Can no longer go on without you here

Soundtrack for this post

Over the years, I've been fond of saying the best original Idol winner's song ever is Aleksander With's "A Little Too Perfect," a song I posted on this blog in its first few months of existence. While traditionally the song that fills this role is a big ballad about having overcome obstacles and finally achieved something, "A Little Too Perfect" is a mid- to up-tempo piano-pop-rock song--guaranteed to lift your mood any time you listen to it--about a relationship . A perfect catchy pop song.



To be fair, as time has passed, I've had to qualify that statement--"well, I guess I love Boris's 'When You Think Of Me' an awful lot"--only to later be allowed to retract that qualification later on--"When You Think Of Me" is actually (as Resa pointed out) a cover of an American country artist's song. Kjartan Salvesen's "Standing Tall" is still in the running and a contender, though not winning--those Norwegians, eh? And come to think of it, I loved "Dreaming" and "This Is Life," the songs released by Norway's 2005 and 2006 Idol finalists. They really know how to do direct-from-Idol music there, I guess.

Anyway, to try to veer back on track to the point of this post, in the past few days I've been able to remove another possiblly-hindering-though-still-not-winning threat to "A Little Too Perfect"'s title: South African Idol winner Heinz Winckler's "Once In A Lifetime." Another catchy feel-good mid/up-tempo song, "Once In A Lifetime" is apparently a cover, a fact I didn't know until a few days ago. Who did the original?



Norwegian singer and former Eurovision contestant Van Eijk. If you watched ESC 1999 and can remember anything beyond the Charlotte and Selma battle, you might remember "Living My Life Without You," an uptempo one man boy band type of song written by Van Eijk and one-half of now big name writing/production team StarGate, Mikkel Eriksen. Van Eijk, 18 years old at the time, apparently had some technical difficulties with his earpiece that he said hindered his singing; the song ended the night in about the middle of the table. There's a bit just before the chorus that sounds very first album Backstreet Boys/'N Sync.



He released a platinum-selling album, Where I Belong, by the way (something I didn't know until Can't Stop The Pop wrote about it), which StarGate also worked on, and I kind of love the more ballad-y but still kind of mid-tempo-ish "Still In Love" from it. I definitely recommend giving that song a listen if you liked that 1999 boy band sound.

Once again attempting to leave tangents behind, "Once In A Lifetime" (co-written by Van Eijk) was apparently recorded by him for release back in 2000 as the lead single for a new album. The odd thing is that, though his version was recorded, several presumable b-side alternate versions were made, and Norwegian newspaper VG reports that his version of the single was set to be released in October 2000 (I don't know whether it actually was or not, but I would presume so since it and the aforementioned alternative versions are out there), when Heinz released it, it was claimed that the song had never before "been recorded for commercial release." Even if for some reason Van Eijk's version was pulled before actually release, it very obviously was planned to be (i.e, recorded for) commercial release. Hmm. At any rate, Heinz's version would go on to sell double platinum in South Africa and launch a career that so far has extended to three albums.

So, what have we learned from this really pretty rambling post? 1.) Swedes may be winning the overall music-made-by-Idol-contestants sweepstakes, but Norway seems to be the place to go for the music-released-while-still-on-Idol factory. 2.) Van Eijk was an underrated songwriter. 3.) Pop Eats Pop should come back :(

I don't know of anywhere where you can buy Van Eijk's music, so the best I can do is point you in the direction of the MySpace of his latest group, which has a very different sound.

Next up: maybe music from an actual boy band. Or one man boy band stuff. Or that Japanese dance-pop.

Who I am depends on what I've done

Anwar Robinson (finalist on some season of one of the seasons of American Idol) and Heinz Winckler (winner of the first season of Idols in South Africa; he's done some really good stuff over the years) are apparently both going to be appearing in Rent. Following the news that Anthony Callea is appearing in it (not with them--although theoretically they could do a tour together, since Anwar is playing Tom, Anthony's playing Mark, and Heinz is playing Roger), is this the thing for Idols to do now? I mean, I've always known them to do musicals, but what's with the sudden Rent mania?

I suppose if you've been dying to see Heinz Winckler live, now's your chance (if you live in the U.S.)--the tour starts in Pennsylvania this October. I'm not planning on going, though it's mildly tempting if only to pretend to be a crazed fan (I really like Heinz, but I wouldn't say I'm an intense fan)--I can't imagine too many people here have all three of his albums (and a German single!) and I've never gotten the chance to be truly fangirly live, and I should probably practice before seeing someone I'd actually want to be fangirly about.

