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Wednesday, April 30, 2008
See you on Sunday! x
Now I'm no expert on european pop, and I often marvel at how Poppostergirl, Dontstopthepop and Troy can keep up with it all. Nick AlienHits knows all the decent euro acts and has introduced me to many over the years, way before popjustice gets it's hands on them. So below are 3 reviews of albums/eps that have particularly stood out for me these past couple of weeks. I've chosen best boy, best girl and best group, though I have to say I am totally enjoying the latest albums by Sanna Nielsen, Charlotte Perelli and Sister Love, though I am saving my thoughts on those for Eurospecial 2 coming next week. Anyway, I have disabled comments on today's three albums so all comments can be collated here ;)
Other recent europop reviews from the fizzypoppingpast:
It doesn't really matter but I am very thrilled that two of my favourite new acts of 2008 are intrinsically linked. Now if only Oh Laura would cover Love Song and Isabel would cover Release Me, I'd be in song sharing heaven. For now, I will just say thank bloody heavens above that Isabel Guzman has gotten around to releasing an EP of magnificent new material. Remember when popstars put proper b-sides on their singles, not just "karoke versions" or "simlish" (Whatever the fuck that is!)? This harks back to an era when you would get value for money with your single purchases. Bring back the posterpack next Isabel!
The EP kicks off a whistlestop tour through the world of Ms Guzman and Mysterious is an aptly named lead off track. With a tip of her hat melodically to No Good Advice/My Sharona (depending on how old you are) during the first few moments, the song transforms into an out and out, balls to the wall, kick you in the crotch fantastic little pop song. Isabel flirts her way into the attention of a young dude, who is playing the hard to get perfectly as she becomes more and more intruiged with him - the minimal middle 8 gives a sense of light headedness as Isabel takes a breath before launching back into her dangerous pursuit. The title track sees events take a turn for the worse, as the title track leads to confessions of guilt in a beautiful pop refrain that hasn't been heard since Madonna sang Papa Don't Preach. Once again, the music carefully matches the mood of the song getting more sinister and ominous as the tune progresses to it's satisfying conclusion.
If Gwen Stefani weren't so obsessed with being harijuku, she might edge some of the corporate sheen out of her songs and produce something as hand clappingly glorious as And The Beat Goes; sometimes the world just needs a song with chanting, an insistent beat and a hook that would make Peter Pan quiver. And as abruptly as that, the party is over and it's back to a roaring fire, a glass of wine and an acoustic version of her internet fave Love Song. It's an entirely softer side of Isabel and one that adds layers to the EP in terms of depth and performance. In parts it is virtually acapella that shows that when dancing more is more, but when romancing less is often the best policy. If the EP is reminiscent of a night out, then this is the reflective moment before dawn, when shards of light pierce the skies and your consciousness before you get back on your feet for one last hurrah. That comes in the form of a remixed Mysterious (Attie-tude Mix) with melodic piano tinkling in the background and a breakdown middle 8 that deserves the best dance routine since Janet Jackson's Miss You Much. Isabel Guzman - exhausting and brilliant all at once. What more could one ask for?
Surely there must be a reason this sort of music faded out from the British charts? Not cool enough? I find it hard to believe there isn't a huge pre-teen market for this relentlessly cheerful brand of pop. The lead off single Live Your Dream is probably the type of music the A*Teens would be making if still together - or something (as I suggested here) that Same Difference could work their magic with. Happy Holiday literally clears the grey from the skies with it's devil may care summer vacation whistling and slightly rave-esque backing track (which does grate a bit as you get towards the end but then luckily it finishes!) Two songs in and i'm in danger in being overwhelmed by bleeps and beats. Then Listen To Your Heart comes along with a sweet little melody and everything is ok again. Nice plinking piano in the background of the chorus too and I do like mushy songs about being true to yourself, etc. It makes me feel all glow-y inside!
Apart from the single, there are two clear stand out tracks hiding in the middle of the album. The title track, We Stand United, is one of those anthemic pop tracks that seems to work on every level. More feel good factor is baked right in with a lush harmonic chorus that may be a tad sickly sweet but by golly it sure does feel so right when you are listening to it. The other track I shamelessly love is the could-have-been-a-disaster SMS. I mean, remember when Clea did Download It and it was dreadful and no-one did? This infuses a great Liberty X type pop song with cutesy sound effects that probably won't age well. However, in the here and now (woohoo! My least fave steps song) it works well and I suggest in the future they could change it to "i'm sending you an SOS" to make it more topical. Clea can hardly change download it to "free with the sunday observer" now can they?
Zabadak perhaps shows most clearly the influences of other groups like Abba and Ace of Base in the music with some quite amusing bass vocals from the boys. A cover of Give It Up is a cheerful winner if only for the complete lack of cynicism in it's delivery and the album closes with the only ballad - the quite lovely You Gave Me Life that can now replace Il Divo and G4 songs as the mothers day tune of choice. The delivery is quite dreamy in a Never Had A Dream Come True sort of way, and the writers will probably score big when Simon Cowell steals it for Westlife at some point in the future. It may sound at times like i've been harsh on this album - and for sure, it's not a perfect piece of work and at times a little repetitive. But in terms of an unabashedly shameless pop effort, you could do a lot worse.
LINK: BeFour's website
Well over a year ago, the always reliable Nick at Alien Hits alerted me to the wonder that is a one man boyband Juvelen (meaning Jewel) and I patiently, then impatiently waited for his debut album. And finally, it's here! Titled "1", it may end up being one of the most important debut albums (along of course with the hotly anticipated Alter Boy) to hit the stores this year. Coming across like a creamy Swedish Prince (the singer not royalty), Jonas Peterson has produced one of the best straight up pop albums of 2008. Dripping in synths, pop meshed with elements of hip hop and rhythms ranging from sensuous to pounding, Juvelen is all you could want in a future superstar.
Don't be fooled into thinking that Juvelen is another 80s/Prince wannabe. His music stretches much further than that, and is most easily broken down into two camps - the blistering dancefloor fillers that may indeed earn him the tag by lazy journalists as "the male Robyn"; and the smooth operator, slowed down flirty bertie who is going to loosen his tie and make suggestive tongue gestures at you all night. Both of course are very good and very welcome additions to the world of popular music. The former batch of tunes consists of simply sizzling tracks like Don't Mess (which seems instantly recognisable and new at the same time, with nods to artists like Cyndi Lauper and the Jackson Five) and Hanna (surely a dancefloor anthem in waiting, this gorgeous pop gem is overflowing with seductive electro noises, pulsating bass and a hook so catchy it should be listed as a communicable disease). Similarly, while not as intense, They Don't Love You and Money Don't Talk sees Juvelen positively spit out his lyrics over 80s drenched instrumentation and alluring grooves. The latter selection of tunes ranges from Erasure-esque cuteness on Watch Your Step (of which there is also an insane remix which totally deconstructs the tune) with sparse verses focusing on the lyrics leading into a lovely chorus and the amazing A Dream which comes across as a mix of Tommy Page meets Prince by way of a pre-pretentious Darren Hayes and is all the better for it.
Every single track on this album could be a single, yet it doesn't feel like a disjointed singles collection. Indeed it's a cohesive and addictive piece of work that deserves a much much wider platform...
LINK: Buy Juvelen - 1 here
Monday, April 28, 2008
...for my parallel universe, Planet Salem, which (if you didn't already know) is my other blog, a fansite devoted to a Swedish singer named Salem Al Fakir. You may or may not have heard of him, but I happen to think he's the greatest singer/songwriter/musician in the world right now.
