Tracks...

Part two of tracks I am currently listening to (or have been over the last few months). As always, some are here because I just like them, some because I enjoy the tackiness and a few because they finally got a music video! Hope you find something in here that you like too!

This lot includes, amongst other things,  the "long awaited" return of Miss Paris Hilton, a hilarious OMD video, the much appreciated return of Toni Braxton and what I think is probably one of the most degrading to women music videos ever made; courtesy of (who else) Britney Spears.

Unbreak Her Heart...

Toni Braxton has penned a memoir titled Unbreak My Heart: A Memoir. The book is scheduled to be released on February 11th 2014 and should be an interesting read. 

Meanwhile, Toni's new album (with Babyface) is called Love, Marriage, Divorce and will be released by Motown Records on November 25th. The pair performed the first single, "Hurt You" on Jay Leno this week but the copyright police prevents me from posting it...

Instead, here is the excellent Behind The Music episode on Miss Braxton. I believe I posted this previously, but if you haven't seen it and like some Toni, it is a fun watch.

UPDATE:

The official "Hurt You" video:

Hurt You...

Toni Braxton has announced her new single with Babyface. They will release "Hurt You" as the first single from their upcoming duet album Love Marriage Divorce.

No release dates have been made official yet - but I am thrilled that Ms Braxton has decided against early retirement from music!

UPDATE:

Back With Baby...

Toni Braxton announced earlier this year that she planned to quit the music business, but (thankfully) Babyface quickly stepped in and convinced her to reconsider.

The R&B diva, who is currently in the studio recording a collaborative album with Ten-time Grammy winning singer, songwriter, producer and entrepreneur Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, has also announced dates for a summer tour. The North American trek will kick off August 9 in Las Vegas with stops in New York, Detroit and Miami before wrapping August 31 in Atlanta GA.

Braxton's upcoming duet album with Babyface will be released this fall by Motown Records. "I think I've made the right decision to get back involved with songwriting and working with Kenny," Braxton stated recently. Babyface said that "The whole perspective is guy and girl, Mars vs. Venus. Even if you’re in love, you’re in love for different reasons", while Braxton added: “I think because Babyface and I have both gone through divorces, we can relate and we can collaborate together on this topic and make it so others who have gone through this situation can relate". The album will be released in September 2013.

Babyface signed Braxton to her first solo record deal on LaFace Records and he is responsible for some of her biggest hits including "Breathe Again" and "You're Makin' Me High". Braxton has won 6 Grammy Awards, 7 American Music Awards, and 9 Billboard Music Awards. Throughout the years, she has sold close to 70 million records worldwide.

Toni Braxton North American tour dates:

August 9 --- Las Vegas, NV --- The Pearl—Palms Concert Theatre

August 10 --- Coquitlam, BC --- Red Robinson Theatre

August 12 --- Brooklyn, NY --- Martin Luther King, Jr. Summer Concert Series

August 14 --- New Brunswick, NJ --- State Theatre

August 16 --- Rama, ON --- Casino Rama Entertainment Centre

August 17 --- Detroit, MI --- Chene Park – Classic Soul Series

August 18 --- Durham, NC --- Durham Performing Arts Center

August 21 --- Baltimore, MD --- Pier Six Pavilion

August 23 --- Lincoln, RI --- Twin River Casino

August 24 --- Atlantic City, NJ --- Trump Taj Mahal—Mark G Etess Arena

August 25 --- Westbury, NY --- Theatre at Westbury

August 28 --- St. Petersburg, FL --- The Mahaffey Theater

August 29 --- Miami, FL --- James L. Knight Center

August 31 --- Atlanta, GA --- Chastain Park Amphitheatre

Unbreak My Heart...

Very sad news for Toni Braxton fans!

Toni Braxton has announced that she is retiring as a recording artist!

"I'm just not going to do any albums anymore; maybe touring occasionally here and there because I love performing, but not as much as I did in the past. But no new projects." 



She also told Good Morning America that she doesn't 'feel the love' for music anymore.

"It' s not affecting me, making me feel that thing I've always felt when I perform," she said. "It's leaving me. I'm not sure what's going on in my life. Maybe a female mid-life crisis? My heart isn't in it anymore. I hate to say that. I don’t know what to say when I hear songs. They don’t impact me. I have been trying to listen to songs, record companies have been calling me, so it’s a good situation to be in, but I’m not really interested at all". Braxton added that she wishes to focus on acting.

Very sad news - I had been looking forward to an album she was supposed to release last year, but never materialized. Hopefully she will reconsider her decision in the future!

Braxton has won 8 Grammy Awards, 5 American Music Awards, and 9 Billboard Music Awards. Throughout the years, she has sold close to 70 million records worldwide.

Behind...

A brand new Behind The Music episode: Toni Braxton.

Tracks...

