Lopez Blogs: July 2010

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Norlie & KKV ft. Lazee - Can I Be The One

Lazee just doesn't stop to provide new great collaborations these days and we get another one with fresh project Norlie & KKV.
Sonny Fahlberg (Norlie) and Kim Vadenhag (KKV) are two young Stockholm lads who met in gymnasium around year ago and decided to start new common project catching inspiration from completely different music styles mixing pop, rap, house, electro, rok, etc. in their own music. Project turned to be much more successful than anyone could expect and guys already have managed to perform with such respectable artists like Hoffmaestro & Chraa, Maskinen, Afasi & Filthy, Far & Son and J-Son. Right now they're working on the first album with producers Daniel Gidlund, Tore Jarlo, Camilo Britos and Brazilian Lorenzo Anzzur and releasing their debut single with support of Lazee.
"Can I Be The One" is very well-produced dynamic track based on rap-verses, high quality electro-sound and totally stunning dancefloor killers-refrains. Enjoy it below!

Summer Rewind: Eurovision 2010

0 comments Posted by ai at 2:50 PM

Two months ago, this year’s Eurovision Song Contest took place in Oslo, Norway. I realise that I hadn’t posted a full review - I thought of writing one, but given the time that’s passed since the event I decided instead on an "edited highlights" package of the two semi-finals and final, accompanied by a few pictures courtesy of http://www.eurovision.tv/.

So here, finally, is the EuropeCrazy guide to the good, the bad, the ugly (and the completely bonkers) of Eurovision 2010.

THE GOOD:

Well, how about the winner for starters? In recent years I haven’t always agreed with the winning song, but two months on, "Satellite" still makes perfect sense as the winner. It's such a catchy, contemporary commercial song - written by an American/Danish songwriting team - which still sounds great on the radio, and proof that the Eurovision Song Contest has reinvented itself for the 21st century. Of course I listen to Swedish radio stations, which are not ashamed to play the song. (Unlike British radio. Which is another matter entirely.)

Germany's win was a highly significant one - they're one of the 'Big 4' who haven't always done so well in the televoting era where certain countries have benefitted from the alleged neighbout/diaspora vote. Like last year's "Fairytale", "Satellite" simply appealed to the voters all over Europe. Lena Meyer-Landrut didn't need gimmicks, stupid choreography or novelty clothes - just a young girl in a plain black dress, dancing around in a geeky-charming way :) In other words: the triumph of simplicity over hype, even if the song already had over 3 million views on YouTube prior to the contest.

However, Germany needs to rethink its plan to have Lena defend her title next year - I don't think she should compete again, as the novelty will have long worn off and they will just end up with egg on face :(

After the shrieking screamers we’ve had to put up with in recent years, 2010's presenters Erik Solbakken, Haddy N’jie and Nadia Hasnaoui (pictured below in the semi-final) were calm, capable and professional, Erik, the man with the, um, interesting hair, also proved he had a sense of humour in some of the green room snippets (the Serbian comedy-wig and then on Thursday the Lithuanian glittery pants, for example!); Haddy was an elegant co-host and Nadia brought a sense of authority to the voting.

The postcards were quite nice this year - with the country maps generated over the audience and the flash-mobs in various capitals.

The interval act wasn't the usual band of folk dancers etc but came up with a genuinely new twist - audience participation all over the continent in one of the biggest flash-mob dance routines ever! Of course Madcon's 'Glow' - the song which accompanied the interval act, has become a pan-European hit, outwith our own pathetic ESC-hating country of course.

But what about the songs? Two months on, how many of them am I still listening to? By the way these are in no particular order.

Estonia continues to be one of my favourite ESC countries and you never know what you’re going to get from them from one year to the next. After last year’s spellbinding Urban Symphony, 2010 gave us Malcolm Lincoln with the unique and very un-Eurovision "Siren". We loved it, and I still play it despite its failure to qualify to the final.

