HOT TALENT ALERT - Jamie T

Londoner Jamie T released his sophomore album Kings & Queens in America on October 6th. One part indie rock, one part hip hop, whatever genre you use to define this 23 year old Brit, Jamie T is pure brilliance. His first album, Panic Prevention managed to peak at #4 on the UK charts (not too shabby), followed by a prestigious Mercury Music Prize nomination at the 2007 NME Awards, where Jamie T went on to be named Best Solo Act. On this side of the pond, Jamie T went on to do a small US tour in September 0f 2007, making his US television debut on Last Call with Carson Daly, performing his debut single "Sheila."

On June 29th, Jamie released "Sticks 'N' Stones," which was the first single off of Kings & Queens. The track peaked at 15 on the UK singles charts. Second UK single, "Chaka Demus," hit #23 on the charts, followed by the UK album release on September 7th, where it managed to reach the #2 spot, besting first album, Panic Prevention's #4 peak.

In talking about his new album, Jamie has no qualms about the various musical comparisons that he's received since releasing Panic Prevention. "I hate it when people pretend that they've never listened to someone that they obviously sound like," he says. There was a Bob Dylan phase, a Conor Oberst phase as well as a Ryan Adams phase and lots of influence from childhood favs like The Clash and Jam and Specials.

According to the press release, "lightning fast lyrics and musical eclecticism mirror the ceaseless streams of information that batter us daily." It goes onto say that "there are moments of resilience and others of bitterness, honest reactions to the political, social, and financial crises of our times. Wow. Deep stuff! This is one insanely personal album, and one that everyone should check out.

For a nice sample of Jamie T's musical and lyrical stylings, check out free downloads at Better Propaganda and Blender. Jamie T was in the middle of an Australian Tour, which he has since had to pull out of on Doctor's orders. Subsequently, he's also had to cancel his European Tour which was due to kick off on October 1st. Hopefully Jamie gets well soon and comes back to the states! The album is out now on Amazon, iTunes and retailers everywhere.

Photo Credits: Alex Sturrock

Check out Jamie T on the web:

Official Site//MySpace//Facebook//iLike//Twitter//YouTube

Check Out V.V. Brown on 'Morning Becomes Eclectic' Radio Sessions

Fans of UK artist V.V. Brown should tune in to Santa Monica-based radio station, KCRW on October 27th. Brown will be part of the well respected 'Morning Becomes Eclectic' Radio Sessions with host Jason Bentley, music director for KCRW. The show airs Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM till noon Pacific Time. Check it out! This is great for V.V. Brown! Also be sure and check out her small U.S. Tour starting October 24th in New York City at Santo's Party House.

Check out VV Brown on the web:

Official Site//Myspace//Facebook//Bebo//YouTube//Twitter

New Music Purchases

While in Chicago this weekend I stopped at my local Best Buy and picked up a few essentials. On the music front, I opted for the brand new Blake Lewis album, Heartbreak On Vinyl as well as the new Madonna 2-disc compilation, Celebration. I am wishing I had purchased the recent Kylie remix compilation, Boombox, but perhaps next time. The Madonna disc was $22.00! Yikes! Blake Lewis was on sale for $7.99. Not too shabby.

I am impressed with Blake's album so far. Since he left Arista and joined forces with Tommy Boy, he released first single Sad Song and the rest of the album falls in line with that dance/pop style that I love so much right now. I honestly think that Tommy Boy is the right home for Blake at the moment. The album features solid production from the likes of S*A*M & Sluggo, Carl Ryden, Rodney Jerkins, Dave Audé, Blake himself and others. I've always loved Blake so I hope he at least has some success on the dance charts with this album.

Check out Blake Lewis on the web:

Official Site//MySpace//Facebook//Twitter

This purchase was a bit impulsive, especially considering I already have most of the other songs on CD. I was going to buy the single disc version Madonna's final album for Warner Brothers but it didn't contain "Revolver," the Lil' Wayne track. All in all, I'm happy that I bought the disc. I still want to get the DVD with all of the videos. I will have to save that for another day and another dollar (or $20).

Check out Madonna on the web:

Official Site//MySpace//Facebook//YouTube

R.I.P. Stephen Gately (17th March 1976 - 10th October 2009)

Boyzone member Stephen Gately (33) was found dead yesterday in Marjorca, where he was on holiday with his husband Andrew Cowles. This is so sad and tragic. Details appear to still be coming to light, but his band mates are planning to fly to Marjorca. Everyone is in shock over this. Band-founder/manager and X-Factor judge Louis Walsh told the News of the World "We're all absolutely devastated." Everyone's thoughts and prayers should be with Stephen's family and friends. R.I.P. Stephen. You'll be missed.

Image via Boyzone's Official MySpace page

Kylie Minogue Puts On A Good Show

Coming back from Chicago yesterday evening, I still find myself humming Kylie Minogue songs everywhere I go. Seeing her live on Wednesday October 7th was QUITE an experience. Total S-P-E-C-T-A-C-L-E! Wow. Before I get into the good, let's first discuss the bad bits...

Having recently announced a change of venue, I didn't know what to expect. The reason for the venue change was that the production was apparently too big for the Congress Theater. The new venue was the UIC Pavilion. I was honestly a bit disappointed initially because the Congress Theater sounded more intimate. I had never been to either location before so I didn't know what to expect, but I DID know that I had paid almost $100.00 for a General Admission ticket. To me, that should mean up close & personal. Unfortunately the UIC Pavilion was NOT up close and personal. Since the new venue was bigger, they sold more tickets, which means more people. I'm not one of those people that gets to a venue super early, and as a result I missed the opportunity to stand in front of the stage. They only allowed 1,500 people into the main stage area and the rest sat in the stadium seats around the stage. $100.00 is a lot to spend for a GA ticket, and while I had a great time, I was still left a little bit miffed.

All negative aside, Kylie really did play to the whole crowd. She knew her audience was predominantly gay men and both her performance AND the show itself truly catered to her audience. There were Jean Paul Gaultier-designed costumes, there were strobe lights & confetti, there was glitter, lasers, and lots and lots of thumping bass. Oh...and there were lots of half naked men prancing around on stage.

The show opened with Kylie singing Light Years as she descended down on a big shiny skull. Kylie was decked out in pink feathery gayness. Of course, some speaker hanging above the stage was obstructing my view of Kylie (I was sitting off to the right of the stage) but that's OK. At first it sounded like she was lip-syncing, but no. She was DEFINITELY singing live. The show was the perfect mix of both old and new Kylie material, definitely pulling more from Fever and X with a little bit of Light Years and Body Language mixed in. Added bonuses came in the form of "Kids," with one of the back-up singers filling in for Robbie Williams as well as a vampy Cabaret rendition of her first hit single "The Loco-Motion." Kylie also gave us a taste of new material with "Better Than Today," which to me sounded a little like something off of Light Years, with a little bit of X to keep it contemporary. I'm definitely pumped for the new record! The stand-out performance for me was an A Capella performance of "Your Disco Needs You." I don't know if this performance was in place of something else, because there was a technical issue going on at the time, and Kylie sang this song to keep things moving. Whatever the reason, Kylie proved her vocal abilities here sounding absolutely perfect throughout the set.

While I may have been a little disappointed in the venue, Kylie certainly did not disappoint. Not one single bit. I'm hoping and praying that this wasn't her last North American tour but just in case it was...I'm glad that I was there to experience it. Wah-Wah-Wah-WOW!

**The tour photos above are NOT from her current U.S. Tour

Visit Kylie on the web:

Official Site/MySpace/iLike/LastFM/Twitter