I've given the site a little bit of a relaunch today and I'm now billing it as "the international Salem Al Fakir fansite", which hopefully should 'do what it says on the tin' and help bring his music to an international audience.
Been on a bit of a nostalgia trip tonight as Sky TV screened the "A to Z of Gladiators", a look back at the popular 90s TV gameshow. When "Gladiators" began in the UK in 1992, it became a ratings hit and was a Saturday night must-see for this blogger. It had all the ingredients for a successful run - the "Contenders" - members of the public who had to pass gruelling audition tests - versus the "Gladiators" - a group of fit, muscular men and women with quite frankly ridiculous, character names, competing in a massive arena in front of a frenzied audience waving big foamy fingers in the air. How could it fail?
But like every TV formula, my fascination with it soon wore thin after a couple of years, although it remained on our screens for - believe it or not - 8 series.
Fast forward to 2008 - and "Gladiators" is ready to be resurrected on Sky One. The likes of boo-hiss-baddie Wolf and high-kicking glamour girl Jet (pictured above) have now been replaced by a new set of gladiators (pictured below) ready to take on a new set of contenders. The series will find a whole new audience and I'll be glad to see it back on our screens as it will provide a refreshing change from all the celebrity-this, celebrity-that, talent-searching weekend TV fare. Bring it on....
I swore all my posts would be happy and upbeat this week, so I will ignore the fact that I am in a mood over The Feeling placing at number 53 with Without You, while Robyn continues to hawk four year old material and gets in the top forty. Crazy! On with happy goodness of exciting euro-pop! That frankly, if you are Troy, Postergirl or Bobbypops you will already be way familiar with anyhoo... so it's on my happy pony I climb and get on with things!
There has probably always been an abundance of sunny pop songs floating around mainland Europe and I have probably always been aware of them. However, they seem to be ingratiating themselves more and more with me lately as I succumb to the joyous glee that is the majority of the tracks below (presented in no particular order of brilliance!)
Euroband ~ This Is My Life: A boy-girl duo? Doing persistant dance pop? And looking quite adorable doing it? See, world, there is an audience out there ready for Same Difference! I'd be quite surprised (but pleased) if Stiff came out with something this "drunken club at midnight" sounding, because behind the too cool for school trance backing is some good vocal work and a catchy melody.
Osvaldo Supino ~ Get Back: True story - I got chatting to Osvaldo last year and fell in love with his insiduous track Move On. Then it turns out that it's a Taio Cruz song who had a hit with it earlier this year. I'm unsure of how Osvaldo came by it, but it doesn't matter because he did the song proud. His new single is very male Britney/Simon Curtis - shuffling beats, a catchy refrain and trendy electro sound effects make this a winner. I'm positively DESPERATE for an album from this dude! Because if it features more tunes like this, well it will be like Britney and Simon merged, lost the Britcrazy kept the Simoncool and became this year's most exciting new Italian breakout act. Hurrah, etc.
Ryan Ferrada ~ Dirty In The Club: I'm all for getting dirty in a club. Bernice says i'm naturally slutty but obviously in a chaste way. And frankly, much like I am with Osvaldo, I'm totally ready for Ryan to be huge. This is a great song - blends elements of r'n'b into a totally stomping pop-dance work out that's ripe for US radio domination but cool enough to win over the more discerning international pop picker. Sadly his amazing cover of Kylie's Burning Up has been shelved (boo you record label whores) but you can find samples of it running through his brillo track Drives Me Crazy. Expect big things people. Big. HUGE!
Honourable mentions:
- Alphabeat - 10000 Nights of Thunder (remixes) ~ oh so very exciting. My fave happens to be the Bradinski and Yuksek remix. It takes the refrain and plays it over an ominous beat which conjours the stormy title nicely!
- Mans Zelmerlow - Miss America (remixes) ~ To be honest they have nothing on the sheer beauty of the album track, but I am rather partial to anything that has the balls to call itself the funky pee remix. Aces.
Coming tomorrow: A euro albums/EP megapost! It's gonna be smashing :)
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Haven't been over to SR P3's "Digilistan" for a while, so now is as good a time as any.
The swinging foot-tapper that is "Amarula Tree", Amanda Jenssen's follow-up to the great "Do You Love Me", is at no.2 this week and seriously challenging current no.1 "4 Minutes" by Madonna and Justin Timberlake for next week's top spot. No.3 this week is "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz, which is such a nice, feelgood song, similar in musical style to Jack Johnson although a little more upbeat. Would love to see this song in the UK chart, but that's just wishful thinking...
"Curly Sue" a long-running chart hit by Takida, is now going back up the Swedish chart and is no.7. Again, this Metallica-style rock ballad has international chart potential and I wouldn't bet against it doing well outside Sweden.
Another little treat, "Love Song" by Sara Bareilles, is no.10. This is an uptempo feelgood piano-based track and has been a particular favourite of mine over recent weeks.
M Pokora is no.16 with his English-language breakthrough single "Dangerous" with the help of the mighty Timbaland (YEAH!).
After her big hit single "Let Me Think About It", Danish dance diva Ida Corr is now back with "Ride My Tempo", a decent slice of electro-soul although it's nowhere near as good as her Fedde Le Grand collaboration.
Interesting to see Brolle Jr's "Watching The Stars" re-enter at no.49 after it was performed last week on "Körslaget".
As for this year's Melodifestivalen acts, they're no longer monopolising the top 20 but some are still around in the following chart positions: 6 - Linda Bengtzing, 11 - Charlotte Perrelli, 12 - Sanna Nielsen, 13 - Maia Hirasawa (ok, ok, interval act, I know), 14 - BWO, 18 - Nordman, 24 - Amy Diamond, 27 - Rongedal, 29 - Sibel, 33 - Frida featuring Headline.
Nu har 10 av årets tävlande bidrag presenterats både i Finlands och Sveriges tv i programmet Inför Eurovision Song Contest 2008. Det är de 10 första låtar som tävlar i semifinalen 1 20 maj. Vad tycks? Själv är jag inte våldsamt imponerad. Men ju fler gånger låtarna spelas desto mer ändras även ens åsikt. Jag är ganska säker på att jag inte kommer att ha samma åsikter om några veckor i Belgrad. En del ratade låtar får nytt liv medan favoriter delegeras och avpolleteras. En sak är jag 100% säker på - Estland är årets värsta flopp och det står jag fast vid! Vad har tagit åt vårt baltiska grannland? Sedan de gick med i tävlingen har de alltid haft en hyfsat hög nivå på sina bidrag och då tycker jag ändå att vinnarlåten 2001 inte var någon direkt höjdare. Årets "Leto Svet", med nån sorts humorgäng som heter Kreisiraadio, är både svett- och ångestframkallande. Krisradiogruppen är sannerligen i behov av krishjälp. Varför har man röstat fram detta bidrag? Fy! Det land som framstår som allt bättre är faktiskt Norge. Jag är inte överförtjust i denna typ av Maria Carey plagiat men i sitt sammanhang framstår norska Marias "Hold on be strong" som ett strongt bidrag som bör ta Norge vidare till finalen utan problem.
Dagens vy kommer från Åbo eftersom jag just nu är ute på en liten rundresa till Åbo, Helsingfors och Köpenhamn. Jag får passa på och lyssna av vad mina Nordiska kolleger tycker om sina respektive lands bidrag, dvs de finska betong-pojkarna Teräsbetoni och danska svärmorsdrömmen Simon Mathew.
