Must be something in the water

I'm not much of a lying around the pool in the middle of summer kind of girl--give me a book and some shade, thank you very much--but a weeklong early summer vacation in a humid southern state kind of demands it. The songs that fell into frequent rotation for me this year during my "would have been more deserved any time from February to April but by this point was basically just a change in location, not leisure time" vacation (it's heavy on songs I added just before taking off and losing computer access):

Kelly Rowland, "Commander" (the song of summer, and don't pretend it's anything else)

3OH!3 feat. Kesha, "My First Kiss" (does this mean I'm giving in?)

Sean Kingston & Justin Bieber, "Eenie Meanie" (my "maybe the kids are all right" moment with today's teen pop, it's enough bubblegum fun to outweigh the awful "catch a bad chick by her toe" part)

Alexandra Burke, "All Night Long" (the only thing wrong with this song is that the best part is the backing "all night, all night, all night night night night" part, not the actual chorus melody. Other than that, it's just the sort of fun, lighthearted party song the summer demands)

Alphabeat, "DJ" (what's clearly the best song from their most recent album finally gets a single release)

Kesha, "Bootycall" (another Kesha leak/demo, this one could stand with the first few opening and final seconds getting cut, but the '80s candyfloss joy of the chorus and its overproduced '80s drums makes up for it)

Enrique Iglesias feat. Pitbull, "I Like It" (long live Enrique, even if the cynical side of me is unconvinced about staying power here. Plus, well, how can you begrudge him working with RedOne when he's the creator of what's obviously the best "RedOne + artist" tag ever in "Takin' Back My Love"?)

Baby Alice, "Piña Colada Boy" (gimmicky summer fun)

Aggro Santos feat. Kimberly Wyatt, "Candy" (the best thing about this dance-rap song is that the worst lyrics in it--heck, probably the worst lyrics all year--are the catchiest part, delivered in a staccato style so they're as easy to understand as possible, and transcend over into brilliantly awful: "girl. you. look. familiar. Where. do. I know. you. from?/Have. you. been. to. visit. me. at. AggroSantos.com?")

Taio Cruz feat. Ludacris, "Break Your Heart" (one of my favorite pop songs of 2009, so who would have thought the insertion of a couple of Ludacris raps into it could possibly make me love it even more? The best thing Ludacris has done since Usher's "Yeah!", and we all know how amazing that was)

Rogue Traders, "Would You Raise Your Hands?" (back on track after the misfire of "Love Is A War," the Australian dance-rock team delivers a song that never fails to make me pick up the jogging pace)

Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg, "California Gurls" (lightweight, but begging for successive summer plays...and do you know what? There's no point resisting)

Kids Of 88, "Just A Little Bit" (avoiding watching the video, loving this snappy electro-pop song from a two guy New Zealand act)

Jason Derulo, "Love Hangover" (broke down and bought his album just before leaving. It's not a must-own, but why is this not the next single instead of "Ridin' Solo"?)

Scissor Sisters, "Fire With Fire" (confession: the only Scissor Sisters song I've ever really enjoyed before this album campaign was "Paul McCartney." Maybe it's due to Jake is using his voice differently that this particular door opened up, but it's the joyous uplift of the Elton John-meets-the-Killers'-"Human"-but-better of the song itself that sealed the deal)

Mini Viva, "One Touch" (most thrilling Xenomania song since, what, at least "Miss You Bow Wow"? It's the attitude-filled fresh female sound that caused us all to fall in love with Girls Aloud)

Play, "Consequence Of You" (haven't really listened to the Swedish girl group's album, but there's no way there can be anything better than this song on it)

Throw in some random holdovers from spring--Matisse's "Better Than Her," Young Money's "BedRock" (cheesy puns are my weakness; see also: above picture), Lady GaGa's "Alejandro," Kesha's "Your Love Is My Drug," Gabriella Cilmi's "Superhot," etc.--and a few other songs--Dolly Rockers' "Automatic Girl," Taio's "Dynamite"--you've got the new additions. There's a whole summer playlist that gets rolled out, of course, but those standbys will have to compete with some great new songs from the past week or so. In fact, hmm, give me a few minutes...

