A Few Words with Tino Coury

Posted by John on May 17, 2010
Posted in: interview, videos, youtube. Tagged: , . 5 Comments

One of the cool things about being a diehard music fan is seeing how an artist builds buzz among other music fans. Such is the case with Tino Coury, who I originally featured back in March of this year when his single “Diary” first hit the scene. Two months later, and Tino has a single on iTunes, a decent-budget video, and a whirlwind radio tour that looks to morph into a summer concert tour. In the midst of all the touring and promotion, he took a little time to field a few questions about what the immediate future looks like, along with his ambitions for his career.

Pop Music Notes: First off, congrats on the single. How does it feel to know that you have a single on a major label that’s officially going up for sale on iTunes on the 4th?

Tino Coury: Thanks so much! It feels so amazing…I put a lot of work in… and to finally have that chance to launch my first single is unbelievable. I feel very blessed.

PMN: What’s the plan for you leading up to your album being released later this year?

TC: I plan on doing a lot of shows this summer. I will promoting my single “Diary” and performing a lot. I am very excited to get in front of my fans and start doing shows!

PMN: Here’s the inevitable question. Is “Diary” from real life, or is it just really good storytelling?

TC: My inspiration for the song came from real life experiences, and seeing other people go through the same situation. In todays world no one picks up the phone anymore, everything is in writing, text/email/ etc. I think everyone has seen something in writing they didn’t expect to see before. So I think everyone can relate to it.

PMN: What’s the rest of the material on the album going to sound like? Any producers or co-writers you want to mention?

TC: What I try to keep consistent throughout my album is having a great story people can relate too, but a great beat you can dance too at the same time. There has to be meaning. Like the combination in “Diary”… but with some more live instruments, and ballads, etc. A lot of depth and variety for sure!

PMN: If you could model your career on anyone that’s come before you, who would it be?

TC: It would have to be Justin Timberlake. I think he is an amazing performer/entertainer. And a great songwriter. I went to his Future/Sex/Lovesound tour and it was honestly amazing. If I can sell out arenas like that one day that would be a dream come true.

PMN. Do you have any long-term ambitions besides music?

TC: Right now my full focus is music and I set a lot of goals for myself within the music industry. I never thought about trying to do anything else!

PMN: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us, and good luck with the single. Any final words for those who haven’t quite been won over by “Diary”?

TC: Def keep checkin back for more songs/updates cause I am much more then just one single. I think that I bring a lot of elements to my music that has not been shown yet. Don’t give up on it just yet!

Video Notables – Maria Haukaas Storeng & Måns Zelmerlöw

Posted by John on May 13, 2010
Posted in: videos, youtube. Tagged: , . 1 Comment

Once again, I bow in the direction of Paul over at Fizzy Pop for turning me on to one of the most perfect pop songs I have heard this year. Enduring his endless admiration of Måns Zelmerlöw (kidding) has paid off, as his new duet with Maria Haukaas Storeng is an amazing update of Phil Seymour’s “Precious To Me”, which hit #22 here in the US back in 1981. I was thinking it had been a hit in the 70s, but either way, I have not thought of that song in at least 20 years.

There’s a lot of praise to go around on this track, but first and foremost, big props to whomever came up with the idea of using the song in the first place. It retains the charm of the original, but updates it in a way that sounds retro and current at the same time. Here’s hoping that this duet escapes Scandinavia and takes over the rest of the world.

Mixin’ It Up

Posted by John on May 8, 2010
Posted in: playlist, singles, videos, youtube. Tagged: , , , . 8 Comments

After a few months where it seemed like pop music was hibernating, things have definitely picked up. I’ve got more than enough great music to create a Spring mix. Here are a few of the tracks to make the cut:

– Bright Light Bright Light “A New Word To Say” – I don’t remember whether Fizzy Pop or XOLondon gets first credit for bringing this to my attention, but they both deserve an award for having great taste, because this song is brilliant. The way this struck me on first listen reminds me of the first time I heard songs by the Thompson Twins, Howard Jones and Eurogliders back in the 80s. It’s an electronic song with an organic soul, and the melody, vocals and production come together to create an upbeat, light (in a good way) and fun track. Too bad the general public cannot be trusted to make a song of this quality a hit. In the meantime, head over to BLx2’s website and pick up the track for free (registration required).

– Jenna Andrews “Tumblin’ Down” – Think Corrine Bailey Rae with a bit more bass, and you’ll have a good picture of Jenna’s debut single. “Tumblin” also has a lot of Erykah Badu influence as well, but without all of the heavy baggage. She’s signed to Def Jam Island, and based off of this initial sample, I can see why. And guess what? You can pick up this track for free as well. Enjoy!