Snart är det Valborg och det brukar firas med besked i Åbo (jag vet av egen erfarenhet). Tyvärr än vårens ankomst i senaste laget - i allafall om jag jämför med Stockholm. Ta på er ordentligt med kläder på onsdag.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
I've decided to be a bit more, um, 'authentic' as I count down to my Latvian adventure. So I'm only going to listen to Prāta Vētra singing in Latvian rather than in English. Quite fortunate really as their new single is in their native language. It's called "Ja tikai uz mani tu paskatītos". Initially I didn't like it as much as "And I Lie" but having heard it a couple of times now, it's a grower.
I will really need to make an effort to check out other Latvian music (that isn't Prāta Vētra or for that matter, anything that country ever sent to Eurovision) before I go, but knowing me I'll probably buy up everything Prāta Vētra-related. Wouldn't mind a live DVD either, not that I want to drool over Renars Kaupers or anything, you know....!!!
...Team Linda is out!! :(
This leaves Cans, Brolle and Lotta in the competition.
TV4 doesn't have all the final performances but there's a clip of Team Linda rehearsing "Satellit" which is one of my favourite Swedish songs of all time, so I'm even more annoyed that they are out!!
Go Team Brolle!!!
I miss Jay Kay being around and making music. Jamiroquai was just one of my favourite bands ever, and Jay is an underrated and unfairly criticised genius, so I hope that some day soon he will return because the British music scene ineeds his talent!!
"Love Foolosophy" is my favourite Jamiroquai song. I remember when it was out that I would play it over and over again, and even now it has that effect on me.
Check out the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBwa0Eg4tRQ. Jay Kay + Heidi Klum + fast car + swimming pool. You get the idea.
On Wednesday night I went for dinner at my favourite local Indian restaurant with faithful travelling companion. Usually the dinner soundtrack is a recent "Now That's What I Call Music" CD however they surprised us this week, firstly we got Robbie Williams' "Escapology" then that was followed by Shaggy's "Lucky Day" album, which caused us no end of amusement due to "Shaggy!!" being shouted at the beginning of each track. As you can probably tell, it doesn't take much to amuse us.....!
Anyway, I started thinking about "It Wasn't Me", and how it will always remind me of our Parisian holiday at the start of this decade. Here it is... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0auMZTRR1o
Still on that acid-jazz vibe we have one of the best, most underrated British soul-jazz acts of the 1990s. Try to get a copy of "Trunk Funk" which is a best-of collection of all their singles. I've chosen "Dream Come True" - which features the fabulous N'dea Davenport on vocals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuCzGzx5uW8
"The Masterplan" was a great, great, great soul-dance track from the early 1990s which recalled the likes of Soul II Soul meets the 'Madchester' sound. YouTube's got the video - it's a bit blurry, but just enjoy the music :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ln6CvVgUz0
It's going to be an early night for me tonight (for boring reasons I won't go into here) so let's kick off tonight's journey back in time to the early 1990s. The Shamen had been around for a while as a rock/dance influenced act but it wasn't until their 'naughty, naughty, very naughty' "Ebeneezer Goode" hit no.1 in 1992 that they really achieved that big chart success as one of the biggest rave acts of that period. I was thinking the other day about how much I really liked them at that time and so tonight I've posted the links to some of their biggest hits:
"Ebeneezer Goode" :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEggVnuPcfY
"L.S.I." :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvpbm37OLiU
"Phorever People" :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVnQB7ZDQao
"Boss Drum" :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Rm10rXgi7w&feature=related
I feel rather gutted, as I've just discovered that Svenska Favoriter ("hundra ett comma nio!") is no more. The station which played exclusively Swedish music and which soundtracked my Stockholm holiday in 2007 and subsequently provided backing music for many a blogging session, is gone and in its place comes Star FM, which just looks to me like a Swedish version of Real Radio (note to non-British readers: this is a British radio station which specialises in familiar oldies and 'safe' current hits).
This will not do.
I don't know the reason why Svenska Favoriter has ceased to exist, but its all-schlager-all-the-time format could always guarantee some good old cheesy Swedish pop, with Melodifestivalen tracks old and new as its speciality.
Svenska Favoriter R.I.P. You will be sadly missed. :((((
So there you are. Standing on the stage, singing your little heart out to an original song (Shayne Ward, Michelle McManus), a Westlife album track (William of Young) or some other idol cast off track (Leon Jackson, Leona Lewis) and trying not to swallow the ridiculous amount of ticker tape flying down into your warbling mouth. You are probably looking quite sexy (if you are Shayne Ward or William of Young), elegant (Leona Lewis), in need of a pie (Michelle McManus), like you are waiting for the "special bus" (Leon Jackson) or like you are waiting to feel up some 17 year old girl at the after party (Steve Brookstein). The whole world is at your feet - yet for some reason the world is not available to you unless you are Leona Lewis. It's not that i begrudge her the success around the globe, but it does grate a little that she is considered the best "idol" that Britain had to offer. Here are two others that should have done spectacularly, along with the American Leona....
Apart from the scary black gloves, there is no reason why Shayney should not be a huge star in the US. Sure, his first album was as boring as heck. Apart from Bleeding Love and Better in Time, frankly Leona's ain't that much more adventurous. But each time I dip into his second album I find such a treasure trove of delectable r'n'b tinged pop treats that it is impossible not to think "finally - a great pop star with international appeal has come from the X Factor"... I won't go on about the singles released so far - but I am quite disappointed that the label has decided to wait a whopping 7 months between releasing the second single (Breathless back in Nov 07) and the rumoured U Got Me So in June 08. What was wrong with plugging the gap (oo-er, plugging Shayne's gap :O ) with the broody Damaged, the effortlessly dancey Stand By Your Side or even the sultry groove You Make Me Wish (legal Richie Kidd remix available below!)? The album could easily yield about 7 decent singles and remixes and deserves a wider audience in America (there is a link somewhere where a grumpy Shayne bemoans that actually he is big everywhere else thankyou very much!)...
MP3: Shayne Ward - You Make Me Wish (Richie Kidd Sunshine Remix)
Why oh why William of Young (one of my top five male artists ever) didn't try and break the states is beyond me. One of those mixed together albums with material from his second and third sets would have been a stunning collection to behold. I'm not sure how he would have slotted into the notoriously difficult to crack (Will young - crack :O) american radio genres but I can't help but feel he would have had critical acclaim. Imagine picking up an "ego has landed"/"just my luck" type album filled with Leave Right Now, Your Game (now covered by co-writer Taio Cruz on Departure), Ain't Such A Bad Place To Be, Who Am I, Switch It On, Love The One You're With and probably padded with a couple of his covers - Your Love is King, etc... Sure you can make that yourself with the magic of mp3 players, but that's an album i would want in my sticky little hands as much as Alter Boy. Luckily new Will material is coming later this year and I'm eager to hear what it is....
More people should flock to Kimberley Locke. Her first album was pretty solid all the way through and was preceeded by perhaps one of the best pop songs to come out of the Idol machine - Eighth World Wonder (a song so ace, Deborah Gibson says she wished she wrote it)... Her second album Based On A True Story seems to have been largely ignored - possibly because it lacked that huge lead off single a la Bleeding Love. However, as an overlooked alternative to the Leona promotion trail, it's an incredibly enjoyable piece of work that I have found myself rediscovering big styl-ee this very week. Criminally, the album's weakest song ~ "Supawoman" ~ (hate that spelling) was serviced to radio as the first single and probably caused all sorts of untold damage. Next choice Change was a VAST improvement and proves that Kimberley is best when she serves straight up pop that doesn't veer too far to current trends or ott melodrama. It's just pure enjoyable solid vocals and lovely melodies. Uptempo tracks like Any Which Way represent what I was expecting from the third Kelly Clarkson album, while I Don't Wanna Know is a radio hit waiting to happen if only she could get an appearance on Oprah or get radio to hammer down those prejudices. However, it's her cover of Band of Gold (that quite rightly has been a massive club smash) and gorgeous gorgeous country tinged ballad Fall that serve the album best and provide a welcome respite before I start singing Bleeding Love once again...
