When Avicii first saw mainstream success with “Levels,” I was a bit baffled. I didn’t really think the song was particularly different than other instrumental tracks of the genre, and while I was happy to see a dance song see success, I poked around a bit more of his catalog and thought the music felt a bit same-y, which for me is a turn off when it comes to dance music. Continue reading
Karen Carpenter was still a vocal powerhouse when she passed away, way too young, in 1983 at the age of 33. The New Haven, Conn.-born singer struggled with anorexia for a large portion of her adult life, and eventually it became too much for her body to take. Her legacy stands strong more than three decades later, with a number of stellar efforts recorded with her brother, Richard, as the duo The Carpenters. Continue reading
If you haven’t heard of the band Texas, you could be forgiven. Despite the name, the group is a Scottish band that has been releasing material together for 25 years now. Efforts to break them stateside have never really worked out, despite the group’s consistently strong output, but they’ve had success in other countries. Continue reading
In my youth, I volunteered at the local symphony (my niche during that time was the coat room) and it was cool to watch them perform. But I also know I wasn’t the average youth, and for most people in my middle and high schools, the most classical music we were exposed to was the math teacher playing Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” while we were taking a test (because, he said, it would improve our scores). Continue reading
It seems like not all that long ago that I discovered Kylie Minogue’s “Light Years” album, which was a bit before she rebounded in the states with megahit “Can’t Get You Out of My Head.” But it’s been more than a decade, and now she’s preparing to release her 12th (!) full-length album, “Kiss Me Once.” Continue reading
In the late 2000s, veteran dance indie label Robbins Entertainment was seeing major success with one of their artists, Cascada, which had a number of Billboard-charting hits that broke through into the pop realm, a few years before EDM finally became mainstream. Another artist on the label, September, probably should have seen at least the success of Cascada, with a diverse, pop-friendly set of songs that were many times stronger than Cascada’s output. Continue reading
Music with a 60s retro theme has had an enduring presence in music, particularly artists from the UK. Swing Out Sister certainly pops up on that list, although they were ahead of the game; the Austin Powers movies (particularly the first two) certainly put an emphasis on the era. The late Amy Winehouse, Adele, and most recently John Newman (who will be featured here soon) have utilized the sound and feel of the era in some of their work. But one artist who did it particularly well never really had her solo material noticed here in the U.S. Continue reading
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s82ALeqqeCw
When a new year arrives, there’s always a tendency to revisit the year that’s ending. There’s all sorts of ways to do this, from the fun to the serious, but I think Robin Skouteris‘ mashup, featuring more than 50 pop songs from 2013, not only shows the tenor of pop music this year, but expertly blends songs that don’t on the surface seem like they should match together. Continue reading
While reading comments on the video to one of Annie’s newer songs, I noticed a reference by one commenter to U.K. artist Ronika. While I normally don’t tend to follow up on these sorts of comments, the mention of the retro leanings and production caught my eye, so I began to look into her, and was pleasantly surprised with the results. Continue reading
When it comes to one hit wonders, it’s generally easy at first blush to write off an artist, particularly one that made their mark with a novelty record. So it comes as no surprise that many didn’t expect much out of Aqua when they scored with megahit “Barbie Girl.” Continue reading