– Sia “Clap Your Hands (Fred Falke Edit)” – If there is one remixer out there who is not getting enough respect from the mainstream, it’s Fred Falke. Following killer remixes for folks like the Gossip (“Heavy Cross”), LaRoux (“Bulletproof”), Will Young (“Tell Me the Worst”) and Mini Viva (“I Left My Heart in Tokyo”), he has now put his touch on Sia’s “Clap Your Hands”. The song in its original form is fun and perky, but Falke’s remix gives it a depth missing from the original mix. Please let Sia break through with this new album…

– Toni Braxton “Make My Heart (Chris Malinchak Indigo Mix)” – I am all about Toni’s Pulse, which came out on Tuesday. Highlights for me include the back-to-form ballad “Woman”, and the mid-tempo “Wardrobe”, which shows her having fun with a song you could hear Jordin Sparks singing once she’s grown. My favorite track remains floor-filler “Make My Heart”, and that love is perpetuated through this mix. Please let Toni come back with this new album…

Out in the Country

Posted by John on May 2, 2010
Posted in: commentary, news. Tagged: , . 6 Comments

Towleroad.com is reporting today that, after weeks of speculation, it will be Country singer Chely Wright coming out in this week’s issue of People magazine. While coming out stories seem to be popping up more and more frequently, this one should be interesting to watch develop.

The TMZ quote that Towleroad cites that “Wright is the first major Country artist ever to come out”, and several commenters argued that kd lang should be given that distinction. However, kd never had a big hit on the Country charts, with “I’m Down to My Last Cigarette” and “Full Moon Full of Love” being her only two top 40 Country hits at #21 and #22 respectively. Chely had a massive #1 record with “Single White Female”, which was pretty much everywhere Country music was played in 1999. Her most recent hit came in 2005 with “The Bumper of My SUV”, a powerful song that questioned the black and white responses to the war in Iraq. Chely caught a LOT of flak for this song from both sides of the debate because she wasn’t fully on one side or the other, but I respected her that much more for allowing gray into an otherwise black and white debate. The video below tells the whole story.

I have been a fan of Chely’s since the mid-90s, when “Shut Up and Drive”, her first Country top 20 record, proved to be my mantra after the breakup of my first serious relationship. Chely doesn’t have a problem fitting into the mainstream when she wants to, but there’s always a bit more depth to her music than many of her contemporaries, and the personal connection is usually quite evident. For me, one of the big missteps of her career was “Jezebel”, which was written by Jay DeMarcus from Rascal Flatts. It was kind of a fun song, but it sure didn’t strike me as Chely Wright song. I would much rather you listen to a song like “I Already Do” which connects much more directly with the listener. For some more highlights of her career, you have to check out Kevin’s recap at Country Universe.

So who knows how this plays out, but I wish her well. There have been a few country artists that have been out in the business without being out in public, so I don’t know that you can draw any full-fledged comparisons between them and Chely. Hopefully the people who have known and worked with Chely behind the scenes will continue to visibly support her now that she’s done keeping up a facade simply to be more widely accepted. If the first single from her new album Lifted Off the Ground that comes out this week is any indication, she’s got a lot of potential hits left in her.

Springing A Leak

Posted by John on April 24, 2010
Posted in: commentary, music industry, new releases. Tagged: , . 16 Comments

I woke up this morning to a tweet from @shayneTward (well, not PERSONALLY to me):

I find it disgusting that yet another 1 of my songs have been leaked. I ask all of u to not download or even listen 2 it in respect of me.!

Now there’s a conundrum for the Shayne Ward fan in your life. (Full disclosure if you didn’t already know it: I’m a fan). On one hand, a fan of an artist wants to help that person out and support whatever efforts will allow them to be successful. However, the flip side is that said fan wants to hear that leaked music as soon as possible. So what way do you go?

Leaks have become a completely different beast in the age of the Internet than they ever were in more analog times. My first “leak” was a vinyl copy of the Black Album in the late-80s that I got from a person who worked for a distributor. At the time, I thought I was being all rebellious and connected at the same time, but now I know that the bootleg was actually a promo copy of the aborted (at the time) album. It came as a fully packaged album, with a two-toned black cover, so I should have recognized the effort that went into the packaging. The Black Album was finally released in 1994, although by that time not nearly as many people cared.

So back to the leak at hand. I’ve already talked about two Shayne leaks last month, and as we get closer to the release of his third record, I am sure we will see more. While you want to think that the actions of someone you respect are on the up and up, I can’t help think that bringing attention to a track continues the conversation about the artist started by the first two leaks. Leaks have worked very well in building buzz for artists over the past few years (think Britney’s last two projects), so it isn’t a reach to wonder if the protest is to bring attention to the leak, because I didn’t know another track had leaked until Shayne told me so. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t, I suppose.