LINK: Purchase Based On A True Story here
OTHER IDOLS OF NOTE:
- Kym Marsh (Don't judge but her two singles, Sentimental and Tempted are all great ignored pop classics)
- Michelle McManus (I jest mainly, but i still think Once In A Lifetime and Meaning of Love are great ballads that deserve their day in the sun)
- Darin (Since i bought his first two albums in 2006 he has yet to put a foot wrong. Break out of Sweden and hit the UK charts with Insanity please)
Friday, April 25, 2008
Snap Crackle (Fizzy) Pop: Weekly Round Up week ending 27th April 2008
0 comments Posted by ai at 1:53 PMFrankly, it's not been a great year so far for either Darren or I. Then this weekend was a total kick in the knickers. And I was just starting to cheer up when I got some really shocking devastating news on Wednesday that sort of changed mine and Darren's lives all around again. No deaths or anything, or illness, but just such a thump in the knackers. Anyway, I had so many things I wanted to post about this week that I am just going to do a summary, do some things that currently make me happy and my weekly chart. Then Saturday I am going to do 7 solid days of positive upbeat posts. Put that in your pipe Mr "kick you in the teeth when you are down" Life and smoke it...
THE HAPPY THINGS:
Despite having missed my chance on Saturday to bond with Stiff, Same Difference still make me excessively happy. Those two are just powerhouses of energy - they are still selling out nightclubs and show venues all over the UK. And! While their single has been put on hold until the summer, that's ok because they are working on an album with Pete Waterman which will be released in October. WOOHOO! I'm sure it will be more Steps than the tragedy that was One True Voice...
Despite not even getting in the top 75 last week on downloads, I am confident that The Feeling will continue their top 30 success streak with the everso gorgeous Without You this Sunday. The b-sides (as always) are quite quite darling. They add to their growing arsenal of covers with a Joe Jackson song Different For Girls which is quite a tasty little morsel... Surely by now they must be Britain's best dressed band? You can't tell in the picture, but Dan and Richard have the same shoes on. Marv.
Details May 08 issue arrived today (despite once again the postcode being wrong. I am amazed it actually arrives!) and was marginally better than last months brillo Ryan Seacrest adorned edition. Probably for the following excellent pages...- Page 58 - the most beautiful and essential man bag you might ever see by Prada
- Page 78 - a much less cryptic clue about mine and Dazpecs increasingly imminent plans
- Page 92 - "Virtual popularity isn't cool - it's pathetic. It's time to stop poking other guys and start re-evaluating" Now i'm not ready to give up MSN Messenger, googlemail or the blog but I am very over facebook and myspace, and have had time for some quite lovely pursuits since more time away from the computer. That's not meant to sound snotty, it's just me :)
- Page 104 - Perhaps the most "oh my days" reaction i've had to an image since the buffybot straddled Spike energetically in season six...
THINGS I WAS GOING TO BLOG ABOUT THIS WEEK BUT DIDN'T:
- Adem with an e's 25th birthday! On St George's Day! Happy birthday little Adem!
- The amazing amount of brilliant pop coming from mainland Europe. I'll have to focus on it more next week but had I written about it this week, it would've included (and will include) Valeriya, Isabel Guzman, BeFour, Euroband, Sanna Neilsen, Juvelen (thanks to Alien Hits), Infernal's new one and Ultra Violet...
- The acts from Britain I wanted to write about this week were Hummer (surely an inappropriate name for a young girl band as I'm pretty sure it's slang for a blow job), my good friends Ian (formerly of Digital) Brearley and Robert O'Connor (though it's hard to stay objective when you genuinely like the blokes - good music though, I swear!) and a new band that will have you fizzing at the pop in excitement...
- The joy of Troy and David being back and blogging. I was worried they were awol for a minute! Plus glossy and Edabouttown return to the comments page. Et tu, totoro!?
THE FIZZYPOPTASTIC TOP 21 SONGS OF THE WEEK:
21 ~ Jonathan Fagerlund, Playing Me
20 ~ Blake Lewis, How Many Ways (N/E)
19 ~ Ola, Love in Stero (N/E)
18 ~ Duffy, Warwick Avenue
17 ~ David Jordan, Sun Goes Down
16 ~ Blake Lewis, Got To Get Her
15 ~ Leona Lewis, Better in Time
14 ~ Alphabeat, Fascination
13 ~ Alphabeat, 10,000 Nights of Thunder
12 ~ Kylie, In My Arms
11 ~ Jason Mraz, I'm Yours
10 ~ Shayne Ward, Stand By Your Side
09 ~ The Last Shadow Puppets, Age of Understatement
08 ~ David Jordan, Move On
07 ~ Mariah Carey, Touch My Body
06 ~ Jesse McCartney, Leaving
05 ~ Sergey, Love in Stereo (pic)
04 ~ Madonna, Four Minutes
03 ~ BWO, Lay Your Love On Me
02 ~ Rongedal, Just A Minute
01 ~ The Feeling, Without You (4 weeks)
Come back saturday for something exciting (possibly) and if i can be bold enough, my amusing take on something (though i may change my mind - it's a tongue in cheek look at some websites and one blogger is notoriously sensitive!) I'll see :) Plus my definitive guide to Madonna and, er, Buffy! (separate posts you understand!)
Full line-up was announced today for the Siesta! rock festival which will take place between 29-31 May in Hässleholm, southern Sweden.
The line-up includes Moneybrother, Adam Tensta, Caesars, Lykke Li, Jose Gonzalez and Those Dancing Days, and loads of other very trendy alternative Swedish, British, American and Norwegian bands as well.
Your humble blogger is now 1 lb lighter than she was last week - whooooopppppeeeeee!
This week's all been about point-counting, water-drinking, mini-stepping and even a bit of lawnmowing thrown in, as we managed to achieve the impossible and had four non-rainy days in a row!!
So I'm trying to lose another pound next week. Here we go again...
Thursday, April 24, 2008
I've noticed a trend over the past five years that when the second album comes around, various bands/artists have been unable to sustain the greatness of their debut album. (Exhibit A: Keane. Exhibit B: Scissor Sisters).
So the big question was, would "Join With Us" by The Feeling be as good as its predecessor, "Twelve Stops and Home"?
First single "I Thought It Was Over" is certainly a punchy start and the promise of a new direction, however it is not really reflective of the rest of the album.
Who decided that "Without You" would be the second single? It's a bit drippy and sickly sweet. I'm not a ballad fan as you know, and this song about being far from "London town" isn't one of their best.
What got The Feeling noticed in the first place was its singalong anthems with a strong 70s influence. The title track brings it back and proves, deep down, that they might just be the long lost children of Pilot and Andrew Gold.
"Spare Me", another ballad, it's ok but gets a bit plodding.
"Turn It Up": this may well be this album's "I Love It When You Call" with the 'oww-oww' hooks from "Fill My Little World" thrown in. Frighteningly catchy, and surely a future single, although by this point on the album it's clear that there's nothing better or equal to the best tracks on "Twelve Stops..." - even the tracks from that which weren't singles, like "I Want You Now" or "Helicopter".
"I Did It For Everyone" - it's ok.
"Won't Go Away" - cheerfully retro foot-tapper which is far too cheesy for words - it even has a sax solo! Nevertheless, I quite like this.