Obviously, though, Heinz appearing in Rent comes nowhere near rivaling second season South African Idols' finalist Jacques Terre'blanche's musical career--which, as far as I know, just consists of starring in a musical version of Debbie Does Dallas that was produced by and featuring Caprice, but let's face it, no one's ever going to top that in terms of musical career, are they? There's no point in even trying.

You make everything simple with the greatest of ease

Before Heinz Winckler, winner of the first season of South Africa's Idols (previous posts here and here) decided he wanted to rock out, he was content to make cheesy little pop songs that never fail to lift my mood. You could argue that they're dated, but they're still adorable, and for that reason, I love his first album (which this post was almost about). However, it was on his second album, Come Alive, that I think he reached his artistic peak (that's a relative term--it's still not a particularly "artistic" album, though it's beautiful in parts). There are fewer songs on Come Alive that I listen to regularly, but those songs are some of my favorites of his. While the first album was cheesy happy pop and all the production you would expect for such songs, the second went for an uplugged feel (though that's not why I think it's his peak) and songs on it had some surprising twists. The following song may not have any twists, but it is, in my opinion, one of Heinz's best. It's also the song that took him (or appeared to take him) beyond one-album wonder, a fate many Idols fall into.

Can't Lose With You--as I think I've mentioned before, "Angel" is probably the best indication on the first album of the direction Heinz would take for this second album. Though thematically not similar, "Can't Lose With You" could be seen as Come Alive's "Angel" (though it gave no clue as to what the third album would sound like), but if it is, it also shows the growth in Heinz's material. When this song, the album's lead single, hit the radios, people were surprised that it could be Heinz singing it. One site I read jokingly suggested that Heinz must have gone off and taken singing lessons between the first and second albums and, although any young singer would be foolish not to work on improving their voice between albums, that just goes to show what a surprising comeback this was for Heinz. I'm not saying this is a particularly impressive (or demanding) vocal performance, but, listening to the song, you get the sense that Heinz had to really work to sing as well as he did for it. That sense of effort and struggle, though (even if only imagined on my part), only enhances the song, given its subject--it's like the boy who, in love with a girl, writes her a song and sings it in front of an audience in hopes of impressing her, desperate to do as well as he can. In real life, that situation would most likely be creepy or boring, but here, with a song this good, it works--it makes Heinz, or the character he's playing, more endearing. As for the song itself, it's basically just a simple acoustic guitar-based ballad--a pretty one, but one that probably shouldn't be as good as it is (though it's still nothing boundaries-shattering or life-changing). I think a lot of its appeal has to do with Heinz's delivery and tone; this could easily have been saccharine or dull, but it's not--instead, there's something achingly pretty about it.

(When I complained about Heinz's voice on the third album, it was somewhat related to this--it's not that he has a bad voice, just that it's better suited for certain types of songs than others, and for me, there are better male voices to accompany rock-out pop than his.)

To buy Heinz Winckler's second album, Come Alive, go here (physical). Incidentally, "Can't Lose With You" and "Drowning Me," another song on the album, make a perfect matched set, so, if you like this song, you might want to consider looking for the other.

Next up: something poppier, I think, or sort of dance-pop.

I know the logic and I, I know your reasons

South African singer Heinz Winckler, winner of the first season of Idols (South Africa's version of Pop Idol), released his third album, Moment Of Truth, about a month and a half ago. His first album was poppy, the sort of CD you could enjoy immediately, and great. The followup was a grower, but it grew into something amazing; the unplugged feel and occasionally unusual rhythms lent themselves to creating a really gorgeous album. The lead single for Moment of Truth, "Another Day," gave a solid indication of Heinz's new direction for this new album: rockier. I'm still a little unsure as to where I'll ultimately come down on this album, but there are a few things I've noticed about it.

Another Day

The lead single hints at some of the albums main problems, though it's better than many of the album tracks. I think this new rockier style might not totally fit Heinz's voice. "Another Day" doesn't totally demonstrate that problem; album track "Back Together" does (unfortunately) a better job of that. I'm not criticizing him as a singer; on songs like second album single "Can't Lose With You," Heinz is probably the perfect singer (both because his voice suits the song and because you get the sense that he may have had to work really hard to sound so good on the song, giving "Can't Lose With You" extra emotion and perhaps even desperation or desire). His voice works better when it doesn't have to be heard over blaring guitars, which brings us to the second problem with the album: not only do I feel there's a mismatching between Heinz's new rockier style and his voice, the particular style of rocky pop he's chosen isn't always good one. This relates to a phenomenon I have trouble describing but is really important to my enjoyment and perception of music. Not all loud guitars are blaring guitars; the best I can describe "blaring" as is loud guitars that don't sound like they're playing anything in particular, just creating this sonic wall with no hooks or entry point for the listener. Heinz is probably best in a poppy environment (the first album) or a more laid-back (though no necessarily ballad or slow) environment, but there are moments in Moment Of Truth that work better than others.