So here’s the question: given the circumstance, would you check out the leak, or would you leave it alone? I promise that I will share which way I went with it, but I’d like to see some of the feedback first.

All the World’s a Video

Posted by John on April 18, 2010
Posted in: videos, youtube. Tagged: , , , , . 5 Comments

I was going to do a basic Video Notable entry, but I have so many to share that it has turned into a video jamboree.

– I know that this is primarily lipsync, but Robyn’s recent performance of “Fembots” this week is a joy to watch no matter how live it is.

Now, if Robyn is looking to outsource a video for “Fembot”, she absolutely has to check out Popmuse’s version starring his daughter Lily. Cute overload at its most fierce.

– Jay-Z closed the night at Coachella last night, and instead of bringing out Mr Hudson for a duet on “Young Forever”, he brought out his wife Beyonce, who never met a chorus she could twist.

From a strict vocal perspective, she was spot on, but between the key change and her phrasing, I felt a big disconnect from the performance. Jay was on point, even with only a partial voice, but that should have been a massive sing-along. How do you sing along with someone who is doing a bit of improv? I know I’ve given my raves about the studio recording of “Young Forever” before, but sometimes you shouldn’t mess with a winning formula.

– Toni Braxton got her money’s worth out of the video shoot with Director Bille Woodruff, as it appears she made one for “Hands Tied” at the same time that she made “Make My Heart“. Some may be put off by the less than blockbuster budget, but I think Toni’s done alright with what I am sure is only a fraction of the budget she’s used to having. “Hands” actually has a good look and feel to it, whereas some of the graphics used in “Make” looked a little cheap.

Support Your Local Record Shop

Posted by John on April 17, 2010
Posted in: commentary, music industry, personal. Tagged: . 6 Comments

Tomorrow is the 2010 edition of Record Store Day, and I was going to go on about all the cool swag that you can pick up in the United States and in the United Kingdom tomorrow at your local independent shop. However, it dawned on me that I have never talked about record stores in terms of the thing that has developed my love of music more than anything else in my adult life: my time as a music store employee/manager.

Music store employees are a mixed bag of society, but they usually fall into three categories: students who are looking for money to go out and hang with friends, but who really don’t care where they work; people who have another interest in life, but really like music, and have a p/t record store job to feed their hobby; and the music geeks, who sometimes go as far as never holding any other job besides stocking and alphabetizing CDs. If you could make a living wage doing so, I would still be in the last category. Scratch that…if you could make a living wage and also enjoy the holidays, I would still be in that last category.

My first record store job was while I was in college at Record Theatre, which is still alive and kicking in Buffalo, although the stores I knew in Syracuse and Rochester have been closed for years. I helped open one of the stores in Syracuse in 1988, right around the time that CDs were just starting to get a hold on the market. One of my first vivid memories was cutting boxes open and stacking them at the front of the store in preparation for Christmas shoppers with titles like REM and Anita Baker. Anyone remember CD longboxes? They may have been an environmental disaster, but they were great for merchandising CDs.

One cool thing about record stores is that each store either attracts an army of fans of one type of music, or it attracts one fan of each genre. If you look at the title of this blog, you’ll see where my knowledge lays. People were pretty stunned that a 19-year-old kid had such a knowledge of not only current pop music, but of music dating back into the 60s. (Mom, if I’ve never thanked you for that, thanks.) I quickly became the go-to guy for singles, and I felt like I had found my calling. However, life (and school) took me out of town, and left that job.

Once I got out of school, my mission was to find a job in radio, but retail management called to pay the bills until then. There was a new Record Town/Saturday Matinee store in the mall I worked at, and I hounded them mercilessly to let me work at least part-time. About a year later, I got my chance, and took on a third-key management position. That started a 7 year run as a store manager for Record Town first, and then Camelot Music (which was then purchased by Record Town’s parent company). In fact, my first store of my own was a hole-in-the-wall Tape World in the Camillus Mall outside of Syracuse. It was more like Tape Alley than World, but it was mine. These stores were opened by the same company as Record Town in order to have a stronger presence within the same mall, and while I hated having such a small store, it set me up for bigger things within the company.

One great thing about my music management days is that they lead to me moving around a bit, and I got to see parts of the country that I didn’t even know that I wanted to see. I fell in love with western North Carolina and Asheville after having been in Greensboro for two years, I DIDN’T fall in love with Miami after having been stationed there for a mere seven months, and I met some of my most enduring friends during my two years living in Atlanta. I even had a false start in moving to Denver as a manager of a Blockbuster Music, but at the last minute I turned down the offer.

