Steve Grand – Stay

“It’s nice to see songs that will annoy the less progressive parts of American society.”

Tim: Steve Grand made a slight wave in America back in July when he brought out his first track, All-American Boy, with its video portraying the tale of a gay guy with a crush on his straight best mate, and was hailed as the country’s first openly gay country music star.

Tom: It’s worth looking on Wikipedia for some of the dissenting opinions there, but yes: it’s nice to see songs that are, let’s be honest, going to annoy the less progressive parts of American society.

Tim: This, his second single, doesn’t bother with any unrequitedness.

Tim: On one hand, I am not a country music fan. As far as I’m concerned, you can keep your dungarees, checked shirts and hay bales far away from me, and you can stick your banjo right where the sun don’t shine.

Tom: I’ll let that line just sit there, shall I?

Tim: If you like. On the other hand, I love a good summery party track, which this definitely is, and that is the side I’m falling down on for this track. It’s great, and even at five minutes it’s not outstaying its welcome even slightly. It’s brilliant.

Tom: It did go on a bit for me: I reckon it’s an excellent three-minute track stretched a bit too far. And while it won’t be making it onto my regular playlist, I’m glad it exists.

Margaret Berger – Human Race

“I quite like that.”

Tim: You may remember Margaret from her performance of the somewhat aggressive I Feed You My Love for Norway at Eurovision this year, which placed fourth and was generally well-received around Europe sales-wise; this here is her first single since then.

Tim: And I quite like that.

Tom: Yep. It sounds a bit like a discount Robyn track to me: it’s not bad, but the vocals don’t quite soar in the same way, and it’s not quite as catchy.

Tim: Certainly until Robyn gets round to recording some new stuff, this’ll fill the gap very nicely indeed. It’s slightly more restrained than that was – can’t quite see this being performed with seizure-inducing lights – and I prefer it for that, as I was never hugely keen on that element of it.

Tom: Ooh, that’s where I disagree. I’m in favour of less restraint for songs like this: they just seem to plod a bit for me.

Tim: Oh, but this really doesn’t plod: there’s still a hefty beat to it, which I love, and the slightly strained raw vocal of it pushes it up another notch. This great, I love it.

Coldplay – Atlas

“It’s a Textbook Coldplay Track.”

Tom: The new Hunger Games movie somehow got Coldplay to do the… well, let’s call it what it is, the Tie-In Song That’ll Appear Over The Second Half Of The Credits.

Tim: Now that there is a beautiful lyric video. It even managed to keep me going throughout the song.

Tom: It’s somewhat in the “Fix You” mould, to the extent that I suspect that a record industry exec, at some point, said “can we have something a bit like Fix You?” The slow build, the long repetitions of the title. It’s a Textbook Coldplay Track, somehow graduating from very calm and measured to becoming a wall of sound… only to fall back for the outro.

Tim: Wall of sound? Are you kidding? “I’m about to explode…” by hitting the piano a bit bit harder than I have been doing previously. Talk about a let down. I don’t want to criticise the song to much – I’m assuming it was crafted around the film (so more like film industry exec rather than record industry exec), so has to mirror it in tone and excitement, but man, I wasn’t particularly interested in seeing the film previously, and now I know I don’t want to see it.

Tom: It’s not going to be a “Fix You”. It’s not going to be a “Speed of Sound”. It’s going to be on the soundtrack CD, and everyone’ll take their money, and they’ll move on to better things.

Tim: But it does have a lovely lyric video.

Miley Cyrus – Wrecking Ball

“The chorus. Oh my word, the chorus.”

Tom: The media circus surrounding Miley Cyrus has gone even further than I reckoned it would when her last video came out. So here’s the new one, the next single from her upcoming album — which is, incidentally, called “Bangerz”. I’ll leave you to comment on that.

Tim: There’z a part of me that wantz to write thiz whole review in that ztyle. Probably better not doing, though.

Tom: And a quick heads up: this video is probably not safe for work.

Tim: Oh good Lord.

Tom: Look, I know we disagreed on “We Can’t Stop”: I liked it, you didn’t. But can we agree that this is just an absolutely fantastic track?

Tim: Actually, having heard We Can’t Stop a few more times, it’s grown on me ever so slightly. But with this, on the other hand, we’re in agreement right from the off.

Tom: The chorus. Oh my word, the chorus. It takes a while to get there, but without that calm start I wouldn’t have been completely blown away by it. This is perfect emotional pop.

Tim: That chorus really is brilliant – it just comes out of absolutely nowhere, and blown away is exactly the right expression to use. It fits the wrecking ball picture very well as well – the two-step nature of it kind of sounds like the slow swing of said ball.

