So at last we can stand close and gaze upon the vast and glittering edifice that is Eurovision towering above us! What was once a far off promise of possible pyrotechnics, would-be Russian grandmothers, and the possibility of pop so fantastic it would make custard congeal with joy (I Continue Reading
Music
Eurovision 2012: All the world is a (very brightly lit) stage
So no doubt it’s been keeping you up at night wondering how awesome the stage will be upon which the countries of Eurovision will strut their talented stuff? Well fret in sleepless ignorance no more. For behold, I bring you glad tidings of great Eurovision joy – yes I know Continue Reading
Road to Eurovision: Opening party fun! (Saturday 19 May)
If you wandering the streets of Baku right now, anticipation welling up inside of you like day old dogs you really shouldn’t have eaten, you’ll know it’s less than 24 hours till the first semi-final takes place at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. But as the rehearsals have shown, the Continue Reading
Interview: Rising Swedish pop star, Jonas Oakland
It’s a brave new digital world out there, and while traditional record companies are quaking in their boots, fearful and uncertain of what the future holds, quite a number of brave, independent artists are seizing the moment and crafting astonishingly successful careers without the vast apparatus of old behind Continue Reading
Thank you Donna Summer (1948 – 2012) for saving the last dance for us
Such sad news today. Donna Summer, who was the queen of disco at its height, died in Los Angeles Thursday US time of complications from lung cancer. At her height, Donna Summer reigned supreme, releasing hit after hit including “Hot Stuff”, “MacArthur Park”, “On the Radio” and the infamously Continue Reading
Road to Eurovision 2012: Week 7: The Final Countdown
Can you believe it’s been 7 weeks since I started reviewing all the funky chunky pop nuggets pouring forth from the bountiful goodness of Eurovision? Why yes… yes I can. Yes I know I am answering my own question and risk looking like a gibbering idiot who has inhaled Continue Reading
ABBA: So that’s a “NO!” to reforming is it Bjorn?
So it’s official then. In this short five second sound clip from Bjorn, who was interviewed on Swedish radio mere days ago on 11 May, he makes it very clear that the band will never, ever reform. You can’t get much more definitive than he does, either in the choice Continue Reading
Sonic Bliss #8: My favourite songs of the week
I am awash in an overflow of wonderful exuberant beautiful music. It’s been a few weeks since the last update and pop music waits for no one, releasing song after stellar song till my iPod threatened to crack open with the virtual strain (it is so melodramatic at times). So Continue Reading
Review: “Strangeland” – Keane
When Keane burst forth on to the music scene with Hopes and Fears in 2004, they met with almost instant success. Their brand of melodic piano-drive pop found a ready audience with people drawn to beautiful emotionally-rich pop. Tom Chaplin’s voice captured anguish and heartache so perfectly you imagined he Continue Reading
Road to Eurovision 2012: Week 6
Welcome to another week of barely-controlled Eurovision madness! The clock is loudly ticking down to Eurovision (with an occasional unexpected key change and the odd pyrotechnic burst from the clock face… oh and is that a Ukrainian grandmother popping out of the time keeping piece on the hour every hour, Continue Reading