This week I’ve decided to focus on live performance videos, because when you’re following bands who are mainly famous abroad, you sometimes miss out on this side of pop fandom, but with the invention of YouTube that’s no longer necessary.
http://www.youtube.com/p/4F8000975AB7AC94
Amy Diamond – Mamma Mia
When I went to live in Sweden, I had to learn Swedish asap, and my answer to this was to sing along with the lyrics to songs which were in Swedish. Best of all were songs I knew well, and what better than Mamma Mia by ABBA? I was reminded of this video as I was watching Amy’s performance at Sommarkrysset 2008, and thought it would be very fitting to post now, since Mamma Mia: The Movie is released this week. I can’t wait to see it, and am so glad it’s getting lots of hype – ABBA may be uncool but there’s no denying the extreme excellence of their music. It even sounds brilliant sung by a child star and in Swedish! I am pleased to say that after a few listens I could sing the whole thing fluently, and after 4 months living in Sweden, I even understood some of the words (in case you’re wondering, Swedish is a language easy to learn as long as you don’t want to have any conversations in it).
Jason Mraz – The Remedy
I really should get around to seeing Jason Mraz live, now that he’s having a bit of a comeback. This was the first song I heard of his, and hear it I certainly did – over and over and over again! It’s a very addictive song. I have to say that Jason’s output is very avried in quality, but The Remedy and You And I Both are two seriously brilliant pop songs in a very distinctive style, and Geek In A Pink gets an honourable mention in third place. If you enjoyed the kind of music Blake Lewis did on AI last year, you should check out Mr AZ (as he cleverly called one of his albums) because he does it a lot better, as much as I do like Blake.
Daft Punk – One More Time at Wireless 2007
I wanted to be really ‘of the moment’ and post something from this year’s Wireless Festival, which takes place this weekend, but I failed to find anything of interest whatsoever on YouTube, and instead happened across this, which looks like one of the best gigs to be at ever! I’ve heard that Daft Punk gigs are amazing, and this seems to confirm it, even with the slightly blurred picture, and the lack of any actual singing or dancing. You can tell everyone is having a brilliant time, and it makes me wish I was more of a raver so I might have some friends to go along with me next time they play in the UK. I remember when this song came out, and I thought it was Mark from A1 on vocals, but loved it anyway. I’m still upset about what Kanye West did to Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger, which is actually my no.1 favourite Daft Punk song, but it seems a little less awful now in comparison to this attempt to sing it a capella.
Triple 8 – Give Me A Reason on TOTP
When talking about X Factor’s disqualified (but potentially very good – although where has Jamie Tinkler gone?) boyband Avenue recently, Mr Popjustice said something I found very objectionable. He said that Triple 8 and V, the last 2 boybands to really have a go at bringing this format into the 21st century, had rubbish music. Has he taken a funny turn? They were both brilliant! Maybe their music was dated, but it can’t be denied that disregarding that, songs like Give Me A Reason by Triple 8 and Hip To Hip and You Stood Up by V are total classics of the boyband genre. This video is also a nice nostalgia trip to the olden days of people being allowed to at least pretend to be able to sing and dance at the same time on TV, and ugliness wasn’t required for getting into a male band. However, it’s also a bit depressing, because it shows that the era of music in which I fell in love with pop is most certainly over, and even as pop music comes back in new forms, it can never truly be the same again.
Will Young – Changes
Oops! I put this song into the vote this week by mistake (it’s not actually a single), and it’s gone and got the most votes! Nonetheless, I have to disqualify it, and in apology to all those who voted for it, I have included the video of his actual new single, which I will allow you to vote for soon. It’s very exciting to hear the song Will thinks will best announce his return to music, although this isn’t the clearest sound quality, so it’s annoyingly hard to tell how good the song really is. However, from what I can tell, it sounds very promising indeed, and I cannot wait to hear it in full. I’m so relieved that Will hasn’t strayed too far from his old sound, and with progessing to a slightly more mature style (could a male Duffy work as a comparison?), hasn’t, as so many artists do, confused mature with boring. Things are looking good so far, but I won’t count my chickens just yet.
5. The Saturdays – If This Is Love
4. The Ting Tings – Shut Up And Let Me Go
3. Sara Bareilles – Love Song
2. Jordin Sparks ft. Chris Brown – No Air
It was a close contest, but it’s a return to the top for…
Alphabeat – 10,000 Nights of Thunder
Hooray! What better band to be no.1 on a live performance special than Alphabeat, who are even more amazing lvie than they are on record. I still love Alphabeat, obviously, but I may just be running out of things to say. This performance, from Tivoli in Copenhagen (a brilliant theme park, btw), is great if only for Anders SG’s funny hat.