In a horrific first semi-final, along came Belgium’s Tom Dice to save the night. "Me and My Guitar" was greeted warmly by the audience both in the semi-final and final; and young Mr Dice came across very well on screen with a charming performance of a nice, straightforward song with no gimmicks, which at least deserved its 6th placing in the final. And he had taken my advice to lose the hat :)

Despite the volcanic ash which sabotaged so many spring holidays this year, Europe didn't punish Iceland, although Hera played a little green-room visual joke! My mum was impressed with Hera’s voice, (even if the tent-styling was, again, not a good look). This may have been one of 2010's more traditional Eurovision entries, but it was also one of the best.

Romania's "Playing With Fire" was a potential winner in my eyes and totally deserved its 3rd place. Paula Seling and Ovi were just great - he's so talented, and she looked amazing in that catsuit!! Love the song - it still gets a lot of play on my iPod.

Turkey may only have to turn up at Eurovision these days for a guaranteed top 5 place, but maNga delivered something completely different from the usual Turkish fare. Could have done without the unnecessary background drilling robot woman and excessive flashing lights though.

What more does Switzerland have to do, to get to a Eurovision final? Golden boy Michael sang a good song well. I could see them withdrawing like their neighbours Austria - that would be a real shame.

I was delighted to see the Cyprus entry reach the final -although it was very unusual this year as they were represented by Jon Lilygreen and the Islanders, a very good young Welsh singer and a group of musicians from, well, all over the place! I'd liked to have seen them do better, but maybe this was cancelled out by the Belgian entry which was in a similar style although a better song.

THE BAD:

The truly horrific entries which didn't make the final - Slovenia's folk/rock hybrid - as the young folks say, OMG, (and indeed, FFS); FYR Macedonia's shockingly sleazy non-song; Poland's dramatic death-by-headlock detracting from a theatrical mess; Latvia’s song - even more horrific than the Finnish drunk-wedding-song which preceded it - sung by Aisha in a dressing gown and high heels, so not a good look. Only Mr God knows why this seriously off-key effort won the Latvian national selection this year. And then there was Sweden.

In semi-final 2, Anna Bergendahl took to the stage dressed up like a 9 year old in a little-princess costume for a fancy dress party, but the party was over. For the first year since Sweden began competing in Eurovision, they did not qualify for the final, and all the audience participation and glowstick-waving in the world couldn’t change that. "This Is My Life" is an incredibly dreary song, and got what it deserved. But will Sweden learn from this? Maybe. Or probably not.

But on the plus side, we got to see Eric Saade giving the Swedish jury vote!

Norway's Didrik Tangent-Thingy impressed in rehearsals but I felt he succumbed to serious nerves during his final performance of "You Raise Me Up", sorry, "My Heart Is Yours" resulting in a very poor final placing for the host country. At this point this is where we say they should have sent (delete as appropriate) A1/Alexander Stenerud/Bjorn Johan Muri...

Ireland: they may have sent previous winner Niamh Kavanagh, a very good singer, but you wait ages for a "You Raise Me Up" and then you get two in the one contest. No that's a lie actually: I wouldn't wait any length of time for a "You Raise Me Up" :)

THE UGLY:

Azerbaijan's 'by any means necessary' campaign to win the contest. That's all very well, but the rather dull song - "Drip Drop" - wasn't worth the trouble. Eliza Doolittle-lookalike Safura ran around in her high heels trying to up the drama, but it was just laughable.

The Azeris' arch-rivals Armenia overloaded their 'song' - a load of tosh about apricot stones - with all sorts of gimmicks going on behind the extraordinarily upholstered Eva Rivas (insert gag here about having a big future ahead of her). Aargh.

Belarus’ 3+2 and their unspeakably dull "Butterflies", accompanied for some strange reason by Swedish music legend, Mr Rhapsody in Rock himself, Robert Wells...and that gimmick of the butterfly wings on the dresses, and it rendered the whole thing a tacky mess.

