The Strange Case of Matthew Chisling and Mr. Hyde

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Mon, 19 Nov 2012 10:13:55 -0500

Digital Greats: Who to look out for in 2013: Olly Murs

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 00:35:54 -0400

Digital Greats: Who to look out for in 2013: Olly Murs:

For many UK pop stars, breaking out in the US can be their hardest market. This is even more true for the young pop names, who struggle to make the transition to the US stage because of the oversaturation of the American market as it is. I’d go ahead and venture to say that this is even…

From my other blog!

Digital Greats: The Intersection of Sports and Music, Kelly Clarkson, Pepsi, and the Dallas Cowboys

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 20:55:50 -0400

Digital Greats: The Intersection of Sports and Music, Kelly Clarkson, Pepsi, and the Dallas Cowboys:

digitalgreats:

On August 13th, Pepsi announced that they would be starting a new project known as the Pepsi Anthems series. For this series, Pepsi invited fans of the biggest sports teams in the NFL to compose and perform team-specific anthems for the teams they love. However, the fans that composed the…

100 New Songs You Should Hear: #20, Jessie J ft. David Guetta, "LaserLight"

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:59:57 -0500

Jessie J has had a mammoth first year front-and-center in the pop spotlight. Her debut album “Who You Are” has sparked some pretty massive songs including “Do it Like A Dude”, “Price Tag” and the album’s title track - enough so that the powers-that-be decided to re-release her album in a deluxe form. One of the tracks on the “Who You Are” re-issue is “Laser Light”, a collaboration with french DJ David Guetta, who featured the young British pop-hop artist on his latest album “Nothing But The Beat”. The collaboration that I am featuring on my list of new songs to hear is called “LaserLight”. Artistically, it is arguably a track that is a bit more Guetta than it is, well, J, but nonetheless, Jessie’s criminally good voice rips through this dance record as if she was trying to put the biggest dance diva’s to shame. And, as she calls out to her music partner halfway through the track and the song drops, you realize you are listening to a really cool, killer dance record that is sure to do damage in the clubs. Enjoy this one!

Listen to the song (with lovely cheesy lyrics) right here!

100 New Songs You Should Hear: #19, Dia Frampton, "Billy The Kid"

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 12:26:17 -0500

When “The Voice” aired last spring, I had pegged twenty-four year-old Dia Frampton to win the whole competition. With her mesmerizing arrangements of hits by R.E.M, Kanye West, and more, Frampton had perpetually won over the public, including earning top-of-the-chart downloads of some of her strongest number. Now, just six months later, she has released a studio album, Red, just in time for Christmas. Having earned positive reviews, Red has been praised for its combination of Frampton’s signature acoustic-pop, country, and just a hint of dance music to make her one of the most accessible new artists of 2011.

Today’s hot new song to hear is “Billy the Kid”, a co-written number with Mark Foster (of Foster the People) and Isom Innis, and while fans of Dia’s may be surprised to hear this track on her new album, they’re bound to love it. Frampton’s galactic number recounting the tale of a rogue hero is about as entertaining as this album gets - its swooping bell-clad chorus is completely radio-ready, and Frampton’s voice, her trump card, manages to retain its purity despite the lush, layered chorus. While Dia may have lost the Voice title to Javier Colon, her debut album is much more complex, interesting, and ultimately, marketable.

Listen to “Billy The Kid” here!

100 New Songs You Should Hear: #18, The Overtones, "Sh-Boom (Life Could Be A Dream)"

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 19:29:00 -0500

The Overtones are definitely not limited to British success. The UK fivesome originally started their musical careers as singing painters, often crooning old-school hits during their lunch breaks. However, after being discovered by a talent scout literally off the street, the group got signed to a multi-record deal with Warner Bros, and proceeded to do what they did best - create some absolutely masterful harmonic covers of some doo-wop classics.

