Best of 2009: January #4 - #1

And who came out victorious in January? Find out for yourself after the jump.

#4: Varsity Fanclub - When You Were Mine

When You Were Mine was one of the songs leaked just before the supposed January release date of Varsity Fanclub album. After the album was delayed, the band experience the exit of a member and still no album release. Ho hum. The song is very 'American' if I were to describe it and the only downside of this number is the way too long intro. Other than that, brilliant song, brilliant band - GET THE DAMN ALBUM OUT ALREADY! All these American boybands are so lazy. Hahah.

#3: V Factory - Love Struck

And the American boybands keep it coming. Love Struck was a favorite among the blogs this year and I personally adore the damn song. Actually, it sounds like something that would work in kpop if they sped it up and added a complicated dance routine. Great melody albeit the slightly boring instrumental but I do think that V Factory have good, solid vocals. Not like NLT who I think have the best vocals of the pack but good enough.

#2: Spectacular Cast - Everything Can Change

(See my review of the Spectacular! Soundtrack)

I know Paul is gonna love me for putting this in but it is also thanks to his constant gushing over Spectacular earlier this year that I just HAD to give it a try. LOVED it. Hahah. Everything Can Change was the song that I honestly really listened to for days after I reviewed the album and just couldn't get enough of no matter how hard I tried. I forgot about it over the course of my earlier kpop addiction but gosh, this is a brilliant, BRILLIANT song. Hahah. Nickelodeon knows how to make a good soundtrack! Hahah.

And my favorite song from January is?!?!

#1: Lucie Silvas - Fall For Something Real

(See my initial review of the song)

Lucie Silvas has one of those voices that I just can't stop listening to no matter how crap the song is. Thankfully for my ears though, the girl puts out some of the most brilliant songs - this is no exception. Very soulful and the melody carries the entire thing but the guitar part is very cool and the emphasis on the drums adds another dimension to the song. What the crap has happened to her since this? Can't seem to find anything.

4 boybands today.

Boybands come and go, members leave and teenage girls grow up. Longevity in the boyband world is reserved only for an elite group, and even those bands aren't as popular as they were when they started out. New boybands are sprouting out from everywhere and now the US is getting back into the boyband market.

We all know that the world of boybands is a never ending cycle of line-up changes, hit singles and formulas left and right for every genre possible so which new boybands are currently nestled atop the throne of boyband royalty? Here's a lowdown on who to watch out for in the coming months and even years.

1. If you don't know about NLT yet then you must be hiding under a pretty huge rock. They were really hyped up early last year for working with Timbaland and all the superstar producers of today. They've got a bunch of amazing melodies out, but I think it's nothing we haven't heard before, there's nothing that really separates them from the other boybands right now or even R&B solo artists.

They're like the NSYNC of this generation, very R&B, very complicated dance routines and sort of vocally they're kinda like them. As far as I know, they have two singles out and their album is due this year. It better come or else they'll have to face a very angry blogger!

2. If you're looking for something a little less NLT-ish, then check V Factory out. Their debut single was written by none other than the amazing Darin so you've got some Swedish stuff mixed in as well and we all know how amazing Swedish pop songs are.

They released an EP earlier last year and it was amazing. You had three songs that were all really single-worthy, in my opinion.

3. Like Lady GaGa? Check Varsity Fanclub out. The first song was produced by the same team that did Lady GaGa's Just Dance and Darin's current album, the amazing RedOne. *worships*

Brilliance. So two days ago, it was announced that their album is to be pushed back a FEW MONTHS. Here I was thinking that they're probably the most productive of all the current boybands but noooooo. It might not be the chart domination that we're all hoping for(most boyband debuts aren't but you never know, they might just channel some Westlife success!), but we can at least expect some amazing songs!

4. Now the only new UK boyband(If you know of any that I don't know of, tell me!!! Wait. I forgot Avenue! NOOOOOO!) at the moment is JLS. Straight off the X Factor, they already have a contract from Simon and Louis Walsh(yes, THE Louis Walsh of Westlife and Boyzone managing fame..) wants to manage them. Let's just put it this way, when the two guys responsible for the most successful boyband in the world want to back your band, then you're pretty special.

So with Louis Walsh and Simon Cowell behind them, these guys are assured a chart domination. If they don't get a number one with their first single, it'll most probably hit the top ten or five, it's a given. I've said this many times before, but the British public doesn't even have to like them, they'll still sell millions.