Got Me Believing

Love Will Breathe

"Got Me Believing" is one of those moments, as is "Love Will Breathe." "Get Away" and "Don't Know What I'm Feeling" both fall into this category as well. "Got Me Believing" (possibly the album's best song) and "Love Will Breathe" verge on the blaring guitars--actually, you could probably make the case that almost or all of the songs on the album do--but they manage to be fairly successful. "Don't Know What I'm Feeling" is propelled along by a nice little riff. However, I can't help feeling that, though these are good songs, they might have been much better sung by someone else. Don't get me wrong; I still quite like them, but I think they might be inarguably great if sung by someone else. There's something about Heinz's voice--I'm not sure whether it's changed, or whether it is because of the change in musical environment, but it seems fuzzy and maybe even thin. There are moments where his voice works, and moments where the songs work, but there are also moments that just don't fit, be it lyrically ("Get Away"'s line "I'm inundated by you, titillated by you" or "Love Will Breathe"'s "what if one lover is all, all you needed/why is commitment a word we have deleted," the latter of which is a line I might see myself buying if delivered by someone like Simon Curtis but just seems odd--maybe even preachy--coming from Heinz) or musically.

Get Away

This review probably sounds very negative, and it really shouldn't; over the course of almost a week, Moment Of Truth has grown on me a good deal, and it's certainly not a bad album--I would still recommend it--but, if you asked me to choose which of Heinz Winckler's albums was my favorite, I'd have a very difficult time choosing between his first two albums, both of which are truly, truly great, but I'd easily be able to take Moment Of Truth out of the running. Part of me wants to blame the songwriting; this is being billed as the album in which Heinz finally got to be more involved in the writing of the album--perhaps this was a case of a new writer working through some ideas and not really knowing what works, resulting in some good tracks and some not-so-good ones? I don't think so; back on second album Come Alive, Heinz was writing songs as good as "Drowning Me," and he only has writing credit on 4 of 12 tracks on this album (which does make the "it's finally my chance to show the real me!" marketing approach an odd one).

Once again, though: if you like this style of rocky pop, it's worth buying, as it's a good album. I just don't think it surpasses either of his previous two works. I've tried to post the best songs from it (and I really think the chorus to "Got Me Believing" is great), but that doesn't mean there aren't others worth hearing (though there are definitely some worth skipping). I'm still a bit ambivalent about it, though; my opinion could change over the next few weeks. I think one of the things I miss most is the pop sensibility that informed some of Heinz's earlier songs, but maybe I'll "get" these ones after a few more listens. In fact, for several of these songs, I can already feel that happening.

On a lighter note: look, Heinz, if you're the winner of the first season of your country's Idol series and you want to shamelessly steal from the Kelly Clarkson school of rocky pop for your third album, this is the way to go:

Guy Sebastian - Elevator Love (Web Rip)

(Link removed at request; head over to the witty Popalastic to stream the song)

I am not a follower of Guy Sebastian (though I do like some of his songs, like "Oh Oh" and "All I Need Is You"), nor have I ever felt a desire to buy one of his albums, but I think this song--his upcoming single--works pretty well; even if it does follow the Kelly Clarkson formula pretty exactly (and I think it reminds me of some other song), it's fairly catchy for that particular subgenre--in fact, I think I might really like it!

To buy Heinz Winckler's third album, Moment Of Truth, go here (physical); to preorder Guy Sebastian's third album, Closer To The Sun, go here (physical).

Next up: maybe a themed post, or that Swedish singer.

(By the time I finished this review, I'm really questioning my evaluation of Moment Of Truth. I'm not going to claim his first two albums don't have subpar songs, so I may have focused excessively on the negative side of things in regards to Moment Of Truth...I'm not sure what to think...)

What a day, what a day, what a day

This blog seems to be getting more and more random--today will be another conglomeration of news updates and links. I'll try to go through a series of more planned posts after this, though.

