Marina and the Diamonds

I will say this about this Welsh vocalist, the girl has serious swag!!! Marina and the Diamonds is actually Marina as a solo act, and the Diamonds are her fans. Yes she is serious, very serious. The young lady who is terribly beautiful by my standards has some serious pipes and brash, hold nothing back lyrics to match. A lot of the music on "The Family Jewels" is piano based mixed with electro, which is pleasing to the ear. The only problem that I have with Marina is that with her vocal style it is very easy for her to come off as way too over the top, and it doesn't help that a lot of the songs feel like they're part of a bigger musical theatrical production.

The standout songs on this album are " Guilty", "Shampain", "I'm Not a Robot", and the seemingly anti- American anthem "Hollywood" ( which is just too damn catchy to hate) among others.

The over the top nature of Marina's style may hold her back in the States, but I hope she breaks through as this girl has serious talent, and can give some of our starlets a run for their greenbacks. Heck even if she wasn't talented her awesomely silly personality would make up for it. And since I don't think there is a relativity bad song on this album I say pick it up. You have my blessing.

New Young Pony Club

It was 2008 when I found New Young Pony Club on a now defunct International music video channel ( IMF) and instantly fell in love with their single "Ice Cream" and their album "Fantastic Playroom". Ever since then I've been keeping tabs on the Brits, waiting for them to release a follow up record. As you can imagine I was elated to hear new music from the nu-rave band, and I was not disappointed with the singles "Chaos" and "Lost a Girl". So I get the new album "The Optimist" expecting to pick up on more of the Pony Club fun, but not too fast Mr. Starks. While this album has it fun parts it's much more mature than Fantastic Playroom, which is not necessarily as bad thing although some of the songs rounding out the end of the album can be a complete snooze fest which is not a Pony Club trait. I like that they "grew up" but at some point during this album , it seemed they forgot what made them so attractive in the first go around...the fun.

The standout tracks are as follows; "The Optimist", "Lost a Girl", "Stone", "Dolls" and "Chaos" among others. Don't get me wrong here, I did like the album and did appreciate that Tahita Bulmer ( the lead singer) vocal abilities have improved since Fantastic Playroom. It seems like this time around they want to be taken more seriously and trust me these this club is serious. Pick up the "The Optimist" and enjoy.

Fan Death

I've been keeping an eye on these lovely ladies since late 2009 when I discovered them. They're not the best singers, and when they harmonize it doesn't always work out as you might find some horrendous results if you search some of their songs on Youtube, but it seems they picked their best songs for their 5 song EP "A Coin for the Well"

The first three songs on the EP are the real sstandouts, as they really represent their "post-disco" sound the best, with Reunited being the best of the bunch, although with it being one of my favorite songs of 2009 I'm kinda biased. After the third song " Power Surge" ( another great song) it goes as down hill as a 5 song EP can go. Track 4 "Soon" sounds like a rip off hip-hop/R&B fused with electro sound gone wrong. I praise them for changing things up but its not what I expect from Fan Death. The final song "The Son will Rise" is a good way to close the EP especially after "Soon", although it doesn't match the first 3 songs.

Overall this is a good effort from the Fan Death ladies, although it would have been stronger if this was a 6 song set and included "Veronica s Veil". If anything this makes me want to see what they can do with an LP, which I can't wait to hear. Until then find "A Coin for the Well" and get it!