Owl City // Beautiful Times Feat. Lindsey Stirling

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If we said Owl City to you, we reckon the first thing that jump to mind would be that track from a few years ago…yes you know the one, we are talking about Fireflies although we’ll give you credit if you also said Good Time, the duet with Carly Rae Jepsen.

It’s a darkish song lyrically although melodically it has a light and happy feeling to it but it unmistakably Owl City. Of course, it also features a blog favourite Lindsey Stirling but we'd like to have had her a wee bit more involved that it seems she is.

Other than that, it's not a bad wee number and perfect if you're looking for something a little different.

Rating: 4/5

John Barrowman // You Raise Me Up

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Apparently it's been 3 years since John Barrowman's last release (Tonight's The Night) and now he's back with his latest release, You Raise Me Up.

Opening with Christina Perri's A Thousand Years we immediately hit a snag with the opening verse as it's too proper (ever word pronounced instead of allowing to flow) but this seems soon rectified as the song progresses. From ballad to more upbeat with Doobie Brothers Listen To The Music and this makes for a more comfortable listen. All too soon though we're back to a ballad in the form of Raise Me Up before heading into Demi Lovato's Skyscrapper which we can't make our mind up what side of the tempo is wrong, the lyrics or the melody.

Barry Manilow's Mandy is next and for fans, they already that John can deliver this as he's previously performed it live on tour. Back to upbeat track with That's Just The Way It Is (we originally know it done by Celine Dion) but all too soon we're back to ballads with Simon and Garfunkel's classic Bridge Over Troubled Water (beautifully performed we might say) and Goodbye My Friend

The Broadway classic This Is The Moment is up next and proves no difficulty for Barrowman, given his theatrical background. Back to an upbeat track with a cover of Michael Buble's Hollywood before finally closing with a classic Scottish track Loch Lomand although we do have mixed feelings over it.

Overall, we feel that there's a bit of hit and miss here with the track selection. Some work well while other just seem not to suit at all and whether this is just down to the arrangements or the songs themselves is difficult to say. For the adoring fans out there, they will probably enjoy. For us, we think the albums of cover is that comfortable jacket that's getting a little frayed. We'd love to see something a little different...like an album of original material. We'll even settle for an EP for starters.

Rating: 3/5

Film Review: Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie

It's been a hit on the stage. It's been a hit on the small screen. So can D'movie do the same on the big screen?

The film revolves around Mrs Brown discovering what unpaid taxes on her stall and ultimately, becoming the face of a campaign to save the Moore Street market. But through this, a dark secret from Agnes Brown's past will rear it's head...

The film itself works 50/50. The TV show works as it's filmed in front of a live audience but it's a little odd not to hear laughter in the film. There's a few moments in the where obvious mistakes have been made and left in, which sort of takes you out of the film.. Although there is plenty of laughable moments, the jokes in the film do seem to be a little tamer compared to what we're used to. We found that we were laughing at some points where others weren't but we guess that all comes down you your sense of humour

We think this could have been much more but that there is something missing here that seems to have been lost in translation from stage and small screen to the big one. It's still enjoyable but if you've any doubts, maybe wait until it comes out on DVD.

Rating: 3/5

Scarlette Fever // Return of the Fever

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We sort of kept an eye on this young lady for the past few years since seeing her live supporting Mike & The Mechanics and now her latest release comes in the form of an EP titled Return of the Fever.

Although 4 tracks, there is actually only 3 songs as one of the songs, Where’s The Fun?, actually features twice. Why? Because this isn’t probably what you expected. This is actually remixes of tracks from her forthcoming album (at last check titled, Attack of the 6ft Woman…we think) and these tracks are 6ft Woman, P.S. I Hate You and already mentioned Where’s The Fun. What we’ve always loved is that the remixes of Scarlette’s songs always seems to be sympathetic to the original track (you can check out the originals on Soundcloud in case you want to compare) instead of making them something that they aren’t.

If you’re needing something to tide you over to the release (come on Scarlette, we’re waiting!) this might be up your street.But if you prefer you music un-remixed, you’re going to have a wait a little longer.

Rating: 4/5

p.s. you can check other remixes of her previous tracks also on her Soundcloud page

Pixie Lott // Lay Me Down

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It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything from Miss Lott but now she’s back with her latest offering Lay Me Down

You might recognise part of it given that it’s currently being used in the advertising campaign for Ballista hair sprays & dry shampoos (which, coincidently, features Pixie promoting their products. 10 points to the marketing/promotional team.) The song itself reminds us a little of her first album and in fact her debut single Mama Do but with a mix of her last album.

It’s good enough to make you forget about that monstrosity that was Nasty…

Rating: 4/5

The Vamps // Somebody To You Feat. Demi Lovato

 
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We keep coming back to this 4 piece boy band in hope of hearing something that originally made us love these guys. But to be honest, we think this is one of those times that we’re going to have to sit on the rather prickly fence.

We can’t help thinking that this would be the Pop child of The Lumineers Hey Ho and One Direction’s Story Of My Life but instead of the familiar Hey Ho they’ve replaced it with Yeah You. We’d really have loved if Lovato’s verse had been a solo effort instead of being joined in backing vocals by one of the guys and maybe even getting her to have the preceding chorus to herself as well.

Besides this small sticking point on vocals, it is one of those songs that we think is probably going to get stuck in your head from the first listen and be that one song you can help joining in the chorus no matter how hard you try to fight it. It’s possibly going to be filed under ‘Songs that will be played continuously over the coming months’ and possibly even ‘Guilty Pleasure’

Rating: 3/5

Charlotte Jaconelli // Solitaire

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Recognise the name? You’re probably more used to seeing it as part of Jonathan & Charlotte but late last year, the pair went their separate ways due to creative differences. So what is Charlotte’s debut album like?

