trial kennedy

artist: trial kennedy
venue: oxford art factory
date: 09 may 2008
sound: rock

"ok. my first time at the oxford art factory. fucking awesome venue. only problem ... the acoustic. the sound don't seem to travel from the stage. its almost as if there is an invisible acoustic insulation at the edge of the stage. the artists were screaming their lungs out and banging on their instruments (seeing it's a hard rock concert) but all you could hear is muffles. kinda good too coz i left the venue and my ears ain't ringing. as for the band, i think they are pretty cool. the lead singer has got a really good voice, again, pity it didn't travel very far. a few great tracks esp. 'neighbors' that stayed in my head. would sure love to see them again in another venue."

myspace: http://www.myspace.com/trialkennedy

the holidays

artist: the holidays
venue: the spectrum
date: 03 may 2008
sound: rock

"eventhough the spectrum is a really cool venue, the frustrating thing is that acoustically, its never great. theres too much noise and that often overshadow the melody and the vocals. I blame the engineer. tune down the bloody drums. its cool to rock but its not a solo drums show. good looks is not enough to put on a good show but the crowd were jumping. need to check out their EP to judge the music, melody and lyrics wise. get their new EP anyway. its out !"

myspace: http://www.myspace.com/theholidays

the kaya ladies

HIGHLIGHT
artist: kaya ladies
venue: will & tobys
date: 02 may 2008
sound: acappella

"another breathtaking performance that blew me away @ will & tobys. totally unexpected. great harmonies, songwriting skills and fantastic show. they are great with interacting with each other showing how much they enjoy doing the show. even the covers they did, they made it their own. these ladies got a style of their own. if only their clothes were more cohesive. again, picked up the CD but the CD experience wasn't half as good as live.

myspace: www.myspace.com/thekayaladies
web: http://www.kaya.net.au/

essential 2008

April 25th 2008 12:10 - 00:15

so, this is not exactly pop but its essential. definitely one of my most favorite event of the year. had a blast. 12 hours of continuous live music. what more can i ask. so much anticipation, embarrassedly, i was the 3rd to arrive. more proud than shame.

Below is the list of who i watched plus my personal review of each of the bands. please note my ratings are purely personal and by no means reflecting how good or how bad they are as musicians.

01
artist: TALONS
venue: gaelic theater
time: 12:10 - 12:40

"the first band to kick off essential 2008. probably the hardest coz the crowd is small. their spirits were quite high though. pure noise. but they were having fun."







02
artist: PIP BRANSON CORPORATION
venue: gaelic theater
time: 13:00 - 13:30

"they got quite good melody to their songs and great at interacting with the crowd. fun to watch."







03
artist: THE JOHN STEEL SINGERS
venue: gaelic theater
time: 13:50 - 2:20

"they were quite fun to watch. if only they would bring down the noise alittle coz they have quite good melody. want to hear more vocals."







HIGHLIGHT
04
artist: CUTHBERT & THE NIGHTWALKERS
venue: gaelic theater
time: 14:45 - 15:15

"a long name to fit the amount of musicians. this is probably the first band that i really enjoy. alot of hooks and good tunes. the mix was really good because i could hear the vocals quite clearly. the background vocalists were awesome. synchonized dancing. very 80s. the crowd were jumping."




05
artist: CENTIPEDE
venue: the madison
time: 15:30 - 16:00

"first band to kick off the madison venue. was looking forward to them but was quite disappointed. the mix were really bad. too much noise and could hardly hear any vocal. pity coz they got quite good melody. it makes you wonder if they just wanna jam really loud because they wanna hide their shitty lyrics ?"





HIGHLIGHT
06
artist: ERIN MARSHALL
venue: the madison
time: 14:30 - 17:00

"definitely the highlight essential. pure acoustic pop. definitely the only show that concentrates on vocals because that's her strength. coupled with beautiful lyrics and style making the show even better. cool bother to help support her."





07
artist: BIRD AUTOMATIC
venue: the madison
time: 17:30 - 18:00

"quite a good band but i was high on erin to fully concentrate on the show. hah"








HIGHLIGHT
08
artist: GRAFTON PRIMARY
venue: gaelic theater
time: 19:45 - 20:15

"omg the crowd were going crazy. everyone were jumping. so was i. electronic rock seems to be the in thing. great melody and hooks."





09
artist: the e.l.f. experiment
venue: the madison
time: 20:45 - 21:30

"more of 2 djs spinning than conventional live performance. still it was fun to watch."







10
artist: WOW
venue: gaelic theater
time: 21:45 - 22:30

"these people were just doing their thang on stage. again just spinning. really. does anyone really need to watch them live ? could easily buy their cd and listen to it at home. still they had great visuals projected and got the crowd jumping. admittedly, so did i."





11
artist: GASLIGHT RADIO
venue: the madison
time: 23:15 - 00:15

"the final band in the madison. was kinda disappointed. again, really bad mix. really noisy, inhibiting the vocals. both they guitarist and bass player turned their backs to the crowd and they dont even have nice asses."







there you go. pity it ended. now i can't wait for essential 2009.

