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She’s conquered Seoul, Hong Kong and Japan and she’s off to Taiwan next. There have been videos, photos and audio clips – all proofs of how amazing the show has turned out and how it will be. Guys, very soon, it will be our turn.

Are you prepared, though?

Previously, I’ve dished out advice on how to make friends with audience members of the Ball. Now I’m back once more! This time boys and girls, I’ll be giving some advice on how to prepare your outfit for the BTW Ball.

1. Why Should I Dress Up?

It’s called a Ball for a reason honey. Back in the olden days (circa 70′s-90′s), Balls were exclusive to the drag community whereby drag queens gathered at small venues. They would come dressed in their best to compete for prizes and some cash money. You might not be competing for any money or any prizes at the BTW Ball, but I’m pretty sure you do not want to feel left out when everyone else around you looks like this:

 2. How Should I Dress Up?

The key here is to express yourself while referencing Lady Gaga’s past outfits. If you feel that a Lady Gaga tee and a pair of leather shorts is your thing, then so be it. Here are some very good examples of fans pulling off a good Lady Gaga outfit:

Comfort should also be a factor. You’re going to get all hot and sweaty, so try your best to not end up like this:

Also, try your best to keep the costume to yourself. Little Monsters may be some of the most peaceful people around, but if you’re obstructing their view with your costume, expect some wig snatching to occur. (Sorry Lady Gaga! It’s the #truthtea.)

3. Where can I get my outfit?

You can always order your costumes from any costume store online, but if you’re broke like me, you can always turn to making your own D.I.Y costumes. Here are some places you could get your costumes from:

Get your cloths from the Textiles Centre near to you. Textile centers usually have a wider variety of fabric, sold at a much cheaper price as compared to other places. If you’re in Singapore, be sure to head down to Arab Street or Chinatown’s People’s Park.

Deck the thrift stores! You’d be amazed at the kind of things you can find there. The best part is that, you can haggle the price even further. Who knows you might even find an Edge of Glory Versacesque  top at Salvation Army?

And if you still have energy after your day of scavenger hunt for gaga wear, head over to Peninsula Plaza! You’ll be able to find your wigs, studs, denim and leather jacket all in one place! The trick to buying at this places is to state them your budget first (keep it as low as possible) and that’s a starting point. Usually, they’d quote you the original price and if you don’t do anything about it, you’ll be spending quite a lot.

If you don’t feel confident doing your own costumes, get your Mum, sister or friends to help you! I’ll assure you that you’ll bond with them even more over your costume. Who knows? They might even convert to Little Monsters after seeing how passionate you are about Lady Gaga!

I hope this helps a little with your BTW Ball outfit woes! With that, I sashay away. See you at the Ball, Little Monsters!

P.S. Check out my ultimate gaga outfit in our final guide to BTW Ball next week!

He may only be 17, but our YouTube Featured Artist of The Week, Diggy Simmons, seems very much promising. This young American rap emcee is on the rise and has recently released a music video to his latest single, Two Up.

If you listened to this song with your eyes closed, you might have thought that it was a song by Kanye West. On the first listen, the vocals are very reminiscent to Kanye’s in Stronger. Diggy has cited Kanye as a major influence in his rapping style. Lucky for him, Kanye is actually in favor of him and has in fact praised him when a video of him freestyling to Nas’s Made You Look went viral.

Two Up is very radio friendly and I have to admit that Diggy’s swag had a growing effect on me (no no, I didn’t grow any swaggie after watching the music video). The pretty visuals in the video pretty much roped in my attention. The video was minimal, cool and refreshing all at the same time.

Cover photo-worthy stills from the music video.

Interesting fact: Diggy is the son of Rev Run from MTV’s Run’s House. His dad was quite the rap icon! We wonder, will Diggy make it as big as his dad? Or will he be even bigger?

Well, make the verdict yourself by watching the video below:

Millions of Glamberts have been anticipating the arrival of Adam Lambert‘s long awaited second album Trespassing. The American Idol runner-up blamed the delay on his need for perfection and promised fans the wait would be worth it.

And the verdict? I was totally blown away on my first listen to Lambert’s sophomore effort. This album is…

So many amazing songs on this album including Kickin’ in, Runnin’, Naked Love, Broken English, Chokehold, and Underneath. I am totally in love with disco workout track Cuckoo and can’t stop playing it. Nevertheless it is easier to get into for me. Maybe that’s because For Your Entertainment was more of a big mix of genres and this album seems more like one body of work.

I can’t believe this album comes from someone who almost won American Idol. Idol fans will be offended once again.

Stream the album in FULL below!

