Talkin' fantasy right to my face

Newsbreak:

Xenomania News pointed out that several songs from Jessie Malakouti's time at Xenomania leaked recently. The best news about this fact? We finally get to hear the full studio recording of "Who's That Man." Though I'd rather have the opportunity to pay for the full quality version, with Jessie moved on to her Jessie and the Toy Boys project, it seemed unlikely we'd ever hear it, making this is something of a relief.



Magnus Carlsson has a new single coming out. It's called "The Best In Me" and is probably produced by Pitchline (based on how much he's worked with them and the fact that it's got a Pitchline remix). The cover can be viewed here, while the tracklist seems to be "The Best In Me," a solo version of "Crying At The Discotheque" (eek), "Feel You (Ruff & Jam Radio Edit)," and an extended remix by Pitchline of "The Best In Me."

On the "I'm way behind in reporting this" front, Nadine Coyle's debut single is "Insatiable," written by her and Guy Chambers. It's apparently not a ballad and bears a resemblance to the Bangles, though the latter is a comparison from the Sun so take it with a grain of salt. Fingers crossed--I really want this solo project to live up to Nadine's potential. Fellow Girls Aloud member Cheryl Cole's lead single for her second album is called "Promise This;" there's a low quality clip here, but I'll need to hear at least the chorus to know for sure what to make of it. Speaking of Girls Aloud, I don't think I've mentioned here yet that Luciana Caporaso reported she was writing songs with Sarah Harding. As I've said elsewhere, that seems like it could be a good match; Luciana's punky pop-dance work might be a good way to channel Sarah's apparent love of rock and sometimes shouty vocals (and Sarah's solo Xenomania songs aren't a million miles away from Portobella songs like "Meet Me At The Y Bar" or Kylie's Luciana-penned "Cupid Boy").

The music video for Kylie Minogue's joy-inducing "Get Outta My Way," one of the songs of the year, is out. Floor choreography! Chair choreography! Actually, the choreography is nowhere near the star of the show--that's got to go to these moments. I usually try to hold the belief that everyone has a perfect right to like and dislike what they want, but if you don't enjoy "Get Outta My Way," it's hard to believe you like music.

Margaret Berger has posted some pictures from a recent photoshoot on her Facebook page, as well as stated her new single will be out this fall (maybe as early as September, but I may have misunderstood what she was referring to). We were told earlier to expect it as a spring/summer single so there could understandably be some skepticism, but hopefully we'll have new Margaret music soon. Now, if only Bertine Zetlitz would give us a release date...

a1's new album, Waiting For Daylight, is out October 11 in Norway. That's not news. What is news--or news-ish, anyway--is that you can see a tiny picture of the cover here.

On the subject of albums going to be released in Norway, Melodi Grand Prix 2010 contestant Bjørn Johan Muri's album, Airwaves, comes out September 13. The tracklist and cover are here.

Swedish Stereo broke the new about the tracklist and cover for Ola's third album, out September 15; you can view them here. At ten tracks, four of which are already available for purchase, it's a short album, but hopefully it's got the gems he's capable of being a vehicle for.

The summery new single from British boyband JLS, "Ay Mama" (which features Shontelle), sounds kind of nice, based on a live performance of it.

Alcazar are featured on an Anders Hansson/Sharon Vaughn song on the new Same Difference album. Details at Scandipop.

Tune in to me every day, I'm that hit you wanna play

With so many great songs flying around, it's tough to give an accurate representation of what I'm listening to based on just my individual song posts. Here's a quick rundown of some of the new songs getting frequent spins from me that I haven't mentioned on the blog yet:



Kylie Minogure, Aphrodite
Yeah, the whole album. It's really that good. Pop-dance bliss that's left me feeling like some giddy ten year old. Kylie promised euphoria, and she delivered. The title track, embedded above, with its martial drums backing empowerment anthem lyrics, is a standout, but the whole album is fantastic--possibly the best album I've heard in at least a few years. Preorder it already (out July 6, including in the U.S.).



