The Middle Eight

Backtracking: Twenty Years of janet.

2013-05-20T08:20:00.001-04:00

May 18th, 2013, was the twentieth anniversary of Janet Jackson's expansive - and epic - janet. LP. To celebrate, I talked to the legendary Jimmy Jam who, along with his partner Terry Lewis, produced janet. The piece is up now at Idolator.

My interview with Jimmy yielded far more fascinating information than I could fit in the piece, so below are his words on a variety of subjects related to America's little sister, Janet.

On the James Brown sample in That's The Way Love Goes

I’m a huge James Brown fan, so to be able to sample a James Brown song [Papa Don’t Take No Mess] and actually make it into a sensual song for me was a lot of fun, just as a producer. We had to get permission, because he clears all his own samples, right? He wanted do know what they lyrics were. He was cool…. He said, "I liked that, I like that, I just wanna make sure everything is good with the lyrics.” and we’re like "Yeah yeah, it’s nothing risqué or anything like that, Mr. Brown." He ended up liking it - it was real cool.

On Janet’s growth as a songwriter

The great thing about working with her was the chance to watch her grow up and watch her change and gain more confidence.... She came into her own. When we got to Rhythm Nation, I had done the [instrumental] track to Miss You Much and I just pointed at a note on one of the keyboards and she just walked in and hit the key and that became the string part on the song. She had lyric ideas walking into the studio. Janet was another evolution of that, Velvet Rope was another evolution of that, you know what I mean? She just got more confident and more into it and enjoyed the process of writing. We won a Best Song Grammy for That’s The Way Love Goes and I said [to Janet] “You know what the significance of winning this Grammy is?” and she says, “No, what?” I said, “You won this Grammy as a songwriter. This is a song writing award.” She said, “Wow, that is so cool.”

On why Janet's writing is crucial to the quality of her albums

I love her writing. We’ve done later albums with her that were not as successful and I would say that it was probably equal parts too many cooks in the kitchen and not enough writing by her. Because she wasn’t ready to make a record. When we were going in to start the All For You album, we had some good ideas and she honestly was kind of like, “I don’t really know what I want to talk about, I’m not sure what I want the album to be about. Terry can write the lyrics.” And we were like, “No no no, that’s not right, you gotta figure out something, you’ve got to write the lyrics. We’ll come up with the tracks." And she said, ‘Well, I’m not sure.” So after about a month, we were putting tracks together and she was up for three movies. She really wanted to do a movie... She got Nutty Professor – she was a big Eddie Murphy fan. We moved the album back… we came up with Doesn’t Really Matter for the movie.

[Soon thereafter Nothing Really Matters became a #1 hit] “Now once again she was focused and ready and excited about making an album... All For You and Someone To Call My Lover and all those songs came off the energy of Doesn’t Really Matter. It’s important for her to be involved in the process, because her energy is such an important part of it. Some of the later albums where, like I said, there were too many cooks in the kitchen or she really wasn’t writing, those records were not as successful. I’m not saying that’s the definitive reason, but in my mind that had a lot to do with it. If you’re a songwriter and you say, “I have nothing to write about," then you need to go live some life and find some stuff to write about.

On recording If

I feel so blessed as a producer to have a muse like that to create stuff with, because there’s no barrier. No "I can’t sing that because it’s too high/too low.” When we did If, I said "Can you sing down low?" and she said "Yeah, I think so.” She said "What kind of melody do you hear?" and I said "I hear a like an Indian chant" and the next thing, she came back with lyrics that followed that rhythm. It’s one thing for me to think wow, it’s be cool if that was the rhythm, but it’s another thing for her to actually do it with words. Part of her genius is her rhythmic sense with lyrics… she sings and it almost becomes another instrument.

Before we started the process of recording, in our time apart we’d play each other songs that we liked in the meantime. I remember playing her a bunch of old Motown stuff... we used a bit of Love Child in You Want This. She would play me things from opera to flamenco. Her musical palate was so wide in the things she liked.