The Click Five, who I raved about back in early September, have just finished opening for the McFly tour--I'm sure they did an amazing job, as not only do they have phenomenally good songs, they are also really entertaining live. Their debut album Greetings From Imrie House, when it was released in the U.S., was incredibly good; however, the UK version of their album is even better, practically perfect, though there's only been one small change: "Lies" has been replaced by their brilliant cover of "I Think We're Alone Now." If you haven't already bought it, there's no better time than now; you're missing out on one of the best and most fun albums out there. I am a little worried about their decision to star in the upcoming Christy Carlson Romano movie Taking 5, though.

I don't know what I can do to convince you to go watch Pacific Avenue's Internet TV show, but you have to see it. The episodes are pretty lengthy (20 minutes, roughly), so I haven't made it through all of them, but they are really funny. Not only do Pacific Avenue have a hilarious show (with good music in it), their own music is so classic boyband (but improved/updated/etc. etc. I'm sure their promo materials would say) that I can barely stand it (there may be about a million layered vocals in it, but I actually really like the effect)--in a good (great) way. Go watch their TV show and look at their MySpace--it's worth it.

Speaking of Pacific Avenue, a commenter provided a link to his/her (sorry! I think "his," based on some clips in the show) blog with photos of Pacific Avenue--it is definitely worth a look, not only because I can't get enough of these guys right now, but also because the photos themselves are great--the blog's pretty new, but pop over there and take a look if you get a chance! If the photographer doesn't mind, I'd love to use their photos in future posts about Pacific Avenue--with full credit and citation/links, of course :)

Jim Verraros's official website has been redesigned--very professional-looking, new photos, blah blah blah...when's the new album coming out? Oh...spring 2007--maybe you should say that on the front page and not on the page for the not-yet-open store.

A lot of you probably aren't following Australian Idol, but you really should be. It's worth paying attention to just so you can understand what Scott To Be Certain and CFB Goes Pop are talking about. Scott To Be Certain is, as always, incredibly witty. CFB has an Idol "novel" that you absolutely must read--watch the show, or just read their recaps, so that you can understand the jokes in the novel because it is ridiculously brilliant and hilarious--watching the show is worth it just so you can read what they have to say about it the next day.

Speaking of Australian Idol, I have to return to the topic of Dean Geyer. I mentioned several of his performances a few days ago and, though I was really amused/impressed by him, I said I wasn't sure that he deserved to win. However, there were several amazing things about Dean's most recent performance:

1.) He covered a Ryan Cabrera song! I'm not going to claim that everything Ryan Cabrera has one is genius, but his first album contains some very, very good songs (I've been meaning to post about it--this might spur me to do so).

2.) The contestants were allowed to use guitars. This, of course, proves that they are all "credible" musicians (Jessica Mauboy didn't play a guitar, but the rest did). However! Even after saying that he wanted to make "On The Way Down" rockier and less pop, do you know what Dean did? Halfway through the song, HE THREW AWAY HIS GUITAR! Yes, the precious instrument of the rock establishment, tossed aside in favor of better showmanship. I'm not sure that we can (as the judges did) credit Dean himself for the idea, but whatever--he did it, and that's what matters.



These factors, combined with his consistent improvement (I will concede that Damien's performance was quite good, for that style of music, but we'll have to see what he does next week) and the fact that he can do backflips (I have this thing for backflips--I don't know why, but they fascinate me), mean that I have to revise my opinion from last week. My official vote (even though his voice still doesn't seem that impressive) is...Dean Geyer for Australian Idol 2006! I still can't believe it, though.

Speaking of Australian Idol, I still think that Anthony Callea's latest single is very Disney-sounding. However...I've now succumbed to how absolutely gorgeous his voice is. I know, I know...I'll try to be stronger in the future. At least we have on record that at one point in time I was able to judge it critically...

I've mentioned this site before, but I have to mention it again: blog Digital Technique is really, really great--frequently updated, with the best of old (as in generally 2000's on) and new music. Some unjustly one-hit wonders and artists I probably should have heard but haven't yet--it's definitely worth checking out.

Another new-ish blog worth visiting is Ni Hao Glitter Owl, all about Chinese pop--I don't really know anything about Asian music (that's an entire continent! How can I not know anything?), but I'm finding it fascinating.

Heinz Winckler (whose third album I've ordered but not yet received) is now a married man! Very belated congratulations to him and Alette.

Ben Adams's official website disappeared a few weeks ago, which didn't seem to be a good sign in terms of his album getting released. Now, though, it appears that a redesigned website will be appearing soon, which seems like a good sign--are things moving towards a release? On a side note, all the "for friends only" messages on his MySpace are practically driving me to get a MySpace of my own.

