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Thursday, April 27, 2006

BWO - Will My Arms Be Strong Enough  

I was expecting to have posted a song from this album much earlier than this, but I have spent the time since it arrived through my letterbox on Saturday morning deliberating over which song I should post. It's a big decision, you know! I finally narrowed it down to 2, one ballad and one dancy track, and this is the ballad. Don't expect to be weeping by the end of it though, this song is moving but so uplifting in sound, if anything you'll be crying with joy. It exemplifies the new gospel sound the band have used on some of the Halcyon Days songs, such as the amazing opening track Chariots Of Fire. Although BWO have done other ballads (Open Door and We Could Be Heroes), this is their first attempt, as far as I see it, to conquer the style of a typical ballad, the kind that could be a hit in any era of pop as it's just undeniably gorgeous and transcends any trends. We ould Be Heroes is going to be their next single, but I really think it should be this instead - it's just a phenomenally great track that shows the versatility of Alexander Bard's creativity.

Friday, April 21, 2006

Bardot - I Need Somebody  

Don't confuse this with the song of the same name by Sweden's most underrated lady of pop, Therese, as despite the fact that either would make an excellent Dannii Minogue single, they are not the same. This track by the Australian winners of the second ever series of Popstars (as all good pop fans know, New Zealand were, for probably the first and last time, ahead of the trend as the inventors of Popstars) actually sounds a lot like Who Do You Love Now by Miss Minogue junior, but it has the extra sparkle that the song always lacked for me. Bardot's debut album, which I bought in the ex-home of over-priced music, Tower Records in London, for a mere £1.99, surprised me by being a very well-rounded pop album which successfully covered several areas of pop. I much prefer it to Hear'say's Popstars album although it obviously can't compete with Girls Aloud's fab debut. This song actually came from their second album which I've never heard but if the standard is as high as this then it must be good. Bardot split up a few years ago and all of the members except Sally (as far as I know) have attempted solo careers. None of them have been very successful, although Sophie Monk made a great debut single, Inside Outside, and appeared in a Blink 182 video and the film "Date Movie", but I wouldn't really show off about those 'achievements' if I were her. Anyway, this song is not necessarily the most original piece of dance music but it does a style that's slightly overdone so brilliantly that you completely forget that you're supposed to be bored of this kind of thing. It's really catchy and I can always launch into the fast "I need somebody, a lover and a good love too" bit at a moment's notice.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Butterfly Boucher - I Can't Make Me Love You  

You've probably had more than enough of singer-songwriters by now, but ignore the warning lights flashing in your mind as I mention those fatal words for a few minutes so I can introduce you to Butterfly Boucher, a singer-songwriter who'd make singers like Katie Melua and Jack Johnson pack up their guitars and stools and head for home if they ever met. You might remember this single from when it was released in the UK in 2003, and those of you who've seen Shrek 2 will undoubtedly recognise her version of Changes by David Bowie, sung as a duet with the space oddity himself. She also released an album called Flutterby in 2003, which I found at a bargainous price in a certain London second hand CD shop, and fell immediately in love with. There are no synthesisers and I doubt Butterfly has ever met Max Martin, but her songs have the mix of insightful and witty lyrics and attention-demanding melodies that every guitar act aims for a very few obtain. Butterfly travelled around America and Australia as a child, but now either lives here in England or in America, depending on whether you believe Wikipedia or MySpace. Whether you like this song or not, I instruct you to go here and watch the video, because it will either make you love it even more or if you didn't catch its brilliance on first listen it will almost certainly change your mind.

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Surferosa - Royal Uniform  

Imagine a song that is a mixture of t.A.T.u, No Doubt and the Veronicas. Best thing ever, right? Well, stop imagining now cos that very song is here for you to download! Surferosa are a band who I've surprisingly never posted here before, but they did make the 15th Most Poptastic Single of 2004, and although not every song of theirs is quite up to this standard, when they're good they're very very good! Royal Uniform is their new single from the current album, The Force, and since their last one was released in the UK (although few people took notice) I'm hoping this will be too because, if this song is anything to go by, it's sure to be brilliant. You should also watch the ace Royal Uniform video by clicking here.

Monday, April 10, 2006

Sahlene - House  

You may know Swedish pop star Sahlene under her current alias of Anna Sahlene, most recently seen taking part in Melodifestivalen (Swedish Eurovision selection show) with a fantastic song entitled This Woman. She was pregnant at the time of the performance but she still gave it her all and it was a travesty when she didn't get through to the final. I've only heard one song from her album as Anna Sahlene and I didn't love it, but since I loved almost everything on her first album (when she was known only as Sahlene), I'm sure there are plenty of great songs on there anyway. This track is from her first album, It's Been A While, and it's so much fun you can't fail to love it. The music on It's Been A While is all fab girly pop but no song is the same. One that you might know is The Little Voice, which has been covered by Hilary Duff. If you liked the cheeky fun-ness of that song you'll love the rest of Sahlene's album and I highly recommend buying it. But first, download this track and sing along to your heart's content! "When can I mooooove?"

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Edsilia Rombley - 2nd Floor  

A few of you may remember Edsilia as the Dutch Eurovision entry from 1998, when she came 4th (the highest placing of any Dutch entry in the last decade) with a song named Hemel en Aarde, which is a favourite of many Eurovision fans. She released a few songs in an r'n'b/pop style after that but never became a huge star. This song doesn't seem to be very famous, but it's by far the best thing I've heard by her. It's such a jolly song in a kind of retro-pop style that was popular in the late 90s and SO catchy! If you like the music posted on Girls On Pop I think you'll love this. Another good song by Edsilia is the ballad Gotta Let You Go.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Soul U*nique - 3il (Thrill)  

Soul U*nique were a really sweet pop group consisting of three guys and a girl. Their music was quite average cheery pop, but I always loved this super-cute and catchy single in the vein of S Club or A*Teens. All I can remember about them now is that they were sponsored by a really uncool clothing company and they once appeared on a Smash Hits free CD. 3il was their 2nd single, released in July 2000 and reaching only no.66 in the UK charts, even worse than their first which was called Be My Friend and got to 53 in February earlier that year. There is hardly any record of them remaining on the Internet, and this is the best picture I could find.

Monday, April 03, 2006

Jeanette - Rock My Life  

Despite having duetted with Ronan Keating, Jeanette Biedermann is one of the most popular and best German pop stars, the equivalent of Britney or Kylie. She began as a soap actress, but has now released 8 albums and although not everything she's done has been brilliant, with that much material it's inevitable there'll be some gems. Among my favourites are Right Now, How It's Got To Be, Go Back and this fabulous single from 2003. It's got a bit of an ethnic vibe about it (think Mandy Moore's song In My Pocket) and it's extremely catchy.

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