On what I suggested I thought was a key ingredient to Janet's sound, the “harmony stacks”

Janet and Ralph Tresvant of New Edition both have the same discipline, which is the ability hear notes that are next to each other, but still stack them. We always wanted Janet to do her own backgrounds, we wanted her voice to be the dominant voice no matter what. She would have to work really hard. We’d do it so that it would be like a warm up, like, "Let’s do these backgrounds first to warm up your voice for the lead. By the time you get done with the backgrounds, you’ll be so happy to do the lead vocals" I stacked maybe a four or five part harmony and we’d do it four or five times on each note, so we’d end up with twenty tracks of just backgrounds, It could be oohs and ahhs. It’s patience, discipline, but it’s also trust. I would throw a note at her on the keyboard and it would sound like that note’s not gonna work. After maybe the second song we did, she trusted me. When it was done, it would be this great harmony. There would be a few dissonant notes in there, but somehow it would just work. The only other person I’ve worked with who can do this as well as Janet is Ralph Tresvant. A lot of singers they don’t want to do it and we don’t even try it. Those harmonies are something special.

On the genesis of her early hit, Nasty

Nasty was about these guys that were bothering her at a club and she kept looking over at me and Terry like we were supposed to come over and save her and we just kind of stood there. A bunch of people were standing around us going, “Shouldn't y'all go over? Janet looks like she's being bothered over there.” We're like, “No, we got her, we can see her, she's fine, no problem.” And then she came over and said, “Those guys were so nasty, how come you didn't come over and help me?” We said, “Well, you obviously did fine by yourself since you're standing here with us now.”

On What Have You Done For Me Lately?

Me and Terry were working on an album at the time and we had done that track. John McClain, the A&R person who got us hooked up with Janet, was in the car listening to our album and he said “I need that track! That needs be on the Janet album.” And we’re like, “John, that’s our track!" We hadn’t put any lyrics to it - we just had the track, so I said “Well, I'll put it on and if Janet likes it, it's hers.” So we put it on and she got a big smile on her face and said “Who’s that for?” and we said, “You, if you want it.” And she says “Oh I want it!” and I said, “Okay, cool.”

At the end of the interview, I asked Jimmy about the so-called demise of albums, and how Adele proved this isn't entirely true. His answer was thoughtful...

I think the idea of people appreciating a single song and buying it is good, because that is something that did get lost for awhile, with such an importance on albums.

I just remember for me, I didn't know about albums growing up, but I knew singles that I liked and I'd always beg my mom, "Hey can I get this?" James Brown or Smokey Robinson. Whatever those songs were, I would have to do that. When I got a little older, I probably liked Chicago - they were one of my favorites - so I would go get the new Chicago album and I'd love it and I'd read the liner notes. There was an experience, a kind of maturation process, going from being a singles buyer to an albums buyer. It's almost like a rite of passage. That got lost, because labels kind of de-emphasized singles to make albums, right? They wouldn't even put a single out commercially; they'd say, 'Buy the album."

Now what we have is... people like a single and they can get it. That's fine with me, I like the idea of that. because what happens is, I still think that maturation process can happen... Adele's a perfect example, then you have that phenomenon. If people buy her album and like it, then they won't be totally opposed to buying an album from someone else. If we do Janet and we do the complete album, I'm gonna think of it as an album. We're gonna still put segues between the songs... We should make it like that, but I'm not gonna begrudge people if they just wanna pick and choose and go, "I don't want the whole box of chocolates, but I'll take the ones with the macadamia nuts." That's fine... but at least I'm gonna make a nice box of chocolates.

______________________________

Needless to say, it was a pleasure to talk to an artist as gifted as Jimmy Jam. I hope the fans enjoy his commentary as much as I did. My tumblr today has a tag devoted to images/clips from the janet. album. It'll be expanded upon throughout the day (May 20, 2013). Check it out. You can also follow me on Twitter, where I tweet about pop music old and new.

On Monday afternoon (the 20th, Pacific Time), Idolator will hose a janet. listening session / Twitter discussion (hashtag #IdolatorBacktracking). I'll chime in when I can!

If you'd like to read my other pieces for Idolator, see this label for links. They include Backtracking pieces on En Vogue, Annie Lennox and Madonna, among others.

A love letter to London

2013-05-08T20:48:00.006-04:00

My favorite place in the world. British film pioneer Claude Frisse-Greene shot this footage of London in the 1920's. He used a color process his father William developed.

One of the things I love about London is the sense that you are a tiny phrase in a very, very grand story. The city and many of its greatest buildings and public spaces will, Godspeed, long outlive us. There's something really poignant about some of these shots. Look (at 4:03) for the mop-headed little girl standing in front of the Peter Pan's statue. Or the glamorous ladies walking the park together in hats and heels at 3:12...

Review: Little Boots' Nocturnes

2013-05-08T07:47:00.001-04:00

I reviewed Little Boots' amazing new album, Nocturnes, for Idolator. Here's how it begins...