Behold, a song from the Overtones debut album Good Ol’ Fashioned Love, released earlier this year. The song I am featuring today is “Sh-Boom (Life Could Be A Dream)”, a doo-wop classic commonly covered but never as refreshingly as it has been done by this group. The Overtones are rocking some truly delicious harmonies on their debut, and the proof is no more evident than it is on this track. For fans of the original versions of this track, take a moment to recognize what a lovely revival it has had with a young, fun group that can make it into an Adult Contemporary #1 today if they wanted to.

Listen to the single here!

100 New Songs You Should Hear: #17, One Direction, "Tell Me A Lie"

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:10:57 -0500

Later this week, should you follow my AllMusic career at all, you will see that I have covered the One Direction album in full detail, but for now, allow me to entertain you all with a song from this undeniably fun pop album.

One Direction placed in third last year on the UK series of the X-Factor. Though they were unable to beat winner Matt Cardle in terms of votes, in terms of commercial success they have already very much done so, smoking the winner in terms of fans and album sales. Their debut album, Up All Night, is a ridiculously entertaining album. Musically speaking, it falls somewhere between a The Saturdays record and a Kelly Clarkson circa 2009 record. As you can imagine, everything is chorally driven and very bubblegum. Guilty pleasure material at its best.

The track I am featuring here is “Tell Me A Lie”, a track that certain Kelly Clarkson fans might know because she wrote it. She recorded it as a demo that was unfortunately leaked - and, upon hearing so, decided to not release it on her Stronger album and gave it to this British five-some instead, who turned it into a pillow-fight worthy teen pop smash. Listen to it here!

100 New Songs You Should Hear: #16, Haley Reinhart & Casey Abrams, "Baby It's Cold Outside"

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 11:51:46 -0500

A Christmas treat to get us in the mood!

Haley Reinhart and Casey Abrams were two of the season ten finalists on the hit FOX TV show American Idol - He placed sixth, she was the second runner-up. Shortly after the show’s end, Reinhart was picked up by Interscope, the company that signed Idol-10 winner, Scotty McCreery.

Though no original material has surfaced from Reinhart’s album yet - it’s scheduled to start being pushed in January - the creatives at Interscope have smartly decided to allow her to release a Christmas record, to remind fans of the raspy, luscious voice that Reinhart possesses.

For her Christmas release, “Baby It’s Cold Outside”, she enlisted the help of Abrams, who, though currently unsigned, was a fan favorite thanks to his goofy charm and spectacular jazz voice. The result of this duet is a Christmas track that is breezy, sexy, and ultimately, charismatic.

Reinhart and Abrams have sizzling chemistry when they sing. Her too-cool-for-you cooing on this record blends perfectly with Abrams’ singing, and the fact that these two artists had so much chemistry while on the Idol stage only helps them on this record. This is the same song that has won over fans forever, however sung by two early 20-somethings in a truly playful way.

This is a really fun Christmas record, and one totally worth downloading!

You can watch the video for it here

100 New Songs You Should Hear: #15, The Anser, "TimeStopper"

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 12:31:00 -0500

You may recall The Anser as being one of Paula Abdul’s top eight group acts on the first season of U.S X-Factor earlier this fall. While the threesome from Utah failed to make it to the live shows, they were unanimously praised up until their point of elimination - which, ultimately, suggests that the band did have something special going for them.

While often bands eliminated from these shows are often ignored, I found myself strangely drawn to this group’s sound, which led me to stumble upon one of two songs that the band has freely distributed to fans directly from their own site. “TimeStopper”, which is the song that is playing as you enter the band’s site page, is a surprisingly professional, polished piece of “organic power pop”, the branded sound of this brand. Credit must be given on the genre classification of this song, since the tune truly is one part club-dance, one part mainstream pop, without sounding too “tweener” - where the track fails to fall into a proper genre. The chorus rocks an unforgettable hook when band member Grey chants out “you’re a timestopper-er-er-er-er-er-er-er-er”, effectively forcing this piece of tune into your head for the remainder of the day. All in all, its proof that even without professional support, talented bands with talented vocalists and creative ideas can produce truly fresh music in any genre, and with any luck, The Anser will be a band that in a short while from now, you’ll hear on the radio and think, “I recognize those voices”.

