Lily Allen: "Alright, Still"

[Mikal]

SH!T I just went back to check its now #28! OMG

[muscleclub]

mikal said:

SH!T I just went back to check its now #28! OMG

LOL! Yeah, was ready to post the good news for you. The bitch is doing pretty good.

[Mikal]

That is good right? considering she just got released today?

[Mikal]

I have to say i am shocked/thrilled she is doing so well :). I didn't expect her to get anywhere in the US

[muscleclub]

mikal said:

That is good right? considering she just got released today?

Well, itunes store is not a big album market but it looks like she is doing good. Actually, the album release will help the single to climb the hot 100 chart next week.

[Mikal]

YAY... I'm sooo happy right now

[damnnnitzzjohn]

The #1 albums on iTunes sell like 10,000 lately.

the highest ever was 60k.

so on average like 30

[reception]

Reviewed by Edna Gundersen
USA Today
Lily Allen, Alright, Still: (* * * out of four) Snark attack

The petulant British popster, 21, is the daughter of British actor Keith Allen, but nepotism wasn’t her all-access pass to U.K. stardom. Posting demos on MySpace built a huge fan base drawn to her biting humor, gleaming reggae pop and salty urban tales. Attitude and wit compensate for a lack of vocal prowess. She bashes an ex in Not Big and Smile, chides a pot-smoking younger brother in Alfie, blithely celebrates gritty London’s pimps and muggers in LDN and rebuffs come-ons in Knock ’Em Out (brazenly copped from The Streets).

[jaxxalude]

All Music Guide


Alright, Still
Lily Allen

Artist
Lily Allen
Album
Alright, Still
Rating

Label
Capitol

by Heather Phares

Like most British pop, Lily Allen's debut album, Alright, Still, overflows with impeccably shiny, creative productions. However, Allen attempts to set herself apart from the likes of Rachel Stevens, Natasha Bedingfield, and Girls Aloud with a cheeky, (mostly) amusing vindictive streak in her lyrics that belies the sugarcoated sounds around them. You know exactly what she means when she says her ex is "not big whatsoever" on "Not Big"; later, she revels in being the one that got away on "Shame for You." However, this nice-then-naughty approach is at its best on Alright, Still's singles, which open the album in a one-two-three punch. Another ex-boyfriend kiss-off, "Smile," has a silky verse melody that just barely conceals her spite, which finally spills over on the chorus: "At first, when I see you cry/It makes me smile." But even here, Allen keeps her revenge sweet -- she sounds like she's singing about how ice cream or puppies or being in love makes her smile, which gives the song an extra sting. "Knock 'Em Out" is an even sassier, more stylized battle of the sexes than the Streets' "Fit But You Know It" (and could very well be the response from the girl in Mike Skinner's song). And "LDN" is a glorious summer confection, even if "it's all lies" underneath the Lord Kitchener sample and "sun is in the sky" chorus. Alright, Still's production and arrangements, courtesy of Greg Kurstin, Mark Ronson, and Futurecut, balance Allen's tart observations with a backdrop of pop-grime beats and freewheeling, feel-good ska that makes her sound playful and kittenish instead of just catty. While the album doesn't exactly go downhill after its opening salvo, it does lose some steam, particularly with "Take What You Take," a song that feels out of character with the rest of Alright, Still because it's uncharacteristically dull, and "Alfie," which falls especially flat as the album's final song. Allen softens her tough-girl pose more successfully on "Little Things," a ballad that celebrates the mundane moments of a dying relationship ("You'd take me out shopping and all we'd buy was trainers/As if we ever needed anything to entertain us") and "Everything's Just Wonderful," where "bureaucrats that won't give me a mortgage" are the targets of her ire instead of a previous (or soon-to-be previous) boyfriend. As with Nellie McKay (another young, opinionated woman eager to make herself the maverick in her chosen style of music), the dichotomy between Allen's sweet sound and ironic lyrics could be seen as either witty or clever-clever. Still, enough of Alright, Still works -- as pure pop and on the meta level Allen aims for -- to make the album a fun, summery fling, and maybe more. [The U.S. version of Alright, Still includes a remix of "Smile" and the 50 Cent parody "Nan You're a Window Shopper" as well as U-MYX software, which allows listeners to make their own remixes of "Smile" and "Knock 'Em Out" -- not an essential addition, but a surprisingly fun one nonetheless.]

[jaxxalude]

Gigwise


Lily Allen For Saturday Night Live
American PR push gains momentum...

by Scott Colothan on 31/01/2007

The Lily Allen onslaught on the US has gained momentum with a coveted appearance confirmed for Saturday Night Live.

