Poptastic Confessions

Poptastic Confessions

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

My Love by Route 94 featuring Jess Glynne

Dear Poptastic Readers,

Our British readers probably know this song, as it went to #1 in England and Scotland and #12 in Ireland. I'm not sure if it is getting any play in the US, but you should check out "My Love" by Route 94 featuring Jess Glynne.



Route 94 is a musician named Rowan Jones. Jess Glynne is a singer with a big voice. Even though the track has limited lyrics, the vocals are undeniably catchy. The bass is booming and this deep house track takes you on a lovely journey. The video is well ... a little risqué. 



"My Love" can be found on US iTunes as an album track on Annie Mac Presents. You can also buy it on mp3va.com with a prepaid account.

Get your groove on!

Cheers then,
—Davearama

P.S. Jess Glynne is also featured on the Clean Bandit song called "Rather Be." It's rather a great song, too!

Monday, March 24, 2014

Glass Slipper Surge Teaser

Dear Poptastic Readers,

As you might remember, our 2014 Pop Music Forecast predicted new music from the new vocal house duo called Glass Slipper.



Glass Slipper is BradElectro and Lisa Cork-Twiss

Who exactly is Glass Slipper? They are a duo made up of Lisa Cork-Twiss and BradElectro. Lisa is the singer and she was formerly in the 90s Eurodance group called the Real McCoy. And as you might recall, I interviewed Lisa last year for Poptastic Confessions




It just so happens my friend BradElectro also read that interview and discovered that Lisa lived in Austin, Texas, too. Brad was making music and looking for a vocalist. So he reached out to her and the rest is poptastic history! 


A Rather Coy 2014

Glass Slipper's first release is a track called "Surge." The track is part of a 5-track sampler called A Rather Coy 2014 on Oh So Coy Recordings. According to their SoundCloud page, "Oh So Coy delivers wonderfully sincere dance music, journeying through the deeper, soulful streets of electronica." And I couldn't agree more. 

You can hear a teaser clip of "Surge" here UPDATE: Watch the music video here:



The 5-track sampler also includes these groovy tracks ... "Come Show Me" by Audubic, "Overlap" by Carlo Gambino, "Basstucada" by Soundealers, and "Pulsating" by BiG AL. If deep house is your thing, you will be in heaven.

If you are a DJ, you can get these tracks on March 31 on Traxsourse. Chances are, you are not. No worries, though. You can buy the 5-track sampler on iTunes on April 7.

Please plan on supporting the artists by downloading the track on April 7. Until then, there will be plenty more updates on Glass Slipper this year!

Cheers then,
—Davearama

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Kiss Me Once by Kylie Minogue

Dear Poptastic Readers,

I've been away on holiday to Europe! And what a holiday it was! I even got to meet the ultra-FABulous Annikafiore! Yay! And now on to the main subject …

Kylie Minogue's new album Kiss Me Once is released worldwide this week. I was able to buy mine yesterday and it is a solid output of pretty good pop songs. Overall, the album a happy pop album. And that's what we want from Kylie.


The first track starts off with the lead single "Into The Blue." Click on the title to see what Poptastic Confessions wrote about it. I will say that the song has grown on me even more and I love it now.


The next three tracks are really fun: "Million Miles" is a toe tapper. "I Was Gonna Cancel" is a funky little gem. I really like it. Perhaps the word "Go" is repeated a bit too many times, but otherwise it is fun. "Sexy Love" is pure Kylie. Fans should love it!

Track 5 is the big mis-step of the album in my opinion. The song is called "Sexercize" and the lyrics are as cringeworthy as the title. The music is OK, a bit dub-stepish. I can't imagine ever wanting to sing along with this song. There is usually one Kylie song on an album that I don't like. Right now this is it. But who knows? Maybe in time I will like it. At any rate, you have to give Kylie props for trying something new. I'm sure some will like it. It's just not my cup of tea. And now there is a video for the song ...



When I first listened to the album, I was completely shocked when I heard track 6: "Feels So Good." I was shocked because I knew the words and I was singing along. At first, I had no idea how I knew the song. And then I realized it was the same song as a song I featured in Poptastic Confessions last October called "Indiana" by Tom Aspaul. Click on the song title to see what I wrote about it. I liked the song, but because it came in at the end of the year and it was an artist that I didn't know I kinda forgot about it. Kylie's version is basically the same exact song. And it is one of the best songs on the album. Could be a great single, I think. I kinda feel a little silly not paying more attention to the song last year. But now Kylie's version is here, and all is well.

