Friday, April 29, 2005
Yasmeen proves that r'n'b is not always a dirty word, yet I can't say exactly what it is that makes this song succeed where so many fail. I think it's something about the attitude she conveys in her singing. So many female r'n'b singers come across as simply an accessory to male rappers, singing the hooks that sell their records. Yasmeen does have a rapper on her song, but if anything he is her accessory, and he matches her blue jeans very well! She's from Hawaii and this was her first single. She made an album but it wasn't even released in America, although you can buy it on import on Amazon, but I'm not totally sure where they're importing it from or if it would ever materialise, so it's probably best just to savour this ace catchy track.
# posted by Jessica : 9:20 pm
Monday, April 25, 2005
This is one of the songs I and several other pop bloggers much better than me reviewed on this week's
Stylus UK Singles Jukebox. I'd never heard it before, but as I stated very clearly in my review, it is seriously brilliant. "Getting pissed in the park...she's in love!" has to be the lyric of the year so far (and bear in mind this was the year that Charlotte Hatherley released Bastardo) and since I've now realised, to my embarrassment, that they are in fact a band and not just a girl called Helen, I must agree with Flum (aka Doug on the Stylus review) and call them "the lo-fi Girls Aloud", although there are only 3 of them. It's high praise but I think when you hear this song you will understand how much they deserve it, even if most of the usually very accurate pop reviewers didn't. You must all also visit her website (click the symbol below) which is rather deceptive in a very amusing way.
# posted by Jessica : 9:03 pm
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Daniel K was a contestant on the first series of German Pop Idol (known there as
Deutschland Sucht Den Superstar) but was beaten by cheesy
Alexander Klaws. Daniel was much more memorable as you can imagine from the scary picture, and his song choices included Nena's Neun-Und-Neunzig Luftballons and Abba's Dancing Queen. This song. Heartbeat, was his second single and one of the happiest (but also silliest) songs I've ever heard. Parts of it remind me of Spirit In The Sky, which was a hit in Germany at the time, but the lyrics make even less sense and the whole thing is a million times more fun and sooooo catchy!
# posted by Jessica : 9:31 am
Friday, April 22, 2005
Yes, this is the same song that was Adam Rickett's second single, but don't be put off - it is quite possibly my favourite Mandy Moore song, and if you've heard her Coverage album you will know this is high praise indeed. It's pure, glorious pop, so shiny and glittery that it could very well blind you. It's too cute to be real! And much better than the Nicky Tillsley version, so if you didn't like that you must still download this - it's superiority is infinite.
# posted by Jessica : 6:40 pm
Sunday, April 17, 2005
I can't find the name of this remix but trust me, it's brilliant. I wasn't a big fan of this song and I've certainly never been a big fan of Whitney herself, but I heard this remix played during the auditions of the first Pop Idol and immediately had to find and download it. It's a kind of latino/dance sound, even fiercer and girl powered than the original. If you need a song to man-hate to whilst dancing around your room ferociously, there can be nothing better than this.
# posted by Jessica : 8:54 pm
Saturday, April 16, 2005
I posted a song by Anouk a couple of weeks ago called Nobody's Wife, which was a raucous angsty thing but very ace with it, but she has so many ace songs that I needed to post another. There really is no female singer with this much girl power around today. Her voice is unusual but very likeable and works perfectly with the songs she sings. This is from her latest album and is certainly her poppiest, catchiest single yet and quite possibly my favourite. This is a version ripped off the radio but I think the male presenter at the beginning and end actually adds to the song's aceness, so I'm leaving him in. I challenge you not to be singing "girl! girl! girl!" at the top of your voice once you've heard this song. It also has a brilliant video which you can see
here.
# posted by Jessica : 2:43 pm
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
You will probably know this song from the scene where Piper Perabo mimes to it on her roof in Coyote Ugly, but I think it's such a great song that it deserves to be remembered. I never understood why this wasn't released after the success of Can't Fight The Moonlight. It's a similar style (Britney-esque pop) and just as good. It's almost enough to make me forgive her for duetting with Ronan Keating. I also love that her official site is called Rimes Times! If you've wondered what LeAnn has been up to recently, she has been presenting the country version of American Idol, Nashville Star (why couldn't Carrie Underwood have gone for that instead, then she wouldn't have to bore us all on AI) and has a new album called This Woman. She has also been taking part in a campaign called "
living with eczema" - sounds exciting!
# posted by Jessica : 11:47 am
Friday, April 08, 2005
Most people would say without a moments thought that One True Voice were utterly rubbish, but I have to disagree. They were given awful songs and because the vote was split between people voting for the best voices or the 'cute' young ones, the winning five were completely mismatched, leaving them with no obvious musical direction. Of course this is no excuse for Matt and Jamie being entirely talentless and excruciating or Keith being plain dull, but there were 2 very talented singers in the band, namely Daniel and Anton. Sadly nothing has come of Daniel who was by far the best singer in Popstars : The Rivals (Nadine is
so overrated) but Anton did appear on this track by Norwegian female singer Winta. It was never released in the UK but I do think if it had been it could have been a really big hit. It's far more than good enough. And if they had kept the male star's name a secret it would be highly hilarious when he was revealed!
# posted by Jessica : 6:59 pm
Monday, April 04, 2005
The best covers, in my book, are the ones which amplify everything that was brilliant about the original to make a song of extreme aceness, and this is a fine example. Le Tigre are the new face(s) of 'riot grrl', with some fabulous electropop thrown in. The define themselves as "feminist punk electronic" and you can't say fairer than that. The lead singer is Kathleen Hanna, who used to be in
Bikini Kill, amongst other projects, and came up with the phrase "smells like teen spirit" (she sprayed it on Courtney Love's wall). So she's quite an iconic figure for kids of the early 90s. The other two members are Johanna and JD, both of whom she met in the late 90s. They're now on their 3rd full LP from which they have recently released two singles (TKO and After Dark) and on which you can hear this marvellous piece of music. It is of course a cover of the Pointers Sisters classic and they have made an already brilliant song amazing and even more fun than you would think possible. Download it! Now!
# posted by Jessica : 5:57 pm