The media narrative on Victoria “Little Boots” Hesketh’s sophomore album, the one in which an artist gets pushed down by the heavy hand of the modern music industry…that story ends here. Because it doesn’t matter. In a year, no one will remember the delays or the lengths to which Hesketh went to make sure she realized her own vision. What they will remember is simple: Nocturnes is a solid work of cinematic, nighttime disco.

More here

Frankmusik: I'll take you off my map

2013-05-06T08:04:00.000-04:00

Frankmusik captures the magic of his early work on this new acoustic version of Map a track from his forthcoming album Between. This weekend, Vince tweeted that there'll be an all-acoustic version of the album called Between Us (remember the similar - and gorgeous - Completely Me in 2009?).

Note that in February Vince released a video for the Between version of Map.

April 30: Little Boots' streaming Nocturnes

2013-04-30T11:49:00.001-04:00

Pitchfork has the Nocturnes stream up now. If you dig upbeat sounds, check out track 5, Beat Beat. FLAWLESS rubbery disco. Disco sadness? My faves are Crescendo and Strangers...

My review will appear on Idolator on Tuesday the 6th.

Too much is never enough for Vinny Vero

2013-04-29T20:42:00.003-04:00

My power-pec'd friend Vinny Vero has become a discolette. He's not only writing and remixing music, he's now the vocalist too. Expect his single Be Free With Your Love - recorded with Swedish DJ's Drop Out Orchestra - to be the soundtrack of the summer's pride festivals and disco all nighters.

In the 90's, Vinny was a respected mixer for artists such as Pet Shop Boys and Tori Amos. Now he's come full circle with mixes over the last few years for Penguin Prison, Bright Light Bright Light and new ones for OMD, Saint Etienne and The Brand New Heavies due soon. Since I've known him, he's been the busiet man alive, doing DJ gigs literally around the world (London, Stockholm, Sydney, etc etc).

My fave mix is, as usual, Vinny's own - listen below. I first previewed it in his home office, dancing in his window. I suspect he may hire me to be his house go-go dancer as he hits the circuit this summer. Nine years of blogging may finally pay off. Be freeeeeeeee with your love, indeed.

Follow La Vero on Twitter, Soundcloud and via his music blog, So Hip It Hurts.

Record Store Day 2013 and the beauty of a vinyl LP

2013-04-20T11:02:00.002-04:00

In 2010 I celebrated Record Store Day by posting my fave album covers. That year I bought the vinyl version of Goldfrapp's Head First and I've snagged vinyl a few times a year since (in 2012, it was Pet Shop Boys' Elysium). I'm repeating the post today because there's something so pleasing about the vinyl resurgence. My fondest memory of record stores is the exhilaration of great album sleeves - especially big displays. Anyone who experienced that era might recall how you'd thumb through the racks, looking at artists you already knew/owned, as if one day you'd magically find an album you didn't know existed. In the process, you'd gaze at the covers all over again.

Here are some favorite vinyl LP covers from over the years. These used to fight for "display" in my bedroom, versus being filed on the shelf...

I actually have Grace Jones and Missing Persons framed on my wall.

Lexy And The Kill's debut single

2013-04-15T08:12:00.001-04:00

Lexy And The Kill are back with their official first single, We Can Dance Alone, and it's a bit of a stomper this time. You might remember that their amazing 2012 ballad Rope Swing. They followed that with another moody gem, Black Dog.

Last November, when I first wrote about the band, I said:

The quintet's sound reminds me of a bit of what the brilliant Rose Elinor Dougall did with her last LP. You never know how a band is going to stretch out after one good song, but all the elements are in place if they really focus on amazing songs. Lexy, who is only 20, has a voice like a smoke ring.

So far, it's sounding really solid. The single is out June 4 with a b-side called The Ballad of Love and Hate. Follow Lexy And The Kill on Twitter, Soundcloud and Facebook

Four flights to the orange side

2013-04-14T09:47:00.000-04:00

just sayin'

I'm gonna keep on dancin'

2013-04-13T09:57:00.000-04:00

Little Boots... it seems like it will be years until the Nocturnes release (May 4/5). To sum up where I stand: I LOVE the first three singles, Shake, Every Night I Say A Prayer and Motorway, with the latter being one the finest songs this year. New single Broken Record is a bit... makeshift? The chorus is repetitive and Katy B already has a slayer with the same name. In terms of uptempos, Beat Beat sounds better, with its uplifting chorus and bassy, New York indie disco vibe.