"Loneliness" - another rather good track with a catchy chorus.
"Conor" - his vocals are just a wee bit annoying on this.
"This Time" - it's back to the plodding ballads :(
"Don't Make Me Sad" - If Chas & Dave's "Ain't No Pleasing You" was sung by a stylish-looking bloke in a posh English accent, then you get the idea. Not bad.
"The Greatest Show On Earth" - an ambitious, epic closer. Again another ballad, although the sheer quality of the musical arrangement here sets it apart from the rest.
"We Can Dance" - a nice, foot-tapping end to the album.
There's nothing really wrong with "Join With Us": it's a rather good album, but it's not a great one.
The verdict: Yet again (IMHO) we have another band whose follow-up album has not matched the greatness of their debut. Guilty!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Shame on me. For I have failed in my duty to bring news of France's other big reality-talent show. It seems no time since I was doing my weekly reports on the last series - can it really be a year? Apparently, yes.
Tonight I just discovered that we're a couple of weeks into the new series of "Nouvelle Star", which I've never liked as much as Star Academy, although 2 years ago it gave us a great winner - Christophe Willem, whose debut album "Inventaire" continues to be a favourite of mine. And, of course the very first series winner Jonatan Cerrada continues to make music and play live (thanks Rachel and Keira, for keeping me up to date!)
This year's remaining contestants are Amandine, Benjamin, Cedric, Jules, Kristov, Lucile, Thomas and Ycare. I only have the names at the moment - I haven't seen them or heard what they sound like, but I'll get on that in the next few days and should hopefully bring weekly updates from next week onwards. The link on M6's website wasn't working tonight, but fingers crossed that good old YouTube and Daily Motion won't let me down...!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
It's a cover of "Please Don't Go", the KC & The Sunshine Band ballad, which was reinvented in 1992 by KWS as a dancey tune. Now it's been reinvented yet again in the style of "Boten Anna"/"Now You're Gone". Can I just add my voice to the millions (ok I exaggerate) who have already pointed out that this.is.not.a.good.idea.
Can we have something new, and different, next time please?
Talking of Swedish dance exports, congratulations to Petra "September" Marklund who has been sitting in the UK top 10 singles for the last couple of weeks with "Cry For You". I had a feeling a couple of months ago that she was going to make it big here, and I was right. Now all they need to do is re-release "Satellites" and then follow it up with "Can't Get Over" and I will be a very happy blogger indeed.
Firstly, a minute’s silence for Saturday night television. "Harry Hill’s TV Burp" has come to the end of its current, fabulous run. His surreal observational comedy talent was finally recognised with two awards at the BAFTA TV Awards the other night (I treasure his "CHIPPY CHIPS!!!" acceptance speech) and hopefully he won’t be off our screens for too long.
I never thought I’d see the day when I got sick of the reality-talent show (well, British ones anyway - European ones are still ok), but that day has finally arrived, it seems. "I’d Do Anything" is a very appropriate title for the latest West End musical star search - after all, is it really true that acting the part of Nancy in "Oliver!" and cavorting around singing "It’s A Fine Life", is all this group of young, attractive women "have wanted to do all their life"? Umm, I think not. I watched this show from the beginning, but I’m tired of this show now, I didn’t even watch it on Saturday night.
The other part of this show is a search for three kiddie performers to play the leading role....oh, pass the sick bag.
Maybe the format has just gone stale now, but I can’t help thinking that they chose the wrong musical. After "The Sound of Music" and "Joseph", a more modern musical would have been a good choice; "Saturday Night Fever" would have been perfect, and they could have selected a male and female lead. A missed opportunity.
Don’t even start me on "Britain's Got Talent". This show is yet another one suffering from "Cowell’s Disease", a rare medical condition whereby contestants, audience and judges are regularly infected with spontaneous fits of crying. I won’t be watching again - I got soooooo bored this week. Can it get any more cynical?
One of the few British reality-type shows I still have time for is "The Apprentice" which is must-see weekly viewing because of all the clashing egos, the back-stabbing (even more than ever, this series!) and Sir Alan Sugar’s brilliant boardroom put-downs. It’s great to see these wannabe tycoons being humiliated every week. I’m not really into humiliation but in this case, they asked - no, begged - for it!
A quick mention for DW-TV’s "Pop Xport" which I mentioned last year on this blog. This fortnightly round-up of everything that’s going on in the German music scene is essential viewing and covers all types of music, from heavy rock to rap to alternative to the cheesiest pop. If you like German music and have Sky Digital, check this out.
Is it just me, or are TV game shows a bit rubbish now? It’s all psychological nonsense, trying to work out what your opponent’s thinking. Thank goodness therefore for Challenge TV, still bringing golden oldie gameshows like "Family Fortunes" and "Bullseye" and "Take Your Pick" from the days when TV quizzes were more simple than they are now.
I'm not really watching anything else at the moment, apart from the usual "Hollyoaks"/"Boston Legal"/"Army Wives". Season Two of "Heroes" starts on BBC-2 this Thursday, apparently it's not supposed to be as good as Season One, but by the next edition of "Square-Eyed..." I'll have seen enough of it to form an opinion. As long as Mohinder is still around, I'm not too bothered how good or bad it is!! :)
Monday, April 21, 2008
It's weird that this is my 500th post within the fizzypop domain, having only been open a couple of months. Still, the collection of my "back catalogue" and indexing system means indeed this is number 500... And I'd planned it carefully so that this would be a jolly review of Same Difference live, followed by a lovely chat with my favourite brother-sister duo known as Smudge. Or Stiff as I like to call them. However, that was not to be (though hopefully the chat will be rearranged) as events of Saturday night turned things a deeper shade of sour... (please note that names have been changed not to protect the guilty, but with a court case pending, I don't want to write anything I'm not meant to...)
The night all started off so well. DazPecs was showing off his new buff physique in stomach muscle showing abercrombie muscle top. I looked quite delightful in a formal-casual jeans, white shirt, black tie ensemble. We were both having lots of fun with our friends Bernice and Harona as we made our way to the nightclub. It wasn't particularly busy inside, but busy enough that every where you turned on the dancefloor you were accidentally elbowing someone in the face or treading on their delicate toes. As Same Difference came on the stage, you could barely move and that's when I heard a bit of a fracas behind me. Two guys were yelling at Harona because she wouldn't (actually literally couldn't - she was sandwiched inbetween people) let their friend through to get a better view. I didn't catch what they were saying, but did catch that they shoved her out of the way, grabbed her glasses off her face and threw them across the crowd. While Darren went with Harona to retrieve them, I started yelling at the guy asking him why he thought he could do that sort of thing. His response was "she was being vile". I was yelling that you couldn't treat people that way and that's when he said it. "She's a vile paki". I (and people around me) were literally stunned. I was literally shaking with anger (I would later learn that he was calling Harona that to her face during the fracas). I called him a f***ing c**t and went to get security. I explained to the security guard what had happened and he asked me to point the guys out. I did so and at this point I found Darren and Harona, and we were all told to go back and enjoy our evening. I found it a little bit strange that we were to expect that to be an end of the matter, but all of us (particularly poor Harona) were a little bit stunned and wandered shell shocked back into the bar. I then went out to see whether the two guys had been thrown out, but they walked straight by me - one looking decidedly miffed and the other with a smile on his face...
