Archive for December, 2009

AGNES - On & On

December 31st, 2009

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Someone at Agnes‘ record label must take the concept of truth in advertising very seriously, because third album “Dance Love Pop” does exactly what it says on the tin: pop songs about love that you can dance to. Channelling ’80s Whitney Houston crossed with Leona’s lungs and wash-loads of Scandipop sparkle on top, the disc showcases the powerhouse vocals that saw Agnes carry off the Swedish “Idol” title in 2005. Ten tracks of gleaming radiance, the collection boasts at least one Platinum-perfect modern classic in the form of lead track “Release Me”, swooping vocals laid over swooning strings with storming chorus that knocks your socks off. The song following isn’t bad either. “On & On” is a triumphant silver medalist.

by Mark Emge

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ALEJANDRO SANZ CON ALICIA KEYS - Looking For Paradise

December 31st, 2009

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On “Paraiso Express”, his eighth studio album, Spanish pop singer Alejandro Sanz returns to the soft rock for which he’s best known, the sound that made Sanz the most commercially successful Spanish singer of all time. Collaborating with producer Tommy Torres, best known for his work with Ricardo Arjona, is a good fit for Sanz, who like Arjona is a talented singer/songwriter in need of a capable musical collaborator. Demonstrating the same willingness to break free of boundaries that Sanz showcased on his past couple albums, “Looking For Paradise”, featuring Alicia Keys, stands tall amid the other tracks, all of which are sung solo.

by Mark Emge

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Tags: Alejandro Sanz Alicia Keys

THEA GILMORE - That’ll Be Christmas

December 25th, 2009

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Singer/songwriter Thea Gilmore was born to Irish parents and brought up in Oxford, where she absorbed her folks’ Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell albums. Later, she found comfort in the work of Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, and The Replacements. She left home at 16 to work in a recording studio, and she founded her own Shameless Records to release her debut album, “Burning Dorothy”, in 1998. With a deeply burnished voice somewhere between Alison Moyet, Sandy Denny, and Annie Lennox, the UK thrush gained her first Top 40 hit in ‘03 with “Juliet” off her fifth album, “Avalanche”. “Harpo’s Ghost”, followed in ‘06. “That’ll Be Christmas” celebrates Gilmore’s current UK Wintertide Tour.

by Mark Emge

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STEREOPHONICS - Could You Be The One?

December 25th, 2009

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Welsh rockers Stereophonics team up with Jim Abbiss for the new “Keep Calm And Carry On”, hoping the producer of Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian, and The Music can freshen them up a little bit. Abbiss does strip away the gloss of ’07’s “Pull The Pin”, guiding Stereophonics toward something a little more straightforward, their Oasis obsessions upgraded to a declawed Monkeys, the U2 swapped for Coldplay. The relatively stripped-down setting allows the rockers of the album to latch on, keeping the succession of anthems and ballads like “Could You Be The One?” from seeming too languid.

by Mark Emge

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MUMFORD & SONS - Sigh No More

December 25th, 2009

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London’s nu-folk scene has turned up many talented performers as of late. First we had Laura Marling, in the ’70s troubadour tradition. Then there was Johnny Flynn, steeped in folk’s mystical lexicon. And this year Noah & The Whale reconciled their twee approach with a newly-whetted pop savvy. Having paid their dues the old-fashioned way as the on-off backing band for Marling, four-piece Mumford & Sons strike out on their own with the debut LP “Sigh No More”, a record deploying a wealth of folk signifiers, from banjos and sighing mandolins to lyrics about how the harvest left no fruit to eat.

by Mark Emge

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THE TEMPER TRAP - Fader

December 25th, 2009

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Australia’s The Temper Trap attracted their first batch of fans with “Sweet Disposition”, a pop anthem framed by the influence of Jeff Buckley’s falsetto and U2’s guitar delay. A similar sound fuels the strongest tracks on their debut LP “Conditions”, which takes additional cues from the sweeping, effects-laden strains of “Bends”-era Radiohead and Coldplay. The most obvious link between TTT and the bands they so adore is singer Dougy Mandagi, an impassioned tenor who hoots, coos, croons, and courts melodrama with all the open-armed enthusiasm of a theater student. Album highlights like “Fader” hint at a band one day possibly worthy of scaling “The Joshua Tree”.

by Mark Emge

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RÓISÍN MURPHY - Orally Fixated

December 25th, 2009

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Arty, cerebral, often downright kooky, Róisín Murphy zigs where other British singers zag. She’s been one of pop’s best-kept secrets since Moloko disbanded, edging her way toward a sound that isn’t exactly mainstream but should nonetheless give her the widespread acclaim she deserves. For her first solo album, “Ruby Blue”, she collaborated with producer Matthew Herbert, who streamlined her sound into something creative but not gratingly quirky. 2007’s “Overpowered” teamed Murphy with Bugz In The Attic’s Seiji and Groove Armada’s Andy Cato - forward-thinking producers with more conventional pop ideas. Of her upcoming third, the “Orally Fixated” Murphy says, “It’s quite gritty, a bit more urban and bass-y.”

by Mark Emge

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ANDREA BOCELLI FEAT. MARY J. BLIGE - What Child Is This

December 24th, 2009

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Andrea Bocelli was born in Tuscany in 1958 and grew up on the family farm, where his parents sold farm machinery and made wine in the tiny village of La Sterza. To this day, Bocelli’s brother and 70-year-old mother still live in the farmhouse. It was evident at birth that Andrea had problems with his vision, and at 12 he completely lost sight after a football injury. His mother says that music was the only thing that would comfort him. Bocelli admits he was “one of those children always asked to sing for relatives. I don’t think one really decides to be a singer - other people decide for you by their reactions.” His duet with Mary J. Blige, “What Child Is This”, is from Bocelli’s first holiday album, “My Christmas”.

by Mark Emge

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Tags: Andrea Bocelli Mary J. Blige

LOVEBUGS - Shine

December 24th, 2009

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Performing English-language alternative rock inspired primarily by classic American/Anglo sounds of the 1970s (Neil Young), ’80s (The Cure), and ’90s (Nirvana), the Basel-based Lovebugs grew to become essentially a vehicle for singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Adrian Sieber. Lovebugs reached No. 1 on the Swiss charts for the first time with their 2001 album “Awaydays”. Sieber went it alone last year with “Adrian Solo”, a more experimental Top 10 record on which Adrian played all the instruments. He returned to the band for this year’s smash “The Highest Heights” album; “Shine” is off the new retrospective “Only Forever: The Best Of…”.

by Mark Emge

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FILTHY DUKES - Nonsense In The Dark

December 24th, 2009

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A stylish update of ’80s synth-pop, Filthy Dukes first took shape in ‘05 when club promoters Olly Dixon and Tim Lawton started DJing at their “Kill ‘Em All” night at London’s Fabric nightclub. Eventually interest turned from spinning records to making their own, and the two began releasing remixes by the likes of The Rakes and Bloc Party. After the success of a Maccabees mix, Dixon and Lawton were convinced to write their own material. Teaming up with producer Mark Ralph, the pair started recording and building a live following that drew from both rave and rock cultures. The Dukes signed to Fiction and released the album “Nonsense After Dark” in March.