Sunday, March 11, 2007

What's playing abroad

I had a great review of the Shins new album. Seriously, you should have read it. It was the greatest review ever written. That’s usually the case for the one that got away. Unfortunately after my laptop and iPod were stolen, I couldn’t reproduce it. I mentioned that living in Italy would be hard for listening to new music, but European MTV playing in bars has lead to some fun new discoveries, which I will discuss to the best of my ability starting now:

“Grace Kelly” by Mika- A fun, danceable beat with slightly nonsensical lyrics gives this song the feel of a childhood schoolyard song backed up by Queen. Indeed Mika admits “I try a little Freddie / I’ve gone identity mad,” and the bouncy piano matched with the guitar and handclaps channels the late Mr. Mercury. The universal feeling of wanting to change yourself for your lover takes on an upbeat quality, where usually the tone is much more mopey and lovelorn. It’s what a good pop song should be, and a brilliant choice for a debut single.

“Shine” by Take That- Glam! Oh my god Glam! I think that’s as descriptive as you can get for these guys. Staging a comeback from early 90’s success, they continue making music in the glam-rock/disco-pop vein.. The song is a manifesto to the closet glitter kids to “let it shine,” but also incorporate the sweetness of a love song with the simple refrain of “you’re all that matters to me.” And while it modifies the Glam motif by adding a bit more of an electric sound, Take That stays within the retro realm. Their style is further cemented by a Busby Berkely-esque music video, complete with the lead singer donning a white tuxedo and dancing on a luminescent staircase. Call it contrived, but in this case that’s not a bad thing.

“Rehab” by Amy Winehouse –Motown from a young girl with a voice beyond her years. Hearing this I thought I was listening to a possible sampling of a jazz standard put to an R&B beat. She sings defiantly of a broken girl trying to mend herself. What can I say? I’m a sucker for a happy song with melancholy lyrics. It has enough of an oldie’s feel to please the indie kids looking for a fun throwback, and enough modernity to work in the clubs. But whoever you are, it makes you want to close your eyes and do your best Aretha Franklin impression along with this Brit songstress. Yes, I said Brit. With her and Joss Stone, does anyone know where these girls get their voices from?

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home