a1 - Scared--this is far from the best song in a1's back catalogue, but it fits with today's holiday, and it's all right; it does sound a little dated, but it's very boy band, which is nice. It's also, despite its somewhat Halloweenish organs and a couple of scream sound effects, not the sort of song that you can only listen to around Halloween, which is a good thing.
Aqua - Halloween--to be honest, I rarely listen to this song normally (it might scare me a little), but it is pop and it is called "Halloween," so here it is. I'm not sure whether there's a lack of good Halloween songs (#1 Hits From Another Planet's recent series of posts would seem to prove otherwise), or I just don't seek them out--I'll have more (though not a bunch) and better songs for the run-up to Christmas.
If you like the songs, buy the albums--you can buy A1's second album, The A-List, here (physical) or here (digital; you'll have to search for "A1") and Aqua's second album, Aquarius, here (physical) or here (digital).
Now that we have that out of the way, let's move on to the important stuff :)
(Credit and thanks for this lovely picture go to here; it is not mine--I couldn't find who was the original photographer, but if they see this and would like me to remove the photo, or give more direct credit, just let me know)In news from the Anthony Callea world (what, you thought I was going to get through this post without mentioning him?), Anthony is the opening act for Diana Ross on her tour of Australia. In his performances, he's performed five songs from the new album, including FOUR previously unheard ones! The most positive early buzz surrounds "Addicted To You," which is uptempo and will supposedly leave people shocked that Anthony Callea is the one singing it. Since I'm guessing that's more a matter of the style than the vocal quality, I am thrilled--apparently a lot of the songs are very pop-rocky and mid- to up-tempo, which I am hugely excited about. I do admit to being nervous--the current trend towards guitars infiltrating everything does not always work so well (as I pointed out with Heinz Winckler's latest album), but for some reason I just have a feeling this will work out for the best. In further Anthony news, the tracklisting for his new album, A New Chapter, has been revealed. Here it is, along with the known information about the tracks (keep in mind I haven't heard any of these songs besides "Live For Love," so it's all secondhand; I don't take credit for it, and pretty much all of it comes from ACOF--thanks!). (Edit: I'm updating this as information comes out.)
1.) A New Chapter (also popular among fans; it's been compared to Bollywood or Middle Eastern songs, or an Enrique Iglesias [? I may have misinterpreted that] song, and apparently narrates a story)
2.) Perfect Mistake (midtempo, rocky)
3.) Addicted To You (the current fan favorite; supposedly faster/uptempo, rocky, very radio-friendly, and likely to appeal to a demographic far beyond who normally listens to Anthony [though everyone should be listening to him already!])
4.) If Only (rocky)
5.) Best I Can Be
6.) Live For Love (the current single--a ballad that still reminds me of something that would be in a Disney movie, though I now quite like it)
7.) Stranded
8.) Want You To See (according to fans at a live performance, a ballad with stunning high notes; a press release said it was one of the "harder-edged, rock numbers")
9.) Here I Go Again (a huge orchestra--64 pieces, I think--was brought in for the recording of this song; a ballad)
10.) There's Always Time (rocky)
11.) Almost
12.) You Saved Me Tonight (a ballad, very emotional)
13.) Runaway (the general fan favorite before the Diana Ross concert; it's been described as pop/rock, upbeat, and catchy, though not as upbeat as "Addicted To You")
14.) Heartbeat (a ballad)
15.) Now You're Gone (Anthony said they went for a "raw" feel with this song and compared it to the production on James Morrison songs; a ballad)
Just in case you all hadn't picked up on it by now, I can't wait for this album...it comes out November 27, and you can preorder it here.
Gareth Gates supposedly has a new official website, which I think is a positive sign (though it is odd the old site doesn't yet link to the new site--maybe because it's still being built)--it shows the management still care about him and are gearing up for new activity surrounding him.I am not really following X Factor this year (I'm too caught up in Australian Idol--my vote may have switched to Jessica Mauboy, by the way), but my vote for the winner is Eton Road. Not for any particularly legitimate reason, no, but because Anthony out of Eton Road once won a contest to sing a duet with Gareth Gates--you can watch the video from Top of the Pops of his duet (the audio and picture don't line up) here (but it's not a must-watch). So, Eton Road to win!
(Picture credit to Arjan Writes)Update: ooo--Arjan Writes always introduces some great new artists, and today is no exception; when I read about this artist over there, I had to post this track. It's from US-based Young Love, and is incredibly catchy, as well as sort of cool/hipster. It's synth-based and electro, but a little rocky and just generally good--take a listen! Oh, and, suitably for a song with this title, it's also quite danceable. (No, it's not ripped from a stream on the Internet; it's actually decent audio quality--128 kbps.)