The gobby singer will perform live on the popular show on February 3. She’s also set to appear on ‘Late Night With Conan O’Brien’ on February 13.

As previously announced, during these shows, Allen will be playing a spate of live gigs for MTV’s ‘Discover and Download’ tour.

The dates are as follows:

Los Angeles Henry Fonda Music Box – February 5
San Francisco Great American Music Hall - 6
Chicago Metro - 8
New York Webster Hall - 10
Philadelphia Theatre of Living Arts - 12
Washington DC 9:30 Club - 16
Boston Axis - 18

[SHOOTER]

She's projected to sell 20-25k next week! Go Lily!!

[Adz]

Damn, I was hoping for around 40 K. But her promo hasn't started yet has it?

[oscillations.]

She's got an MTV campaign, but that's about it - don't worry, this SNL performance is going to push her further into the public's consciousness, and will ensure she has a very nice second week. I think she'll hit 30-40k, like the Monkeys' did first week. The Brit hype tends to gain momentum throughout the week. I feel confident about a Top 15 debut.

[Damage]

popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2007/01/lily_allen.html

Is Lily Allen really all that and a bag of crisps?

The British are coming! The British are coming! Okay, well, it's just one Brit—and she's of a manageable size—but for anyone who follows the hype music industry these days, the release of Lily Allen's Alright, Still yesterday completes the most fascinating rise to fame of any artist in recent memory. Her tracks leaked into the American consciousness early in 2006 via the magic of the Internets, and a mix tape thing she put up on her own site was in constant rotation in the Whitney offices for much of last summer. She's spunky, she's funky, she carries none of the obnoxious grandstanding habits of her fellow pocket-sized countrywoman Lady Sovereign despite being very much in charge of her own image (and not shy with opinions). Most telling fact on the buzzometer: Her debut album, Alright, Still was almost certainly the highest-ranking not-technically-released-in-the-U.S.-yet album on the critics' year-end best lists for last year.

So the proof is in the Yorkshire pudding, and now we can all decide for ourselves whether she's the second coming of the musical messiah or yet another talented act from across the pond doomed to spend eternity in the bargain bin with Robbie Williams. In my opinion, the sheer existence of "LDN"—a flouncy story-song about her hometown with a kick-ass reggae merengue sample that, yes, made my year-end best list—justifies my love, but I'm curious to hear what you kids think.

Stream the whole album here, watch this Chevy Sessions, and catch her on SNL this weekend. Then report back, and let me know if you're ready to believe the hype or bring the [redacted] ruckus.

[SHOOTER]

I hope she sells steadily like Corinne.

[XXIX]

ohshooter said:

I hope she sells steadily like Corinne.

Lily on Oprah.. that would be interesting.. Hmm...

[SHOOTER]

I picked up the CD when I went to lunch today. Sucks the only photo of her is on the cover but I LOVE the album packaging and artwork inside the booklet.

[oscillations.]

I've been trying to d/l "Absolutely Nothing" for ages. Can someone pm it to me?

[beaston]

I sampled the CD on iTunes and all the songs kinda sounded the same, so idk if I am gonna buy it.

[oscillations.]

Billy, you have to buy it! I promise you'll love it.
Download "Friday Night" & "LDN". You'll be won over, I guarantee.

[beaston]

Alright, I'll give those songs a try. :)
I love Smile so much, but I'm afraid of this being another St. Elsewhere.

[oscillations.]

Well, I think SE is terrific, but this album is far more accessible than that one. ;)

[jaxxalude]

LA Weekly


Big Damn Deal
Media darling Lily Allen’s hype exceeds her
By CAROLINE RYDER
Wednesday, January 31, 2007 - 3:00 pm

I saw Lily Allen play her first L.A. show in October. A dancehall Holly Golightly, all hoop earrings and baby fat, she had charmed me on the radio with her bouncy white-girl reggae and neo-cockney wit — Oh my gosh you must be joking me/If you think that you’ll be poking me”. Half of Hollywood (Gwen Stefani, Orlando Bloom, Sean Lennon, Lindsay Lohan) had rolled up to see Allen, a MySpace phenomenon with a No. 1 U.K. hit. But, as is often the case with super-hyped artists, the reality fell somewhat short of expectation. Allen’s singsong voice was shrill and warbly. The arrangements were unimaginative. She lacked the blue-collar grrrl-appeal of Lady Sovereign, emanating instead what could only be described as aloofness. Her trademark petulance, so endearing from a distance, was enervating in person. It didn’t help that she didn’t know the words to all her songs — they were written on a piece of paper by her feet.

