St. Lucia – Elevate

Tim: Somehow, we managed to review All Eyes On You, a track of St. Lucia’s from a couple of years back, twice, and both times, we gave it a near-unqualified four thumbs up.

Tom: That’s embarrassing. Still, with over 900 tracks in our archives now, that’s bound to happen sometime. It does suggest, though, that while the track is good it may not be all that memorable.

Tim: Well, the two times were twelve months apart, but anyway. Here’s a new one.

Tim: So how’s that for you? Because for me, once again it hits pretty much all the spots.

Tom: It does, but it occurs to me that I can’t actually recall much of it, even after listening twice in a row.

Tim: We have a quietly building ten second intro, then the production hits properly and pretty much lets us know what we’re in for.

Tom: It’s vaguely pleasant — and those synths have a distinctly 80s vibe to them that works rather well.

Tim: Very enthusiastic production, which at times almost competes with the vocal to be the most important part of the song, especially after the middle eight (which is actually more of a middle sixteen, but let’s not get bogged down in technical details), when there’s no semblance of it stepping out of the way to make room for the singing – just bring it on, and lets see which of us people like more.

To be honest, I don’t think it matters – they’re both damn good, and I’m happy to listen to all five minutes of this. As long as I’m not in a hurry.

Axwell – Center of the Universe

“That’s not really as euphoric and spectacular, is it?”

Tom: So after the excellent Heart is King, what’s he up to next?

Tim: Now that’s a man who takes care when he’s crossing the road. And it’s an unusual off-licence that has a massive iMac purely for CCTV purposes, but never mind. The music.

Tom: Oh. Well, that’s not really as euphoric and spectacular, is it? In my head, it scarcely holds together as a track: it’s a piano loop, some vocals, and barely enough production to make it danceable.

Tim: I don’t know – you’re right, but, from the video, it seems that it’s not trying to be all that. If we’re talking about a guy who can be inspired to go out clubbing after hearing a few piano notes, it’s seems that a fairly quiet beat would suffice.

Tom: All the parts are there, but for me it just doesn’t hang together. Where other tracks have elicited all sorts of emotional reactions from me, this one just left me cold. That final chorus isn’t bad, I suppose, but I’d be waiting for the next track if this played on the dancefloor.

Tim: Yeah – artistically it may be justified, but it’s not hugely likely to do it for the masses unless you’re just relying on the name thing. Nice enough to listen to, though, for me anyway.

Autoheart – Moscow

“It’s just genuinely nice.”

Tim: Indie pop for you, now, from London, but don’t worry – it’s not the boring type or the loud type. Just, the nice type.

Tom: Bloody hell, I don’t they could be any more “London indie pop” if they tried.

Tim: You see? The nice type. The happy, chirpy upbeat sounds of, according to the band, “the daft optimism of being in love, when you just want to run away with that person, dream about being together forever, the house, the dog, and nothing else matters.”

Tom: Yep, I can’t sum that up any better. It’s just genuinely nice. I was pleasantly surprised when it came back for one more verse and chorus at the end: it’d have worked without, but it didn’t overstay its welcome by any means.

Tim: There’s a fair political message in it for anybody in Russia, with the two blokes kissing in front of the Kremlin at the end; you can pay attention to that if you want, or alternatively you can just take Moscow for one of many potential romantic places to head off to.

Tom: Given that Putin has essentially banned being “out and proud” in Russia, I’d say it’s a message worth paying attention to anywhere.

Tim: Well, that’s very true. Either way, there’s no denying the ‘drum your hand on the table’ element of the music, which I often find a good test for music of this ilk, so I decree this to be good. Very good, in fact.

Eric Saade – Winning Ground

Football?

Tim: Football!

Tom: Football?

Tim: Nope, me neither. But here’s a song about it anyway, or at least vaguely associated with it – UEFA Women’s Euro 2013.

Tom: Crikey, that’s a minute or two longer than it needs to be.

Tim: You reckon? See, I really like this, but weirdly it took the fake ending to make me realise that. When it ‘finished’, I thought, “Oh, that’s it. Oh well, move on,” but suddenly found myself very happy when it came back for that closing section.

Tom: The middle-eight “look at the stars” was really the only standout part for me: that middle eight promises so much, and the rest of the song just didn’t deliver it.

