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Wednesday 27 July 2011

Example - Stay Awake

Elliot Gleave AKA Example first hit the UK charts back in September 2009 with the No. 19 hit "Watch The Sun Come Up". He then scored two more top 10 hits from his sophomore album "Won't Go Quietly" including the title track (No. 6, January 2010) and "Kickstarts" (No. 3, June 2010). The album's fourth single, "Last Ones Standing" hit No. 27 in September 2010 before he went back into the studio to begin work on his third album "Playing In The Shadows", to be released on the 4th September. The first track to be taken from the album "Changed The Way You Kiss Me" hit No. 1 last month and is still in the UK top 10. The second single is the Nero-produced "Stay Awake", a thumping vocal dubstep monster! Enjoy!

Friday 22 July 2011

The Saturdays - All Fired Up

British girl-group The Saturdays first burst onto the scene back in August 2008 with the Yazoo sampling "If This Is Love" which hit No. 8 on the UK charts. Since then they have had 3 top 10 albums including the platinum selling "Chasing Lights" and 8 more top 10 singles. The second single (after "Notorious", No. 8 June 2011) to be taken from their as-yet-untitled 4th album is the club-influenced "All Fired Up". The track, the result of a collaboration with legendary song-writers and producers Xenomania (Gabriella Cilmi, Kylie Minogue, Girls Aloud, Pet Shop Boys) and Lady GaGa collaborator Space Cowboy, is a euphoric thumping piece of synth-driven dance music, very different to anything the Sats have put out before! Enjoy!

Saturday 16 July 2011

Leona Lewis - Collide/ Avicii - Fade Into Darkness

The X Factor's most successful graduate, Leona Lewis, is back with new material after a year's absence. "Collide" is a dancey, upbeat number, very different to Lewis' normal output. The track is produced by Sandy Vee and, rumour has it, Swedish DJ and producer Avicii (AKA Tim Berg) after "Collide" was accused of plagiarism by Ministry of Sound of Avicii's instrumental track "Penguin", which has now been reworked into a vocal track called "Fade Into Darkness". See for yourself how similar the tracks are! I really like both tracks so am not fussed either way to be honest; I predict big things for both tracks anyway! Enjoy! :)

Friday 15 July 2011

Pixie Lott - All About Tonight

20 year-old British songstress Victoria "Pixie" Lott first hit the big time in June 2009 when her debut single "Mama Do (Uh Oh, Uh Oh)" hit No. 1 on the UK chart. This was swiftly followed up by up-tempo "Boys & Girls" which emulated the success of her debut single, hitting No. 1. 3 more top 20 hits were to come from her multi-platinum debut album "Turn It Up"; firstly "Cry Me Out" (No. 12, November 2009), "Gravity" (No. 20, March 2010) and "Turn It Up" (No. 11, June 2010). The release of a deluxe version of the album "Turn It Up Louder" would see "Broken Arrow" be released as its lead single, hitting No. 12 on the charts in October 2010. Pixie is now back with the first single to be taken from her sophomore album. "All About Tonight" is an up-tempo club-ready track that looks set to set the charts alight later this year. Enjoy!

Calvin Harris - Feel So Close + Nero Remix

Scottish DJ and producer Calvin Harris first hit the UK charts back in March 2007 with the top 10 hit "Acceptable In The 80s" followed by the top 3 hit "The Girls" in June that year. Both tracks were taken from his top 10 debut album "I Created Disco". After a 2 year hiatus, Calvin returned with the No. 1 album "Ready For The Weekend" and its huge No. 1 single "I'm Not Alone" in August and April 2009 respectively. He followed this up with the release of the title track as a single which hit No. 3 in August 2009.  After having two more top 40 singles from the album in October 2009 ("Flashback", No. 18) and February 2010 ("You Used To Hold Me", No. 27), Calvin took some time out to record tracks for his forthcoming 3rd album, to be released later this year. The first track to be taken from the album "Bounce", featuring Kelis, hit No. 2 on the UK charts last month and still remains in the top 10. The 2nd track to be taken from the album is "Feel So Close"; with it's infectious guitar hook, Calvin on vocals and the men-of-the-moment Nero on the remix duty it is bound to emulate it's success! Enjoy!