Trespassing by adamofficial

Adam Lambert’s sophomore album Trespassing will be released in Singapore on May 15. Win a chance to catch Adam Lambert and Queen perform in London when you pre-order the album before May 15! More details here!

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Spin or Bin Music’s inaugural YouTube feature of the week, Aixelie‘s Coconut Water. You must be wondering. Aixelie who?

Aixelie is an unsigned artist from California, who describes herself as the “first and only fruitarian artist in the world”. Her fans are called “fruities”, just like our favorite childhood candy, Fruities.

Now now before you start laughing at her or thanking her for making your day, take a moment to think objectively.

The tags you can find under the video

Aixelie MIGHT actually go somewhere should she get signed onto a recording label. Nobody’s ever heard of a Fruitarian artist before! That’s definitely one originality point for her. We need something as fresh and as fabulous as her when all the music videos nowadays are ending up on VigilantCitizen.com.

Yes I know. The lyrics of the song are absolutely ridiculous and corny but don’t act like you weren’t actually humming along by the second time she goes “boy, boy, boy”. She served us some catchy pop hook realness right there.

Her voice is not too bad either! I don’t think she’ll need as much autotune as Nicki Minaj or Katy Perry should she start making albums.

Talking about Nicki Minaj, I dare say Nicki’s got a competitor in terms of ghetto barbie cuteness. Aixiele had 6 outfit changes and changed her weave three times just to tell us how much she loves “coconut water” while Nicki only had two weaves and two outfit changes in Starships.  Aixiele also danced so much more to a slower song while all Nicki did was walk around in Starships.

Disagree? Let’s not forget the amount of effort Aixiele’s actually put into the music video. The amount of fruits, both fake and real used must have taken quite a huge part of the budget! If that ain’t dedication to her being a fruitarian artist, I don’t know what is.

She’s not so bad after all, isn’t she? All she needs is just a little bit of image cleanup, better music producers and we’ve got the world’s biggest (and only) fruitarian star!

Laugh all you want. However, don’t be surprised to see Aixelie thanking her fruities on the VMAs someday! The girl is fabulous and you better start pronouncing her name right.

Southeast Asian monsters! Are you all prepped up for the Born This Way Ball? Are your wigs, outfits and souls ready? Most importantly: Have you decided how many days ahead you’ll be queuing up before the actual Ball?

Yes? No? Either way, no one can be too prepared for the Born This Way Ball. In fact, no one can be sure of what to expect when it comes to Lady Gaga. Well, Spin or Bin Music has decided that we will come out with our very own “Guide To Surviving The BTW Ball”.

First up: Getting To Know The Audience Members.

Lady Gaga’s audiences come from all walks of life, so it’s safe to say that no two Monsters are the same. Want to ensure your spot in the queue while you are taking a toilet break? Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the 4 audience types of the BTW Ball, in true Amenfashion fashion.

First, THE QUEENS: These are the Little Monsters that you do not want to mess with.  To ensure them saving your spot in the queue while you visit the restroom, make no mentions of Katy Perry or Nicki Minaj. If you do, you better be prepared with fabulous arguments.  The Queens are fabulously real and they will serve you statistical facts.

The second group are a bunch who feels that their identity is strongly attached to Lady Gaga. You don’t really have to worry about offending them unless you’re making fun of their Facebook names (e.g. GirlScheisse FameFashion Germanotta or Didi Calderone Jo Superstar).

Most of them will keep harping on how much they missed the old Gaga and how she no longer appeals to a mainstream audience. This group would save a spot for you, but you might want to follow them on Twitter/Facebook afterwards. It’s part of their whole “inner superstar” mantra.

You’ve got to love the Special Snowflakes.  The only reason they bothered listening to Lady Gaga is because she’s “weird”. They would probably have very little clue about the existence of Starstruck, Paper Gangsta and  Summerboy.  Impress them by making parallels between legendary rockstars of the past with Lady Gaga.

Last but not least, the “Gaga’s So Scary” fans. They would most probably only know Just Dance, Bad Romance and Edge of Glory. They’ve always thought that she didn’t make sense but hey Gaga’s visiting their country. Why not get tickets? Want your spot saved while you take a leak? Well, don’t confuse them with talk about songs which are not singles.

Now that you know the 4 different types of audiences attending the BTW Ball, do you think that you’re more prepared?  However, no matter what kind of people you little monsters will meet at the Ball, I hope you guys remember Lady Gaga’s message of peace and love. Stay fabulous you Little Monsters!

Break out the candles because Spin or Bin Music has turned 3! While we have been busy trying to bring you the latest happenings music-related, we did not forget to get some souvenirs along the way!