How Simon Cowell Set Up Melanie Amaro for the X-Factor USA Win

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 11:11:00 -0400

Contrary to what Simon Cowell may have said at her audition, Melanie Amaro was probably not what the producers had in mind when they brought the X-Factor over to the United States. The television program, from the get-go, was suffering a major identity crisis: Namely, it could not be seen as another copy of American Idol, or even worse, the newly popular The Voice: the latter of which it bears extremely strong similarities to. Because America already has two strong, successful music competitions, Cowell’s X-Factor program needed to bring something else to the table.

While many fans have scoffed at some of the choices that were made in the selection process for the X-Factor, I for one can see why Simon and his crew - Paula Abdul, L.A. Reid and Nicole Scherzinger - have picked the contestants they have. Rather than pick the strongest vocal contenders who can croon Motown hits and pop classics - Caitlin Koch, Elaine Gibbs, 4Shore, I’m looking at you - the judges put through big, aesthetically interesting personalities with voices that range anywhere from solid to spectacular. And, while no one could ever say that Simone Battle had more vocal talent than Tora Woloshin, what Simone has is that golden pop-star look, ambition, and all-together presence that would make her a contemporary pop-star. Battle is the kind of lady that could be on a Nicki Minaj track, and in her videos. She’s the kind of woman this show wants to win with.

Melanie Amaro, however, threw a wrench in this plan. The modest 19-year old, who showed up to her first audition with shoulder-length brown hair and wearing a sparkly mid-length tank dress and leggings, didn’t necessarily scream pop-star off the bat, the way the four all-American beauties of Lakoda Rayne did, for example. However, when asked if she could sing, Melanie sharply replied with a “I guess you’ll find out”, and then proceeded to get the entire 4000+ audience on their feet with an absolutely riveting performance of Beyonce’s “Listen”. In two minutes of singing, Amaro had all four judges on their feet, Nicole Scherzinger in tears, and L.A. Reid declaring that leaving his job as a music mogul was worth it to discover Amaro.

Throughout her auditions, the bootcamp rounds, and her stint in France with Cowell, Amaro has presented herself to be pure class - maybe even too much so. While contestants like Tiah Tolliver started upping their sass and bringing in drama, Amaro started to fade by simply not presenting enough of a dynamic personality. And, even though she slayed her rendition of “Will You Be There” by Michael Jackson for Cowell, he ultimately decided that she was not going to get a spot in his top four, picking Tolliver, Battle, Rachel Crow and Drew Ryniewicz. It would appear that Amaro, as pristinely talented as she was as a vocalist, might not have had the popstar vibe that Cowell wanted: therefore, he picked saucier acts who could potentially provoke a bigger spark on the liveshow stage. A crushed Amaro was seen sobbing on the phone with her mom, and Cowell was shown hating his own decision the moment he gave her the news.

Now, the editing of this show has already proven itself to be quite dodgy, but as the evening pans out, Cowell is show, on camera (surprise), to be doubting his decision. He “calls” the other three judges, who unanimously agree that he has made a critical error in sending Amaro home. No reason is given as to why, but Cowell basically decides he is going to Florida to pull her back into the competition. So, while each of the other sixteen contestants is given a smiling congratulations in a 30-second segment, Amaro gets the last five minutes of the show to herself and her family, with Cowell informing them in person, that this time, “[he] won’t let her down”.

Call it a hunch, but I think Simon has decided that he is going to push Amaro to become the winner of this competition.

Amaro’s audition has had over 4.8 million views, spread out over a few links. That’s much more than what contestants like teen wonders Crow and Ryniewicz, or vocal masterclass Stacy Francis have had. In fact, aside from Chris Rene, she has had the most views - and the best buzz. When Amaro was cut, fans ripped into Cowell on various social networking sites, blasting him for picking Crow, Battle and Tolliver over Amaro. When the situation was remedied just ten minutes later, fans were riled up but now happy that their underdog Melanie was a competitor again.

