And I was like, "Oo, what am I suppose to do?"

The power of the remix can sometimes be a breathtaking thing to behold. Of course, there are loads of remixes that are completely pointless, others that are enjoyable in a "I really like the original song and want to listen to it in any variation" way, and some--the best of all--completely revitalize their parent song and turn it into what it should have been in the first place. My much-loved Bassflow remixes of Martin Stenmarck's songs and the Stephanie McIntosh remix I posted recently definitely fall into this last category, as does the song I'm posting today.

365 were a British boy band that, like any non-instrument-playing British boy band of recent years (2006 in their case), never found real commercial success, and I can't say it was a huge crime against music that that happened, given their songs. Lead single "That Thing" (which was a low-key release and not really a "proper" lead single, if I'm remembering correctly) was forgettable and followup "One Touch" (which you can hear in its original version in the video embedded below) was good, a slightly boy band song that completely underwhelmed me at first but has grown on me with time (to the point where I actually love it now), but it wasn't flat-out first-listen amazing, something a boy band song would probably have to be to find success in this day and age (the fact that they didn't put their two best-looking members closer to the camera in promo shots can't have helped either). What was absolutely amazing, though, was one of the remixes of it.



One Touch (Bimbo Jones Remix)--(which yes, I've posted before, but as an aside and in awful quality) ...and suddenly, the funky boy band song is taken to whole new levels. It's not been made into a pure dance song, but the tempo's definitely been kicked up, something which benefits the song immensely, and any "urban" traces have been removed, though the brilliant horns sample has been kept and sounds even better here. The energy and spark missing from the original are now here in spades and--whether it's just because of the faster tempo or some of the other producer-type changes to the song--"One Touch" seems much catchier as well. It still feels like a boy band song, but an actually fantastic one--this definitely should have been the main mix, though it probably still wouldn't have been successful--the UK would have at least been listening to one of the best boy band songs of the past few years then, though. Special mention for the oh-so-subtle "And there's something about you I wanna get into/It ain't your mind" line, too.

To buy 365's single "One Touch," go here (physical) or here (digital; they're not selling this particular edit of the remix there though).

Next up: a Swiss song I've written about before.

There's something about you I wanna get into

I'm not going to even pretend that there's some theme uniting this post--no particular singer, not just MySpace songs, nothing--just random thoughts and pieces of news.

The amazing Ben Adams is going to be giving away one of his songs as a free download, and he's letting fans choose which one. However, we haven't heard either of the songs, "Red Lady" or "I Messed Up," so choosing which to vote for is a little bit of a random guess. Still, definitely head over to his MySpace where you can read a brief description of the songs and vote for which you'd like to be able to download.

Speaking of amazing, Simon Curtis is planning to release his debut album as a digital download. Whenever and however Alter Boy gets released, it will be a must-purchase; I've said somewhere before that "Broken" is one of the best songs I've heard this year, and Alter Boy just might be the most exciting album I've heard this year (that wasn't released earlier). Go to Simon's MySpace or official site to hear some of his songs.

The video for Josh Hoge's debut single "360" premiered today; you can watch it on his official webite. It's nothing surprising--Josh's girlfriend cheats on him, Josh looks forlorn, band plays, Josh sings, Josh meets a new girl, old girl wants Josh back but he's with new girl--but the song holds up just as well as it did when I first heard it months ago; I can definitely picture it getting radioplay, too; I just hope it does.

On the topic of Australian Idol: Dean Geyer is very pretty. He certainly knows his way around a hair straightener (see below video). And he can do backflips (again, see said video). However, Australia, that does not mean he should necessarily win Idol. This message may be a bit late; also, I'm definitely not saying Dean should be the next to go. I can very well envision him releasing some music I would like--his voice is passable and he just needs to be hooked up with some decent songs (like Millsy and "Ms. Vanity")--but I don't know that he deserves to win. I think his career trajectory will be the same whether he wins or not, though.

However, one of his performances has given us what must be one of the greatest quotations to come out of an Idol show (please don't be offended, anyone):

Judge Kyle Sandilands, after Dean's performance of Bon Jovi's "You Give Love A Bad Name": "That is a sexy song. You haven't had sex; we all know you're the God-loving virgin boy."

Genius, surely?

Anyhow, here's Dean's most recent performance on Idol ("Turn The Beat Around" for Disco Night), so you all have some clue what I'm talking about (and no, that handspring thing at the beginning, though impressive, isn't the backflip I'm talking about); you'll have to go back to the previous episode for that classy quotation, though.



If, for some reason, you'd like an mp3 of the performance, here you go (source, thanks!).

In the midst of all the boyband goodness over at The Zapping lately, there was one group that really surprised me: 365. Proving that I do not automatically like anything that comes wrapped in a boyband package, I had heard their song "That Thing" before and not been impressed. I still can't decide whether or not the original version of "One Touch" (their debut single, out November 6 as a download and November 13 in the physical version) is worthy of excitement (I think it might just barely come down on the right side of "good or not"). However, the Bimbo Jones remix (low audio quality) pushes it into definitely great territory. I'm not expert on remixes, but I always associate Bimbo Jones ones with that sort of steel drum sound. This mix, though, doesn't have that--it's faster and dancey, has electronic beats, but still keeps the original's horns. Go check out their MySpace if you have time.

A band I keep meaning to post about, the Vacancy (who some of you might remember from Popjustice's Singles Club), have taken down all the quirky fun songs from their MySpace and gotten rid of the PureVolume page which had all their older quirky songs. Is this a good sign (they are going to release them?) or a bad sign (they stopped caring? they're going in an entirely new direction?)? I'm not sure, though I really hope it's the former. Visit their MySpace page if you like--the one remaining song, "Catch Your Tear," is quite good, but it doesn't have the fun of their other songs and doesn't really reflect what their usual style is. Instead, you might want to try "Handheld," which you can still get as a free download from Popjustice. Expect a whole post about them at some point. If you like Busted or McFly (or just good music), check them out; they're definitely quite good.

And, finally, it's rather pointless, but I have to mention Anthony Callea again: his new single, "Live For Love," may hit radios this coming Monday. Of course, without listening to Australian radio 24/7, I probably won't end up hearing it until it ends up coming out November 4. Tomorrow (really, today for Australians) he's doing a photoshoot, which means the first official pictures of the new haircut will be appearing...the world (or just me) waits with breathless anticipation.

Next up: probably not Alistair Griffin, but he'll be in the next few days (I'm trying to decide whether or not it would be better to do two days about him; I guess I have more songs by him than I thought). Maybe the Vacancy, then?

(At this point, I haven't seen all of the Australian Idol contestants perform...out of the ones left, it is possible Dean is the best option--anyone have any vote one way or the other?)