If you visit McFly's MySpace, you can listen to a medley of three songs from their upcoming album Motion In The Ocean (due out November 6, with second single "Star Girl" coming out October 23). I think the first one is "We're The Young" and the second is "Sorry's Not Good Enough," but I'm not sure what the last one is (maybe "Transylvania"? They might say the title at some point, but I can't tell--that guess is just based on the fact that that's a Dougie song and I think that's Dougie singing). At any rate, this looks to be an excellent album (both poppy and not just a return to their first album style--maturer than that), even if I still don't understand some of the song titles ("Bubble Wrap"? Well, maybe I have a guess). I've had an incredibly difficult time getting it to play at all, let alone play the medley without stopping; I know the album release isn't that far away, but, in case anyone else wants to be able to listen to the four-minute medley without waiting for a half an hour for it to load and play, here it is.

Oh, wow--you all had to read all that for just one song, and it's not even a complete one, nor does it have good audio quality. Well...it's got no logical connection to anything I just talked about, but here's another song--I know, since this group is incredibly popular, there's a very good chance people have it already, but since I don't think it's on a regular album (it's from the On The Line soundtrack), maybe some people don't have it:

'N Sync - That Girl (Will Never Be Mine)

To buy the On The Line soundtrack, go here (physical).

Next up: maybe a Swedish singer (not Darin, although, in anticipation of his new album, I might do a follow-up to my earlier post about him at some point), or some electronic-ish stuff.

I'm feelin' that this is my time

I was planning on writing about V today, but looking at the MySpace of one of its former band members has inspired me to do a MySpace check-in. Be prepared for some subpar audio quality, though.

Aaron "formerly of V" Buckingham has a new song up on his MySpace, as well as a blog entry. The new song is "Once In My Life" and, like "In My Head," it's a nice, sort of laid back pop song, although "Once In My Life" is a "moving on" and hopeful song (unlike the worry-filled "In My Head"). He hasn't lost his sense of humor, so his blog entry is worth a read, too. I'm really liking his new music; hopefully we'll hear more from him beyond MySpace in the future.

Simon Curtis has a very different style from Aaron, but his songs are great, too. His style of pop is darker and more electro-influenced. I'm currently loving his Broken (Show Mix) (beware if you're going to listen to it--it's addictive!)--it definitely has that dark electro-pop sound going on, but it has a really catchy melody and strays away from the minimalism so popular in electro now (which can work well, but it's nice to mix it up every now and then). It's going to sound even better in high quality--I cannot wait for the album, though I have no idea when it will be coming out. Check his MySpace regularly, though, because it will definitely be worth buying. (In addition to his MySpace, you can also check out this one for another of Simon's songs.)

I'm not going to post any Heinz Winckler songs, because I finally found a place to order his album (here, if you're interested and don't mind spending far more on it than you probably should) and I'm going to wait until I have them in high quality. However, his MySpace blog has a rather odd message up--maybe this isn't really his official MySpace? But it did have songs from his album up before the album was released and it's got a message from someone who I know really interviewed him... I'll review Moment Of Truth whenever it arrives (which could be in two weeks or three months, who knows).

I just found out about Gavin Mikhail recently, when he was featured on Zappin' It To Ya, but I'm already in love with "Brave" (I was reluctant to post this, because I really think higher quality audio will add a lot to it, but I'm not sure when the album will show up on iTunes). It's gorgeous piano-based pop that is worth checking out.

And, in the ongoing series of periodical Ben Adams updates...Ben has a new picture up on his MySpace (this is it). Thrilling news, yes? Still waiting for any actual news about, say, the album or something. I really am going to get around to posting about Ben soon--I'm thinking next week or early in the week after that; even though he's only ever released one single, it'll probably be a two-day event.

Next up: I really think Josh Hoge will be the next topic. Given my track record with predictions, though, that probably means he won't be.

Kissin' with him in my bed

Today's post will be mainly news and updates, so it'll be a little light on the music side; hopefully, though, after being bombarded by Click Five songs, you all can take a low-mp3 day.

Aleksander Denstad With's (of Norway) debut album will come out on October 23, preceded on October 9 by his second single, "The Other Side." You can listen to most (though not all) of the single at his official website. It's very ballady and slow and my first instinct is to write it off, but there's a possibility it might be a grower, especially if the rest of the album isn't like it. The ominous-ness of the verses is sort of nice and I think the chorus might sound better in higher quality. I'd still prefer a more upbeat song, I think, but I suppose every album is going to have some ballads on it. I think I was just hoping for something more...fun from Aleksander, so it's too early to judge whether I'm not in love with "The Other Side" because of its quality or because it's not what I was hoping for. On the other hand, I still quite like his debut single "A Little Too Perfect." The video for it is nothing to write home about (just Aleks performing in a big room), but the song is still good--mid-tempo, sort of pop-rock, with nice piano parts.