Tom: The video swings wildly between exploitative, arty and sensational: I’ve no idea what to think of it other than the combination of it and that chorus left me just a bit stunned.

Tim: I just hope she knows where that sledgehammer’s been.

Tom: Right now, Miley Cyrus is the biggest pop star in the world, and with tracks, videos and management like this, she deserves to be.

Icona Pop – In The Stars (Galaxy Mix)

“It’s actually somewhat melodic.”

Tim: Icona Pop have a new single out – it’s called My Party, it’s a re-recording on a track that was on their first debut album but with a different guest vocalist and it’s basically the shouty stuff that we all know.

Tom: You say that, but I reckon it’s bloody awful: an unnecessary screwing-about with a not-particularly-good classic track, backed by mostly noise.

Tim: This, though, has also just been released to promote their second debut album, on which it will feature (as will the new It’s My Party), and it’s actually somewhat melodic.

Tom: Well, that’s much more like it.

Tim: Now, I’m not really sure what Icona Pop are doing at the moment when it comes to releasing stuff – I had to check various sources for that introduction, and I’m still not certain it’s entirely correct, but there you go.

Tom: Downloads should have completely knackered the singles “release schedule”; yet somehow publicity and airplay still wins out. I don’t understand it either.

Tim: The main thing is that they’re making music, and branching out a bit from all of their main international tracks. This has more to it than just a chorus shouted loudly, which – actually, it’s good and bad. Because the truth is, it doesn’t strike me as particularly memorable. That’s not too bad a thing – it’s a plenty decent enough track to dance to – but it does mean that it might sink a bit, because people will think Icona Pop, they’ll think I Love It and My Party, which both have massive repeating choruses, whereas this just doesn’t. Hmm. Oh, well, still good.

Tom: It’s a nice mid-playlist track, which sounds like a bit of a backhanded compliment but wasn’t meant as one.

Tim: Oh, and if you’re thinking it’s called the Galaxy Mix because of a reference to a producer, or anything vaguely artistic, you might want to prepare yourself for a massive, massive disappointment.

Tom: Bloody product placement. It gets everywhere.

Tim: You say that, but as the first ten seconds of the Rock N Roll video show, it can be quite entertaining.

Saturday Flashback: Frankmusik – Map

I have found myself yelling it out, apropos of nothing at all.

Tim: Another track off the previously mentioned Poptronik compilation, from February of this year.

Tim: The chorus is fantastic. Isn’t it? Yes, it is. Since I first heard it, I have found myself yelling it out, apropos of nothing at all, just because the vocal on it is so loud and passionate that it’s just great.

Tom: What’s startling to me is not just the strength of the vocal, but that it’s able to compete with — and come out on top of — all the other loud, busy, thumping instrumental bits that are going on at the same time.

Tim: Well, there’s that as well. And you know, for the first time ever, I slightly understand what people mean when they say it’s good for an artist to write their own tracks. Obviously I still don’t think there’s anything at all wrong with not doing, because as I’ve said before songwriting and singing are two completely different skill sets, and it still annoys me when bands say they want to write their own stuff just to be ‘authentic’.

Tom: Let’s be fair, though, singer-songwriters rake in the cash. Authenticity may not be their first priority.

Tim: A good point. But even so, here I really get the feeling that the singing and feeling comes from deep down, rather than singing words off a page, and it works so so well.

The Fooo – Build A Girl

“There are some really poor implications to those lyrics.”

Tim: A few things before we start:

  • The Fooo (yes, three ‘o’s) are a Swedish boyband who’ve made a bit of a name for themselves by making songs and dancing to them in public places, as evidenced here, here and here.
  • This is from their first EP, and is better than those other ones.
  • Whatever you do, don’t get an image of a human variant of the Build-a-Bear Workshops in your head. That would be very disturbing, so don’t think of that.

Tom: Damn it, Tim.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K77XeMuJgAk

Tom: That said, they just asked for her DNA. It’s not exactly the least disturbing song in existence. In fact, there are some really poor implications to those lyrics.

Tim: There are. I mean, obviously, it’s just a turn of phrase, but what a very strange phrase. And weirdest thing isn’t the main “I’d build her just like you” line – that’s fine, and complimentary. The strange thing is that it’s followed by “I want to build a girl like you”. There’s no indication that she’s saying no, so it’s really just them turning her down in favour of a person just like her, but that they’ve made themselves. (Not sure I should have kept the plural pronoun thing going there, but never mind.)

Tom: By about verse two, I’d go so far to say that I actively hate those lyrics.

Tim: Other lyrical oddities involve the eight American females going round and round for no apparent reason whatsoever…

Tom: That’s a reference to a rather famous hip-hop track.

