This week Same Difference have made their return to pop music with the release of their new single `Shine On (Photo Frame)`
This is your chance to help give them the hit they deserve because they have a new album on the back burner and let me tell you… the album is AMAZING and you are definitely going to want to hear it! But before you can you need to support the single!
The song is available on iTunes international and you can download it now from almost anywhere in the world!
I always look forward to the times that I can post about a Canadian artist since it’s quite rare that a Canadian artist can achieve success here with the kind of music that I would post about here.
Back in 2002 when pop music was still dominating the charts Shawn Desman released 2 top 10 singles and both music videos hit number 1 making him an instant star across the country. He continued to stay in the spotlight when his second albumwas released in 2005 and spawned a number 1 radio hit and 3 more top 10 singles. Things were quiet for awhile as Shawn signed to a new record label and started work on his 3rd album.
Earlier this year the first single was released – ‘Shiver’ and the second single was just released.
Shawn Desmans videos have become quite popular and it’s a trend he continued with the ‘Shiver’ video.
Is it just me or does everything RedOne touches turn to gold? What exactly is it about Sweden that produces such amazing song writers and producers?
If you haven’t heard the name RedOne you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years because his star has been rising steadily since 2005 when he produced Darins “Step Up.” From here things started to get interesting as he started writing and producing for Kat DeLuna, Sugababes, Shayne Ward, Backstreet Boys, Mika, Pizie Lott, Enrique Iglasias, Alexandra Burke and is also responsible for helping launch Lady Gagas career into the stratosphere.
One of the first RedOne songs I ever fell with was Darins “Breathing Your Love” duet with Kat DeLuna. This was the first time I had ever actually even heard of Kat DeLuna and as much as I loved the song I never really went out of my way to discover who she was… but that is about to change.
Turns out Kat DeLuna has been around the block for awhile. Her debut album was actually produced by RedOne and was released back in 2007 to mediocre success in the US thanks to her club hit ‘Whine Up.” Since then she’s spent a lot of time promoting in the US and releasing new music, but until now she’s never been able to capture my attention like she did on the Darin track.
That is until now.
A few weeks ago a new track was leaked called “Everybody Dance” and this deserves to be her big break! It’s hard hitting, great to dance to and catchy as hell. It’s got all the ingredients for a perfect summer hit. It’s one of those songs that demands to be heard… it’s that good!
It doesn’t seem exactly clear on whether this is going to be a single or if it’s an old track that was just leaked. If it’s the latter then it makes you wonder how many other fantastic tracks are sitting on shelves somewhere collecting dust… never to be heard.
If I asked you who the best selling Norwegian act of all time is would you ever have guessed A-Ha? The band has been around since the early 80’s and has sold over 35 million albums and many of those came in the last 10 years as the band continues to release music.
Most North Americans might be surprised to hear that A-Ha is still around as not a lot has happened for them here since the early 90’s. In 1994 the band went on hiatus and it wasn’t until 1998 when the band was invited to perform at the Nobel Peace Concert that the band officially re-united and released “Minor Earth Major Sky” in 2000, marking a return to pop music. In the last 10 years they’ve released 4 hit albums and 15 singles! Although not one of those has been a hit in North America.
The band have spent the last 10 years promoting and touring extensively. It was announced late last year that after a world tour in 2010 the band would call it a day after the tour. The final show is scheduled for Dec. 4th 2010 and the band have released a goodbye single to mark the occasion.
‘Butterfly Butterfly’ (The Last Hurrah) is everything that I loved about A-Ha. The track is subtle and haunting. It’s the kind of song that makes you feel quite reflective and relaxed. I think it’s the perfect end to a fantastic career. I couldn’t imagine them ending with anything else.
Here’s to the last Hurrah! If you get a chance to check out the final tour definitely do so and shoot me a message to tell me about it!
A-Ha – Butterfly Butterfly
Here I am in sunny Oslo at the 55th Eurovision Song Contest which is my very first one and I have to admid that until now I never really understood what all the fuss was about. Sure I’ve always been aware of ESC but it’s always been a background knowledge and always been after each contest. Last year I actually watched online for the first time and after that it was a pretty easy decision to make to decide to travel to Oslo to experience it in person. Being imerssed in Eurovision madness for the last week has given me a better idea of what keeps this event one of the most watched television shows in the world each year.