Now you can hear different samples (from the iTunes clips) on Pure Connect. My early faves are Crescendo, Strangers and Satellite. There is clearly a subtler sound on this album. Just because it doesn't sound full of bangers doesn't mean it's going to be less than excellent.

Jessie Ware premieres Imagine It Was Us

2013-04-07T22:24:00.000-04:00

Jessie Ware's new single is wrecking me. An early contender for the best song of 2013, Imagine It Was Us betters the already near perfect Devotion. The track, produced with collaborator Julio Bashmore, brings a welcome beat and sensuality to the album. She makes it seem so effortless.

The video, like the arrangement, has threads of the early 90's. As Pepper La'Beija once said, “You can become anything and do anything, right here, right now. It won’t be questioned. I came. I saw. I conquered. That’s a ball.” Jessie Ware isn't in Vogue, she is vogue.

Q1: Slow nights, fast nights

2013-03-30T19:27:00.001-04:00

image by santinojrivera

In no order, my Top Songs for the first quarter of 2013. I put on just one song by each artist, which was a serious task in some cases. Still, this has been a slow season. Not a lot of great records out. You can hear/see these tunes by clicking on the title...

Röyksopp (with Susanne Sundfør) Running To The Sea
Like a great novel, the first line draws you in... "I could hear them howling from afar / I saw them rushing to your car."

New Order Californian Grass
Everything I wanted from New Order on this EP. Shimmering.

Gold Fields Happy Boy
A surprise mid tempo twist from their debut LP. I love the mix of resignation and defiance in the lyric - and the violin laced into the end.

Little Boots Motorway
Literally perfect. Like a sleek bullet. Night driving music.

Young Galaxy Pretty Boy
This one immediately hits you with that rhythm that loops into your brain. And vocalist Catherine McCandless singing "You're my pretty boy, always" is the sweet spot.

Haim Falling
The LA hipster sisters do it again. Except for the fact their show fucked up my ear LOL

Tegan and Sara Shock To Your System
How to choose a song from such a perfect pop album. This slayer gets it for the way the pounding "what you are is lonely" conclusion winds down to a lonesome piano.

Rhye Major Minor Love
Unknowns deliver fingersnap-beat smooth fuck music.

Johnny Marr New Town Velocity
As a friend said, it's like a lost Electronic song. A captured-in-amber memory of youth.

Fryars In My Arms
Swooning midtempo from an English dude. This song is a total earworm. Fans of Jamie Woon may dig his sound.

Frida Sundemo Indigo (Strings Version)
Her EP has several new tunes, but I keep sticking on this pure beauty (the studio version was in my Top Songs of 2012).

The Good Natured Lovers
Produced by Richard X, this is a serious blast of pop. Love the bitchy "shut up and fuck me" lyrics.

King Need a Woman by Friday (feat. Trombone Shorty)
Swaggering. Worthy of an 80's Brit group like Blow Monkeys.

Belinda Carlisle Sun
BC's first proper pop single in fifteen years. And it shines. Give her the right song and she knocks it the fuck out. More please.

Jessie Ware Imagine It Was Us
A perfect, seductive dance track. Jessie's imperial moment continues; she never gilds the lily, does she? She just is.

KING In The Meantime
The chorus! It reminds me of the heyday of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

Justin Timberlake Strawberry BubblegumThe great songs on 20/20 are sublime, but it's just a bit overindulgent. I had a hard time picking between this, Blue Ocean Floor and Don't Hold The Wall. Ignore these lyrics and just vibe on it.

Slow Knights I Got It That Bad
Del Marquis gathers a collective of vocalists on his new LP, in this case Chrissi Poland on a sleek 80's rock/soul ballad. On the link above, play 1:45 - 2:15.

Active Child Evening Ceremony
Not an official single. The first new music we've heard since his debut doesn't alter the template much, but the result is nonetheless beautiful.

________________________________________

Worthy recent albums: Tegan And Sara (perfect), New Order, Slow Knights, Gold Fields, Frida Sundemo, Suede, Rhye

What's coming: Pet Shop Boys, Alison Moyet, AVAN LAVA, St Lucia, Haim, Little Boots, Young Galaxy, Autoheart, OMD

Disappointments: Hurts, Depeche Mode, Hurts. Ra Ra Riot, Hurts,

Up in '13: KING with In The Meantime

2013-03-24T21:18:00.000-04:00

Earlier this month, I posted on a new male solo artist named King. This week I am in deep love with In The Meantime, the debut single from a female trio called KING. Typically, it's the UK that's picked up on this group, perhaps after the wave of smoother female artists creating proper, chilled grooves (see Jessie Ware, among others).