Kent, "Gamla Ullevi"
The Swedish rock band's best single in years. The group's detour into a more electronic sound recently caught my ear, but it felt as if at the same time they'd lost the strong melodies to make those interesting-sounding songs truly worthwhile. "Gamla Ullevi," with its gunfire synths, earworm chorus, and catchy whistling, finally has the best of both worlds. Via Swedish Stereo.



Miley Cyrus, "Permanent December"/"Two More Lonely People"/"Scars"/"Robot"/"Take Me Along"
My picks for the best songs from the new Miley Cyrus. "Liberty Walk" may be seriously overrated, but that doesn't mean that infernally catchy electro-pop "Permanent December" (above) shouldn't be blaring out of cars all summer (heavy auto-tune or not), that the galloping "Two More Lonely People" isn't a perfect combination of Miley's electronic turn with what you feel are her more rock instincts, that "Scars" isn't an excellently made pop-rock song spiced up with a little more electro flavor that is a lot better than you'd expect a song with that title to be, that "Robot" manages to overcome Miley's vocals getting buried in the chorus to and "I'm throwing off the shackles of your pop production powerhouse to declare my independence" lyrics to actually really good, that "Take Me Along" isn't actually an excellent pseudo-ballad (emphasis on the pseudo, thanks to the production)--and doesn't mean that at least half of this album isn't worth your time and money.



Maroon 5, "Misery"
Speaking of blaring out of cars all summer...that's what I'm demanding happen for the new single from Maroon 5. "Misery" is begging to be played while you drive around in the sun for the next few months. It's a bit like a lighter, fluffier version of "Makes Me Wonder" or "If I Never See Your Face Again," but probably better. I love this group, but let's just take a moment: thank goodness for Mutt Lange. His production work is just so clean, so polished, so everything-just-where-it-should-be--there's workmanlike and then there's "I'm an effing professional/genius and I know what I'm doing, so just let me tweak your already great song in a million little ways you never could have thought of to make it so ridiculously appealing that RESISTANCE. IS. FUTILE." The man knows what he's doing.

Ed Drewett, "Champagne Lemonade"/"Parallels" (stream here)
Forget that whole Professor Green thing. Pop-R&B singer Ed Drewett (co-writer of the Wanted's "All Time Low") has been working with people like Cutfather and Paul Statham, with the best result so far being "Champagne Lemonade." Without hearing it in full quality, it's tough to fully judge, but the Calvin Harris-style production behind lyrics like "all because he buys you champagne, I buy you lemonade/Makes him something of a Casanova" is begging for summer airplay, at least on my headphones. Another demo on his MySpace, "Parallels," is by Cutfather and has a great ravey musical backing. The topline is a little simple, but maybe that's for the best given everything going on in the background.

05 Hitman (Remix) by poppostergirl

Jessie and the Toy Boys, "Hitman"
Popjustice introduced me to the new incarnation of Jessie Malakouti, this time backed by several mannequins. Though I still want to own Xenomania-penned "Who's That Man," the chorus of "Hitman" is going some way to making up for her moving on to new songwriters. Seriously, stick it out to the chorus (or skip ahead to it if you need to)--it's energy jolt kind of stuff. The clip of "Perfect Shade Of Red" over on Popjustice sounds great, too. Listen to more songs at her official site.



Brandon Flowers, "Crossfire"
Brandon is channeling second album Killers in both facial hair and music style. If you'd asked me about his new solo project ahead of time, neither would have been my first choice. Why, then, are both choices working so well for me? Maybe it just all comes down to a good melody...and someone pushing him away from the pervert-next-door grooming choices into just pleasant scruff.


Lolene, "Radio" (stream here)
As featured on Idolator and Pop Trash Addicts. Pop-dance that, to be honest, is a whole level above what I was expecting from this British girl being launched in the U.S. I always just saw her as (eek) one of those "Internet buzz acts." The sweet, fresh "Radio" implies she's certainly more than that.