The A Capella showdown

I somehow gauge how good a boyband is by looking at their a capella performances because it's very common in boybands that they're able to sing a capella in three to five parts.

So which country produces better boybands in terms of a capella work? This is UK boybands VS. US boybands!

Note: These are boybands that if inactive have produced more than two singles and at least one album. If they're active, then there's no requirement. haha.

The US Boybands..

So BSB are kind of the ultimate US boyband, along with NSYNC. As far as I know, they never recorded anything a capella apart from the tracks that they stripped the instrumental of so I got digging for some live stuff and I came across this:

They're good, but the vocals are a bit weak for me, when someone takes lead that someone has these strong vocals but the people backing him are either not blended well or have really weak voices.

Now since I got a live BSB track, that automatically bans me from judging NSYNC by their recording of O Holy Night in A Capella. Luckily, I found a live performance of it! YAY!

I think NSYNC are definitely better than BSB judging by this, there's more power to their vocals and it's more convincing for me. It sounds amazing as well, they're voices work better together than BSB, if I may say so.

Let's move over to the new boybands of the US, shall we? Mainly because I can't find any live KNOTB or 98 Degrees a capella stuff. If you guys find any though, let me know!

Now Day26 are a fairly new boyband but when I heard this performance, let's just say I'll be listening to their album a heck of a lot more than I already do.

They're gooooooood. Out of all the new boybands right now, I have to say, they're the best a capella-wise.

NLT may have the amazing, mind-blowing melodies but they're not up to par with Day26. I don't know if it's just because they're missing a fifth harmony or if their voices aren't really that strong together. Think BSB of now, that's the best description.

Now V Factory are in between Day26 and NLT in terms of vocals, they're better than NLT but they're just a wee bit not as good as Day26, I think. Amazing song though, I've never heard it before!

Varsity Fanclub however, are just that bit better than V Factory, I think. Better, more distinct and powerful voices and they most definitely blend much better than V Factory. I still love them all though!

So let's go over to my specialty, the UK boybands!

We HAVE to kick it off with Westlife, we just HAVE TO! I've said time and time again that Westlife cannot be beaten in terms of a capella o below is a very popular fan vid of a capella clips of the lads.

Now do you see why Westlife rock so much? The power and the way their voices blend is sheer brilliance people! BRILLIANCE.

A1 were around when Westlife started, and they were nominated for the same award once(The Smash Hits Best New Tour Act.., Westlife won, duh.) and I think A1 are pretty close to Westlife in terms of vocals.

It's a little too fast if you know the original recorded version but vocally they're goooooood.

Lemme just say it, Blue suck when it comes to a capella.

No soul, no power, nothing. They may have some amazing songs recorded but this was just horrible.

So at the moment, JLS are being tipped as the new Westlife, being mentored by Louis Walsh on the X Factor, plus the fact that they sang like two songs that Westlife covered. JLS are lightyears better than Blue though, if I may say so.

Amazing stuff. Still not as good as Westlife, but good enough! They're sort of between Blue and A1.

You guys DO NOT know how much I want to hear D-Side doing some serious five(or three..) part a capella! But I can't find any, so if you guys have seen ANYTHING whatsoever that resembles an a capella performance of them, TELL ME!!! haha.

So, based on the stuff I've collected(which took me about four hours..) and now shown you guys, which country produces the better boybands, the US or the UK? I know my answer..... haha.

# 13: V Factory - These Are The Days

V Factory, another BRILLIANT boyband to come out from the US this year, they're certainly making up for lost time.

Can you believe Darin wrote their upcoming single? It's amazing, and it sounds so Swedish!

Anyway. They released an EP earlier this year, and I was blown away.

They may have a really wimpy set of vocal chords but hey, the songs they've got are amazing. Amazing to the level that These Are The Days was the only thing I listened to for maybe two days, thus I've played it like 100 times already.

It's like a more R&B-influenced Ordinary Days(the Leon song I just reviewed yesterday..) but with another gorgeous melody.

As I said, the vocals are probably my only problem. They're a bit too Disney for me, but I guess that's what American boybands are, so who am I to change a tried and tested formula? After all, pop is a formula.

If I was to judge just the song, I would say it's stunning. After months of listening to it, I haven't gotten sick of it yet and that's definitely a good sign.