How it is Sunday already is utterly utterly beyond me. Something happens at the weekend to make time go faster, which is very unfair. Curse you Father Time!! (shakes fist in manly fashion)... had quite a nice weekend seeing my good friend Kirsty and then later on the lovely Bernice :) When went for a little walk with Kirsty to meet her mom for lift home, was coming back and not paying attention and totally kicked the cane of this blind woman. Naturally I apologised but she gave me such a look. If blind people can give looks...Anyway today's post will focus on some more upcoming male singers though these ones are more acoustic than pop, but an equally good selection one hopes...And yay! The lovely DazPetunia returns from holiday tomorrow. Swoon...
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THE WAY TO DO IT:
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Well clearly Chris Carraba of Dashboard Confessional is not an up and coming unknown, but he does do acoustic singing and songwriting incredibly well. I have seen him live a couple of times and he always puts such power and emotion into his songs. Emo seems to be a dirty word in England at the moment, but I always find myself lost in DBC's music - here are two acoustic versions of tracks from their new album which bring it back to life with a gentle energy and sadness...
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LINK: DBC's Myspace page
BUY: DBC - Dusk and Summer
MP3: DBC - Don;t Wait acoustic
MP3: DBC - Stolen acoustic
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THE INDIE WAY TO DO IT:
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There are many reasons I like Lucas Mire. One obviously being that he sometimes stops by this blog and looks like he could easily beat me up if he wanted ;) (just kidding - i've said before i only tend to write about things i like on here, and am enthusiastic about those things ;) ); he has some almost as foxy as DazPetShopBoy on his top myspace friends (yes Brandon, Freddie and Eric Himan that means you!); and he puts free downloads for fans on his myspace player. And you can't really ask for more than that. Only, then there is the music. I first discovered Lucas here and was taken by his intimate writing style and the way his gorgeous deep voice wraps itself round the lilting acoustic melodies. His most recent album Forever's Not What It Used To Be describes itself as pop/indie/acoustic on his myspace site - yet it's so much more than that. Lucas takes these genres and expertly blends them together to create a folk driven sound with hints of sparse electronica that compliments that gorgeous baritone perfectly. My favourite track remains Swallowed Whole - a gently strumming guitar and yearning lyrics about taking control of a situation again before it consumes you. And that is the beauty of this album - it's an invitation into Lucas' most innermost thoughts, feelings and desires. The raw honestly gives songs a quality that no studio magic can fake. I've put this album on when i'm feeling introspective and it's almost like listening to a mini novel - little vignettes of a person's life, Fill In The Blanks carries with it an innate sadness of a man who has been burnt, yet still manages to get across the lessons that sometimes are cruel in life.."You said 'i'd rather see you bare your soul'/But didn't even say it, it was on a t-shirt that you wore..." and Push/Pull was successfully using obliques before JT... and is a simply lovely song again with an underlying theme of struggle and heartache at the things life brings. A thought provoking album that touches the heart and opens the soul. Just be glad that Lucas felt like sharing...
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LINK: Lucas Mire's myspace page
BUY: Lucas Mire - Forever's Not As Long...
MP3: Lucas Mire - Push/Pull
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THE TROUBLED TROUBADOR:
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You get the impression that someone screwed over Jonathan Alexander emotionally, big style. Which is a shame because he is a good looking lad and deserves better ;) However, like Lucas Mire, this results in a collection of songs where heart and soul are the overriding factor of success. Jonathan takes strings and guitars and builds up songs that describe his pain and heartache - check out Better Off Without You, which describes that difficult decision when you know you cannot be with the person you love. Give Me A Moment is slightly more uptempo and sparkles because of it. And in fact, will it effortless strums along, you can imagine what a great thrusting pop song this would be with the right production. Click Five or Shayne Ward would be proud to use this song - and that's the mark of a great songwriter. Someone who's song will translate to other people and stand up in a variety of styles... I look forward to seeing what Jonathan does next :)
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LINK: Jonathan Alexander's myspace site
LINK: Vote for Jonathan!

THE COUNTRY BOY AT HEART:
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Jonathan Clay's debut EP A Whole New Me is all about taking that musical journey through life and evaluating how you got to the point in your life. It's a brave journey for anyone to take, but to share that on record is even more courageous. Jonathan's songs ebb and flow, as his fingers pick out delicate guitar melodies that instantly stick in your mind and his pleasant voice takes you away for a while. Reality is a great uplifting track where you think things are going ok but actually its all pretty crappy and yet you know you'll make it through. Really great clever lyrics make this song a winner and Jonathan's musical style is emminently likeable. After all reminds me lyrically of Garth Brooks Unanswered Prayers where things turn out for the best eventually, but at the time you gotta face those battles - and wrapped up in great coffee house style where JC shows more passion than an entire Westlife back catalogue. Plus, on the important side, he dresses well and has great popstar hair so I look forward to his full length debut cd...
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LINK: Jonathan Clay - A Whole New Me
MP3: Jonathan Clay - Reality
MP3: Jonathan Clay - After All
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THE BRITISH ENTRY:
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Well, after a wealth of American acts, it is time to showcase the best of british. Now, it was harder to find some quality British acts. Everyone either wants to be Arctic Monkeys or the new Busted. No-one really seems to have time for introspective, heartfelt lyrics and music over here. Luckily, I came across David Hughes and started to like him for several reasons - a) he's a struggling singer songwriter who stays true to his craft and hasn;t changed making the type of music he loves for commercial success; b) he is as addicted to myspace as I am and is constantly checking to see if he has had new messages or comments! c) he's quite happy to put the goofiest of his pictures on display in his myspace photo session. His music gets under your skin too - great great voice, sensitive lyrics e.g. Shines is just a great track that has echoes of Tracy Chapman and Beth Orton, but with a gorgeous chorus that you can imagine a boyband doing an amazing multi layered cover version of at Christmas... (may be Pacific Avenue??) Hopefully David will get signed soon and the talent will continue to grow. Good work mister...
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LINK: David Hughes' Myspace Site
MP3: David Huges - Shines
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THE LIVE LOUNGE REFRESH:
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MP3: Jem - In My Place
MP3: Foo Fighters - Lyla
MP3: Lost Prophets - Cry Me A River
MP3: Rob Thomas - Borderline
MP3: Athlete - If I Ain't Got You
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QUICK BITZ:
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~ well after so many reviews that i have done, someone has reviewed me! And what quite lovely words they are too. Honestly, it made my day to read this...I do put a lot of effort into this site because i love doing it, but its nice to hear what people think too :)
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~ interesting post on New Music Now blog where some negative comments have been left... It made me smile wryly (not at the comments because they weren't very nice) but at the fact the writer said this blog is the last thing i need... well in my humble opinion, why do it then? I do this because i enjoy being creative daily and writing and finding new acts that i love and lots of other things. If I didn't enjoy it or it was the last thing I needed I would just take a break...Just my humble opinion...
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~ YAY! Check out Lily Allen on the set of her video for Littlest Things over at the hotstuffguys, er i mean files :)
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Coming soon: definitely the fashion stuff; definitely some stuff on books (lemony snicket, autobiogs, flanimals, etc); some more stuff defending The History Boys; a review of lots of the new stuff out in the shops tomorrow including some McFly stuff; more new popstars including more on Lockdown; ABBA!; more forgotten popstars and lots more obv....
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Disclaimer: This site is dedicated to getting quality pop music back into the charts. Any songs posted here are to encourage people to go out and buy the music from an online source or high street store. That's what the links are there for. If any artist or management want a link removed, please email me and i will do it straight away. We love the guys featured here and want them to succeed!