Opening with the ballad Feels Like Love, we hear what sounds more like a pop vocal with a classical edge. Title track Solitaire is next and is more classical in feeling before we head straight into complete classical mode with Pie Jesu.

I know Him So Well (from the musical Chess) is next and comes in the form of a duet with West End star Kerry Ellis which, for the most part works well. Off to the movies now with When Somebody Loved Me (from the Disney Pixar classic, Toy Story 2) before the classic Richard Marx track Right Here Waiting For You, again delivered with that pop but classical edge voice.

Lascia ch’io pianga is another classical track that showcases Jaconelli’s voice before heading back to the musicals with another duet, this time Daniel Koek in the form of All I Ask Of You and this time works well for the entirety of the track.

Staying with the musicals, we head off to Les Miserables for On My Own but seems sang ‘too proper’ for it to sound natural, however this proper voice works for the next track in this list which is I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls and flows better. Finally the album closes with I Could Have Danced All Night but it leaves you feeling like there should be another track after this. Maybe swap the last two tracks for a more natural ending?

We had a feeling given the last release with Jonathan, Perhaps Love that there was a difference in direction with the pair, and while it’s sad to them split, this now give them the chance to flourish. It’s a mixed bag of songs which is obviously leaving Jaconelli open to experiment and find her niche. Our only complaint is something we picked up on the last time and that is the over pronunciation of words which makes the flow in certain songs feel unnatural. It feels as if at times she is trying too hard, almost like a need to say ‘I can do this on my own’.

Should there be a second solo album, we really hope that she can find a focus on what she’d rather be doing. This shows she can do a variety but we suspect that she also needs a variety of vocals to match the variety of tracks

Rating: 3/5

5 Seconds of Summer // Don’t Stop

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No, 5 Seconds of Summer is not a reference to the usual British Summer, but are in fact an group from Australia.

Don’t Stop is actually their second international release (She’s So Perfect was the first) and for the most part is a great little pop rock number. The issue is after a few listens there’s not much to hear and it starts to wear a little thin. It’s a shame too because we think that they’ve got potential. With their album due out at the end of the month, time will only tell.

Rating: 3/5

Gareth Malone // Voices

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Deluxe
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Limited Edition
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We’d be surprised if anyone hadn’t heard of Gareth Malone. He’s already had a no.1 thanks to the Military Wives, has got workplaces singing together and now he brings a new choir of young talented people together to produce Voices.

This collection of songs bring a number of modern tracks (Alicia Key’s Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart, Bon Ivor’s Calgary & Lana Del Ray’s Video Games to name a few),some older tracks (Erasure’s A Little Respect, The Moody Blue’s Night’s In White Satin & Fleetwood Mac’s Go You Own Way) and some more choral tracks (Now Sleeps The Crimson Petal on the standard with the addition of O Magnum Mysterium & Passion Chorale on the deluxe version).

Many of these tracks do work well in a choral arrangement though the version of Death Grip’s Guillotine may lead to feelings of sea sickness while Go Your Own Way shows potential but seems to get lost along the way. It’s an interesting take on the genre but at the same time, it shows not everything works. It’s a shame too, as we were really taken with the live EP from the Supperclub last year (available on Amazon) but this doesn’t seem to capture what you hear live.

If it was a school report it would probably read, shows potential but could do better

Rating: 3/5

Cheryl Cole // Crazy Stupid Love

 
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Has it been 2 years since Cheryl’s last solo release? No matter how long it’s been, she’s back and previewing her latest single, Crazy Stupid Love featuring Tinie Tempah.

Now, we admit that her previous releases haven’t rated highly with us but we’re always willing to give another chance. Sadly though, this song is doing nothing for us.It feels like a mish mash of things in the hope that it works. We’re really struggling to understand the whole point of the Sax solo. It just feels sort of out of place. And Tinie’s rap section…it just about saves this from completely drowning.

That said, we do recommend checking out the WestFunk & Steve Smart remix of the track which, in our opinion, is the better of the two.

Is it likely to do anything? Maybe Maybe not. But with it not being released until next month, is it possible that people will be driven crazy stupid by the time it comes around?

Rating: 2/5

Peter Hollens // The Parting Glass

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We were always a little bit disappointed that the last song featured on Assasin’s Creed 4: Black Flag didn’t turn up on any of the soundtracks (some of the sea shanties turned up on their own collection!) and we never knew the name of the track either.

It seems that it’s quite common track actually. But now, thanks to the wonderful talent that is Peter Hollens, the song is brought to life once again with his multi layered vocal approach. This approach gives it a sort of haunting feeling before midway there’s a bit of a bounce. But don’t let this fool you as it soon returns to what we heard at the start.

A beautiful little number…there’s nothing else we can say!

Rating:5/5

Emmelie de Forest // Rainmaker

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Has it really been a year since Emmelie de Forest won the Eurovision with her song Only Teardrops? Apparently so. And Rainmaker, the first new music to be heard since the release of her album, last year, was made this year’s official Eurovision theme.

It carries a familiar celtic/tribal feel to it, so not a million miles away from what we’ve heard before and it won’t be long until the way oh way oh way gets stuck in your head and your singing along with it. It’s a fairly safe song and probably best given a) given the length of time and b) what the song was for. The song itself is likely to appeal to those already familiar with her work but will be interesting to see where she goes from here

Rating: 4/5