The original version of "Feels So Good."

The next three songs are pretty good: "If Only" is cool song. "Les Sex" is fun and it also has a pure Kylie sound. "Kiss Me Once" is also the name of the album. It is a mid-tempo number that Popjustice called the best song on the album. I like it, but I'm not sure it is the best song on the album. I'm just not overly WOW'd by it. But it is a very nice song.

The one ballad on the album is a duet with Enrique Iglesias called "Beautiful." It's all right. The last track is "Fine." And it's got a really nice melody. 

Overall, I think it is a solid album. It's fun. However, I absolutely love her previous 2010 album Aphrodite because that had some truly euphoric songs like "All The Lovers", "Get Outta My Way", "Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel In Love)" and "Can't Beat The Feeling." While there are a few euphoric moments on Kiss Me Once, it just doesn't have the energy that Aphrodite had.

But does that make it a bad album? Heavens, no! It's different. And that's what we want from our favorite artists. We want them to try something new. I've written this review after listening to the album five times. So my opinions of the songs could change. But I think it is a great album. And it is worth buying the whole album.

Listen to an album sampler here ...



Kiss Me Once is available on every digital outlet. But iTunes is probably your best bet.

Cheers then,
—Davearama

P.S. I'm very happy that Kylie's teaser single from last year called "Skirt" didn't make the album.

P.S.S. There is a unofficial mix of "Into The Blue" floating around the internet and it is being called "The Ballad Version" or "The Ballad Mix." It is actually a mashup of the a cappella version of "Into The Blue" mixed with the instrumental version of The Saturday's ballad "My Heart Takes Over." It's a very nice mashup and it gives "Into The Blue" a more intimate feel. It was on SoundCloud, but now it is gone. Bummer.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Runaway Daydreamer by Sophie Ellis-Bextor

Dear Poptastic Readers,

Sophie Ellis-Bextor is back with the second single from her new album Wanderlust. The new single is called "Runaway Daydreamer" and it is dreamy. Click on the title of the album to read the revie in Poptastic Confessions.



Like the album, the single is a departure from Sophie's dance roots. But it is a lovely song with a beautiful melody. And speaking of beautiful, just check out how gorgeous Sophie is in the video ...




Like the song? Buy it on iTunes today!


Cheers then,
—Davearama



Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Blame It On The Disco by Alcazar

Dear Poptastic Readers,

Happy March!


The Swedish group Alcazar are back with a new song called "Blame It On The Disco." And it is doing quite well for them in Sweden. The song is a contender for Sweden's Melodifestivalen (their pre-selection process for the Eurovision Song Contest.)

Alcazar are Tess, Andreas and Lina.

The new song is pretty awesome, and like other Alcazar songs, they name drop their name in the lyrics, too. I must admit that when I first heard it and saw the performance, I was reminded of their 2009 hit "Stay The Night." While similar, "Blame It On The Disco" is great pop song. And seeing the trio descend from the ceiling in a giant disco ball is pretty amazing. Just have a look …



Alcazar are no strangers to Melodifestivalen. Andreas competed in it twice before he joined Alcazar with "Driver Dagg Faller Regn" in 1996 and "Jag Saknar Dig, Jag Saknar Dig" in 1997. Lina also competed twice before joining Alcazar with "Big Time Party" in 2002 and "Nothing Can Stop Me" in 2003. 

Alcazar in 2003: Magnus, Annikafiore, Tess and Andreas.

Alcazar also performed in 2003 with "Not A Sinner, Nor A Saint" and again in 2005 with "Alcastar." During Alcazar's big break, former-member Magnus had two songs in Melodifestivalen with "Lev Livet!" in 2006 and "Live Forever" in 2007. Andreas also competed with "Move" in 2007. 

"Stay The Night" in 2009.

Alcazar returned to Melodifestivalen in 2009 after Annikafiore and Magnus left the group with "Stay The Night." They returned again in 2010 with "Headlines" and Andreas went solo again in 2012 with "Aldrig Aldrig."

"Blame It On The Disco" has made it to the final. Will they win? Stay tuned. The Melodifestivalen final is March 8. Until then, if something bad happens, just blame it on the disco!

Cheers then,
—Davearama