep us in the dark for long.

For now, support them by grabbing "Let The Night Fall" on iTunes.

Honey Boo Boo's Debut Single Is Fun Whether You Like It Or Not

Hold on one second before you all come up in arms about this. I know that there is a large section of the population that detests Honey Boo Boo, but think about it for a minute. It does feature Adam Barta so it can't be that bad right? I mean Adam has had some strange collaborations in the past but they are always the best kind of tacky, and "Movin' Up" is no exception!

Photo Via GR Media Official YouTube Channel.

Ok. Watch that and tell me that it's not already stuck in your head. I don't mean the verses, which are kind of a mess of mumbled words (she's a kid, so she gets a free pass at not enunciating), but I mean the chorus. "Do the Honey Boo Boo Bop" will be stuck in your head for days, and judging by the fact it already has over a million views on YouTube, it's safe to say that you are not alone there. Adam Barta, who is famous teaming up with other reality TV stars like Angelina from Jersey Shore and Tan Mom, really took the back seat with this track, allowing Alana to shine.

The video seems to be more of at treat for those who were fans of the show. I honestly never watched a single episode of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo (mainly because I didn't have cable for years), so I didn't recognize a lot of the people. Apparently co-starring in the video is Mamma June with one line of the song, her sister "Pumpkin", and Mike Thompson known as "Sugar Bear". Yeah. No clue there. But you could tell that she was having a good time, and at the end of the day, she's still a kid and deserves to have fun with her life. Thankfully the cancelation of her TV show recently has not got her down, and she's managed to find a new career path.

It's unclear if this will be a career for the young starlet, but one thing's for sure -- she knows how to work the camera. This girl is dancing and having a great time, not giving one care as to what the haters have to say. If that's not inspiration, I don't know what is. And also it's nice to see one of Adam's videos blow up again. Some of his recent collaborations, while just as fun as everything else he's released over the past three years, didn't get much media attention. Thankfully he recruited the Boo Boo Clan to help him out. I'm not sure how much collaborating went on, but I know already that the track is only going to get more popular from here.

Steampunk'd Season 1 Episode 6 [Review]

Before we get started I have to say something. I have been getting a lot of flack (and I mean a lot) due to my reviews having spoilers in them, but not having a spoiler warning. Well, I don't really know how to do a review without spoilers. Even if I only focused on the art of the show, it would still be a "spoiler" because it revealed something you wouldn't know without watching first. News flash, my friends. All reviews have spoilers. Some just more than others. Like this one. So if you don't want to know that -CENSORED- went home, then maybe this isn't the review for you.

Wait. My spoiler was censored? Well just check it out under the cut. And under the rest of the episode's review.