(By the way, Crystal Bowersox and American Idol, you couldn't have had your hometown visit one week earlier or one week later? Really? It had to be during my previously scheduled and unmovable week away?)

I'll never find nobody else, babe

Question:



What the heck is "I'll Never Love Again" doing on the tracklist for Taio Cruz's second album? Granted, I've spent a year complaining that that track from his first album was never a single and it's one of the songs that played a big role in getting me to buy that album, but (unless it's a different song with the same title), I do NOT want people getting inspired by all this "Radar" ridiculousness. For heaven's sake, it was the FIRST TRACK on Departure.

It's still a beautiful sad modern R&B-pop mid-tempo ballad, though.

With even the alphabet she only sings the crooked letters

What have I been playing over the last few months (a.k.a. trying to do some degree of catching up) that I haven't mentioned here yet?

David Guetta feat. Akon, "Sexy Bitch": "When Love Takes Over" is great. "Sexy Bitch" is even better. Speaks straight to the hips better than any song this year so far.

Pitbull, "Hotel Room Service": Pitbull should be mad at Guetta for taking that title from "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)," but he's probably too busy celebrating making a song as great (albeit filthy) as this one. American (in the broadest sense of the word) rap sampling O-Zone one minute, Eiffel 65 the next, and now Nightcrawlers? Who'd have guessed?

Three 6 Mafia feat. Kalenna and Pitbull, "Shake My": speaking of urban club-rap, "Shake My" is a killer. Kalenna and Pitbull's parts may both outshine the main act's--especially that of Kalenna, whose choruses here get me just as excited as Keri Hilson's contribution in "The Way I Are"--but when they make up the majority of the song and are this good, that barely matters. Darkchild is on a roll at the moment.

Mini Viva, "Bedroom Viber": I've been in love with the demo clip on the Xenomania-produced duo's MySpace for months; finally getting the full track, free and legally no less, couldn't have been a more welcome surprise. I like "Left My Heart In Tokyo," but it's songs like this one that have me hoping Xenomania have a new act to channel capable of making songs with the fun and excitement of earlier to mid-period Girls Aloud.

Taio Cruz, "Break Your Heart": my favorite Taio single yet sounds like all the best elements of his earlier element in one song. Catchy as anything.

Fibes, Oh Fibes feat. Kim Wilde, "Run To You": a recent addition to the list, courtesy of Don't Stop The Pop, "Run To You" is '80's in a gentle pop-rock way that sounds refreshingly different from most current '80s-influenced songs. It plus "Love Child" mean that the Swedish group's third album, 1987, released September 2, can't get here soon enough.

Example, "Watch The Sun Come Up": transporting pop-rap positioning itself as a brief glimpse into the sentimental underbelly of a narrator prone to posturing. The Fred Falke mix is DIVINE.

Lorentz & M.Sakarias, "Baby!": older, but I haven't mentioned it yet here, despite loving it. Über-cute, shiny production from FutureCut on this Swedish language rap song has made it one of the songs I easily return to when I can't quite choose what to play.

Jordin Sparks, "S.O.S. (Let The Music Play)": the second single from a good album which I haven't given full attention to recently--but this song, along with the much-anticipated "Walking On Snow," have no problem winning my attention.

Bananarama, "Love Comes": the British duo delivers with their latest single, electro-disco full of sounds that slice through the air. Another album I can't wait to hear.

The Sound Of Arrows, "Into The Clouds": cosmic Swedish pop. Am I allowed to use the word "transporting" twice in one post?

Filthy Dukes feat. Tommy Sparks, "Messages": did this actually end up being a single? If not, it should have been--this #1 Hits-featured single has the spiky electro influences you might expect from the Filthy Dukes, but it's got pop crossover written all over it via that chorus. And the verses. And those breakdown bleeps.

Jessie James, "Bullet": country-tinged pop that is so much more fun than the song it was replaced by as the second single.

Visitor, "Los Feeling": gorgeous, full of synth washes, beeps, and pumps, but with energy to it--a pulse.

Boys Like Girls, "Love Drunk": the American pop-rock group finally delivers on a level hinted at by "The Great Escape" but one which I never really expected them to reach. It's the single I wanted the All-American Rejects to release.