Olly Murs Feat. Rizzle Kicks - Heart Skips A Beat

X Factor 2009 runner-up Olly Murs hit the big time in September last year with his debut single "Please Don't  Let Me Go" which hit No. 1 on the UK charts. The second single "Thinking Of Me" was another success for him, hitting No. 4 on the UK charts after performing the track on the X Factor finals. Both tracks helped his debut self-titled album sell over 600,000 copies over the Christmas period. After a short break, Olly is ready to release the first single from his forthcoming sophomore album. "Heart Skips A Beat" featuring up-and-coming Brighton duo Rizzle Kicks is an infectious piece of ska and reggae tinged pop that is, for an X Factor graduate, a really good track! I have to say I was quite surprised when I first heard it! This is pretty good guys and I predict big things for this track! Enjoy! :)

David Guetta Feat. Taio Cruz & Ludacris - Little Bad Girl

43 year old French DJ and producer David Guetta is no doubt one of the biggest success stories of the past couple of years, becoming one of the most in-demand and successful producers of the moment, scoring countless chart hits in the process with the like of the Black Eyed Peas, Kelly Rowland, Kelis and Flo Rida. His most recent effort, featuring Flo Rida and Nicki Minaj hit No. 3 in the UK charts in May and is still hanging around the top 20 to this moment. The next track to be taken from his forthcoming album "Nothing But The Beat", "Little Bad Girl" featuring man of the moment Taio Cruz and rapper Ludacris is a much more European affair with its club synths and hands-in-the-air feel. Can this become another chart-topper for Monsieur Guetta?? I think so. Enjoy! :)

Benny Benassi Feat. Gary Go - Cinema

Italian DJ and producer Benny Benassi first hit the big time way back in July 2003 with the saucy No. 2 hit "Satisfaction". Who can forget that video with the power tools?? Since then the DJ has been in big demand as a remixer and has recently caught the eye of many high-profile acts; such as Kelis and Chris Brown, with whom he scored a UK top 5 hit in May this year with the track "Beautiful People". After releasing the first single "Spaceship" featuring Kelis, Jean-Baptiste and Apl.De.Ap and the title track featuring T-Pain from his forthcoming album "Electroman", the DJ is ready to release the 3rd single "Cinema", featuring British vocalist Gary Go (who had a UK top 30 hit in February 2009 with "Wonderful"). The track, already receiving airplay on Radio 1 is an infectious piece of synthy, bassy house very much in Benny's disctinctive style. This is a great track! Enjoy! :)

Wednesday 13 July 2011

Robyn - Call Your Girlfriend + Kaskade Remix

Swedish singer/songwriter Robyn first hit the UK charts way back in 1998 as a fresh-faced 19 year-old with the pop classic "Show Me Love" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhWEI6-_w9E) which hit No. 8 in March that year. After having a 9-year hiatus, she staged an amazing come-back in 2007, hitting No. 1 in August with "With Every Heartbeat", a collaboration with Swedish producer Kleerup. Since then she has gone on to have 4 more top 40 singles including the top 10 hits "Be Mine" (No. 10, Jan 2008) and "Dancing On My Own" (No. 8, June 2010) and the top 20 single "Handle Me" (No. 17, Nov 2007). "Call Your Girlfriend" is the 2nd single to be taken from her album "Body Talk", her third album to be released over the past year (including Body Talk Pt. 1 and Pt. 2). The track has a fantastic euphoric remix by US DJ and producer Kaskade, which has been played by Scott Mills on his Ready For The Weekend show at 6pm on Friday nights, which you guys should check out!! This is great stuff! Enjoy :)

Nero - Promises

Dubstep/Drum & Bass duo Nero follow up their No. 8 hit "Guilt" with "Promises", a track that looks to the emulate it's success into the UK top 10. Dubstep as a genre seems to have peaked in its popularity over the past few months, with DJ Fresh's No. 1 hit single "Louder" testament to this - the first dubstep track to top the charts. "Promises" is the 4th single to be taken from their forthcoming debut album "Welcome Reality" which will be released on August 15th. Enjoy!

Friday 1 July 2011

Cher Lloyd - Swagger Jagger

Precocious X-factor 2010 star Cher Lloyd first caught our attention with her rendition of the Keri Hilson Dime Divaz Remix of Soulja Boy Tell 'Em's track "Turn My Swag On". Since then the 17 year old has divided the opinion of viewers and music lovers alike....her 'swag' and her 'attitude' causing her to become musical marmite!! After coming 3rd in the final, Cher became the object of a bidding war between record labels with Will.I.Am expressing interest - however she eventually got snapped up by Simon Cowell's label and now she is ready to release her debut single "Swagger Jagger", an infectious piece of a multitude of genres with a bit of hip-hop, dance and house thrown in the mix. There are some great remixes for the track on the promotional cd, with commercial favourites Wideboys providing a more progressive house offering and dubstep favourites Eyes, HyGrade and Dillon Francis all providing a variety of interesting mixes spanning the genre. The track samples nursery rhyme "Oh My Darlin' Clementine" and towards the end sounds a little bit like Swedish House Mafia's "One". Get your head round this one guys....it's interesting...yet I'm sure it will be a big hit for the youngster, and who knows maybe will crack the tough US market too??