Lil' Chris - Taste Me

"Sugar rush to my brain"

One from the vaults today... an ultra-rare track from alienhits favorite Lil' Chris. Chris has gone off the radar since releasing his half-new follow up album in 2008, which unfortunately didn't do so well. This track is taken from those sessions, and fits with the rest of his output as a bratty new wave pop/rock anthem (with a pretty suggestive title...). I've still got Chris's 2006 debut on heavy rotation, even if it is little more than throwaway teenage pop. It's easily my favorite teenage album of the past five years, which is quite the feat considering it was spawned from a reality series. This track is firmly in b-side territory (sort of a lesser Checkin' It Out), but I'm a sucker for rare, unreleased tracks--especially by more obscure artists.

Lil' Chris - Taste Me by alienhits

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the latest album here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.

Mike Posner - You Don't Have To Leave

"I'll be in the sky, somewhere far away"

I reviewed Mike Posner's fantastic single yesterday in Pop Blitz, and it's one of my tips for the Summer. The song's gonna be huge, and rightfully so. In addition to the single, Posner's released two free albums of demos, remixes and teasers. The quality ranges from forgettable to kind of brilliant, with this track being the latter. Posner seems torn between a dance sound and a more predictable hip-hop sound. Either way, it's his vocals that really stand out. They remind me of some of my favorite Scandinavian singers (Erik Hassle, Thomas Troelsen, etc), which is a rare thing to find in the States. You Don't Have To Leave was produced by Australia's Miami Horror. It's a perfect, and somewhat surprising, combination. I would love it if he worked with dance producers like this for the album. We don't have a male pop singer like that in America, who straddles genres and doesn't automatically succumb to trends. But if this is just a one-off, it's at least a great one-off.

Mike Posner - You Don't Have to Leave by alienhits

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Download the free albums on his myspace. Follow me on twitter and facebook.

Pop Blitz 6/2/10

Robyn - Dancing On My Own
A worthy successor to With Every Heartbeat, this is yet more proof that Robyn has mastered the aural equivalent of heartbreak on the dancefloor. A

Eminem - Not Afraid
Should have been called "Not Again." It's all very 2002. The pissed off rapping, the off-key singing. It doesn't work anymore, and the hook is too weak. C-

Pendulum - Watercolour
I appreciate the epic melding of dance and rock that these guys specialize in. That being said, this is not, melodically, one of their stronger singles. It sounds a little bit like BT's (superior) work. B-

B.O.B. - Airplanes (ft. Hayley Williams)
I have a feeling this song is more popular because of who's involved than the actual merits of the production. Compared to similar emo-rap tracks, this is middling to average. At least the hook's better than the Eminem one. C+

Lena - Satellite
This year's Eurovision winner. It's certainly catchy, if a bit meh overall. Lily Allen's pretty much got this type of thing covered. Last year's winning song was 100% more exciting. This is simply nice. B

Love Generation - Love Generation
Producer RedOne's new girl-group, and no the song isn't a cover of Bob Sinclar's epic dance tune of the same name (unfortunately). This goes for the "club anthem on the summer" title and falls slightly short of achieving it, settling instead for "mid-rate Melodifestivalen contender." Not entirely a bad thing. B

Mike Posner - Cooler Than Me
Newcomer Mike Posner goes for an electro thump (à la Sam Sparro) with this single. The vocals work well and the melody's subtly addictive. A pleasant surprise. A-

Sunstroke Project and Olia Tira - Run Away

"Let me breathe, let me leave"

My god, don't they look happy? Scary happy.
Consider this my (very late) Eurovision post. I watched the competition on Sunday and, as usual, thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought the overall quality was better than last year, and there were definitely plenty of wtf acts to laugh at (singing to a giant apricot pit? Really, Armenia??). I thought Denmark deserved to win with their Police-aping 80's power ballad (and might have if the voting rules hadn't changed). I also liked Greece, Iceland, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine and Albania. Another highlight for me, and one that didn't get a lot of love, was Moldova's over-the-top neon-colored entry. The saxophone player was absolutely ridiculous, but the two singers had nice live voices and the song was the first real uptempo dance tune of the evening. Like many other entries of the night, it featured some prominent fiddling (in light of last year's winner, for sure), but the saxophone is really what differentiates this from the anonymous club song it could have been. It got kind of lost in the shuffle, but they were one of the few acts that I found myself investigating after the competition was over. Total over-the-top cheese, for sure. But what else do you expect in a Eurovision post?

Sunstroke Project and Olia Tira - Run Away by alienhits

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the Eurovision album here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.

Operator Please - Just Kiss

"This handshake is weak"

I've been meaning to write about this album for awhile now. I've been loving Australia's Operator Please ever since their debut a couple of years ago. I still think Just A Song About Ping Pong is one of the best teenage freakouts of the past decade. There's something charming about a bunch of kids strapping on instruments and recording an album. It fulfills the ultimate teenage fantasy, and it's even more entertaining when the band is this talented. Now that the kids are older (and gained and lost a member), their sound has shifted from the garage-pop of their debut to an even better brand of spunky electro. Amandah Wilkinson's vocals have smoothened into something that's a cross between the Veronicas and Tegan & Sara, but the band have lost none of their energy. The album's well-worth your time. This is one of my favorite tracks.

Operator Please - Just Kiss by alienhits

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the album here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.