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  • New Single! Bonnie Raitt “Right Down the Line”

    New Single! Bonnie Raitt “Right Down the Line”

    Bonnie Raitt's New SingleAs we saw on Sunday night at the Grammys, when she did a duet with Alicia Keys in tribute to the late Etta James, Bonnie Raitt‘s just got one of those ageless, unchanging voices – it’s comfort food for the ears: homey, understated, and warm. But it wasn’t just a wonderfully random thing that she showed up to perform on the industry’s biggest night. Bonnie’s got a new album coming out, set for release on April 10 – her first new studio album in seven years. It’s called Slipstream, and the first single from the album was released for downloads last week. The song is a cover of “Right Down the Line”, the 1978 hit by Gerry Rafferty, who passed away last year at the age of 63.

    The song’s a personal favorite of mine from Rafferty’s classic album City to City (which also featured his signature solo hit “Baker Street”) – a song expressing steadfast love and appreciation: “I just want to say: this is my way of telling you everything I could never say before. This is my way of telling you that every day I’m loving you so much more.” Raitt’s voice, with its matter-of-fact strength and earthy candor, is uniquely well-suited to such a sentiment, and she gives the song a light ska-flavored rhythm. Listen here:

    And here’s the Gerry Rafferty original:

  • Eurovision 2012 Update: Norway! “Stay”

    The Single Artwork for ''Stay''
    The country that gave us a-ha in the 80s has selected their entry for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Norway will be represented this year by pop sensation Tooji, and his song “Stay”. The 23-year-old singer, in something of an upset, beat out 15-year-old Nora Foss Al-Jabri, in the finals of Norwegian’s Eurovision song selection contest Melodi Grand Prix.

    Foss Al-Jabri is a lovely girl and her song “Somewhere Beautiful” is a lovely, Broadway-style ballad of yearning – you can totally hear an animated Disney princess singing it to a butterfly, or a lobster, or a frog. But though the judges loved her, rival Tooji won over the audience vote by the sheer force of his niceness. Apparently, when she’s not singing, Miss Nora has a foul mouth. (Meanwhile, when Tooji’s not singing, he’s talking about how wonderful his team of dancers is.)

    Nora Foss Al-Jabri “Somewhere Beautiful”

    Note to Norwegian television producers: if you ever consider developing a Norwegian version of Glee, I think we may have found the girl to play Quinn.

    Interestingly enough, for the first Eurovision hosted by the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan – which is just about as Middle Eastern as the European Broadcasting Union gets – both of Norway’s top two finalists have roots in the region. Al-Jabri’s father is from Iraq, and Tooji was born in Iran. His Persian roots are showing on “Stay.” Imagine if Salome had done her dance of the seven veils in a Munich night club, circa A.D. 2009.

    I have to say, I’m totally with Team Tooji on this one. “Stay” is the most convincing Eurovision entry I’ve heard so far this year. It’s got a great beat, and you can sabre dance to it. And: it’s actually available for download on Amazon here in the U.S. (Yup, I’ve already got it on my iPod!)

  • Eurovision 2012 Update: Hungary! “Sound of Our Hearts”

    Eurovision 2012 Update: Hungary! “Sound of Our Hearts”

    Eurovision 2012
    This weekend, while we were all watching Paul McCartney trying to remember the words to “Rhinestone Cowboy”, Hungary made their final selection for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Ladies and gentlemen, it is with great… … umm, with great… great… oh, whatever.

    Ladies and gentlemen, meet the men of Compact Disco, a sullen bunch who make up in shoulder pads what they lack in stage presence. Sadly, I can’t see this song making it very far in a competition that rewards spectacle. It’s positively dour. It’s ESL lyrics are laughably clunky even by Eurovision standards, and, well… have a look:

    The saddest part of whatever that mess was is that Compact Disco are really not a bad band. They’re just not a very good live band. (And this song is pretty horrible too, although the studio version is markedly better.) This Budapest-based quartet led by producer Benham Lofti, and featuring the vocals of former talent show finalist Csaba Walko, are coming off the regional success of their singles “Fly or Dive” and “I’m in Love”, both of which (but especially the latter) are pretty great dance songs – upbeat but with a dark thematic core. Check out the video (NSFW) for “I’m In Love” below. Then go to Amazon, where, in fact, you can actually download both their studio albums (or, y’know, just the singles) at refreshingly non-import prices!