THE BONKERS:

Jimmy Jump's finest hour, hijacking Spain's Daniel Diges-and-his-wonderful-hair-but-incredibly-annoying-song. Mr Jump subsequently went on to have yet another finest hour, this time after Spain's triumph at the World Cup Final. Here's Daniel and his circus act, sans Jump...

Lithuania's InCulto and their Eastern European Funk. God bless their glittery pants.

Serbia - who I'm enjoying a lot more these days since they dumped the Zeljko-dirges and stopped taking themselves so seriously. Milan Stankovic was hilariously off-key and entertaining, with his blond bowl-cut hair and all-round camp wonderfulness. Not much of a song though, but as a ‘performance’ it worked!

The Netherlands' relentlessly cheerful, defiantly old-fashioned "Shalalie" and their own definition of 'organ donation' :) ....and inevitably another year that they didn’t make it out of the semi final.

Here am I, whoa! Lost and forgotten. So what if Russia’s song was a joke entry, with all that knitwear and snow and throwing the photo to the wind, the EuropeCrazy HQ jury (mum and me) thought Peter Nalitch was extremely charming and the whole thing was very sweet.

And then there was....us.

After being very well-placed (for a change) at Eurovision 2009, the United Kingdom slipped back into more familiar surroundings in the final results table. i.e. bottom of the table. Yes, last again, with only Ireland, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Albania awarding points to this shamefully dated offering. I still refuse to blame Josh Dubovie, the young singer chosen to sing our entry this year. He was a lamb to the Eurovision slaughter, and all the fancy staging and Ani Lorak-style light boxes in the world won't be enough to take away from a very obvious fact.

The. Song. Was. Not. Good. Enough.

The blame must be placed at the door of the BBC, and the Pete Waterman/Mike Stock songwriting partnership. Excuse me, Mr Stock and Mr Waterman, but check your calendars. It's not 1989 anymore, and you're not writing Jason Donovan album-track-filler. And as for the BBC, they still view Eurovision in that 1950s/1960s/1970s bubble, all boom-bang-a-bang and old fashioned countries dressed in old-fashioned clothes, singing old-fashioned songs. They refuse to accept that Europe has moved on and is setting musical trends and embracing all kinds of musical styles. An example which this narrow-minded country would do well to follow.

Apart from that time-warp, it's easy to understand why this country will never do well at Eurovision again...and it is even more apparent, two months down the line. "Satellite" may briefly have graced the Radio 2 playlist, and the song limped in at no. 30 in our own UK top 40, then completely disappeared without a trace. Over in Europe on the other hand, the song either topped the charts or made the top 5 in 15 other countries. As long as this country remains so narrow-minded about Eurovision, and European music in general, Royaume-Uni will always remain at the bottom of the heap.

Baron Bane - Sordid Eyes

0 comments Posted by ai at 2:39 PM

Swedish mysterious electronic (or indietronical as they say) project Baron Bane is ready for release of new album.
Band exists already 7 years and all the time they were quite active writing new music and giving live performances not only in Sweden but across Europe staying all the time undeground artists though. Everything around Baron Bane is quite mystical and members try not to break this atmosphere and prove their uniqueness with original performances involving loads of various artists. They use to hide their faces under masks and tell people beautiful legend of how they found each other that you can read on their facebook page.
First time I've heard about Baron Bane was Metro On Stage contest that the band entered with their previous single "Love.Cures.All" that sounds like if Mylene Farmer would go down to a deep depressive electronic sound with her fragile vocals and beautiful meditative melodies making it quite accessible and loveable for both electronic and pop-fans. You can download full pack of mixes for "Love.Cures.All" on Baron Bane's official page for free.

Now before release of the second album Baron Bane surprisingly turned direction to show their comletely new side with the single "Sordid Eyes" that can be compared with a delicate web sewed from acoustic riffs, hunting beautiful female vocals and soft thoughtful keys in a light sadness feeling. Both singles prove that forthcoming album's gonna be quite esthetical and beautiful masterpiece. You can check some album's teasers on band's youtube channel as well.

