Ou Est Le Swimming Pool was an electro pop group hailing from London. The band consists of Lead singer Charles Haddon, Joe Hutchinson, and Caan Capan. The guys met in early 2009 cut a track together that managed to find its way into the hands of La Roux. The band quickly found themselves opening up for La Roux and saw their fame rising and fast. Their first single, “Dance the Way I Feel,” quickly shot to the top 10 of the UK Indie charts. “Dance The Way I Feel,” has La Roux written all over it, and any fans of the band will have no trouble embracing the track. Other album favorites include the dark and heavy “These New Jacks,” and the retro, 80’s synthpop feel of the album opener, “Jackson’s Last Stand.” All in all Ou Est Le Swimming pool’s debut effort is a very promising collection of retro, dance pop tracks, and the bad would have had no problem topping the charts for years to come, until last weeks unfortunate incident. Lead Singer, Haddon, committed suicide during one of the band shows. He was devastated after he accidentally injured a fan. In honor of Haddon, we dedicate this rave review in memory of him.
This entry was posted
on Friday, September 3rd, 2010 at 7:33 am and is filed under Music We Love.
Thank god The Saturday’s delivered new music to hold us over while Girls Aloud sort through their fair share of band issues. Not to compare The Saturdays to Girls Aloud, because both groups are completely different, but in all honesty The Saturdays are on same level. Fans are thankful that they are on album number 3 instead of dealing with break-up rumors. So, it’s no coincidence that they named their 3rdLP, “Headlines.” While other groups ah-hem, Girls Aloud, are making headlines by fueled break-up rumors, The Saturdays are making headlines with their music. The girls find themselves hooking up with the same producers as their last albums, “Chasing Lights,” and “Wordshaker.” “Headlines,” is more or less an EP to hold fans over in between albums. The album contains 5 new tracks and the 3 singles from their last album, “Ego,” “Forever Is Over,” and “One Shot.” The albums first single, “Missing You,” which is a mid-tempo electro-pop wonder, with an explosive chorus. Other album favorites include, “Higher,” “Puppet,” and the albums shining moment “Karma,” (I’ve got the pieces of the heart you broke / I’ve got the pieces of the letting go/And I’m gonna throw them at your karma). All in all, Headlines is an EP/LP that fans will be pleased with while they are waiting for new music from the girls!
This entry was posted
on Friday, August 27th, 2010 at 11:30 am and is filed under Music We Love.
‘Kids of 88’ are an electro-pop, new wave duo from Australia that consists of Jordan Arts and Sam McCarthy. The duo met in college, found a mutual passion for music, started a band together, signed to Sony, and the rest is history. The guys site their source of inspiration as, “Groove, mood, and slutty arrangements. 16th hi hats and hand claps. Culture and couture, Gangster and glamour,” and you can definitely sense the inspiration on their debut, “Sugarpills,” which is an entertaining, yet promising debut from a duo that is bound for great things to come. The albums lead single, “Downtown,” is the albums most playful with lyrics like, “We’re getting dressed up from the waist down, if you ain’t got no money, I can show you how, we’re going downtown, baby tonight.” Other album favorites are the electro heavy “Apart of You,” “My House,” and “San Fran,” which drops references to everyone’s favorite 80’s TV show, “Full House.” In a time where groups like 3oh!3, LMFAO, and Ke$ha, find success by exploiting their fun side, these guys from down under will have no problem shooting for the stars.
This entry was posted
on Saturday, August 21st, 2010 at 9:58 am and is filed under Music We Love.
Back in June, we reviewed part one of Robyn’s trilogy “Body Talk,” to a rave review. We were lucky enough to get a sneak peak of part two and all we can say is Robyn turned up the heat with Part 2. Body Talk Part 2 finds Robyn hooking up with the same producers as the first go around but focusing on that electro sound that her fans love her for. The first single is the completed version of “Hang With Me,” and for those of you that weren’t completely satisfied with the acoustic version on Part 1, the completed version is definitely a pop masterpiece. “Include Me Out,” and “Criminal Intent” are the albums hip-hop/pop moments from Robyn, while “We Dance To The Beat,” is compares to Part 1’s, “Don’t F*cking Tell me What to Do.” The albums shining moments come from the Snoop Dogg collabo “U Should Know Better,” where Robyn and Snoop warn pretty much everyone not to f*ck with them. The other “Bow” moment comes from “Love Kills,” the chorus says it all (If your looking for love/get a heart made of steel/cause you know that love kills/don’t go messing with love/it will hurt you for real/don’t you know that love kills). All in all, if Robyn keeps it up, we don’t know how she’s going to top this album when she releases Part 3 later on this year…stay tuned!
This entry was posted
on Sunday, August 15th, 2010 at 11:24 am and is filed under Music We Love.
We are really excited about all of the amazing new music that’s gearing up for release this fall. So, because we are so enthused, we’ve decided to give you guys a sneak peak at one of the bands we are really excited about. ‘Hurts’ is the latest electro pop duo to hail from the UK. The group placed in the top 5 in the BBC Sound of 2010 poll. The avant grade duo consists of Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson, and they part Depeche Mode, part Joy Division/New Order. Their first single, “Better Than Love,” which is reminiscent to New Order’s “Blue Monday,” is synth happy and has a hook so simple but dangerously infectious (and it feels, better than love/yeah it feels better than love). The albums second single, “Wonderful Life,” leaves Goosebumps after the first spin, but the message of the song is so positive and uplifting. Other album highlights include the fan favorite, “Stay,” and the Killers inspired, “Sunday.” The albums shining moment “Illuminated,” definitely pulls on all of the heartstrings.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, August 5th, 2010 at 2:19 pm and is filed under Music We Love.