Tove Styrke, "Million Pieces"
Swedish Idol contestant goes commercialized-indie-electro-pop for her debut release. On the first listen, "Million Pieces" starts off slowly, in a style a bit like a quicker Lykke Li's "Little Bit," but the poppier chorus is delivers and from the second chorus through the end, the song just gets better and better--it builds in just the way you'd hope a song from Tove would. Via Swedish Stereo.

Also getting played: most of the new albums from Example and Delays. Possibly more later on at least one of those, though. Oh, and Kevin Rudolf's "You Make The Rain Fall," after #1 Hits From Another Planet mentioned it.

See, what you're bringing me, boy, is priceless

The inevitable counterpart to the post below? The songs that I've fallen for in the past few days. I'm still very behind--especially when it comes to (gasp!) Eurovision (which I get the impression isn't too impressive this year)--so all recommendations welcomed and appreciated.

Kylie Minogue, "All The Lovers"



I needed this song last week. Needed it. Still, it's not even June yet, right? Lots of time to enjoy Kylie's return.

Orup, "Tiden bara gick"



Artist and songwriter Orup has been a staple of the Swedish music scene since the '80s, though the overlapping area on the Venn diagram of his own output and the music I prefer is small enough that I can't say I'm a devotee of his, though Lena Philipsson's 2004 album Det gör ont en stund på natten men inget på dan, which he composed and which Anders Hansson produced, is one of the best albums to come out of Sweden in the '00s. He's more in the "respect and cherrypick" category. His new single, "Tiden bara gick," is very much worth picking: he's thankfully set aside the '60s sound he's been pursuing as part of a touring duo with Lena in favor of something that reminds me of the Killers' "Human" or the Bassflow remix of Martin Stenmarck's "Sjumilakliv." It's co-written with Johan Kinde, a member of '80s duo Lustans Lakejer, and like the aforementioned songs, it has that propulsive, vaguely '80s beat behind its grown-up melody. We're not talking campy Swedish disco-pop here, but "Tiden bara gick" is substantive radio pop that deserves crossover success.

Style, "Love Killer"


I'm operating on less than twenty-four hours of exposure to this new single from the Swedish dance-pop duo who mounted a comeback with "Vill ha dig igen" last year, so what I really think of it won't be apparent for a little while yet. Whether or not the opening of the chorus melody is strong enough remains to be seen, but how can you not want to listen to a song that sounds like old school Roxette with a debt to the '60s hit "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow"?

Alexis Jordan, "Happiness"



A Deadmau5-sampling song that in no way sounds like it's coming from an American act, let alone one from America's Got Talent, "Happiness" is one of those songs I listened to on YouTube once or twice in the past few months, brushed off, and then suddenly found myself having to own. Dance, pop, and R&B meshed into a gentle, luscious love song, with a sweet "mmm" hook that dives straight into your brain.

Example, "Kickstarts"



Could British rapper-turned-popstar Example's album just come out already? Third single and third top-quality, dreamy, summer-ready song.

Katharine McPhee feat. Zachary Levi, "Terrified"



(Yes, that Zachary Levi. Who knew?)

Technically pre-trip, this song is one that shouldn't be anywhere near this list. It's co-written by the man largely responsible for Colbie Caillat's "Bubbly," which I hate. It'd be one thing if this song was totally different, but nope, it's quite apparent on even a casual listen that it shares DNA with "Bubbly." Why, then, do I find "Terrified" so slowly, gently, creepingly endearing?