Tim: Oh, I’m well aware of that; I’m just not aware of any reason for it at all. There’s also the statement that “I’m a bit of a nerd”, which is somewhat redundant given that they’re already asked for a bit of her DNA and are about to launch into a Spanish rap about bits of her heart.

Tom: And yet, and yet, and yet.

Tim: Musically, though, it’s fine.

Tom: This is a really well-produced, well-composed track. I could see this coming from any of the big boybands — specifically, One Direction. It could use a big exit rather than the sudden stop, but it’s catchy. Catchy enough that I don’t want to listen to it again in case those damned lyrics get stuck in my head.

Tim: IF I COULD BUILD A GIRL, I’D BUILD HER JUST LIKE YOU, I’D STAY UP DAY AND NIGHT, etc.

Jessie J – It’s My Party

“There really is a dearth of good singles about lately, isn’t there?”

Tom: There really is a dearth of good singles about lately, isn’t there? Or at least, singles that have anything notable for us to talk about.

Tim: Around and about Britain, certainly. Anything notable about this one?

Tim: Hmm.

Tom: See what I mean? It’s very much a by-the-numbers track, designed to sit happily in the background of pop radio and not really bother anyone.

Tim: Which is exactly what it’ll do. A soundtrack to the slow drift from summer into autumn

Tom: The spoken interjections do bother me a bit, incidentally, but I find it… well, I find it difficult to care. Yep, chorus. Yep, middle eight. Yep, dodgy bit designed to stop people ripping it off YouTube. Maybe this is how some people feel about all pop music, not just… well, not just this.

Tim: It’s also possibly one of the least inventive videos of all time – even the product placement is just “yep, I’m holding a speaker. Nice, isn’t it?” Oh, I’m sure things’ll pick up. Elisa’s, for example, have recently announced there’s a full Christmas album in the works to complement this triumph, and so has Hera Björk, so there’s those to look forward to.

Celine Dion – Loved Me Back To Life

Beauty and the Beast it is not.

Tim: It’s a slight shame that Celine’s SoundCloud has her name on it, because it would be quite fun to play a “guess the singer” game after you’ve heard this. Beauty and the Beast it is not.

https://soundcloud.com/celinedionofficial/celine-dion-loved-me-back-to-life/

Tom: Oh, that’s strange, isn’t it? It’s a dark ballad written for a modern pop singer, but that’s obviously Celine’s vocal performance. I… I rather like that.

Tim: This is not a place I, or indeed pretty much everybody else, ever really imagined the Taking Chances hitmaker to visit, and yet she has, and with an almost surprising amount of success.

Tom: I really shouldn’t be surprised by this – she’s got one hell of a voice and the eighth best-selling single of all time. With hindsight, this is almost an obvious step to take – but only with hindsight.

Tim: Aside from the frankly incredible Tony Moran mix of My Heart Will Go On, dance music was never really something I thought Celine Dion could work with, and certainly not two-step. But yet – it’s brilliant. It was written by Sia (most notable for being half of David Guetta feat. Sia) and features a very modern sound, but still brings the epic vocals that she’s best known for. This really is quite the triumph.

Tom: That’s who else it sounds like! Yes! It sounds like a Sia track – that’s brilliant!

Tim: If this isn’t enough for you, she’s described her upcoming album as her ‘edgiest record to date’, and features two tracks written by Ne-Yo, one of which is called Incredible. Really. But now we’re going to finish with this. Because every Celine Dion discussion should finish with this. And open with this. And, probably, consist solely of this.

Donkeyboy – Triggerfinger

“We’ve had our share of videos showing off London recently, haven’t we?”

Tim: The latest single from Donkeyboy, the band who is to Joe McElderry what The Zutons are to Amy Winehouse.

Tom: Oh. Oh, wow. That’s… simultaneously very true and very harsh.

Tom: We’ve had our share of videos showing off London recently, haven’t we? Generally in blurry slow motion, but still. Also, who uses payphones any more?

Tim: Off the top of my head: Maroon 5, and, erm, well, these guys, I guess. Now, I like this track a lot.

Tom: Really? It seems like the kind of thing you’d dismiss.

Tim: You think?

Tom: That odd, disconnected intro keeps returning like a bad smell, and the female hook leaves me cold. Yes, the final chorus isn’t all that bad, but then there’s one last “om” sound to pull you out of the magic. What on earth do you like?

Tim: Actually, pretty much everything about it. A lot of somewhat disparate parts, but all, well, hmm. Here’s the thing: I’ve listened to this about six times now whilst writing this review, and I can’t really put into words what it is that I like so much about it. It just, works, really. Really, really well. And I want to keep listening to it. So, I will.

Tom: To each their own.