The past few days have brought some seriously hot jams across my radar, so I’ve gotta share them with all of you, ’cause that’s what I do.
– Toni Braxton “Make My Heart” – I already shined a light on “Yesterday“, single #1 from Toni’s upcoming CD Pulse, but single #2 just takes it to another level. While “Yesterday” was the sound of the moment that you could have just as easily heard Leona Lewis or Jordin Sparks singing, “Heart” is a serious club-banger that I don’t think sounds quite like anything out in the marketplace right now, and that is a good thing. Pulse comes out May 4th, and if this is the direction it is going, I’m right on board. Check out this clip of her performing on the Wendy Williams Show with some slammin’ choreography going on. You can also check out her interview here. Seriously, she tears it up!
– Tania Foster “SupaWoman” – There has been a LOT of Sugababes-slagging going on over the past few months, and based on how the singles from the still-upcoming release Sweet 7 are going, this may be their last gasp. So it’s encouraging to see someone actually pick up the torch that the ‘Babes should have been carrying and run with it like they know what they are doing. Tania has done back-up work for several folks in the UK including Tinchy Stryder, who she has sang and written with. Within a day of each other, I received an email from her management, along with reading Mike’s praise-filled post, and I was hooked. While some might take the Sugababes comparison as a slight, I mean it as a compliment. The trio working with RedOne looked like a good plan on paper, but the execution has been less than stellar. Tania’s sound is more authentic, and if this is only the first taste of things to come, count me in. “SupaWoman” deserves to be a hit, and hopefully she can do it with an assist from some of the connections she has already forged.
– Livvi Franc “Automatik” – Mike’s going to get a double-shot of props from me today, because he also tipped me off to the new Livvi Franc track “Automatik”. What is it with this girl that she changes up her k’s and her c’s? Doesn’t matter, though, because this track picks right up where Cascada’s “Evacuate the Dancefloor” left off. The song on a lyrical level isn’t brain surgery, but it is fun. After a couple of listens, that chorus will be wedged into your head.
When I decided to write up a review of the new Blake Lewis CD Heartbreak on Vinyl, I did so with a bit of hesitation. Not only do I know 
Heartbreak, for all of the strengths, still has one glaring issue that slows down the middle of the disc. For me, the production on some tracks that sounds a bit amateurish. “Left My Baby For You” is a good example, where some of Blake’s repeated lyrics just sound flat and don’t really go anywhere. It’s like you are waiting for this great rollercoaster, and then your car goes down the first hill just as slow as it went up, even though you are waiting for top speed. 
Overall, the CD is terrific. In a world where dance albums are often just a lot of filler to milk buyers looking for one killer jam, Heartbreak makes sure it doesn’t break your heart with inferior material. Blake kept his promise about the material being more love-related, but it’s not a sappy collection at all. In fact, the appropriate response to this kind of love is to hit the dancefloor and dance. Mission accomplished.
– If you haven’t done so already, check out the 
– Current songs that sound really good on the radio: Alphabeat’s “The Spell”, which is up on Radio 1 in advance of its release on October 18th, and REALLY needs to see a US release; Britney’s “3”, which I heard coming out of David Guetta’s “Sexy Bitch”, making for a pretty impressive (and surprising) one-two punch; and Carrie Underwood’s “Cowboy Casanova”, which needs to see a pop radio push at some point in the near future. Even in its original form, it is incredibly catchy.
– Who decided that Crazy Frog needed a new album, let alone one that’s an exclusive to Wal-Mart? And how disturbing is it that “Cha Cha Slide” is among the tracks covered? Or “Last Christmas”? Thankfully, there aren’t samples on the website, or I might be typing wounded right now.
– Gary Go – So I 
– La Roux – Oh, Elly Jackson. I am sure you mean well, with your punkish attitude and your mile-high hair. The public loves a polarizing figure sometimes if there is some redeeming quality. Unfortunately, at this moment, there really isn’t one for La Roux in the U.S. (released digitally this month), because while she may have an interesting persona, the music just isn’t where the American public is currently. It’s a really good CD…former #1 dance track “Bulletproof” will lodge itself into your head for hours at a time, and “In For the Kill”, despite certain frequencies of Elly’s voice, is a pretty classy electronic pop romp. The rough part for Elly and Co is that in order to crack the pop charts here in the States, you either need a sound that draws off of something that’s already been a hit, or something that is completely new, different, and impactful. I just don’t see this happening with anything on the current release, but hopefully they develop enough of an underground following that will sustain them through to their sophomore effort.
– Noisettes – I admit it…”Don’t Upset the Rhythm” was not an immediate hit with me. Despite all of the raving that was going on for the track, it just did not fully click with me. Fortunately, there was more to this trio from London than just an all-out funky jam (which is currently in the Top 5 of the Billboard Dance/Club Play chart). “Never Forget You” seeped into my brain, and has made regular appearances for the past month, making it a strong candidate for “Earworm of the Year”. If there is a track that can crack America, it is “Forget”, which has a bit of an Amy Winehouse vibe to it, but with a lot more 60s-era class. This is custom-made for the VH1 set, and it would only take one breakthrough performance on a show like Saturday Night Live (think Adele last year) to bring this album to the masses. Here’s hoping…
I’ve talked about it before, but Amazon is doing some amazing wheeling and dealing as it attempts to make up some ground on iTunes with an MP3 Download store of it’s own. Friday, it was the Jay-Z opus Blueprint 3, which I picked up for $3.99 (SO worth it!), and today, it’s Nelly Furtado’s Mi Plan for 
– Does it seem possible that Sandra Bernhard hasn’t released an album of new music in 15 years? Continuing to give credit where it’s due, Towleroad (and Modern Tonic) gave us a sneak peak of Sandra’s upcoming CD Whatever It Takes. 
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