Now, Melanie is poised to be both the dark horse and the frontrunner at the same time. This is for two key reasons. First, she is in what is undisputedly the best category in the competition: it didn’t matter who Cowell picked out of his eight ladies to take to the live shows - any combination of them would be better than L.A’s too-green boys, Nicole’s questionably picked Overs, or Paula’s horribly manufactured and juvenile groups. However, within her own category, she has no competition. Battle and Tolliver will compete against each other for that urban, sexy starlet image, while Crow and Ryniewicz, simply because of their 13 and 14-year old ages, will fight for a younger market. Amaro is the only one who can sing to the everyman, who can step up and be the X-Factor’s Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood. And while some have her competing in a way against 42-year old mom Stacy Francis, Francis’ maturity and Amaro’s youth element will keep fans voting for the one they’ll want to hear on the radio - and while Amaro’s voice is perfectly radio-ready, Francis’ is more dramatic and theatrical, in a way that suggests she might not be a radio star so much as a Broadway dream. The second reason why Amaro is poised to now win the competition is that she is essentially anti-Cowell - that is, her winning, or succeeding in this competition now suggests that Simon “got it wrong” and that she is fighting back. From here on out, she will be the girl who is proving SIMON wrong. This is a huge selling point with fans - when Cowell turned to Kelly Clarkson and said that he couldn’t really remember her, she set out to prove him wrong, and it won her over a massive following of fans. In addition to all this, since we know that “the other judges” were mad at Cowell for sending her home, there’s no way they will send her home during the voting rounds where the Judges have say. I think a spot in the finale is damn near inevitable for Amaro.

There are some broad-stroke concerns that are still at hand, however I suspect that Cowell will fix those up when he fully steps in as her mentor: If we look at her makeover photo above, its more than obvious that Amaro cleans up to look like a popstar quite easily: her homespun look was just the effect of a modest upbringing, not a lack of personality or pizzazz. As for her slight matured song choices, I suspect Cowell will fix those too, like The X-Factor UK did for Alexandra Burke, season five winner.

Melanie Amaro has had fans listening and rooting for her from the beginning, and Cowell’s cut-and-reselect strategy simply resolidified her place as the deserving frontrunner in this competition. He did her a tremendous favor by reminding the fans all too clearly that she is the brightest star in the competition right now. The show goes live this week, and fans are buzzing harder about her than anyone else. I suspect it will stay that way right until finale night.

Good luck Miss Amaro.

100 New Songs You Should Hear: #14, Vanessa Amorosi, "Amazing"

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 07:10:00 -0400

Vanessa Amorosi, as an artist, may still be a stranger to the US market. However, her presence in Australia has been utterly massive for over a decade. She’s had a string of mega-albums under her belt, much thanks to her two marked artistic positions: When she was a teen, she was a pop starlet adored by millions. After some time off, she came back feeling like with a electrified hot-P!nk aesthetic - both sounds worked well for Amorosi, whose got a wickedly expansive and thrilling voice. No matter what she’s singing, she commands audience attention.

Amorosi is set to release her fourth studio album, V, on the 11th of November. “Amazing” is the second single from that album, and the focus of this piece. “Amazing” is a more muted record by Amorosi - and, if you’ve never heard of her before clicking through this link, you’ll be cautious to agree that she’s being subtle - however what’s so nice about this single is that it shows a maturing Amorosi properly managing her musical career. Rather than attempt to subject her style to necessarily cater to a younger audience, Amorosi invokes the best styles of artists like Alanis Morisette to create a smooth track that’s as much commercial as it is adult-contemporary. Its melodic chorus makes it singable, replayable, and thoroughly sunny. If you can appreciate a breezy recording by a truly talented vocalist, then I suggest you listen through at this link here.

As always, let me know what you think!

