I just don't see us tomorrow, babe

Wow! Over the past several months, the condition of my headphones must have been steadily deteriorating, but at a pace that I didn't realize it. Yesterday, though, I switched pairs (from my earbuds to some old school headphones), and wow! I had forgotten how amazing music could sound! Of course, this also had some unforseen side effects. I'm having to go back and reevaluate anything I heard for the first time recently--for example, though I still like that Marcos Hernandez song, it's for entirely separate reasons now--you really can't hear that "build" I was going on about with decent (or maybe just half-decent) headphones. It also had the rather unfortunate side effect of me lying in bed at 2:41 AM, listening to "Lev Livet" and trying not to burst out laughing (I was literally biting my lip and shaking)--it's just that infectiously knock-you-over-the-head happy!

One more side note: Digital Technique, already a must-visit, is even more so now because of the post on Sergey Lazarev, who, along with Vlad Topalov from yesterday, was the other former member of Smash!!. Sergey's going in a slightly more electronic and often more dance-oriented style (even for his ballads) and his song "Fake" is seriously one of the best singles of the year (you will want to laugh and be compelled to dance at the same time--I can't believe how much I like it, and that it's held up so many months on, but it's brilliant).

On with the topic for today: Mihai Trăistariu. Mihai is from Romania and sang one of my favorite songs from last year's Eurovision, "Tornero" (speaking of Eurovision: I can't wait for it! This will be the first time I've really followed it as it's happening). Mihai used to be a member of the group Valahia but has since gone solo. He also has an incredible range (five octaves, including his whistle register, I think). He released an album earlier this year, but has also just come out with a Christmas album. His official website is also rather interesting (lots of noise! light-up swords?), though it seems to be behind the times. The non-holiday album disappointed me a little bit, as I was hoping for a bunch of danceable songs, and it's sadly rather short of those, and there are no stormers on par with "Tornero."

Tornero--I'm posting the Eurovision version instead of the album version because I prefer the former by a long shot--there are a lot more background electronic effects going on in the album version, but I think they actually detract from the power, fun, and catchiness of the Eurovision edit, and there was some strange changing of the lyrics and rearranging of the parts of the song. Uptempo and really, really catchy, "Tornero" also boasts a killer moment two-thirds in that you'll probably be mimicking for the rest of the day (the closest I can come to explaining it in written words would be something like "I didn't know-oh-oh-oh-oh-OHHHH...TORRR-NERR-OOO!," but trust me, that doesn't even come close). Despite the title, probably most of the song is in English--it's only the chorus where Mihai switches over to Italian.

Everybody Loves Tomorrow Day--a bit similar to "Tornero" in that it's danceable (mainly in the chorus), but this isn't quite as anthemic. Despite its somewhat awkward title, it's got a decent, a bit trance-influenced chorus that means you probably won't be thinking about the grammar for too long (well, maybe you will, but it sort of feels like it makes sense when he's singing it...maybe). The echoey electronic voice is a nice touch.

Crazy Dance--still of the electronic-ish dance variety, but slightly less laid-back than "Everybody Loves Tomorrow Day." The chorus somehow manages to be awkward but catchy at the same time.

Dimmi si o no--both copies of this song I've heard have that talking at the beginning; I'm not sure if all of them do, but it'd be sort of funny if they all preemptively talked about Mihai Träistariu being back with a "brand new hit." I know they all have that telephone conversation in the beginning, though, because Mihai even uses it when he performs live. Out of these last three songs, this is probably the closest in style to "Tornero," though it still can't rival it. Except for the opening, though, it's not in English Except the verses clearly are in English--I have no idea what I was thinking when I wrote that. This one also has more of Mihai showing off his voice--can that really be him singing at 2:41?! I guess that's what they must mean by "whistle register"...

To buy Mihai Träistariu's album Tornero (in some places, Mihai just used his first name), go here (physical).

Rumor has it that McFly may try to break the U.S. again. I am all for this--honestly, they should be massive here. I'm convinced that if they could've had a spot on the AMAs or something they would have become the next big thing here, and even without that, they should still be huge. However..."Star Girl"? Are you serious, boys?! It's a decent song, but it's so far from their best work that I honestly have no idea what they're thinking. Give us "Sorry's Not Good Enough," give us "Friday Night," give us "We Are The Young," (I'd say "Transylvania, but I don't think that'd be the thing to break with here), but "Star Girl"?!?! Do you not want to be successful here? I'm beginning to think you don't, because you're doing exactly all the wrong things.
(United States, if McFly take off here, I will...I will...well, I don't know what exactly I'd do, but I would be so incredibly thrilled that I can't even explain!)

Next up: maybe an American singer.

