The United States has voted Barack Obama the 44th president. As Obama-maniacs are celebrating world wide, The Pink Logs found time to meet with President Obama and share some knowledge and concerns that they had. We are sure this is just the beginning of a strong, political relationship.

The Naked and the Famous - Serenade

The Auckland, New Zealand-based act bearing the lascivious moniker of The Naked and The Famous are rapidly making musical strides beyond the bounds of their native land. Consisting of composer/"control freak" Thom Powers and exotic vocalist/lyricist Alisa Xayalith (augmented by the rhythm section of Jordan Clark and Ben Knapp for live gigs), the group who took their name from a line in a Tricky song have released two acclaimed EPs in the last six months, This Machine in May and No Light in September. The New Zealand web site Stuff (www.stuff.co.nz) praised the latter, stating, "No Light is yet another confident statement of intent from an up-and-coming Kiwi band that deserves all the hype it's getting," while Grant Smithies of the Sunday Star Times said, "Although this music is far from timeless, the time for music like this is certainly right now...The Naked and The Famous have better taste, better songs, and a more well-developed sense of what's worth stealing, making this a band you can love, rather than merely appreciate." The song " Serenade" has been garnering spins and requests on 95bFM in New Zealand, resulting in the band being invited to perform at CMJ last month (for details, check out www.myspace.com/thenakedandthefamous).

When Cyndi Lauper released She's So Unusual back in 1983, the industry was turned upside down and all eyes were on her. Twenty-five years later there is a new female on the scene turning heads by the name of V.V. Brown. She's a singer, songwriter, and performer, plays many instruments and is a producer—at the age of 24! Some are quick to give her "the next Amy Winehouse" label, but this girl is truly a one of a kind. Her influences include CSS, B52s, White Stripes and Imogen Heap and show on the uptempo "Crying Blood." On this track, Brown talks about the pain in her heart from a former boyfriend with the lyrics "I'm in blood, I'm crying tears from my eyes that I can't deny and I am falling like a comet from the broken sky." Brown describes the creation of the song by saying "In a way writing Crying Blood, (it) was liberating because I was letting everything out and it felt like there was some distance. But the fact that I was still writing songs about him meant that I wasn't as liberated as I thought." If the lyrics and her voice don't draw you in initially, then the music reminiscent of the "Monster Mash" surely will. For future releases, club gigs and more music, go to http://www.myspace.com/vvbrown. Check out the video here.

BLOC PARTY BOWS AT NO.1: London, England four-piece Bloc Party bows with a bang on the Mediaguide Alternative Specialty Song chart, topping it with "One Month Off" and propelling new album Intimacy (Atlantic) to a No.2 showing on the Album index. A ten-day stint in Australia of seven shows in late November will be followed up by appearances at a trio of West Coast U.S. holiday radio shows in December; check out www.myspace.com/blocparty for all the details. Also enjoying a bountiful bow on the Song side are quirky Portland, Oregon natives The Decemberists, who debut at No.2 with "Valerie Plame," an ode to the former CIA agent who was outed by a member of the Dubya administration. It helps the first of a series of EPs, Always the Bridesmaid Vol. 1 (Capitol), to a No.3 showing on the Album end. It was also a big week for Tennessee titans Kings of Leon, who ride two songs in the Top 5--"Sex on Fire" at No.3 and "Use Somebody" at No.5--to a No.1 showing on the Album chart for Only by the Night (RCA). Some other Top 10 debuts to report on the Song side this week: Vampire Weekend shows up at No.6 with "The Kids Don't Stand a Chance," helping their self-titled XL/Beggars Group full-length rebound to No.10 on the Album index, while some group calling itself "Guns N' Roses" bows at No.7 on the Song side with "Chinese Democracy" (Geffen). Also enjoying a Top 10 Song chart debut is English act The BPA (Brighton Port Authority), who show up at No.8 with the quirky "Toe Jam" (Southern Fried), which features some guest vocals from Talking Heads main man David Byrne and picks up enough spins to also chart at No.17 on the Album end.