What Rhythmix Did Right in Week One of UK X-Factor

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 10:27:00 -0400

Rhythmix: Jade, Leigh-Anne, Perrie and Jesy

I have a guilty confession - on almost every season of the UK X-Factor, I shamelessly fall in love with a girl group that always bows out too early. This may simply be because of my affinity to the Spice Girls - and Girls Aloud, and the Sugababes, and the Saturdays - however my heart always breaks as, traditionally on the X-Factor, girl groups do notoriously poorly: This is because, quite frankly, in my opinion, they are often quite dodgily mentored, and often positioned as Cheryl Cole or Amelle wannabes, and tend to lack both performance chemistry and artistry.

However, as head judge Gary Barlow pointed out in last Saturday’s episode, we are week one into series eight of the show, and this year’s girl band is already the best one to ever be on the show.

The four members of Rhythmix did not have an easy start on the X-Factor: Jesy, Perry, Leigh-Anne and Jade were all cut from the Girls category and then placed into two separate groups for Bootcamp: However, both of those groups were then cut right before Judges’ Houses. When the girls thought their dreams were cut for a second time, judges Barlow, Tulisa, Kelly Rowland and Louis Walsh offered them a lifeline to leave their cut groups behind and form a new foursome. The result was a girl group called Rhythmix that, before their audition at Tulisa’s home in Greece, had never performed together.

Cut to less than a month later and the girls are receiving standing ovations from judges and being dubbed the best girl group in the UK’s largest TV program’s history. I think it’s worth looking into what went so right for these ladies:

In week one, the ladies, under the mentorship of Tulisa, performed Nicki Minaj’s “Super Bass” for the UK public, clad in a cohesive wardrobe of denim tops, high-waisted shorts, luscious red locks, and golden leggings. The combination of the high-octane vocal and candy-coated hip-hop aesthetic worked brilliantly for these ladies. “Super Bass” was a brilliant song choice because of its notoriously infectious chorus that is easily performable even in motion - and the reworking of the song to give it an even more powerful punch further magnified this. Furthermore, the styling of these ladies during their performance suggested that they weren’t trying to mimic Minaj’s style of showing off curves - their decision to dress like they were self-styled at H&M gives the teenage girls a younger feel. With girl groups, specifically British ones, it’s always fifty percent performance and fifty percent style. By taking a familiar song and “popping it up” a bit both in performance and presentation, they made the song feel fresh - even though it was on the radio forever in 2011.

Ultimately, what Rhythmix is doing best in the competition is positioning themselves as entirely different from the other girl groups of both X-Factor and the United Kingdom’s music industry: Unlike 2 Shoes, the group eliminated on Sunday’s elimination episode who had performed “Something Kinda Ooh” by Girls Aloud, Rhythmix took a much more Americanized approach and brought it home to their audience. By clearly stepping away from pop groups that the UK loved, they have put themselves into territory in the UK dominated by solo artists: While Jessie J, Lady Sovereign and Cher Lloyd all have clout in the UK, there isn’t a group equivalent. Rhythmix has an opportunity to build fans exponentially by building on their pop-hop vibe - I suspect that, with the mentorship of Tulisa, they’ll have at least a few weeks to do so. I don’t know if the girls will go all the way yet - but I know that they definitely have the power to, and deserve to, be the best ranked girl group in X-Factor history.

Check out their performance and see for yourself - let me know what you think!

100 New Songs You Should Hear: #13, Melanie C, "One By One"

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 09:17:00 -0400

I assume that when I place the name Melanie C in the title of this new song many of my American and Canadian followers might wonder where the former Spice Girl has been for the past decade. Sporty has actually had a massive career in Europe as a solo artist, with number one songs in a variety of countries. “One By One” is a track off of her fifth studio album as a solo artist, entitled The Sea. I make a point to show off this track not because it’s her most ravenous or exuberant track - but its the most earnest, soulful one off this album, and for an artist at this point in her career, its the direction she should be moving in. Please head over to iTunes or Spotify to get a listen to this midtempo smash - you won’t regret it!