Time again for some of the recent tracks I am listening to right now. Some tracks I really like here - especially the songs from Electric Lady Lab and I Am A Camera (thanks Jon for the latter!!!) But my absolute fave, and one of the very best songs I have heard so far this year: the new single from Toni Braxton!

It is a fantastic combination of her signature R&B sound blended with dance music and with some eastern influences. The track is written and produced by Toni herself and its taken from double album Heartstrings And Synagouge Vibes which will be released in May.

Heartstrings, the first disc, will feature nine songs that showcase Toni's roots as an R&B and dance artist, while the second disc, entitled Synagogue Vibes, will showcase Braxton touching on new trends by incorporating world, Jewish and Arabic music to the nine songs on the Heartstrings disc. I absolutely can not wait for this album to come out - I have loved every one of her records so far, and this one sounds like it will be a treat!

Ahem - but back to the tracks:

























And: the just released, official remix video for Madonna's "Girl Gone Wild"!

Heartstrings & Synagogue Vibes...

Toni Braxton has announced the title of her new album.

Heartstrings & Synagogue Vibes marks the eighth LP from the singer. It is scheduled for release in May this year.

Discussing the record with That Grape Juice, she said: "You're going to want to dance all night. Let's say it's probably very 'Last Dance'-ish.

"I'm kind of a beast in the studio - I'm a perfectionist. I repeat things, I want to get it right!"

The record is trailed by single "I Heart You", which the she premiered online earlier this month.

Heartstrings & Synagogue Vibes follows 2010's Pulse, which peaked at number nine in the US and 28 in the UK and spawned the hit single "Yesterday".

I Heart Her...

Toni Braxton has premiered her new single I Heart You. It was written and produced by the diva, who says about the track:

“When I wrote this song I was thinking about the feeling you get when you walk into a club and you hear the melody..you feel the beat and you just know it’s going to be a good night..”

You can download the song here (as far as I know this is a remix - another version will be made available soon).

The track is the first to be released from her brand new, as of yet untitled album, which will be released this summer. Can't wait!

I Love Me Some Her...

Toni Braxton is relasing a new album this year. It will be the follow up to the fantastic Pulse album from 2010, which finally made me a big Toni fan. The new album will be produced by her longtime working partner L.A. Reid and should be released in May.

An uptempo track from the album will be released as a single next month. The song is called "I Heart You" and Toni is currently working on a video for the track. Can't wait!

Album Of The Moment...

A new feature here on Barbarella's Galaxy is Album Of The Moment.

I tend to focus on an album for a few weeks, listening to it until I know it by heart, and then I move on to something else. So, at any given time there are one or two albums that I play again and again - and I thought I would feature some of them here.



So, today the album is Pulse by Toni Braxton.

Pulse is Toni´s 7th album, released May 4th, 2010 and her first on Atlantic Records. The album debuted at number nine in the US, inside the German top 20 and the UK top 30. It became Braxton's fifth US top-ten album and received generally positive reviews.

Speaking of the thinking behind titling the album 'Pulse', Braxton explained in May 2010: "It comes from when I got ill. I went into cardic rehab, and there was this older lady there. She was like 'What are you doing here so young? It must have been your heart. You know what? This is my fourth heart-attack and you're so young, you can't be AFRAID! You can't stop LIVING!'... Then she told me how she'd just got back from holiday with her 40-year-old boyfriend! And because I'd lost hope - the doctors had told me I'd never be able to record again - her conversation was like that heartbeat, that pulse that gave me back the love of life".

The album was originally scheduled for release in 2009, but then pushed back to February 2, 2010 before ultimately being released May 4, 2010. "The album was supposed to come out in February, but we held it back because seven of the ten songs we picked were leaked. We decided to go back to the studio, record four or five more songs and then pick. Now we send everything via Federal Express - nothing's going through the internet!"



After hearing the fabulous single "Hands Tied" from the album, I decided to check out Toni's complete back catalogue. I am now a massive fan, and consider Toni to be one if the many artists (especially female) that somehow seem to fall through the cracks as they get older.

This album has been called "a return to form" - and in a way it is, although I personally feel that her 2006 album "Libra" is amongst her best work to date. "Pulse" has a very organic sound to it and includes three fabulous singles, along with some hidden gems - especially the tracks "Hero" and "Why Wont You Love Me". I will be waiting with excitement for any future material Ms Braxton will release...

THE SINGLES:



"Yesterday", the first single from the album, was released in the US in late 2009. In the States, a remixed version featuring Trey Songz was used as the single version. The album features the European version with just Toni's vocals.



Single number two: "Make My Heart".

The third single - the fabulous "Hands Tied".





And she made a video for this track, although it wasnt a single. This is a cover of a Delta Goodram song from 2007:



This has been my most played album over the the last few weeks. Almost time to move on to something completely different...