Baron Bane - Sordid Eyes by BaronBane

Jessica Folcker - Viva La Vida

0 comments Posted by ai at 1:25 PM

Jessica Folcker's appearance in a list of Stockholm Pride's concert devoted to 90s made me surfing youtube in a search of some new videos of this amazing Swedish pop-singer. Last time we got new stuff from Jessica was 3 years ago when she released her electro-pop album "Skin Close" with very nice single "Snowflakes", both were incredibly underwhelmed though it wasn't the first time when Jessica making perfect pop-stuff in any direction she tried was not quite well appreciated by Swedish audience. Since that time we could only see some rare performance of Jessica on TV and in some public events and concerts. Last November she took part in "Sjung Nu" concert in Stockholm's Konserthus performing with live music and gospel-choir. I really like Darin's cover of this song but imagine how great it would sound with Jessica's vocal in studio version!

And another great video I've found is Jessica's covering ABBA when she was singing "The Name Of The Game" on a big ABBA tribute concert, first time I've heard this cover was around 5 years ago and then I've completely fallen in love with this version. Finally video has leaked and you can watch it below together with another great performance of Jessica together with Charlotte Perrelli and LaGaylia singing "Dancing Queen".

Update: By the way here's short video of Jessica performing at Pride, you can hardly see Jessica but you can perfectly hear full power of her amazing voice in her biggest world-wide hit.

The Super Psycho Saturday Simon Curtis Post (New song! Laser Guns Up)

0 comments Posted by ai at 5:09 AM

Ah Monsieur Simon of the Curtis. In case you didn't know, I'm quite the fan. Perhaps even a stan as the popjustice forum mob might say, whatever that is. Anyway, I've devoured Alter Boy, I've had an 8 Bit Heart bypass and I've seen Simon going from having a few loyal followers to nearly 14,000 people adoring his every tweet on twitter. Not bad. He's had 5 top 5 hits from his 8 Bit Heart album (ok Pop Messiah hit the top of my charts a couple of years ago now, but I still link it to 8 Bit Heart; others include Delusional, Diablo, Super Psycho Love and Beat Drop) and yet I still haven't seem him live. This is pants. With a capital P. At this point I'm seriously thinking of just sponsoring him to come over and play at my favourite bar, Eden in the glamour of Birmingham :P Grife! *Plan formulate :P*

This past Thursday, he played a live show at The Mint in LA (There is also a The Mint in Birmingham. Oh this plan is so going to happen!)This was an acoustic set which is always a risky little game in planet pop. It really proves whether you have the pipes live (Simon does, no surprise with his Glee type, musical theatre background)... It also proves whether your songs can hold up in their rawest form - stripped back bare where only the melody and lyrics can shine. Mercifully, they do - particularly the song that is vying for my song of 2010 (it was also my number 3 song of 2009) along with All The Lovers - Diablo. You will no doubt have noticed a nice video at the top of the post where you can witness Simon sing away. Impressive breath control keeps the song together (much like You Can't Stop The Beat in Hairspray, unless you know every little nuance it leaves you looking a proper breathless numpty when you try to singalong!) and it retains all of it's charm. Hurrah! But wait! There's more...