100 New Songs You Should Hear: #12, Jack and White, "Double Trouble"

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 10:36:17 -0400

Jack and White is a new musical duo composed of Jack Matranga and Brooke White, the fifth-place finalist on American Idol season seven. White was working on music for her sophomore album with Matranga, and discovered that their collaborations were the best music she was producing these days. The creation of the duo didn’t so much spark a shift in White’s musical aesthetic: she’s already proven herself the master of sunny California guitar rock. However, the addition of Matranga makes Jack and White a more interesting and developed sound than when either of them performs solo - and their collaborations are truly melt-in-your-mouth yummy. Download “Double Trouble”, a song formerly a free single on iTunes, for a glance at what’s to come from this duo!

You can also listen to the full track at this link!

100 New Songs You Should Hear: #11, Patina Miller, "Too Tired"

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:04:00 -0400

This one is for showtunes fans. I know I got some of you out there.

Patina Miller can be seen on stage eight times a week when she performs in the starring role of Deloris Van Cartier in Sister Act: The Musical on Broadway. Before she played, and opened, the role on Broadway, she opened the role in London as well, earning her theatre nominations – including a TONY nomination – for the role all around the world. Before she started embodying Deloris, however, Miller was an aspiring vocalist with a beautifully expansive range and a voice oozing with passion and panache.

Many aspiring and developing songwriters in the musical theatre world often call upon their theatrical connections to help make some of their work more legitimate in the eyes of the industry. Case in point, Verity Quade and Rob Archibald’s collection of penned stand-alone songs from musicals entitled Scrapbook: The Music of Verity Quade and Rob Archibald. Quade and Archibald have put out an album of music that they have written as sample pieces for various musicals, and drafted names like Miller’s to record the vocals.

The song I am featuring today is “Too Tired”, a track that Miller recorded for this compilation album. As a fan of great theatrical music, I have to say I was wickedly impressed with this number. Miller makes every riff and coo sound so effortless, and the track is both subtle and standout at the same time. If you enjoy a great showstopper, this song is for you!

This track can be downloaded at both iTunes and Amazon MP3.

Rest in Peace, Amy Winehouse

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:02:00 -0400

It’s taken me a couple of days to swallow my sadness regarding the death of Amy Winehouse, who passed on July 23rd 2011 of an apparent drug overdose. I got the news sitting and eating lunch while scanning iTunes for some new music. There was no reason to keep searching - I put Winehouse on instead and am still exclusively listening to her.

I remember when I discovered Amy Winehouse for myself back in January 2007 - I was wandering around my local HMV hunting for a new sound when I saw the Back to Black album near the cash for only $7.99. The store was touting her as a British import worth considering, so I plucked up the discount disc and brought it to the cash.

I didn’t open the disc for a few days. Winehouse was still no household name in Canada, and wouldn’t be for another few months. Finally, I opened the disc and popped it into my computer to rip. I took a listen to a couple of tracks and was immediately taken aback by her voice. There’s no comparing what she was capable of to anyone else - a single voice blessed by Dinah Washington, Lauryn Hill, Macy Gray, Ray Charles, and Otis Redding all in one was more than enough for me to abandon other music I was listening to at the time - Daughtry, Beyonce, Sugarland, in favor of little Amy. I’d spend time working on school assignments casually listening to tracks by Winehouse, and by this time I had already acquired Frank, though that disc often was simply part of my catalogue.

In full knowledge that I am nowhere near the first to say this, let me say that there just was something absolutely, most magically different about Back to Black, not even just as an album, but as a portal into one of the most hauntingly twisted cultural assemblances created by a musician. Winehouse had self-penned all these tracks, and had in just 34 minutes of music taken her listeners on a beautiful roller coaster. Only Amy could make a effervescent pop hook out of her own lack of desire to be saved on “Rehab”, and just six minutes later rip into a doubter about her relationship with a man on “Me and Mr. Jones”. A mere seven minutes after that, she’s relapsing into misery because she’s been abandoned on “Back to Black”, then she’s holding a (questionable) head high on “Tears Dry on Their Own”.

