Category: Music

New Music: Bruno Mars

Currently featured on B.o.B’s ‘Nothin On You’ (which is just about the most amazing bit of hip hop I’ve heard for ages), Bruno Mars look set to shake a few airwaves later this year. Check out here.

New Music: Salem Al Fakir

It’s so rare to see people from Syria (my own home) get famous in the western world (for the good reasons!). Enter Salem Al Fakir, who’s a bit of a pop star in Sweden. I didn’t know about him til I saw a clip of him performing ‘Keep On Walking’ which is absolute perfection in my eyes. He’s already released 3 albums since 2007 in Sweden, so it’s only a matter of time before the rest of Europe clocks on! Check out here.

New Music: Fabio Lendrum

I’m not sure how to describe Fabio’s music other than it being fantastic. He co-wrote a track by Example which went a little huge here in the UK called Won’t Go Quietly (I’ve been rooting for Example for years, it’s so good to see his efforts being picked up finally). Check out Fabio’s Myspace here. Will be massive shortly.

Live: Alex Gardner at The Lexington

I’ve raved on about this guy for ages but this week I saw Alex Gardner live for the first time. We came in a bit late so only managed to catch a couple of songs but this little man can SING! If you get a chance to catch him then do it. I can’t get 0ver how young he is yet have such an amazing voice.

Just back from Eurovision: Your Country Needs You

I’ve just arrived back from the BBC TV Centre in White City (London) where the UK national selection for Eurovision was hosted live on TV. We were queing from 2pm and filming wrapped at 10pm! Pete Waterman composed the song, so all we had to do was pick a singer. They were all way too young I think (one girl forgot her lines half way through the song but she did have an amazing voice). Anyway, here’s the winner:

Live: Corinne Bailey Rae at Shepherds Bush Empire

Last time I saw Corinne Bailey Rae live was around 5 years ago at the same venue, when she released her first album. It was fresh, fun, light and summery. This time round, she’s back with a deeper, darker sound that’s sombre with sorrow.

She shed a few tears when playing her older stuff, and I did feel a bit younger listening to them. I’m only 25 and Im starting to feel old! Darn! Her set went on for about an hour and a half, and it was pretty much amazingly nice to experience. The stage was a lot more static than last time- giving it a more grown-up feeling.

Standout performances have to be ‘Feels Like The First Time’, ‘Love’s On It’s Way’ and her versions of ‘Que Sera Sera’ and ‘I Only Have Eyes For You’.

Live: Erik Hassle, Ellie Goulding, Tinashe at Relentless Garage

I saw these guys at The Relentless Garage (it’s a venue in London that isn’t a garage nor is it relentless in any way) for HMV’s Next Big Thing festival. I am a bit obsessed with Erik Hassle, the ginger big haired skinny Swede with a really good voice and even better music. His album is out on Monday and you should really get it because it’s amazing and I haven’t stopped listening to it for the last few months. His first single here kind of tanked though:

Ellie Goulding was really good too, although she can’t shake her hips to save her life- how can someone with banging beats be so bad at dancing?

Tinashe was OK, his songs all sounded the same but he was friendly to look at.