A new song from Simon's upcoming album (which I really think he should charge for - even if it's a nominal amount like $5. He's built up quite the fanbase that would be more than willing to cough up, and I'm sure the boy has to eat!) was premiered in a stripped back acoustic form. It's most likely to sound very different on the album, but this is a more than pleasant preview. The verses have rapidfire lyrics, but you can tell the chorus is going to as massive a dance tune as Diablo, Bad Romance or Commander - it's a simple, but effective hook and I can't wait to see what magic Jadion has worked on it. Controversial middle 8 that is nicely slowed down ("there's a gun for me/there's a gun for me/better shoot to kill/you know what to do") with a rather angry spoken quasi-rap that reminds me of Love Game by Lady Gaga (it hardly seems like it should be a Simon album without a nice angry "fuck" somewhere in there!) What's most interesting (apart from the fact that once I again I emphasise how absolutely massive this is going to sound in studio form) is that you can see Simon almost busting to let loose a fierce dance energy to this song, but keeping it nicely restrained. Better shoot to kill indeed, because should a major label pick this up (PICK IT UP YOU FOOLS) then this will just about murder anything else vying for a number one slot...

And it would be remiss of me to close this post without pointing out Simon's acoustic version of Bad Romance. Simon had twittered about wanting to do a cover... I had suggested Unloveable by Darren Hayes to be slotted either before or after 8 Bit Heart (title track). That was met with a "I'll have to save that for a really special show" (I'm assuming your British debut at either Eden or The Mint in Birmingham, eh Simon?! :P) so I guess this will do nicely instead. The song works perfectly as a stripped back ballad, Simon's vocals really shine in the chorus and he clearly adores the song. His french was quite good too (which reminds me, whatever happened to that French duet he did with Thomas Dekker?!) but what the fuss? Where were the monster claws?! Disappointing :P Overall, I really like Simon in a more intimate acoustic environment. It showcases his vocal power well and shows what a clever little pop bloke he is. More please. And soon :)

Top 21 Songs Of The Week:

21 ~ Chanee & N'Evergreen, In A Moment Like This
20 ~ Simon Curtis, Beat Drop
19 ~ Eric Saade, Masquerade (NE)
18 ~ Le Kid, Mercy Mercy
17 ~ Bang Bang Club, Chemistry
16 ~ Dirty Disco, White Room
15 ~ Gabriella Cilmi, Love Me Cos You Want To
14 ~ Ola, All Over The World
13 ~ McFly, Party Girl
12 ~ Eric Saade, It's Gonna Rain
11 ~ Scissor Sisters, Any Which Way
10 ~ Kylie, All The Lovers
09 ~ Bright Light x2, Love Part II
08 ~ Magic Numbers, Pulse
07 ~ Same Difference, Shine On Forever
06 ~ Kylie, Get Outta My Way
05 ~ Darin, Can't Stop Love
04 ~ Brandon Flowers, Crossfire
03 ~ Amy Meredith, Lying
02 ~ Darin, Lovekiller
01 ~ Maroon 5, Misery (5 weeks)

Friday, July 30, 2010

Hanna Stockzell - Gillar Du Mig

0 comments Posted by ai at 4:32 PM

In terms of Stockholm Pride week when schlager is spread all over in the air and Swedish capital is overflowed with schlager-stars I should give you guys some fresh schlager-food that I've been missing quite long as this year Melodifestivalen left me (and I guess not only me) half-schlager-hungry.
Hanna Stockzell, ex-member of popular bubblegum-project Smile.dk (no, they're not Danish, it was just a step to Danish market although the band unexpectedly has made a big breakthrough in Japan), gave the world new amazing schlager-baby called "Gillar Du Mig", actually it's already more than 1-year-old child but I've just discovered it and was totally amazed from the first listen. It's a brilliant mix of Andreas Lundstedt's "Move" smelling electro-samples with dramatic verses blasting out with big schlager-chorus making listener think about some of Nina & Kim's and Shirley Clamp's greatest hits, beautiful and strong Hanna's vocal perfectly marks high level of this song. For the first time I didn't even believed that it's original track not performed before by some huge artist but it was for real and even more, Hanna wrote the song herself and she's in the process of work in producing center Team DiCaster, is involved as songwriter and singer in SVT's TV-show for kids and writes her own stuff not trying to get under any pressure and to go where her inspiration leads her. So if first Hanna's solo-steps are so impressive how far can her songwriting skills and future career grow? I hope quite far. You can check some other Hanna's songs on her facebook and myspace pages, sure it's different and not only schlager but it's all pop-stuff - ballads ("Lyft Mig Upp"), bubblegum-dance ("You've Been Kissing My Seth"), hope you'll enjoy it.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Summer in Finland

0 comments Posted by ai at 4:16 AM

Sommar i Kronoby kan beskrivas på många olika sätt. Här är några av dem.
Summer in Kronoby, Finland, may be described in many ways.

