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Perhaps the Spice Girls did a better job at fooling us than we realized. At first, Wannabe just sounded like a pointless song with random lyrics. A second listen brought on a curious thought that maybe these girls were a little freaky. Then TRT friend Ashley Arrison was kind enough to let us know via Twitter that we weren’t the only ones confused by the lyrics.

“If you wannabe my lover, you gotta get with my friends. Make it last forever, friendship never ends.”

Thankfully, these girls are hardly relevant anymore, and with any luck, we won’t be forced to endure many more of their songs. On the other hand, they make for easy Bad Music Monday picks.

Our apologies. This song is apparently so bad that all embedding options were disabled for the official video. Instead, you get footage of a live performance in Paris.

We’ve seen a few sides to Keri Hilson up until now — there’s the catchy songwriter for pop’s massive stars like Britney Spears and the Pussycat Dolls. The there’s her vocal guest appearances on just about every Timbaland song for the past year that slowly helped her gain mainstream notoriety, which she’s managed to successfully parlay into her own budding solo career. Still, the songs we’re accustomed to hearing from Ms. Hilson have remained pretty stylized with slick production.

So, when I stumbled upon this acoustic performance of “Knock You Down” from Billboard.com, I immediately fell in love. This is exactly the type of performance video I’ve been waiting to see from Hilson. Admittedly, it’s taken me quite a while to warm up to her talents over the last year (almost to the day), my turning point being when she dropped the “Turnin Me On” Remix with Lil Wayne. There was a certain swag about her in that song, pure confidence, that as a solo artist, she was lacking up until then.

Subsequently, all that’s come from Hilson since has furthered my belief that she’s just now hitting her stride as a solo artist and the future is very bright. For folks who might be on the fence about her – I think this video will dismiss any doubts about her talent and prove that Keri Hilson is the real deal. The question is, can she find a way to showcase her vocal talents more rather than relying on the easy club-banger? I sure hope so.

Past Tony Lucca Coverage:
Review: Tony Lucca at Sullivan Hall, 12-11-09
Review: Tony Lucca at the Canal Room, 9-15-09

“Backseat” video & mp3 after the cut, along with a clip of Fever Ray’s awesome-creepy Artist of the Year acceptance speech, featuring her melting face from the picture on the right. Between Fever Ray’s Karin Dreijer Andersson and Lady Gaga – I am feeling the fuck out of the current non-traditional pop music and subsequent artistry.

“Backseat” mp3

Thanks to Sergio for passing this stuff our way!

Still, I’m fairly comfortable with my assertion that Team William is awesome. Check out the two videos below – one is a live compilation of three songs, and the other is their very cool video for “I Walk Away.”

Band Stats:

• Origin: Belgium
• Age: Three Years
• Super Powers: Upbeat Indie Pop/Rock, Cute Accents
• Reasons for Makin’ It: The song “Walk Away” is way too infectious for the indie circuit to ignore and it’s Max Fleischer-inspired video is solid gold.

Click the image to check out the videos.

credit: Spin.com

In order to participate in the live chat, fans must log-in to either Twitter or Facebook to connect with the band and other fans. Saosin’s new album, In Search of Solid Ground, is out now. Be sure to click-through to watch the live performance at 6pm eastern.

The album is a composite of Negron’s natural romanticism with rock, pop, and a healthy dash of the sounds of his past. It’s a bold, creative move for a young twenty-something with a dedicated Latin fan base, known for his romantic ballads and emotionally charged vocal performances. He recorded the album with NY based producer Jimmy Greco, who’s worked with other latin crossover stars in Jennifer Lopez and Carlos Santana.

If you’re in NYC, be sure to swing by The Canal Room to help Frankie celebrate. Doors are at 7:30p — receive Frankie’s new CD Independence Day with ticket purchase to the show.  Check out a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the new album after the cut.