In news that's about a week old, Matt Willis's second single, "Hey Kid," went in at #11--I'll take that! I was pretty worried, even if his statements about being dropped if it flopped were probably jokes. His next single, due out November 6, is going to be "Don't Let It Go To Waste," which is more balladish and not quite as good as either of his previous two singles (it has no helicopter noises, so it's already at a disadvantage), but I'm hoping getting to release three singles is a good sign for the album. In all likelihood, I'll end up posting a B-side from the "Hey Kid" single on the day "Don't Let It Go To Waste" comes out, unless I get overwhelmed by the good guitar-strumminess of it and post it earlier (a strong possibility).

Aaron "out of V" (a boyband I missed the first time around, then didn't quite get at first, and now love) Buckingham has a new song up on his MySpace, "In My Head." I think it's mid-tempo (it's also sort of sad or worried-sounding) and I know it's good. I'd love him to have a solo career, though I'm not sure how successful it would be, but it's really good to see that he hasn't "gone indie" or rocky just to increase his chances of success. He's funny, loves pop, and makes great pop music--we need more artists like that. There's already a MySpace page representing his fans, so hopefully that's a good sign?

Speaking of MySpace brings us to artists who know how to work the Internet to their advantage. I love it when artists use "unconventional" techniques to promote themselves and when they acknowledge the importance and power of the Internet. Far too many artists ignore it and, be they established or not, that's one of the worst things they can do (established artists, if they don't provide updates on what they're doing, risking losing not only the fringe fans but, if they leave people hanging long enough, even the very core of their fanbase, and Internet buzz can make all the difference for someone trying to "make it big"). One artist who exemplifies the idea of working the Internet, especially the blogosphere, is Chris Price. I read about him on Spark*Pop back in May (and a bit of research reveals he's been featured on many other blogs, too), so, when an e-mail from him popped up in my inbox, I knew I would be willing to feature him here. His song "And She Was" is minimal electro-pop ("minimal" might not be the right word, because it's not lacking for effects, and the chorus builds--Chris just has a laid-back and distant delivery that reminds me of what you would hear in a minimal-esque song). I'm not familiar enough with the genre to be able to describe it in detail, but it's good--what else do you need to know? Well, probably the addresses for his website and MySpace. And that you can buy Chris's song "Charge Me Up" on iTunes (and not just in the U.S. either--yet another thing to be praised! An artist who recognizes that his songs might have appeal beyond his own country and is willing to allow people elsewhere to purchase them legally! I think we need to rope Chris into giving some other artists some lectures about how things should be in music and music promotion).

Heinz Winckler's spiffy but slow new website now says that his album Moment Of Truth will be "in stores latest September 11." Is this the third release date pushback? "Another Day" has grown on me, though, so, worry about the other tracks notwithstanding ("Runaway Lover" has potential to grow, though), I'll probably end up getting the album, whenever it finally gets released.

Thierry Amiel (of France) has a new album due out this November and a single, "Coeur Sacre," out this month (he also has a new image, complete with stubble, not pictured here). You can listen to some of it at his official website. It's not very poppy (though, if you don't want to categorize it in that special genre for distinctively French music, it would probably fit best under the genre of pop), but I'm sort of liking it--it's got a very hushed delivery over an electronic backing. I've never gotten around to buying his whole first album and I'm still not sure how I'd feel about a whole album's worth of Thierry's songs, but I'm open to going either way on the issue--Thierry's at least got me listening.

Next up: convient that we ended with Thierry, because the next two days' posts will probably be about French artists. In a week or two weeks or so, I'm planning a huge special (at least four days, possibly more) about a certain boyband--hint: I've mentioned them here before, but never posted any of their songs.

aleksander denstad with matt willis aaron buckingham chris price heinz winckler thierry amiel

Let it out, tell me what you really mean

A hodge-podge post this evening, since I didn't get to put up part two of the Blue special until this afternoon.

Things you will no longer have to hear me rant about:

• Heinz Winckler. His official website has now been updated (even if it does take forever to load now), so I'll stop complaining about lack of official news from him (and stop posting random pictures, too). If I do decide to get his album, I'll probably post up a review of it, but that should be about it.
• Who Wants To Be A Superhero? The completely ridiculous yet incredibly funny television show has now ended (Feedback won--all is right with the world!), so no more offhanded references to it (until the movie version of it comes around...). Of course, there are a couple of reality TV singing competitions coming up, so a few mentions of those may slip in here and there.
  