Det är röda pelargoner, fattiggubben som vaktar klockstapeln, andungar som tigger mat och vatten som sinar i ån.
It might be red pelargonium, the poor man who is keeping his eyes on the church’s clock tower. Or birds begging for food and lack of water in the river.

Sommar är också vara kortspel, glittrande vatten och intressanta vägskyltar som verkar leda till landet i väst.

Summer is also playing cards, glittering water and interesting road sign which seems to lead to the country in West.

Kyrkan som vakar över Tingshuset eller tvärtom. Skogsväger som leder till någonstans och höbalar som ser ut som nötta jättetärningar i ett Yatzyspel .
The church and the old courthouse. Roads in the wood leading to somewhere and hay bales looking like worn out, supersized dices.

Photos: Lilian, Teija

Video Breakdown: Hurts (Wonderful Life); Performance (Unconsoled)

0 comments Posted by ai at 1:15 AM

I was going to do this post yesterday, but I got distracted by silly little things like work (which pays the bills, it pays my telephone bills, pays my automo-bills, etc) and True Blood and trying to read a book that I am 2/3rds of the way into and still don't really care about :/ Then I realised it was pay day, and doesn't that make work seem more worthwhile on that one day of the month?! So yes, was all sorts of distracted and of course in the interim this post has grown from one about Hurts to one about lots of things. Oh blimey. But isn't that quintessentially me?! So do read on and share your thoughts, as you so often and very kindly do...

Hurts ~ Wonderful Life (2010):

This song has been around in one form or another now for a while, as the blogging world holds it's breath awaiting the moment when Hurts become as deservedly huge as they should be. In recent days there has been a flurry of internet activity surrounding the boys - a Kylie duet on their debut album, a rather brilliant freemasons remix of this tune and of course the accompanying video. Let's see what the latter is all about...

Initially there are lots of people standing still and staring at a swimming pool. It would have been ever so slightly better if the water in the pool had been perfectly still too, but pesky winds make it a little bit choppy. Curses.
Then the singing starts and we get to reflect on a man in a suit with quite a lustrious head of hair sitting on some steps (loving the black and white colour theme) while a photo of his presumed lady friend floats in the water.
At about 38 seconds there are some Lady Gaga-esque ladies standing around, framed by some nice architecture. There is also quite a nice shot of the Hurts boys, one of whom is quite attractive indeed. I'll let you guess which one :P
Yay! The chorus then starts and there is a bit of dance activity from the ladies by the pool. This is essentially the moment when you can see why a Freemasons remix of this is a very good idea indeed.
"never give up it's such a wonderful life" - i love how these uplifting lyrics can be so dour in delivery and visual. That's not sarcasm, i like the juxtaposition of it. I also like writing the word juxtaposition. It seems to be a theme throughout the video, most obviously with the black and white clothes people are wearing, against the white buildings and backdrops.
(I also like that the Hurts boys are essentially ignoring all the dancing going on around them - it reminds me of the latest Big Brother 11 task...)
As the second verse starts, there is a bit more dancing and Theo is sitting down putting a bit more facial expression into his singing. The Gaga girls and lustrious hair man are also back - the latter is sinking deeper into a pit of despair. I know what that is like :P
Cleverly the dance moves mirror the man's despair. I tried to have a go at them in the office this morning, but some bloke arrived delivering a parcel in tight shorts and I got distracted again. Plus, obviously, I looked a right numpty.
Essentially then there is a slightly extended middle 8 where the four dancing girls jump into the swimming pool, hold their dance poses and do some underwater synchronised moves (occassionally mirrored by the girl between the Hurts lads). It's beautifully shot and rather lovely to look at.
Theo floats in the water in a christ like pose (very essential in boy band videos - and Hurts are the most classy of the class boybands) with some bright sun shining behind him - the despair and redemption theme again. God, I am deeper than that swimming pool!
More swimming pool dancing ensues and if you pause at 3m31s there is an absolutely great pause of Attractive Hurts (not that Theo isn't attractive of course, oh you know what I mean)...
All in all it's a very wonderful video for an increasingly engaging song that I hope brings them much success :) Brava!