Discotech
If you like this song, buy their new self-titled EP, including this song, on the US iTunes here. Their album, Too Young To Fight It (which I am now going to be keeping an eye out for), is coming out in early 2007. Visit Young Love's MySpace for a free download of a remix and their official site for more news.
Next up: possibly a male singer from Sweden--if it's the one I'm thinking it will be, there will be much excited raving, but at least it'll be about the music of someone new, right?
(Sigh...on a side note, I just noticed that the one time I make a snarky comment about something Anthony has done is the one time any of my comments about him are noticed...my little "$5 video" reference is what gets picked up on, not the times I said I absolutely adored his album, or the fact that I clearly adore his music because I keep you all up-to-date on anything that happens with him [even if it's more than you'd like to know], the new people I've introduced to him [which is my only goal], my lengthy refutation of the frequent criticisms of him, or my practically essay-length post about how absolutely amazing "Wanna Be The One" is...yes, it was a generalization, and yes, there are exceptions--notably, "Hurts So Bad," which I think is his best video...I would've just hoped I would be allowed to make one criticism of an artist whose work I completely adore--that his videos, in my completely uninformed opinion, are not always used to their maximum potential for promoting his music and widening his audience...as a rule, I try to keep this blog positive, and if I criticize someone, it is always [with one early exception, which was out of character and I felt very guilty about, and so retracted] someone who I respect and want to succeed--there's no point writing about artists I don't like. I fully and truly apologize to anyone I may have offended.)
8 comments:
Hi Poster Girl.
Anthony fans haven't mentioned anything about all the positve things you've written about him or the great promotion you're doing, simply because we've only just discovered your blog. :)
Now that we have, thank you for bringing his music to a different audience, anyone who loves Anthony is OK by us :)
Thanks for the link to Gareth's new website. At last, it looks as though something is really going to happen with him. Can't wait.
personally i think it's ok to be critical of an artist you have spent so much time promoting. i'm a member of the Deb Gibson online forum and it irks me a little bit on there that people think that if you say something slightly negative about her music or whatever, that you are a bad person and that you have no right to call yourself a fan! EEP! Case in point - earlier this year there was meant to be a cruise with Deb singing on it, lots of people bought tickets and then Deb backed out at the last minute. Those people who were angry about that got such a hard time from the "die hard" fans! Yikes! No one is perfect and makes perfect choices all the time. Except Simon Curtis. RAR!
Anonymous 1: oh no, I could never have expected you to be familiar with my tiny blog--I was just worried and saddened by the fact that the one reference picked up on was the one that least represented me and my overall opinions. My point about the video was made tactlessly, though, and you all were fully right to point that out--there are better ways to argue something than resorting to sarcasm. I really can't wait for his new album :)
Anonymous 2, I hope so! There's not much at the new website yet, but hopefully there will be news about his new music soon!
Paul, I do completely agree with you--no matter how much you love an artist's work, you should still be able to criticize an artist or something about them and still be considered a fan (I just probably didn't go about it in the best way here). And yay for Simon Curtis! He is indeed amazing :)
Ummm I would hate for your blog to change personally, you're MORE than positive all the time, and you rave about the most obscure, one hit-wonder, formely existint bands and that's all to your credit.
I also make exceptional attention not to criticize artists too much when I blog -as oppose to when I'm talking to someone one-on-one or discussing on a forum- simply because people tend to reprint what we bloggers say and give it a lot more credibility than a regular person talking online. So yeah, I try to measure my words but I also want to be a little entertaining and have fun throwing a few darts here and there.
Thanks! :) That's very true--I guess I never though about reprinting before, but there is definitely a different responsibility that comes with blogging in that sense. It's sort of strange to think about, in a way--blogs of course carry with them the expectation that other people will read them (in fact, you hope other people read them), but I never really think about my words ever possibly being used elsewhere. I think you had that experience with your review of Clay's album? But it was a very positive review, so the fans must have loved it :)
Yes, it happened with my reviews of Clay and Christina Aguilera..and the funny thing with Chris was her fans saying "look at what this blogger said, it's the best review I've read so far"..it felt like people thought I was a journalist or a critic lol.
Recently, the same thing happened with my critic of Justin Guarini and Clay vs Josh, but it doesn't make me censor myself but just be decent..cause I know it can hurt their fans if I said exactely what I thought of them etc etc.
Btw if you want to know sites or forums who may reprint your blog, just install a sitemeter.com counter on it!
http://beta.slashdot.org/submission/3283647/start-to-watch-i-frankenstein-online
https://www.facebook.com/ifrankensteinmoviehd
http://ifrankensteinfull.metroblog.com/
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