We went again to find security to ask what had happened. It was then they told us that the two guys (assuming Harona was straight) had said that she had called them gay and that justified their actions (the guys words not the security guards). When we said that hadn't happened they said we were now being aggressive and that the solution was to either have us go back to the club to enjoy the evening or have us all thrown out. We decided on having us all thrown out. Our evening was ruined - why should those guys think they can get away with it. When we explained this to the security guard, they changed their tune - oh it would take too long to find them, it's a big club, we can't prove anything... The more we tried to state our case, the more we were classed as being aggressive and asked to step outside. Then a black security guard came up to Harona and told her that he had to put up with being called names all the time and that she should just get used to it. Quite honestly, all of us felt that no one should have to put up with that and not only was it an actual attack on someone, it was the ferocity of which they spat out the racist slur. But it was like talking to a brick wall...
Eventually we decided to call the police. It's a scary thing to do in reality. Are you overreacting? Should we be dealing with the situation differently? Would they just brush it off? But Darren and I felt that they shouldn't get away with that behaviour and Harona agreed. By this point Darren and I were both shaking with anger at the whole situation - the apathetic attitude of the club staff (more on that later), the grinning face of the boy who threw the glasses and used the slur, it just all seemed so unfair. And honestly, it didn't seem to change much when the police came. At first, an Irish policemen told us he had to put up with insults daily and you just had to get used to it. Really? No one should stand up for themselves and try and make the world a better place? That may sound twee but i refuse to believe that we live in a country or world where anyone should have to just put up with any form of abuse... Finally, the police talked to the two guys who told them they wanted to apologise to Harona. I was quite proud that Harona decided that it had gone beyond that and she wanted to press charges. They were arrested and we all went to the police station to make a statement.
I have to commend the police who took our statements. We were all made to feel very relaxed and go through the evening events carefully. At no point were any of us made to feel that we were overreacting or dramatising the situation. We finally got home at 5am exhausted but too emotional and shocked to sleep...
Harona called today to say that the two lads had to spend a night in the cells and that they would be formally charged in the next few days, with a court date to be set. It may not come to anything, but it's a start and I am proud of Harona for taking a stand and following up what she believed in.
I did feel I had to write to the club's manager and address some of their lack of tact in handling the situation. I wasn't really expecting much, but what came back was a very carefully and corporately worded email that suggested our version of events were very different to theirs, we were the aggressive ones and that their staff were taught to distance themselves from situations like this. They felt it was in the best interests of everyone to get back and enjoy their evenings. Even if they believe their own version of events (that we were being aggressive and Harona had called these boys gay), they basically acknowledged that it was ok for people to use homophobic (false) and racial (true) slurs as long as they avoided each other after. Hardly in line with their "reassurances that they promote equality and diversity"... Do we now pursue it with the club and argue with them about their attitudes? I feel we would get nowhere and perhaps be more infuriated as a result, but if anyone has suggestions I'd be happy to forward the email sent and received for further advice.
Sorry this is a bit of a downer post, but I feel very strongly about what happened and wanted to get some of my anger out by writing it down (with Harona's permission). Back to normal tomorrow...
There's been a lot going on in this blogger's life of late, and time has been flying by so fast that I didn't really notice it's now only 4 weeks till our next holiday in Riga. I'm so excited!! Now all I need is to lose a few pounds and buy those jeans I've had my eye on for the past few weeks. Here goes....
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Nu är det en månad till första semifinalen 20 maj, då bl.a. Finland ska tävla. Tro det eller ej men jag tycker till och med att Finlands bidrag börjar låta ganska hyfsat. Ska bli intressant om Teräsbetoni håller fast vid att sjunga på finska. YLE har meddelat att de kommer att sända båda semifinalerna även den som går 22 maj. Today I came across a remix of "Miss Blue" by Vincent and "Boten Anna/Now You're Gone" by Basshunter. Rather good it is too, and surprisingly it seems to work. I do like these mash-up things, one of my favourites is a mix of Shakira's "Whenever Wherever", Britney's "Slave 4 U" and The Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" and as ever, it's on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjEEVm1BOig
Only in Sweden could Saturday night's top show consist of various choirs from Swedish towns competing against each other, each team captained by a well-known Swedish singing celebrity.
Welcome to Körslaget. The cheese alert has just been raised from orange to red. :)))
Over recent weeks this new show has attracted maximum controversy thanks to a text message scandal, which I couldn't understand until Poster Girl kindly explained to me in an earlier post on here. Brolle is still in the show, and all the publicity will have done his comeback no harm at all (I haven't heard the new Swedish language album yet, but if "Solo i Stockholm" is anything to go by, then it will be a goodie :)
Finally able to watch videos on TV4's revamped site, so I was able to check out the show at last and would like to announce that this blog is now supporting Team Brolle and Team Linda, and should both get to the final, then Brolle will get my vote!!
I haven't posted any screencaps for a while, but here are some from last night's show. They are a bit blurry, but they'll just have to do!!
Brolle, and his magnificent quiff!
Team Brolle, all the way from Boden, "Watching The Stars"
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Team Linda, giving it some "Hur Svårt Kan Det Va". Loved their little routine, even if they looked like a tinfoil convention :)
It's always going to be difficult assessing the new work of someone so iconic, divisive and beloved as Madonna. Reaction to the first single "Four Minutes" has been mixed, but personally I love the track and am always happy for a new Madonna album to drop. I have a long history with Madonna (doesn't everyone?) that isn't as intense as some of my blogging friends. Growing up the pop sounds of Like A Virgin and True Blue filled my house. Gambler was possibly the fiercest song I'd heard at 10 years old and Crazy For You soundtracked my first yearnings of boy love. However, it was the Like A Prayer album that cemented and solidifed my Madonna love. From that album up until the Erotica set, I was utterly obsessed with her music and devoured those albums, relevant remixes and the rare original b-side (particularly Supernatural). I still think that Madonna with brown hair running around a church is one of the most powerful ideas for a comeback single/video I have seen to this day. Even I'm Breathless was a surprisingly comprehensive work and Erotica may have been one sex step to far for the world, but I was smitten and still get giddy when i hear the effortlessly glorious Deeper and Deeper. It wasn't that I fell out of love with her after that time, I was just less smitten. Indeed, Take A Bow (my favourite Madonna song ever) appeared on her next (r'n'b themed) album and the dance mixes of Don't Cry For Me Argentina literally drove me wild with excitement. I liked Ray of Light and Music well enough, but it was the juxtapositioning of the serious (and in my opinion very good indeed) American Life album with the disco groove of Confessions... that made me really excited about Madonna music again. So ladies and gentlemen, I produce what is probably the first (not really the first, it's just a saying) of a million Hard Candy reviews...
The album starts with Madonna welcoming you to her Candy Shop and frankly, stylistically or in terms of setting the tone for the album, it's not a great introduction - or maybe it is and I just want to get to the meaty stuff. This track was leaked last year and not particularly warmly received then. It hasn't improved and like I said at the time, Simon Curtis has produced the superior and more age appropriate Candy Store. It's not that I particularly want Madonna to act her age (though i had to show the back cover of her cd rather than the front - too much cooch!) but this seems beneath her somehow. Luckily it's all turned around with the current single Four Minutes. Who cares if it's Timbaland when Madonna and Justin sound this good? Marching band rhythms, horn infused backing, crackling electricity between the two leads and a great video. I still maintain that Justin looks stylistically superior and presentable next to Madonna in the clip. One minor grumble ~ everytime I hear the chanted "Madonna Madonna" I can't help but think of Robin Williams doing exactly the same in The Birdcage. Coincidence? I think not... And if you think that song is good, wait til you hear the recently leaked second single Give It To Me. By far the most "pop" moment on the album, it contains the classic refrain "got no boundaries, got no limits, if there's excitement put me in it/if it's against the law arrest me, if you can handle it undress me" (er, no thanks) set against a jaunty beat that propels the song to a huge crescendo of a finish. Not only a great choice for the next single, but this is going to be a wild song to see live.