Performance - Unconsoled:

In case you have not cottoned on yet, Performance are indeed very good. I wrote about them a bit earlier this year when they had a rather magnificent single out called The Living. Nick Alien Hits has also recently written about their ever so magnifico other project Kiss In Cities. AND! one of the band, Joe Cross, has worked on the new Hurts album! See, these blog posts are intrinsically linked together :) Amazing. here's the need to know about the video...

If you are not paying attention, you could be in a disco at the start - flashing lights, loud music... but no. There is a car. it's gone right into a tree. This is going to seriously affect someone's no claims bonus...
The band are all scattered around and in the car, performing their song. This is interspersed with clips of people drinking shots and driving along. This is what probably got them into this mess.
Actually, let's reflect on this - i'm loving the hurt band on a crashed car theme. There are bloody noses, cuts, broken glass, vacant expressions, the lot.
And although this doesn't really have much to do with the music, and more to do with my constant cosmic horn, the two Joes are rather pleasing to look at aren't they?
Apparently Performance are a band who have only been made stronger by their trials - trials which would have split lesser bands. This is true of the video too - Joe C and laura blindfold Joe S while he is driving and then play with the wheel. don't try this at home kids. it doesn't end well. Joe S at least has the decency to look a bit scared by the whole experience!
Laura hauls herself out the window and lets the wind blow through her hair. I once did this on the drive to Toronto from Rochester NY. Only, the traffic was moving so slowly it was hardly daredevil at all.
After fairly static "crash scene" shots, Joe S sits up at the start of the second chorus. This sounds fairly minor but it has quite a good effect on the song, matching to the lyrics.
He does some quite good twitching and then lies back down again. I am seriously loving this video quite a lot. so simple yet amazing.
Laura (i sense she should get the lion's share of the blame for the crash) sets off some party poppers in the car. Good grief. She is young and crazy and reckless. She would be brilliant at my X Factor finale party in December!
The speed goes up to 70, Laura is loving hanging out the window, and then the crash happens. it's brilliantly done, they each end up hitting the glass in the car with their heads and the video fades out. It's as shocking and abrupt as the song is brilliant and intense. Brillo work Performance, brillo work
(PS, please buy Joe Stretch's book Friction. It's bloody amaze).

Coming soon - fizzypop chronicles and perhaps that Olly Murs video breakdown. Plus pop bought to you by the letter E...

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Album Review: "The Defamation of Strickland Banks" - Plan B

0 comments Posted by ai at 3:12 PM

This year, more than ever, I've been turning my back on British music. Having a blog called "EuropeCrazy" might be an indication that this is a deliberate choice, but I can definitely assure you it's not. I want British music to be good, to be great, to be innovative - not for any particularly patriotic reason, but purely because I'm a music fan, and I want to love good music wherever it's from. So I'm particularly delighted with the success of Plan B, who is one of the very few new acts who have broken through this year who are actually worth bothering about.

Versatility is also a talent to be treasured. When Plan B kicked off his music career as a gritty rapper, his music had completely passed me by at that point. The last thing you'd have expected was for his next step to be a retro-soul revelation. Who knew that he had such a fabulous white soul falsetto voice?