Did you know that over 125 million people around the world watch Eurovision each year! In a time when record sales are dropping and the face of music is changing the Eurovision Song Contest is only growing each year. The 2009 contest saw it’s biggest ratings in over 50 years.
What makes Eurovision special and why are so many people so passionate about it? This years motto is ‘Share The Moment’ and if I was to try and explain the appeal of Eurovision in one sentence that would be it. Eurovision is a chance for anyone anywhere to come together no matter what country they’re from and no matter what background they are and take part in something special. Whether you’ve travelled to the host country to take part in the celebrations in person, you’re having a Eurovision Party at home or are streaming the contest live online… everyone is ‘Sharing The Moment’ rooting for their favorite song, displaying their national pride and choosing a winner.
As a fan from a non participating country where no one really even knows whta Eurovision is… the best way I can describe Eurovision to them is that it’s the Olympics of music. There really is something for everyone at the Eurovision song contest with 39 countries participating in 2010.
If you haven’t been following the madness this year you’ve been missing out as this has been one of the most suspenceful and exciting contests in some time! If we look back to last year Alexander Ryback represented Norway with ‘Fairytale’ a song he wrote and composed himself and it was clear from the start that Alexander would win the contest. But no one ever predicted that all of Europe could have come together so strongly to support his song. ‘Fairytale’ received votes from every country and broke the record for most points ever in the ESC with 387 Points; the previous record was the 292 points that Lordi won back in 2006.
Last year it was pretty clear from the start that Alexander Ryback would win and bring the contest to Norway in 2010 but no one could have predicted the landslide that occured. Alexander Rybacks participation helped drive the voting numbers to a record high of over 10 million votes!
Last year was my first time ever watching the Eurovision Song Contest live and as great as it was seeing the best song earn a landslide victory this year really is going to be a different story. Tonight at 9pm 25 songs will compete and this time there is no clear winner… it really is anyones game. In the weeks leading up to the contest a lot of time is spent speculating on the songs and putting together lists and odds on the favorites. As of today the answer to the question ”Who is this years favorite to win?” changes depending on who you ask. The biggest Eurovision fan site on the web, www.esctoday.com asked it’s fans to predict the top 10 and last year they correctly names 9 of the top 10 finalists! This year they say that Germany will win the contest with Azerbaijan and Turkey rounding out the top 3. Meanwhile most online betting agencies have Azerbaijan pegged as the winner. While it’s true that Azerbaijan and Germany have been the online favorites for most of the time leading up to the contest there is definitely no concensus here. The OGAE Fan oganization has polled it’s fan club members from each country and compiled the results and they have Denmark as the clear winner.
Part of the fun of Eurovision is being able to debate with fans over who will win and who will come in last place? Personally I think that while Azerbaijan and Germany definitely have a good chance, I feel like Greece, Belgium or Israel could easily create an upset. I predict that the suspense will be very high tonight as the votes are being tabulated.
So no matter where you are in the world… turn on your television or load up the stream at www.eurovision.tv, invite some friends over and ‘Share The Moment.’ Debate the performances, laugh at the ridiculous outfits, vote for your favorites and have a fun night.
So Melodifestivalen may be over and done but things are about to start getting exciting as the artists from this years competition start releasing their new albums. Lovestoned and Timoteij are next in line to release theirs and anticipation is extremely high for both of these!
Since Melodifestivalen ended I discovered a track that completely passed me by in the lead up to the competition. Turns out Andreas Johnson had released a new single prior to the contest called ‘Escape’ which was included on the ‘We Can Work It Out’ single. When I first heard it all I could think of was… why didn’t he enter this track instead!? The song isn’t ground breaking or anything but it’s catchy enough and it’s been getting solid rotation on my iPod since I found the remix!
So play this and imagine him singing this on the Melodifestivalen stage instead of the boring and lifeless ‘We Can Work It Out.’
Ladies and Gentleman please welcome back… Brian McFadden.
In what has become one of the biggest surprise comebacks in awhile Brian has revived his career with a revamped sound which has hit a nerve down under where the new single ‘If You Say So’ is riding atop the charts in Australia. This may sound like a bit of a surprise to fans in the Uk who haven’t heard much from McFadden since his debut album. But Brian had some success with his second album ‘Set In Stone’ which hit top 5 in Australia and since then has been focusing his efforts almost exclusively there.