-------------------
dmented.tapes mix
noise: the mix. if the instruments are too loud overshadowing the vocals
melody: catch-i-ness and hook
lyrics/mix: good lyrics or if they can be heard
looks/clothes: ok lets face it. we all want our artist to look good. looks sell
fun on stage: if they are having fun or if someone is pointing a gun when they perform
interaction: interaction with the crowd
crowd: crowd's reaction
overall: well, if they could be a pop star and sell millions
-------------------

Athron

HIGHLIGHT
artist: athron
venue: will & tobys
date: 04 april 2008
sound: acoustic

"a performance that blew me away. totally unexpected. good sound, good looks, good music, good lyrics, good voice, good show and more importantly fun ... at an excellent venue. Picked up the CD but the CD experience wasn't half as good as live. in the wise words of his cello player .... you should do more show !"

myspace: http://www.myspace.com/athronsounds

cathy dennis

feature artist: cathy dennis

.songwriter, producer, performer, actor.

"ok. i am sick of not being able to find much information about cathy. so i am going to start my own posting regarding one of the most sought after songwriter of all time. lets us all help build a cathypedia. so start sending any news, missing info etc and i will update them on this post !"

Excerpt from Music Week ...
** If you can't get that song out of your head, it could be because it was written by Cathy Dennis, the former solo performer turned songwriter behind some of the biggest pop hits of the last decade.

When a 17-year-old Cathy Dennis walked into an audition at a London dance studio more than 20 years ago, few would have realized that she would become one of the most influential British songwriters of a generation.

The audition organizer, who had recently left his A&R job at Chrysalis and was searching for a British answer to Madonna to manage, was just glad to have found somebody who not only looked good and could dance, but was also a great singer.

Two decades later Simon Fuller is still Dennis' manager, and taking time out from overseeing the Spice Girls reunion, he is quick to admit that his heart sank when weeks after signing her his young charge announced she wanted to write her own songs.

"To fob her off, I booked her into a studio for a day, and I thought the songs would be rubbish," he confesses. "I was completely wrong. Immediately I had to change my whole plan and realised I needed to nurture this [songwriting] talent."

Fuller initiated what he describes as a songwriting apprenticeship, before taking a video of her to John Williams, then head of A&R at Polydor, who signed the budding artist in 1987 on a three-year development deal for #20,000. **

She was first spotted recording Stevie Wonder influenced demos at The Kitchen in Norwich with her father (himself an experienced musician and local restaurateur) on piano.

In 2007, she created her own publishing company, Toxic Songs – named after the hit she wrote for Britney Spears – and made her first signing, Fabien Waltmann.

to be updated ... soon !

written by cathy dennis ... 2007 - 2008

so, here is a comprehensive listing of songs written by cathy dennis, chronologically. If i missed any, it means i don't have it in my collection. let me know and i'll add it in. also, if i made an error, tell me and i will amend it.

2008

artist: KATY PERRY
song: I KISSED A GIRL
writers: Katy Perry, Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Cathy Dennis
album: one of the boys
.single. US #1(7), UK #1, AUS #1


artist: WARREN MALONE
song: FRENCH KISSES
writers: Jentina Chapman, Cathy Dennis, Greg Wells
album: french kisses
.single.

"remake of jentina's 2004 single."

2007

artist: KYLIE MINOGUE
song: SENSITIZED
writers: Guy Chambers, Cathy Dennis, Serge Gainsbourg
producers: Guy Chambers, Cathy Dennis
album: X
UK #4, (platinum) US #139, AUS #1 (platinum)


artist: JORDIN SPARKS
song: YOUNG AND IN LOVE
writers: Cathy Dennis, C. Karlsson,P. Winnberg, H. Jonback
album: jordin sparks
US #10


artist: CARRIE UNDERWOOD
song: YOU WON'T FIND THIS
writers: Cathy Dennis, Tom Shapiro
album: carnival ride
US #1 (2x platinum)


artist: ROISIN MURPHY
song: SUNSHINE
writers: Cathy Dennis, Dean Honer, Richard Barrett, Róisín Murphy
album: b-side to let me know
UK #28


artist: ROISIN MURPHY
song: ON AND OFF
album: unreleased *LEAKED*
writers: Róisín Murphy, Cathy Dennis, Calvin Harris

"according to calvin harris, roisin's mental and didn't want to include this really good track in her album. apparently, sophie ellis bextor has recorded this track for her next album."


artist: DAVID GUETTA feat. COZI
song: BABY WHEN THE LIGHT
writers: Cathy Dennis, David Guetta, Joachim Garraud, Steve Angello
album: pop life
FR #2
.single. UK #55, FR #6


artist: SUGABABES
song: ABOUT YOU NOW
album: change
UK #1 (platinum)
writers: Cathy Dennis, Lukasz Gottwald
.single. UK #1 (gold)



artist: SUGABABES
song: SURPRISE
writers: Cathy Dennis, Lukasz Gottwald
album: change
UK #1 (platinum)


artist: SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR
song: CATCH YOU
writers: Cathy Dennis, Greg Kurstin
album: trip the light fantastic
UK #7
.single. UK #8