Tim: Well, I really liked the “oh-oh, we’re winning” chant, but the chorus had seemed somewhat damp and dreary until the end bit, when it suddenly made sense and struck me as somewhat euphoric, especially once I realised the literalness of “calling out for another round, won’t stop now”.

Tom: That final chorus isn’t too bad, I suppose, but it took its time getting there.

Tim: It also became apparent that they missed a trick by not making more of the speedy “calling out for another round” that closes the song, because that’s a very good bit and it should have been used more. So overall, good, but if I hadn’t stuck with it to the end I probably wouldn’t have known that.

Saturday Flashback: One Direction – Forever Young

Exactly like you think it’s going to sound.

Tim: Remember how on Wednesday we mentioned Leona Lewis’s version of Burn getting leaked, and I said that that’s something that often happens? Well, this was recorded back in December 2010, and would have been released had they not lost out to Matt Cardle.

Before you listen to it, know this: it sounds exactly like you think it’s going to sound.

Tom: Crikey, it does as well. That’s utterly, entirely predictable. Which, I suppose, is kind of the point. I might have been surprised by the key change, if it wasn’t for the rising strings that telegraphed it coming.

Tim: This is… ludicrous. Forever Young can justifiably be described as one of the best-known tracks of pretty much ever. Wikipedia lists it as being used in six TV shows, several films and a multitude of advert campaigns, and even if the young folk have never heard the original they’ve almost certainly heard that nonsense that Jay-Z made of it, or the cover that went huge thanks to The O.C., or possibly the German rap version.

Tom: Although probably not the German rap version.

Tim: I don’t know, maybe. But now…well, you know that thing where you type the beginning of a question into Google and get the LOLs from the suggestions? Type “forever young” into the YouTube search box, and take a look. Go on, I dare you.

Tom: Ouch. I got One Direction as the third option — and before Alphaville, who originally sang it.

Tim: Indeed. And you know what the worst thing is? The worst thing about the fact that this fairly limp cover version by a now-getting-somewhat-annoying boyband has become the second most searched for version of a once great song?

Tom: That it’s a pretty good track?

Tim: Bang on. I actually really like this, with the just good enough harmonies, the overblown strings, the key change and the 2 and 4 beat claps at the end. It’s fantastic. Syco may be one of the most ruinous music labels out there, but damn, they can come up with the goods.

Zara Larsson – Bad Boys

It is, to say the least, “stripped down”.

Tom: Our regular reader Roger sends this in. It’s a live performance, but let me assure you — having checked the other performances — this is how it’s supposed to sound.

Zara%20Larsson%20-%20Bad%20boys

Tom: It is, to say the least, “stripped down”.

Tim: Yeah – you could say that.

Tom: Perhaps the single version has a bit… well, a bit more to it? Because the last minute or so of this track would make a great intro, but that’s about all I can say.

Tim: Hmm. You’re right – when it starts to build up a bit it gets a bit good, but that’s really a long way away from being the sort of big summer tune you might expect to be performed there.

Tom: There’s a cracking track in there, but it just seems incomplete right now. For a “world premiere performance”, I’d expect more.

Tim: Credit where it’s due, though: the dancing was fully present, and all the more for there not being much to dance to.

Tom: A bit of history that I’ve just found: she’s 15, and her first shot at fame was when she was 10 and on Sweden’s Got Talent. It took a while for her to become a pop star: but she’s certainly made it now.

Leanne Mitchell – Pride

There are a lot of good parts in there.

Tom: Remember Leanne Mitchell?

Tim: Hell yeah – Can’t Fight The Moonlight was a fantastic track. From a while back though – she making a reappearance?

Tom: No, that’s LeAnn Rimes. Leanne Mitchell. Off The Voice last year?

Tim: Oh. Oh, that Leanne. Erm, no, apparently not.

Tom: Yeah, neither does anyone else.

Tim: Except for YouTube commenter SpieWacki: “I love this song so much I bought 894 copies of her album. I think her mum must have bought the other one.”

Tom: She’s a damn good singer, as she should be given the title of the show she won. And there’s nothing wrong with this song…

Tim: There certainly isn’t – in fact, there are a lot of good parts in there.

Tom: …but that might be because it bears an uncomfortable resemblance to Next To Me by Emeli Sandé.

Tim: There’s that, screaming out in your face, yes…then there’s also the beginning of the verses from Mad World, and the chorus start from Titanium (with, in fact, the exact same lyric). Hmm. Lots of good bits, but not many that I haven’t heard before.