However, you will probably hear a good deal about McFly and Anthony Callea when they get ready to release their next albums, so be prepared for that (though I will try to keep it to a minimum and do more "formal" posts). Oddly, even though I've preordered them, my enthusiasm for Clay Aiken and Jesse McCartney's next albums has diminished; hopefully, they'll restore my faith and you'll also get to hear about those (both come out on September 19).

In further random news, Abby from Poptext has returned; I had just started reading her site when she took her sabbatical, but in the meantime I've caught up on it--that is writing, you all. If you haven't visited Poptext before, you definitely should.

The had-disappeared MySpace page of Billy Phillips, who I wrote about a little while ago, has returned! Visit it here, though he only has one song up now ("Only In My Dreams").

I mentioned Alex Vargas a few days ago and, though I was originally planning to wait to post this until I had a high quality version for you all, I've decided it's too good a song to hold onto any longer, below-average audio quality or not.

Diamonds In The Dirt--mid-tempo pop-rock with a piano, but that doesn't begin to get across the nature of this track. I might be crazy, but I think this has chart potential--at least, I hope it does. It's not the sort of track you're going to get all giggly and excited about (if you're ever the type to giggle), because it's more serious than that, but it's a bit moving and a bit sweeping and definitely more than a bit good. Writing inspiration is lacking tonight, so I'll just really recommend you listen to it.

As before, here is his MySpace and keep on the lookout for his EP, whenever it is released.

Up next: the three-day special on the only Turkish singer I know anything about--unless I decide to push it back a week.

alex vargas

In case anyone was wondering where Clay Aiken's hairstyle had gone to...

...apparently Heinz Winckler has stolen it.

(Keep in mind I like both of those artists, so that's not meant to be snarky.)

(Source)

It seems the release date for Heinz's Moment of Truth album has been moved back to September 4. I've yet to find a site selling it that will ship outside of South Africa, but if you do live there, you will eventually be able to order it here.

This is the cover artwork for it. I can't see that logo without thinking of the Hogwarts crest and the logo for the band in School of Rock.

I swear I don't usually think this much about pictures, but when you don't give me anything else to go off of, Heinz (your website is still advertising your tour with Phixx!), this is where my mind is going to go.

Music later today!

heinz winckler

Gonna take you in a new direction

Just a random conglomeration of songs today, united by being from already famous artist's MySpace sites and not being whole high-quality songs (they're either incomplete or lower than CD quality). There are a bunch of MySpace artists I want to introduce at some point, but they're not the focus of today's post...with one exception.

Jesse McCartney is making a rather quick reappearance on this blog. With his album due to released on September 19 (the same day as Clay Aiken's), it's about time we got at least an idea of what another song on his album (besides "Right Where You Want Me") sounds like. This MySpace site is streaming a minute-long clip of "We Can Go Anywhere", but, if you don't want to go to the site or would prefer to save the clip, you can go here. If you've heard his past material and his current single, this song won't surprise you much. It's unclear whether this song is for the album or the soundtrack to Keith, a movie Jesse starred in, though it is listed on an unconfirmed Right Where You Want Me tracklisting.

I love Heinz Winckler's music. I really do. But this upcoming third album, Moment Of Truth, is really starting to worry me. The lead single, "Another Day," is all right, but I'm not madly in love with it. His MySpace site is streaming three other songs from his album, and I can't say I'm really impressed by any of them. At this rate, I might not even end up buying the album! Maybe they sound a lot better in high quality? ...I think I'm making excuses. Please, Heinz, post a song I really love on your MySpace so I have a reason to look forward to the album! I really want to.

Here's the exception to the "already famous" guideline for today's post: Switch 22. They were on Zappin' It To Ya yesterday and, since I'm quite upset with Son Of Dork for being rude to them, they deserve all the publicity they can get. I really like "Electric Girl" (I don't know if this is CD quality, but it is higher quality than you'd think from the first couple of seconds)--they almost sound like Phixx in a couple of parts, which is a good thing. If you like their music, you can visit their MySpace or their very well-designed official site.

You can preorder Jesse McCartney's new album, Right Where You Want Me, here and, if you happen to live in South Africa, you can preorder Heinz Winckler's new album, Moment Of Truth, here.