To thank the fans who have been checking back with us on their daily news fix, or stalking us on Facebook and Twitter, we have a maaaaaaaaaassive prize just for you – with much love from our fab friends at Universal Music and Sony Music! How does a hamper containing 20 autographed CDs from various artistes who have visited Southeast Asia in the past year sound?

And if that hasn’t gotten your full attention, we’re namedropping some of these artistes – they include Lady Gaga, Jessie J, David Archuleta, Adam Lambert, Kelly Clarkson and Neon Trees! And that’s not even half of the 20 albums you see in the pic above!

All you have to do to stand a chance of winning this is:

1. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

2. Tweet us a birthday message in the following format:

“Happy 3rd Anniversary Spin or Bin Music! (your message here) #SpinOrBinMusicBirthday http://bit.ly/JpTlcQ”

Deadline: May 6, 2012 (9:00pm, Singapore time)

It’s too simple! Bestow upon us your appreciative, congratulatory well-wishes and tell us how much you love us! Ha! I’m just joking, just send us an appreciative birthday tweet and you may just well walk away with a 20 autographed CD hamper… #justsaying.

Terms & Conditions:
1. Open to Singapore/ Malaysia/ Indonesia/ Philippines residents only.
2. All entries must be received before 21:00 hours on May 6, 2012.
3. Multiple tweets are allowed but each Twitter account will only be entitled to one winning chance.
4. Representative of Spin or Bin Music will randomly pick one (1) tweet amongst all eligible tweets. Spin or Bin Music’s decision is final and binding. No correspondence will be entertained about Spin or Bin Music’s decision.
5. Spin or Bin Music reserves the right to disqualify all entries that do not meet the rules and regulations of the Contest. These include entries submitted with invalid or incorrect information.
6. Winner will receive a tweet from Spin or Bin Music with further instructions on how to claim the prize.

Not quite one, nor two, but three years it has been since we started with a mission to provide you readers with a channel to get the latest goss and news on the music scene. Yes, it is Spin or Bin Music‘s 3rd year anniversary!

Can’t quite believe so much has happened, all in the span of 365 days. During that time, we’ve had the chance to rub shoulders with the likes of Simple Plan, Greyson Chance, Zee Avi, Foster the People, Jessie J and Kasabian. Also, we managed to secure exclusive meet and greet passes with some of these lovely artistes for you lucky hardcore fans, as well as a couple of great prizes like Big Time Rush merch, that ultimate One Direction CD hamper and Christmas goodies from The Wanted, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and JLo!

News-wise, I think much can be said about being the first to let you in on the live stream of Train‘s latest album California 37, as well as breaking the news on Twitter of One Direction on iCarly, as well as stirring the pot violently with the awesome 1D April Fools Day joke (great on you if you thought it was genius!)

Ultimately it’s the readers who have supported us all this time and the new ones that have stumbled upon us along the way that we have to thank for our tiny success as a site for your music news fix! And what better way to express our gratitude with a little somethin’ somethin’? You know what I mean, keep your eyes peeled for our next post to find out more on how you can win our EPIC music hamper! You deserve it!

Here’s to 12 more months of good music!

Cheers,
Spin or Bin Music Team

P.S. How nice of these celebs appearing on video to send us their birthday wishes, we feel awfully loved now!

It’s a little more than a few days to the unveiling of a flurry of winners at one of the most (if not the most coveted) prestigious music award ceremonies of the year: the 54th Grammy Awards!!!

We here at Spin or Bin Music are kind of on our toes at the moment, mostly because of the copious amounts of talent that have been nominated for awards this year. I also understand from various entertainment sources that the performances this year include high-profile artistes such as the suave crooner Bruno Mars, country pop darling Taylor Swift, post-vocal cord surgery Adele (!), the sassy Nicki Minaj, rock legend Bruce Springsteen and even our blue-haired beauty, Katy Perry, amongst others! Bands are also not forgotten, with Coldplay, Foo Fighters and The Band Perry slated to hit the stage as well!

But let’s not worry about who’s going to perform what – I believe the Grammys are here to award the golden trophy to some very talented and deserving people in the music industry. As always, best of luck to all the performers, but there can only be one winner after all! Prior to the Feb 12 ceremony, here are our predictions for the more talked-about categories!

Record Of The Year

The Nominees: Adele (Rolling In The Deep), Bon Iver (Holocene),  Bruno Mars (Grenade), Mumford & Sons (The Cave), Katy Perry (Firework)

Thoughts: The focus on picking the Record of the Year is the ingenuity of the engineering and production of said single. With that factor in mind, for me, the production of all 5 songs in the running for this award are pretty slick, save for Holocene and The Cave, mostly because of their indie background. However, Rolling in the Deep and Holocene are the two standouts for me.