Heartbeat (not the Steps song, though that could've made for interesting listening) is a solid dance number with lyrical nods to Into The Groove - and is a great example of how Lady Madonna can do some great pop tunes when freed from fussy production and a desire to be in vogue. Next is the quite stunning Miles Away. Oh. My. Days. What a lovely track this is. It seems more stripped of production than some of the other tracks and is benefitted for it. A subtle but shimmy-ing groove infuses the song with a passion that is matched by Madonna when she sings "so far away so far away" and despite her millions, hideous wardrobe choices and dubious adoption habits, you can't help but feel sorry for her. She's Not Me is clearly a Neptunes track and is probably the song here that best works as a progression between Confessions and Candy. It screams for additional club remixes and may well inspire some Confessions on the Dancefloor.
There are a couple of missteps on the album - mainly where the production overwhelms Madonna or there are unnecessary hip hop moments (that spoiled a few songs on the still pleasing E=MC2 set). Listen carefully and on the track Incredible there is a rather pretty pop melody floating through the ether. Unfortunately the ether is awash with overpowering guitar sounds - similarly The Beat Goes On (much improved from the leaked version - which i loved) has a quite unneccesary Kanye West cameo. When the artist cameoing is whoring out his wares and becoming more prolific than Starbucks, it's time to rethink the strategy. Also there are moments when you get the impression that Madonna is trying to push her own stamp on the songs and is drowned out by production values and a striking similarity to other artists. A little more originality wouldn't have gone amiss (if i didn't know the middle eight to the otherwise gorgeous Heartbeat was Madonna, i'd have guessed Nelly Furtado).
But that's not to say it's not a fine album. Not her best by far, but emminently listenable and increasingly funky. Stick around til near the end and you get The Devil Wouldn't Recognise You which is elevated above the other tracks by an intruiging and catchy melody and a great harmonic vocal. A worthy and fitting coda to the end of her epic Warner Bros. relationship.
UPDATE: ITV Celebrates Madonna!
Hurrah for itv.com recognising the brilliance of Lady Madonna and her immense assets :P All week the website is posting videos, interviews and lots of pics from all stages of Madonna's career. What i'm interested in is the vote for the best Madonna album ever made - you can choose from any of her top ten studio albums. My vote? Like A Prayer. How about you??
LINK: ITV.com Madonna Week
LINK: Adem's expert opinion is a - coming!
LINK: D'Luv weighs in on Madge's chart success
LINK: Yuri joins the party
Saturday, April 19, 2008
The playlist is a little bit different this week: a few oldies inspired by memories jogged by fellow bloggers, and a few established favourites....
Weekends - The Mighty Wah!: Time for a Pete Wylie revival? During the 1980s he consistently provided various musical delights with his various Wah! incarnations. Here is one of them.
Thinking About Your Love - Skipworth and Turner: exceptional 80s soul-dance tune which I probably appreciate more now than I did then, and I thought it was pretty good back in the day.
Partners In Crime - Rupert Holmes: Inspired by his appearance on a recent Retro Saturday, this is lyrically sharp and has surprisingly held up well indeed.
The Storm - World of Twist: Another ex-Retro favourite which still sounds very good today.
Black and Gold - Sam Sparro: well, what did you expect? A weekly playlist without this one? No chance.
Måndagsbarn - Veronica Maggio: I wasn't really a fan of hers before, but this retro-flavoured tune (produced by one of my Snook boys!) is a finger-clicking, foot-tapping treat.
Tvåhundratusen - Eric Gadd: He's possibly been around for ever, but he's back (and back on form) with this very well produced falsetto stomper.
Dangerous - M Pokora: International hit potential guaranteed for this Timbaland-produced catchy r'n'b number. Already climbing the Swedish chart.
Let It Shine/World of Its Own - Tingsek: something new and something old from this very creative, soulful Swedish artist.
Love Song - Sara Bareilles: Think Colbie Caillat meets Mika: that's how I'd describe this song, by an American singer who I've just discovered although she's been around for ages.
Some of my blogging chums will already be aware of how much I loved "Fabrique", the debut album by this extremely underrated band from Birmingham, they were certainly one of the most stylish and musically ambitious bands of the New Romantic era and lived up to their name! "Move On" can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSZD0wmJSAQ&feature=related and here's a link to "Love Shadow" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlMMIF1l4Is&feature=related
Terry Hall: lead singer of the Specials, then went on to form The Fun Boy Three and The Colourfield. His next step was a trio with two girls named Blair and Anouchka.
Possibly one of the most underrated, unappreciated pop singles of all time, the uplifting "Ultra Modern Nursery Rhyme" was released in 1990 to .....total failure. Does anyone out there love this as much as I do? Possibly, as it's been posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiiLQH_2fjY with lots of positive comments left there too. So I'm not the only one who remembers/loves this then....!
"Cry Boy Cry" was a UK chart hit in 1982, but I can't really remember anything else this New Romantic-style band did. At that time I was still in my Smash Hits-reading phase and had a minor crush on their singer Andy O, but I liked the music as well :)
As ever I am grateful to everyone who posts such rare gems on YouTube: I'd never seen the video for this song until now - find it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4CbdGGl19o
Going back to the 80s again for this week's Retro Saturday, and this week I've got some tracks you might either never heard of, or maybe just totally forgotten about.
First one tonight is "I Beg Your Pardon" by Kon Kan, from 1989, which could definitely be called a "one-hit-wonder" at least here in the UK. A very catchy electropop song, mixing New Order-ish vocals with a memorable chorus which sampled "Rose Garden" by Lynn Anderson. I hadn't heard this one for years, but it popped into my mind the other day and I thought this would be just perfect for Retro Saturday. Find it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAw-YYKkqWE
Snap Crackle (Fizzy) Pop: Weekly round up week ending 20th April 2008
0 comments Posted by ai at 4:07 AMAnother week has passed. Which is quite a strange expression really. Although not when you think about it - it's just I relate that saying to something like passing a kidney stone which is probably quite painful and nasty. My week wasn't like that at all - although it wasn't without it's normal hiccups. Still I don't want to bore you with all that crap (needless to say it involved a family member's mental breakdown and hospitalisation, a new manager at work making a hideously un-pc and somewhat racist comment at his first staff meeting, lots and lots of driving, and finally the legendary but i can't explain why to you phrase "he's not going to call me a bitch again is he?") so I will just get on with the post...
- Woohoo! TV is back! Now don't get me wrong, I do have a life, but I am thrilled to have shows like Desperate Housewives, Lost, The Office, The Tudors (with it's jam packed breakneck speed 3rd episode, i was left a bit breathless. Better than headless I guess), Brothers and Sisters and of course the lovely boys of Gossip Girl back on the small screen where they belong...You know you love it! xoxo, etc...
- Talking of tv (and i do. Often!)... brillo cable channel Current TV is hosting a Future Superpowers season, looking at the cultures and lifestyles of different countries. The most intruiging of these is the China entry, airing 21st April at 9pm GMT featuring just a regular bloke - Barry Cox - who, sick of his 9-5 existence learnt Chinese, became a popular Canto-pop love song singer and now earns £1000 per hour for his performances as well as the adulation of many screaming fans. How brilliant does that sound? Plus bonus! It's presented by the entirely too edible Scott Logan. Check it out on Channel 193 (Sky) or Channel 155 (Virgin Media). Now to wangle an interview with the fascinating sounding Barry Cox...
