Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Dawn Richard - Goldenheart

 
Musiggerists get prepared for this 2013 because it will give us so many impressive come-backs but also some unexpected music pearls. One of this pearl is signed by Mrs. Dawn Richard.

This name isn't of course new to R&B geeks like me, but very few know about this 29 yo music mermaid. Richard made her debut in the scene thanks to MTV's Making the Band show. She won the competition and debuted as former member of R&B meteora girl band Danity Kane. But despite DK's flop, Richard's faith was written in the stars. I mean real stars. Yes because Dawnie got a huge break by impressing your majesty king P.Diddy who actually noticed the girl and recruited her for his Diddy-Dirty Money domain.

After cruising the R&B and hip hop field, DR decided to re-born from her ashes. Goldenheart is the result. A stunning indie record which I have to admit is totally unexpected to me, basically because I thought "oh ok, another Beyonce copycat failure". And I was totally wrong. Goldenheart contains 16 tracks of pure innovative progressive R&B wisely filled with electronic sonorities. Kinda reminds me of Ellie Goulding's Halcyon.

But Richard take distances from dubsteb even though she maintains eerie sonorities like in Pretty Wicked Things or purely addictive Northern Lights. 86 will be the anticipating single of Goldenheart which has nothing to envy to the most emotional Sade track. Return of a Queen is equipped with etno sonorities which will definetely make this track a stunning hit. But like every good child, Richard still tributes her talent to the R&B world with her own imprint: see Tug of War or Frequency.

Want a preview of Goldenheart? HERE you can find all the 16 tracks. Enjoy this golden record.

Monday, January 7, 2013

Mutya Keisha Siobhan - Boys preview


Ok my Musiggerists great news! I just came back at home after a long day @ work and guess what I discovered by surfing the net? A huge sneak peek from one of the best female trio I think the British industry has ever created. Of course I am talking about Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhan Donaghy, the three ex-Sugababes now known as MKS.

I was so excited when reading the news that finally the re-combined babes released a 1:41 minutes video on YouTube, anticipating what it should be their first single together after more than 10 years of separation. In the video they sing this a cappella song called Boys, supremely harmonized with the three girls' voices: starting with Mutya's mezzo soprano, then proceeding with Siobhan's clear soprano and ending with Keisha's alto.
The performance contains many harmonizations (they really know how to do this!) spaced out between each solo verse. Amazing.

Moreover on Soundcloud, Popjustice released a 3 seconds sneak peak of the song. It seems it will be a mid-tempo track that will be produced by the proven hit-maker Ash Howes (better known for Ellie Goulding's massive hit Lights), the guru Richard "Biff" Stannard (who produced Spice Girls and Kylie), and MNEK who collaborated with The Saturdays. 

Enjoy both the sneak peeks.

P.S. I really want to dedicate this post to my dear friend Alex who actually made me a great creative gift: check my "About Me" picture. Thanks dude! Now enjoy the music guys :)



Saturday, January 5, 2013

Boyce Avenue - On My Way


Happy 2013 to all of you my Musiggerists! Hope your Xmas holidays were good!

To welcome this new year I am going to review the last single of an American band I recently discovered and, to be true, I kinda like. They are Boyce Avenue.

I wouldn't be surprised if you don't know about them. They are not huge stars on the scene. Boyce Avenue are nothing but three brothers: Alejandro, Daniel and Fabian Manzano coming straight from California, but with clear latin roots. So Hansons' or Jonas Brothers' fan should get in love with them. They basically started their career by posting videos on YouTube of famous covers. Shadow of the day by Linkin Park is still their most viewed video on YT with about 18milions views. Not bad at all for those three mostly unknown guys. Check it out, it's worth it.

Boyce Avenue released on December their last effort called On My Way. I think it is a very nice ballad which kinda reminds me of a typical Nickelback track. Now that I am thinking of it, Alejandro Manzano's voice is pretty similar to Chad Kroeger's one. Hilarious.

The track develops through five verses with no repeated chorus except for the On My Way part which closes each verse and starts the next one. Melodically speaking this ballad contains everything it takes to sound good: a piano intro, guitars notes leading to the heart of the song decorated with nice strings and delicate percussions. Nice job Manzano bros.

I like this track because it gives me hope somehow, and it's definetely what we need now to face this new year coming. Happy 2013. Enjoy On My Way.



Sunday, December 16, 2012

Loreen - Euphoria


Dance time musiggerists. I wanna introduce you to the next eurodance superstar (and I bet she will!). I am talking about 29 years old lady Lorine Zineb Noka Talhaoui, a.k.a. Loreen. Despite her obvious North African roots (her parents are Moroccan), Loreen was actually borned and raised in Sweden.

Despite her huge talent, both as singer and as song writer, she reached a spot in the scene only in 2012, as she won the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest with a sublime interpretation of a track that is climbing the charts of all European countries: Euphoria, biggest single from her first EP Heal.

Euphoria definetely got what it takes to become a huge disco hit. A heavy dance track with some trance elements, starting with an eerie flavour, which slowly charges its power to totally unleash into an energetic chorus, thanks also to Loreen's strong voice. You won't be able to stop listening to this.

Before Euphoria, Loreen drew two other singles from Heal: My Heart Is Refusing me and Sober, both dance hits. Voices are referring that next single from the Swedish singer will be Crying Out Your Name, a ballad with dance sonorities, but less danceable thank the others. Let's see if she will amaze us again.

I definetely wish all the best to this made-on-Sweden talent, but for now enjoy Euphoria.




 

Monday, December 10, 2012

Will.I.Am & Britney Spears - Scream and Shout


Pop and dance lovers good news for all of you dancefloor freaks! An exclusive Xmas gift has been given to all of us in advance by two of the most clicked, hotlisted and controversial music icons of our times. I am talking about King-of-clubs Will.I.Am and Pop-queenie Britney Spears.

The last release of Funkenomenon Will.I.Am is Scream and Shout. Basically this track follows to the letter the same old club smash hit recipe. Just put Britney singing in the opening When you hear this in the club, you're gonna turn the shit up, and your hand will automatically turn up your iPod volume. It's insane how much digital processing is contained in this, but we all know Will.I.Am is the top on it. The use of modulations of Britney's voice to build the chorus sounds perfectly natural in this context. It is just me or does she seem to use a British accent in the intro?! Anyway, it really works my side.

Scream and Shout is a catchy-trashy electronic pop dance track that will insinuate its way directly into your brain. And Britney lovers will definetely scream of joy when hearing her singing her legendary trademark Britney Bitch directly sampled from Gimme More.

This is the last chance for Will.I.Am to smash US charts with a leading solo act after putting in the UK three tracks in the top 5 on the pop singles chart. With the star power of queen Britney on the new record and a video introduction on X Factor, it looks like Will.I.Am may just have his breakthrough in time for Christmas 2012.