Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest, the longest-running annual international TV song competition in the world, was broadcasted again last week. This year several hundred million people watched the 42 participants put on a show on the stage in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Many people however, especially the ones that call themselves music fans, don't like Eurovision. They associate it with bad (read: commercial) music, crazy outfits and stupid dances. I have to admit this is partly true, but in recent years the amount of good acts is certainly increasing. 

The reason I still watch the event every year is because it's an excellent way to discover new music. On the one hand there's the traditional/folkloristic songs like Belarus and Hungary, while on the other hand there are the modern ballads as performed by Poland and Denmark (coincidently both were playboy models, but that's beside the point). Both electro (Norway) and rock (Ukraine) fans could also find something to their taste. Norwegian EDM producer JOWST was actually granted an exception for the use of pre-recorded vocals, which is normally not allowed. There's also room for different singing techniques as shown by the opera singer from Croatia and the yodelling duo from Romania.

The winner of this year's contest is an eccentric singer from Portugal named Salvador Sobral. His song Amar Pelos Dois sounds like it was composed in the 1960's but at the same time doesn't sound outdated. It's a beautiful composition that had the power to completely relax me amidst all the hard hitting dance tracks. A rightful winner if you ask me.

Other favourites from this year's show:

The Netherlands (the girls from O'G3NE have hands down the best harmonies in the competition)

Iceland (Svala brings a retro 80's electronic sound)

France (A catchy pop song sung by the beautiful Alma)

For more Eurovision songs check out the official Eurovision YouTube channel.

Electronic: Clean Bandit

Chances are you've already heard of Clean Bandit. The British electronic group scored a major worldwide hit in 2014 with their song Rather Be. But let's back up a little to 2010, the year that the group unofficially released their first single. The song, Mozart's House, is quite a minimalistic electronic song but features parts of Mozart's String Quartet No. 21 in D major, creating a unique blend of styles. Follow-up songs Telephone Banking and A&E continued this trend. The latter one by the way starts with a beautiful chorale by Bach called O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden.

All through 2014 Clean Bandit kept collaborating with different vocalists while still maintaining their string-heavy sound. Slowly but steadily however the minimal electronic sound started to shift more towards house music. Songs like Extraordinary and Come Over are still pretty catchy but Real Love and Stronger are a bit too poppy for my taste. Earlier this year however the group released Tears, which is again a brilliant song where strings and beat are seamlessly merged.

Clean Bandit's latest song (featuring Sean Paul & Anne-Marie) is called Rockabye and probably one of my favourite songs of the year.

Other favourites: UK Shanty, Dust Clears and Heart on Fire

Check out more songs and remixes on the Clean Bandit official YouTube channel.

Indie pop: Skylar Grey

The first time I heard of Skylar Grey was in 2010 as a featured artist on the song Coming Home by Diddy-Dirty Money. A great hip hop song and probably still one of my favourites of 2010. 
It wasn't until two years later that I heard Skylar's first solo song C'mon Let Me Ride. It's a catchy song that makes fun of the sexualisation in the music industry. But although I like it very much it's not really representative for Grey's style. Take for instance Final Warning and White Suburban, which both come from the same album but have a more modest arrangement and are darker in tone.

A signature sound which Skylar often uses can be clearly heard in her collaboration with Travis Barker (Back From The Dead) and the more recent and beautiful Come Up For Air. Both of these songs prominently feature the drum part, only accompanied by some minor additional instruments. This is something that I, being a drummer myself, can really appreciate.

Last month she released her latest album called Natural Causes. The album features several great songs, like Kill For You (again a collaboration with Eminem) and Lemonade. My favourite song of the album at the moment however is Moving Mountains. It's a very plain song, just Skylar and her guitar. Normally I don't care much for this type of song, but this one's got me hooked.

Other favourites: Wear Me Out, Coming Home Pt. II and Cannonball

Check out Skylar Grey's Official YouTube channel for more videos.

A cappella pop: Pentatonix

The human voice is just another instrument, that's how I see it. Whether a melody is performed by a guitar, a flute or a voice, it's all the same to me. In the case of A Cappella music this fact is taken to the next level since all parts of the song are solely made up by the human voice. Percussion, bass, melody and harmonies are all created by the singers' vocal cords. One of the absolute best groups in this style is Pentatonix.

Pentatonix started out in 2011 and participated in the a cappella talent show 'The Sing-Off', which they won. After winning the show they started to regularly upload a cappella covers of existing songs to YouTube of which Somebody That I Used To Know is one of their most watched videos. As their popularity grew they also started to make original songs like Sing, and even went on a world tour.

This however doesn't mean that they've quit their YouTube activities. Once in a while for instance the group releases an Evolution of... video. Evolution of Music, Beyoncé, and Michael Jackson are all equally impressive.

Last but not least Pentatonix also likes to sing Christmas songs. Now I know it's still October at the time of writing, but nevertheless I urge you to check out the absolute extraordinary Carol of the Bells and The First Noel which are some of my all time favourite renditions.

Other favourites: Thrift Shop, Problem and Perfume Medley.

Check out their Official YouTube Channel for more videos.

Latin Pop: Anitta

Since tonight the Euro 2016 finals will be played between Portugal and France it seemed appropriate to highlight an artist from one of these countries. Given that I already showcased a French singer in an earlier post I decided to pick a Portuguese artist today. The only problem is that my vast music collection does not contain any Portuguese artists.

Fortunately I've got the next best thing; a Brazilian artist (they speak Portuguese, so close enough...).

Anitta debuted in 2013 but only gained some attention in her own country Brazil, Spain, Portugal and Argentina. Her big breakthrough came with the release of Bang, which currently has over 200 million views on YouTube. This was also the first video I saw of Anitta. In the beginning I was a bit sceptical of it since the video clearly focused on other 'features' besides her singing. But later that week I still couldn't get the song out of my head, so I decided to check out other songs of her. Many of her songs are happy and upbeat while some, like her most recent single Cravo e Canela, have a more slow R&B beat. I would describe them as perfect summer songs.

Other favourite songs: Deixa Ele Sofrer, Essa Mina É Louca, and Volta Amor.

For more songs, check out her YouTube channel.