Prediction: Going with Adele on this one. [Read more →]

In the era where LP release dates shift for multiple years before an album actually drops (read: Nicole Scherzinger), it’s tough to really get excited for an artist’s new album. But we’re starting the new year off with an optimistic attitude—2012 is gonna be filled with some awesome albums.

To let you know what’s in store for 2012, our writers pick their most anticipated release this year. See who made the cut….

Ingrid Michaelson – Human Again
Due January 30

All is quiet on the front end of Ingrid Michaelson’s camp for a couple of months now and I am starting to miss her quirkiness. The last I heard of the singer/songwriter was how she stirred the music scene when it was made known that she was the brains behind Cheryl Cole’s hit single, Parachute. I don’t know if you have heard her previous albums (which I demand that you should), but it is such a joy to be following such a talented musician like Ingrid Michaelson from the start of her career to the huge success that she is now.

My love for her music is to the point where I don’t even care if one of her songs gets placed on 15415845 TV shows.

(Siti)
.

Christina Aguilera – Title TBA
TBC

Christina Aguilera’s popularity took a nosedive after her last album Bionic became a commercial failure. The album performed poorly on the charts, received poor reviews from critics, and earned her a new moniker: Floptina. Since then Aguilera joined NBC reality talent show The Voice as a judge to rebuild her image and landed her a #1 single, Moves Like Jagger. The blonde diva is ready to make a comeback with her new which she described as “very heartfelt and honest”, in the vein of her previous album Stripped. Recent rumors suggested that Max Martin produced the first single Love Your Body. As a huge fan, I have been rooting for her since day one. All things will be falling into place for Christina if she plays her cards right this year.

(Manfred)
.

Lana Del Rey – Born To Die
Due January 30

This might sound strange, but when I woke up on the 1st of January this year, all I could think about that morning was the fact that Lana Del Rey’s dropping her album in four weeks’ time! I’m really jumping off my seat, anticipating the release of “Born To Die”. Four of the tracks, Born To Die, Blue Jeans, Video Games, and Off To The Races, have already been released as singles, so assuming the rest of the album are half as good as those, I’m sure we’ve got a quality album coming up.

(Aida)
.

John Mayer – Born and Raised
TBC

Singer-songwriter John Mayer was supposed to have dropped his fifth studio album, Born and Raised, late last year, but an inflamed nodule near his vocal chords forced him to delay the album’s release. Having been diagnosed with granuloma, he has taken a break from singing and cancelled a couple of shows, but has assured fans that the album’s pretty much finished. After the setback that was Battle Studies, let’s hope 2012 will be the year for Mayer because God knows if the world ends this year, we’ll be needing an album like Continuum sending us off into the light at the end of the tunnel.

(Xinhua)
.

Adam Lambert – Trespassing
Due March 20

I’ve already written a full article about this but the fact that I’m repeating myself here just goes to show how eager I am to get my hands on Adam Lambert’s Trespassing when it hits the shelves in March this year! (That’s right, we’re A WHOLE YEAR closer to the release then at the time I wrote the article.) Better Than I Know Myself has already been released as the lead single off the album and while it was a little underwhelming for me, I just can’t help but want new material from the man. When you’re Glambert, everybody wants more.

(Nicholas)
.

Linkin Park – Title TBA
TBC

An album title and release date has yet to be announced but the writing process has been going along so well that frontman Chester Bennington told Rolling Stone he’d be “shocked” if their album isn’t released in 2012.

It’s news to me for sure since Linkin Park is known to take 3 – 4 years to work on the creation of each album. A Thousand Suns (2010) was a departure for the band to say the least. Honestly, it didn’t sit well with me but I’m definitely curious to see what “serious songs” the band will unleash upon us next.

(Kar Yan)

So it is that time of year again, where we bring out the poignant side of ourselves and with a soft (but dramatic) sigh, reflect upon the songs that helped us through the year 2011. Yes, I am hereby bringing you the Top 10 songs of 2011, a list that the Spin or Bin Music team have compiled with vigour and decided unanimously that these 10 rightly deserve to make the cut. It was helluva tough, but here we are, with the team and the Power98 deejays giving their two-cents on each chosen track. Also, check out our talented singer/blogger Siti, who lends us her vocals in several of these honoured tracks!

Top 10 Songs of 2011:

1. Adele – Someone Like You

Manfred: Never fails to make me cry every single time I listen to it.
JK (Weeknights: OTOT 8-9pm, The Beat: 9-midnight): A song that teleports you back in time when someone you really cared for shattered your heart into a million little pieces.
Mabel (Weekdays: The Rush 5-8pm): Cathartic, soulful; what’s not to love?

[Read more →]