The group, from LA, are twin sisters Paris and Amber Strother, with Anita Bias. Their music is totally self made - no million dollar producers on board. Still, In The Meantime's smooth chorus reminds me of the heyday of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (see Janet Jackson, Cherelle and a million others). Note that they've caught the ear of Prince recently. Then me. And now you!

In The Meantime is on iTunes worldwide

It's ELECTRIC

2013-03-14T08:20:00.000-04:00

HERE WE GO.

Pet Shop Boys. Electric. June. Produced by Stuart Price.

There is a God(dess).

It's a week for Bloodsports...

2013-03-12T10:23:00.002-04:00

Suede is streaming their new album Bloodsports on NPR and The Guardian sites and it's sounding amazing! Varied sounds, meaty playing and proper melodies. Lyrically, Brett is on the mark, especially on the gorgeous album opener, Barriers. First faves are Hit Me, It Starts And Ends With You and For The Strangers. There's been much made of the fact that they're releasing this album at the same time their icon David Bowie is releasing The Next Day, but I actually [whispers] prefer the romanticism of Bloodsports to gritty rock on the Bowie.

There's been a huge amount of press for the record, including interviews with The Quietus and The Guardian. Poplifer has been doing a brilliant, very personal series on the band (part one here) that includes a track by track.

Bloodsports is out on March 18/19 worldwide.

King: Need A Woman By Friday

2013-03-06T16:26:00.000-05:00

King - aka Joe King, the guitarist for The Fray - is the surprise voice/writer behind my fave new pop tune, Need A Woman By Friday. Is this guy British? Amazingly not: he's from Colorado. The track sounds like a hit to my ears... and we need a trombone solo on radio don't we?

Not sure if anyone will get the reference, but he reminds me a bit of Kubb, who released the perfect Wicked Soul back in 2005.

King is working on a debut album and has a brief tour of Colorado coming:

April 25: Bluebird Theater, Denver
April 26: Aggie Theatre, Fort Collins
April 27: Black Sheep, Colorado Springs
April 28: Fox Theatre, Boulder

Need a Woman By Friday is on iTunes

Jessie Ware in performance

2013-03-05T20:59:00.001-05:00

The Jessie Ware show that I attended in January was such a revelation. Her voice blows up live. Full on diva. She's releasing her album in America next month with a new track (!) and, one presumes, some of the great bonus material she's already put out. Below is a recent performance of one of those tunes, a cover of Bobby Caldwwell's What You Won't Do For Love.

Note that if you live in the UK, you can download Jessie's version of another classic, Stephanie Mills' I Never Knew Love Like This Before. It's on the I Give It A Year soundtrack. Look out for it.

Fifteen Years of Ray Of Light

2013-03-04T09:14:00.000-05:00

Sunday, March 3rd was the fifteenth anniversary of Madonna's amazing Ray Of Light album. To celebrate, I did a piece for Idolator, which includes some comments from Rick Nowels, the legendary songwriter who co-write nine tracks with Madonna for ROL, three of which made the final cut. Here is a sweet comment Rick made that I did not put in the piece:

Every night I would drive home with a new beautiful Madonna song playing in my car. It was a happy and very fulfilling time. I love all 3 of our songs on Ray Of Light - The Power Of Goodbye, To Have And Not To Hold and Little Star- each one quite different and each one very strong poetically and conceptually.

On Monday afternoon (Pacific Time), Idolator will hose a Ray Of Light listening session / Twitter discussion (hashtag #IdolatorBacktracking). I'll chime in when I can!

Bowie: I hope we live forever...

2013-02-26T08:11:00.002-05:00

The new David Bowie video, The Stars (Are Out Tonight), appeared suddenly today. I love how the idea of "doing a Bowie" - launching something unannounced - has entered the pop culture lexicon ("The Pope did a Bowie and quit today!").

Back to the song and visuals, The Stars (Are Out Tonight) is a chugging rocker that still has a proper pop melody. The video really sends it over: The inevitable meeting on film of Bowie and his doppelganger Tilda Swinton, along with a host of other Bowie-esque skinny models. It's chic, funny, creepy and Bowie himself looks great! This is how to age.