Tom: It’s like someone’s put all those songs in a blender, and what’s come out is not a delicious smoothie, but some kind of… mush.

Ellie Goulding – Burn

“A wonderful two part chorus.”

Tim: New track for you here, presumably from the soon to be re-released and embiggened Halcyon album. Annoying when artists do that, but that’s a gripe for another time. Here’s this.

Tim: Pretty good, no? Halcyon was, unfortunately, a tad disappointing – a couple of decent tracks on there, but largely filler. This, on the other hand, is a very good track indeed – a wonderful two part chorus, with the lovely melodic first half and the nicely aggressive second burn with the bells and synths and everything else coming in.

Tom: Agreed. Big commercial pop music is all about the “hooks” — as many memorable bits as you can, crammed into a chorus that is, as Sum 41 said, “all killer no filler”. That’s strongly evident here.

Tim: It was originally recorded by Leona Lewis a year ago, though never released in any form.

Tom: Other than on YouTube, apparently. Wonder why that was?

Tim: Not sure – I’m guessing it was recorded, then ditched as people weren’t entirely happy with the way it worked. Something about the deeper voice, perhaps, which doesn’t quite work for me like this does. Then it got leaked, as these things have a way of doing. It’s not a hugely different sound, really, lack of bells and different vocal style aside.

Tom: This one, quite literally, has the bells and whistles. And it works.

Tim: I prefer this – it has a nicer contrast between the singing and backing, resulting in what seems to be a more identifiable vocal. And that’s a nice thing, when the lyrics are about what they are about – “we got the fire, and we’re burning one hell of a something”.

CRASH feat. Sunshine Gillz – I’m Alive

It’s not a bad track at all. Except…

Tim: We got sent this, which is three minutes and forty eight seconds of brilliance, and thirty seconds of utter rot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyO5hE8lSKc

Tom: An “unlisted” video on YouTube. One upvote, four downvotes, at the time of writing. Tons of stock footage to make the video look more expensive. Slightly, ineffably ‘off’ editing in parts. Someone’s trying to punch way above their weight. Normally I’d be mocking that, but… they’ve actually done a pretty good job.

Tim: The verses, the chorus, the backing track, the snare drum buildups – it all sounds like a perfect fit for a 2003 club night out.

Tom: Ouch. That’s a much sharper burn than I suspect you think it is.

Tim: It’s a burn at all? Wasn’t meant to be. What’s wrong with a 2003 club night out?

Tom: Well, it’s 2013 for a start. But still, it’s not a bad track at all.

Tim: Except. Except. Oh, except for that awful, dire, shockingly terrible middle eight. It comes out of nowhere, it goes back to nowhere, it doesn’t remotely fit in – what the hell’s it doing there? What is the point of it? I’d be angry about it, except I’m a bit confused by it, because it has no place here at all. It sounds a bit like it’s snuck in from another video, Wreck-It Ralph style, and has thought “Oh, I might as well stay.”

Tom: Ha. There’s a movie in that. Well, I suppose there was, and it was Wreck-It Ralph, but you get my point.

Tim: All I can say that it’s NOT AT ALL WELCOME. To be honest, I’d be happy if it ended just before he joins in – three minutes is a decent enough length, and the end bit doesn’t add all that much. So basically, his thirty seconds has made me wish the whole song was a minute and a half shorter. NICE ONE SUNSHINE.

Duck Sauce – It’s You

“I quite liked it on first listen.”

Tom: You’ll remember Barbra Streisand, of course. You may even remember the earlier aNYway, which made it to number 22 in the UK. But their one single since then sunk without leaving a much of a trace. And the new one…

Tom: …ah, hell, it’ll probably do the same.

Tim: Yeah, about the same.

Tom: That’s a shame, because I quite liked it on first listen. I seem to be rather liking tracks — of any genre — that sample and remix old records, and this should play into this. However, there’s nothing to sustain the interest on a second run-through: it’s the house music equivalent of by-the-numbers bubblegum pop.

Tim: It’s good enough – it’ll go down alright in the middle of the dance floor, but I can’t imagine that many people liking it enough to create a demand for it. The video’s interesting, though – I wonder what the casting call was like. WANTED: person who can do weird things with his eyes and doesn’t mind getting drowned in foam.

Tom: Would I dance to it? Yeah. Just not that enthusiastically.