This Friday his new album ‘Wall of Soundz’ will be released in Australia and this is an album you’re going to want to check out. The album is really a labor of love for McFadden who has spent the last year and a half working on the album. For me the album takes everything that I loved about his debut album and adds a modern twist of electro pop to give his sound a whole new kick.
This is an album you should seriously consider adding to your collection. Songs to check out include Sign Of The Times, Less Talk, Not Now and the duet – Mistakes with Delta Goodrem.
You can pre-order the Mp3 version of the album on his official site.
Finally… after 3 number 1 singles in Ireland one of the most exciting new acts to emerge in the last few years is preparing to launch their career in the Uk. The band is Industry and if you haven’t realized that you love them yet this is your chance to catch up.
They’ve relased 4 singles to date and proved that they can sing absolutely anything. And now the band is enlisting their fans to help them with their next single choice. 2 one minute clips have been relased and fans can give feedback on which song they want released in the Uk.
Your choices are Drown In The Music and Kill The DJ. Both songs offer a new club friendly vibe and both songs are FANTASTIC!
What do you think?
Drown In The Music
Kill The DJ
Leave your vote in the comments.
Imagine this… The first Semi-Final at Melodifestivalen. The lights dim and the spotlight hits the stage as a familiar face begins to sing. It’s “Velvet’ back for 2010 after ‘The Queen’ failed to make it to the finals in 2009… then a second spotlight hits the stage and the one and only Linda Bengtzing steps onto the stage singing in English for the first time at Melodifestivalen! The two stars have come together for a one of a kind duet called ‘Victorious!’
Wouldn’t that have been AMAZING?! Well the bad news is that it could have happened. This song exists and it was submitted for Melodifestivalen 2010 and was turned down! As we’ve seen already the focus was to bring in a lot of new talent that hadn’t competed in the competition before. Unfortunately we’ve seen the result of that gamble because although there have been a few surprises, most fans are looking for great songs from established acts or song writers. Poor Linda is rejected from the competition for a second time (Her duet with Markoolio also failed to enter the contest, although the song was a massive hit and topped the charts in Sweden.)
The good news is that you can now hear the track! Now I’m clearly gutted that Linda didn’t make it to the competition this year but after hearing the song I think maybe it was for the best. The track is cool because it’s Linda and Velvet together… but I don’t know if it would have been strong enough to make it direct to the finalen, instead I think it would have gone to Andra Chansen and perhaps lost there. And as much as I want to see Linda back in Melodifestivalen. I only want her back if she can go to the finalen with a massive hit single.
That doesn’t mean the song is bad by any means! I would describe it more as a Velvet song with Linda singing on it rather than a Linda song with Velvet singing on it even though it’s credited differently on the single. The chorus is catchy but I’d love to hear the track with a building schlager backing track rather than a simple dance backing. The line “We’re Going To Be Victorious” needed to have music that was a bit more hard hitting.
So what does this mean for Linda? Are we going to have an album from her in 2010 or will she wait until 2011 when she can give Melodifestivalen another go?
Back in 2001 – 2005 the band known as ‘Play’ were one of the few Swedish acts to have success in the USA thanks to some strategic marketing and extensive touring. To be honest I never gave the group any attention at all. I found their music too cheesy, childish and annoying even for me! (and that’s saying something… trust me!) In fact as far as I’m concerned the only positive thing to ever come from the band is the success of Janet Leon who released her first solo album last year and is featured on my top songs of 2009!
When ‘Play’ announced that they were finished in 2005 let’s just say no one lost any sleep… but that didn’t stop 2 of the original members from announcing late last year that they were re-forming as a trio with a new member for a reality show called “Made In Sweden.” The concept was pretty similar to ‘Totally Scott-Lee’ (for any of you from the Uk you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about); the band would attempt to record a new album in 4 weeks and make an impact on the charts with their new songs. Two weeks ago the show came to and end and the first single was released and has just hit #1 in Sweden!
Let’s just say this song is vast improvement over anything the band recorded previously. Slightly more grown up lyrics and sound that basically tells the story about how badly the band wants to be famous. If you’re curious check it out below and see what you think of the new and improved ‘Play.’