Also getting some play from me: Natasha Bedingfield's "Touch" (flawed but still drawing me back to it), Kids in Glass House's "Undercover Lover" (quiet but not slow pop-punk from the UK that could easily be from any number of random American groups but yet which I find catchy enough to win me over), Paolo Meneguzzi's "Imprevidibile" (also less than a day of exposure to this, but Paolo is a class act whose output is usually reliably of quality, and even with this somewhat more electro makeover, I have no reason to think this song with prove to be anything else), Alex Gardner's "Yesterday's News" (yes, I know, not new, but I only finally heard it), Sunday Girl's "Four Floors," that Bright Light Bright Light song, the Quentin Mosimann album (old news, but I've never written anything here since someone suggested it in the comments--I've forgotten who, but thank you!), a couple of Jenni Vartiainen songs (of which more will need to be written), maybe the new M.I.A. and Drake singles, Ola Joyce's "Beautiful Loser." Maybe a few Eric Saade songs, but though I know I should love him, I'm still not 100% sold on something about him yet--his voice, I think. He's got songwriters I love backing him, though.

Also, Janelle Monáe and Kelis albums: yay or nay? Worth buying?

#14 Kylie Minogue, "Wow"

The way you walk,
The rhythm when you're dancin'
Every inch of you spells out desire

If "The One" was Kylie singing from a (lonely) pedestal, some sort of divine untouchable electronic pop goddess, "Wow" is her dropping the seriousness for fun on the dancefloor. "Fun on the dancefloor" doesn't read incredibly impressively, but it should; the joy that comes through "Wow" is infectious, all-encompassing, and inescapable. "Wow" may be a younger sister of what may be Kylie's best moment, "Love At First Sight," and with an overachieving sibling like that, it'd be easy for the song to get caught up in living up to the accomplishments of its predecessor, but "Wow" is too busy throwing its hands up in the air and messing around with glowsticks to give a second thought to whether anything like "transcendence" has been lost. For that--and don't tell anyone, what would it do to your reputation?--you might just be a little more interested in hanging out with it than that sister of its sometimes.

Find it on: X

#38 Kylie Minogue, "The One"

(Official video, set to the Freemasons remix)


(Album version of the song)

Close to touch like Michelangelo

Oh Kylie. I know it's been said countless times, debated countless times even, but why wasn't "The One" the lead single for this album? Yes, it's what "people" want and expect from Kylie (and me, too, to be fair; based on pop sub-genres alone, I could have easily predicted I'd love this spacey mid-tempo pop song far more than "Two Hearts"), and that's one advantage, as is the fact that it's got an "I'm here" statement feel to it, but it's got another, too: it's a far better song. Kind of a cover and at least a reworking, "The One" is one of those odd mid-tempo songs that you could listen to whether you're seeking to further your sadness or to be left feeling better off. You want pop that's both commercial and a work of art? Look no further than "The One." It will have a life span far longer than those of many songs above it in this list, I suspect; it's another case where on a list of "best songs of 2008" as opposed to "favorite songs," it would rank even higher. For the imagery of the line I quoted alone, it would make this list.

Find it on: X

Love me, love me, love me, love me

"2 Hearts" did nothing for me, but Kylie's "The One" sounds like it's a different story.



Lovely.

Edit: maybe I should've watched all the videos of the new songs before posting, because I may like "Wow" even more.



I cannot wait for this album.

This is my floor; you're just dancing on it

You know how iTunes gets celebrities to make up playlists of their favorite songs? Well, guess which Aussie singer they just got to make one...

Anthony Callea's Playlist--An Analysis

Bryan McKnight, "Back At One"--he sang this on Idol--no surprise that he likes it.

TV Rock, "Flaunt It"--I feel like I've heard of them before (maybe from Popalastic or I'm Always Right?), but I don't know if I've ever actually heard one of their songs before. The singer's (well, if he can be called a singer) voice sort of reminds me of the singer in Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy." It's completely unlike anything Anthony sings, but it was probably one of those songs that took over and everyone laughed about but loved.

Christina Aguilera, "Can't Hold Us Down"--is now not a good time for me to confess that I've never heard all of Stripped? I think I've heard this song before, though, and it's all right.

George Benson, "Give Me The Night"--I think I borrowed a George Benson CD from my parents once. That doesn't mean I know anything about him, though.

James Ingram, "How Do You Keep The Music Playing"--don't know this song either. This isn't too exciting so far.

Pussycat Dolls, "Buttons"--yes! I love this song, and I don't care what that says about me. Very pop--let's see if the list improves from here.