Begging me to stay doesn't help it anyway

Vlad Topalov was one-half of popular Russian duo Smash!!; the other half was Sergey Lazarev, who I've featured here a couple of times before. Let me preface all this by saying that I don't know any Russian, so my sources for this information are fairly limited and could be unreliable--feel free to correct me on any of it! After Sergey left Smash!!, Vlad released one more album by himself still using the Smash!! name before releasing a solo album under his own name. The album, Lonely Star (all right, technically, I think it's title is Одинокая звезда, or Odinokaya Zvezda, but I'm going to refer to it as Lonely Star for simplicity's sake), is, unlike Sergey's, mainly in Russian. Though Lonely Star lacks a really stand-out, excellent track like Sergey's "Fake," I think it might be the better album overall, though it still seems to be missing something; often, the backing track is let down by a not-quite-interesting enough part for Vlad (for example, the strings in "Can't Take It" are nice--I was tempted to post it just because of how promising the first ten seconds are--but there's just nothing special about the sung part). Vlad has also been linked to one of the t.a.T.u. girls in the past.

Kinda Crazy--this song isn't really typical of the rest of the album at all, which tends to be more on the mid-tempo, pretty side. "Kinda Crazy" opts for a little more of an agressive attitude and, especially in the chorus, is a little rockier (or at least trying to be rocky). Besides the guitars in the chorus that seem to have been tossed in at the last minute, though, it's got some interesting orchestration and even gets a bit atmospheric in the middle 8. It's a typical "girl, I love you but I just can't take this anymore" song.

No More I'm Sorry--doesn't this song start out with potential? It's got quite the interesting, fun little beginning, and really, with that catchy little phrase repeating and then the entrance of the strings used in the song, I guess I'm willing to forgive it the lack of a really killer hook in the vocal part (and it is pretty cute as is; it just feels like it could be so much better). "No More I'm Sorry" is surprisingly sweet-sounding for a song all about breaking up with a girl.

Поднимусь высоко--maybe I just like Vlad's songs for the string parts in them. This is another case of some interesting ideas, but not enough of them. The title translates to something like "I Shall Rise Highly," and I suppose it does have a bit of a rising feel to it, especially with those strings (I know I'm mentioning them all the time, but they're far and away the best part of these songs--even though they wouldn't stand up without the vocals--and I really like that he uses them).

As for buying Vlad Topalov's album Lonely Star, I don't know my way around any Russian music stores, so the best I can recommend is that you check eBay, and point you in the direction of his official site.

Next up: I just found out a really surprising fact about a song I posted earlier, so I might write about that.

Ain't no need to audition

Credit for introducing me to the focus of today's post goes to Russkipop, which featured him back in March. Sergey Lazarev (on the right) was one-half, along with Vlad Topalov, of Russian duo Smash!! (I don't know that much about Smash!!'s history, but I like to imagine that some Russian music producer decided it was a shame Wham! wasn't around anymore, found two attractive guys, chose an onomatopoeic word reflecting collisions, upped the ante by adding two exclamation marks instead of one, and released them upon the world). After a couple of years of success, Smash!! split up and Sergey and Vlad decided to pursue solo careers. Sergey was first out of the gate with his album, as Vlad chose to release one more album under the name "Smash!!" before recording under his own name.

Fake--when I first listened to this song, I liked it, but I didn't think it would have any staying power. Surprisingly, months later, I am still listening to it. Yes, the lyrics are somewhat ludicrous (and there aren't even that many of them), but when has that ever hindered a good pop song? Good electro backing, catchy chorus--even the half-spoken, half-sung parts are catchy. According to his official site, "Fake"--the fourth single from his album Don't Be Fake--has been released to UK clubs. Crazy as it sounds (I still can't believe I'm writing this), I really recommend this song; it's just...fun, for lack of a better word.

In other news, two new songs by these two young men have been revealed. I'd still have to give "The Rejection" and "Give Me Danger" the edge in my favorites of theirs contest, but they are good. I don't want to refer to them by name (I'm hoping that anyone who finds out about them because they read this blog is likely to buy them once they are legally released, as opposed to finding them here because of googling and not buying them once they're available, even though they'll probably be everywhere quite soon--given that this is an mp3 blog, I don't know what makes this different than any other post, but whatever), but they are here and here (links removed since I just found out the EP is available to buy from iTunes today; since it's newly released, I don't want to post download links for it); for more details, go to Arjan Writes (see the blogroll on the right).

I would give you a site for buying Sergey Lazarev's first album, Don't Be Fake, but I don't know any sites that sell it and I don't know much about Russian music stores, so the best I can do is recommend eBay; to buy the first EP by the latter group (which doesn't have the songs featured today), go here (digital; only valid for US residents) or to iTunes.

Next up: Matt Willis releases "Hey Kid" tomorrow, so I might write a bit about him, or post about Vlad or Smash!! (and I'll try to use fewer parantheses).

sergey lazarev