Thanks to The Goggles Do Nothing for linking to me; I started reading that site for its Eurovision coverage and really like it (plus, she likes Project Runway and the amazing Who Wants To Be A Superhero?, which may be my favorite TV show this year).

Next up: I was originally also going to write about Jim Verraros today, but I found a couple of older songs by him, so he'll probably get his own post again at some point. Tomorrow might be a couple of songs by some young male artists, one who's been mentioned by me before and one who hasn't.

jesse mccartney heinz winckler switch 22

I have broken my wings flying for you

If I was to make a list, in no particular order, of my favorite Idols, it would probably look like this (Kelly Clarkson should probably be on it, but constant exposure to her here in the U.S. means that I don't get as hugely excited about her anymore): the amazing top 3 from the first Pop Idol, Will Young, Gareth Gates, and Darius; Clay Aiken; Anthony Callea; and today's artist, Heinz Winckler. For someone whose music I love so much, I don't know that much about Heinz. He won the first season of Idols in South Africa and at some point attempted to launch a career in Europe, though, since I can't find any information about the results of that attempt, it can't have gone well. I think I remember reading somewhere that he got engaged recently. He's released two albums so far and was also featured on the South African version of the Treasure Planet soundtrack (with "Chasing Shadows," which, based on this really low-quality clip, sounds very pretty). There's a really noticeable change between the two albums. The first, One Step Closer, is happier, more of an instant pleasure; the second, Come Alive, is not as happy and has more minimal backing instrumentation, but it truly is gorgeous.

Once In A Lifetime--Heinz's debut single. It's a mid-tempo pop song, sort of boppy, and very happy sounding; it's not a power ballad, unlike most Idol winner debuts. It's sort of on the cheesy side, but then, I love my cheesy pop.

Angel--the best ballad from Heinz's first album. It's an atypical ballad for an Idol singer as, once again, it's not a power ballad. It's beautiful and incredibly sad and delicate-sounding. I can't help feeling like it's part of a story and wanting to more about what happened and what's going to happen next. The backing accompaniment is pretty minimal; I imagine it sounds amazing live.

Never Got Over You--Moving back towards happier-sounding songs, this is another mid-tempo affair with some priceless "oooo-oooo-oooo"'s. Yes, it's about wanting back someone who's no longer with you, but there's hope in "Never Got Over You," which prevents it from sounding sad.

Drowning Me--this is from Heinz's second album, the style of which "Angel" seems to have been hinting at, though this song is more melodic. It's a ballad, I guess, also with minimal instrumentation. The chorus here is the best part--it's got some interesting note changes--along with the quiet "waves crashing over me"'s. It's unusual-sounding at those points, but in the best possible way.

Thank You--also from Heinz's second album. It's more mid-tempo, but it doesn't have the bouncy, happy energy of his first album's songs. This song is also unusual sounding, especially in the chorus. Heinz's style really is unusual for an Idol contestant; I know I've said that a lot, but each song reminds me of it. The change-ups in notes and the style overall is unusual, not typical pop, and the surprising minimalism works really well. That's true for all of Come Alive--the album almost remind me of what one might expect at a live performance, but I love it. The chorus of "Thank You," like in "Drowning Me," is what really makes the song.

"Another Day," the lead single from Heinz's third album, Moment Of Truth (to be released in late August, last I heard, though it might have gotten pushed back), is on the radio right now; you can listen to it at this MySpace page (I'm not sure if it's his official one or not, but it does have the song). He's apparently gone in the pop-rock direction, or at least added more guitars. I do like the new song, though it's not about to become my favorite song of his anytime soon (I think I may sort of miss his old sound, but I'll wait to hear the whole album before truly judging).

I really can't say enough good things about Heinz; the songs I've presented here can't really give you a full appreciation for him. I wouldn't say he's one of the artists whose whole CD you have to listen to to fully appreciate it, but, to really understand how amazing he is, I think you probably need to hear at least five songs off of each of his CDs...so, he'll probably be reappearing at some point in this blog. In fact, I'm already planning on using him at some point for a sort of "versus" feature that I'm tentatively planning, comparing the same song sung by two different artists; I just recently discovered that the fun "Someday, Someway" from his first album (which I was considering using for this post) is actually a cover of a Marshall Crenshaw song (I know, it takes me a while to realize these things; I don't know my pop history very well).

To buy Heinz Winckler's first album, One Step Closer, go here; for his second album, Come Alive, you can go here. I really, really recommend them.

Next up: moving beyond Idol, probably a bit of early 2000's pop, focused around one (famous) singer but not intended to be comprehensive about her.

heinz winckler south africa idols