Nick Lachey, "What's Left Of Me"--Anthony says: "When I first heard this song, all I remember thinking is 'Why couldn't they write that song for me?'"
Gee, Anthony, if that's the sort of song you want to sing, why wasn't there anything like that on the album?!?

Robbie Williams, "Lovelight"--ooo, we're 3 for 3 for the last 3 songs--this is great as well. Plus, Anthony says "Robbie can just do no wrong lately," which a lot of people would probably disagree with, but it implies that he likes "Rudebox." I approve.

Kelly Clarkson, "Beautiful Disaster"--Anthony says: "Gee, this chick can sing."
No kidding. But he did choose a good non-single from her first album, which is a sort of promising sign in terms of his knowledge of pop.

Justin Timberlake, "SexyBack"--Anthony says: "Trust Justin to bring sexy back onto the scene. He just has too much talent. It's really not fair and should not be allowed."
Meh. "SexyBack" has grown on me, but FutureSex/LoveSounds never grabbed me as an album (though I might love the radio edit of "What Goes Around...Comes Back Around;" I haven't decided yet). So, if he has too much talent, he's an example of someone not channeling it properly (...).

Kylie Minogue, "Fever"--Anthony likes Kylie Minogue! "She is the ultimate female performer" (or it's just a token reference to a popular Australian artist, but I'm going to take it at face value). Anthony, you like "Buttons," Kylie Minogue--give us some sort of storming uptempo dance masterpiece! Or at least call up the folks who did Kate DeAraugo's "Faded" Reactor Mix or Stephanie McIntosh's "Mistake" Jewel & Stone Mix. Look, you even have pop-rocky singles now--that's what both of those songs originally were.

Scissor Sisters, "I Don't Feel Like Dancing"--see, Anthony, we know you really want to be doing fun uptempo poppy songs. I approve of this choice as well.

Augie March, "One Crowded Hour"--I don't know this song, I'm sorry. It sounds meandering (not necessarily a bad thing) and intimate from the preview.

Eskimoe Joe, "Black Fingernails, Red Wine"--OK, I know I've heard their name before, but I've never heard their songs. Sort of rocky--well, it's rock, but it doesn't seem rock-out.

Pink, "U + Ur Hand"--brilliant! I love this song, even if it does sound like the Veronicas' "4ever." Rocky pop that's still fun and poppy. Actually, now that I think of it, I'm sort of surprised there's no Veronicas on this list--I bet there would have been if he'd done it a year ago.

U2, "Beautiful Day"--I'm no U2 expert, but I do like this song of theirs.

James Morrison, "You Give Me Something"--this is the second time I've seen Anthony mention James Morrison; he compared the production on "Now You're Gone" to James Morrison's music. I like this song--not extremely exciting, but a solid ending.

In the end: it's no surprise to learn that Anthony likes sentimental ballad songs. However, though some of the songs he selected could be viewed as classics, there was a surprising lack of truly classical-esque songs. He also chose some rock songs, but the most rock-out of all of the songs was actually a pop song ("U + Ur Hand"), and it was the latter sound he was probably going for on many of the songs on his album. There were also a lot of songs that can't be viewed as anything other than complete pop, and were extremely catchy--I'd love to see some more like this on the next album; ballads, like "Rain," would be great--and we know he likes that style still, given his reaction to "What's Left Of Me"--but I'd also love to see some uptempo songs in the vein of "Into Your Heart" and "Wanna Be The One." Of course, my biases are well-known: from a selfish "what I like most" perspective, if Anthony wants to keep the pop-rock, that's fine, more than fine; I'd just like the other half of the album to be catchier and poppier--some ballads, and some not.

So, anyhow, today you all get the TV Rock song (it's definitely designed for clubs). If you don't like it, blame Anthony Callea.

Flaunt It

To buy TV Rock's album Sunshine City, go here (physical).

Next up: probably another day in Australia, but maybe some cute songs from Denmark.