Part Royksopp, part Bloc Party would be the best way to describe the newest band to top our Music We Love. Naomi is an electronica band that originates from Germany. The duo met in 1996 and has been putting out album after album in their native country. Their latest album, “The Big Shapes,” is a blend of poppy hooks, dancey bass lines, and the chill pipes from the front man. The album opens with the albums catchiest song, “Dragon Tree,” (Everybody knows your playing for keeps/ everybody knows that mountain is steep) which has a hook that you can’t help but sing along to by the end of the song. “First Things First,” easily could have found a home on Royksopp’s last record. “Candy Floss,” hands down is the albums shining moment, and is pop perfection to a ‘t’. Other album favorites include: The chilling “Fujiyama,” “Note We Never Play,” and the vocoder happy “I’ll Be The Past,” which is very reminiscent of Imogen Heap’s blockbuster “Hide and Seek.”
Download Now: “Dragon Tree,” “First Things First,” “Candy Floss,” “I’ll Be The Past”
This entry was posted
on Friday, July 30th, 2010 at 4:02 pm and is filed under Music We Love.
Kele is the latest front man to go solo this year. It seems that everyone is taking a break, in between albums, for their lead singer to go solo. The latest band to do so is the British group Bloc Party. On his debut effort, “The Boxer,” Kele doesn’t stray too far from Bloc Party’s signature alternative/electronica sound, all mixed together with that unmistakable accent. On the Lead Single, “Tenderoni,” Kele channels his inner Michael Jackson with the title alone and the falsetto friendly chorus, (So You don’t know/you are more than this/you were born for greatness). Other album highlights include the trip-hop happy, “On The Lam,” the album’s brightest moments are easily a tie. The two winners come from the heart wrenching, “Everything You wanted,” and “Unholy Thoughts,” which sounds like the love child of Depeche mode meets Joy Division. Overall, if you are a Bloc Party fanatic you will easily embrace the album, while you wait on the guys to pen their next album.
Download Now: “Tenderoni,” “Everything You Wanted,” and “Unholy Thoughts”
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 at 6:54 pm and is filed under Music We Love.
Sri Lankan rapper M.I.A. reached critically acclaimed status upon the release of her sophomore album, “Kala.” She worked with the producer of the moment, “Timbaland,” caught the eyes of Jay-Z who used her song as the hook to his 2008 anthem, “Swagga Like Us,” and her song “Paper Airplanes,” was used as the theme for the hit comedy “Pineapple Express.” After having a kid (We all recall her 2009 Grammy performance) and taking some time off, she comes back madder than ever, with her new album /\/\/\Y/\ (Pronounced Maya). /\/\/\Y/\ finds M.I.A. causing controversy with the video for the buzz single, “Born Free,” and talking about her frustration with politics. She worked with long time producers Diplo and Switch, Blaqstarr, and worked with dub step producer Rusko. Albums highlights include the first official single, “XXXO,” which is dub step at its finest, the very political, “Lovalot,” (They told me this was a free country, and now it feels like a chicken factory). Other album highlights include, “Born Free,” “It Iz What It Iz,” and second single “Tell Me Why.” Ultimately, M.I.A. wants you to use your minds with this album, from the political content of most of the tracks all the way down to the albums confusing album title.
This entry was posted
on Friday, July 9th, 2010 at 3:08 pm and is filed under Music We Love.
After two decades of dominating the charts and selling nearly 60 million albums, outside of the US, Kylie Minogue is once again trying to break into the US Market. She dominated US Venues in the fall of 2009 after embarking on her first ever US Tour. Her next step was obvious to anyone, release one of the years best dance record. Minogue capitalized on Lady Gaga and David Guetta’s success stateside as a sign that the timing has finally come. ‘Aphrodite,’ finds Kylie returning to her sound made famous on the “Fever,” and “Light Years,” albums. When fans found out, via Twitter, that Kylie worked with Stuart Price (The man Responsible for Madonna’s “Confession on a dance floor” album), the anticipation was on. The ending result is another classic from the Queen of Pop! The albums first single, “All The Lovers,” was released in time to dominate clubs across the globe and own the title as the summer anthem of 2010. Other album favorites include: “Get Outta My Way,” a song that was originally penned for Britney’s new album, “Put Your Hands Up (If You feel Love)” which is a song that could have easily found a home on her sister’s album, circa “Neon Nights.” Two More Dance floor anthems include, “Cupid Boy,” and “Too Much.” Ultimately, if American’s can’t love the genius behind “Aphrodite,” then F*ck them, the rest of the world will.
This entry was posted
on Friday, July 2nd, 2010 at 12:06 pm and is filed under Music We Love.
For Robyn’s 3rd us album, and 5th international, she wanted to give her fans new music as soon as it was made instead of keeping her fans waiting another 2-3 years for an album. So the ending result is her Body Talk album being released in 3 installments with 8 tracks on them. Here we have the first installment, and all we can say is thank God Robyn is back. She hooks up with the same producers that created the magic behind her 2005 self-titled album. The only difference is the album is concise, cohesive, and tighter. The album opener, “Don’t Fucking tell Me What to Do,” lists off all of robin’s vices that are slowly killing her, all over an electro kick drum. The album’s shining moments are the emotionally chilling, “Dancing On My Own,” the anti-love anthem, “Cry When You Get Older,” and the summer anthem, “Dancehall Queen.” Overall, Body Talk Pt. 1 quenches your Robyn thirst but definitely leaves you dying for body talk pt. 2.
Download Now: “Don’t Fucking Tell Me What to DO,” “Dancing On My Own,” “Cry When You Get Older,” “Dancehall Queen”
This entry was posted
on Friday, June 25th, 2010 at 4:09 pm and is filed under Music We Love.