Written about before but also featuring heavily were the Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling," Gathania's "Get It Out," Kate Ryan's "Your Eyes," Booty Luv's "Say It," Cobra Starship feat. Leighton Meester's "Good Girls Go Bad,"and, to a lesser extent, Anders Fernette/Johansson's "Hungry Eyes" (and probably some others).

Maybe worthy of a quick mention, though the jury's still out on some of them:
Chipmunk's "Oopsie Daisy" (who is that female vocalist?)
Heidi Montag's "Body Language" (she finally gets around to releasing her best song)
Natalie Imbruglia, "Want" (it never climaxes for me, so I'm not fully onboard yet)
Alexandra feat. Flo Rida, "Bad Boys" (pop fun)
Anna Abreu, "Music Everywhere" (good pop chorus that's better than anything she's done since "Ivory Tower," but still not as fully excellent as I want this Finnish Idol contestant's material to be)
Linda Teodosiu, "Reprogram My Heart"
Alphabeat, "The Spell"
Rob Thomas, "Give Me The Meltdown" (my favorite song from him since "Lonely No More" and "This Is How A Heart Breaks," it's catchy pop-rock that should be his next single)
Mika, "We Are Golden" (worried about this new album, which I don't want to be considering how much I loved his first, but there's a great chorus to this lead single)
Blake Lewis, "Sad Song" (I always think it's good but haven't played it much so far--bad sign?)
Backstreet Boys, "Straight Through My Heart" (more generic and less exciting than I'd hoped, but I nearly swerved into another lane while stopping someone from changing the station when it came on the radio. ACTUAL AMERICAN RADIO playing the latest Backstreet Boys single. Probably a one-off, but still.)
Colbie Caillat, "Fallin' For You" (oh no. "Bubbly" was one of those songs I complained about and avoided at all costs, but I really like this sweet singer-songwritery song)
Trey Songz, "I Need A Girl" (months old, but this sweet R&B-pop song has won me over)
Shakira, "She Wolf" (I don't love it like I want to yet, but I'm excited for the album)
Jade Ewen, "Punching Out"
Leona Lewis, "Strangers"
Sugababes, "Get Sexy"

There are some other recent singles--the new ones from Swedish artists like Martin Stenmarck, Nanne, Sandra Dahlberg, Andreas Johnson, Rongedal, and the like--that I can't really judge yet.

#50 Taio Cruz, "Come On Girl"

I just wanna turn you, me into an
USSS

British singer Taio Cruz started out his professional musical life as a songwriter, penning Will Young's "Your Game," before starting on his solo career in 2007 with two singles. "Come On Girl" was his third single and first released in 2008. Up-tempo R&B-pop with an electro edge--sounds like a familiar combination recently, doesn't it? But I really mean electro here, and not just dance; there's something sharp and punchy about the electro Taio uses in this song, a fact which I love. I love cute, but you need more aggressive music sometimes, too, and "Come On Girl" is more in that direction. Add in a cameo in the middle 8 from the always welcome Luciana, and you've got a fantastic song, one that does a good job of setting me up for excitement both about Taio's future solo career and the songwriting he's continuing to do for other artists...and that even a video which featured what Popjustice accurately called the world's slowest car chase couldn't take away from that.

Taio's album is a pretty enjoyable if not always amazing listen. I bought it after having heard the first three singles when Jessica posted two other songs from in on Into The Groove and then his fourth single, which was neither of those songs--I couldn't believe someone could be four singles into an album campaign, still have songs that fantastic lying unreleased on the album, and then have a song as great as "I Can Be" to release as his fourth single. I always try to avoid overlapping song posting with other blogs, especially when it's only via other blogs that I found about other songs, but I can't help reposting one of those two songs in hopes that it might have the same effect on other people it had on me--with full credit and thanks to Jessica for the introduction to it. "I'll Never Love Again" is the album's opening track and--gasp--a ballad, but it really is a great one, melodic, catchy, and moving all at once. Why on Earth this wasn't chosen as a single when Taio released five different ones from the album and then re-released his first one, I have no idea.

