That Kevin Borg album review(very short) + two single reviews(THE NEW AGNES SOOOONG!) + two really sad announcements.

Kevin Borg was one of those artists I checked out by association - he's Swedish and he won Idol. To a certain extent having the Idol label helps 'coz people like me who don't exactly watch all the shows around the world will see an artist with the label and get curious - sometimes you discover amazing new music.

So there, I gave this guy's album a listen and I was presented with amazing, standalone songs. If you listen to these songs alone, with no outside factors and blocking out all your knowledge about other songs and music in general it's actually a good album but the thing is, you don't do that. I listened to the album from start to finish and I was a bit put off but I chose the songs with good melodies, listened to them over individually and I was impressed.

He has good songs - they're gorgeous, he knows where to find them and how to sing them 'coz he has a gorgeous voice but they're all so detached from each other.

That's all I have to say about the album - and that Street Lights, Out Of Time and More Than I Do Now are probably the best on the album.
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Jesse McCartney's re-releasing Departure but you all probably know that already. Body Language(which was very eagerly awaited after a live version leaked) leaked a few days back and I was going to write a review for it today but then something better came along - the other song on the re-release. Crash and Burn will probably never be a single but it's such a gorgeous song that I at the very least should write something about it.

It starts out very simple, with a nice melodious verse and a gorgeous instrumentation but then once the chorus kicks in you realize that the verse was nothing compared to what came next. You have a very simple melody, with a gorgeous instrumentation that made me smile just like how Moments That Matter made me smile and I don't usually smile like that when I hear a song.

My only complaint with him is that he doesn't have groove and a mastery of the genre unlike say, Craig David or Lemar. When you listen to the song you won't bop your head involuntarily, you kind of have to think about when or how. But the song's amazing, better than anything on the original Departure so well done Jesse.

Everyone's been raving on and on about Agnes Carlsson's Love Love Love so it's my turn. I had it already the day it came out but I didn't get the chance to listen 'coz of tests and stuff until a little before I started writing. The verdict - IT'S BRILLIANT.

At the start it's very soft and when I first heard it wasn't that into it but my second listen was very pleasant. Then the standard Agnes style kicks in and it becomes a truly amazing song.

The song has a gorgeous melody, yes but it also takes you on a ride. It starts out slow, builds up bit by bit and by the end of the song you're left with something so mind-blowing that you won't know what hit you but you'll want to listen to it over and over and over and over again.

I'm dead serious, it's a slightly new Agnes that I simply adooooore - she should do more of these stuff. Plus the cover's gorgeous, right?
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Two pieces of news - Avenue and Same Difference are no more. Let's take time to mourn.

OK! DONE! haha, really - it's horrible news. Same Difference were dropped and Avenue split. UGH, WHY?

It's like they just disappeared...

A few years ago, there were some new artists who were releasing songs, new material and gearing up for their first or second albums but 2008 came and went and they still didn't have an album out. Here are a few artists who'll forever have a TBA tag on my music library.

The artist I've been waiting for the most is a girl called Gia Farrell. Her brilliant first single was on the Happy Feet soundtrack and for me it gave new meaning to pop music. It was fun, vibrant but contemporary and her vocals were one of the best I've ever heard. Her album was slated for a 2007 release but like others on this list, it never materialized. Throughout 2008 new songs from her would randomly sprout out, Obvious and Can and Cannot Do being the cream of the crop. I wiki-ed her just now and apparently, she was dropped by Atlantic in 2007. Garrr. Unless someone signs her quick, I'm afraid she'll never have an album. Ugh.

Now a pop group I've been watching out for since forever is A-List Alliance. I forgot how I came across them but I did and I've been listening to their stuff since forever. They remind me of a newer, more dance/electronica-based Liberty X and I haven't heard anything from them in almost a year now except for a few YouTube videos and their dormant MySpace. Where'd they go????

LAX used to be an amazing band, even if I only ever heard two songs from them. Once they became Kali, I lost interest. I heard the song, hated it and it's like they disappeared from the face of the earth. All I can find of them now are a few YouTube videos but I can't find their MySpace. 

Another big question mark for me is Asia Cruise. She's Pinay so I got curious about her. I've only really heard one song from her, Walk Me Out(it came close to entering my year-end countdown last year!) and I liked it. I did a little research and she hasn't been dropped, her myspace is up and running and apparently, the album is due this year! It better come out..

Avenue had a pretty bumpy ride, but the one song from them that's out is brilliant. They were the boyband that got disqualified from X Factor in 2006(Kian from Westlife was one of Louis' judges that year..!) because they were formed by a record company and had a management deal. So they were out and last year they released a single. I take it didn't do well because the album isn't out yet. They were supposed to go on tour this month but it was cancelled. Hmm.

Cassie burst onto the scene in 2006 with her R&B number one single Me&U and I remember that song in particular very well. 2006 was the year I got addicted to Westlife, the year my whole music addiction started. Because I was waiting for Westlife to somehow sprout out on local music channels and radio stations, I'd hear this. Of course we were months behind and it only hit radio here about four months after it was released in the US but what the heck, I knew nothing about music yet. So there, I was addicted. I loved the album and the subsequent singles but it's like after Long Way 2 Go flopped, she disappeared. She's had some material circulating but no album yet and apparently it's due for a spring release. Hmm..

I have absolutely no idea how I stumbled upon Samantha Jade but I did and thank God for that. She's had two singles but they didn't do very well and the album was originally scheduled for a 2006 release. Obviously it didn't pull through because it's 2009 now and all we have from her are four songs. Late last year a new song leaked but the buzz died down as fast as it started and now wiki's saying that she's going into film. Is this all we will ever get from her? ugh.

Along with Westlife, I was also really addicted to TRL in 2006, mainly because I discovered the wonders of MTV at the same time. So I was watching TRL(which was a week behind here..) and I saw Teddy Geiger. I liked the song, I got the album and I loved it, end of story. Around last year, I got curious about him again and I did some research, apparently he was bringing out a new album. So I got excited but then I forgot about it so when I checked a while ago, Columbia already dropped him. garr.

It's a shame these artists might never see the light of a number one single anymore and that their albums will forever remain 'TBA' but you never know, we might just hear something from them again one day..Gia , LAX