The most magical part of Winehouse’s music was that every emotion and theme drawn out on this album played out for her in real life. In the four short years that her life was covered in tragic snapshots, the 27-year old British singer experienced critics who questioned her lack of rehabilitation, who doubted and mocked her relationship with ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil. Top that off with fans watching Winehouse slipping into greater despair as her husband went off to jail and she got divorced, followed by a series of Grammy wins for her album, and then a perpetual series of is-she-isn’t-she clean articles and news reports until the time of her death. At the time she passed, the press had stopped consuming her entire life, which, depending on how you look at it, was probably for the best.

I remember the first time when the boy I loved broke my heart. It was August 2007, and I remember sitting on a six hour bus-ride home from middle-of-nowhere America with him in the seat two rows over. My options were limited to talking to him or trying to pass out with headphones in. I chose the latter, and as much as I tried to let the Shuffle gods put on an uplifting track for me, I was smacked in the face with a demo version of “Love is a Losing Game”. The demo version, which you can listen to at the end of this tribute, is the rawest recording I’ve ever heard from Amy, but it’s also a personal favorite. In just four minutes Winehouse is able to make the heart melt with lyrics like “Why do I wish I never played/Oh, what a mess we’ve made/And now the final frame/Love is a losing game”. Listening to this track in that moment, looking at my lost game while listening to a woman who you knew genuinely embodied the exact sentiment on the recording was too much: It was the most powerful moment that music has ever shaped for me. And, at the end of the track, when Amy and the sole guitar have stopped weaving together a masterpiece, she asks into the mic “is that alright?”

That was always the best part of Back to Black, and Amy Winehouse - she never let you think she was too good for anyone. Her music was as much therapy for her as it was for her fans. And, though she may have moved on, her music will serve as musical therapy, and as the basis for contemporary music appreciation. No artist of the new millenium has gone anywhere near as far as Amy has gone with just one brilliant album, and it’s unlikely that anyone will come close for a while. She has left a legacy, one that is as heartbreaking as it is magical.

Rest in peace Amy Winehouse. Your fans will never get over losing you.

Tracks:

- “Rehab” - Official Video

- “Back to Black” - Official Video

- “Me & Mr. Jones” - Audio

- “Love is a Losing Game” - Demo Audio

Catching up with Platinum Hit's Jackie Tohn - Interview by Me, Matt Chisling

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 10:44:11 -0400

Catching up with Platinum Hit's Jackie Tohn - Interview by Me, Matt Chisling

100 New Songs You Should Hear: #10, Pia Toscano, "This Time"

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 16:59:41 -0400

Pia Toscano is currently on tour with nine of her other finalists, and if you were to “play by the rules” of Idol, she should be of 9th most importance seeing as she was eliminated in 9th place on the most recent series of American Idol. Toscano’s elimination was a shocker though, as many people thought she might win the whole competition. Because of that, the hands-that-manage the Idol tour this summer are giving her more than enough attention. Not to mention, she snagged the best record deal of all twelve Idol finalists, signing with Interscope records and releasing her first post-Idol single before any other finalist.

All this to say, her debut single, “This Time”, is a real storm of a track. No one can doubt that Toscano has just one of the most riveting voices to come out of a female vocalist in years, and producer Brian Kennedy has not failed to notice that. This single is something that a young Celine Dion would have released as a first single should her career have started in 2011 - It’s got Toscano soaring over a strumming guitar and a wash of synths with a wicked hook and a fun chorus. It’s a terrific kiss-off song for anyone who loves a good shower-screaming song!

Listen to the single here!

Download a Youtube/Soundcloud tune.

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 16:10:04 -0400

Download a Youtube/Soundcloud tune.

And who said Katy Perry can’t sing?

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 10:14:36 -0400

And who said Katy Perry can’t sing?