Find it on: Departure

Remember those photographs we took on that boat in Spain?

What is Shayne Ward doing these days?


Working on songs for his new album. So far, he's already worked with Taio Cruz (with whom he wrote a song he calls "a BIG TUNE;" Simon Cowell apparently recruited Taio to work with both Shayne and Leona, and Taio, who says they've done four songs together, says that "It's just a cooler sound for him, in the way that Justin Timberlake broke out of that typical pop and moved it forward to a cooler element"), Future Cut (Darren Lewis and Tunde Babalola, who did Lily Allen's "Smile"), Karen Poole (he says the song he wrote with her is "beautiful"), and the Underdogs (who did Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown's "No Air"). For his work with the Underdogs, he was actually in Los Angeles for some weeks and worked with some other writers as well.

While we wait for that new album, he's going to perform in Asia for a while. Come back to the U.S., Shayne! Oh, wait--he just might be, at some point. Taken from his forum:

Q: What are your plans for the future?

A: I just want to focus on getting the songs right. I’ve got some really big ones for the next album and I’m really excited. I’m looking forward to doing America properly as well.

(Picture credit to Ultimate Shayne Ward.)

Now I can feel that this heart of mine has taken many falls

My copy of British singer Taio Cruz's album Departure arrived today--and boy, am I glad I ordered it. I missed his first two singles, "I Just Wanna Know" and "Moving On," when they came out last year, but loved the R&B-meets-electropop "Come On Girl" (featuring Luciana) from this year--that definitely got me interested in him. As I mentioned earlier, when Jessica posted two brilliant songs from him, "I'll Never Love Again" and "Fly Away," over on Into The Groove, I was 95% convinced his was an album I had to have. The final thing that pushed me over the edge? Hearing his latest single, "I Can Be"--I mean, if he could have already released three singles, have two fantastic so-far-not-yet-a-single album tracks, and then be releasing something this great for a fourth single, that seemed like a good indicator that the album must be pretty impressive.

If you've got the money, Departure is definitely worth your time; I'm not going to review it at the moment (if you want a review, check here), especially since I just got it today (maybe in the future), but please take 3 minutes and 53 seconds to listen to "I Can Be." If you had to choose one word for this song, I think it'd be "inspirational." Set aside any cynicism for a moment and just enjoy a lovely strings-backed feel good song song (with an African chant-esque backing part near the end that I love), the sort of thing you turn to when you need a comforting shot of hope. "Come On Girl" is great, but somehow this feels like it's got...I don't know, more nutritional value or something, easy as it might be to call the chorus lyrics simple. If you've ignored him up until now, I think you might be pleasantly surprised with this.



I'm so glad we've got him around.

You look good, look good, you're good lookin'

Another post with no theme to it, just various things I wanted to write about (and some of which I even have written about in comments elsewhere), including some I've been meaning to mention for AGES.

Kleerup's new single "Longing For Lullabies" and instrumental b-side "Tower Of Trellick" are available for purchase as 320 kbps mp3s from 7Digital, regardless of your country. I know not everyone loves the song, but I can't help but hugely applaud that decision from him or his record company--wouldn't it be fantastic if ALL artists let you buy their music without any sort of restrictions, be they DRM or country-based (the rest of the world is getting access to this single just as soon as the Swedes are)? I really hope his album has "Thank You For Nothing" on it--I need that song (in good quality).

Speaking of buying things from 7Digital, I'm glad to finally have Gabriella Cilmi's "Don't Wanna Go To Bed Now," which, as I mentioned earlier, I've wanted ever since PopJustice featured a clip of it. It's a great slice of attitude-filled pop-rock with electro-influenced production and a great beat. Her first single didn't leave much of an impression on me, but in my opinion "Don't Wanna Go To Bed Now," which doesn't really sound like "Sweet About Me," is a song very much worth buying (it too is available on 7Digital, though as a DRM-protected WMA; you can listen to a clip via that 7Digital link too, or here). If she ever came up with an album of songs like this, she'd be a fantastic popstar (I didn't buy the full album--I might, but I get the impression it's maybe not something that would appeal to me as a whole; I'm open to hearing otherwise, though).

