Male is the fifth studio album by Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia released by Portrait on 31 July 2015. It was released in Europe on 21 August 2015.
It is Imbruglia's first album in six years. The album features the singer covering tracks made famous by male-led acts, hence the title Male.
Male received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 65, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on four reviews by critics.
Male is one of the woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. It is named after the Maale people who are living at this woreda. Part of the Debub Omo Zone, Male is bordered on the south by Bena Tsemay, on the west by Bako Gazer, on the north by the Basketo special woreda and Gelila, on the north and east by the Gamo Gofa Zone, and on the southeast by Dirashe special woreda. Male was separated from Bako Gazer woreda.
Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the CSA, this woreda has a total population of 84,693, of whom 42,871 are men and 41,822 women; 914 or 1.08% of its population are urban dwellers. The majority of the inhabitants practiced traditional beliefs, with 68.84% of the population reporting that belief, 19.01% were Protestants, and 3.89% practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.
Male is a live album by Foetus in Excelsis Corruptus Deluxe. It records the Foetus live performance of November 3, 1990 in Manhattan's famed CBGB nightclub. A film of this performance, also titled Male, was also released.
Though there is no indication on the album itself, the discography included with the Sink reissue identifies Male as Ectopic Ents #ECT ENTS 005.
All songs written and composed by J. G. Thirlwell, except where noted.
In 1993, a year after the album hit stores, the Male performance was released as concert film on VHS by Self Immolation/Atavistic. Instead of a straight video of the concert, the Male film applies simple video effects to the raw footage. A DVD version of the film was released by Music Video Distributions in 2003.
To go "undercover" is to avoid detection by the entity one is observing, and especially to disguise one's own identity or use an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn or confirm confidential information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gather information or evidence. Traditionally, it is a technique employed by law enforcement agencies or private investigators, and a person who works in such a role is commonly referred to as an undercover agent.
Undercover work has been used in a variety of ways throughout the course of history, but the first organized, but informal, undercover program was first employed in France by Eugène François Vidocq in the early 19th century. At the end of 1811, Vidocq set up an informal plainclothes unit, the Brigade de la Sûreté ("Security Brigade"), which was later converted to a security police unit under the Prefecture of Police. The Sûreté initially had eight, then twelve, and, in 1823, twenty employees. One year later, it expanded again, to 28 secret agents. In addition, there were eight people who worked secretly for the Sûreté, but instead of a salary, they received licences for gambling halls. A major portion of Vidocq's subordinates were ex-criminals like himself.
Undercover were a dance music group from the UK, who had two Top 10 hits in 1992. The vocals on all the group's songs were sung by John Matthews, The band were formed in 1991, and are still active today.
The first single they released was a cover version of Gerry Rafferty's 1978 UK/U.S. hit "Baker Street". It became their biggest hit when it reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart in September 1992, held off from the top only by another dance track "Rhythm is a Dancer" by Snap. It was the 11th biggest selling single of 1992 in the UK, and also attained major chart success across Europe, selling over a quarter of a million units in Germany alone.
Undercover released five more chart singles. The second single was a cover of Andrew Gold's "Never Let Her Slip Away", coincidentally also originally from 1978. It reached #5, and stayed in the UK chart for a total of 11 weeks. After the success of these two singles, an album, Check Out the Groove, was released, reaching #26 in the UK Albums Chart. "I Wanna Stay With You" (a cover of the Gallagher and Lyle song) and "Lovesick", both from 1993, managed #28 and #62, respectively. In 1994, Undercover released a new single, "Best Friend", and their second album, Ain't No Stopping Us. The musical style of Undercover´s interpretations is best described as cheerful and upbeat, incorporating into the song electronic drums and short piano or organ harmonies, along with repetitive and layered vocal phrases, typical for club songs of the 1990s.
Stars Dance is the debut solo and fourth overall studio album by American singer Selena Gomez. It was released on July 19, 2013, by Hollywood Records. Gomez began planning the project in 2012, at which time she announced that her band Selena Gomez & the Scene would be taking an indefinite hiatus, and continued work into 2013. She has cited artists such as Britney Spears and Skrillex as influences on the record, which stylistically features EDM and electropop music. Elements of dubstep, techno, disco and worldbeat have been noted on the album. Gomez worked with producers such as Rock Mafia and The Cataracs on the album.
Upon its release, Stars Dance received generally mixed reviews from music critics. While some complimented both Gomez's maturing image and the album's content both lyrically and vocally, the album was criticized for its electronic-heavy and somewhat "generic" production. It is her first album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200. The album sold 97,000 copies in its first week of release in the country, making it her highest selling debut at the time. It became her fourth top twenty entry in the United Kingdom, peaking at number fourteen. As of September 2014, the album has sold an estimated 392,000 copies in the United States, making it her lowest selling studio album to date in the country.