The new album, The Next Day, is out March 11/12. Read first reviews at The Telegraph and The Guardian (that one written by the sharp Alexis Petridis).

Red alert: Alison Moyet is back!

2013-02-18T08:02:00.000-05:00

The ever-great Alison Moyet has just released the first song from the minutes, her collaboration with Guy (Frou Frou) Sigsworth. I've been waiting for this for ages and BAM here it is - a grinding uptempo - on a Monday morning! Not only can you play it above, but you can download it for free from alisonmoyet.com.

No other specifics on the album yet, but she says “Guy Sigsworth returns me to a programmer’s world and marries it with perfect musicality.... this has easily been my happiest studio experience.” If you don't follow Alison on Twitter, do it now, she is fearlessly raw and funny.

Spending my Valentine's with HAIM

2013-02-14T14:44:00.001-05:00

Tonight I'm seeing HAIM take a break for their stint opening for Mumford to do their own show at
U Hall in DC. It's going to be an EPIC way to spend the [burp] holiday. I heart Este, Alana and Danielle.

Meanwhile, they've released their loverly and very rhythmic new single Falling. It's on iTunes now.

Gold Fields return with Happy Boy

2013-02-01T07:11:00.000-05:00

Australia's Gold Fields is one of my favorite new bands for 2013. I saw them do a powerful opening gig for St Lucia in December. They've got dueling drummers, so the sound is very big. At that time they'd just released an absolute pounder of a single, Dark Again (Lights Out). Now they're back with a lush curve into a sort of emotional ambiance, Happy Boy.

I love the bizarro structure of this song - it's like the choruses and the verses have been switched. Or which is which? It's got very few words, but the lyrical hooks seem driven by a dark storyline you're not quite privy to ("If I storm out of here / His face won't change"). And the violin threaded through it is gorgeous, Listen for yourself...

The debut album, Black Sun, is out on February 26 and up for pre-order on iTunes US. If you're into Friendly Fires, St Lucia, Empire Of The Sun, etc, you should pay attention to Gold Fields.

I don't usually post tour dates, but this is a worthy show (and it probably won't break the bank):

2/4: Washington DC@ U Street Music Hall 2/5: Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head Live 2/6: New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom 2/7: Philadelphia, PA @ TLA 2/8: Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall 2/9: Providence, RI @ The Met 2/11: Toronto, ON @ The Drake Hotel 2/12: Detroit, MI @ The Shelter 2/13: Columbus, OH @ The Basement 2/14: Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom 2/15: Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall 2/17: Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue 2/19: Colorado Springs, CO @ The Black Sheep 2/20: Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge 2/22: Salt Lake City, UT @ In The Venue 2/23: Missoula, MT @ Elks Live 2/24: Seattle, WA @ Crocodile Café 2/25: Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom 2/27: San Francisco, CA @ Slims 2/28: Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour 3/2: Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room

The band also released a live clip for their previous single, the brilliant Dark Again

Syron. In my arms you will remain.

2013-01-30T08:25:00.001-05:00

Cute new Brit girl Syron - she reminds me of Sarah from Dubstar - has a new single out. It's called Here. Syron - aka Daisy Tullulah Syron-Russell -is the latest in a group of cool women releasing garage-influenced pop tunes (think Katy B). I always have time for this sound.

Here is released on March 17th. You can hear more of Syron, including earlier singles Waterfall and Breaking, at her Soundcloud.

Review: Tegan And Sara’s Heartthrob

2013-01-28T09:00:00.000-05:00

I reviewed Tegan and Sara's Heartthrob, the first great pop album of 2013, for Idolator.

Here's a quote...

Closer, which the sisters say is about the love-struck phase before a crush becomes physical, alternates between sweetness (“I won’t treat you like you’re typical” ) and utter horniness (“All I dream of lately is how to get you underneath me.”). After a few banger choruses, the bridge builds into an explosion of shimmering vocals, simulating the sound of the daydream-filled crushes they’re singing about.

You're my pretty boy, always

2013-01-25T07:54:00.001-05:00

Canadian band Young Galaxy takes it to the next level with the unbelievably gorgeous first single from their fourth album, Ultramarine. For me, Pretty Boy is all about three elements: that insistent rhythm, the violin ribboned throughout the song and the vulnerable performance by vocalist Catherine McCandless. Listen for yourself...

Pretty Boy will be available to purchase on February 5th, with the album to follow in late April. Ultramarine was recorded in Sweden with producer/remixer Dan Lissvik.