Maybe, I wondered, she just doesn’t give a s**t. “My ultimate goal,” she told me on the phone a few days later, “is to get married and have children and have a house in the country with pigs and bikes”. But for someone who only wants to have babies and raise livestock, she sure does work hard. There she is, pouting on the cover of this month’s Urb. Grinning from the pages of Bust. Giving me the proverbial finger in Rolling Stone — and Pitchfork, Blender, Vibe and Paper. NME calls her “the archetypal singer-songwriter for the iPod generation”. The New York Times says she “symbolizes a new blogging-age.” Spin reports that the 21-year-old Allen, with her undeniably wicked style, might be the next face of Chanel.

It’s not surprising she’s getting all this attention — privileged, bratty and cute as a button, Lily Allen and her rags-to-riches story are a publicist’s dream. Her dad is British actor Keith Allen, who was best friends with Joe Strummer — “Uncle Joe” to Lily — and her mother, Alison Owen, is a movie producer (Elizabeth, Shaun of the Dead). She spent her first 10 years poor, living in council estates, and claims she didn’t have a relationship with her father until she was 15. She took her first hit of Ecstasy at 13 and checked into the Priory — Britain’s answer to the Betty Ford Clinic — in 2003. She “can’t really remember” her teens, most of which were spent getting kicked out of expensive private schools. Allen’s ex-boyfriend Lester, the inspiration behind her sarcastic break-out hit, “Smile,” sold his tell-all story to a British tabloid and used the money to buy a brownstone in Brooklyn. It’s enough to make you cry into your Us Weekly...

Bloggers and tabloid journalists alike delight in her rants, gems like “Pete Doherty needs to be exterminated”, “Bob Geldof is a c**t”, “Carl Barat is obviously convinced he is God”, and — my personal favorite — “People who buy Paris Hilton’s album should be killed”. Comments like these, plus her amazing online rise to fame and a wardrobe full of Chanel, no doubt helped create what is the Lily Allen Media Phenomenon. Before the U.S. release of her record Alright, Still (which dropped Tuesday), Lily Allen is already a star.

But what about the music?

“Her success isn’t just because of the persona,” says KCRW’s Nic Harcourt, an early fan of Allen’s. “There’s something about the way she writes that people can relate to.” I agree — her storytelling has a colorful authenticity. Nonetheless, I was a little perturbed to read a KCRW press release comparing Allen to Randy Newman: “one a living legend, the other on her way up that ladder.” Though Newman himself was equally effusive, calling Allen “the best new artist since Eminem,” it seems premature — irresponsible, even — to assign legend status to a girl who, just weeks earlier, had given such a flat performance at the Troubadour.

Sat Bisla, host of Indie 103.1’s Passport Approved, was the first to play Allen on the radio in the U.S. He, like many others, uses the word “quirky” when describing Allen’s appeal. And, despite the façade, he insists she “does give a s**t” about her career. “She’s been around many successful people, and she’s seen stars rise and fall,” he says. “I think that’s why you get this cheeky, obnoxious person onstage who acts like she doesn’t care. Deep down, of course, she cares.”

I suspect he’s right.

[oscillations.]

Cheryl Tweedy
www.sendspace.com/file/lqc827

Absolutely Nothing
www.sendspace.com/file/tlgxhg

Sunday Morning
www.sendspace.com/file/7rra5z

Nan, You're A Window Shopper
www.sendspace.com/file/2ksq02

Truth
www.sendspace.com/file/hwh69g

Crack Whore
www.sendspace.com/file/awzg64

Blank Expression (you should have this if you own the American version of the CD)
www.sendspace.com/file/vd4mgi

Oh My God (Kaiser Chiefs' Cover)
www.sendspace.com/file/bvt5nm

Naive (Kooks' Cover)
www.sendspace.com/file/c1776d

[britneyrules]

cherrycrush said:

Nan, You're A Window Shopper
www.sendspace.com/file/2ksq02

only song of hers I can stand to listen to

[eljefro]

I bought it at Target...they only had 10 copies stocked but it was cheap.

[SHOOTER]

Her label did a good job of pricing this because I bought it at the Wherehouse and normally, all their CDs are priced ridiculously high, even if their on sale, and hers was the only one on sale for $9.99.

[oscillations.]

If anyone needs ANY of her b-sides, demos, etc. download them now. I uploaded those for my friend, but I'm posting them here, too. MAKE IT WORTH MY TIME.

[oscillations.]

lmao thanks

I'm glad at least someone can use the mp3s

I have to upload Lady Sov shit next

[Chromeozone]

oscillations, you are a godsend.

also, that "crack whore" song sounds like a reversed bollywood version of "LDN"