- Oh my. As if Adem (with an E) wasn't brilliant enough with his willy pointing pictures, his much mentioned friend Ben has a blog up which is both glorious and marvelous in the very extreme.
- Yuri has gone and redecorated. It's always good to have something phallic looking on the side of your blog. I must remedy that on mine soon!!
- Oh my days! Brillo fizzypop and XO approved girl group The Pipettes have gone through a MAJOR line up change. I slightly less eagerly anticipate the second album now...
- Everybody (and i mean EVERYBODY) has written about the new Kylie promo which is cheaper looking than the BeFour promo I posted the other day...
- I'm sad that AcerBen has called time on Pop Unlimited :(
- It's probably very wrong that I am excited about the release of this granny fave tv show from the 90s on DVD, but i care not! It's Kyle Chandler! With a pussy!
- Darren's favourite bar has had a bit of a refurb and very foxy looking it is too. That bed on the gallery page says "ooo i'm comfortable" but also "I'm gonna show you a good time"...
- Finally, oh my days! Deborah Gibson has a stalker. And i know him! Or know of him! He was the taxi driver who took Darren and I from Barcelona airport to our hotel for our homomoon a couple of years back! His cab was covered in Deb stuff! Uh, it's a small world after all :O
The top 21 fizzypoptastic songs for week ending 2oth April 2008
21 ~ Duffy, Warwick Avenue
20 ~ Jonathan Fagerlund, Playing Me
19 ~ Sugababes, Denial
18 ~ Girls Aloud, Can't Speak French
17 ~ Alphabeat, 10,000 Nights of Thunder (N/E)
16 ~ Blake Lewis, Got To Get Her
15 ~ David Jordan, Sun Goes Down
14 ~ Kylie, In My Arms (N/E)
13 ~ Alphabeat, Fascination
12 ~ Leona Lewis, Better in Time
11 ~ David Jordan, Move On (N/E)
10 ~ The Last Shadow Puppets, Age of Understatement (N/E)
09 ~ Jason Mraz, I'm Yours (08)
08 ~ Shayne Ward, Stand By Your Side
07 ~ Mariah Carey, Touch My Body
06 ~ Jesse McCartney, Leaving
05 ~ Sergey Lazarev, Flyer
04 ~ BWO, Lay Your Love On Me
03 ~ Madonna, Four Minutes
02 ~ Rondegal, Just A Minute
01 ~ The Feeling, Without You (3 weeks)
Thursday, April 17, 2008
It's an age old puzzle isn't it? I used to never get enough sex, now i've shacked up with DazPecs - and it's all naughtiness and niceness, but we found ourselves in a music crisis. Our music tastes really seem to differ - Dazpecs likes dance, but other tunes make me stiffer (!), though at least we prove we're not total muppets, cos we both like The Last Shadow Puppets.... Er, oh dear. Enough of that then. Crikey (though for info, DazPecs is definitely a mecca dobber!)... that Arctic Monkeys inspired "brilliance" is there for your culinary delights because I want to share my thoughts on the rather good Last Shadow Puppets album which i exclusively got to listen to (cough *dodgy download* cough) yesterday and today...First off though, lets investigate what my other fave bloggers thought of it:
- Adem ~ The Monkey and The Flame
- DanUK ~ added soon (his blog won't load!)
- (se)XO ~ Innocence and Arrogance Entwined
First off, let me just say that I strangely love the picture above. Alex's puny forearms have never looked better! And secondly, I am going to ignore any Arctic Monkey's knowledge I have and concentrate on this as a cohesive piece of work as a new act. It's a piece of work that's indebted to the 60s. However, much like Robbie Williams did with Swing When You're Winning, TLSP allow their influences to drench them through and allow these influences to come through as a natural progression of their style. And 60s music is very in right now - Duffy and Adele are rightly enjoying massive success (though why Candie Payne failed is beyond me - perhaps it's The Zutons connection?); Emma Bunton and Cathy Dennis put out the best albums of their careers when they stepped back in time (Free Me and Am I The Kinda Girl respectively); and Marc Almond produced one of his biggest hits with the effortlessly gorgeous, sublime and epic Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart. Alex and Miles have gone for the epic, dramatic and powerful - and rather than producing something that is winking at it's audience, the album handles the music beautifully.
Lead off single and title track has been discussed by people far more eloquent than I (see links above), for there is no denying it's an amazing piece of pop music. Swimming in saturday morning matinee western, I imagine Brandon Flowers is kicking himself that he didn't come up with this track first. As they sing "kiss me properly and pull me apart" you can't help but want to oblige. It's a relentless tune that sweeps you away and carries you off into a distant sunset. Epic doesn't begin to do it justice. Standing Next To Me continues in the same vein, and their purloining of an orchestra works incredibly well. Melodic and harmonic, it's an entrancing song that - like most of the album - clocks in at under three minutes and leaves you totally desperate for more. Calm Like You shows the charming Mr Turner has a gift for creating songs round characters and bringing the surroundings to life with his evocative descriptions. Separate and Ever Deadly has some great sound arrangement involved that gives the song an echoing quality that gives the song it's much needed bite to match the lyrics.
Highlight of the album for me (in a solid album of highlights) is the incredible My Mistakes Were Made For You. Still utilising the spaghetti western/mariachi influences and mixing them effortlessly with their own style, a drop of Scott Walker and some Bond-esque strings, I shivered the first time I heard it, enchanted by the soaring vocal and easily imagining myself driving through 60s London in my open top aston martini. If this song isn't a single and a huge smash of one at that, I will be in mourning for the rest of the year. Extra bit of advice - be sure to check out the tracks on the EP - all of them worthy additions to the album, particularly Wonderous Place and the XO approved Bowie cover In The Heat Of The Morning. An impressive piece of work that rewards with every listen...
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
...got a great Retro Saturday coming up. Usually I don't know what songs I'm picking till Saturday night, but there are a few obscure 80s songs which I'd forgotten all about until they popped into my mind tonight.
My weekly playlist is also going to have an oldies feel to it as I've not had much time to check out new music this week, but I'll try to get at least one overdue album review on here as well.
In between the never-ending task of converting all my videos to DVD of course :)
Anyway I've just discovered that I can connect a USB flash drive to the DVD recorder and hey presto, you get to see videos if they're in a compatible format. Needless to say, I have a few videos on my USB drive of a certain Swedish singer I'm obsessed with (clue: subject of my other blog!!) and now I can play these videos on my TV. It's all too much!!
Anyway, gotta go as it's another day in work/hell (delete as appropriate) tomorrow and I need to sleep. Goodnight y'all!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Snap, Crackle (Fizzy) Pop: Finally! The perfect same difference single...
0 comments Posted by ai at 9:00 PMOn my 5am drive (how fucking ridiculous) to St. Helen's (near Liverpool geography fans), I finally got to hear the brilliant Same Difference single. Woohoo. Only rather disappointingly it wasn't the Same Difference single because that hasn't actually been released or promoted yet. However, Simon Cowell could learn a thing or two from the aces brand new single from BeFour ("Live Your Dream") because here is why it is the perfect song for my favourite sibling duo not marred by eating disorders... Other notable songs from my journey: Talking of Leona, tomorrow I will be discussing some overlooked alternatives to the rammed down your throat girl from sarf landon...
Now I believe this is from the film Horton Hears A Who and possibly something football related as they are dressed in nice footie outfits on the cover of the single. I can't really tell because despite singing in English, BeFour's website is in German. Oh well. I embrace cultural diversity :) Anyway, there are several key reasons why this is the perfect song for smudge...
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