My first encounter with Plan B, mk II, was on hearing "Stay Too Long" and it literally stopped me in my tracks. With its Northern Soul-type beat (an immediate winner for me), bursting with urgency, it seemed to perfectly capture the spirit of a 'lads night out'.

The unusually titled album is that very un-2010 concept, a concept album, about an innocent man found guilty of a crime he didn't commit and he's sent down...so hence "Welcome To Hell"...and things get darker for the main protagonist. Yet despite the dark theme, Plan B has taken up residence on many a radio playlist thanks to the massive, catchy hit "She Said" although I prefer the follow-up, "Prayin'" which might I suggest owes a great big debt to "Beggin'" - another song which I completely love, so borrow from the best I say!

Whilst listening to this album I thought of another former favourite of this blog - Daniel Merriweather, whom I had high hopes for but his debut album was an overall disappointment. Dare I suggest that "The Defamation Of Strickland Banks" was the album that Merriweather should have made.

A further indication of Ben Drew's versatility is that he will now turn his back on the retro-soul sound for his third album, "The Ballad of Belmarsh" which will be a hip-hop album. Clearly he doesn't 'stay too long' (groan) with the same musical style!

"The Defamation...." meanwhile accurately captures a 60s soul sound and updates it for the 21st century - and defines 'soul' in the true sense, rather than the soul-less drivel which has hijacked that term in recent years. Well done Plan B.

It's a cruel, cruel summer...

0 comments Posted by ai at 1:29 PM

I'm staying quite nasty blogger these days. It's such a weird thing though - every last day on some of my favorite blogs I see bloggers writing about how much they are currently loaded with work, what is it? Maybe just this heat slowing us down?
Well, however not to leave you too bored and to turn you on a bit I'd like to share with you some nice mixes you'd spend this hot Summer along with.
First of all I should mention Soundfactory's best work for last 2-3 years at least. It's made for Linda Pritchard's last single "Miracle" and it's just brilliant with fantastic beat that we could expect from Von Der Burg's team, great scandi-dance bass line, play with Linda's amazing vocal, anthemic choir in the middle eight, totally ecstatic, check it!

Another worth listening mix that I would recommend to you is for Jenny Berggren's last single "Here I Am" made by Sthlm Sound Facility (songwriting team behind the song), very nice trance-work.

Pandora released Euroversion of her currently promoted "You Believed" and this time exactly what you could expect from eurodance-queen - powerful, energetic and very danceable.

Nexx has released in Sweden "Paralyzed" one of songs from their album "Synchronize Lips" in remixed version from DJ Andi. Sounds quite Romanian dance-pop that's sure a good thing (oh, is DJ Andi Romanian? Then I've guessed right!).

Basshunter's new hit "Saturday" has got Almighty treatment as great as Almighty can make. Hope it'll finally convince the world that this song deserves to become hugest hit of Basshunter though it's already widely played across Europe and #21 of UK chart isn't bad at all.

Also you should taste Therese' Alesso remix for "Drop It Like It's Hot" and check fragment of this gorgeous lady's recent performance, isn't she lovely?

And finally don't forget to listen Mohombi's new Chuckie mix for "Bumpy Ride", it's very-very nice as well.

This week Stockholm is full of different music events connected with Stockholm Pride. So everyone who will visit Swedish capital these days will be able to see Sarah Dawn Finer, Linda Bengtzing, Christer Sjögren, Pauline, Rebound, Le Kid, Titiyo, Marit Bergman, Sibel, Jenny Silver, NEO, Hanna Lindblad, Safura, Hera Björk, Lena Meyer-Landrut (not announced officially yet but quite obviously), Therese Grankvist, Anna Maria Espinosa, CC & Lee, Love Generation, Jonathan Fagerlund, Sandra Dahlberg, Ankie Bagger and many-many others. So we're waiting for some live performances leaking soon on youtube.
Cheers friends! Swedish Stereo's turning to a normal working mode very soon.