Anyone remember Blockbuster Music? Yeah…they’re gone, just like Camelot, Record Town, and Tape World. The remaining stores are now called FYE, and they are closing at least 100 of them a year, although they continue to hang in there, selling video games, DVDs, and any pop culture crap you can think of. That’s why Record Store Day is so important to me. These folks respect the music, and it is much more than a business. Believe me, if they were in it for the money, they wouldn’t be doing this. They do it for the love, and I respect that more than I can ever fully express. So get out and patronize your local music stores today and regularly. You never know what you will find. (I will be reporting back on my finds later today)

Video Notables – Toni Braxton

Posted by John on April 13, 2010
Posted in: upcoming, videos, youtube. Tagged: . 6 Comments

Remember that live performance of Toni Braxton’s “Make My Heart” on the Wendy Williams Show that I posted a month ago? Well, someone at her label must have decided that video bars across the nation needed a clip of their own. Atlantic Records ponies up for a second Toni vid in advance of her label debut Pulse coming out on May 4th, and while it’s not exactly high-budget, it is fun to watch. Check out Toni throwing down in a warehouse dance-off in a sheer bodysuit.

Amazon is previewing a different track off of Pulse every week up until the release date, and this week’s track causes me just a little bit of concern. It’s very Beyonce circa “Get Me Bodied”. While I prefer Toni’s voice to Beyonce’s more often than not, I am nervous that Toni spends too much time chasing the trends like Janet has been lately instead of focusing on quality material that transcends the sound of the moment. Having said that, it’s tough to complain about an album cut when you’ve got something as fresh as “Make My Heart” out in the marketplace.

Florence Wants To Know

Posted by John on April 12, 2010
Posted in: videos. Tagged: , , , . 3 Comments

I haven’t talked much about Florence + the Machine here (XO will give you the full run-down on that), but I came across something this afternoon that I have to share. Billboard has been posting a Monday Mashup series with one artist performing another artist’s song (think Radio 1 Live Lounge), and today finds Florence performing a cover of Mario Winans’s “I Don’t Want to Know” from 2004. Those who know Florence’s music won’t be surprised when I describe the version as haunting and profound, but she gives an R&B ballad about cheating a weight that it never had in its original version.

The series as a whole is interesting, although some of the mashups are less than stellar. Jay Sean’s cover of the Script’s “The Man Who Can’t Be Moved” is less than appealing, and season 7 Idol finalist Jason Castro loses the point of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” in an acoustic arrangement. However, Diane Birch extracts a bluesy R&B vibe from Haddaway’s “What Is Love” that turns the club classic into a plea for mercy. I will take a few dogs to find gems like this.

Random Notes – 03-08-10

Posted by John on April 8, 2010
Posted in: american idol, commentary, death, interview, music industry, videos, youtube. Tagged: , , . 4 Comments

– I have said in the past that I think Jason DeRulo’s “In My Head” would be a killer track live, and Jason showed and proved last night on American Idol‘s results show. It’s sad that the only reason I pay attention to Idol these days is for the guest appearances. Given how Usher’s “O.M.G.” and Diddy’s “Hello Good Morning” vaulted into the Hot 100 last week, there is a good chance that DeRulo will also make a big move next week, since it has more airplay than either of those tracks. As of right now, Jason is at #6 on iTunes’s Top Downloads, which will probably translate to a jump into the Top 3, but probably not #1.

– I let out a small gasp when I read that punk visionary Malcolm McLaren passed away today from cancer. Even if you don’t know WHO Malcolm is, you at least have a sense that he was an important figure in the music industry in his time. While most folks know him as the man behind the rise of the Sex Pistols in the late 70s, my first contact was his early 80s experimentation with hip-hop on “Buffalo Gals” and “Double Dutch”. I have no doubt that my love of hip-hop comes from Malcolm taking a raw American musical genre and interpreting it in a way that made it much more accessible to the masses. How many people can say that they had an influential hand in two musical genres during their lifetime?

– Speaking of shocking, you MUST check out the interview over at DontStopThePop with a Swedish producer. No name is ever given, but who cares? Accusations of payoffs, favoritism and manipulation have always been considered a given to some degree here in the States as far back as the Payola scandal, but to hear the accusation surface about Sweden’s pop perfection industry just seems sacrilegious. If nothing else, it is a riveting interview to try and figure out who is gutsy enough to put the accusations out there.

– Remember what I said about ukeleles last week? In a sign that it is already overused, Gym Class Heroes frontman Travie McCoy (didn’t he used to be Travis?) debuts at #92 on the Hot 100 with “Billionaire”. Any good thought I had of tiny guitar flew out the window as the track started. Shark, meet ukelele.