I LOVE the new single from Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child. Is it odd that her voice alternates between reminding me of JoJo (well, that's probably the vocal effects on it) and Jamelia? Yeah, actually, no one's going to hear that besides me. There's someone else I'm reminded of too, even more so, though I haven't been able to place who yet...anyway, People's website is playing the song in good quality. "Break The Dawn" is a catchy mid-tempo electronically-processed song that I'd be thrilled to see do well in the U.S. Check out The DJ Plays My Favorite Songs for information about the album.

Madonna's new single: I like it. My response to it was kind of like my response to, say, Eve's "Tambourine"--one of those songs that's a lot of fun in a hypothetically-dancing-in-a-club kind of way and that has sound effects that might otherwise be abrasive but work in that context (even if just imagined). Justin's vocals on it are the first time in a long time I've truly loved his voice. It does feel slow now, though, having got used to the tempo of that French radio rip.

I was really looking forward to the new Mariah album--I'm not sure why, given that I think the only songs from her I know are "Always Be My Baby," "All I Want For Christmas Is You," "Whenever You Call," "Hero," and the singles from The Emancipation of Mimi (that's not a result of me ever being anti-Mariah Carey--I've never been--just a function of my total cluelessness about/not paying attention to music until the past couple of years). Oh, and "When You Believe." I've actually had a real urge to "discover" her back catalogue recently, but I have literally NO IDEA where to begin--what albums are her best? Anyway, to get back to what I was originally talking about, I was disappointed to hear that the next single is supposed to be "Bye Bye" (strung together clips of it here)--I was really hoping (and thinking) it was going to be a big uptempo club banger type song. In the good news department, though, I think I'm going to love "That Chick," which she performed recently (see below).



I'm liking the sound of the recently leaked Beyoncé track "Beautiful Nightmare" (apparently a demo)--it's a darker-sounding pop track.



I completely agree with XO and Nick that the latest Guillemots single is worth listening to. That's an understatement--in my eyes, it's the sort of song that in some alternate universe was a massive crossover smash in the UK and the US, winning over everyone of all music tastes, instead of just getting to a respectable #20 in the UK a few weeks ago. It's a pop-with-guitars track that literally could not be any catchier or any more fun to sing along with. If you've missed it until now, you HAVE to listen to it. One of the best songs of the year, without doubt. I've not bought the album yet, but it's definitely on my to-get list.



I know I mentioned recently that Dirrrty Pop reviewed Taio Cruz's album, but have I ever mentioned on here how much I like the electro-R&B "Come On Girl"? I don't think so, mainly because it's been featured on other well-read sites and so I figure most people probably know about it already. Well, I love it, at any rate, and thought both of the songs Jessica posted, "Fly Away" and "I'll Never Love Again," were fantastic; I'm now really really close to buying his album and probably will do so.



#1 Hits is having "Pop Week" and, though the blog's always a must-read (Nick does an amazing job of finding amazing songs no one else is writing about), I really can't encourage you enough to check it out during this week. I've already played Monday's song, "Disco Bloodbath," a bunch of times.

Speaking of blog recommendations, Don't Stop The Pop (which just reviewed this group's showcase), FizzyPop, Popjustice, and ArjanWrites-back group Red Blooded Women has me really excited--I can't wait to (someday, hopefully!) buy Yaz-sampling pop song "Colour Me Dirty." Speaking of Yaz samples (where Heidi Montag leads, as I'm sure D'luv would point out), the clip of the Yaz-sampling song from another hyped girl group, the Saturdays, that was on the members' MySpaces a little while back sounded good too; it's at least got me interested to hear the whole thing.

Also, Morten Harket of a-ha has a new single called "Darkspace" coming out soon (on Norwegian radios in the next few days and for sale on April 7), with an album out May 19. I really want to like "Darkspace" (I would've liked to like the album's first single, but I sadly didn't), so hpoefully the apparently uptempo, rocky track is a good one. We'll see, I guess.

Edit: oh, and also, Britney's "Break The Ice" is BRILLIANT, but that's a given and I've liked that since the album came out last year--the track hasn't lost any of its shine since then, though.